The States

something to be thankful for

snapshots of the chaos that goes into making of the united states' thanksgiving

It is two days before Halloween when they have the meeting, and Sam stands up to present and doesn't even bother to pretend she's going to actually talk about her economy.

"Nobody is to bring up politics this year at Thanksgiving, right?" Sam looks vaguely like a very mean pixie when she's angry, and it should not be as terrifying as it is.

There are muttered affirmations all down the table.

"And no one is going to spike the apple cider?"

There's a collective wince.

To be fair, none of them had known Lani liked apple cider, or that she would try to drink out of that one particular container.

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Flora is leaning against Scarlett's counter, and really, this is tradition by now.

Scarlett makes peach cobbler every year because she can make it in her sleep, and anything else makes her worry about messing it up.

So here they are at two in the morning, with Scarlett subtly freaking out about a souffle when they have to drive to Virginia in the afternoon.

"Sweetheart, taste this and tell me what you think."

Flora melts a little at sweetheart, and takes the plate from her.

Flora doesn't even know what a souffle is. It tastes like sweet potatoes in a good way, so she's gonna assume that's the kind of souffle it's supposed to be. "It's good. Can we go to sleep now?"

"Maybe just one more run through?"

Flora shakes her head and gives Scarlett a fond smile. "Just one more, then bed."

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Evangeline has one of the most flexible schedules out of all of the states, so she takes it upon her self to reorganize the kitchen and pantry to the height of efficiency the week before Thanksgiving.

She scrubs down counter tops and updates the shopping list whiteboard. She reorganizes the pantry, and when she finds that someone has labeled flour as a spice she facetimes Nate so that she isn't the only one crying about it.

She restocks the pantry and reorganizes the cabinets because someone (Jules) has put the saucepan in with the bowls.

"It looks like a pinterest board," Austin tells her as sits on the countertop and she fights the urge to tell him to get off, where you raised in a barn? because she knows he'll tease her about it for the next decade if she does.

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They still had pumpkins left over from Halloween, ones that hadn't been quite ready then. They were a few days away from Thanksgiving, and someone had to carve up the pumpkins so they could make pies.

Cal grimaces as she dumps pumpkin into a bowl. "I hate how the insides feel."

Riley makes a face and nods.

Brooke flicks a pumpkin seed at Will, who levels an unimpressed look at her.

They work in silence for a few minutes before it's interrupted by Brooke. "William, if you put those pumpkin guts in my hair, I won't speak to you until New Years."

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It's midnight, it's Thanksgiving, and Foster's laughing as he throws flour at Sam.