Chapter 23: Marriage Surprises

“What time is everyone going to be showing up tomorrow?” I asked.

“My Mom and Dad will be here at about 6AM, so Dad can start rubbing the fryer turkey with his special dry rub marinade. You’re going to be drooling for the rest of the week when you taste it.”

“So, it’s like his daughter then?”

Blossom blushed a little and simultaneously kissed me and patted me on the butt.

“Mom and I will start work on the baking turkey and then I will get to work on the smoked turkey in the BBQ.” Blossom explained.

“Well then we better get a good night’s sleep, right?”

“Yup, except for the part about all the spouses making love to each other.”

“What?”

“It’s another holiday family tradition we are starting.”

“Who decided that?”

“We did.”

“We, as in, my wives?”

“Yes.”

“Why didn’t I get any say in the matter?”

“Because you were outvoted 3 to 1 so we didn’t see any sense in telling you!”

That didn’t make any sense at all except in wife world, and I knew better than to question the mysterious workings of wife world.

The grandparents arrived at the front gate at the same time as the grocery store delivery driver. The grocery store delivered three turkeys and forty pounds of turkey wings and Gwen brought Bill! Gwen and Blossom put me to work cutting the wings into two piles of parts. One pile was the drums and the flats, and the other pile was the tips.

Blossom said that the tips would be used for soup and that her mom’s recipe for turkey vegetable soup was the best soup she ever had, and they were going make a few gallons and freeze it so we could save it for the few really cold winter days we had here in the Treasure Valley.

While I was doing that, Bill had a bag of mixed herbs and he was rubbing it into the skin and the cavity of the turkey. He was rubbing hard and really pressing the mixture into the pores of the bird and when I say rubbing, I’m not talking about anything gentle. Bill was working up a sweat, but he didn’t seem to mind.

“Bill that seems like a lot of work for one turkey.” I said as I wiped the sweat off his head during a break from cutting wings.

“No! Not at all, especially after Gwen told me that she would clean me up in the shower when I get done.” Bill got that huge smile he always got when his mind focused on his wife.”

Trent and Dara were peeling potatoes and carrots, and they continued to be a cute couple. Dara had her mother’s love of kissing and Trent was suffering from it every day ... with a big smile. Erin and Lynn were riding herd on the Herd and setting up the ballroom as a dining room. The three older girls had the job of making sure all the spoons, forks, and knives were spotless. Erin Lynn and Genevieve were doing the same with the glasses and plates.

By the time Marcus and Geoffrey, Bosco and Teri, and Trent’s parents, Jack and Diane, also a wonderful kisser according to Jack, had arrived we were ready to go. We poured the wine for the grownups and as I handed a glass to Erin, Geoffrey spoke up.

“Should your pregnant wives be drinking alcohol?”

“We’ve had this discussion many times over the years, Geoffrey. No one, not our doctor, not “the experts”, no one, can tell us how much alcohol is dangerous for a pregnant woman. So, we are going to go with the idea that one glass on the major holidays is not going to do any harm. Besides it was women who drank and smoked who had the babies that took us to the moon and invented computers.” Lynn said, sounding a little preachy.

“I understand. It’s just my training.” Geoffrey said.

“I know. Don’t worry. Two or three glasses of wine over nine months should be safe. You can worry about it when you get Marcus knocked up!”

That remark caught Marcus in mid-swallow and he blew his wine out his nose. After clearing his sinuses and throat, while the rest of us laugh a lot, he yelled at Lynn.

“Damn! That was rude. Lynn! You timed that on purpose?”

“Marcus! Would I do that to my second favorite bartender?” She smiled and winked and blew her favorite gay guy a kiss and then to Erin, her wife and favorite bartender.

The assembled friends and family mingled and talked and reacquainted themselves with each other. The five older girls had glasses of grape juice, some red, some white, and were talking with the grownups about the two things they knew best, the game of Scrabble and farting. The farting conversation had several of the adults trying so very hard not to burst out laughing. The girls spoke very authoritatively on the subject.

After a good time of talking and getting back in touch with everyone, I realized just how much we had pulled into ourselves since the home invasion. I also realized that we hadn’t invited our supposed closest friends to the BBQ’s with our musical ‘friends’ or to any family celebrations. We began making plans to include all of these folks the next time we had a ‘friend’ in town.

It was also important for our girls to experience more social encounters. Next year they were going to start school and they needed to be ready for that. I was not looking forward to the first time Margaret had to do the dreaded “What did you do this summer?” project. I could just hear her strong confident voice telling everyone about her naked good times with her family. Or the first time some kid told her that her daddy was a doctor and Margaret would say “My daddy has a bigger dick!” But that was something for another day, today was Thanksgiving and it was time to get everyone to the table.

As I corralled everyone, Bill went out and pulled the turkey from the deep fryer to allow it to rest, Blossom took her turkey out of the smoker and Lynn took her turkey from the oven to rest. After a few minutes Gwen, Bill, and Blossom began to carve their turkeys and set the meat on platters. I tossed the 40 turkey drums and flats in a sweet and spicy mix in separate bowls and put them on the table.

Because the girls had helped their mothers put out name plates, everyone knew where to sit, and soon we were ready to start.

“Would everyone please join me in a word of thanks?” I said.

Everyone bowed their heads and I spoke a simple prayer of thanks for the friends and family and food. When I was done everyone said ‘Amen’ and the food began to get passed around the table. We had decided to serve the food family style in huge bowls, and have everyone just pass things clockwise. It worked like a charm and soon everyone had slices of each type of turkey and the girls each had a turkey leg.

Everyone was making yummy noises and the compliments flew to Bill for his fried turkey, and to Blossom for her smoked turkey, and the girls for their clean plates, glasses and utensils. They were very proud of themselves.

“After everyone has had enough, we are going to go outside and take a walk around the neighborhood before coming back for dessert. Gwen tells me that the recipe for the pumpkin pies she has made goes back for several generations and I want you all to enjoy it.”

Soon, there was a huge parade of adults, children and babies walking around the neighborhood. The people who saw us came out of their homes, if they were not already out and greeted us with loud “Happy Thanksgiving’s” and various forms of hello. The girls were giving the tour of who lived where and who was cool at the playground.

After we walked for about forty minutes we were back at the Savannah and sitting at the big table while Gwen and Blossom began to serve up the pumpkin pie. Lynn and Erin took care of coffee and tea orders. Everyone raved about the pie and soon all were ready to go home and enjoy a hefty bout of food coma.

The girls and my wives and I hugged everyone as they left and we thanked them for coming. When we were finally alone, I asked everyone to join me in the family room. The moms went and got the babies and began to nurse them. I had Clara this time and began to feed her when Penelope brought me her bottle. Everyone settled down, with the girls cuddling up to their moms and me. I looked around at my family and smiled before speaking.

“Well O’Dells that went very well, and now there is something that I would like to do, just for us. I’ve heard that on Thanksgiving Day, when families gather together, they tell each other what they are thankful for. Since I never had a family growing up, I would like us to do that. I want to set a few rules first. I think I can honestly say that all of us are thankful for our family and our health and situation. So, I want each of you to tell everyone one thing that you are really thankful for other than those common things.”

“I’ll start. I’m thankful that today was a day we could share and reconnect with our closest friends and extended family. It has been too long, and it seems that we are all back together again. Lynn?”

“I’m thankful that after all we’ve been through that I’m still here to share the joy of life with all of you. Erin?”

“I’m thankful that I have a husband who is willing to let me have so many babies. Nothing blesses me more than to be a mother. Blossom?”

“I’m thankful that a certain man decided to take country dance lessons and then marry me and bring me into this family.”

“Erin Lynn?” I said.

“I’m thankful to have my own turkey leg!”

“Genevieve Lynn?”

“I’m thankful that I learned to play Scrabble.”

“Paula Erin?”

“I’m thankful to be happy, every day.”

“Penelope Erin?”

“I’m thankful that I get to play outside naked.”