Chapter 3

It was the Saturday before Thanksgiving and all was chaos.

"Tommy, Mom just called. Joan and Hank are going to be here!" Beth wailed.

"What's wrong? I thought you'd be glad to see them."

"I am, but they're going to be here Wednesday so they'll be here for DINNER on Thanksgiving, too!"

"Beth, don't worry. I mean we had everybody here for Christmas and you didn't panic like this. Why should this be any different?"

"I know, but Christmas is just to get everyone together. Thanksgiving is all about the meal! Tommy, I'm sorry, it's just that I want this dinner to be perfect!"

I took my lady in my arms—time for some reassurance. "Beth, this is about having our families together. That's special in itself. Even at Thanksgiving the meal is secondary. I mean, if you served Mack and Don's hamburgers everybody would still enjoy the day."

"Oh, I guess you're right ... Now I just have to convince myself."

I felt sorry for my lady. I really did, but a guy can only take so much and I needed to be by myself for a bit.

"Beth, I'm going to work in the garage for a while," I said as I grabbed my jacket.

"Am I really that bad?"

"Right now ... yeah. I wish you could just relax a little. I know hosting a big dinner isn't an everyday thing around here, but you're driving yourself crazy."

"And I'm taking you along for the ride, right?"

I just nodded as I gave her a big hug, slipped on my jacket, and exited, stage left.

Did I feel guilty leaving my princess to her dithers? Yeah ... a little bit.

I planned to spend some time cleaning out the garage and was pulling my Jeep out when I saw George across the alley.

"Hey, George, how's it going?"

"Oh, pretty good, Tommy. How 'bout with you?"

"Not bad. So have you got big plans for Thursday?"

"Who, me? Nah, nothing special. Probably just sit around and watch football."

"Why don't you come over and join us for dinner?" It was out of my treacherous mouth before I could stop it. I knew Beth was having conniptions over a dinner for everybody, but that didn't keep me from inviting another guest. So much for having any smarts.

"Oh, no. I wouldn't want to intrude. Thanksgiving is a time for family, not outsiders or strangers."

"George, you're not a stranger. Besides, I'll bet you'll know most of the people who'll be here. I mean, Beth and I, Kevin and Gail, my folks and Beth's. The only people you might not know are Beth's grandparents and Gail's mom. Come on. No reason to sit by yourself."

"Beth's grandparents? Hank and Joan will be there? I remember them from when Chuck and Bev lived here! Is Hank still a character?"

"Yeah, he is," I chuckled. "Martha, Chuck's mom, will be here, too."

"Martha? I don't remember her. Oh, wait, his folks pretty much disowned him, didn't they?"

"That was Chuck's dad's doing. His mom is good people," I reassured our neighbor.

"You're sure it'll be all right? I mean, springing another person on Beth when she's already expecting so many?"

"Sure it will be! There's always room for one more," I reassured him. I should have counted heads.

"Well ... if you're sure I won't be imposing..."

"Not a bit of it. So we'll see you Thursday about eleven?"

"Okay. I'll be there!

"Oh, can I bring anything?" he added.

"Nope, everything is covered," I said as I walked back to the house.

I slipped out of my jacket, walked in and found my lady dithering over the table arrangement.

"Tommy, how are we going to get everybody around this table?"

"Well, I guess we'll just have to put in all the leaves. Oh, by the way, before I forget, I just invited George, too."

"But, Tommy, that'll make thirteen for dinner!" she wailed.

Let's see ... Beth and I, Kevin and Gail, my folks, Beth's folks, Joan and Hank, Chuck's mother, Gail's mother, and George. Yep, thirteen.

"So, we'll just have to set another place. I can ask Mom to bring the extra plates and stuff."

"Yeah, but Tommy that's thirteen at the table! Don't you know that's bad luck?"

I should have remembered we'd watched that old Agatha Christie movie Thirteen At Dinner over the past weekend. Leave it to Beth to pick up on the plot line.

"Beth, don't worry," I said, thinking back to the film. "I'll make sure I'm the first up from the table."

"Tommy, that's not funny!"

"Beth, you're getting all worked up over an old movie?"

"Oh, you don't know anything!" she said as she ran out of the room.

I found her face down on the bed, every muscle twitching, and my cowardly side figured it was best just to leave her alone for a while. It was obviously time for reinforcements. I picked up my phone and dialed a familiar number.

"Mom? Could you come over and give us a hand? Beth is ready to have a nervous breakdown over dinner on Thursday."

I heard her chuckle. "Sure, I'll stop over in a bit."

"Thanks. I tried to convince Beth that everything was going to work out, but you know what a perfectionist she is."

"I'll see you in a bit," she answered.

"Thanks, Mom, I really appreciate it."

Since I had the Jeep out and didn't really want to go back in the house right now, I drove to the Stadium Village to pick up some stuff on Beth's list.

On the way back I stopped at a local bookstore to check for any new photo mags. When this whole happy circus started I'd subscribed to several of the popular photo magazines but it didn't take long to realize only maybe one article a month was really informative or interesting out of the whole pile, so I let all the subscriptions lapse and subscribed to one of the pro photo mags instead. I'd finally figured out that photography, as a profession, was as much about business as art and the pro magazines had some great ideas. It was easier to just stop at a place that carried the widest selection and buy only those that interested me. I also hit one of the local delis and picked up hoagies for us. I even remembered to get one for Mom.

Was I just too chicken to face Beth by myself? No. This was just a strategic delaying tactic.

Really.

Eventually I had to go home. I garaged the Jeep and walked in the house to face ... I didn't know what.

Beth was sitting at the kitchen table and looked up as I walked in.

"You son of a bitch, you set me up!" She hollered.

I was obviously in trouble, but what for?

"You called your mom, didn't you?" she accused.

"Um, yeah. I thought you needed some help."

"So you thought siccing her on me would help?"

"Well, yeah, Did I goof that bad?"

She jumped up and gave me a big kiss. "No, you didn't. And you probably saved my sanity. Your mom brought over the extra dishes and silverware we'll need and she helped me get the table set and everything. She even offered to come over early on Thursday morning to help get everything ready!"

And people wonder why I've got a bemused expression on my face most of the time.

Sunday evening Greg and Cindy stopped by. We hadn't seen our friends much since they'd moved—something about having to finish their new home and taking care of little John burning up any spare time they might have had.

"Hey, you guys, c'mon in!" I said, holding the door open for them.

The three of them came in and shed their coats.

John was scooting around on the floor as soon as Cindy put him down. It was fun to watch him crawl around on all fours, stopping to pull himself up using whatever was handy for balance, wobbling on his short legs, almost ready to walk on his own. "We need a bell or a GPS locator to keep track of him." Cindy said with a sigh as she chased him out from behind the couch.

"If you ever have a problem finding someone to watch him you know you just have to call."

"That's quite an offer, Tommy," Cindy said.

"Why? Beth and I enjoy having him around."

"Tommy," Cindy said with a big grin. "you DO realize you'd be watching John by yourself ... don't you?"

I dead-stopped ... How had I forgotten Beth was leaving soon? I mean, I'd been thinking of little else ever since her acceptance letter arrived, but somehow...

"So, you're going to babysit all by yourself, huh?"

Guess who had snuck up behind me while I stuck my foot in my face?

"Um ... well..."

"Tommy, don't worry about it," Greg assured me with a grin. "But it was fun to watch you panic."

"Thanks, friend," I grumbled.

Beth plopped on my lap as Greg and Cindy snuggled up on our couch while John returned to exploring his new surroundings.

We talked until almost midnight. John didn't even stir when Cindy picked him up from where he'd crashed in the middle of our rug. I wasn't too surprised since I doubted there was an inch of our living-room he hadn't explored.

The first part of Thanksgiving week was given over to cleaning. Beth was normally pretty insistent that we keep the place clean, but she went overboard getting everything in shape for the holiday. By Wednesday night we were both ready for an early evening and a good night's sleep.

Our doorbell rang at about five Thanksgiving morning. I stumbled out of bed, grabbed a pair of sweats and answered the door. My mom was standing there with a big bag of stuff and a huge grin.

"Oh, hi. Come on in," I mumbled.

"Thanks. Tommy I figured I should get here early ... just in case."

"Oh, thank you, Carol," my lady said. I almost jumped. I hadn't heard Beth pad up behind me.

"I think I've got everything ready," she continued. "But I'm glad you're here ... just in case."

Mom just chuckled as she started unloading. I was going to offer to help until I noticed the look I got from Beth. It was time for me to be elsewhere.

I got dressed and opened the front door to grab the paper when...

"Hi, Tommy! I thought Beth might want some help this morning!"

"Um, hi Gail. Beth and my mom are in the kitchen." What was it with women trying to shorten my life this morning?

Gail chuckled as she walked by me.

"Poor Tommy. Always letting the women in your life scare you," she said as she gave me a quick kiss on the cheek.

Paper in hand, I settled down to see how far down the drain the world had sunk overnight. I knew better than to explore the combination of yelps, giggles, and rattling of cooking implements coming from the kitchen.