Anything But Typical

Thanksgiving With The Gardners

"Hey Elsa," Casey approaches her mom with a question in mind, "can we talk?"

Elsa pauses her rushed cleaning. "Right now Case? Your grandparents are going to be here any minute and I've only vacuumed once."

Casey knew it probably wasn't a good idea to bring this up on Thanksgiving, but Izzie had just mentioned that her grandma canceled their family dinner this morning. "Well I was just wondering, because like Izzie's grandma doesn't have the energy to make a big dinner anymore and her mom is a deadbeat, and anyways I was gonna ask-."

Her mom cuts her off. "Yeah go ahead and invite Izzie and the kids over for Thanksgiving. But if they stay the night, they'll all be in your room. You grandparents are taking the guest room and your aunt and uncle are sleeping on the pull out couch in the den. I was gonna put your cousins with you, but maybe I can convince Sam to let them sleep in his room." She starts anxiously vacuuming the hall again.

Casey's large smile doesn't go unnoticed. "Thanks Mom! You're the best!" Neither does the way she finally calls Elsa 'Mom' again, or the way Casey hugs her without being promoted. She runs up the stairs to call Izzie.

"Hey Newton," Izzie's voice, warm like chocolate chip cookies from the oven, comes through the speaker. "What's up?"

"Hi!" Casey breaths out a sigh, a little embarrassed at how her girlfriends voice still affects her. "I know you said that your grandma canceled Thanksgiving, so I asked Elsa if you guys could come over here and she said yes!"

"Wait what? Casey, you didn't have to do that." Despite Izzie's words, she's smiling. Her girlfriend always manages to come through for her.

Casey flops down on her bed. "Yes I did Iz. I- I care about you," she almost lets her real feelings slip, "a lot and you and your siblings deserve a good holiday. So pack some bags, I'll be there to get you in an hour."

"Thank you." Izzie makes a kissy noise through the phone and hangs up.

Glancing around her room, Casey notices how messy her room is. Jumping up as if she'd been electrocuted, she begins the shove stuff in her closet. When her floor is pretty much clean, she gets the air mattresses from the hall closet and sets them on the floor.

She finally finishes that and is already running late to get Izzie. "Dad! I need to borrow the car!"

Doug peeks his head from out of the kitchen. "You're grandparents are going to be here soon, where are you going?"

"To get Izzie and the kids. She's having family issues." She takes the keys from the hook by the fridge. "I'll be back soon!"

"We'll be having family issues if you aren't back when your grandparents get here!"

"Yes sir!" She races out the door and starts the truck. It was probably illegal how fast she was driving, but she didn't care. Her only thought was her girlfriend.

Casey pulls onto Izzie's street and parks at the curb, not bothering with the driveway. She wouldn't be here long. Three knocks, and the door is pulled open to reveal her beautiful girlfriend. "Hi." She released a sigh similar to the one earlier, but she didn't care anymore.

Izzie grins. "Hey Newton!" She pulls her inside and presses their lips together quickly. "Missed you."

"Yeah ditto." Casey steals another kiss, but is quick to pull away when Izzie's three siblings come into view. "Hey kiddos. Ready to go?"

"Yeah!" Alex, the eldest at nine years old, nods quickly. "Thanks Casey!" He shifts baby Lea from one hip to the other and adjusts his backpack strap.