BENDING THE RULES..A USWNT FANFIC

Giving Thanks

Dalton looks at himself in the mirror carefully. He just got out of the shower, is freshly shaved and is currently combing his hair. He's pretty excited. And why? Well, it's the day before Thanksgiving! And tomorrow Mr. Price is coming over to celebrate with the family. 

After Dalton first confronted him about his birth father, Whitney and Ashlyn were in a panic. But after talking with him and then eventually going out to dinner with him, Malik Price has become a great friend to the couple and their children. 

"Don't you think our parents will be freaked out about him spending Thanksgiving with us?" Ashlyn asks her wife.

"Who? Malik?" Whit asks.

"Babe," She scoffs back. "...he's Dalton's blood relative,"

"Not that they have to know," 

"Huh?" She asks confused.

"Our agreement with Malik is that we scratch the past. To them, he's our very good friend who has nowhere to go for Thanksgiving," 

Ashlyn nods.

"I'd just hate for it to slip out somehow," 

Whitney looks up at her wife. "...we'll make sure that doesn't happen," 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"So you guys, we're gonna keep this whole Malik thing to ourselves," Ashlyn says to her kids as they sit down at the dinner table that night.

"Mama it's a little hard to keep it to ourselves when he's coming for dinner," Jonah says.

Whitney chuckles as she sits down next to Ashlyn. 

"We don't mean that guys...we just won't say anything about him being Dalton's biological uncle. Why should it even come up honestly," 

Dalton looks up from his plate.

"Why can't we just tell them the truth?" He says.

His parents look at one another.

"Because Dalton, it might be a little much. It might make Malik uncomfortable and honestly, he doesn't want to bring it up either. We have to respect his wishes," 

Dalton nods. "Okay..."

Meanwhile, Brendan brings up another point with his mouth full of food.

"Are Uncle Chris and Josh coming?" 

Ashlyn nods. "No, they're going to Josh's family's place with Maisy," 

Chris and Josh adopted their pitbull Maisy last May.

"Why can't we have a dog," Jordyn whines.

"Because we don't have enough room..." Whitney chuckles. "This house is already packed to the brim," 

Ashlyn agrees with a giggle. 

"So do Gramma and Grampa even know Malik's coming?" Dalton then asks.

"Yes," Whit responds. "...we told them that our good family friend has nowhere to go for the night so we invited him here. They're excited to meet him," 

Ashlyn tries to now to change the subject. 

"So Taylor, what's Brooke doing for Thanksgiving?" 

"Um, she's visiting her grandparents and cousins in Pennsylvania...They're having their whole family over," 

"Sounds good," Her Mama nods. "...and Jack?" She asks as she looks to Jordyn. 

"It's just gonna be him, his dad and his step-mom," She says plainly as she drinks a sip of water.