Chapter 65: Happy Thanksgiving

Sophia awoke in the morning, realizing quickly she was alone.

She stretched, and looked at the foot of the bed and saw Warren at his desk, headphones on his head, typing away at his computer. Sophia crawled to the end of the bed, so he could see her. He took the headphones off.

"Good morning, Pookie. Sleep well?"

"Best I've slept in months. What time is it?"

"8:30."

"Whatcha doin'?"

"Sending some emails. Jack, Christine, Liz, Evan and Shawna, a few others. Basically, I'm telling them we hit a rough spot but we're OK, and we'll see them at Nationals."

"Good." She got out of bed and stretched. She had slept nude. Warren looked at her with an appreciative eye.

"What a great view."

"You like?" She smiled coquettishly at him.

"I definitely like. Unfortunately, I have to finish these e-mails and then we need to think about getting ready." They had been invited to Elise's for Thanksgiving dinner.

"I know," she sighed. "Ah well. Oh, I didn't tell you this. I talked to Elise on the phone yesterday. Alexa is going to be there."

"Wow. Sounds like they're an item."

"Yup. Her parents, luckily, know about her and they're cool with it."

"That's good. Not to mention rare."

"Yup." She was slipping back into the clothes she wore yesterday. "I don't want to spoil my appetite, but I'm going to the café to get a cup of coffee. You want?"

"Love one. Can you get me a bagel or somesuch, too?"

"Sure." She kissed him and left. She returned a bit later, with the coffee and bagel, and they chatted a bit. Then, they both went to shower and change. At about 11:00, they were ready to go.

"Hand me that spoon, would you?" Elise was in the kitchen helping her mother fix the dinner. Alexa was there.

"Here you go." Alexa handed the spoon over. "So, Warren and Sophia are coming?"

Elise sighed. "If they haven't killed each other by now. They had a huge fight in the psychiatrist's office on Monday. And, I talked to Sophia yesterday and Warren is driving her up a wall. You know he sprained his ankle? Well, Sophia has been taking care of him, and apparently he is not a model patient. She practically wanted to kill him. Considering the place they are in their relationship, this is not a good thing."

"Oh, goody," Alexa sighed. "So we might have fireworks?"

"Not here, both of them are too classy to do that here. However, I'm anticipating a lot of forced smiles and tense glares. Jesus Christ, I hope they don't fall apart again. I don't need Morose Sophia back.

"Tell me about it. Those two belong together. Maybe someday they will realize that."

They worked a while on the meal, and then the doorbell rang. "I got it, Mom!" Elise yelled. She opened the door to find Warren and Sophia, smiling and holding hands.

"Happy Thanksgiving!" Greetings were exchanged all around. Elise took their coats and hung them up.

"Any trouble finding the place?" Elise asked.

"None at all," Warren told her. "Your directions were top-notch, and I'm blessed with the world's best navigator." He gave Sophia's arm a squeeze.

"We love driving," Sophia told them. "I've been the navigator since he got his license, which was months after I got mine, but he likes to drive, I like to navigate. Of course, I had to yell directions so I could be heard over the stereo. He always turns it up too loud."

"Yeah, riiiigggghhhhhtttt. Who cranked 'Born to Run' and screamed along?"

"You were the one that started it, with 'Caddilac Ranch'."

"Hey, it's that line. 'Driving alone through the Wisconsin night'."

"It's daytime, and you weren't alone."

"Yeah, but we're in Wisconsin, aren't we?"

She kissed him on the nose. "You're so cute when you're being pedantic." She turned to Elise and Alexa. "He blasted that song when we first entered Wisconsin on the way here at the beginning of the year, too."

"Wait until we ever drive through Jersey, it'll be 'Fourth Of July, Asbury Park'."

Alexa and Elise looked at each other. This wasn't fighting, this was banter, and they still were locked arm-in-arm. And Sophia was glowing. What happened?

Elise just shrugged, and turned back to Warren and Sophia. "Come on in the living room, meet the folks."

They went in and met Elise's parents. They had just exchanged pleasantries when a girl of about 13 came bounding down the stairs into the living room.

"Hey, squirt. This is my roomie Sophia, and her boyfriend Warren. Guys, this is Sonya, my little sister."

Sonya bounded into the room, looked up at Warren and Sophia, and stopped dead in her tracks.

"OhmyGod. You're Sophia Daniels and Warren Kelleher!!!!!!"

Sophia couldn't help but smile. "Yes, we are." She took the dumbstruck girl's hand, and Warren followed suit.

"I don't believe it! Daniels and Kelleher, in my living room! Elise, you didn't tell me who your roommate was!!!!" Elise just shrugged.

"Are you two famous, or something?" Mrs. Davenport asked.

Warren grinned. "Sonya here must be a serious figure skating fan."

"We're skaters," Sophia added. "Ice dancers, to be precise."

"They're fantastic ice dancers who won the silver medal at Nationals last year and me and a bunch of my skating friends thought they should have won the gold," Sonya gushed. "I have it all on tape."

"You skate?" Warren asked her.

"Yeah, singles, but I'm not all that good."

"As long as you have fun, that's all that counts," Sophia told her. "We started this just to have fun. Even if we had never won anything, it would still be fun."

Elise had ducked into the kitchen, and ducked back out. "Hey, Mom, come check this bird. I think it's done."

It was, and they all piled into the dining room.

"This is superb, Mrs. Davenport, Elise. You guys are in my Mom's league. And that, believe me, is a compliment," Warren said.

"It is. His Mom can cook," Sophie agreed. "And he's right, this is delicious."

"So," Mr. Davenport began, "We got a chance to meet Alexa, because she was here early helping, but not you two. You're from Massachusetts, Elise tells me?"

"Right," Sophia said. "Oceanview. It's about a half hour north of Boston."

"Right next to Salem, as in Witch Trials," Warren added.

"What made you guys come out to Wisconsin?" Mrs. Davenport asked.

"Well, we wanted to get away." Warren said.

"Yeah, and it's a good school, and has good programs in both our majors." Sophia added.

"Plus, we both got scholarships," Warren said.

"What are you majoring in?" Mr. Davenport asked.

"He's a pre-med like Elise. I'm majoring in meteorology."

"And you guys are dating?" Mrs. Davenport asked.

"Yeah," Sophia smiled. "It'll be four years in March."

"Wow." Mrs. Davenport said.

"Not without its rough spots, mind you, but we do love each other," Warren said.

"The internet said you guys had broken up," Sonya interjected.

"We had a bit of a rough spot this fall. And we were off the ice. But everything's fine now," Sophia told her.

"So, do you guys know lots of skaters?" Sonya asked.

"Sure," Warren told her. "Jack Garrison, Liz Cushman, Christine Arsenault..."

"He flirts shamelessly with Christine Arsenault on line all the time, and in person every time we see her," Sophia laughed. "Evan Pogdar and Shawna Vickers, Andrea Wallach and Brett Tomlinson. We know lots of skaters, but those are our best skating friends."

"We went to Jack Garrison's wedding the summer before last. That was a trip."

"You're friends with Elizabeth Cushman and Christine Arsenault?" Sophia asked. "Don't they hate each other?"

"All a media concoction," Warren told her. "They're actually good friends. In fact, both of them were at our table at Jack's wedding."

"What are they like?"

"Now, now, Sonya, I'm sure Sophia and Warren don't want to talk about skating all day," Mrs. Davenport said.

"We don't mind. Really," Sophia said. "It's kind of fun. Most of our friends are either in the skating community or, like Elise and Alexa, don't care one whit."