Chapter Fifteen
Let Us Give Thanks

The Graces used to be one of the families that ran Shallow Lake.

Now, Grandpa had taken up residence in a condo on the coastline of Florida. Charlotte lived in Chicago with her filthy rich husband. And Mary had been in France for the last seven years, where apparently her knowledge of nuclear science was held in a much higher value.

I don't know why we even bothered getting together for Thanksgiving. Half of my family didn't even bother to show up to my mom's funeral. Blood is thicker than water, my ass.

Apparently it had been decided that we were all meeting up in Florida so Grandpa didn't have to travel. I really hadn't cared.

…until I realized just how airsick I got.

We were only halfway to Florida, and I was getting back from my fourth trip to the bathroom. "Do you always get this sick?" Nell whispered nervously. She was looking kind of green herself.

"Yeah," I lied, shoving a piece of gum in my mouth. My period was going on two weeks late. It was probably some weird side effect of coming off the pill. "I hate flying."

I cracked open my sociology textbook and hoped she'd get the hint that I didn't want to talk. It was a great and very effective idea…until I found out that reading only made me feel sicker. Frustrated, I slammed the book shut and put my head between my knees, groaning.

"We're only a half hour from Florida," Nell promised. "Charlotte and Mary are probably already there."

Charlotte and her four perfect kids. Mary and her boyfriend who didn't speak English.

I couldn't wait.

"Remind me why we're going to see Chris this year," I asked, maneuvering the car down the busy highway. Mom refused to drive for distances longer than half an hour.

"Slow down before you kill us both," she said, lips pressed and face white. "He and his wife decided they wanted to host Thanksgiving this year, and I saw no reason not to go."

Maybe because her ex-husband would be there with his wife and their kids. That didn't scream out awkward or anything.

Before the shit hits the fan, you should probably know a few things about my family.

Brian and May Cayford were the perfect couple. He ran his own business; she was a part-time nurse. He coached the soccer team, and she was head of the PTA. They lived in a cute little suburban neighborhood with their three sons, ages 17, 15, and 12.

Everything was great. You could even say everything was perfect. But then May screwed everything up. She went out and got pregnant with some other guy. Brian got a divorce, kicked May out of the house, and managed to get full custody of the kids before could even say, "I'm sorry."

Now I think that May could have easily gotten shared custody of her kids, or at least a nicer settlement in the divorce. But she was probably too shell-shocked about the whole thing to even defend herself. Like just because she was 37 and on the pill, she thought she couldn't get pregnant.

If you've got any deductive reasoning, you should be able to piece together the rest of the story, but in case you can't, here it is.

Mom moved into the old Castellan house back in Shallow Lake, got a new job, and had her kid. It was another boy, much to her disappointment, as if having a girl would have improved the situation somehow.

Chris was now 34, and, from what I gather, the classic overachiever. He graduated high school a year early, went to some Ivy League medical school on a full scholarship, and currently owned his own private practice – which had a reputation for being one of the best in the country. From the Christmas cards we got every year, it seemed like he also had the perfect family – a total milf of a wife and two kids who looked just like him.

Blake must have really resented Mom, because he never reached out to her after the divorce. Ever. I don't even know how she knew what he'd been doing for the last 17 years. Maybe Chris kept her updated – he was, after all, the perfect son.

Then there's Kevin. It was weird to think that my brother closest in age to me was a good 12 years older. He was the CEO of some big athletic wear company. One time Chris had come to visit when I was younger, and Kevin had tagged along. He spent the whole time on his Blackberry, except for a few seconds when he looked up and told me he was sorry I was stuck with Mom.

He was definitely my favorite.

Chelsea and Marcus, Charlotte's two younger kids, were playing Monopoly on the floor. Caleb, a year older than me, was on the phone with his girlfriend. Mattie had tried talking to me, but she was a 15-year-old who loved Justin Bieber and Twilight. In other words, there wasn't a lot of common ground.

Charlotte, Mary, and Nell were in the kitchen, and, judging by the smell, something was burning. Michael, Charlotte's husband, was awkwardly trying to make conversation with Antoine, the aforementioned boyfriend who didn't speak English.

It was the first year without Adrienne and Diana, and things weren't any different. Well, minus the snide remarks about how Charlotte had gained weight, Mary was getting uglier by the year, and the grandkids were all spoiled brats. Damn Grandma Adrienne – even when she was gone, I could still hear her voice in my head.

"It sure is quieter this year." Sometimes I swear Grandpa could read my mind. He sat down next to me on the couch. "You like football?"

I didn't even know who was playing – the only reason I'd turned the TV on was to make things seem less quiet. "It's Thanksgiving."

"Yeah, me too."

Grandpa was never the type to say much – Adrienne did plenty of that. Sometimes I wondered if they ever really loved each other. Whenever I asked Mom, she would give me a look and say, "They have four kids, don't they?"

It wasn't even worth pointing out the flaws in her thinking.

"Something's different about you," he finally said quietly.

No way. He couldn't tell. "I cut my hair. My California tan is gone. Oh, and my mom died. You might have heard about it."

He cringed. "Sometimes I think you have a little too much of your mother in you."

Maybe that had been just a little bit harsh. "I'm sorry."

The fire alarm started going off. "Don't worry…we've got it under control!" Charlotte shouted from the kitchen.

"Hope everyone likes their turkey well done," Mary added. Well, that's what I think she said. She'd picked up a really strong French accent.

Grandpa smiled at me. I could tell he was trying hard not to laugh. "Want to run to the grocery store with me?"

I didn't have anything better to do.

We'd been driving for a few minutes before Grandpa said anything. "School okay?"

"Yeah."

"How's Nell?"

"Different from Mom."

He waited a second before shutting off the radio and asking, "So…you want to tell me what's really wrong?"

Stephanie rolled her eyes. "I really don't want to go back there any time soon."

I agreed with her. You could cut the tension in that house with a knife.

It started when Mom's ex-husband showed up…with his wife and their twin daughters, Lena and Kirsten. To be brutally honest, this new wife was young enough to be his daughter. In fact, she was probably about Chris' age. And she had another teenaged daughter who stood out like the black kid on Easy A – Stephanie.

One of Chris' kids had the flu, and his wife was sulking because she had wanted to go to Maui for the holiday. I was starting to see that Chris had married her for her looks.

Blake had decided to bring an unexpected guest. Her name was Kandi or Caramel….something very stripper-esque. And she had the looks to go with it. Apparently, they'd been dating for a little less than a year, and she was pregnant. Since no one knew about this either, I assumed he must have hated the whole family – it wasn't anything special just towards Mom.

Kevin was desperately trying to get his company ready for Black Friday. Apparently, there was a shortage of basketball shoes. I didn't know who in their right mind wanted to wake up at three in the morning to go buy shoes…but since he looked ready to throw his Blackberry at the wall, I decided to keep my mouth shut.

Then there was the whole tension between Mom and Brian – you could tell they were trying to ignore each other, but kept sneaking looks. Wife Number Two was desperately trying to get her husband to pay attention to her, but he was busy talking with his oldest son.

Marissa, Chris' wife, stormed out of the kitchen. She looked downright pissed…and very scary. "Chris, did you pick up everything on the list I gave you?"

Chris looked annoyed to be interrupted in the middle of his conversation with his dad. They were probably talking about what it was like to be self-proclaimed masters of the universe. "Yes," he said curtly.

"Then why don't we have a damn turkey?"

"You probably didn't put it on the list."

"Oh, so-"

"I'll go pick one up," Stephanie piped in. It was the first time I'd heard her speak – she'd been quietly sitting on a couch with her sisters this whole time.

"My car costs more than you'll make in your entire lifetime," Brian said condescendingly. "No."

After only half an hour I was ready to punch this guy. It made me wonder how Mom put up with him for 20 years. "I'll take her."

No one said anything. "Come on," Stephanie brushed past me, pulling me along. Her perfume was way too strong – she smelled like a walking Hollister store. But I guess she was kind of pretty.

And that was how we'd ended up in the car together, aimlessly wandering the city after she'd confessed she had no clue where any grocery stores were…let alone one that was open on Thanksgiving.

"Aren't my sisters creepy? Like, the girls on The Great Outdoors have nothing on them. And Brian hates me. You know, he gave me a credit card with a limit of ten grand on the agreement that I'd stay out of his way. And Chris is just like him. Kevin's headed for a nervous breakdown before he turns forty. Did you see how stressed he was?" Stephanie made an imitation of him on his Blackberry. "Kevin doesn't seem that bad. He just doesn't know where he fits in the family."

I sighed. "Do you always talk this much?"

"Only with people who don't talk at all." She smacked her lips. Pretty soon I knew her whole life story. Her mom had dropped out of high school when she'd gotten pregnant and married Brian when she was 20. That didn't scream gold digger or anything.

"Chris told me your story," she finished. It'd been half an hour since this girl started talking, and I'd driven through the entire city without seeing a single Wal-Mart.

"So do you have a girlfriend?"

I suppose I did, even if Thalia wasn't ever inclined to act like it. Lately, she'd alternated from being passive and distant to grumpy and aggressive. And forget about sex – she always found some excuse.

"Not really."

Stephanie grinned. "Pull over here."

And that was how we'd ended up in the backseat together, her tongue down my throat. I guess I felt a little bit guilty, but it wasn't like I cared about her. I just didn't want to go back to that hellhole of a house.

Okay, and maybe she was kind of fun. It was nice to know she wouldn't turn around and bitch at me tomorrow, since I'd never see her again.

I'd be extra nice to Thalia next week. That would make up for it.

My mom and Gabe were both only children with dead parents. With our huge family, it sure made for a lively Thanksgiving.

At least Mom was a good cook, even if lately she'd been making everything blue. I liked to think it was just to spite Gabe. Unfortunately, it probably had more to do with the weird cravings she'd been having.

"…and that's how we managed to double our profits last month," Smelly Gabe finished a long-winded story about his store.

Mom picked absently at her food. "Wow. That's great." I have her props for trying to sound interested.

I checked my phone under the table. Grover had texted me asking for help on math, and we'd been talking on and off all day.

3 pregnant women, identical twin 2 year olds, and like 15 nieces and nephews running around the house. I'd trade places with u. Apparently Grover came from one of those creepy huge families, but he was the youngest.

It's 2 quiet here. B careful what u wish for.

Mom cleared her throat. "Well…ummm…I don't exactly know how to say this, but…" She was smiling. Maybe she was announcing she wanted a divorce.

And then, with no further warning, she spoke the two words that completely shattered my illusion of her in a loveless marriage with Smelly Gabe.

"I'm pregnant."

Grandpa and I walked through the busy store. "You promise not to tell anyone…including Nell?"

"Of course." He grabbed a few bags of chips. "It'll be between me and you."

"No judgment?"

"None."

I bit my lip. Saying it out loud would mean acknowledging it could be true. And as slim as it was, there was still a chance this wasn't really happening. I didn't want my grandpa to think I was some slut for no reason.

And he said he wouldn't tell Nell, but once he knew, he definitely would.

Grandpa touched my arm lightly. Somehow we'd ended up in the…feminine aisle. I would have asked him how he'd known, but then I realized I'd been the one pushing the cart – I'd been the one who led us here.

I guess there was no turning back now.

I grabbed a pregnancy test.