• November 22, 2018 (Thanksgiving dinner at the Kents' Residence) •

The Kent family was hosting Thanksgiving dinner at their place and quite a lot of people had been invited. The Danvers as well as the Smiths were present along with Connor's friend group and the YJ members who were currently in Metropolis.

As a result, the Kent residence was full of people but they seemed very happy to have so many guests around. Clark was having a great time with Jonah and Jeremiah whereas Connor's civilian friend group was finally getting to meet his vigilante friends group, though only Zach and Ava were aware of that fact.

The much-awaited dinner had been laid out in the garden because there were a lot of people who could not be accommodated in just the dining room. Connor and Clark had fixed up a table that morning which spread out along the entire span of the garden and chairs were lined up as well for everyone to be seated.

As there were a lot of people, it was mutually decided to say a collective Thanksgiving prayer and then anyone who wanted to make a speech would be allowed to do so, though it would not be mandatory for all.

Zach decided not to make a speech but Ava was having none of that. So after the Thanksgiving prayer when it was time for the speech, she announced, "my lovely brother Zach has a lot to say. Come on everyone, let's give him a round of applause!"

Connor and Luke had started the very enthusiastic applause, joined in by the rest of them shortly after. That had put the entire spotlight on Zach and he looked as if he wanted to hide under the table and never come out.

Zach hadn't ever experienced stage fright before but with so many people around and all their attention on him, he felt slightly queasy.

"Come on now, what are you waiting for?" Ava had a very triumphant smile on her face as if she had accomplished the very goal she wanted to.

"Or I can make a speech in your stead," Tim offered but a fork came whizzing out of nowhere at him so he hastily avoided it, almost falling off the chair, "hey Ava, that's not fair!"

"It's Aviana to you and no, you are not stealing all the fun."

Meg had caught the fork and poked Tim with it, making him screech, "sit tight, Timothy, no one wants to hear you."

"Hey!"

"No squabbling on Thanksgiving," as usual, Richard had to take hold of the situation again.

"Hey Zach, why you wasting everybody's time?" Wally spoke up, "some of us are dying to dig in. So take the stage and say what you have to."

That caused quite a laugh among the others though it did nothing to quell his nervousness. However, Kara's hand gently interlaced with his and she gave it a light squeeze as if telling him that it was no big deal and that he shouldn't get so nervous.

So he stood up, looked around and said, "I am thankful for a lot of things, but especially for the fact that I forgot my speech at home."

"Excuse me, what? After spending an entire day writing it out and you forgot it at home!"

"Ava, who even asked you to put me in the spotlight like that?"

"Because I wanted to hear what you had spent so long writing. And you didn't even bring the speech with you... This, Timothy, this is what is called not fair."

Tim looked up startled, as he did not expect to be directly addressed Ava, "oh yeah, totally. Probably the only time I'll ever agree with you."

"Ava, Zach, you two are behaving like preschoolers at the moment," Morena remarked but a rather amused smile was playing upon her lips.

"Sorry Mom," Zach mumbled.

"It doesn't have to be a structured speech," Clark added, "you can say anything you want to. Go ahead."

Zach thought for a while and then when none of the others interrupted him, he collected his thoughts, trying to put them into words. "Alright, uh... I am thankful that all of us are here right now, safe and sound and having a great time together. I... I am thankful for every single one of you who showed me that life is more than just a race to achieve our dreams. Life is... More than just winning. I..." He knew he was bound to get somewhat personal after that but Kara's hand gently entwined through his again and he willed himself to just speak whatever came to his mind at that moment, "I am thankful for my family, my friends and all of you who helped me realize the meaning of friendship, love and unconditional support. Thank you for everything."

He felt as if his words had run out so he got silent but the silence didn't stay for long as another applause sounded. All of them were touched by that raw unprepared speech and even Ava looked as if somewhere those words had struck a chord in her heart.

"Zachary, you sap," she mumbled, standing up and then hugged him tightly, taking him by quite a surprise, "I am thankful that our parents got married, y'know."

Laughter sounded along with that applause and Connor couldn't resist taking a picture, "you know, we have an album where we put our Thanksgiving pictures and this one is definitely going in there."

It was rare for Ava to be so expressive and Zach awkwardly disentangled himself from her, "are you sure you aren't running a fever today?"

"Nope, how dare you even assume something like that!"

Before another banter could start, Wally spoke up, "so now that the speeches are done, may we start eating?"

"Sure."

After a rather lively dinner and friendly chatter going on among them as all of them were interacting pleasantly, Zach took Kara aside and handed her a folded paper.

She recognized it was the same speech Ava had snatched out of his hands a day back when she had come to their house for a visit.

"You had this with you the whole time?" She asked, laughing as she took it from him.

"Yeah but this isn't the speech I would have made in front of everyone," he replied, "this is for you."

"Oh."

At a considerable distance from them at which it wouldn't have been possible to overhear them, Connor turned to Ava and spoke up, "you know the speech you wanted so badly to hear? Zach just gave it to Kara."

Ava looked up, "wait, he had it with him this whole time?"

"Yup."

"And how do you know?"

"Super hearing," he winked, "I heard them."

Ava considered whether she should go and tease Zac about it or not but then let it slide. Turning to Connor, she asked, "hey Connor, have you ever considered becoming a spy as a profession?"

He chuckled, "a spy? Me?"

"Like don't you have super hearing and what not?"

"But do you seriously think I could keep secrets of that level?" He asked, laughing even more at the entire prospect of being a spy.

"You know, Aviana, there was one time Connor totally blew us off on a mission," Tim had turned up from nowhere and joined the conversation uninvited, "I would love to tell you all about it if you promise to not cast me out later."

Ava looked at him closely, "is this your attempt at mending our friendship which you so horrendously ruined by dyeing my room?"

"Ah... Not how I would put it exactly but y'know... It's Thanksgiving, we should probably get over that trifle by now, right?"

Connor interjected, "but not at my expense. Shut up, Timmy."

"No no no, wait. On a scale of one to ten how embarrassing it was?" Ava asked, suddenly interested to know what had happened on that mission, much to Connor's disappointment.

"A twenty," blue eyes sparked in mischief as Tim replied, holding his hand out towards her.

"Hell yeah, I'm in." She shook the offered hand, finally calling it a truce among them, "now spill the beans."

"Nooooo... Not when half of the people here can easily listen in," Connor tried to stop them but to no avail.

"Weren't you the one eavesdropping earlier?" Tim remarked, "I would say it serves you right."

"Totally," Ava agreed.

He knew there was nothing else he could do to stop Tim from embarrassing him and he couldn't even dash off with Ava using his superspeed because Ava's parents, Luke and Nora were unaware of his abilities.

"Sometimes I can't decide who I hate more. Tim when he's being obnoxious like this or Ava when she refuses to back down from something."

"Hey, you love us," both of them replied in unison.

"Unfortunately..."

"And weren't you the one who said you would want your two favorite people to get along?" Ava teased, a mischievous smile playing upon her lips as well, "now we're getting along just fine. So maybe you should add this to the list of things you're thankful for."

"Not fair, Ava, not fair."

She batted her eyelashes playfully, "deal with it."

***