Let the Games Begin

Thanksgiving is an emotional holiday. People travel thousands of miles to be with people they only see once a year, and then discover once a year is way too often.

November 22, 2018

Eddie let the savory smell of turkey and his other thanksgiving favorites fill his nostrils as he descended the stairs. The usual excitement took over him as he thought about the meal he had ahead of him. The food, now that was something he would never seize to love.

"Good morning!" He sang cheerfully, placing a kiss on his mother's cheek, and then another on his girlfriend's lips. "How are my two favorite girls today?"

"What's got you in such a good mood this morning?" Patricia asked, putting the stuffing her and Ms. Miller had been working on in the oven.

"Probably the fact that he got to sleep in until noon and gets a feast without having to do any work," Elle teased, causing Patricia to chuckle as well.

"True," Eddie admitted, pouring himself a class of orange juice, "but I'm also excited to win this year's Thanksgiving games, once again."

"We are," Patricia corrected, with a smirk. Everyone knew Patricia and Eddie were a good team, but on thanksgiving, when all the Miller relatives battled it out in various challenges, they were a great team. The best, actually, winning the past two years in a row, the only Thanksgivings Patricia had attended at the Millers, and they were destined to win this year too.

"But, you can't win in that outfit, Yacker," he teased. She was wearing a black tank top, with dark, plaid pajama pants, and her hair in a ponytail.

Patricia rolled her eyes, "Guess I should go change then," she said, shoving past him, hard.

Eddie gave his mom a "be-right-back" look before chasing his girlfriend up the stairs. "You can't be mean on Thanksgiving, you know."

Patricia turned around, just realizing he had followed her up. "Another dumb rule by Americans," she smirked.

"Right, I forgot you're not good at being nice," he smirked as well, walking closer to her. "Maybe I should remind you?"

Before she knew it, Eddie had already slid his arms all the way around her waist, trapping her against him. "Somehow I always find myself in this position," she muttered before placing a kiss on his lips.

"What, that's it?" He asked, while Patricia snuck out of his grip.

"Yep," she nodded, "I'm not very good at being nice, remember?"

Eddie smirked and let out a laugh as she disappeared into the guest bedroom. She drove him absolutely crazy, but that was just another reason why he loves her.

His hand clutched the little black box in his pocket as he descended the stairs again. Fortunately, while packing for the visit to his mom's, the ring box had come tumbling out of the closest, which is where he must've put it during their time apart. Patricia had luckily been out of the room at the time, so he was able to stick it in his duffel back without her seeing.

He figured he could propose on thanksgiving, because well that's what he was thankful for the most, her. It was a foolproof plan, he was sure of it, so sure that he couldn't even keep the smile off his face.

"What are you smiling about, huh?" Elle asked when he entered the kitchen. "Even food doesn't make you this happy."

Eddie knew he couldn't keep it from his mom, she was too good with this stuff. She could definitely keep the secret, and besides, she'd been rooting for Eddie and Patricia from the start.

He pulled the box from his pocket, and opened it to show the shiny gold ring to his mom. She immediately broke out into a smile. "Is that what I think it is?!" Eddie nodded in response. "That's great!" She exclaimed, throwing her arms around her son. "Are you doing it today?!"

"Yeah, but mom you gotta keep it dow-"

"Oh Eddie I'm so happy for you!" She continued.

"Mom shh-"

"I've always loved you two togeth-"

"Mom!" He finally yelled, getting her attention. "She could come back down any minute." He said, lowering his voice.

"But I have so many questions!" She whispered. "You never even told me about the conversation with her dad and-"

Eddie immediately shushed her, as Patricia entered the room, out of her pajamas and in regular clothes. "What'd I miss?" She asked as she took her previous spot next to Ms. Miller.

"Nothing," Elle said, and Eddie was internally relieved she had put her 'cool' back on. He didn't need his mom spoiling this for him.

But he couldn't help but think back to what his mom was saying, about a conversation with Patricia's dad? He hadn't had a conversation with Mr. Williamson, so he had absolutely no idea what she was talking about.

"Well, then Weasel, let us professionals get back to work," she teased. He playfully rolled his eyes before kissing her cheek and vanishing into the TV room, thoughts of the proposal being pushed aside untill later.

"Shh!" Patricia whispered to Eddie as they crept through the bushes. "They're going to hear us!"

Eddie rolled his eyes. "They're too old to have good hearing." He was referring to his Aunt and Uncle, of course. The Millers and guests were currently in the middle of one of their favorite games: Cornucopia Capture (Eddie's mom always made sure their Thanksgiving games had festive names).

It was similar to 'Capture the Flag,' but they were in teams of two instead, and one team was drawn out of a hat to be the hunters each year. This year it was his Aunt Carrie and Uncle Lou.

Patricia raised her eyebrows. "They're, like, 49."

"Exactly!"

Now it was her turn to roll her eyes. "Whatever, I'm not taking any chances..." She muttered.

They crept around the corner of the house, Patricia in the lead, but she stopped them both when suddenly they heard a "Gotcha!" in the distance. It must've been Aunt Carrie, capturing a pair, and the cheering continued to fade as they walked the team back to 'home base.'

"That was close," she whispered turning around to walk the other direction, but he stopped her.

"You know," he whispered, moving his face up close to hers. "You're hot when you're determined."

She pushed him off, rolling her eyes. "Wish I could say the same for you, but you're not exactly determined today, are you?"

"Not exactly," he admitted, grabbing her hand, "I have other things in mind."

"Well could you save it for later? We are not losing this."

"Alright, alright," he said, putting his hands up in surrender. "Now, I'm pretty sure our target is this way..."

"No way!" Patricia laughed along at the dinner table as she heard more stories of Eddie's rebellious childhood. His cousins loved to share the stories of all the silly things Eddie did, and even though she'd heard some of them before, they never got old.

Eddie on the other hand got more and more embarrassed each time. He hated that every time his family was together, they brought up his childhood. He had done some things he regretted, so many stupid things he wanted to just take back, and having the constant reminder was something he could go without.

Eddie hated how much he put his mom through as a teen, that's probably the thing he regretted the most. He didn't need to be made fun of at holiday dinners, especially with Patricia there. She had actually seen him for who he really was, from the beginning, and even though he knew it would never happen, there had always been the thought in the back of his head that these stories would change her mind.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Patricia said, snapping him out of his thoughts. He hadn't realized the conversations about him had seized and everyone switched topics, which made him feel a little bit better.

"It nothing," he muttered, faking a smile.

"How about some stories from the Capture champions?" His mom suggested, earning nods from the rest of the table while bringing her son and future-daughter-in-law back into the conversation.

His family always insisted on hearing more stories about the two, considering they had never gotten to hear them as they occurred. He figured his mom had spread the news of his plans around too, but it didn't really matter, as long as Patricia didn't know.

Eddie also loved the fact that his whole family rooted for their relationship. In fact, his mom was probably just as upset as he was when Patricia broke it off that one summer a few years ago, and even when it happened a few months ago.

Patricia just fit in with his family, and as he told the stories of all their times at Anubis, he had this feeling that he knew she would officially be a part of it soon.

"Now... we have to say what we're all thankful for," his grandma said, and as cheesy as it sounded, they couldn't go a year without doing it.

Eddie waited his turn patiently as his other relatives went around the table with their long list of favorite things. He knew exactly what he was going to say, and jst wished the others would hurry up before people began to get bored and started to wander off.

But as the lists got longer and his relatives got fuller, that's exactly what happened, and soon they had all wandered into separate rooms, some cleaning the dishes and some falling asleep.

"I feel like I just gained a hundred pounds," Patricia groaned, flopping down on the couch.

"Not so fast," Eddie warned pulling her back to her feet. "We still have the 'Lethargic Lap' to do," he said in mock-awe.

"Ugh, no," Patricia groaned, falling back on the couch again. "There's no way I can run a lap around your house after that meal."

The 'Lethargic Lap' was Eddie's personal favorite. Right after their Thanksgiving meal, everyone would have to line up outside, and the first one to complete a lap around the house wins. Not only was it the weight from the food that slowed them down, but also the fact that a partner would be on their back, just as stuffed as them. Eddie usually always won this race because, well, he never really got full.

"That's the point," Eddie laughed. "What happened to being so determined to win? And besides, you'll be on my back."

"That's supposed to make me feel better?"

"Relax Yacker, I always pull your weight and win, remember," He teased, remembering when they had won the Wonkey Donkey challenge.

"Whatever, but if we lose, you'll be paying for that last comment." She smirked, and with that, they went to line up at the starting line.

"I think we can take them," Patricia muttered as she hopped on Eddie's back.

"I know we can take them," he smirked, just as his Grandpa blew the whistle, signaling them all to start.

Patricia couldn't contain her laughter at Eddie's other relatives. A few were all so full they couldn't even move a few steps without sinking to the ground. Her and Eddie, on the other hand were, well on their way to victory.

They both couldn't help but laugh actually, as Eddie stumbled to carry their full stomachs around the house, cool breeze blowing through their hair.

But as they rounded the last corner, Eddie and his cousin, David, were neck-and-neck. Eddie did his best to speed up, but he just couldn't. David and his girlfriend had pulled ahead just enough to win the race.

They jumped up and down in excitement as Eddie let Patricia down. He didn't say a word, not a joke or tease to her or his cousin. This was weird for him, at least Patricia thought so. He had been so upbeat all day and it didn't seem like him to get all upset about one little race.

Unless, winning that race would've given him the perfect opportunity to propose. He'd been picturing it all day, winning the last race would be lead to all kinds of excitement, so he had figured why not add even more?

"It's alright, let them have their first win," Patricia shrugged, not wanting to upset him more. "I think you have other things to worry about, like making up for that weight comment, hmm?"

Eddie smirked, "I think I have just the thing to make up for it." He reached his hand into his pocket, searching around for a certain black box, but it wasn't there. He was freaking out over the ring for the second time when he noticed his mom waving him over on the other side of the yard. "One second," he muttered before taking off across the lawn.

"Eddie! I have your ring!" Elle whispered.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" He urged, stuffing the box back into his pocket.

"Because you're the careless one who left it with me!" She defended. Eddie was about to head back over to Patricia, but she stopped him. "Wait! I'm still upset you never told me about you're conversation with Mr. Williamson!"

"What conversation?" He asked, turning back around.

"You know, the one every boyfriend is supposed to have with the dad before proposing? Asking for her 'hand' in marriage?" She questioned, but her son didn't seem to be making any connections. "Eddie... Please tell me you-"

"I didn't know!" He huffed, "Why didn't you tell me that either!?" He threw his hands up in frustration. Of course he never paid enough attention to love stories or romantic movies to know he had to ask for permission, and now everything was ruined.

"What are you going to do?" Elle asked calmly, not wanting to upset him more either.

"I don't think Patricia really cares about her parent's opinion..."

"Oh no," she interrupted, "This is where the dad in me steps in. You are going to ask him, end if story."

"But I was gonna-"

"No, Eddie just wait! Aren't you going up there for Christmas?"

"Yeah, but-"

"So, just do it all then."

Eddie slumped all the way back over to Patricia, not wanting to argue anymore with his mom. She was right, and even if Patricia didn't care about her parent's opinion, he still wanted to be on good terms with them.

"You okay?" Patricia asked when he returned, noticing the concerned look on his face.

"Well I thought I had a gift for you, but it's been... postponed, I guess."

"Trying to make up for being a Weasel by buying me gifts?" She teased, but then noticed he wasn't smirking like usual. She laced her fingers through his and looked him in the eye. "What's gotten into you?"

"Nothing," he replied flatly, and Patricia just rolled her eyes and rested her head on his shoulder as they watched his family from the side. She always felt bad for him when he was in these mood slumps, so all she could do was just be there next to him. It usually seemed to work.

"Eddie... I never did get to hear what it is that you're thankful for..."

This made him remember why everyone was here together on the first place. He realized he shouldn't even be sulking right now, he had everything he needed, really. Patricia, the rest of his family, even the ring, and just because he didn't have her dad's approval didn't mean he wasn't going to get it.

"You, doofus" he smiled looking down at her, giving her a quick kiss and tightening his grip on her hand. "I'm thankful for you."

Sorry for the lack in B/P! I tried to get them into this but it just wasn't working out :/ but don't worry, they'll be in the rest! Hope you like this one, I definitely liked some parts more than others, but I wanted to get this out before the weekend.

Next stop: Christmas at the Williamson's