Alright guys and girls, I am going to confess something right off the bat. I have never made a Thanksgiving dinner. So if some of the stuff you're about to read seems unrealistic, that's why. Or you can say it's all magic. Yeah, actually let's just go with that. Anyway, let's get to the story!
Disclaimer: I do not own Once Upon a Time or its characters. They all belong to their respective creators and companies. Seriously, I'm just a fan girl.
"Mashed potatoes are done," Emma announced from her spot in the kitchen after taking an experimental taste of them from her whisk. She could see why Mary Margaret had chosen the mix she did. They were delicious.
"Great. Put them in the fridge for now and wash off that whisk. Then you can take your break," Snow said as she put her pies into the oven and moved onto making another dish. Since everyone save Henry had gotten up early so they'd have everything made in time, they decided it would be best if everyone got the occasional break. They didn't want anyone to get hurt because they got a bit tired or overwhelmed by it all.
"You got it," Emma answered, carefully moving through the kitchen so as not to bump into anyone. More than one of them had accidentally got hit in the ribs by an unwary elbow. Once she'd done what Mary Margaret had told her to she plopped down on the sofa with a sigh of relief. After being on her feet for hours, this was exactly what she needed. And now that her hands were free Emma found her mind wandering back to how the day had gone so far.
Mary Margaret and David had insisted on being the first up so that Emma could get a few extra minutes of sleep. Only when they'd brushed their hair and teeth and changed into clothes they didn't mind getting food stains on did they wake her up so that she could do the same.
By the time she'd gotten down to the kitchen David was getting out the pots and pans and cooking utensils while Mary Margaret got out everything they'd bought at the store yesterday. Emma helped her get out everything that didn't have to stay refrigerated and soon they had all their supplies before them.
Mary Margaret quickly drafted a schedule of what foods they had to make and when based on how long it would take to make the dish and how it would keep afterwards. It was around this time that Belle had arrived, quietly knocking on the door so as not to risk waking Henry, who they'd all agreed should be allowed to sleep as long as possible. Belle had been shown Mary Margaret's time table, and soon everyone was busy cooking and baking.
A few hours later Henry had woken up and come downstairs in his pajamas. Emma had quickly made a space for him at the table so he could watch them work, and set him up with a glass of milk and some Pop Tarts. He wasted no time in striking up a conversation with Belle who'd been working on the cranberry sauce across the table from him.
Henry and Belle's friendship was both the most surprising and least surprising thing to happen since they all got back from Neverland. The two of them had never interacted much since Belle usually hung around Rumplestiltskin and they'd tried to keep Henry away from him until they'd learned he was family. Then Belle had lost her memories which wasn't conductive to a budding friendship either. But once they had gotten the chance to know each other they quickly found out that they had a lot in common. Both of them loved adventure and found solace in reading storybooks. Henry often visited her at the library were he'd read whatever books she'd thought he'd like and had set aside for him.
"Mind if we join you," Charming asked, startling Emma out of her thoughts.
"Hhm? Oh no, of course not," Emma replied as she finally registered that her family appeared to be breaking for lunch. Everyone took a seat around her, Mary Margaret handing her a plate with a variation of the sandwich and chips that everyone else had before sitting down herself. "Thanks," Emma said before digging in. Mary Margaret had been watching all of them like a hawk to make sure they didn't eat any of the food before dinner so she was starving.
"So how about we all go over tonight's seating arrangements one more time? I want to make sure we placed everyone the best we could so that nothing comes up," Snow piped up after a minute or so of nothing but the sound of chewing. One of the many things her mother and later her tutors had taught her when she was a child was the importance of placing guests during a party. You always had to think those sorts of things through so that you didn't end up with an incident on your hands. And with the mix of people who'd be coming for dinner tonight, she could easily see things getting out of hand.
"Snow, I already told you that everything will be fine. You and Belle planned everything perfectly," Charming reassured her, placing his hand on her leg and giving it a reassuring squeeze. He knew how much this dinner meant to her but he didn't think she should be obsessing over everything like this. She deserved to let go and have a good time as much as anyone else.
"I just want to make sure is all," Snow replied with a gentle smile as she intertwined her hand with her husband's. Charming had been right there with her the entire time she'd been planning this. Sure he might have been a bit skeptical when she'd first told him what she had planned but once he knew that she was serious about this he'd been beside her every step of the way.
"Alright. So you and I will sit at the ends of the table to keep an eye on everyone, right," Charming asked with a grin of his own. His wife may have planned everything perfectly but he had to admit that if anyone could throw a wrench in things, it would be their guests. But he was going to do his best to make sure that didn't happen.
"Right. And Henry, you'll sit in the middle of the table on the right. Emma will sit on your right, your dad will sit on your left, and Regina will sit across from you," Snow said, easily slipping into party planner/hostess mode.
"Sounds good," Henry stated through a mouthful of PB&J. He was glad that he'd be able to have a holiday dinner with his entire family. He'd never done anything like that before. He was sure that it was going to be lots of fun.
"Roland will be sitting across from your mom so you two can talk, and Robin will be sitting next to him by me," Snow continued, looking over the seating chart in her mind's eye. She had been pleasantly surprised when Regina had asked if Robin Hood and his son could come to the dinner with her. The former queen had acted a bit odd when they'd first met Robin, but once the two of them had hit it off they had really hit it off. Plus it was obvious that Regina adored the man's son. Just last week she'd taken him and Henry to Granny's for lunch. Snow herself also enjoyed Robin's company. Being a former bow-wielding outlaw herself, they had a lot to talk about and she looked forward to doing just that at dinner tonight.
"And I'll be sitting next to Charming and Rumple will be sitting next to me by Regina," Belle chimed in after finishing her grilled cheese. At first she was going to be the one who sat by Regina and Rum was going to sit by Charming, but when she mentioned it to him he had insisted on switching places. Just because Belle had seen that Regina was trying to change and had forgiven her for what she'd done to her didn't mean that Rumplestiltskin had. He wasn't trying to seek revenge against her or anything but he still liked to keep an eye on her when Belle was around.
"You know I'm still not sure that putting Gold and Regina next to each other is a good idea. Those two aren't exactly best friends," Emma pointed out after taking a drink of her milk. Yes, they'd all stopped trying to kill each other after working together to save Henry from Pan, but that didn't mean they were suddenly one happy not-so-little family. Hell, half of her magic lessons with the two of them was just them making snippy comments about each other's teaching style.
"That's why we're putting them across from Henry and Neal. They'll behave if only for their sons' sake," Belle reminded her. Rumple might try to justify his actions to her, but he couldn't bear to see his son disappointed in him. And from what she knew of Regina, she was the exact same way with Henry.
"Exactly. And Tinkerbell will be sitting by Charming next to Neal. I'm sure that if Regina starts to get fussy, she'll intervene," Snow added. She didn't know exactly what had happened between the two of them, but once they'd gotten back to Storybrooke from Neverland the two of them seemed to have buried the hatchet. In fact she would go so far as to say that they were best friends. Snow was glad that Regina had someone like that. It was always easier to be good when you had people who cared about you.
"And that just leaves Killian who'll be sitting next to me," Emma finished. When they'd brought Henry back home, her and Neal had sat down and had a long talk about where the two of them stood. Eventually they had decided that while they did love each other, it was more platonic than romantic. So the two of them had stuck to being friends and parents. And when Neal started to date Tinkerbell, she was first in line to give her blessing.
Her relationship with Killian was a bit more complicated. Once she'd sorted out how she felt for Neal, it was time for her to address her feelings for the pirate. Because as much as she had told herself that there wasn't anything between them, there was. He'd risked his life to help them all get Henry back and had believed in her even when she didn't believe in herself. Plus he wasn't a bad kisser. So once things had settled down, the two of them had started hanging out with each other. She'd try to explain the modern world to him, they'd catch a movie, have dinner on his ship, whatever they could come up with. She didn't know if that meant they were dating or what but she had invited him to the family dinner tonight as her plus one. That probably meant something.
"That's everyone then. Can anyone think of something we might have forgotten," Snow asked, and when no one had anything to offer she continued, "Great. Well it looks like everyone's done eating so let's put our plates away and finish cooking our Turkey Day dinner."
"The turkey," Charming and Henry cried out, both jumping up and dashing into the kitchen with wide eyes and panicked expressions. Charming had volunteered to take care of their main dish since he was a former farm boy, and he'd happily accepted Henry's offer to help out. Unfortunately they had been so focused on eating and listening to Snow that they had forgotten to keep an eye on the clock. They should have taken the turkey out of the oven five minutes ago.
Charming, as both the adult in charge of the dish and the first person to reach the kitchen, quickly put on a pair of oven mitts and took the turkey out of the oven. Placing it on an empty bit of counter, he leaned over and thoroughly examined it for any signs of damage.
"Is it okay," Henry asked nervously as everyone else filed in behind them, faces filled with concern as they put two and two together.
"It's fine. Looks like we caught it before any harm was done," Charming answered with a relieved smile. If he'd burned his wife's turkey and ruined her big dinner he would never have been able to forgive himself.
"Well that's all that matters. Now let's get back to work," Snow said with a smile. And so everyone resumed their cooking or baking.
Half an hour before their guests were due to arrive, they finished preparing the last of the food. Snow asked Emma and Henry to go and set the table while she gave the whole house a final look through to make sure that it was presentable. She'd cleaned up yesterday before her and Emma left to pick up Belle and had done a few little touch-ups during her cooking break today. So she was proud to say that everything was spotless and the tasteful Thanksgiving-themed decorations she'd had Charming pick up when he got the turkey was just the icing on the cake.
Once all that was done, all that was left was for everyone to change into their party clothes. Snow, Charming, Emma, and Henry headed for their closets and Belle grabbed the bag that she'd brought her own clothes in. A few minutes later everyone was downstairs looking their best. And just in time too, as not a second after the last of them came down, the doorbell rang.
Their guests were starting to arrive.