Disclaimer: All stories are individuals of themselves and are unrelated to each other.

Happy Thanksgiving my friends! Though the reason for the season is not ideal, I do think it's always good to take time and count your blessings and say what you're thankful for. And I, as a fic writer, are super thankful for all of you and all of your support. Even if you don't celebrate thanksgiving, you are still such a wonderful force in my life! So, in celebration, have some fic!

Madge has never really enjoyed Thanksgiving that much.

Throughout her entire life when Thanksgiving would roll around she would put on a nice dress and go to her grandparents house. From there she would be asked, as the only grandchild in the Undersee line, to recite a traditional Catholic prayer (usually printed from online or read from a tiny handbook), and would proceed to have a very quiet dinner that her family had prepared.

She kind of just assumed that everyone had boring Thanksgivings - that is, until the year Gale invited her to join his family at his aunt and uncle's house.

They'd been dating for almost two years and she was looking forward to spending some time with his extended family. Her parents were a little disappointed when she told them this, but of course they allowed it. "We just want you to be happy, Sweetheart," her father said. "And we know he makes you happy."

Her grandparents were another story. "I didn't know their people celebrated Thanksgiving," her grandfather grumbled. Madge had to stop herself from snapping at him, reminding him once again that Gale and his family may be Mexican-American, but all of them (except Gale's father who came over when he was a child) have been living in the states their entire lives.

But that morning when Gale picked her up from her apartment and she saw his bright, excited smile, she forgot all about her own family and was ready immerse herself in his world.

"I just feel like I should have brought something," Madge says another time, fiddling with the hem of her shirt.

Gale tips his head at her and smiles before shaking his head. "Ma and her sisters make enough to feed the entire neighborhood." He reaches over, resting his hand on her knee. He told her over and over again that it wasn't necessary for her to make anything. "She'll just be happy to see you - all of them. But it's going to be crazy, I'm warning you now." She covers his hand with her own, squeezing once and smiling back. "All of my aunts and uncles and cousins are going to be here, it's going to be-it's just going to be crazy."

"Well I'm excited," Madge tells him as they pull into his cousin's neighborhood. "My Thanksgivings are always really quiet."

Gale throws his head back in a laugh. "Dios mío, Babe, you're in for a surprise."

It takes them a few minutes to find a place to park considering the street is packed, but soon enough they're walking hand in hand up to a large house. There're boys in the yard kicking around a soccer ball that all call out when they see Gale and even though the front door is shut Madge can hear laughter from inside. After greeting and introducing Madge to his cousins who murmur something in Spanish that Gale scolds them for, he steers her inside.

"That's going to happen a lot," he tells her. "The Spanish thing."

"It's okay," Madge says as they enter. She unbuttons her coat as Gale shuts the door behind them. "What'd they say?"

Gale smiles, rolling his eyes. "They asked why someone like you chose to be with someone like me," he says. "And then they added that I'm ugly and loud and-"

Madge smiles too, stepping toward him and pressing herself on her toes to cut him off. She kisses him quickly. "Not true," she says.

"Glad you think so," he murmurs, bending in to kiss her again. His lips are on hers for not even a moment when pounding footsteps cause him to pull away. "Posy!" Gale cheers when he sees his sister, bending down and opening his arms to her to hug her.

"Is that Gale?"

"Is Gale here?"

"It's about time that boy arrived!"

When he stands again Posy's in his arms. The little girl reaches out to Madge and gives her an awkward hug from the air. "Madge is here!" Posy says loudly, and Madge is unsure if she's just expressing her happiness to Gale or if she's calling out to the medley of family that are just behind the corner.

"Ah," a tall round man Madge doesn't recognize is the first to materialize. "Tu novia es muy bonita, Gale."

"Eso es sorprendente," another man says, also appearing. "Porque es tan..."

"Hey, now," Gale stops them with a frown. "Sam and Lucas said the same thing now can we stop pretending like I'm not a catch?"

The men laugh, and finally Gale smiles too, striding toward them in greeting before introducing them to, as Gale puts it, "Madge, el amor de mi vida."

Madge knows amor means love, but she isn't too sure on the rest. And the look of surprise and endearment on everyone's face as Gale says it makes her curious, but nervous to ask.

She spends the next half hour or so being introduced to everyone in Gale's family. They're all loud and affectionate and she receives more hugs from them than she has received from her family in the past year. She finds Gale's parents way back in the kitchen, working tirelessly in over the stove, spinning around back and forth between different dishes that everyone's working on. It's relieving to see a familiar face, and they both greet her with smiles and hugs.

Hazelle says something very quickly that makes Gale look bashful, and though Madge hears her name she's again too nervous to ask. Overall there are about twenty to twenty five different people in this house and Madge can hardly remember any of their names, but she is happy to be around them.

Again Madge is relieved when she finds Gale's brothers Vick and Rory in the basement playing video games with some more of their cousins, and they're both happy to see her as well. "Are you sitting with us?" Rory asks, barely looking up from the television.

"Course they're not," Vick says back. "Not that Madge is here."

"Nah," Gale says, "we're still sitting with you." He turns to his girlfriend with a happy smile. "The kid's table, well older-kids table, is more fun. Hope you don't mind."

She smiles back and says, "Not at all."

Madge finds herself relieved once more when she notices she's not the only non-Spanish speaker. Daniella's, one of Gale's cousin's, boyfriend is just as confused (yet delighted to be here) as she is. And apparently Diego's wife didn't know any Spanish the first time he brought her around but Madge catches her scolding her children in the language a little bit later.

After all of the introductions they settle on a couch, Gale with his arm around her shoulder affectionately, asking Madge with her eyes if she's okay. She nods and tries to keep up with the conversation his cousins are having, easily switching back and forth between English and Spanish until one of them notices Madge zoning out.

"Ah, I always forget," Mia says to Madge, one of Gale's older cousins who has long dark hair and a bright smile. "Stick to English, guys," she scolds her brothers. "Advocate for your girlfriend, Gale!"

"I-ah," he turns to Madge and kisses her temple. "Sorry," he murmurs. She shrugs.

"I just get a little lost sometimes," she says. "But-I mean, you're having fun," she says.

"I want you to have fun," Gale tells her gently.

Madge smiles. "I am. Just a little lost sometimes."

From then on out the small group they're sitting with speaks mainly in English for Madge's sake and they pull her in every now and then. They're horrified to find out she's never has pumpkin flan, which is like pumpkin pie but better, according to Samantha, and think it's awful that she only ever celebrates with four other people.

"I've always thought it as a time for family," Madge tells them, "I just have a really small family."

"Not anymore," Diego teases. Madge feels her face go warm. A nearby room full of uncles and aunts bursts with laughter at something and distracts them all from Madge's blushing.

"I feel like there's not much to talk about," another cousin says. "With only four people?"

"There isn't," Madge says. "They're very... conservative," Madge adds, watching at least half of them wrinkle their noses as they get her unsaid message. "It's not easy having conversations with them."

Gale looks slightly uncomfortable and Madge notices right away. She reaches over, resting her hand on his knee and squeezing once. A few other people notice too. Gale keeps his eyes on the ground. "They're not a fan of me," he finally mutters before clenching his jaw.

Mia tenses up. "¿Están bromeando?" she nearly shouts. " ¿Porque eres Mexicano?"

"It doesn't matter what they think," Madge tells him, ignoring the anger on Mia's face and the way everyone else has tensed up. "You know I don't care what they think. It's awful and backwards and just not true."

"But if you can't even take me to Thanksgiving with your family-" Gale tries angrily, but Madge stops him.

"It's not that I can't, Gale," she says firmly. "My parents love you, and I would love to have you with my family for Thanksgiving. I just don't want to put you through an evening of snide comments and people who just don't understand how wonderful you are." Her own voice is starting rise angrily. Madge doesn't know how to make him understand that she's not ashamed of him, that she would probably physically fight her grandparents if they said anything in front of him. Finally she takes a deep breath, refocusing herself. "You're so important to me," she says gently, suddenly wishing his family wasn't listening in, or that maybe they had their own language the others couldn't understand. "You wouldn't have a good time," she continues. "And neither would I. I'd rather be here."

"We'd rather you be here too," Diego says softly. "Besides," he lifts his voice and the tense atmosphere shifts easily into a happier one, "Thanksgiving shouldn't be celebrated as the pilgrims did so. It should be a time to count our blessings and spend with family."

Madge nods in agreement. While everyone is looking at Diego Gale bends down, pressing a warm kiss to her cheek. "I love you," he whispers, so only she can hear.

Madge looks up into his bright gray eyes an leans up, kissing him quickly. "I love you more," she whispers back.

Madge finds herself seated between Rory and Gale at the kids table. It's a smaller table with some of the younger cousins, but also some of the older ones. It's like the older-kids table, and Rory looks excited to be a part of it.

Posy says the prayer. The tables are all crammed into the dining room and they all hold each other's hands. The prayer is in Spanish, so Gale murmurs it quietly in English to Madge out of the corner of his mouth.

Everyone's elbows keep bumping and the laughter in the air is tangible. When one of the younger kids spills their food six different people jump up to help-Gale being one of them.

"It all smells so delicious," Madge says, taking small servings of everything so she can try it all.

"Save room for dessert," Rory tells her, shoveling a lot of yuca onto his plate. Madge herself takes a lot of stuffing and eagerly digs in. While Gale's distracted with another family member Rory turns to her. "So I hear Gale's been calling you el amor de su vida," he says nonchalantly. Madge nods, remembering the term from earlier. "You know what that means?"

"Lover, or something. Figured it was just a special type of girlfriend," she admits.

"That's novia," Rory says. Dropping his voice and making sure Gale's still distracted he says, "Gale's been calling you the love of his life."

Madge feels her face go hot. "Oh." Rory snickers.

Gale tips his head back into their conversation and Madge quickly forks some rice into her mouth. She isn't sure what to do with this information. He looks at her with a soft smile and she can't remember the last time she saw him this happy, this at ease. He's always full of so much life around his family, just the kids, but with everyone here it's like he's thriving.

The meal is delicious. There are so many different foods she hasn't tried before, and even the classic thanksgiving foods have their own little spin that Madge has to admit she loves. There're only a few things that are a little strange to her, and Gale scoops them from her plate with a knowing look without her even having to say anything.

When it's time to do dishes Madge offers to help and one of Gale's aunts nearly tears up, murmuring tan dulce de le over and over again before telling Madge to just go spend time with Gale. Nearly all of the cousins slip outside and start up different games. A few people toss a football around but most everyone else has started up a game of soccer. There're some people throwing a Frisbee too. Gale lingers back with Madge, tangling his fingers with hers.

"You can play," she tells him gently.

"I like to just watch," he responds, just as soft. "I want to be with you."

Madge smiles, looking up at him as her heart races. "Today has been so much fun," she says. "It's the best Thanksgiving I've ever had and we haven't even had dessert yet."

Gale looks like he's seeing her for the first time. "Do you mean that?" he whispers.

"Of course," she says sincerely. "Your family is incredible and the food was delicious and I got to be with you, Gale."

He tugs her toward her at once, bending down and kissing her deeply. Madge forgets how surrounded they are and steps up, running her hands through his hair as she pulls him closer, anchoring him to her. Gale nearly groans into her mouth, and only when the game of soccer pauses so everyone can cheer and whistle at them do they part.

He ignores his family and pins his forehead to hers. "El amor de mi vida," he whispers to her.

"The love of my life," she whispers back. He grins sheepishly and kisses her quickly. "Rory told me," she adds as she fights the pink from her cheeks.

He's still grinning. "I would've told you if you'd asked."

"Basta," someone on the field shouts. "Get a room already!"

Gale grins, pulling away to kiss her forehead, and then turning smugly to his family who was still mulling around watching them. Gale swings his arm around Madge's shoulder and pulls her closer to his side. She wraps her arms around his middle and hugs him tightly as the game resumes.

"I'm so thankful for you," she murmurs into his chest. She doesn't know if he hears her, and she doesn't care. Madge knows he knows she loves him.

Madge decides she can be a fan of Thanksgiving, as long as she spends it with Gale from here on out.