through the fog (throughthefog) wrote in shadows_rpg, @ 2018-10-13 13:16:00 |
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Entry tags: | #group scene, #november 2017, amelia, charlie, gavin |
Who: Charlie, Amelia and Gavin
When: Late afternoon, Monday, November 13th
Where: Charlie's house
Status: Complete
Driving with Amelia in the car was a stark reminder that she hadn't been here for a long time. She kept asking him why he was stopping or how he knew who was going next on crossroads, then trying to memorize the signs he pointed out to her. It reminded him of when she was still just ten years old, curious about everything, asking hard questions. At least he could answer these question, they were just traffic signs. They needed groceries and it was as good a time as any to get Amelia out there. She'd hesitantly settled on a new name and Gavin was all prepared to lie to people's faces if anyone asked who she was. Nobody did, though his daughter turned a few heads while they were there. Some out of curiosity, others for different reasons altogether. It made Gavin uncomfortable, she'd been ten years old just two weeks ago and it turned his stomach to see men gawking at her, even if she was technically a grown woman by now. Amelia seemed clueless, more invested in the selection of goods available. She kept holding something up for him to see with a hopeful look in her eyes until he nodded and told her they could buy it if she wanted. In all honesty he'd buy any goddamn thing she wanted and he thought that went without saying by now.
As they strolled the aisles he hesitantly mentioned Charlie and how she wanted to meet Amelia sometime.
"Is she your girlfriend?" Amelia asked him with a little smile that was both warm and amused.
"Nah," Gavin groaned, shaking his head and waving his hand dismissively. "Nah she's uh, she's...a friend." He didn't sound convincing, maybe because yes, he wanted Charlie to be his girlfriend but he didn't want to be Charlie's boyfriend because he wasn't good enough for her. Not to mention how those words were so juvenile. Boyfriend. Girlfriend. It made him groan again.
"We should bring her something," Amelia said with that disarming smile of hers, ignoring his nonsense reply. "I want to meet her." It stood to reason that she wanted to meet everyone who really knew who she was; it was hard on her pretending to be someone else.
"We can uh, drop by, I guess, yeah, maybe later," Gavin mumbled even if it made him squirm a little. They could put it off for a bit, he thought, but Amelia had other ideas.
"What does she like?" she asked cheerfully. "We could get her cake or flowers, or chocolate? Maybe pie." She was trying hard to think of romantic gestures and it was clear enough that this visit was happening. Gavin tried to protest that they would have a lot of groceries in the car but Amelia wouldn't hear of it. It was cold out, the groceries would keep.
And so at his daughter's insistence, they drove over to Charlie Harris's house in the afternoon with pie. Amelia calm and faintly amused, Gavin nervous and feeling a little stupid. Charlie might not even be at home he thought - but as they got to her house they could see her car out front. He wasn't sure if that was a relief or a disappointment either.
"We won't stay long," Gavin mumbled and Amelia rolled her eyes at him.
"She has a lot of work to do," he explained but that too fell on deaf ears.
"C'mon," Amelia said chipperly when Gavin had parked. She got out and grabbed the pie they'd bought for Charlie from the back and waited until Gavin got out of the car too before stalking up to her house and knocking on her door.
Charlie was home, and had been for a couple of hours now. She had plans to drive over to her mother's later to have dinner, but rather than focus on grading papers, she spent quite a bit of time in her backyard pulling weeds and dead flowers. All the rain they had last week meant that the ground was still soggy, so the front of her jeans were a bit damp from where she had been kneeling in the yard. She wasn't entirely prepared for guests. Her button down red flannel was old and faded, her hair was tied into a messy ponytail, but dark, stray strands occasionally fell against her face. She left light smears of dirt along her cheek whenever she brushed them away with her gloved hands, but she wasn't terribly conscious of the state she was in. She wasn't prepared for guests because she hadn't expected any.
She had just stepped into her kitchen from the back door when she heard the knock up front. Tugging her gardening gloves off, Charlie set them on the kitchen counter and wiped her damp hands on back of her jeans as she headed for the door. Her gaze caught sight of Gavin's car in her driveway through the dining room windows and she looked down at her clothes with an internal groan. There was no time to run upstairs and change or fix her hair. She supposed it didn't really matter, because she was pleased by the unexpected visit. Charlie unlocked her door and pulled it open, her greeting momentarily delayed by the sight of a teenage girl with Gavin, holding what appeared to be a pie. It took only a second for it to click that this had to be Amelia. Forgetting all about her appearance, Charlie smiled at them both. "Hi. This is a nice surprise."
Amelia was visibly surprised. She wasn't sure what she'd been expecting, someone who looked more like her mom, maybe, some uptight lady who looked all wrong for her dad or... Well, something else. "Wow, you're so pretty," she blurted out before letting out a little laugh and offering up the pie. "Hi."
Gavin hoped it really was a nice surprise and that Charlie wasn't just being polite. It was hard to tell with her since he'd never really seen her upset - not at him at least. "We were just at the uh, we were shopping," he said awkwardly. "I thought uh, Amelia wanted to come say hi and I thought you should meet her so... here we are. We won't stay long, you're obviously busy."
Amelia turned to look at her dad, a bit bewildered and highly amused. He was normally bad at socializing but this was so awkward that even she noticed and it was pretty obvious Charlie had a bigger effect on him than he'd admit to.
The compliment took her by surprise, especially as she knew she probably looked a mess, but it was appreciated and welcomed and Charlie's smile grew a touch when Amelia offered the pie out to her. Taking it in both hands as not to drop it, Charlie was thankful that she had been wearing gloves outside. Instinctively she stepped back from the doorway and quickly waved them inside. "Oh no, I'm not busy. I was just pulling up weeds out back, but this is a much better use of my time." She told Gavin simply, though her focus was more on Amelia now. She was a pretty girl, and Charlie could see the familial resemblance. "I'm glad to finally meet you. How are things going? How have you been?" Charlie didn't want to bombard the girl with questions, and she knew she needed to be mindful of the situation. The last thing she wanted was for Gavin's daughter to leave here disliking her.
Maybe the fact she was a bit of a mess made her look prettier to Amelia because it looked normal to her, far more so than if she'd been all made up and dressed nice. The question was a tricky one and she shrugged, keeping her smile carefully in place. "Getting used to being back and getting pampered by dad and my brother." She grinned at Gavin and stepped inside, looking around Charlie's place to get a better feeling for her.
Gavin closed the door behind them and gave Charlie a cautious smile. "We've been preparing to lie to people for days now and so far nobody's asked us any questions. I think we're settled on a new name for her though." Glancing at Amelia he added, "Unless you changed your mind again."
Amelia looked back and shook her head. "Lyra," she told Charlie before wrinkling her nose. "What do you think? Too pretentious?"
It wasn't surprising to hear Amelia was being doted on by Gavin and Jasper. Charlie could only imagine how relieved and happy they were to have her back. That sort of scare changed perspective and priorities, certainly. It was a reminder that life was short, as cliché as it might have sounded. "Lyra, as in the constellation?" Charlie asked curiously, though it occurred to her that maybe Lyra was a popular singer, or band, or something girls Amelia's age were into, and not space related in any shape or form. "It's beautiful, though. More unique than pretentious. As long as you like it, that's the only thing that matters."
"Like the harp," Amelia replied although her eyes lit up to hear it was also a constellation. "It's from a book," she explained. "And it sounds a bit like Lia so..."
Gavin was quiet, listening to the two of them with a small smile. It was clear it meant something to Amelia to get acknowledgement from a woman, she was so surrounded by men in her life right now and her mother... Gavin had nothing nice to say about her or her relationship with Amelia. "The Golden Compass," he said, feeling like it might be important to Amelia that he remembered that. "I should probably read that." He huffed softly at the thought of reading anything but the bills and receipt at work. "Didn't they make a movie?"
Charlie smiled. It did have to do with music, but with a harp and not a bubble gum pop star. Even better was that it came from a book. "I've never read The Golden Compass myself, but I do remember there was a movie several years ago. The Golden Compass is one in a series of books though, isn't it?" she asked Amelia. "I keep meaning to find more time to read since I've been home, but trying to get the house in decent shape has kept me busy when I'm not working." Charlie very nearly asked Gavin's daughter if she had any plans on attending school, but she didn't want to jump into 'teacher mode' and make things uncomfortable in any way. Besides, Charlie was pretty sure she didn't want Amelia only thinking of her as a teacher. Instead her gaze ticked to Gavin briefly and her smile widened as she moved to set the pie down on the table. "Don't let your dad off the hook by watching the movie," she told Amelia. "The books are almost always better."
"We'll read them together, right dad?" Amelia said and she couldn't even imagine trying to make her dad do something he didn't want to do. "I only ever read the first one, it was the only one I found." She knew Gavin and Jasper would get her the rest of them, however many there might be, if she just asked for it.
"I guess we can do that," Gavin said with a bemused huff as he bit back on telling them he wasn't much of a reader. That just wasn't something you said to a beautiful woman who loved books and taught English of all subjects. Charlie was already so far out of his league, he didn't need to bury himself any deeper.
Charlie had trouble imagining Gavin sitting down with a book like The Golden Compass, but it was still fun to tease him. She had to fight the urge to run out and buy Amelia the other two books in the series, because she had no desire to make it seem like she was trying to buy Amelia's approval. Though Charlie couldn't really say she knew what kind of approval she was looking for, since she still wasn't entirely sure she knew what her relationship to Gavin even was. Not that it mattered in the moment. "If you enjoy reading, I've got a few boxes of books in my garage that I've yet to unpack from my move," Charlie said. "You're free to come over anytime and sort through them to see if there are any that interest you. I usually buy whatever piques my interest, so there's plenty of genres to choose from."
Amelia's eyes went a little wide at that offer and she nodded eagerly, obviously tempted to go look right now. "You're not going to unpack them?" she asked, looking around again as if to suss out where Charlie could put all her books.
Gavin fished his cigarettes out of his pocket, smiling with some amusement. He'd found out pretty fast that books were the way to Amelia's heart now and that was a change from before she'd gone missing. She did enjoy watching things with him too, but he had a feeling she enjoyed just about anything these days, having been so deprived for so long. He lit up a cigarette and settled down by Charlie's kitchen table, watching her in warm silence.
Charlie shrugged softly with a smile. "I don't have as many bookshelves here as I did back in New York. I'm sure I'll find room for some of them, but I have more books than space right now. Did you want to go out back and take a look before you leave? There may be a few that interest you." Gavin was smoking and looking comfortable so Charlie didn't feel like he was in a rush to get out the door. And honestly, Charlie was good with the two of them staying as long as they wanted. She enjoyed Gavin's company, obviously, and she wanted to get to know his daughter a bit better as well.
Gavin found himself slipping into problem solving mode, thinking about where she could put extra shelves, how they could probably build double-shelving if she really wanted all her books in there. He didn't miss the way Amelia was smiling though, it was a good sign. "We're gonna get her a library card as soon as we have her papers all set up," he told Charlie. "Until then I'm sure having some books at hand would be good."
"Are you kidding me?" Amelia tittered as she glanced back at him, then she looked at Charlie again and nodded eagerly. "I'd love that, most of the books I found were so old and boring, I'd read just about anything to pass the time."
"I'm sure I've got a couple of old and boring books myself, but I think you've got a good chance at finding a few that are new and interesting," Charlie said with a smile. She motioned for Amelia to follow her towards the kitchen so they could head out to the garage building at the back of her driveway. "You're welcome to come along, or stay here and finish your cigarette," she told Gavin. Charlie wasn't sure if Gavin would find any of her books interesting, and he might be comfortable enough where he was.
It came to nobody's surprise when Gavin opted to stay inside and smoke and Amelia was still a little amused. She followed Charlie out to the garage, excitedly looking through the boxes until she'd found a couple of books she definitely wanted to read. There were so many but she wasn't about to borrow dozens at a time. "So," she murmured before they headed back in. "You and my dad." She gave Charlie a curious little smile. "Are you just friends or...?"
Charlie helped Amelia open up the boxes and sort through the books, making small piles for herself of what she wanted to keep and what should be donated. She suggested a couple that Amelia might enjoy, and once Amelia had a few to take with her, Charlie left the piles where they were, intending to come back to them another day. She wiped her hands on the back of her jeans, ready to head back inside, but Amelia's question threw her off and she stammered for a moment before smiling and releasing a laugh. She could feel her face burning and felt silly that a teenager had flustered her. "Oh. Um..." Charlie glanced towards the house, as if expecting to see Gavin peering out at them through the window or something, but the curtains remained in place. "We're friends... I think. I'm not really sure." And talking to his daughter was probably not the wisest route to take, and it was way too juvenile to ask why? did he say something about me?. This wasn't high school. Charlie smiled. "Your dad is a difficult man to read sometimes."
Amelia just laughed because yes, even she knew her dad was hard to read. He'd always been warm with her but she wasn't blind to how awkward he was even when he was trying. "He likes you," she said with a little shrug since Charlie should at least know that much. It felt weird to keep talking about it, seeing as how Charlie looked about as flustered as Gavin normally did, so Amelia looked at the books she was carrying for something to change the topic with. "Thanks for the this," she said. "I really appreciate it, dad and Jasper aren't really big on reading."
Charlie knew Gavin liked her, but it still made her blush to hear someone else say it, especially his daughter. She was grateful for the subject change and Charlie gestured for the two of them to walk back toward the house. "You're very welcome. And you're free to come by anytime and dig through the other boxes. Manhattan had so many book stores, a lot of them secondhand so I went a little overboard buying them. I know you'll have more options when you get a library card but, I won't charge overdue fees," Charlie said with a smile.
"Thank you," Amelia said and suppressed the urge to hug Charlie for it. She had books in her arms and it was really hard to gauge whether it was appropriate or not anyway. Dealing with people was weird now, though Charlie really looked like someone who did hugs - like Ruby. It was safer not to this time and she had an excuse if not hugging was weird too so she clutched her books and walked back to the house with Charlie.
Gavin had just finished his cigarette and arched a brow when the two of them came back in. "You got a few," he remarked and it just reminded him how his daughter and Charlie were in a different class than him, a far better class. "Thanks, Charlie. It means a lot." He considered maybe inviting her over for dinner later in the week then thought better of it. Jasper would hate it and he really was trying to keep things good with his kids.
"You're very welcome," Charlie told her, falling into step beside Amelia to head back toward the house. Gavin was waiting for them when they came in through the back door and she smiled, waving her hand dismissively. "It's no problem at all. Books are meant to be read, not packed away. She's welcome to come over any time and grab some more." It would be nice if Amelia felt comfortable coming by, with or without Gavin. Admittedly it wouldn't hurt if at least one of Gavin's kids liked her, then maybe she would have a shot.
"Yeah we're gonna need to get her a driving license," Gavin said with a little smile. Amelia might not mind walking everywhere but he'd feel more at ease if she had a car, especially after what had almost happened to Jasper. Gavin couldn't imagine it would have been as easy to ignore and escape those demon children if Jasper had been on foot. "But I can always drive her over here until then." He thought it went without saying that he'd be happy to, that it was just another reason to meet Charlie. "You're uh, welcome at the house anytime too," he added, clearing his throat. "You got any coffee?"
Charlie smiled at him, though she had a feeling he was just trying to be polite because she had offered first. But that was okay. He had kids and responsibilities, so it was probably much easier for him to drop in on Charlie when he wanted to because she... didn't. Well, she had responsibilities, but she was the only one living in her house, so there was less chance of interrupting something. She had fully expected Gavin and Amelia to head out so when he asked about coffee, Charlie's brows rose in surprise, though she was rather pleased that maybe he wanted to stay. "I do," she told him. "Just give me a few minutes... do you want a slice of pie with it? I'm going to feel terrible about myself if I eat the whole thing alone."
"Oh we'll help you out," Gavin replied, suspecting Amelia could eat the whole thing if she wanted to. He was feeling a little peckish too. "I wouldn't want you to feel bad about anything, Charlie," he murmured and it went far deeper than just pie, there were more things he wanted to fix in Charlie's life than her porch and fence.
Amelia noticed the softness of her father's voice. He didn't usually talk to people softly or say things like that so she smothered a knowing little smile. "I'll have some pie," she said cheerfully. "Though I don't know why you'd feel bad about eating it all."
Her gaze met Gavin's and she would have had to have been extremely dense not to understand the meaning behind his words. It was sweet of him and had her stomach fluttering in a way that brought a bit of pink to her cheeks. But she couldn't exactly stand there and make eyes at him while his daughter was in the same room, so Charlie tried to refocus, smiling at Amelia's question. "Is it too cliché of me to say calories?" Charlie laughed a little and motioned toward the pie on the table. "Let me grab some plates and the coffee. Amelia, did you want coffee? I have sweet tea, juice and soda too, if you would rather have something different." She didn't want to assume that all teenagers enjoyed coffee, especially if it wasn't the expensive fancy kind from Joyland or Starbucks.
Amelia was hardly a regular teen but she settled on sweet tea and sat down at the table with her dad. Gavin patted her arm gently but his attention stayed on Charlie. He thought she looked slightly embarrassed for a moment but he wasn't sure and couldn't put his finger on why he thought that. He wanted to tell her she didn't need to worry about calories, she'd be beautiful no matter what she did or didn't do with her body but even the thought felt intrusive and weird, like he might annoy her with it if she could read his mind. "I'll just have some coke," he muttered. "I don't want you to go through any trouble for us."
"I've got a Keurig," she told Gavin with a grin as she headed for the kitchen. "It's no trouble, Gavin. Give me a minute." Inside the kitchen she started Gavin's cup of coffee and poured Amelia a glass of sweet tea. While the coffee was dripping rapidly into the coffee mug she had placed beneath it, Charlie carried out Amelia's drink and three plates, forks and a pie server. She handed Amelia her drink and set the plates on the table before handing Gavin the server. "Why don't you go ahead and cut this up and dole out a few pieces while I finish up the coffee," she told him, not waiting for an answer before she disappeared into the kitchen again. A minute later she carried two coffee mugs out into the small dining room, placing one in front of Gavin and one in front of the chair she slipped into shortly after. "I don't think you said what kind this is," she told them, "but it looks delicious. You really didn't have to go to the trouble of bringing this to me, but I have to admit that I'm glad you did. It's nice having the company."
"It's raspberry," Amelia said cheerfully before taking a bite of it, happily chewing on the sugary treat.
"It was Amelia's idea," Gavin added, vaguely aware that he was relieved it hadn't been his idea, like it made him too vulnerable. What if Charlie hadn't liked it, what if she didn't like raspberry pie. She was less likely to judge Amelia for any of this than she was Gavin and while Gavin was used to being a fuck-up he really didn't want to be one with Charlie.
Amelia gave him a look he wasn't sure what was all about, then shook her head and smiled at Charlie. "I wanted to meet you, you made really good food and just... I think you helped dad a lot while I was gone." Which should have been years and years, it was hard to remember that it had only been a couple of weeks.
Charlie wasn't sure if Gavin meant it had been Amelia's idea to come by, or Amelia's idea to bring a pie with them but she supposed it didn't really matter. She just hoped Amelia hadn't pressured her dad into visiting if he hadn't wanted to, although Charlie never got the feeling that Gavin didn't want to be there when he came around. She hadn't been lying when she told Amelia Gavin was hard to read sometimes. Or most of the time.
Her smile softened some when Amelia spoke and it was a bit of a jarring reminder that only a couple weeks ago Amelia had been a little girl. Now she was grown, and there was some strange, bizarre world out there where time moved so differently than here. Charlie wasn't sure how useful she had actually been with Gavin having been so despondent over Amelia's disappearance, and rightly so, but she had hoped the food and company helped even in a small way. "I wanted to meet you too. And I'm glad you're home and safe. If there's anything I can do for either of you, well... you know where I live," Charlie told her.
She didn't really live close to where her dad lived but Amelia still appreciated the invitation. Charlie seemed like someone who was nice to be around and she had books. Lots of books. "Thanks," she said earnestly. "You're always welcome at our place too," she said before plopping a piece of pie in her mouth, chewing for a moment. "It's good, but we should have gotten the blueberry pie," she mumbled with her mouth full.
Gavin sipped his coffee, feeling weird from more than just his drink as he listened to the women in his life talking, because apparently that's what his little girl was now. He couldn't help but wonder what it would have been like if Charlie had been in his life instead of Ollie though in that train of thought he still had his kids somehow. It felt calmer, like his kids would be better adjusted, Jasper would be doing better at school, Gavin might not feel so completely fucked up all the time. It was a stupid thing to think about and he cleared his throat, feeling stupid as if Charlie might have heard all those thoughts and was now judging him for them.
"This is good," Charlie assured Amelia with a smile. "But you can bring blueberry next time." She took a drink of her coffee and looked at Gavin. "If you don't have any plans next week, you should come by for dinner. All of you." Amelia and Jasper included, if Jasper wanted to come. She knew how teenage boys could be, and she definitely knew how Jasper could be. "I know the bar gets busy in the evening, so whatever night would work best for you." She realized, from spending time with Gavin, that she needed to prod him along sometimes.
Gavin suspected Jasper wouldn't want to come but he also suspected he might anyway, if Amelia really wanted him there. At this point they both would do just about anything for her, even if it included a painfully awkward dinner. "That sounds good," he agreed with Amelia nodding happily along. "I'm trying to cover more shifts, my brothers carried the place while... For a while." They had just hired new staff and weeknights could be quiet so he was certain he could make it work. Did he want to have dinner with Charlie and his kids though? Not really and he hoped Amelia would pick up on that somehow and decline.
"My schedule is totally open," she said instead, smiling at Charlie. "And I'll probably have read these by then so... Maybe I can borrow some more."
Charlie wasn't entirely sure if that meant Gavin would find an evening, or if he was hedging the invitation by claiming he was working more. Honestly, just once Charlie wished he would sound enthused about seeing her again so she wouldn't have to spend so much time wondering about his responses. All she could really do is hope he was spending time with her because he wanted to and not out of some weird obligation. Maybe he felt sorry for her. God, wouldn't that be humiliating? Charlie stayed focused on Amelia, who did seem eager about coming back and Charlie returned her smile while placing her fork down on her plate. "Of course you can. I'll try to sort them out before then so it's easier for you to pick through. Do you three have any plans for Thanksgiving next week?"
It was next week? Gavin groaned as he thought about how time just flew. "We haven't planned anything but I'm guessing just a small dinner, you know, not everyone knows..." About Amelia. He glanced at his daughter as he trailed off. "How about you, Charlie?" She had family in town so he supposed she'd go have dinner with her mom at least. Gavin was avoiding his own parents and this year he had even more reasons to than last year. Amelia was a secret and a big family dinner with the whole Lucas clan never ended well anyway.
"I'm having an early brunch with my mother," Charlie admitted. "One of her friends from church is having her over for Thanksgiving dinner." They had indirectly invited Charlie, but she had a feeling that had more to do with Martha Butler's "single" son being home for the holiday weekend. Evidently he was a podiatrist and quite the catch. But Charlie had no interest in being set up and she certainly didn't want to spend the evening in the company of near strangers, even to humor her mother. "I was still wanting to cook but it wouldn't make a lot of sense to go to all the trouble just for myself. I certainly wouldn't mind the company if you wanted to come over and just bypass the cooking yourself."
They had been talking about dinner but Gavin hadn't considered that as a Thanksgiving thing. He'd never been good at holidays, he didn't think anyone in his family was, so it wasn't exactly a sacred evening but still... He would have thought Charlie had better things to do than cook for him and his kids. "That sounds good," he said though he did glance at Amelia for approval and found it readily there. "If you've got no other plans, I mean, it'd be good."
"No other plans," Charlie said. There was no point in mentioning the podiatrist. Charlie would have had to have been pretty desperate to agree to that, and she was not desperate. "Why don't you come by around four? Everything should be ready by then." She nearly suggested they come earlier if they wanted to help, but she had offered to cook so she wasn't going to rope them into that. She smiled and motioned to her plate. "If you want to bring some pie, I wouldn't say no."
"It's on Thursday, right?" Amelia asked. "It's always on Thursday?" She pressed her lips together as soon as she'd asked, aware that it was probably a stupid question but if she wasn't allowed to ask those she'd never learn a damn thing.
Gavin nodded, reminded that there were a lot of things he took for granted that his daughter wasn't sure about. It was heart wrenching but at least she was here now, figuring it out. "I'll uh, we'll be here. With pie. Any preferences on what kind?" It would be store bought, Gavin didn't bake and he doubted his kids could make a pie to save their lives.
"Any kind of pie you want," Charlie assured them. "Pumpkin, blueberry... anything. I have no preference." She wanted to make sure they brought whatever they wanted to bring. If this was their Thanksgiving, she wanted them to enjoy it as much as possible. Charlie knew it wasn't an ideal situation for them, but she imagined it had to be better than a frozen dinner or pizza. Somehow she couldn't see Gavin cooking turkey. "I'll take care of anything else."
"Are you making actual turkey?" Amelia asked and yeah, that excited her. She barely remembered what it tasted like but she'd read enough about it that the thought alone made her mouth water, all those side dishes and stuffing, how could it be anything but good?
"Doesn't have to be that complicated," Gavin said though the obvious hope in his daughter's eyes made him want to do the whole shebang, pumpkin pie and all. "Home cooked meals are great no matter what." That wasn't true at all, his mother did not make good homemade food, but Charlie did.
Charlie laughed and nodded. "It's Thanksgiving! We're definitely going to have a turkey. I'll have to keep myself from buying a sixteen pounder, but we're definitely going to have turkey. It's not complicated at all. The turkey will go in the oven in the morning, which will give me time to make potatoes and stuffing, and anything else you want. It's been awhile since I've had a proper Thanksgiving dinner too." She hadn't been in some alternate universe like Amelia, but she and Drew had always gone out to a fancy restaurant for holiday meals, if he didn't feel like accompanying her home for them. She felt it romantic at the time, but looking back on it, it had felt impersonal and lonely. She regretted the holidays spent away from home for him.
Amelia smiled at her in a way that said Charlie was amazing and if her dad wouldn't marry her, Amelia would want to be adopted by her. "Potatoes and stuffing and cranberry jam," she said contently even if she wasn't entirely sure what cranberry jam even tasted like. It just sounded good and traditional.
Gavin finished his coffee and gave Charlie a warm little smile. It was good to see Amelia smiling like that. "We'll bring pumpkin pie then," he said. "Proper Thanksgiving for both of you." It wasn't like he had many of those either but he also wasn't as excited about it as they were.
"I will make sure we have all of those things," Charlie promised her. Even if it was just the three of them, four if Jasper came, Charlie would make sure there was an abundance of food for Amelia to choose from. She returned Gavin's smile and motioned to the coffee cup. "Do you want some more?"
Gavin couldn't say no to that. A part of him urged him to get out of there soon but he honestly didn't want to so he would stay a while longer, eat some pie and let Charlie and Amelia do most of the talking. It was easier with Amelia there, she wasn't as socially crippled as he was and that probably should have told him something considering what she'd been through.