"Generations pass like leaves fall from our family tree. Each season new life blossoms and grows benefiting from the strength and experience of those who went before."

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𝑪𝒉𝒓𝒊𝒔

"Easy, no-fuss Thanksgiving turkey." I read the online article.

Seems simple enough, I think in my head before scrolling to read further.

"Alright," I rub my hands together. "Gobble-gobble, turkey."

Step one, I begin to read in my head. Blah, blah, blah. Boring, boring, boring- wait.

"Cook time, three hours? The hell." I scratch my head.

Well, three hours is three too many. I look at the time on my Rolex and see it's almost four, our guests will be arriving soon. Shit.

Duke, my dog, stares up at me and whimpers.

"Calm down, you weren't gettin' any, anyway." I talk at him.

"Hey, baby." Morgan's voice strains as she walks up the last few steps.

With a groan, she drops the bags all along her arm, onto the round table.

She lets out a relieved "phew" and pets the dogs before washing her hands.

I'm too busy reading over another quick, easy turkey recipe to greet her properly, settling for her lips brushing against the stubble on my face.

Morgan stays on her tiptoes, leaning on the kitchen counter, to ask what am I doing exactly.

"I completely fucked up," I pause to vibrate my lips. "So unless you know how to cook a turkey in less than an hour... dinner's ruined."

"So dramatic." Morgan says under her breath.

She drops back onto her flat feet and stares at the gaping hole in the raw turkey.
"She must've been popular." Morgan jokes.

I smack my lips. "Babe, there's no turkey." I stress.

"Who cares?" She stops setting the table to flail her arms at me.

I throw a baby carrot at her and slightly raise my voice. "I do!"

"You don't have to cry about it." She says calmly, picking the carrot off of the hardwood floor to throw away.

The sigh that leaves my mouth is an aggravated one. "It's the one thing you need for a Thanksgiving dinner, and I fucked it up."

"You didn't fuck it up, Chris, it's not even cooked, yet. Why? Because you wanted to pLaY tHe gAmE all morning and wait until the last minute. I told you how long it takes to cook, I gave you your mother's recipe and everything, but did you listen to me? No." She goes on, poking me in the chest.

I push her hand away and exhale through my nose.

"It's not that serious, babe. I told you, we can just go to a restaurant, or something, I'm sure our parents won't mind."

"I mind, Morgan." I state, pushing off of the counter.

I glue my eyes back to the phone screen, scouring the internet to see if I can fucking DoorDash a cooked turkey, or something.

"Okay," she puts her hands up. "what is with you and this whole tradition? Oh- is it because you used to be the Indigenous (Indian) chief? Your mom told me you didn't take that costume off for a week after the school play." Morgan cracks herself up, laughing hysterically at my embarrassing elementary school moment.

Remind me to get on Mary about that later, I make a mental note to myself.

My face can't go any straighter.

Morgan calms herself down and wipes away a tear. "Ahh." She let's out, still amused.

"Okay, okay," she finally gets serious. "for real, what's up with you, why are you so stressed about this? It's just a turkey."

"It's the first time we're hosting something like this... together... with our families. I don't know, it seems like a big deal. My parents used to be the ones who threw the big holiday dinners, now we are and I don't want it to be a shit show."

"It's not a shit show," Morgan emphasizes, palming my face. "What's important is this is the first time out of many to come, alright? See, there's that smile, aww. Besides, I knew you would do this so I had Jasmine's mom help us out."

With my hands stuck on her hips, I pull away to stare questionably at Morgan.

My head tilts as she sports a proud closed-lip smile. She pops her eyebrows and reveals to me, "Jasmine's dad couldn't make it and Jabari's parents decided to go to dinner somewhere else, so they asked if they could just come over here. Jasmine's Mom- you remember Dana, right- she told me we better not say no to seasoned food." Morgan makes me laugh.

"Oh, and Izzy and Lee are coming, too. Don't look at me like that, you know how their families are..." she doesn't finish her sentence, only making a face to say how their families are different, to say the least - eccentric.

The sudden chiming of the doorbell makes our dogs go crazy, barking. They don't stop usually until we go to open the door.

Since Morgan's not dressed, yet, I let her finish setting the table so I can go welcome our guests.

Because not everyone is dog-friendly, I put Duke and Stevie in their ward of the house near my office, and keep them behind a gate.

After jogging down the stairs, I drop into the foyer that's lit up with a different scented candle than the one upstairs. This one is 'bodega coffee; espresso + cream.' It's nice, I like it.

The lights are dim until I push the window curtains apart to let the afternoon light in.

Hearing the doorbell sound off again, I finally open the door to Kelsey and Owen Bennett.

Their smiling faces usually make me uncomfortable but I have to play nice because it's a holiday and Morgan is breaking the news to them some time before or after dinner.

"Kelsey, Owen, hello." I greet them.

Owen looks smug per usual, pushing his way inside. He shoves two bottles of wine at my chest and then pats my shoulder.

"How are you, my man?" He chuckles, immediately making himself at home.

I don't answer him because Kelsey brings my body against hers and then kisses both of my cheeks.

"Love the haircut. Look at you, getting sexier everyday." She slaps the back of her hand against my peck and I awkwardly inch backward, forcing a laugh.

"Kels," her husband's tone is a playful warning.

"Oh, I'm joking, he knows that." She rolls her eyes. "Chris, come help me with the rest of the food in the car."

~

Kelsey and Owen make themselves a nuisance in the kitchen. If they're not taking over the cooking, bothering Morgan, then they're pestering me about work.
Owen's mostly sympathetic, supportive even, telling me to take my time before jumping back into the field.
Kelsey, though, is on my ass about unemployment, telling us the worst case scenarios from homelessness to eventual death.

After all this time, I still don't know what their deal is. I like them as people but it's like they always have too much energy, smile too big, and overstep. They're pushy, that's what it is.
Kelsey has made it clear to me that she wants to be as close to me and Morgan as my parents are to us, but I don't think that could happen as quick as she hopes.

"Are you okay?" I make it a point to check on Morgan periodically.

She just nods, continuing to smear frosting over the red velvet cake she's made. I can't wait to taste it, but she smacks my hand every time I even steal a look at the dessert.

Dana, Jasmine's mother, is lazy as fuck, I hate to say it. She's a sweet lady but as soon as she waddled in, she sat down on a stool in the kitchen to finish some side dishes and every time she needs something, from utensils to spices, she asks Morgan, "aye, baby, get that for me." Like, goddamn.
Then, Jasmine is complaining because "it's hot in the kitchen" but her ass isn't contributing anyway, so I don't know why she's even near the kitchen.
Meanwhile, Jabari and Owen hit it off, they've been talking sports non-stop, and fan-girling like a couple of assholes.

Fuck, I don't know if I ever want to host Thanksgiving dinner again.

"Baby," Dana snaps her fingers at me. "can you get me some, uh, butter, please?"

See what I mean? Her fat ass hasn't gotten up once, or her daughter.

I shoot Morgan the side-eye and she conceals her laughter by licking icing off of her finger.

I slam the fridge shut after getting the CountryCrock for Jasmine's mother.

I think I'm overstimulated. I need to smoke.

I remove myself from the madness to go to my bedroom balcony and face a blunt before my parents, Izzy, and Lee finally arrive.

~~~

I feel much better.

I put out the rest of my blunt and take in the fresh air before heading back into my bedroom.

There, Morgan's sitting on the windowsill, staring out at the view. Knowing her, she's in her head, practicing how she'll tell her parents the news of our engagement for the 2,657,536th time.

"Don't move." I whisper, sneaking up on her.

She steals a glance at me, removing my iPhone from my pocket, and rolls her eyes but returns to her candid position.

I capture the moment on my camera and smile at the image.

She hops down and draws in a large breath, walking into my open arms.

"You okay?" I ask again, earning a mean mug from Morgan.

"Will you stop asking?" She sounds annoyed, hitting me in my stomach.

I laugh and swallow her hand in mine.

"Next year, we can leave this up to your parents." Morgan says before we exit our bedroom.

Ding-dong!

"Speaking of my parents..." I speak lowly, leading the way down the stairs to greet them at the door.

Only, it's not my parents. It's Lee and Izzy.

Suddenly, there's a yelling match. It's coming from the kitchen.
Morgan and I look at each other, knowing we both hear my mother's voice, and then race back to the kitchen.

"-You don't tell me how to make deviled eggs." My mother argues, rolling her neck.

"Mom?" I wonder, staring at the back of her head.

"I just did." Kelsey remarks smartly, standing tall over my 5'5" mother.

"Mom!" Morgan shouts.

"Thank God." I hear the relief in Dad's voice.

"What's going on?" I ask him when he comes to give me a hug.

"Women." Dad and Owen reply in unison.

True.

"Oh, honey, finally," Mom says, throwing down her apron.

She gives my body a squeeze and I lead her and Dad out of the kitchen to eliminate some of the tension.

"You're like an hour early, what's going on?" I look between she and my father, folding my arms over my chest.

Mom smacks her lips, looking over the upstairs family room to see if there's anything out of place that she can fix. When there's nothing to dust or replace, she just twiddles her thumbs.

"Oh, I couldn't wait in that hotel room any longer. I missed you, and I wanted to help. But I see the help has already arrived." Her caddy remark makes me scowl.

"Don't start, alright?" I sigh, deeply annoyed.

This is blowing my high. JB and I are gonna have to "take a walk" before the food's ready.

"Your mother's just mad there's nothing left for her to do." Dad says what I'm thinking.

I nod my head and remain with a cold face.

"Mom, be nice. For Morgan." I have to level with her.

The last thing I want is for Morgan to be upset today. I said this would be a shit show but she assured me it wouldn't, so I'm trusting that.

My mother drops her pretzeled arms by her side and finally puts on her usual sweet smile.

"Fine." She gives in. "But I don't trust her, she's so pushy. Plus you know my eggs are superior."