InsaneJournal

Who: Audrey, Merlin, Nina, and Gabe
When: Thursday, November 24
Where: Merlin and Audrey’s place
What: Thanksgiving Dinner
Rating/Warnings: Low/None
Status: Complete


Thanksgiving was always a big thing in the Baxter household. There were piles of rolls, flagons of sparkling cider, mounds of mashed potatoes, and a huge turkey. It was always Audrey’s responsibility to make the pies, and she did that with gusto; pecan pies, pumpkin pies, and always a cherry pie for her father’s best friend who always insisted. Now she had the pleasure of cooking the whole meal--with Nina’s help, and Merlin’s, and Gabe’s. They took turns caring for Ben and Bea, checking on the turkey and the cranberry sauce, and relaxing with a cup of egg nog.

Audrey put her feet up for just a minute, relaxing in her chair, and closed her eyes. Just for a minute. Or, what she thought was just a minute. Pretty soon she was lightly snoring.

For Merlin it had become a favourite holiday if he was honest, coming from the UK he’d never celebrated it before arriving in the OC but he’d had three wonderful years of celebrations with Audrey and he loved it.

Luckily the cooking ability had also increased thanks to him helping his wife out more and more each year until he was able to handle a few things at once. Which was especially handy for when his wife fell asleep and he didn’t want to wake her.

Nina mostly looked after the children since her cooking skills hadn’t really improved much despite being best friends with the most amazing baker ever. But she was happy playing with Ben and checking on Bea, giving her a bottle when needed or changing a nappy. She was more than happy to do that. Especially when Audrey obviously needed a break.

Gabe, ever being a man of the earth, was used to cooking since he grew a lot of his own produce. Half the time Nina was over he had actually cooked a meal instead of ordering in, though lately with the new business venture with Rick he’d fallen back on the latter. So he had no problem jumping in to help out once he saw an exhausted Audrey passed out on her chair. He was busy in the kitchen with Merlin helping continue with the finishing touches on the meal, occasionally sneaking peeks at Nina and the kids to see how they were doing.

Since Gabe had entered the equation, flavor had gone up practically ten fold. Not that Audrey’s flavors weren’t good or bountiful, but Gabe’s herbs brought variety that Audrey didn’t have. He knew of flavorings she’d never even heard of. Audrey designed the recipes and got things going, using Gabe’s produce and herbs, and then Merlin finished up when Audrey crashed on the sofa, while Nina watched the kids. It was like a well oiled machine.

That is, until Audrey’s Dreams took a turn for the worse. She woke with a start, in a panic, her heart thundering loudly. She’d been Dreaming about Azkaban, where they’d taken her during the Wizarding War. A quick glance around the living room told her where she was, and the smell of turkey, stuffing and potatoes in the air reminded her of the day. Thanksgiving. She calmed considerably when she heard voices in the other room, then climbed up from the sofa to go looking for her family.

“What’d I miss?” She asked sleepily, as she came into the kitchen.

“Men at work” Merlin told her with a smile, moving over to press a kiss to her forehead, “You okay?” he asked her softly when he saw how flushed she looked.

“They’ve been hard at work for us Aud” Nina said, Ben on her hip as she walked into the kitchen since he’d asked to see what Daddy was doing and Bea was currently asleep.

Gabe smiled at Audrey, in the midst of stirring the gravy. “Everything's nearly done. Get a good rest?” When Nina popped in his trademark grin appeared; she looked like such a natural with Ben on her hip. He hoped they heard from the Agency soon; Thanksgiving always had a part of him wishing they had their own little family. The sooner they got word one way or the other about if they could naturally start their own the better they could plan things. He gave Nina a kiss. “How's little man doing?”

Audrey was okay. She was much better now that she was in her home with her loved ones. Dreaming things over again was never fun, though Audrey had Dreamed an entire lifetime’s worth. So she was getting used to it. “I’m okay.” She leaned in closer when her husband kissed her face, and closed her eyes, revelling in the comfort of the touch. “Oh, good. Because I’m starving.” Audrey grinned over at Gabe. “Yeah, well, it was fitful. Nightmares. Let’s put on some Christmas music soon? And Egg Nog. Did we get Egg Nog?”

“Good” Merlin said giving her a loving smile before carrying on with preparing the food, “It won’t be long” he promised her, he could almost hear all the hungry stomachs rumbling. His included. “Uh yeah I think so” he answered Audrey before looking over at Nina, “Mum sent us babycham” he told her with a wink.

Nina returned Gabe’s kiss, “He’s good, we’ve been reading and playing with Lego” she grinned, leaning against him before her eyes widened at Merlin’s comment, “No way. Your mum is the best! I’ve not had that in a long time”

Gabe's momentary concern over Audrey glossing over having nightmares (which he assumed were probably the dreams with a capital “D”) was instantly forgotten as the two Brits started speaking...Brit.

“Wait what's babycham?” He almost said 'babycam’ because he'd never heard of this thing Nina was suddenly excited over. His puzzled expression was practically comical.

Audrey was certainly excited about the sparkling beverage. But since she wasn’t technically British in this life, she decided to let either her husband or best friend explain the drink to Gabe. Instead, she moved past the conversation into the kitchen to start… doing something. Something to help. Tidying or preparing, something to keep her hands busy. She knew she’d have to go feed the baby in a minute or two, and wanted to do something productive in the meantime.

“It’s a perry” Merlin said, “Very popular in the UK in the seventies and eighties, it’s just a little throw back to childhood in Britain really”

Nina nodded, “A trip down memory lane. But you know how hard cider is alcohol made from fermented apples, well perry is made from fermented pears. It’s nice and it has a deer on the label”

Gabe stepped aside to let Audrey fuss over the food while he listened to the explanation to the drink. “So let me get this straight...this is alcohol made from pears? Or a sparkling pear beverage?” Gabe wasn’t a fan of pears, plant man that he was. In his time dating Nina he’d learned about the existence of a number of British foodstuffs, such as digestive biscuits, oddly named candy bars, and more tea varieties than he’d ever considered existed. But this was a new one to him.

“You know, it’s like a cider,” Audrey explained. She helped to finish dishing up some of their food, leaving Merlin to tend to drinks. It was her job to set the table, wasn’t it? Everything was just about ready, and Audrey herself was ready to stuff her face with delicious food. She brought a big bowl of potatoes to the table.

Merlin and Nina both nodded when Audrey explained, “Exactly” Merlin said, “It’s really nice. Definitely a British thing apparently” he grinned.

“You can try mine and see if you like it” she told Gabe patting his arm before moving to settle Ben at the table in his high chair all ready for the food.

“All right, I'll give it a shot.” Gabe said, as he helped bring in platters of steaming hot food and set them on the table. Many hands made light work - and meant eating sooner. He settled into his seat next to Nina once everyone and everything seemed settled. He smiled, so grateful for this family of friends.

Everything was settled around the table. The food looked amazing. The company was more than pleasant. Audrey couldn’t imagine a better way to spend Thanksgiving. She lifted her glass. “A toast? To family.” Because Nina and Gabe were her family.

Merlin smiled, laying a hand on Audrey’s free one as he lifted his glass up too, “To family” he repeated.

Nina lifted hers too and clinked it against the others, “The best family” she added, they were all she really had now since her adopted mother had died and she was incredibly grateful for them all.

“Okay I really can't top that so I'm gonna go with, ‘I love you guys’ and ‘Let's eat!” Gabe said with his Groot grin.