Cresswell: The Lunar Chronicles

Chapter Ninety One

Cress spent all the rest of the night looking up Thanksgiving recipes. She was a little nervous to even try and make a big giant turkey, but Carswell suggested she get a chicken or something and practice. The only problem was Cress couldn't decide what she wanted to start with—there were so many different ways to prepare a Thanksgiving turkey!

"What did you parents do for Thanksgiving?" Cress asked, leaning over the counter.

"You know, the holidays were one of the few things my parents did that I actually enjoyed. They always threw a giant party, there was tons of food, endless dessert..." He shrugged. "It was fun."

Cress smiled. "Sounds fun."

"It was. But honestly I liked what we did last year better. It was smaller and simpler, but was better."

"Oh good! What kind of desserts did your parents make?"

"Uh, let's see... there were 85 millions kinds of pies—apple, pecan, pumpkin, chocolate—some cookies, cakes—"

"What kinds of cookies and cakes?"

"Lots of pumpkin and chocolate, they did a white cake..." Carswell lightly trailed off, thinking, "oh and some kind of like banana-whipped cream thing."

"Aces."

"Yeah. We don't have to do all that, though."

Cress laughed. "Oh good, because for 8 people that might be a bit much. What's your favorite?"

"Pecan."

Cress nodded, jotting that down. Last year Scarlet made pumpkin and apple pie, so Cress thought this year she'd try some new desserts. Thankfully she had some time before November to practice and get everything down. With any luck, she'd at least be able to make this year as good as last year.

"So what should we try first?" Carswell asked.

"Mm... how about something with pumpkin?"

"Works for me."

"Cool. Maybe tomorrow we could go to the store?"

"Yeah, let's do it. What do we have to eat now though, cause I'm hungry."

"Me too actually." Cress said, shoving her port screen away from her and pulling open one of the cabinets. "Oh, you know I think we still have that pizza dough—you want pizza?"

"Mm that sounds good."

Cress pulled the pre-made dough out of the fridge and set it on the counter, adding a jar of marinara sauce and the bag of cheese to the mix. She shooed Carswell back to the living room, telling him to take it easy and rest for a bit.

Carswell made a face. "I'm not 3." He retorted, grabbing the box of Fruit Loops on his way to the living room.

"Noted." Cress whispered to herself. Assembling the pizza was easy since everything was already done and all she had to do was put it together, so while it was baking she took a quick shower. By the time she finished she could smell the pizza.

"Starting to smell good." Carswell said as she came down the stairs.

Cress paused. "Me or the pizza?"

Carswell laughed. "Specifically the pizza, but you always smell good."

"It should be finished." Cress said, grabbing her hoodie from the end of the sofa. The floor was cold against her bare feet and she wished she'd brought her slippers downstairs.

"You know one of these days we should—" Carswell was cut off as a roar of thunder burst through the rain.

Cress jumped, glancing up at the ceiling.