-Sunday, November 20, 1921 / Minneapolis, Minnesota-
A bright young woman walked down the street, admiring the buildings and taking in the scenery. This was a huge change for her—she had just arrived there, of course!
She noticed a newspaper floating down the street and bent down to pick it up. "Germany Plans Delegation to Arms Conclave," she read from the headline, then flipping through the first few pages. After scanning a few sentences, she closed the paper and folded it in half before sticking it under her arm.
Taking in the sights and smells, she walked down the street. As she came across a cafe, she noticed two prestigious-looking women having a very heated conversation.
"—And when I took the cake out of the oven, the entire center was still liquid!"
"No!" exclaimed the second woman. "Are you sure you followed the recipe?"
"Entirely sure." The first woman, a blonde with a close-cut bob, set her martini down on the table. "It might be that darn oven. All these newfangled inventions...I just can't seem to figure out how they work! I should telephone the company to file a complaint!"
"Did you rotate the dish halfway through cooking?"
The two ladies stared at the stranger, both shocked and confused. "I beg your pardon?" asked the blonde, cautiously eyeing the strange young woman up and down.
"Yes," continued the stranger. "If you rotate the baking dish halfway through cooking, that ensures that each side of the pan is evenly cooked. Or, did you over mix the cake? Sometimes if the batter is over mixed, it causes the cake to collapse."
"You seem very knowledgeable in baking," the blonde woman told her. "In fact, a good friend of mine runs a paper downtown; she might be interested in having a cooking advice column…" She paused for a moment. "What's your name?"
The stranger quickly tried to think of something—then she remembered a name she saw in the newspaper under her arm. "Elizabeth…" A last name! She needed a last name! Quickly glancing over her shoulder, she noticed a large shop sign: Johnson Appliances and Crockery. "...Crocker—I'm Elizabeth Crocker."
-Thursday, November 22 / 12:19 pm / Rose & Kanaya's condo-
Rose: 16 weeks along
Roxy: 6 weeks along
"So we are going to Mr.—Joseph's house tonight?"
"Mm-hm,"
"And we have to be there at 5:30?"
"Mm-hm," Rose answered, relatively nonchalantly. "And my—" She gulped. "—grandparents will be there. God, that's weird to say."
"I would imagine," Kanaya replied. "They've been absent for the majority of your life."
Rose was silent.
"Speaking of your grandparents," continued Kanaya, "I know they'll be at dinner tonight; do you know who else will be there? Besides John and Vriska, of course."
Rose sighed, halfheartedly trying to remember what Roxy had told her. "I think...Karkat and Terezi. Probably, I don't know."
"Sounds simple enough." Kanaya stood up and went to check on the corn casserole she was making. "Alright, this looks just about done...I hope it tastes alright."
-5:27 pm / Joseph & Roxy's house-
Augeth and Obrina glanced at each other as Karkat pulled into the Egberts' driveway. They had been here a few times before, but it was still awkward. Also, to save gas, the entire household rode in the same car—a sedan—and Katrina's car seat took up a great deal of space in the back seat.
"So let me get this straight…" Augeth turned her glance from Obrina to the other cars in the driveway. "The entire point of this human holiday is to...eat food?"
"That's what it comes down to, yeah." Karkat was rather uninterested in having to explain these "weird human traditions". It wasn't like he'd been doing them his entire life, anyway.
"But there has to be some explanation for it," insisted Obrina. "I mean, certainly humans wouldn't just decide to create a holiday based around food?"
Karkat scoffed and killed the engine. "Its origins do go back to food," he told Obrina. "Basically, some of the first people to move to the country almost starved, so to thank the natives for showing them how to farm and stuff, they had a big dinner. The end."
Obrina just shrugged as she followed Augeth out of the back seat. Once Karkat had gotten Katrina out of her car seat, the Vantases and others went to knock on the door.
Mr. Egbert answered the door with a smile. "Come on in!" he said to his daughter-in-law's "family" and friends. "The turkey's just about done, but everything else is ready."
"It smells great," Augeth commented as she stepped into the kitchen. Rose and Kanaya were already seated at the table, while Roxy was tending to the turkey and Casey was playing with Frigglish. John and Vriska came to join the others as soon as they heard footsteps, and waved once they saw the Vantases.
"Kitty!" exclaimed Katrina, begging Karkat to put her down so she could pet the black cat. She toddled over to Frigglish and Casey, then gave Casey a baby hug before sitting down to bother the cat.
"So what's been happening?" asked Mr. Egbert in a typical "dad voice". He walked over to Karkat and gave him a hug that honestly freaked out Karkat a bit.
"Um…" Neither Karkat nor Terezi knew what to do, so the couple just sat down at the table and waited for dinner. Augeth and Obrina soon followed.
Roxy turned around, carrying the turkey on a large platter. "The turkey's done, so let's eat!" she happily exclaimed as she set the fowl down on the table.
Vriska grabbed the toddlers, one in each arm, and carried them over to the table. Katrina crawled into a chair next to Terezi, patiently waiting for dinner to start. Casey, on the other hand, wanted to eat immediately, and whined constantly for some food.
Mr. Egbert joined everyone else at the table, leaving everyone staring at him. "Well, let's eat!" he exclaimed.
Everyone dug into the food. Besides the turkey and Kanaya's corn casserole, there were mashed potatoes, peas and carrots, cranberry sauce, green beans, rolls, red velvet cake, and, of course, pumpkin pie. There was plenty of food to go around.
"Well, it's good Aunt Joanna isn't here this time," John quietly said in an attempt to break the silence. Vriska giggled at his comment, the memories of the past two Thanksgivings coming back.
Mr. Egbert laughed. "John, she's your mother's sister; don't be rude," he told his son. "But...it is good she isn't here."
"Who is Aunt Joanna again?" asked Roxy. "Was she at the wedding?"
Mr. Egbert made an "eh" sound before continuing. "She was there, but...I think she had a breakdown before we could talk to her."
"By 'breakdown' you mean throwing a hissy fit," Vriska piped in.
John chuckled. "Anyway, Dad, how is the bakery coming along?"
Joseph smiled, taking a bite of the corn casserole. "Well, the new floors are being installed now," he said, "and we'll start painting in December. It looks like we'll be open just in time for Valentine's day..." He turned to Vriska. "And, I'm looking for people to hire..."
Vriska laughed. "Of course."
The family and friends talked and laughed and ate, commenting on Katrina and Casey, the new babies, and life in general. Joseph was about to cut the pumpkin pie when his phone buzzed.
"Sorry," he said, embarrassed, as he took it out of his pocket to look at it.
You'll never guess who I just met, it said.
It was from Joanna.
HELLO FELLOW NIBLINGS
So! So! So! The reason why this chapter sucks and is short is because (a) school and (b) I'm having surgery tomorrow and will most likely be too out of it to do things for a few days!
Please keep me in your thoughts and/or prayers!
Thanks to godlessAdversary, fanmadeFinatic, DarthMaine, katella only, xi, and Guest for reviewing!
