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About two weeks later, Thanksgiving came around. Conrad and Liz spent it with a few friends at their home. They just arrived back to their own place when Liz gets a call from Laurel. She sat on the couch and answered, "Hey, Laur."

"Hey!" Laurel exclaims, "Happy Thanksgiving."

"Happy Thanksgiving." Liz says, "How are you?"

"I'm good. I was calling to check up on you and the baby girl."

Liz smiles, "No, yeah, I'm doing good. Some days are better than others."

"I understand that. Trust me." Laurel chuckles, "Did you guys do anything for Thanksgiving?"

"Um, we hung out with some friends. Friendsgiving, I guess." She chuckles

"That sounds fun." Laurel says, "I also wanted to ask you guys about Christmas. Steven told me a little bit about what happened with Jere and I wanted to make sure you guys were still coming."

"Uh.." Liz stammers, "Yeah. We- we're still coming. Um, is Belly gonna be there?"

Laurel pauses, "She's staying in Paris for the holidays. She asked me to send some of her winter stuff, so she's probably staying a while."

"Oh." She says, "Things must be going well, then."

"Sounds like it." Laurel hums

"What about Jeremiah?"

"I haven't talked to him yet." She says hesitantly, "But I will try to get ahold of him as soon as I can."

Liz nods to herself, "Yeah, okay."

"So, we'll see you guys for Christmas?"

"Yeah. Yeah, definitely." Liz nods

"Should I heat up the gravy?"

"I don't know, John."

Liz smiles at their bickering, "I'm gonna let you go, Laur. Have a good night, okay?"

"You too, honey."

"Thanks. Bye."

"Bye."

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Christmas approached quickly. A lot quicker than Liz could've ever anticipated. Whenever she and Conrad entered, she was almost immediately swarmed by her parents. It had calmed, but didn't stop. Conrad, Dakota, and Steven sat in the living room playing video games. Liz sat in the kitchen, nursing a cup of hot chocolate.

"So, six months, huh?" Laurel says

"Yeah." Liz sighs happily, "It seems to go by pretty quickly."

"Very quickly." Laurel laughs turning back toward the counter

"I wish I could've been there for the gender reveal." Megan says

Liz's jaw goes slack before she shrugs, "It was a small thing. River planned most of it."

"An invite would've been nice." Ben says sipping from his mug

"I've already told you, Dad." Liz says, "I just needed time. It wasn't malicious."

"We understand, honey." Megan says quickly, "What about names? You guys have any ideas?"

"Um, a few." Liz nods, "We haven't really had one that's stuck."

"Well, I was thinking that maybe you guys could give a little tribute to Susannah."

Liz looks down into her mug, "We thought about that, too, but we also considered that it could be a little bit hard for the baby. Some people have said that being named after someone that's passed made them a little uncomfortable since the name isn't just theirs."

"Well, I see that, but it would be really nice to have that."

Liz could already tell where the conversation was going. She sighs, "We're thinking about it, Mom. We don't have a definite answer yet."

"Mom, I'm starving. When's dinner?" Steven calls out

"We'll eat whenever Jeremiah gets here. He has to finish his shift at the restaurant." Laurel says, "Hey, Connie, did you get those ornaments from upstairs?"

"No, I forgot, I'll do it in a second." He says

"Okay. Thank you."

"Yeah." He says before standing and heading upstairs

"What about the birth?" Megan asks grabbing Liz's attention again, "Are we allowed to be there?"

"I was actually thinking that it would just be Conrad in the room with me. It'll be a little hectic, so I just want it to be a little less stressful." She explains, "But you guys are welcome to be there after. Everyone is."

She looked over at them and could see the disappointment engraved into their features. She sighed and pushed away from the table, "I'm gonna go use the restroom."

Megan nods as Liz slowly made her way out of the kitchen. She walked up the stairs with a huff. Conrad turns with the box of ornaments in his hands, "You okay?"

"My parents are starting already." She says walking closer, "They're pissed about the gender reveal, my mom wants the baby named after Susannah, and they're mad about not being in the room when during the birth. I don't know how much more I can take."

"Okay. Relax." He says softly setting the box down. Liz lets out a sigh as he places his hands on her shoulders, "Just cut off any pregnancy talk. Anything you don't want to talk about, just say it. After that, if they continue to talk about it, ignore them. Okay?"

Liz nods shutting her eyes, "Okay."

"You shouldn't be stressing right now. If they're contributing to that, let them know. Don't spare their feelings."

"Maybe I should see a therapist. It's clearly working for you."

Conrad smiles, "Wouldn't be a bad idea."

Liz lets out a small sigh as she rolls her neck, "Okay. Let's bring Laur her ornaments before she loses her shit."

Conrad chuckles picking up the box and following her down.

•••

A few hours passed. Liz and Conrad sat together on the couch with Dakota and Steven on the other.

"Jeremiah's here." Laurel calls out

"Everyone, come grab a dish." Adam says

"Coming." Steven says as he and Dakota head into the kitchen together. Conrad helps Liz stand up before following her into the kitchen.

"Finally." Dakota says

Conrad looks around, "Where's Laurel?"

"She went outside. I'm not sure why." Steven shrugs

"Can't eat until they come in then." John says

Steven throws his head back, "No."

Liz laughs from beside Dakota. Dakota holds his hand up, "Okay, wait, we can't make Liz wait. She's eating for two, alright?"

"I can wait." Liz hums setting her chin in her palm

"No." Dakota groans, "You were supposed to say yes and then I steal from your plate."

"Excuse you." Liz frowns as Steven laughs

Conrad looks over as the door opens and shuts. He watches Laurel turn with two bags and a container of food, "Is he not coming?"

Laurel shakes her head as she enters the kitchen, "It's just gonna be us tonight. Let's sit down and eat."

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