Chapter 18
November
Chapter List
Nick pulled into the parking lot and shut of the truck. He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel as he gazed out the window at the large supermarket, "There are four day's until Thanksgiving and we're shopping now, why? Do you have any idea how packed this place is going to be?"
Greg pulled the pen from his mouth and looked up from the grocery list in his hand, "Nick, when exactly would we have had time to shop? It's bad enough we had to go last week and buy a freezer for the garage big enough to hold two turkeys and clean out the freezer in the house to accommodate all the meat and sausage for the stuffing."
"Which we had done soon after." Nick added, as he climbed out of the truck, "Greg, we could have done this last week."
Greg got out as well and pushed the seat forward to grab Elijah. When they had planned this shopping excursion, they hadn't really planned on taking the toddler with, but their usual babysitters, namely Rayne, Catherine and now Sammy, all had plans for the day, "C'mon sproglet. Looking forward to spending time in the play area?"
Elijah nodded and grinned, "i colow! maybe play wit blocks."
"Gunna do a couple of pictures for me and Nick?" Greg asked, shutting the truck door.
"uh huh. lots and lots."
Nick came around the truck pushing a shopping cart. His cheeks were tinged red and Greg raised an eyebrow when he noticed, "The cart. I got it from an old lady. She got, ah, fresh with me while I was putting her groceries in the back of her car."
Greg snickered as he placed Elijah into the carts seat, "I don't really blame her Nick. That back end of yours has me wanting to get fresh with you all the time too." He started up the parking lot towards the market, leaving a gaping Nick behind. He had reached the sliding double doors by the time Nick caught up to him and was looking through the ad flier, comparing it to his list, "Your mom said she was going to make some pumpkin pies, right?"
Nick nodded, "Yeah, why?"
"Pie filling's on sale and I forgot to put that on the list." He handed the flier to Nick and went inside, aiming for the play area. When he reached it, however, his face fell when caught sight of a few too many little heads and only one harried looking watcher.
"I'm sorry sir." The teenage attendant said, looking at Greg with sympathy, "We're sort of full up. My boss said we couldn't take any more kids until we were down to five."
Greg glanced through the plastic glass at the fifteen kids playing and the lack of walking room. Elijah was small for his age and would either get trampled or lost in that crowd, "All right. Thanks anyway." As he started back to where a confused Nick was waiting, he ran his fingers through Elijah's hair, "Sorry, kiddo. I know you wanted to play. Maybe we can talk Nick into going somewhere with a play area for dinner after we get the groceries put away at home."
Elijah nodded, but didn't seem too enthusiastic about the idea, "okay."
"What's wrong?" Nick asked when they came up to him.
"Play area's full. Let's just get this over with before someone starts getting restless." Greg replied.
Nick agreed and they made quick work of the fresh vegetables and meats. Nick was diligently crossing off items as Greg put them into the cart. When Elijah started squirming, they stopped at the flower and gift shop at the back of the store and bought him an activities pad and a small pen, which they were able to attach to the little loop on the sleeve of his jacket, to keep him occupied.
When they finally reached the bakery section, the last area before the check-outs, Greg paused and looked over Nick's shoulder at the list, "I just thought of something."
"Hmm?" Nick looked up and over at Greg.
"Well, we were planning on watching the parade Thursday morning, right? There's going to be twelve of us, fourteen if papa and nana get up early. We need something for breakfast."
"I hadn't thought of that." Nick lifted his eyes and scanned over the aisle signs, "Like what though?"
Greg shrugged, "I have no idea. We could do donuts but..."
"They'd have to be bought fresh and the chances of that happening Thanksgiving morning are slim. We don't want anything big so pancakes and waffles are out."
Greg bit his lip before his face brightened, "Hey, what about cinnamon rolls? Those ones in the tubes? My parents like them, what about yours?"
"Dad'll eat anything and if mama doesn't she can have cereal or something. We've got enough milk." Nick replied, indicating the three gallons on the bottom rack of the cart.
"All right. I'll run back and get some. Think five will be enough?" Greg asked, as he started for the dairy section.
"Better make it six just in case." Nick rested against the cart and watched Elijah draw, his right hand holding the small book against the railing as his left scribbled away, "What are you working on, little man?" he asked.
"dust colowin. all one colow, dough."
"I see that." Nick nodded and looked over the turkey that was slowly turning purple, "You know, that reminds me. Maddox had a school project that you and Trixie might enjoy doing. We can even display them on the buffet in the dining room."
Elijah peered up at Nick, his brown eyes almost impossibly wide, "what pwoject?"
"What's a project?" Nick asked, wondering if that's what Elijah meant. When Elijah nodded Nick said, "Well, you know the arts and crafts you do at daycare? A project is just another name for them."
"oh. what maddocks do?"
Nick reached out and took Elijah's left hand and spread it out over the turkey on the activities pad, "He and his classmates took their hands and traced them." He copied the move with the pen, "After that, they turned the hand prints into turkeys. See? Your thumb was resting on the turkey's head and your fingers were by the feathers on its back."
"cool." Elijah breathed out after he removed his hand from the paper.
"What's cool?" Greg asked, as he walked up to the cart and dropped the tubes of cinnamon rolls on top of the already large pile of food.
"daddy look! made turkey fwom hand!" Elijah said, tugging on Greg's shirt sleeve and pointing down.
Greg noticed the over emphasized 'R' when Elijah said turkey, but decided to ignore that for now, "How about that. Looks like a turkey all right." Greg smiled in amusement while wondering what was so exciting about a hand print over a half colored turkey.
"like maddocks. gots ta show twixie." Elijah said, kicking his foot out, which started it bouncing against the cart, "we go now?"
Greg nodded and Nick started pushing the cart towards the check-out. Both men stopped walking once they hit the area and looked over the long lines in dismay, "May be a bit till you can talk to Trixie, sproglet. Looks like lots of other people are ready to leave too."
~~
Greg scratched the bridge of his nose as he looked over the assembled pile of recipes. Unlike last year, his mother was making him cook most of the meal himself. Well, not completely by himself. He had Nick after all. She just brushed him off when he asked, claiming she was on vacation and that while she didn't mind making small meals for them as a family, she was not going to cook for the huge mass that had conglomerated around them for the holiday.
It didn't help that she had talked Jillian into doing the same, even if she was still willing to do the pies. After they had finished shopping two days earlier, he and Nick had spent over an hour organizing all the food into order of preparation as well as deciding what could be cooked the night before and re-heated for the dinner.
"All right. So we have the casseroles, salads, and pies. What about the potatoes?" Nick asked, motioning his head to the three large bags of Idaho's and two bags of sweet potatoes, leaning against the wall in the pantry, which were visible through the opened door.
Greg looked at Nick, an affronted look on his face, "Potatoes should be fresh, Nick. Well, the mashed should anyway. The sweet potatoes are just going into casseroles so they can be prepared tonight."
Nick nodded and grabbed that recipe, putting it to the side, "Are we going to have room in the fridge G? There are going to be a lot of dishes."
"Well, most of the stuff in the fridge are going into the dishes we're cooking tonight, so I don't think there will be much of a problem. If we have to, we'll just bring whatever we end up taking out into work tonight. Let everyone pig out."
"Yeah, cause I'm sure they'd enjoy eating three-day-old Chinese and pickles." Nick said, grabbing another easy looking recipe.
Greg rolled his eyes, "I think we can throw out the Chinese and those pickles are new. We are not bringing them into work."
"Fine, fine. Let's just get started. We're making two of everything so that'll make things easier with temperatures and timing."
"Yeah and it helps that we have three ovens."
Nick paused as he walked into the pantry. He turned around and after looking around the kitchen said, "Greg, have I ever mentioned that this kitchen is overly excessive?"
Greg, who had been walking to the only oven/stove combo at the end of the kitchen, glanced over his shoulder with a startled look on his face, "No, but I'm not the one who built this house, remember? I would have been perfectly content with one oven."
"And maybe one dishwasher instead of two?" Nick muttered, pulling stuff off of the shelf for the casseroles he was making.
"I heard that."
About half an hour due before they had to be to work, most of the dishes were cooked and stored in a practically full refrigerator. Greg looked over the list of food items for the next day as he wiped down the island, nodding to himself at each completed dish. Sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, a whipped cream salad, they had cleaned and prepared the vegetables for the rest of the salads, and the cucumber salad was ready.
Greg dropped the rag down on the counter next to the sink just as Rayne walked in, "Wow, it smells fantastic in here." She said, dropping her purse onto the clean island.
Greg smiled, "Thanks. Are you sure you're willing to stay up tonight and thaw the turkeys? It was a lot to ask and..."
"Greg, hush. I don't mind. Your mother as well as Mrs. Stokes offered to stay up with me. They intend on spending some time sleeping after the parade tomorrow, just like I am."
"I wondered where they had taken off to. I bet they went to take naps." Greg began filling the sinks with room-temp water as Nick lugged in one of the turkeys.
"Rayne! I figured you'd be at your daughters again tonight." Nick said as he placed the bird into the sink, checking to make sure it was fully covered by the water.
"No, not tonight. They had an early dinner with Chris's parents and brothers. I think Lauren just wants to get tips on cooking her first large meal for me. She sounded a tad nervous on the phone earlier."
"I don't blame her. We have three ovens and we almost went crazy. Its a shame things are only half done so far for all the work we did." Nick said, walking back to the garage.
Rayne raised an eyebrow and tucked her hair behind her ear, "Were things really that bad?"
Greg shook his head, "Despite my mothers claims that she wasn't going to lift a finger for this meal, she still attempted to butt in. Jillian wasn't as forceful but she was worried we'd some how botch up her casserole recipe."
"I wasn't that bad, Greg. Honestly." Jillian walked in and smiled at Rayne, "Tell me the truth, just how good are you at decorating with dough?" She had been asking the same question all afternoon to Jan, who finally caved and informed her that Rayne enjoyed pie decorating.
Rayne laughed, "I'm not an expert but you can tell what a design is."
"I think that'll be good enough." Jan walked in and gave Rayne a hug, "Oh, I was afraid I wasn't going to see much of you this trip. I was so glad when you offered to come up and help tonight."
Nick walked back into the kitchen then and had to stop when he almost ran down all three women, "Excuse me, ladies, this turkey's cold." He said, peering over the bird at his mother and Jan, both of whom were standing on either side of him.
Both women giggled and stepped closer to the island, allowing Nick to make his way past to get to the sink on the other side, "Sorry, Nick. We didn't realize you were out there."
"Sure, mama." He set the turkey in the opposite side of the sink and smiled at Greg as his lover rubbed his shoulder before turning to his mom, "You sure you don't mind putting the leaves in the table and setting it?"
Jillian smiled and shook her head, "Of course not, Nick. We'll also remember to set up the kids table." She added, when she saw Greg start to open his mouth. She smiled when it snapped shut after she spoke, "You're all right for dinner tonight?"
Both men rolled their eyes and Nick walked to the fridge, pulling out a plastic bag that had been stuffed into the door, "Bagels. Nothing too filling. Don't worry, mama." Both men bid their good-nights to the women and went out into the mudroom.
They quickened their steps towards the garage as "Don't worry, he says." floated to them in both mothers snickering voices.
~~
The night passed quickly and it wasn't long before Greg found himself leaning against his locker in the locker room, tugging on his hair as he waited for Nick to finish changing, "Are we going to be able to get any sleep today?" He asked as Nick walked back to his locker.
"Yeah. Sammy said she'll take over kitchen duties after the parade, so we can sleep then. We'll get the turkeys stuffed and in the ovens for nine, cook the rolls, eat and enjoy the parade with our families and then sleep. Thank God."
Greg snorted out a laugh as they started out of the locker room, "Speaking of rolls, I'm glad we got them. A bagel does not a meal make."
"Yeah. I spent the last two hours trying to keep myself from going to the vending machines. I think I went through a full pack of gum just trying to stop my stomach from growling too much." Nick added. He pulled his car keys out of his pocket as they reached the parking lot. He tugged on Greg's hair, "I'll see you at home."
Greg glanced around and when he realized they were alone, goosed Nick, laughing when the Texan jumped a good foot in the air, "You too." He climbed into his car and sped off, laughing the full ride home.
Greg walked into the kitchen and nearly fell over as two toddlers ran to him and attached themselves to his legs, "You couldn't wait for Nick to get home and do this to him?"
"hi daddy." Elijah said, grinning up at him.
"hi, unca greg!" Trixie chimed in.
He tousled both heads of hair and wobbled further into the kitchen, his movements impaired by the attachments standing on his feet, "See, now when Nick comes in, you two should go do this to him too, okay?"
Both toddlers nodded enthusiastically, "k!"
Greg looked over at Sammy, who was standing barefoot at the island, wearing a pair of jeans and a holiday sweater, chopping away at onions and celery, "Having fun yet? And where are our mothers?"
"Tons. Mama and Jan have both crashed. They were ecstatic when I got here, both of them claiming that pulling all-nighters was not like it used to be and asking how in the world you and Nick do it every night." Sammy said, "The water for the turkeys only has to be changed once more, right about now actually, and I figure the stuffing will be ready after that last half hour."
Before Greg had a chance to say anything Nick came in, his face and neck still red from Greg's ass grab, a fact that Sammy picked up on right away, "Why are you so flushed?" she asked, pausing in her chopping to look her brother over.
Nick didn't answer and instead reached down to great the two enthusiastic toddlers welcoming him home. He started towards Greg, walking in much the same way Greg had when he had had the three and four-year-old attached to his legs except with a slightly smoother gait, and raised his hands threateningly, "Did you know Grissom walked out just after you did that? He was concerned that I was getting sick. I had to explain that I was fine and someone was just getting fresh with me in the middle of the parking lot."
Greg blinked, his face the picture of innocence, "Gee, Nick, the way you're talking makes it sound like that happens a lot. Maybe you should wear longer shirts. It might dissuade some people from doing it."
"Not the one from at work. I have a feeling a longer shirt wouldn't do any good." Nick responded, voice tight with agitation. Greg wasn't worried though. The Texas drawl hadn't deepened so he knew whatever embarrassment Nick was going through would pass over soon.
Sammy snorted, "Oh, Greg, you didn't."
"Maybe, maybe not. Nobody can prove anything." He rolled up his sleeves and changed the water for the birds before looking at the female brunette, "Need any help?"
"Not at the moment, no. I'm almost done with this. Maybe you could start frying up the meat? That's going to have to be done in two shifts since there's so much of it." She pulled another onion to her and looked at Nick, "The kids mentioned something about hand turkey's? I'm guessing you meant like Maddox's?"
Nick nodded, "Yeah. Where are you going with this?"
"Since you brought it up and there's nothing for you to do food wise, why don't you help them make some."
"Why not." Nick shrugged and looked down, "Is that why you two decided to attack me?"
Elijah shook his head and bounced on Nick's feet, making the older man glad he had left his boats on, "no. did dat to daddy too."
"Oh, well, that's okay then."
"Supplies are on the table." Sammy said, starting to chop once more.
"Right."
Half an hour later, Nick was pulling the birds out of their wrappers and cleaning them out, making sure to be extra thorough. He held up the two bags of turkey extras with a grimace, "Sammy, we're not pulling a gramma are we? I know mama likes it, but I would like to eat the stuffing this year."
Sammy laughed and looked at Greg, who wrinkled his nose in response, "Pitch um'. I never really cared for the stuffing when it was made like that either."
"Thanks." He tossed the two bags into the garbage under the sink and went about placing the two birds into their cooking bags before resting them in the roasting pans, "All right, we ready to stuff?"
Sammy shrugged and looked at Greg who was still mixing the stuffing together, "Greg?"
"Just about." He tasted a spoonful before adding a bit more sage, "All right. We're good."
With two kids resting on stools and watching avidly, the three adults set to stuffing, first with spoons and then with hands when the spoons proved to be pretty much useless. Once that was completed, Nick washed his hands and started getting the breakfast rolls ready while Sammy and Greg placed small chunks of butter on various places on the birds to keep the meat juicy. They both closed up the bag of their respective turkeys and placed them in the double ovens on the wall by the fridge. Those were why Nick and Greg had decided on two medium/large birds instead of one huge one. They had wanted to use the larger oven for the bread rolls and re-heating when the time came.
"All right, cinnamon rolls should done by nine, just in time for the parade to start." Nick looked at the two toddlers, "Let's go find a place to put your turkeys in the dining room."
"k!" Both Elijah and Trixie scrambled for the table and then ran full speed to the dining room, an amused Nick following at a much more sedate pace.
TBC...
Chapter 19