"Is it going to be like this every Thanksgiving?" Lindsay grumped, finding the vegetable peeler in the drawer and handing it to Jess.

"Like what?" Stella asked, peeking in the oven to check on the turkey.

"All of us women in the kitchen, all the men crowded around the TV watching football and asking repeatedly when dinner's going to be ready," Austin supplied.

"That's what boys do on Thanksgiving," Jess said simply, shrugging as she started to peel the potatoes. "We just have to let them."

She received three skeptical stares in return and chuckled.

"That's what my mom always says. I think she's full of crap."

"How festive," Stella chuckled.

A loud shout came from the other room and the girls all rushed over to see what they had missed.

"What happened?" Austin asked, her hand on her hip.

"You didn't see that play?" Flack said in astonishment.

"No Duck, I was busy cooking your dinner," Austin returned, flicking the back of his head.

"Well you missed a good one, Grace. Guess you'll have to catch it on YouTube."

"Men," Jess huffed, rolling her eyes and going back into the kitchen.

"We like them individually, but as a group we think they're stupid," Austin added.

"Hey!" Mac shouted with a grin. "I'm not that bad!"

"You're an exception," Stella offered. "Most of the time at least."

"I think I hear babies waking up," Lindsay said, cutting the potatoes that Jess had peeled.

"I'll go check on them."

Stella disappeared into the other room and Austin rolled her neck, placing more marshmallows on top of the sweet potatoes.

"I was banking on them sleeping longer."

"They wake up each other up every time they take naps together. Someday maybe we'll learn."

"They're sure cute laying in there talking to each other though. Conspiring against us."

"Figuring out a preemptive strike on bath time."

"Tips for shedding a dirty diaper before mommy finds you."

"How to spit your food clear across the room."

"I'm pretty sure they're going to be friends for life."

Jess giggled at the exchange while Stella came back into the room, a baby on each hip.

"Oh hey grandma saddle bags."

"I am not that old, Messer," she corrected, putting Colton in his high chair. He grimaced and banged on the tray, then found some dry cereal left over from that morning and happily crunched into it.

"Hey, when is dinner going to be done?" Adam shouted from the other room.

"Excuse you?"

"I drew the short straw and had to ask."

"It'll be ready soon, but we're eating in shifts and ladies first."

"Austin!"

"What? I think it's fair. And judging by the looks on their faces, everyone else that is slaving over a hot stove thinks it's fair too."

"Linds?"

"What?"

"Feed me?"

"Turn the TV off."

"I am so not sure what to do here."

"Torn between his wife and the boys," Jess muttered with a chuckle.

There was another loud cheer from the other room.

"Sounds like he made his decision."

"That's okay. He'll pay later. I'll make him watch Titanic with me."

"Linds, that's evil."

"I know, but I owe him like four punishments, so I figure four hours of hoop skirts, icebergs and everlasting love should take care of it."

"Four hours of the Leo? Never mind Adam, how can you stomach that?"

"I'll fall asleep about the time he's king of the world."

"Devious."

"That's marriage survival 101."

"I second that," Austin agreed with a grin.

"Well girls, what do you say we stick this bird in the oven?" Stella asked, loud enough for the guys to hear.

"You haven't put the turkey in yet?" Mac yelled. "Some of us have to go to work in like three hours!"

"I didn't think it would be Mac that freaked out."

"You think I wouldn't freak out about…" Mac trailed off as he came into the room and saw the cooked turkey resting on the counter. "You're a sadist, Stella Bonasera."

"I learned from the best, Mr. Whoops I forgot to put gas in the car and we're in the middle of nowhere and I don't have cell reception or mountain man skills."

"The look on your face was worth the bruise on my arm."

Stella rolled her eyes as he left the room.

"Do we want to know about this?"

"It was just Mac breaking me in apparently. One of our first cases together."

"Always remembered with such fondness. Back when you were just babies."

"It makes me feel really old now."

"Hence the grandma."

"Austin, shuttie."

"You know, I don't mind the Thanksgiving tradition of us all cooking if we keep the tradition of the men cleaning up."

"If I could find a small enough font, I would so put that on a bumper sticker."

"This Linds, is exactly why we're friends."

"Word up home skillet."

"Dig it, Humphrey."

"You guys are so weird," Jess snickered, drawing her legs up into the chair. "And why are we watching Sex and the City?"

"Stella picked."

"Guilty pleasure. Never know when you're going to get to see a bare chested Chris Noth."

"Ooh, Stell's got a thing for Mr. Big."

"Don't we all?"

Laughter erupted at the accompaniment of such a salacious comment to the demure smile on Jess's face.

"I betcha Flack overheard that."

"Well what doesn't kill you makes you stronger and I think that might work out for me, so…"

"I would expect something like that from Austin, not you."

"Serious? Because I would expect that from you, Linds."

"We clearly spend too much time talking about our sex lives."

"Girls, this is a holiday."

"So you're saying we should all have some wine if we're gonna keep talkin' like this?"

"Yeah Austin, that is exactly what I was saying," Stella teased with a roll of her eyes.

"Ah, Linds cover my eyes," Austin said, wrinkling her nose as the scene that played started to get a little more fleshy.

"You cover mine!" Lindsay responded.

"So you two can talk about it but you can't see it."

"Yes!" they chirped.

Stella laughed and shook her head never really quite sure when they were serious and when they were trying to be funny.

"My eyes are covered so someone please tell me what that crash was."

"It came from the kitchen."

"Oh no..."

She removed Austin's hand from her eyes and stood up slowly.

"Boys what did you break?"

"Nothing honey, sit back down."

"Was it my glass bowl? The one my grandmother brought me from Belgium?"

"Um…"

"Adam Ryan Ross."

"Linds, just don't come in here for a minute, okay?"

"Are you serious?"

"I don't want to see you cry today!"

"I thought I told you guys to be careful with… Adam that's a regular mixing bowl!" she said, one hand coming off her hip in exasperation, then landing again.

"It is?"

"You can tell the difference between DVD-R and DVD-RW but not Pyrex and crystal?"

"Yeah?"

"Scare me like that again and you're washing all the bottles for a month without the spongy sticky thingie."

"You wouldn't!"

"I totally would."

"I love you."

"I tolerate you," she returned, headed back to the other room. He followed her and whispered something in her ear that caused her to snort a laugh before he went back to the dishes. She bit her lip and returned to her seat, eyes glowing.

"What?"

"Nothin'."

"Linds, you hardly ever drop your G's. That was somethin'."

"He was just tryna make me blush and it ain't gonna happen."

"Whoa, she went Southern!"

"Shuddup Messer," Lindsay launched back trying to get the Southern drawl of unknown origin out of her voice.

"Oh man," Stella said with a laugh. "I love our wonky, make-shift family."