Chapter Two

"We got everything on the list," Angie reported with a smile as she entered the kitchen carrying one bag of groceries with Steve close beyond carrying the rest.

Catherine took the bag from her daughter and placed it on the island. Right on top sat a package of marshmallow cookies.

"I see you got a few things that weren't on the list as well," she said.

"Daddy said we could get those," she said as she climbed on the empty stool next to her brother.

Steve chuckled. "I wasn't the one who suggested the cookies."

"No, that was me," Angie said matter of factly. "But you agreed we should get them and keep them in the cupboard for when Joanie gets here because she loves those kind of cookies. So we negotiated."

Steve opened his mouth to speak, thought for a few seconds, then said, "She has me there. That's pretty much how it happened."

"You're going to have to work on your negotiating skills when it comes to Angie," Catherine said with a smile as she put the cookies away.

"Angie is a super good negotiator," DJ said proudly. "Just like how Mom negotiates with senators and representatives to get important bills passed. Maybe you can be chief of staff someday. Or even governor."

"Maybe," Angie said with absolute confidence that anything she set her mind to was possible. "I know, DJ can run the team while I'm being governor. As long as it can be during the off season in case he's playing professional baseball."

Catherine barked a laugh. "Well, before we start planning that far into the future let's finish deciding on a menu for Thanksgiving."

"We're havin' turkey,right?" Angie asked, wanting to double check. "Because Daddy was telling me a story about one year when you and him didn't have turkey or stuffing or anything."

Catherine smiled softly. "Italy."

Steve nodded.

"Why didn't you have any turkey?" DJ asked.

"Because Thanksgiving is an American holiday and they don't celebrate it in Italy," Catherine explained. "So their stores aren't stocked with the kind of things we're used to eating on the holiday."

"So what did you do?" DJ asked. "Did you eat pasta?"

Steve finished away the groceries and came to stand next to Catherine. "No, but your mom figured out a way to make it as much like Thanksgiving as she possibly could."

DJ smiled. "Mom's good at that."

"She sure is," Steve replied.

"We found a little market that had one fully cooked chicken left. And that was lucky because we only had a tiny little two-burner stove in our hotel room so we would never have been able to cook one ourselves," Catherine explained.

"Then Daddy asked the woman at the market if they could get some boxed potatoes and she almost cried," Angie told her brother.

DJ looked at Steve with a confused expression.

"She didn't really cry," Steve clarified. "She was a cook like Nonna and she didn't like the idea of boxed potatoes. She preferred fresh food."

"Oh, I get it," DJ said.

Catherine smirked. "Your father always forgets to tell the rest of the story."

Angie looked at her father with accusing eyes. "Did you leave something out?"

"You tell us then, Mom," DJ said. "Please."

"Well." Catherine leaned on the counter and her eyes danced mischievously. "The shop owner was in the back of the store when we came in so she didn't even know I was there. So when your father went to find her to ask her about boxed potatoes she thought he was on his own. She asked what, and this is a quote, such a handsome young American sailor was doing out by himself."

Angie giggled.

"She said she was cooking dinner later that night and that her beautiful single granddaughter would be there and that your father was more than welcome to join them."

"She had McGarrett-itis," DJ chuckled.

Catherine grinned. "Like so many others before and since."

"She was just being nice," Steve insisted.

Catherine shook her head causing both kids to laugh. "You should have seen the look of disappointment on her face when she saw me and realized we were together."

"But she did suggest the baby potatoes because they'd be easier to cook and she offered us some of her own special spice blend to go with them," Steve reminded his wife.

"That's true," Catherine conceded. "And she even loaned us a pan to cook them in but I think that was just an excuse for her to get a chance to see you again the next day."

"So is that all you had to eat?" DJ asked. "Chicken and little potatoes."

"No," Catherine said. "We also had some zucchini and a couple of fruit cups that we pretended were like cranberry sauce. And some delicious homemade bread from a shop next to the hotel."

"And that cheese!" Steve said, the memory suddenly flooding back.

Catherine smiled as Angie asked, "What cheese?"

"There had been a banquet at the hotel earlier in the day," Steve said. "And they had overestimated how much cheese they would need so there was a bunch left over. They put it on trays in the lobby and the girl at the reception desk practically begged us to take one to our room. She didn't want to have to throw it away."

"That would be wasting food and that's bad," DJ said seriously.

Even though he'd overcome most of his food-related issues from the time before he joined the family he still hated to see any food wasted.

"Exactly," Steve agreed. "So your mother and I tried to do our part."

Catherine barked a laugh. "We ate a lot of cheese on that leave."

"Daddy said you also had … bisc …bisc … Italian cookies like Nonna makes," Angie said.

"Biscotti," Catherine said. "We did. They were delicious. There was a little restaurant right up the road from the hotel."

"But Mommy and Daddy didn't eat there," Angie told her brother with a disappointed look. "So there was no music at their table like Aunt Angela told us about when she went to Italy."

"It was still very nice," Catherine told them.

She shared a look with Steve. "One of my favorite Thanksgivings ever from before the two of you came along."

Steve kissed her cheek. "Same here."

Catherine caught sight of the clock on the stove. "But for now, we have to stop thinking about fun Thanksgivings in the past and get ready for this year. Aunt Mary, Uncle Aaron, Aunt Deb and Joan will be here in less than an hour."

# THE END Thanks for Reading

Find all our stories (in chronological order!) on our website: marirealmcroll dot wixsite dot com backslash real-mcroll

Or in the McRoll in the REAL World community here on fanfiction dot net Find us on Tumblr: mcrollintherealworld dot tumblr dot com

You can join our mailing list by emailing us realmcroll at yahoo dot com with: Add me, please! in the subject line. Or just drop us a line to say hi! We love hearing from our readers.