In the morning, I awoke to the alarm clock blaring. Still groggy, I shut it off and headed straight for the shower. Determined to look my best, despite all the cooking ahead of me, I was going to get all made up before I woke up Nevaeh. It would make for a much easier morning. Just as I was stepping into the shower, someone grabbed me from behind with a loud booming voice.
“Ahh!” I screamed, nearly falling into the shower with my slippery foot.
Nevaeh giggled from behind, “Morning momma!”
I grabbed my chest, covering my racing heart. “Nevaeh! You scared the hell out of me! Why would you do that?” I laughed.
Nevaeh smiled, “I don’t know. I thought it would be funny,” she said, twisting her hands together as she shrugged her shoulders.
“That’s not nice,” I said, still trying to catch my breath. “I’m going to take a shower real quick so we can start getting ready to go to Dale’s house.” I closed the shower curtain as I began washing. “Do you want to wear your pink dress or the purple one?”
“Mom! You know that purple’s my favorite color! I want to wear the purple dress!” she exclaimed before chanting “Pur-ple dress, pur-ple dress!”
“Okay, I got it!” I teased. “Go ahead and brush your teeth real quick, then go get dressed. Momma’s got a lot to do today. We have to get ready, pack up the car, drive to his house and then cook over there. Are you excited for today?”
“Yeah,” she answered, with a mouthful of toothpaste. “I can’t wait to see grandma and all of my uncles!”
As I showered, I thought of how this was beginning to look like a little family. I beamed with joy as I envisioned us spending every holiday together and being happy. Before, it had always been us and my mom and brothers. Occasionally they’d go to Lorraine’s house, but usually only for Fourth of July. After the car was packed and we were buckled, we began our journey to Dale’s house. My stomach knotted in anticipation of making this our best holiday ever.
Meanwhile, Dale was at home, tidying up his kitchen, trying to set everything up in preparation for our arrival. When we arrived, he helped get Nevaeh out of the car as he scooped a couple of the dishes under his arm.
“Thank you,” I appreciated his help.
“No problem. I’ve been working on getting the kitchen set up so we have enough room to cook and we’re not stepping on each other’s feet. I hope you like it,” he grinned.
When I walked inside, I was shocked to see the dining room table completely decorated with a beautiful candlelit centerpiece in the middle of the table. The pristine white linen tablecloth appeared freshly pressed. Each chair at the table was set with a festive placemat which featured autumn leaves and wine goblets next to each mat, opposite of the napkin wrapped silverware.
“You really went all out, didn’t you?” I asked, astonished.
He shrugged, “It’s our first holiday together and I wanted it to be special,” he kissed my forehead. “I also want to impress your family; it’s imperative to me. Here, let’s go put these in the kitchen and get busy cooking.”
Shortly before dinner was ready, the doorbell rang. My mom, Terrance, Jason, Tony and Jason’s girlfriend were finally here. Showtime. Dale and I gave them a short tour of the house before we sat down to eat. Much to my surprise, my brothers were on their best behavior. Momma must’ve given them a stern talking.
Throughout dinner, the men joked and laughed while momma and Nevaeh talked about school. This is so wonderful. I was glad to see everyone having a great time and getting along. Maybe now they’ll understand he’s a good guy. If he were able to impress my oldest brother, the others would gladly accept him as well.
After our Thanksgiving meal, everyone laid around with puffy, stuffed bellies as we watched the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on the DVR. Nevaeh eventually grew tired of watching the show while all the grown-ups discussed various holiday celebrations.
“Momma,” she said tugging on my shirt, “I’m ready to go to bed. Can we go home?”
“Yeah, baby, we can go home. Let me just tell Dale goodbye and get our coats.”
Eager to leave, Nevaeh grabbed her coat as I informed everyone that we were leaving. My mom and brothers gathered their coats and followed us out.
“Night, Nevaeh,” he called to her as we began walking out to the car.
“Bye Dale!” She waved, “See you later.”
A couple of weeks after Thanksgiving, I went into Nevaeh’s room to wake her for school. As I flipped on the lights, I noticed that Nevaeh hadn’t moved a muscle all night while she was sleeping. That sweet thing, she must have been zonked!