1. Parading Around

There was no sign of Milo or Sara anywhere, and Martin was starting to panic. He fiddled with his tie nervously as he scanned the crowd of people lining the sidewalks of the parade route. "Brigette, I can't see them. What if they-"

Brigette covered his mouth. "Don't you 'what if' me, Martin Maximilian Murphy," she said sternly. "Milo and Sara are around here somewhere. And we are going to find them."

"Arf!"

They looked down to see their new puppy barking up at them.

"Diogee, find!" Martin exclaimed. "Couldn't have picked a better time to show up, boy!"

Diogee sniffed the ground, barked, and squeezed past the iron gates with ease. The crowd cheered for the puppy as he dashed past a marching band.

Ignoring the warnings and shouts from security, Martin and Brigette hopped the fence and followed Diogee, who turned onto the next street.

As they rounded the corner, Martin almost stumbled over a tire. In the wreckage of a Dr. Zone float sat Milo and Sara, guilty looks on their faces as Brigette helped them off the platform they were standing on.

"You scared us," she scolded gently. "Where were you going anyway?"

Sara looked down at her feet. "We were looking for Santa. Milo wanted to ask him for a present."

Milo nodded, giggling as Diogee licked his face.

Martin scooped up Milo in his arms, pressing a kiss to his forehead. Milo squealed and batted him off, wiping his forehead with a gloved hand. Martin chuckled. "Consider that your punishment, little guy."

2. You are Hereby Pardoned, Mr. Turkey

"I, the mayor of Danville, now present the winner of the city-wide essay contest where adolescents had to write a short story about a turkey of all things," the mayor said gruffly. "Milo Murphy."

Milo squealed and rushed up the stage, accidentally yanking several cords out of their outlets. He stumbled to the microphone with a cord still wrapped around his foot. "Hi, everyone! Happy Thanksgiving!"

"I have a reputation as the mayor, Murphy," the mayor glared at him. "Don't ruin it."

"I won't. Besides, I always wanted to pardon a turkey!" Milo said, waving to the turkey he was pardoning. The bird's head swiveled around, scanning the crowd.

"And with this ceremonial giblet, I officially pardon this turkey!" Milo shouted, holding the giblet up in the air.

Melissa and Zack cheered, the rest of the crowd following suit.

"Yes, that's all well and good," the mayor ushered Milo off the stage quickly. "Now, as you all know, the workers of this city have been busy renovating the old theater district. Unlike the former mayor, I kept my campaign promise of-"

"THERE HE IS!" someone shouted.

A bead of his sweat trickled down the mayor's face as he held his hands up. "I don't have the dough yet, Sal!" he shouted nervously.

The crowd stood aside, allowing a man in a green uniform to pass through. "Book him!" he signaled several armed guards to apprehend the fleeing turkey. He turned to a young man with red hair beside him. "I can't believe he faked his own death! What a scoundrel!"

"Sir, I really can't blame him for faking his death to avoid his nemesis on Thanksgiving. Dr. Bates did work on taxidermy after all."

3. What Are You Thankful For?

"You can't just ask those questions out of the blue!" Cavendish groaned, dreading where this conversation was going.

Milo grinned sheepishly. "It's always the main question we ask on Thanksgiving. What are you thankful for?"

"Having a great selection of food this time of year," Dakota suggested. "Honestly, what would people do without pumpkin spice?"

"While that is a bonus, I meant something from the heart," Milo said. "Without family and friends to share the moment, the food is nothing special."

"Go pitch that to a holiday commercial," Cavendish muttered.

"Pretty sure the food is the best part anyway," Dakota said. "But if I said all of us are alive and well, does that work?"

His smile didn't quite reach his eyes when he said that, but Milo didn't dwell on it for long.

Milo nudged Cavendish with his elbow. "Your turn."

Instead of answering, Cavendish wrote something on a slip of paper and passed it to Milo. He laid his head on his desk, his cheeks slowly turning red.

Milo unfolded the slip, and Dakota peered over his shoulder to read it. Five seconds later, they wrapped Cavendish in a tight hug.

"That's so sweet! I'm thankful for you guys too! And the rest of my family and friends!" Milo exclaimed.

"You're so sappy," Dakota lightly slapped Cavendish's shoulder.

"I can always take it back," Cavendish said, though he didn't brush them off. "You two can be amusing. Sometimes."