"You'll never guess where I just was," Alistair said to Elijah.

Elijah barely looked up. "Probably not. Please tell me."

"I paid a visit to that bar Selina likes so much and I saw her. She's a mess. She told me that she and Klaus are not living together anymore, she's staying at Roxanne's. She thought you'd want to know that. And she also wants me to tell you that she misses you and Gregory very much."

"Who?" Gregory toddled into the room, pointing at himself. "Me?"

"Yes, you," Alistair said, taking him onto his lap. "Your mother misses you very much."

"Mama dead," Gregory said, his expression somber.

Alistair frowned at Elijah. "Why in the world would you convince him she's dead? She's not!"

"She might as well be, for the moment," Elijah said. "If ever we manage to make peace, I'll remove the idea, but until then, I thought it would be better for him because he wouldn't spend all his time crying over a woman that he won't see."

"Is that how you cope too?" Alistair asked him. "By pretending she's dead? You won't be able to keep that idea in your head forever."

Elijah nodded. "I know. I've come up with another way to distract myself. I've decided to resume vampire hunting with my father. I'm sure he'll be pleased."

"And is Selina the first big, bad vampire you plan to go after?" Alistair asked, his eyebrow raised. "Please tell me even you wouldn't be that foolish. If you could just see her face now, you would realize that she's sorry and miserable.

Elijah looked up at him, his face cold. "I pity you, Alistair," he said. "You shouldn't have such faith in people. You'll only end up getting hurt."

A few days later, the bell over the bakery door rang. Selina looked up and saw Damon and Stefan coming in and toward the counter. "Well, hello!" She said with a grin. "What can I get for you boys?"

Damon looked at the bakery case. "How about a couple of those really big pumpkin-shaped sugar cookies and an explanation?"

Selina pulled the cookies out of the bakery case, they paid, and then she said, "What sort of explanation?"

"Like why I haven't heard from you since we went to go see Sam," Damon said.

Selina sighed. "Look," she said. "Elijah flipped out about us going to see Sam. He got it into his head that you and I were actually messing around the whole time and were just using Sam as a cover. He accused me of cheating on him, I got upset and slept with Nicky, and now Elijah and I are on a little marital vacation. If I stay on the straight and narrow and behave myself, he'll take me back eventually, and I think talking to you alone would be straying from the straight and narrow. I'm sorry."

"That's why I came with him," Stefan said. "And I probably shouldn't tell you this because it might only add to your sense of pain and loneliness, but Anna said she's not speaking to you, at least not until you and Elijah patch things up."

Selina nodded. "I thought that would happen." She sighed. "Is Anna upset that you're over here?"

Stefan shook his head. "No. She told me that I could still communicate with you as long as I didn't make her do it until she was ready to."

Selina nodded. "It figures. That's Elijah's stance too."

Just then, Laura started crying. "If you'll excuse me for a minute," Selina said, "I'm gonna go take care of Laura. Talk amongst yourselves."

As she made her way back to the room where Laura was napping, Abby appeared beside her. "How come your husband never comes by anymore? Are the two of you having a fight?"

"Yes," Selina nodded. "We are."

"How sad," Abby said, although she looked positively giddy.

"Look," Selina told her. "Go see if your grandmother needs any help. I have to go tend to Laura."

"Okay!" Abby said, a sudden, short giggle escaping her lips before she ran off in the direction of the kitchens.

Selina sighed and rolled her eyes, heading into Laura's area. "Hi, honey," she said, picking the little baby up. "Are you okay? Let's see what's the matter with you." Just to be safe, she covered all the bases: fed her, changed her and handed her a small object to suck on before taking her out into the main area.

"I thought I'd bring Laura out to get some fresh air," she said. "And to see people. It's never too early to start developing social skills."

Damon peered at the baby. "You know," he said, "I have vague memories of what you looked like when you were her age and I think she's gonna look a lot like you."

"You think?" Selina asked. "I thought it was too early to tell, but I believe you." Laura caught Damon's eye and began to squirm, reaching out.

"Yep," Damon nodded, reaching out to take her. "She's definitely gonna be like you."

"And it happens again!" Selina said. "Seriously. First me, and then Lucy and now Laura. What is your secret for attracting the attention of small babies?"

Laura just looked up at him and smiled. "Well, I don't know," Damon said. "This isn't gonna upset Elijah that Laura wants to bond with me too, right?"

"I won't mention it," Selina said. They stood in awkward silence for a moment before Damon handed Laura back to Selina.

"So," Stefan said to Selina. "What are you planning to do for Thanksgiving?"

Selina sighed. "Well, I can't imagine anyone will want to come over, so I think I'll just make myself up a pumpkin pie, and then go the store and buy turkey lunch meat and cranberry jelly and sit in front of the television by myself watching How the Grinch Stole Christmas."

"Well, that's pathetic," Stefan blurted out. "I tell you what: I'll talk to Anna and maybe I can convince her to let you come have Thanksgiving with us."

"That's what I'm doing," Damon said. "It wouldn't hurt us to have one more person and since Stefan and Anna are actually gonna be there, it's not like you and I are gonna be alone."

"Thanks for the generous offer, but no," Selina said. "I did something wrong and this is the price I have to pay for it: being as good as alone on family-oriented holiday. I can't wait for Christmas."

"All right," Stefan said. "So I won't talk to Anna. But you can't say I didn't bring it up."

Selina nodded. "That's true, I can't. And thank you for at least trying, by the way. I appreciate it."

"No, problem," Stefan said, finally taking a bite of his cookie. His phone beeped and he picked it up and looked at it. "That's Anna. I should probably be getting on my way," he said.

Damon reluctantly handed back Laura, whose lip began to tremble once she was back in Selina's arms. "I gotta go too," he explained. "Stefan is my ride."

They left, taking their cookies with them and Selina cuddled and shushed Laura before putting her down for a nap. Two hours later, the door opened again and Elijah of all people strode through it.

"Hello," Selina said, trying her hardest to appear nonchalant. "Can I get you anything? A big cookie perhaps?"

"No, thank you," Elijah said curtly, doing his best not to bump into other customers. "I came to talk about Laura. Is there a place where we can do that in private?"

Selina sighed. "All right. I'll go get Abby from the kitchen to cover the register and then we can go to the back room and talk."

"Good," Elijah nodded. He too was trying to appear unmoved by the sight of her, but he noticed she was wearing a low-cut top, which showed most of her beautiful chest to its best advantage. "Are you wearing a bra?" He asked her, once they were settled in the back room. "Is this how you get business? By dressing like that?"

Selina looked down at her snug pants and top and said, "If you must know, it's easier to feed Laura if I'm wearing a shirt like this," she said. She wanted to punch him for being so bossy, but she knew that would get her nowhere. "So," she said. "You're here to talk about Laura?"

"Yes," Elijah said. "I was wondering if we might arrange a visiting schedule for her and me. After all, she shouldn't have to suffer just because you made some bad decisions."

"No, she shouldn't," Selina agreed, her fists tightening at her sides. She told herself to relax. "So," she said, sitting down. "What sort of visiting schedule were you thinking? Would you like some time every day? Or a couple of times a week?"

"I would prefer every day, of course," Elijah said. "At her age, bonding is very important. If I don't bond with her, she might end up like Lucy did when she was little, thinking of multiple men as her father. Believe me, though. I will be the only one Laura will ever think of as her father."

"That's reasonable," Selina said. "Now, if we go with a visit every day, it would be for two hour intervals unless you wanted me to send formula and a bottle with you so you could feed her yourself. I'm open either way."

"If you don't mind, I'd like to give her a bottle," Elijah said. "Since I want to bond with her, it would be counter-intuitive to-"

At that moment, Laura began screaming her head off. "Hold that thought," Selina said. "Sorry. It's time to feed her. Would you mind locking the door to this room?"

"Why?" Elijah asked. And then he watched in amazement as Selina deftly removed her shirt and bra, standing proud and shirtless in front of him. He quickly went and closed the door. "My god!" he exclaimed. "What the hell do you think you're doing? This is a place of business!"

"Well, I know that," Selina said as she said down with Laura and began to feed her. "That's why I asked you to lock the door." She continued to feed Laura as Elijah watched in shock.

"What?" Selina finally asked after a few minutes. "Why do you keep making that face? What I'm doing now, this is what breasts are for! I don't remember you ever looking like that when I let you suck on them. If this offends you so much, you can leave, but I'm not gonna let Laura starve just because you're embarrassed! I, for one, am very proud of my breasts."

"Well, that's not a surprise," Elijah said. "Considering how prominently you always display them."

"Why are you doing this?" Selina asked him. "Why are you doing all you can to goad me into picking a fight with you? If there's no chance of us getting back together, which would be very sad for me, cause there's really nothing I want more than to be with you again, feel free to tell me now."

Elijah frowned deeply at her, growled a little, rose gracefully from his chair and walked to the door to pull it open. Then he turned back to Selina and said angrily, "Bring her and her things to Alistair's tomorrow at one o'clock in the afternoon." Then he slammed the door shut which caused Laura to burst into tears again.

Selina cuddled her against herself. "It's all right, sweetie," she said. "Daddy's not a bad person. He's not scary. He's just mad at Mommy and it makes him seem more frightening than he is." Selina managed to calm Laura down and put her down for a nap. Then Selina put her bra and shirt back on, and strode out to work the counter for the rest of the day.

On Thanksgiving morning, Selina woke up early and called one of her neighbors to come and watch Laura while she ran to the store to get the groceries. She returned two hours later with her shopping bag. "Sorry it took so long, Mrs. Stevens," she apologized to the older woman. "The supermarket was a madhouse."

Mrs. Stevens nodded. "That doesn't surprise me. The stores are always packed on Thanksgiving day. So, will you be spending today with family, then?"

"No," Selina shook her head. "I'm kind of having trouble with my extended family right now, so it will just be Laura and me."

"Oh, dear, that's so sad!" Mrs. Stevens exclaimed. "If you'd like, you know I'd be more than happy to come over and keep you company."

"No, thank you," Selina said. "You're very sweet, but no thank you. I wouldn't want to deprive you of the chance to be with your own family just because I have to be separated from mine."

Mrs. Stevens nodded and placed a firm, supportive hand on Selina's shoulder. "All right, dear. But believe me, I was in your situation once, a single mother whose family shunned her. If you change your mind and want to talk, you know where I'll be." She made her way to the door before Selina shouted, "Wait a minute!"

Mrs. Stevens turned. "What is it, dear?"

Selina grabbed her wallet out of her purse. "How much do I owe you for taking care of Laura while I was away?"

"Oh, don't you try and give me money," Mrs. Stevens said. "You have a very sweet little girl on your hands and it is a great pleasure of mine to perform an act of kindness for you."

"Well, thank you," Selina said, feeling warm inside. "Thank you very much."

Mrs. Stevens gave her a smile and left. Selina unpacked the groceries and then went to get Laura from her room. "Come on," she said. "Let's make a pie. You want to watch Mommy make a pie, don't you?" She blew on Laura's stomach, making Laura giggle, and then put her in her baby seat as she made up the pumpkin pie, and after it was done, taking out a can of whipped cream and spraying little circles at intervals around the top. But every time she sprayed whipped cream on the pie, she'd then spray a little in her mouth. Pie, mouth, pie, mouth, until there was a ring of whipped cream circles around the top of the pie. Then she put on two eyes and a smiley mouth. "There!" She said, showing it to Laura. "We have a happy pie!"

Laura giggled and Selina picked her up and began dancing around the room with her, humming a random tune. But then an alarm sounded to remind her it was time for Laura to go to Elijah's and Selina stopped. "Drat!" She muttered, hugging Laura to her. "Time to go have your time with your daddy." She made sure that extra clothes, diapers, toys, formula and bottles were in the bag. She picked it up and put it over her shoulder, then paused, a wicked idea going through her mind. She took out the bottle and formula and fed Laura so it would be a longer time before Elijah had to do it, and then put on her shirt, put the diaper bag over her shoulder again, and she and Laura headed to Alistair's.

"You could have just called me to come get her," Elijah said. "You didn't have to come all the way out here yourself. In fact, I would prefer it if you didn't anymore."

"Why?" Selina asked.

"I don't owe you any explanations," Elijah said. "Now please just give me Laura and get on your way."

"Well, happy Thanksgiving to you too," Selina said. "Here's her, here's her stuff. All of it should be in there but things were kind of hectic this morning with all the grocery shopping and food preparation, so if I've forgotten anything, don't hesitate to give me a call. I'll find whatever is missing and bring it right over. Oh, and I fed her before we left the house, so you have a couple of hours before you'll need to do it again."

"Thank you," Elijah said impatiently. "You've brought her and her things to me and I appreciate it. You can go now."

"Well, all right," Selina said. "I'll just go, Mr. Grumpy!" She turned quickly and went down the front step, walking to her car.

Now that he wasn't facing her, Elijah found himself looking at her retreating back with intense longing. Not just at her bottom, which of course was very nice, the mere sight of it making him want to run after her, put her over his shoulder and carry her off to his bed, but her whole body, her long black hair, her big blue eyes, always full of depth and wonder like the ocean, her creamy porcelain skin and her round, firm br-

All too quickly, she turned around. He'd stared for too long. He averted his eyes, praying that she hadn't seen him watching her. It seemed like she hadn't. Or if she had, she wasn't going to call him out on it. Maybe she was finally getting some sense in her head after all. He looked down at Laura. "Come on, darling," he said as she peered up at him. "Let's go inside and start bonding."

Selina got in her car and burst into giggles as she drove away from Alistair's house. He'd been watching her the entire time she'd been walking away. She'd felt it, but it was even more gratifying to know her sixth sense had been correct. She'd turned to check and then he'd looked away, thinking that that would stop her from seeing him. He was just too adorable sometimes. She'd let him live in denial without pushing this time. She'd already won one small victory, and besides, she'd see him again very soon.

"Well, look who's got Laura!" Alistair said. "I take it Selina stopped by and dropped her off?"

Elijah nodded. "She did, we exchanged mindless pleasantries in honor of the holiday, and then she left."

"So you behaved yourself?" Alistair asked him. "You were polite to her?"

"Of course!" Elijah said. "Even though she doesn't necessarily deserve it, I'm always polite to her."

"Did you invite her here for Thanksgiving?" Alistair asked. "That would be incredibly polite."

"I couldn't do that," Elijah shook his head. "How can you expect me to stare at her across the dinner table when she-"

"Gives you the time alone that you requested to bond with your daughter?" Alistair finished. "Oh, come on. From what I've heard, lots of people are mad at her over her breakup with you. Or maybe I heard wrong."

"As they should be!" Elijah said. "Sleeping with Niklaus was a very stupid decision on her part!"

"But this is a holiday about family," Alistair reminded him. "And whether you like it or not, your family will not be complete unless Selina is here to eat with us!"

"That may be true," Elijah said. "But I'm just not ready to face her yet! Don't push me to do something that I'm not ready to do, Alistair!" He took Laura into his room and shut the door behind him. Alistair sighed. It really seemed like he'd been making some headway, but alas, no. For the time being, he'd failed. But just because Elijah refused to be family to his wife, that didn't mean he, Alistair, had to make the same decision. He headed into the kitchen, where Astrid was preparing food.

"I heard Elijah yelling," she said. "What did you say to him to get him so upset?"

"Nothing!" Alistair said. "I merely suggested that he put his feelings aside for just this one day and invite Selina along to have dinner with us so she won't have to be alone, but apparently, that's too much to ask." He sighed.

"Taste this," Astrid said, giving him a spoonful of cranberry sauce to try. "Tell me if it's any good."

Alistair tasted it. "That's wonderful!" he said. "Did you put oranges in it?"

Astrid nodded. "And apples. And liquid Jell-O mix. It almost tastes better as a liquid, but I have to put it in a bowl and let it chill for a bit before it's ready. As for Elijah. Don't push him. It'll just make him turn balky. If it would make you feel better, we can move our celebrations to Selina's house of it's all right with her, and Elijah can spend his whole night alone. Would that make you happy?"

"Yes," Alistair nodded. "And I think it would make Selina happy too."

"You are despicable!" Elijah said when he opened the door two hours later and saw Selina smiling and holding a bottle in each hand, along with a small cooler. "You purposely left the bottles and formula of her bag so that you'd have an excuse to come back here!"

"And see you?" Selina raised an eyebrow. "No, I didn't! Like I told you, Elijah, I had a busy morning. Between shopping and preparing my Thanksgiving meal and taking care of Laura, can you blame me for forgetting a few things?"

"Yes," Elijah said testily. "I can. Now give me the bottles and the formula, please!"

"Well, since you did say 'please' " She said. "But if we're gonna be entirely accurate, this is breast milk. I pumped it myself. It's better for her than formula, so in a way, it's lucky forgot the bottles, isn't it?"

"Just give me the bottles," Elijah said through his teeth. "Please."

Selina shook her head. "You can't carry Laura and both the bottles," she said. "You'll want the cooler too. It's got extra milk in it, depending on how long you want to keep her."

"Well, that's good to know," Elijah said.

Selina nodded. "I think I'll be going now. I don't want to waste any more of your bonding time." He thought she was gonna go, but before she did, she did one more thing. "Alistair!" She called. "I brought Elijah some stuff and he needs help bringing it in the house!"

"Does he?" Alistair said, suddenly appearing behind Elijah. "You know I'm always glad to help. I'll take that cooler. Did Elijah tell you that you're invited to help us celebrate Thanksgiving later tonight?"

"What a sweet offer," Selina said. "But I wouldn't want to intrude."

"It's no intrusion," Alistair said. "Astrid and I planned for you to come. If it would make you more comfortable, we can move the festivities to your house."

"Great!" Selina said. "I've already made pie. I hope no one's made pie."

Alistair shook his head. "No. I'll tell Astrid."

"Who else is coming?" Selina asked.

"Not me," Elijah said immediately. "Gregory and I are staying here."

"Well, what a shame," Selina said. "It would have been nice for the two of you to be there with us, but I suppose it can't be helped if you've already made up your mind." She turned back to Alistair. "So who else will be there besides you and Astrid?"

"Well, Adrian, Helene and Lenora," Alistair said. "And Sam. Would you like Sam to come?"

"Is he still here?" Selina asked in amazement. "His tour hasn't started up again?"

Alistair shook his head. "He and that manager of his have talked and decided that it would be best to start up the tour again after New Year."

"Ah," Selina nodded. "That makes sense."

"Sam won't be here," Astrid said. "He's having his Thanksgiving with Damon, Stefan and Anna."

"Oh, yes!" Selina said. "Stefan mentioned that he and Anna were having a thing when he came by the bakery the other day."

"Yes," Astrid said. "And I believe Roxanne and Vince are having just a quiet family thing with Addie."

"Yes," Alistair nodded. "They are."

"So that just leaves Adrian, Helene, Lenora and us," Alistair said. "Do you have the room?"

Selina nodded. "You bet I do! I can't wait!"

"I wish Mom could celebrate Thanksgiving with us," Sam said as he helped Anna set the table. Why can't she? How come you forgot to invite her?"

"I'm sure your mother has her own Thanksgiving plans," Anna said. "And it wouldn't be polite to throw them off on such short notice, would it?"

"No," Sam said. "I guess not." They finished setting the table and then Sam met Damon in the library for a drink. "Why isn't Mom celebrating Thanksgiving with us?" Sam asked.

"Because her husband hates me," Damon said. "He's incredibly jealous of the fact that your mom and I used to be together and that we had you and that day she came to see you, her husband was convinced that we actually spent all that time in bed together and were just using you as an excuse, because he also doesn't understand why you being a vampire would upset her so much, since all the other kids she has that are living now are also vampires. So he got pissed off at her and now they're separated and she's doing whatever she has to to get him to like her again. That's why she's not here. It's not because she doesn't love you or anything like that."

"Ah," Sam nodded. "Okay."

"What are you boys talking about?" Anna asked, coming into the library a few minutes later.

"We're talking about why Mom can't celebrate Thanksgiving with us," Sam said. "Apparently, it's because her husband is a psycho."

"That 'psycho' as you call him is my brother!" Anna said through her teeth. "And for your information, he loves her very much. It nearly killed him when she did what she did!"

"If he loves her so much, why is he making her be all by herself?" Sam asked. "If you love someone, you don't do that!"

"Well, if you love someone, you also don't make out with their brother right in front of them," Anna said, her eyes narrowed. "And that's just what your mother did. That's why I've decided that I refuse to speak to her until she and Elijah have worked things out. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have better things to do than listen to the two of you trash my family. I think I'll go see if the turkey is done."

She left and Damon and Sam gave each other a look. "You know," Damon remarked, "every day I ask myself what your uncle sees in her."

"Me too," Sam agreed. "Me too."

Just then, Stefan knocked on the library door. "Phone call for you," he said to Damon. "It's Lucy. Sam, you can come and watch football with me."

"Oh, thank you so much, Uncle Stefan," Sam said. "That is a much less awkward activity!" He met Stefan at the door and Damon took the phone from his brother. Once the library door was closed, Damon put the phone to his ear. "Hi, sweetie!" he said. "Happy Thanksgiving, even though no one celebrates it in France!"

"I found a channel that broadcasted the Macy's parade," Lucy said. "So I didn't miss that. I do miss being with you," she said. "But it's given me a lot of time to plan for next year. We'll both be very thankful, by the end of the night, I promise you."

"I can't wait!" Damon said.

"How's Mom been coping with the whole Sam thing?" Lucy asked. "Is she any better?"

Damon shrugged. "A little better, a little worse. She accepts it readily now, but in the beginning, she was so worked up she briefly went back to your dad, which upset your uncle and now she and your uncle are on a little marital vacation."

"Mom cheated on Uncle Elijah?" Damon could hear the shock in Lucy's voice. "Is she insane? Why would she do that? If anyone is calm and collected enough to help her through this it's Uncle Elijah."

"She didn't think so," Damon said. "Especially after he heard about her problem with Sam and his initial response was 'So what? Now he's no different than any of her other kids'!"

"And when you hear something like that, you explain what's going!" Lucy said in exasperation. "If she'd just explained what the real problem was, I'm sure he would have understood, but Mom is so emotional that sometimes, the logical solution eludes her and she ends up doing something dumb like getting back together with my dad."

"So let's talk about happier things," Damon said. "You been dreaming about me?"

"Yeah," Lucy said. "And you've been naked in every single one. Last night, I had a dream where, under the full moon, you and I ran naked down the Champs-Elysees and then dove into a fountain that they have there and we stayed there until early the next morning, just as the sun was coming up, when we sneakily dressed again, and walked back to our hotel room without anyone ever catching on to what we did." She sighed. "It was so hot. I wish that you could have seen it. Or that it had been real."

"Well, I wish that too," Damon said. "But remember, we get to be human when you come back. That's something to think about. And I'm coming to your show, and I'm gonna buy a picture and hang it where everyone can see it and say how wonderful it is..."

"I wish I could just come home now!" Lucy said. "It seems all I've been doing lately is working. I want to have some fun!"

"And we will!" Damon promised. "You just have to hang on for a little over a month, and we'll see each other at Christmas, right?"

"Yeah," Lucy said. "We'll see each other at Christmas. And I'll bring you a really awesome present."

"Oh, don't," he said. "You in some lacy red panties is the only present I want."

"You completely naked is what I want!" Lucy said. "Do you think you can manage that?"

"I might be able to do that, yes," Damon said. He watched the door open and then Anna came in. "Sorry, sweetie. I have to go. Your Aunt Anna's got dinner all ready."

"Well, all right," Lucy said. "Next time, you call me! Happy Thanksgiving!"

Damon hung up the phone and grinned. "You know, that Lucy really is delightful."

"Hurry up!" Anna barked. "I put a lot of work into this and I don't want it to get cold."

"Aye-Aye, Queen of Thanksgiving," Damon said and let her proceed him out of the library and to the table."

When the doorbell rang, Selina was hesitant to answer it. She knew that Alistair and Astrid were all right with what was going on between her and Elijah, but she had no idea how Adrian would react. She opened the door and was greeted with a very enthusiastic "Happy Thanksgiving!" from the five people on the other side of the door. They came inside and began setting out dishes of food on the dining room table. Selina took one look at Lenora and burst into giggles. "Honey, you're dressed like a turkey!"

"Yeah!" Lenora nodded. "I wanted to turn myself into a real turkey, but Mommy wouldn't let me."

"Well that's because animals aren't allowed at the dinner table," Helene said.

"Yeah," Adrian told her. "The only place a turkey has at a Thanksgiving table is to be prepared, carved and eaten. You wouldn't want us to eat you, would you?"

"You wouldn't eat me!" Lenora said. Then she looked nervously at Selina. "Would he?"

"Of course not," Selina assured her. "Your father is just making a joke." Lenora walked over to the table and was just about to stick her finger in one of the whipped cream circles on the pumpkin pie when Helene said, "Don't you even think about it," and Lenora immediately backed away. "You can't have pie until after dinner."

Lenora crinkled her nose and sat heavily in a chair. "Okay," she said.

They all sat down and started eating. Lenora still proclaimed she only wanted pie, but Helene made her take a little of everything just to try it. Lenora looked down at the yams with distaste. I don't want these," she said. "They look icky!"

"Remember we said you'd try a little of everything," Helene told her. "That's what's polite."

Slowly, Lenora reached down and delicately picked up a marshmallow off of her pile of yams and put some yam on it, sticking in her mouth. "There!" She said. "I've tried it!"

"One marshmallow that's half covered in yam is not trying it," Helene said. "One spoonful is trying it. Am I going to have to come over there and feed it to you? Because I will do that if you refuse to do it yourself."

"Or I could," Adrian told her. "Lenora, pick one of us to force-fed you your yams. And don't use your magic to make it look like you've eaten everything already because we'll know if that's what you did."

"Fine," Lenora glowered at them. "Give me a spoon."

Overall, it wasn't as bad as Selina had thought. She hated the vegetables, of course, but loved the cranberry salad and the turkey and of course the pumpkin pie. Most of the things Selina had bought earlier that day lay forgotten in her refrigerator. This was turning out to be a much better evening than she had anticipated. When they got to dessert, Lenora finally ate with gusto and appreciation, but she left her pie crusts behind.

"Why don't you eat those?" Adrian asked her.

"I think they taste funny!" Lenora said. "I only like the filling and the whipped cream."

"That's a logical answer," Selina said.

After the dishes were cleared away, Selina took care of Laura, put her to bed, and then everyone else settled in to watch How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
Adrian even elected to sit next to her, so Selina assumed that he either knew what was going on between her and Elijah and didn't care, or didn't know at all. If it was the latter case, she wouldn't say a word.

Shutting the door on the last Thanksgiving guest, Selina sat down on the sofa, flipped listlessly through the channels on the television, and when there was nothing on that she liked, she turned it off and just sat, realizing for the first time how quiet the house was. She sighed. "It'll probably be this way for a long time," she thought to herself. Even so, she realized that she had to hear a human voice, even if that voice wouldn't engage her in conversation. She picked up the phone and dialed Elijah's number. He probably wouldn't answer, but that was okay. Eventually, it stopped ringing and went to his voicemail: "This is Elijah. Please leave a message at the beep." When she heard that, she clutched the phone tightly and tried not to fall over. Finally, she found her voice.

"Elijah," she said, "I know that I'm probably the last person you want to hear from right now, but I just wanted to let you know that I'm thinking a lot about you and Gregory. Especially you. I see you every night in my dreams. It's what's keeping me sane since I have to be away from you. I love you, I miss you, and when you're ready for us to be together again, all you have to do is let me know. Oh, and happy Thanksgiving." She then turned off the phone, put it back in the cradle, and went to bed.

The next morning, Elijah opened his phone. He'd missed a call and someone had left a message. He picked the message up and when it began, he rolled his eyes, his finger hovering over the erase button. But something told him not to be too hasty. "...I love you, I miss you, and when you're ready for us to be together again, all you have to do is let me know. Oh, and happy Thanksgiving."

Elijah stared down at the phone, gripping it tightly. He knew he should delete the message. If he didn't, it would be going against his principles. But at the same time, she was not only saying that she loved him and missed him, but also telling him that she had the sense not to try and pursue their relationship again until he was ready. He liked that. And he just liked hearing her voice. He played the voicemail again, but in the middle of it, he heard a voice. "Well, well, well. What are we listening to?"

He looked up and saw Alistair grinning at him. "Is that Selina I heard?"

"Yes," Elijah said, trying to shrug it off. "Just a pathetic attempt to get my attention. I'm going to get rid of it." He pressed some buttons to make Alistair think he was deleting it when he was actually saving it. "There, you see?" He said, holding up his phone. I got rid of her stupid message."

"Good for you," Alistair said to him before turning to leave. "Good for you."