Unspoken

Chapter 31

November 26, 1992

Thanksgiving dinner was going to be a chaotic and hectic affair, and yet Marlena couldn't stop smiling. She was back in her childhood home after years away, and she was surrounded by her children. She bounced Ryan in her arms as she watched Sami, Eric, Carrie, and Alais help her mother set the table. John had gone to lay Brady down for his nap. He'd miss dinner, but at six months old sleep was more important than a family dinner he'd never remember anyway.

Frank came in from the back porch with a huge grin on his face. He carried a large wooden cutting board, and on top was the largest brisket she'd ever seen. "Dad!" she laughed. "That's a lot of beef."

"Well, we got a big group this year, and it's been a long while since your mother and I have had the chance to do this," he said, crossing through the kitchen, and setting the cutting board down on the kitchen counter. What he didn't say was that having them there was what he'd always dreamt of – Marlena coming home with her family so that he and Martha wouldn't continue to feel so isolated. He was going to do whatever he could to make sure they stayed. Eric went bounding over to stand beside his grandpa.

Eric took a long, deep breath, and then he grinned. "That's gonna be way better than turkey!"

"It sure is," Frank told him. "This here is a labor of love, Eric. Someday I'll teach you how to do it."

"What about me?" Alais demanded, hopping over like she was a rabbit. Marlena tried not to laugh. Alais had been hopping most of the day. "Are ya gonna teach me?"

Alais's accent was changing every day. When they'd first seen her at Maison Blanche her accent was leaning towards Spanish, but the longer she was with them the more it became something Marlena associated with Colorado. Her way of saying fire sounded more like far. When she said washing it came out as warshing. It would be easy for Alais to pick up new sounds as she became more accustomed to speaking English regularly. Less and less she was asking the English for Spanish words.

"Little monster," Frank said, winking at his granddaughter, "I'll teach you to be the best pit master in all of Denver. You'll win contests at the state fair when I'm done teaching you. What do you think about that?"

She bounced on her toes, and her dark curls bobbed around her shoulders as she replied, "Yes! Yes! Thank you!"

"Alais, honey, take these napkins to the table for me." Martha handed Alais a stack of paper napkins she'd pulled from a nearby cupboard. She caught Marlena's eye, and shrugged. "No sense making more work for ourselves. We're already going to be doin' dishes, why do laundry too?"

"I don't mind," Marlena said softly. "I was just remembering the way Sam used to fold the paper ones, and put them on the table with the silverware."

"That girl was always trying to be fancy," Martha laughed. She paused for a moment, looking around the busy room. Frank was feeding Eric small pieces of brisket. They could hear Carrie's voice on the telephone in the other room, and Sami was humming to herself as she spun in circles laying forks at the place settings. Ryan snuffled like a small goat and cuddled his face into his mother's neck. His small hand was wrapped tightly in her hair. Martha said, "Sam would have loved this, you know?"

Tears welled up in Marlena's eyes, as she said, "I know." Her hand moved in gentle soothing motions over Ryan's back as she looked around. "Her and Sami would have been as thick as thieves."

Sami looked up from laying forks on the table. "Huh?"

"I was just thinking about how much you remind me of my twin," Marlena said. She took a seat at the end of the table, and started to gently rock Ryan. He might end up sleeping through dinner as well.