Chapter 32

Thanksgiving with the Cabots/Novaks (Part 2)

Before long, it was 12:00. The parade was now over and Casey and Alex retreated to the kitchen to begin greeting their family members that were starting to show up. Olivia was still on the couch, talking with Ronald before William came over and sat in his reclining chair, sporting his Eli Manning jersey.

"Ready for the games today, Bill?" Ronald asked.

"Absolutely! One of my favorite parts of Thanksgiving." William turned to look at Olivia before asking her a question. "Let me ask you, Olivia. Do you like football?"

Olivia smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I do. I watch it from time to time."

William smiled back at her before continuing the conversation. "Now, here's my most important question. Who is your favorite team?"

Both William and Ronald were watching her intently, waiting for an answer. "Promise not to hate me?"

William's expression saddened a little. "Don't tell me you root for the enemy."

Olivia gave a soft smile. "Yeah. I'm a Jets fan."

Ronald and William both groaned, dramatically leaning back in their seats.

"Say it ain't so!" Ronald groaned. William simply shook his head as he lowered it to his chest.

"I don't hate you, Olivia. But I am disappointed in your choice of sports teams. Now let me ask you this. Mets or Yankees?"

"I'm not much of a baseball person, but I have been to a few Yankees games. So I would say the Yankees."

William applauded while Ronald groaned again. "Yes! Good choice on that one," William smiled, getting up from his chair.

"Well, you're 0 for 2 with me, Olivia," Ronald teased, causing Olivia to laugh.

"You're 21, right?" William asked.

"Yes sir."

"Great. I'll be right back."

William briefly left the room and came back with 3 beers in his hands, giving one to Ronald and one to Olivia before holding it up and taking a drink, watching the pre-game show on the television for the 12:30 game.

"So. Packers or Lions? I know they're playing in Detroit but I've gotta go Packers," William said, greeting some other men of the family as they came over to watch and talk about the game.

"Packers all the way," Ronald agreed, also greeting some men from their families.

"No way. Lions win this easily," Olivia said.

"Really?" Some man that looked like William looked to her and raised his eyebrows, beer in hand. "Bill, who's this?"

"Sorry, Dave. Olivia, meet my brother, David. Everyone calls him Dave. Dave, meet Alex's girlfriend, Olivia."

Dave extended his hand and gave her a firm handshake. "Nice to meet you, Olivia. Wait, my niece is gay?" Dave looked around briefly before calling for Alex to come over.

"Hey uncle Dave!" Alex gave him a hug.

"Hey! Just met your girlfriend. Didn't know you were gay, Alex. Why didn't you tell me?!"

"Dad!" Alex scolded.

"What? You told me, I thought it was okay!"

Alex softened her expression. "It is okay. I had just planned to tell everyone else later. I'm not mad." Alex looked down at Olivia and smiled before her eyes went wide. "Dad! Did you give her a beer?"

Olivia smiled dumbly at Alex as she took another drink.

"Get me one," Alex whispered to her father.

"Really, Alex? Do you want your mother to kill me on Thanksgiving?"

"I'll get her one. I'd rather your wife kill me than you, Bill. Gotta celebrate my niece finally getting out there!" Dave wrapped an arm around Alex's shoulder and squeezed her tight before retreating to the fridge in the garage to grab another beer. In the meantime, Alex sat next to Olivia on the couch and intertwined their fingers together.

"You don't have to watch sports with them, you know," Alex whispered to Olivia.

"I think it'll be fun. I like football," Olivia shrugged with a smile. "Plus, it gives me time to get to know your dad more."

Alex smiled in return, leaning her head against Olivia's shoulder as Dave handed Alex a beer, clinking his bottle to hers and then Olivia's.

Alex put the Corona up to her mouth and took a small swallow of the golden liquid before smacking her lips in disgust as she surveyed the bottle. "Ugh. This is not as good as Smirnoff."

William shot his head over to look at his daughter. "When did you have Smirnoff?"

Olivia began chewing on her lip as she avoided eye contact with Alex's dad, afraid he would see right through her.

"Uhh… I plead the fifth?" Alex said, causing her father, Ronald, and Dave to burst out into laughter.

"So, how you liking college, Lexie? Still wanna be lawyer like your old man? Or do you wanna do something cool like your uncle here?" Dave smiled goofily at Alex, waiting for her response.

"What do you do again?" Alex teased. "Something with math, right?"

Dave sighed and groaned, polishing off the rest of his beer. "I'm an accountant! We have tons more fun than lawyers."

"Oh, I doubt that," William laughed, also polishing off his beer.

"Can you two fools promise me you won't get drunk on Thanksgiving?" Rosemary scolded, now standing between the couch and the recliner with her arms folded.

Alex, not even thinking about it, brought her bottle to her mouth and began drinking the golden liquid again. Looking over, Rosemary's eyes went wider than they had all week; a small fire burning behind them.

"Alexandra Rose! What are you doing?" Rosemary reprimanded.

"Ahh, calm down Rosie! She's 18, let her have a beer," Dave chimed in, earning himself a death glare from his sister-in-law. "It is Thanksgiving!"

"She is not old enough to be drinking! And don't you dare call me that."

Olivia could see clearly, now that Rosemary was angry, that majority of Alex's mannerisms stemmed from her mother.

"Bill, talk some sense into your wife," Dave scoffed with a laugh, retreating to the garage to grab more beers.

William didn't move. He kept his focus on the TV. He knew better than to try and pick a side when his brother and wife were having their habitual holiday argument.

"They don't really get along too well," Alex whispered to Olivia, who was too afraid to move or speak.

"What did you just say? In my house?" Rosemary carefully turned and began following Dave out to the garage, forgetting all about Alex's beer.

William sighed.

Casey came over and plopped down next to Alex, wrapping her arm around her shoulder. "Dave and Rosemary back at it again this year, huh?"

"Yup," Alex said, throwing back more beer, making a slightly disgusted face after.

"Just wait until my aunt Connie gets here and talks to Mom. I wonder who will piss the other off more," Casey laughed, grabbing the bottle from Alex as she took a drink.

"Casey Anne…" Ronald scolded. "What do you think you're doing?"

Casey turned to look at her dad before smiling and handing the bottle back to Alex. "Sorry, Dad. Wasn't thinking."

"I'd say not! Don't let your mother see you drinking that." Ronald gave her a few pats on the back before getting up from the couch to go mingle with some family.

"So, Liv. This is it! A giant Novak and Cabot holiday. Surrounded by too many damn people and feuding relatives. You happy you came?" Casey asked, with Alex laughing next to her, already feeling a little fuzzy from the alcohol.

"Absolutely. It's better than I could've imagined. Way better than the alternative." Olivia clinked her glass against Alex's as she chugged the rest of her beer.

"Here, I'll get that for you Olivia," William offered, deciding it might be a good idea to go check on his wife and brother in the garage.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't my sweet cousin Casey and my dear, sweet, beautiful Alexandra," A smug 16 year old red haired boy said, grabbing Alex's hand and kissing it. Olivia immediately raised her eyebrows at the boy before shifting on the couch and wrapping her arm possessively around Alex's shoulder. Alex couldn't help but smile at Olivia's action, although the boy seemed the think the smile was for him.

"Eww, get out of here Robbie," Casey said, lightly shoving him. "Your crush on Alex was cute like four years ago but it's time to let her go. She's dating someone and is absolutely not interested in you!"

Robbie only smiled, his hands in the pockets of his khaki pants as his knit green sweater vest laid loose against his dress shirt underneath. "Sure, sure. Her Facebook still says she's single, so nice try."

Alex and Casey both rolled their eyes.

"You know, something doesn't have to be on Facebook for it to be true. She's dating someone. So get lost, shrimp." Casey's attempts to get Robbie to go away were shrugged off immediately.

Turning to finally look at Olivia, Robbie smirked as he checked her out. "My, my. Look at this beautiful specimen. And who might you be, my darling?"

In the most intimidating voice she could muster, Olivia stated, "Name's Olivia." Olivia stuck out her hand for a shake, but Robbie instead grabbed her hand and kissed it just as he had Alex's.

"Robert Johnson, otherwise known as Robbie. 16. Cousin to Casey. My mother is her father's sister. Your future boyfriend, since Alexandra is unavailable." Robbie wiggled his eyebrows at the last sentence before flashing Olivia a cheesy smile.

Olivia cocked her eyebrows before chuckling. "Rob, my dude. You're barking up the wrong tree."

"Don't tell me you're taken, too?" Robbie asked, a sadness to his voice, mixed along with just a hint of cockiness. He clearly didn't get what Olivia was trying to say.

To prove her point, Olivia was bold in her next moves. Her arm still around Alex's shoulder, she shifted again, even closer to Alex as her free hand rested itself on Alex's thigh. "You see, I am taken, Rob." Olivia then leaned over to give Alex a kiss, which Alex gladly reciprocated. "By our sweet Alexandra. She's mine, Rob. And I'm hers." Olivia wore the biggest shit eating grin on her face after her display.

Casey was trying so hard not to erupt with laughter. Alex couldn't help the urge to want to throw Olivia down and ravage her; having her be so protective and possessive over her was extremely hot to Alex.

Robbie just stood in front of them, staring with his mouth slightly ajar, before swallowing thickly. "Damn. Now I know why Alexandra never let me take her out. We just weren't destined to be. Not in this lifetime, anyways. There's always the next, my love." Robbie again grabbed Alex's hand and kissed it before retreating to talk to some other family members.

Casey finally let her laughter get the best of her as she laid her forehead to her knees, laughing towards the ground. "Jesus Christ, every year with him!"

Alex chuckled. "I know. Thank God Olivia saved me this year. My hero!" She leaned over to give Olivia's cheek a kiss before whispering in her ear. "You're so hot when you get possessive over me."

Olivia felt the hairs on her neck stand up and a shiver run through her before finally leaning back into the couch, pulling Alex with her.

"Alright, alright," Dave said, returning to the living room with William, his hands up in defense. "I'll leave her alone, Bill. Now, how about this game?!" Dave clapped his hands together as he perched on the coffee table facing the TV. "Lexie, who you got to win?"

Alex squinted at the TV, surveying the team logos. "The blue team, obviously. Plus, their mascot is a kitty. So them."

"Pfft. You girls really think Stafford is gonna beat Rodgers?" Dave took a drink of his new beer. When William had returned, he had brought Olivia a new beer, too.

"Who?" Alex said, causing Olivia to chuckle.

"The quarterbacks, Al," Olivia answered.

"I'm sorry, I don't speak sports ball." Olivia threw her head back and laughed before watching as kickoff started.

Rosemary came back over to the couch. She was looking frantic and flustered, trying to get everything finished for the feast. "Alex, I forgot. Give me that beer, young lady." Rosemary held out her hand, watching the TV as Alex handed her the empty bottle.

"Sure, Mom. Here you go."

Rosemary looked at the empty bottle and sighed before retreating to the kitchen to throw it in the recycling bin. She soon came back to lean against the arm of the couch. "Alexandra. I wish I could ground you right now."

"What did I do?!" Alex asked surprised.

"Underage drinking!" Rosemary whispered angrily. "Your Grams and Gramps could've witnessed that! And then what?!"

"It can't be any worse than their granddaughter being a lesbian," Alex shot back, causing Dave to cackle.

"Christ, Rosie, it's a God damned beer! She's not taking shots. Although, I could pull out the ol' Jack Daniels early if you'd like?" Dave shot her a teasing smile before winking at Alex.

"If you so much as pour my daughter a shot, your ass is out of here Davie! Bill, for God's sake control your brother. Alexandra, if you so much as touch a liquor bottle tonight, or any night for that matter, so help me God when you stay here you'll be sleeping in the treehouse." Rosemary got up from the couch and made her way back to the kitchen.

Alex closed her eyes and laid her head back on the couch, grabbing Olivia's beer and chugging half of it.

"Alex…" William warned. "Don't do that to your mother. Olivia, I'm sorry. I promise this is not a normal occurrence."

"Yes it is," Alex said, eyes still closed. "Every holiday. You guys have little spats. Mom and uncle Dave argue, you sit there and pretend like you don't hear them, Mom freaks out that nothing will be done on time and therefore acts like the sky is falling if someone so much as breathes the wrong way, Robbie always hits on me, and don't even get me started on Casey's side. This is why Casey and I always disappear after we eat. Speaking of, I want some pie." By the end of her rant, Alex was slightly slurring her words. Behind closed eyes, it felt as if her body was slowly floating on a river. This is what she got for drinking so much so fast on a nearly empty stomach.

"Are you seriously drunk after one beer? Ha! Lightweight," Dave teased.

William sighed as he rested his head in one of his hands. "Alex. You need to eat something."

Alex chuckled. "Oh, I could think of a few things I'd like to eat."

Casey nearly died of laughter, clearly picking up on the sexual innuendo.

"Jeez, Al…" Olivia whispered with a slight laugh, hiding her head in her free hand, desperately trying to hide her blushing face.

"Ha!" Dave laughed. "That was fucking awesome." He made a fist and leaned back to fist bump his niece, who gladly returned it.

"I'm going to pretend that what you meant by that was all of your food options for Thanksgiving…" William groaned, shaking his head as he got up from the chair to head into the kitchen. "Be thankful your mother didn't hear that one."

"Hear what?" Rosemary asked, pulling the rolls out of the oven, catching the tail end of William's statement.

William gave a warm smile to his wife before pulling her into a hug. "Nothing, honey. Alex is an adult, now. She's just coming out of her shell, so sometimes I'm just surprised at how open and unafraid she is to speak her mind. She didn't do anything."

"Mhmm," Rosemary murmured, returning her husband's embrace momentarily before pulling away. "Alexandra! Come here."

Alex went to the kitchen, dragging Olivia behind her. "Yeah, Mom?"

"Help me with these rolls, please?"

Phew. Alex could've sworn she was about to get scolded again.

Carefully, she and Olivia grabbed down some serving plates and began lightly buttering and dusting the rolls before moving them to the serving plates. Afterwards, Olivia carried them to the giant dining room table. Coming back, Rosemary was leaning down into the oven, checking on the turkey.

"Okay, I think it's done! Olivia, dear. Do you think you'd be able to carry this bird to the other room?"

Olivia smiled at Rosemary before slightly lifting up her sleeve and flexing her arm, showing off her muscles. "Absolutely."

Alex quickly grabbed and felt Olivia's arm before she had a chance to roll the sleeve back down, biting her lip afterwards.

"Alex, honey. You might want to wipe your mouth. You're drooling," Rosemary teased.

Alex wiped her mouth before realizing that her mother was only teasing her, both Rosemary and Olivia chuckling at her. Alex pursed her lips and folded her arms. "Oh, ha ha. Very funny."

Olivia bent down and grabbed the giant turkey, pulling it out of the oven before walking it to the dining room table. Alex and Rosemary followed her, carrying some of the last items to the table.

"Wow. Look at that turkey," Rosemary cooed. "Girls, thank you. So much. We did an amazing job today." Rosemary pulled each of them into a hug before moving to the kitchen to call everyone's attention.

"Alright, everyone! Listen up!" Everyone got quiet and began making their way to the massive kitchen to listen to the yearly speech. "First, thank you to everyone for coming. I'm happy to see everyone is healthy and doing well, with the exception of David." Everyone erupted into laughter as Dave smirked and shook his head, lifting his beer bottle up to Rosemary. "In all seriousness, we're very happy to welcome everyone to another Cabot and Novak Thanksgiving – a tradition we started after Bill and I and Brenda and Ronnie got married on the same weekend back in 1988. I'm excited to see that our families are still strong, and growing every year. If you've never been to one of our holidays, welcome!" Rosemary turned and smiled at Olivia before continuing on, never skipping a beat. "If the hospitality is weak, I at least hope the food will convince you to come back again." Everyone once again erupted into laughter. "Everything is ready! Grab a plate and come on! Bill will be carving."

Everyone from each family began forming a line, making their way to the dining area to stack their plates full of food. Alex, Casey, and Olivia stood together talking while waiting for their turns, Alex holding Olivia's hand the whole time.

Once they piled their plates up, they retreated to the basement where Casey and Alex usually ate every year. Plopping down on the giant couch, Alex turned on the large flat screen TV and surround sound system and began searching through movies for them to watch.

"What are we watching this year?" Alex asked, shoveling some turkey into her mouth.

"Hmm. How about Pitch Perfect? I still haven't seen it," Casey offered.

"Oh yeah, I heard that was good! You okay with that, Liv?"

"Absolutely," Olivia said with a smile. "It's got Anna Kendrick in it." She was trying so hard to stop herself from smiling, but was failing miserably.

Alex turned to give Olivia a questionable look, squinting her eyes at her. "What, do you think she's hot or something?"

Olivia shrugged, looking away from Alex as she shoveled some mashed potatoes in her mouth.

"Uh oh," Casey teased, shoveling her own mouth full of food.

"Liv?" Alex prodded.

"Maybe…" Olivia mumbled, still not looking at Alex.

Alex shook her head and chuckled, turning the movie on. "It's okay, Liv. I'm only teasing you. We all have celebrity crushes."

"Zac Efron. One hundred percent. He is just so…" Casey did her best growling impression as Alex and Olivia laughed.

"And yours, Al?" Olivia asked.

Alex furrowed her eyebrows and thought as she ate more of her food. "Oh!" She finally said, shaking her head and swallowing. "Laura Prepon. All the way. Orange is the New Black absolutely sold me on her. That voice…" Alex did her own growl as they all laughed, finally turning their attention to the movie.

Within 20 minutes they were all done with their first plates, and decided to pause the movie and go up for seconds. Olivia and Casey both got more turkey and sides, while Alex loaded up three pieces of pie – one chocolate, one apple, one pecan. She also grabbed an entire can of whipped cream and brought it with her, with Olivia and Casey teasing her about it.

"Holy shit, these pies are good," Alex said, mouth full of pecan pie as she squirted some whipped cream in her mouth.

"I'm really glad they turned out good. Your mom and I worked hard on them!"

Alex scooped up a piece of the chocolate pie on her fork before turning to feed it to Olivia, who gladly accepted it. Chewing the bite, she closed her eyes and moaned as she surveyed the flavor.

"Wow. You weren't kidding." Alex then brought the whipped cream can up to Olivia's mouth and squirted some inside, accidentally squirting too much. Olivia kept her head tilted back, giggling as she tried not to lose the whipped cream that was sitting on the side of her mouth.

"Whoops." Alex also giggled before bringing her mouth to the side of Olivia's to kiss and lick the whipped cream off, only causing them to giggle more.

"Why are you two so damn cute?" Casey gushed, watching the interaction.

Alex smiled at Casey before giving Olivia a quick kiss, then returning to her pie. "Because I'm obviously adorable and Liv is an absolute cutie."

The three continued to watch the movie as they finished their food, groaning at how full they were. About halfway through the movie, Dave made his way down to the basement.

"Sup, girls?" Dave said, rummaging through the refrigerator downstairs.

"Watching a movie," Alex replied.

"You girls want a shot?" Dave held out the bottle of Jack Daniels. "I won't tell your moms."

Olivia immediately got up from the couch. "I do love Jack. I'll take one."

Casey and Alex exchanged a look before shrugging, getting up to also take a shot with Dave.

"Now, you two only get one. Consider this my 'going away to college' present. Olivia, have as many as you want with me, since you're 21. And, your parents aren't here to yell at me." Olivia laughed before lifting her shot glass to make a small toast.

"Let's all say one thing we're thankful for before taking the shot. I'm thankful for Alex and her amazingly sweet family, welcoming me in as one of their own on such short notice. This is probably the best Thanksgiving I've ever had. Thanks for pushing me to come, babe." Olivia gave Alex a quick kiss before throwing back her shot and slamming the empty glass on the counter.

"I'm thankful for having such an amazing family," Casey said. "Novak and Cabot both. I can't imagine my life without any of you in it." Casey tossed back the shot and immediately squeezed her eyes shut before gagging. "Oh my God! Eww!"

"I'm thankful for my brother having such an awesome kid to call my niece. Love you, Lexie. I'm glad you're able to be yourself in this fucked up world." Dave threw his shot back and whistled afterwards.

"Well…" Alex started. "I'm thankful for a lot of things. I'm thankful for Casey, who helped me figure out a few months ago that I wasn't broken, I was just a confused lesbian. I'm thankful for my accepting parents and family, who still love me regardless of who I love. And most importantly, I'm thankful for Olivia. You're the kindest, funniest, sweetest, and sexiest person I've ever met. You make me absolutely crazy, and I'm glad you're my girlfriend. Plus, you're really good at sex." Alex threw back the shot before anyone had time to react to her last sentence. Similar to Casey, she made a disgusted face before shaking her head frantically, wanting to forget the shot of whiskey she just took.

"Fuck, that's terrible!"

Olivia, who was blushing, laughed before pulling Alex into a long hug. "I love you, Alex."

"I love you too, Olivia."

Casey squealed in excitement and high-fived Dave as they watched Olivia and Alex hold each other.