Handle With Clare

Chapter 43: I Am Thankful

Song is for the start of the chapter!

I took a piece of pie dough without mom looking and popped it into my mouth, then bounced back to kneading the dough before she realized what I had done. Thanksgiving dinner was only an hour or two away and we had spent the entire afternoon getting ready and when I say we, I mainly mean mom. She was the hard worker on this project, my family just tried to help as much as they could as Dad cleaned the house and Farrah made the apple pie filling. Me, on the other hand, just woke up 50 minutes ago. I had been back from California for all of three days, and I was still trying to recover.

"Clare, don't knead it too much! Please, the crust will be hard!" she said and scooched me out of the way so she could take over.

I chuckled at her. "Sorry, I really don't know what I'm doing here."

"Why don't you go set the table?" mom suggested to me as she took over what I was going.

"Ooh! Demoted!" Farrah laughed at me as she took a bite of apple pie filling.

I rolled my eyes at her. "Please, and it's not like mom demoted you in the last 30 minutes," I argued with her, referring to her attempt at making the cranberry sauce.

She put her hands on her hips. "I rather not talk about it."

I smiled at her right before I left for the dining room. As I walked over to the large oak table, a wave of dizziness and nausea washed over me. To support myself, I grabbed onto the side of the stable as I tried to keep what I ate yesterday down.

"Hey Farrah, I mean, Clare, can you fold these napkins and try to make it look pretty?" dad said to me as he walked into the room with his arms full of gold color clothes.

I smirked at him, not hearing him call me Farrah in a long time. It had to be years, and it was refreshing. "Nice save. Yeah, sure," I said as I took a seat at the table, unable to hold up my weight under my legs any longer.

As if not noticing my struggle, dad laid out all the clothes in front of me. I wasn't sure if it was because he was busy cleaning or if finally deep down he had peace of mind that I would be ok. I couldn't help but feel the same as I folded the napkins. For the first time in years, I felt like everything would be fine and that I would be fine.

He looked at his phone for the time with a hint of a frown on his face, knowing that he was running out of time. "They're coming in an hour and a half. Maybe you should start getting ready soon?" Referring to the Smith's, Peter's family.

I nodded with a smile, knowing what I currently was wearing wasn't good enough for the dinner. I at least needed to take a shower, but I wouldn't do that just yet. Feeling like a slacker, I should help get ready a little more.

I was more than excited to be celebrating with Peter and our family, but in the back of my mind, I feared that I would get sick like the last thanksgiving. I shook my head to clear the thought, knowing that this time it would be different. I was on the up and I could feel it in my bones.

Halfway through folding, I realized that I needed to take a break and get ready before it was too late. I got up from the seat and trudged up the upstairs, lacking any energy to make quick movements.

I made it to my room and frowned as I realized that I had very little clothes to wear since Farrah tossed most of them. Quickly, I picked something up that I didn't care about and made my way to the bathroom.

Just as I was about to get into the bathroom, Farrah stopped me. "WAIT! Where are you doing?" she asked from the bottom of the stairs.

I looked at the clothes in my hands and raised an eyebrow at her. What did it look like I was doing? "I figured I was going to just carry these clothes back downstairs, maybe I can set them on my lap to keep myself warmer during dinner."