Gingersnap

Part 15

The table was set and the food was ready to be eaten; all that was missing were the guests.


"Guys, dinner's ready!" Yuki's cheerful voice echoed through her two story home. The first guest to arrive in the kitchen was Edward, with Ginger cradled safely in his left palm.


"Move outta the way, Mustard Seed." Oscar snarled as his pushed the blonde haired boy aside.


Edward whirled around to face the burly red fox. "Who're you callin' so small he could sit on the head of a pin?!" He demanded.


"You!" Oscar laughed.


Edward growled under his breath as he clenched his automail hand into a tight fist.


"Hey, take it easy, hon."


Edward nearly jumped when he felt the feathery hand on his shoulder. He turned to see Phoenix standing beside him, her fiery feathers ruffled in obvious discomfort.


The owl gently squeezed the boy's shoulder before she stepped over to the table and took her seat.


As soon as Edward sat down next to Phoenix, Oscar took his place on the opposite side of the table. The boy glared menacingly across the table over a large basket of fresh baked biscuits, staring at the fox sitting directly across from him.

Oscar grinned proudly as his girlfriend Jessie slid into the chair next to him. She leaned over and gave him a quick kiss on the muzzle before she tenderly rubbed his tummy in circles with her paw.

Hey, I want belly rubs too... Edward tore his gaze away from the couple and clenched his teeth as he pressed Ginger against his soft tummy.

"Oof!" Ginger giggled as her tiny body sank into the soft fat beneath her. She cooed gently in response before she began to stroke his belly in wide arcs with her little paws.

"Well, I hope you two can get along this year," Denali sighed as she took her place next to her sister.

Jessie snorted. "Dream on, sis. These guys are like day and night." She slowly moved her paw up Oscar's torso and rubbed at his chest.

"Yeah! There's no way I'll ever get along with him."

Oscar glanced up at Edward and nodded in agreement. "Likewise."

"Well, at least you both agree on something, right?" Denali offered.

Edward rolled his eyes in response as he impatiently drummed his metal fingertips on the tabletop. "I'm hungry, can we eat now?" He directed the question at their host, Yuki, who had just taken her place at the head of the table.

"Not until everyone's seated, buddy."

The last guest to join the group was Victor. The white falcon placed his homemade green bean casserole in the middle of the table and sat down next to Denali. "Alright, who's ready to chow down?"

Edward couldn't help but grin at the sound of Victor's heavily accented voice. "I am! So hurry up and get comfy so I can eat some food."

Victor laughed out loud. "Yeah, so what are we waitin' around for, Yuki? Ya gotta let the boy eat his Thanksgivin' dinna right now or else he's gonna die of starvation ova here can't ya see."

Yuki chuckled at their playful banter. "Okay, okay, go ahead and dig in, everyone! We've got green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, biscuits, cranberry sauce..."

Edward and Oscar already had their plates piled high with food before the snow leopard had even finished her description.

Edward carefully placed Ginger on top of the table to fend for herself before he dug his spoon into a huge pile of mashed potatoes.

For a moment, Ginger watched the boys scarf down their meals like there was no tomorrow. She then shrugged her shoulders and turned around to survey the endless heaps of yummy food spread out before her. The delicious scents swirled around her, drawing her closer to the middle of the table. Her eyes lit up in excitement when she spotted the basket of warm biscuits sitting between Edward and Oscar.

Ginger glanced up at her best friend before she looked back at the biscuits and took a cautious step forward. Hmm... I really want to ask Ed if he could tear off a small piece of bread for me... but I don't want to interrupt him while he's eating. I'll just climb in and grab a small piece for myself, it shouldn't be that hard. The ocelot grabbed hold of the edge of the basket and hoisted herself up onto the thin woven edge. The basket wobbled as it was dragged forward by an unseen paw, causing Ginger to lose her balance and tumble into the mountains of baked bread.

At that same moment, Oscar reached his other paw inside and closed his fingers around one of the fresh, hot pastries.

Meanwhile, Edward was frantically searching the table for his missing friend. He looked up and gasped out loud when he spotted Ginger dangling from the edge of a flaky biscuit - one that was heading straight into Oscar's wide open mouth.

"NO!" Edward leaped up and snatched the biscuit out of Oscar's paw, only to stuff it into his own mouth along with the tiny ocelot clinging to it. She's mine, you can't eat her! She's my tasty little snack! He thought, even though the fox was unaware of the tiny presence on top of his bread.

Oscar curled his lip back as an enraged snarl bursted from his throat. "Ed, what the hell?!"

Edward separated Ginger from the biscuit and quickly chewed and swallowed a portion of the bread. Before he could offer a reply, Oscar reached across the table and stole a piece of Edward's cornbread right off his plate.

Ginger jumped in fright when she felt and heard the deep growl rumble at the back of Edward's throat.

"Gimme that! Iffs mine, ooo can't haf it!" Edward shouted, his voice thick from having his cheeks full of bread and Ginger.

"What? Sorry, can't hear you." Oscar smirked and popped the cornbread in his mouth.

"Grrrr..." Edward roughly pushed Ginger to the back of his throat and swallowed her with the rest of the bread. He let out a short burp before he grabbed the tray of Victor's casserole and dumped half of it onto his own plate.

"Oh so that's how you wanna play, huh, Eddie?"

Edward stuffed several forkfuls of casserole into his mouth he addressed the fox with a scowl. "Don't call me 'Eddie.'"

"Fine, beansprout." Oscar snatched up the bowl of mashed potatoes and scooped out a huge helping all for himself.

"Bastard," Edward muttered to himself around the casserole in his mouth. After a couple swallows of soda, he grabbed an armful of biscuits and took a bite out of each one, as if to claim them as his own before he gulped them all down.

"Guys, please..." Denali frowned as she glanced back and forth at her friends.

"Ah, let 'em have their fun. At least I won't have any leftovers to deal with when they're done!" Yuki chuckled to herself.

Victor's beak cracked open in a wide grin. "I shoulda known our big eaters would get themselves into some sorta eating competition soona or later. I love a good contest!"

"Yeah, and I'm going to win. I'll eat all the food off this table before any of you can blink!" Oscar bragged.

Edward shook his head and gave a deep belly laugh. "Yeah, right! I'll still be eating long after you lapse into a food coma after a few measly helpings." He snorted. "I bet you'll even get a tummy ache!"

"No, that could only happen to a tiny guy like you!"

"Who're you callin' so small he eats off of doll plates?! I'll show you! Everyone knows I can eat way more!"

With that, the unofficial Thanksgiving eating contest began.



Ginger screeched as she ran to the front wall of Edward's stomach, narrowly avoiding a chunk of bread falling from above. "Ed, please slow down!" She screamed until she was hoarse, but still her voice couldn't be heard over the sound of his noisy eating. "I'm going to get hurt in here..."

-

Oscar felt his eyelids grow heavy as he leaned back in his chair, wincing when he felt a sharp pain in his lower stomach. "Jess...?" He whispered hopefully.

Jessie slid her paw onto his bloated stomach and caressed it gently, soothing his stretched skin with her warm fingers.

On the other side of the table, Edward reclined in his chair as he pushed the last scraps of a biscuit into his maw. He hiccuped twice and let out a long burp immediately after. "Ohh man, I'm so full. Whew. What a great meal..." He sighed deeply and patted his belly with his palm. His shirt had ridden up past his belly button somewhere around his fifth helping of food, and his tummy felt warm and heavy in his lap.

"See, what did I tell you? No leftovers to box up!" Yuki snickered as she got up to examine the damage. Every single bowl, basket, and pan was empty and licked clean.

"Not a scrap of food left, dear!" Phoenix mused. "Well, except on our plates of course. I'll help clean up - "

"Oh, I'll take care of that for ya." Edward pulled an uneaten chunk of potato off of Phoenix's plate and dropped it into his mouth. He chewed it slowly, moaning loudly with every bite.

"Uhhh..." Oscar turned his head away and groaned as he rubbed at the sides of his overfull stomach. If only his belly didn't hurt so much or would've taken another bite of food to rival Edward, he thought.

"Alright," He muttered grumpily. "So who won?"


"Obviously I did. I mean look at my tummy!" Edward grinned triumphantly and smacked his round stomach. "It's much bigger than yours."


Oscar's whiskers twitched. "At least I've still got table manners, unlike you." He crossed his arms over his chest as he glared across the table at the boy.


"Aah, what can I say? I'm greedy and I'm not afraid to show it." Edward glanced down and slowly rubbed at his stomach with both hands. "I'm the champion, isn't that right, Ginger?" He beamed.


There was no reply.


Edward felt his heart jump into his throat. "G-Ginger?!" He whispered harshly. He breathed a quick sigh of relief when he felt a slight movement in his tummy.


"Huh? Oh yeah, congrats Ed. Or whatever." Ginger huffed as she plopped down on a chunk of bread at the top of the pile of food within his stomach.


"Ginger, what's wrong?"


"I'm fine. I don't wanna talk about it right now, Ed."


After quickly excusing himself, he pushed out of his chair and stumbled into the foyer to talk with his friend alone. He sat on the steps leading up to the second floor, frowning as he glanced down at his protruding stomach. He waited, listening to the sound of a clock ticking in the largely empty room, but still there was no response from the tiny ocelot sitting within his stomach.
"Ginger..." Edward softly stroked the curve of his belly with his thumb. "You know you can tell me anything, right?"


Ginger sighed. "But you didn't listen to me earlier, when I was telling you to slow down cuz I thought I was gonna get trapped under falling chunks of food."


Edward cringed at the thought and buried his face in his hands. "Aww Ginger, I'm so sorry... I never meant to hurt you, I just wanted to protect you from Oscar - you were about to go in his mouth!"


"Ed, I know you wanted to protect me, but you didn't have to start an eating contest against him! I was really, really scared!"


"I know, Gingersnap, I'm so sorry... will you forgive me? And, w-will you rub my tummy for me?"


"Not right now." Ginger crawled closer to the middle of his stomach, as far away from the walls she could get. "It's okay, just please be more careful next time you - " She quickly fell silent when she heard the muffled sound of a loud voice.


"Hey Ed, will you help me clear the table?" Yuki called out.


"Yeah, sure..." Edward slowly got up and walked back into the dining room. He began to stack a few empty plates in his arms, holding them against the top of his rounded stomach.


-


When the dishes were done, Yuki joined everyone else in the living room and sat down on the couch with a mug of hot cider tea. Next to her, Edward was sitting back with his hands resting on top of his belly. On the larger couch opposite, Jessie and Oscar sat entwined with each other, Jessie softly rubbing her boyfriend's gurgling stomach.
"So tell me, Ed, what are you thankful for?" Yuki asked.


"Well... I'm thankful for food and friends and for my f-family," Edward's bangs swung forward to cover his eyes as he leaned forward a bit. "But most of all, I'm thankful for my little buddy, Ginger. She puts up with all the silly things I do, and she's always there for me when I need her the most. I met her at just the right time... when I felt like I was stuck with my guilt and anxiety, she pulled me out and helped me see the good side of my situation. I honestly don't know what I would've done without her."


Aww, Ed! Ginger quickly scrambled off the pile of food, all trace of apprehension disappearing as she melted against the wall of Edward's stomach. She pressed her body to it and rubbed her paws over every inch of tummy she could reach.


"I love her so much," Edward smiled as hugged his tummy in his arms.

"I love you too, Ed." Ginger whispered, pressing her paws deeper into the spongy wall of his stomach.


"Aww, you guys are just too cute!" Yuki gushed.


Edward's tongue hung from his lips in bless. "Thank yoooou..." He addressed both Yuki for her compliment, and Ginger for the relaxing belly rubs she gave him from inside.

"Hey, guys!"


Edward's eyes glazed over as he glanced up at Victor. The falcon held a pumpkin pie in one hand and a plate of cookies in the other.


"Who's ready for dessert?"