Winning Skylinn

10

Once the pies were done, we started on the stuffing and mashed potatoes. I peeled and stuffed all afternoon, until finally, it was time for Mr. Cox and Jonny to come over for dinner. (Savannah was still there.)

Jonny had changed, and was now wearing a maroon button-down and khaki pants. "Aw, honey, you look so handsome!" Savannah gushed, touching his cheek.

He blushed, and his dad said, "And what am I? Chopped liver?"

Savannah rolled her eyes, but she gave him a quick kiss. Jonny and I pretended to be disgusted, like we always did. Even at eighteen, we acted like children from time to time.

"Who's ready for dinner?" my dad, who had entered from the living room, asked.

"Me!" I said, raising my hand.

We sat down at the long dinner table, the one we used on special occasions. It was in the dining room, where we only ate on holidays or birthdays. Usually we just ate in the kitchen.

"Thank you, ladies, for preparing this lovely meal," my dad said.

"Yeah, it looks great," Mr. Cox added.

"Let's say grace." My dad reached for my mom's hand, and then we all held hands around the table. Everyone bowed their heads and closed their eyes as my dad began to pray.

At the end, we all said 'amen.'

"Dig in!" my mom exclaimed. She said that at every Thanksgiving.

The food was delicious, although I thought we might've used too much salt on the potatoes. I covered them in gravy to block out the saltiness.

"Let's all name something we're thankful for," Dad suggested. It was another Thanksgiving tradition of ours. "I'll go first. I'm thankful for my beautiful wife."

"You say that every year," I reminded him.

"But I mean it this time," he joked, and my mother scoffed in mock hurt.

"Well I'm thankful for my daughter," she said, smiling at me, "and all her help this week. She's been very strong, under the circumstances, and I admire that."

"Aw, Mom. I'm thankful for a family Thanksgiving-plus the Cox's." They all laughed, but I wasn't finished. "You guys are my family, too, though. And I'm really glad you could be here."

"Aw, that's sweet, Sky," said Savannah. "I'm thankful for my baby boy, who's getting all the Christmas shopping done this year! I'll miss going with you guys. Stupid work."

"We'll miss you too," said Jonny, who was sitting beside me. "I'm thankful for...this food."

I rolled my eyes at him. "How sweet."

"What, you know I get clammed up at these types of things," he whispered, and I just laughed.

"I'm thankful for 25 years with the love of my life," Mr. Cox finished, grinning widely at Savannah.

Oh, that's right. Their 25th wedding anniversary was in a couple weeks. They'd gotten married right before Christmas, all those years ago.

"Aww, Jere," Savannah gushed. Mr. Cox's real name was Jeremiah, but everyone who knew him on a first-name basis called him Jere.

"And now, we toast!" The adults had wine, while Jonny and I had sparkling grape juice. Just three more years, and we'd finally be able to join them.

Everyone clinked their glasses together as my dad shouted, "Happy Thanksgiving!"