"Did you buy out the entire grocery store?"
Erin looked up at Alex from the trunk and gave her a small shrug. "I told you that we were going to spend the weekend baking. After all, we're hosting both our families this year, and no one could come to a consensus on what sort of pie they wanted, so I chose the six with the most votes, plus your favourite. Because I have to reward you for helping me, after all." She gave her partner what she hoped was a winning smile, only to be rewarded with an affectionate eyeroll as Alex grabbed the first three bags. Erin just continued to smile as she loaded up her arms with as many bags as she could carry and followed Alex into the house.
"All right, since you probably have a system in mind, why don't you start putting these away, and I'll bring the rest of the bags in before starting to help you."
"Sounds good, darling," she softly replied, raising her cheek. Alex took the hint and gave her a quick kiss before heading back into the garage. Letting out a soft sigh, Erin set her bags on the kitchen table and began to rummage through the first one, finding the majority of her spices there. Taking them out, she arranged the new bottles with the ones she already had, making certain everything was in alphabetical order before moving on to the next bag.
By the time Alex had brought the last bags in, Erin had managed to get almost everything put away, and she let out a satisfied sigh as she looked at the neat stacks and columns in front of her. "All right, where are we going to start first?"
"I think the pecan pies. I'll need the bourbon that I bought for one of them."
"I was wondering about that," Alex teased as she bumped hips with her, and Erin let out a soft laugh as she nodded. "Let me guess, Dad asked you to make chocolate bourbon pecan pie?"
"Yes, and I couldn't say no to him. So, if you want to put the mixing bowls on the kitchen table, I'll get the bases sorted." Alex nodded and started on that task while Erin grabbed two pie tins and laid out the crusts in them. She would have preferred to make the crusts from scratch, but with the amount of pies she had planned on baking, there wouldn't be time for that, and still have the pies be fresh for Thursday. Once that was set, she gathered the ingredients for the two pies and then fixed her gaze on Alex. "We're going to have to divide and conquer, darling. Which would you like to start on? The regular pecan or the bourbon?"
"You put too much faith in me, Erin. I'm not that good a baker."
She shrugged as she clapped her hands softly on her thighs. "I have faith that you can read a recipe, and I'm here in case you have any questions. So I guess that means you'll start with the regular pecan, while I make this one for your father."
Alex nodded as she picked up the recipe card and began to follow the directions. Erin allowed herself to be distracted by her lover for a bit, smiling at the way her brow furrowed with concentration as she went step by step according to the recipe. Shaking her head a little to clear the woolgathering, Erin started to work on her own pie. Eventually, she caught up and then passed her lover, managing to pour her filling into the pie crust before Alex was finished. She then set the pie on top of the stove before starting to wash the dirty dishes while Alex continued to work.
"All right, I think that I'm done here? At least, it sort of looks like a pecan pie should." Erin turned to glance at Alex's pie, and gave her a broad smile as she nodded. "I'll just put them both in the oven, then?"
"Yes. And set the timer for sixty five minutes, please. Then, as soon as we're done with these dishes, we can probably get the apple pies out of the way tonight before we head up to bed."
Alex let out a long suffering sigh as she shut the door to the oven and started the timer before stepping over to her side and pressing a quick kiss to her forehead. "You're determined to crack the whip tonight, aren't you, darling?" she teased, and Erin nodded. "Will we start with my favourite pie tomorrow, at least?"
"Of course! I'll organize the ingredients for it before we head to bed." Erin leaned over and kissed Alex softly. "I even remembered to pick up fresh peaches instead of the canned, because I know that you prefer fresh fruit."
She watched her partner's smile slip into a frown as she shook her head. "What are you talking about? I don't like peach pie."
Erin felt her own face fall as she tilted her head to one side. "But, but, that's what your mother told me, back when we were first together. I never had the chance to make it for you, because, well…" Her voice cracked as she started to cry, and then Alex was bundling her up into a tight hug, humming to her under her breath as she rocked them back and forth. "Why would she lie to me?"
"Because she didn't like us together. She thought that I could do better than someone like you. James was respectable, he was going to be a doctor. You? You had more ambition in your little finger than her whole body, but none of the means she thought necessary to achieve those ambitions." Alex turned her head and pressed her lips against Erin's head before they sighed in tandem. "But I'll eat it, since you'll be making it for me."
"No! I can run out and get the ingredients for your favourite, darling. There has to be something for you on the table, too, since I'm making everyone else's favourites." A further rush of tears stung her eyes as she tightened her arms around Alex in a firm squeeze before letting her go and stepping away. "If you want to start putting together the ingredients for the apple pies, I'll go out and get what we need to make yours. What is it? Please?"
Alex gave her a tender smile as she nodded. "I love a sweet cherry pie, with the dark cherries. But they're not in season right now."
"I will find them, somehow, because you deserve it. After everything that's happened to us, you deserve something that is yours. Even if it's just as simple as a homemade pie." Erin gave her partner a quick, soft, kiss before she stepped away and picked up her purse and keys off the counter and stepped back into her shoes. "I'll be back as soon as possible, and then we'll finish up the apple pies before heading to bed, and I can love on you."
"Drive safely, Erin."
She nodded and then tugged on her coat before scurrying back into the garage and heading out into the night once more. Erin knew that she would have to first head to the specialty grocer and hope that she could find the right cherries for her beloved. The drive took longer than anticipated, as a fine drizzle had started, slowing traffic, and Erin found herself growing more and more frustrated with the whole circumstance. She had known that Mrs. Miller hadn't liked her, so she didn't know why she had trusted her with something like that, and never thought to ask Alex once they were back together. There were so many things that she still didn't know about the woman she loved, and she hoped that she'd be able to find out more by the end of the holiday. It would be difficult, given just how many people they'd be hosting, but she was going to put the work in.
After finally arriving at the store she had in mind, Erin took a deep breath and fumbled for her umbrella, not wanting to get wet on her walk into the store. Once inside, she shook her shoulders a little, trying to chase away the chill of the rain as she grabbed a small cart and headed to the produce section. Unfortunately, it looked like Alex would be right, and she allowed her shoulders to slump a little while fighting the urge to cry yet again.
"Can I help you, ma'am?"
She turned her head to look at the clerk who had approached her, giving her a small nod. "I'm looking for dark sweet cherries. My partner told me that they might not be available, since it's the middle of November, but it's her favourite pie filling, so I had to try and find some for her. I'd need about five pounds, I'm thinking, and I can't see where they'd be. Am I looking in the wrong place?"
The clerk nodded as she gestured at a spot a little farther away. "I just moved things around, so that might be why you're having difficulty. Follow me." Erin nodded as they moved over to the next display, and she let out a happy sigh to see the fruit that would make Alex happy.
"Thank you so much," she said as she began to look through the bags of cherries, looking for the best ones.
"You're welcome. And if you want the best of what we have, reach to the back and grab one of the deeper down bags. We put the containers that need to sell first on top."
Erin gave her a happy nod as she did as instructed, finally coming up with two bags that would work well for her needs. "Have a happy Thanksgiving!"
"You, too," the clerk replied, smiling and moving off to help another shopper. Now that she had what she needed, Erin decided to look around and see if there was anything that she had missed on her first shopping trip. After grabbing some more sugar and eggs, Erin headed to the checkout lanes and made her purchases before heading back home.
As she brought in the two bags, Erin smelled the delicious scent of cut apples, and she grinned as she entered the kitchen, setting her bags on the counter before looking at her lover, seeing that she had pulled her hair back into a high ponytail while she sliced the apples in front of her. "You made good progress while I was gone, darling," she said as she hung up her jacket and then went over to Alex's side, wrapping her arms around her waist.
"I wanted to take some of the burden off you. Did you find what you were after?"
"Yes. I think that I have enough to make you a delicious pie. Let's finish up these and then relax in the living room before heading up to bed."
"Music to my ears," Alex replied as she sank into the embrace, turning her head to kiss Erin. "But this has been fun, working with you like this."
"Good, I'm glad." Erin gave Alex a soft smile as they worked to finish up the apple pies, placing them in the oven to cook after a few more minutes of preparation. Erin set the timer with a little flourish before turning to look at her lover. "You have a little bit of flour on your face," she whispered as she stepped into the woman's personal space.
"Where?"
"I'll get it for you," she said, allowing her voice to drop to a husky whisper as she leaned in close and pressed her lips to Alex's cheekbone, letting her tongue dart out to trace a line along the streak of flour. Erin felt the shiver that ran through Alex's body and smiled as she continued to lap slowly at Alex's skin. Her partner let out a low groan before shifting her head so that she was kissing Erin deeply as she turned them around, easily boosting Erin onto a clear spot of the counter, stepping between her legs as they continued to kiss.
"I think that you were sneaking a few slices of apple behind my back, Erin. I can taste them on your lips."
"Guilty," she replied as she pulled Alex closer to her, draping her body over her partner's as she let out a quiet sigh. "That's why I made certain to purchase some extra cherries, since I knew that you'd probably want to snack on some while we're putting the pie together tomorrow. You know, if we were younger, I'd ask you to continue loving on me. But we have to think of our backs, and save that particular sweetness for later tonight. After all, we don't want the pies to burn."
Alex let out a hearty laugh as she nodded before kissing Erin once more. "Yes, we wouldn't want to disappoint anyone by having one of their pies not at the table. Do you think that we're going to have enough room for everyone?"
"That's the hope," Erin said as she slipped off the counter and took hold of Alex's hand, leading her into the living room and tugging her down onto the sofa. "It will be a little odd to see Penelope again, after all these years. I had no idea that she even knew your brother!"
Alex shrugged as she pulled Erin's head down onto her chest. "They met when Daddy called us out on a case there. I didn't know that they had remained in contact until Daddy called to let me know that Penelope was pregnant."
"What?"
Erin contorted her body so that she could look up into Alex's face, seeing that she was blushing brightly. "Oh. Maybe they were going to announce that at dinner on Thursday. Yeah, it was a total surprise to me, too, since I never really saw her as a mother? She's great with people, but I just always saw her as an auntie type. So, we're going to be aunties ourselves."
She nodded dumbly, rubbing her lips together as she chuckled. "There's another announcement coming Thursday, too. We're going to be more than aunties."
Erin watched Alex's eyes widen, and she nodded before smiling widely. "Well, this just gives us even more to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. Everything is going to be so perfect."
"That is the hope, darling. Our perfect piece of heavenly pie, here on Earth." She leaned up and kissed Alex softly before snuggling against her chest and letting out a happy sigh. "And I get to enjoy it with you for the rest of our lives."