"Here, put this somewhere," mom said, shoving a bowl of olives into my hands.

                "Is my mouth a good spot?" I asked, popping an olive in my mouth.

                "No!" mom said, snatching them from me and hurrying away.

                Michigan wagged his tail as I sat next to him to pet him. I could hear my family talking in the dining room and living room. Our Thanksgivings were never big, but I always enjoyed getting to see my family.

                "Hey, Gar," dad said as he entered the room. "When are Ray and Silas coming?"

                "Soon," I said, checking my phone. "They should be on their way. Ray said he was just dropping his parents off at their friend's house before they came."

                "Mom's getting the dessert out," dad said. "I saved you a few of the peanut butter cookies for later."

                "Yes!" I cheered. "You're the best."

                He pat my shoulder before moving along to grab some dessert to bring out. I balanced my phone on my knee and went back to petting Michigan.

                We'd invited Silas and his family for dinner and dessert. Silas said they had dinner with his grandparents, but that his grandparents went to visit a close friend who lived alone after dinner, so he and Ray could come for dessert.

                After about two minutes, my phone buzzed and I caught it before it fell off my knee. I gave Michigan one last scratch behind the ears before getting up and going to the front door, pulling it open.

                "Oh, wow," I said in surprise, looking at Silas.

                It's not that Silas never dressed nice or anything; he was just more likely to wear jeans and plain shirts. But now he was dressed in dark jeans and a button up shirt, his hair neat. He looked incredibly handsome.

                "Thanks for having us. We brought some pie," Ray said, handing it to me. "It's, uh..."

                "He didn't make it," Silas said. "Grandma made it an' Ray just took it to bring here."

                Ray glared at him. "Alright big mouth, some of us were busy cooking Thanksgiving dinner for two days. You could've made dessert. You knew we were coming here."

                "It's apple pie," Silas said, stepping into the house with Ray.

                I laughed a little. "You guys didn't have to bring anything, but thank you! Happy Thanksgiving, by the way. How was your dinner?"

                "Miserable," Silas grumbled.

                "It was fine. My mom flustered over Silas and treated me like an actual small child," Ray said. "Just the usual."

                "Aw come on, you said you don't see them often. I'm sure it was nice to have them here for the holiday," I said.

                "It was for the first five minutes," Ray said with a sigh. He glanced at Silas and shrugged. "It is nice. They don't have to come up, but they like to see us."

                "Send 'em a picture next time," Silas said.

                "Shut up and be grateful your grandparents want to be around you, you punk ass kid," Ray said.

                "Come on, my parents just put dessert out," I said, gesturing at them to follow me.

                Silas looked nervous as we got closer to the all the chatter. I knew he wouldn't be comfortable admitting we were dating when he didn't know any of my family, so I'd already planned to introduce him as a good friend.

                "Hi Silas! Hi Ray!" mom greeted, noticing them. "We're glad you came!"

                "Thanks for having us," Ray said.

                "They brought apple pie," I said, passing it off to my mom.

                "Oh, you didn't have to!" mom said. "Garrett, go get Silas some dessert. Ray, come with me. We'll get you a beer and introduce you to some people. I think you'll like my father-in-law, he's very into working out."

                Ray followed my mom into the small crowd of family. I led Silas to the table with all the desserts, handing him a plate and grabbing one for myself. We loaded our plates and retreated to the living room, where it was a little quieter.

                "Garrett?" my aunt said. When I looked at her, she signed out, "Who's the boy?"

                I smiled a little. "My friend. He's nervous around strangers," I signed back. "Be nice."

                Silas looked between us, confusion on his face. His nervousness had grown, and he was fidgeting with his fork.

                "Silas, this is my Aunt Hayley," I introduced. "Hayley, this is Silas."

                "Nice to meet you, Silas!" Hayley said, and Silas relaxed the slightest.

                "Yea, hi," he said. He'd probably been worried she only communicated through sign language, as she also wore hearing aids. 

                "Where are Akira and Jack?" Hayley asked.

                "Akira is with his family all day. Jack isn't coming this year, either. His dad took them out to the casino for a live show," I said.

                "They usually come?" Silas asked me.

                "Akira stops by for a little some years. And Jack almost always comes because it's just him and his dad at home, but the past few years his dad tries to take them out to do something after dinner," I said. "It's just you and me this year, though. What do you and Ray usually do when your grandparents go to visit their friend?"

                Silas shrugged. "We play cards or watch a movie. I ain't very good at cards, though. Ray always wins." Silas looked past me, out of the window. "It's snowing."

                "Already?" I said, glancing out of the window. "Aw, man. I haven't found my winter coat yet."

                "So? It ain't that cold out yet," Silas said. "You got a lot of people here for Thanksgiving. We never had a big one like this before."

                "Really? I think this is pretty small," I said.

                "Ours is just me, Ray, and my grandparents. My parents never did Thanksgiving. Said I should be grateful I ate food every day, didn't need a day for it," he said. "You gotta feed all these people?"

                "A lot of them bring dishes," I said. "We always host Thanksgiving at my house, though, so my parents are used to figuring out how much food we need for everyone."

                I felt sad as I watched Silas look around. Thanksgiving for us had always been about being with family and taking time to reflect on what we were grateful for in our lives. The food was an added bonus, but we cooked and baked together to make it.

                Ray had told me Silas had never celebrated a Thanksgiving until he left his parents. He was almost thirteen when Ray took custody of him, which meant he'd gone twelve years without a Thanksgiving. No family gathering or family traditions.

                "Aunt Hayley," I said, and she turned to me. "Silas has never been here for Thanksgiving before. That means he doesn't know about our darts competition."

                Hayley grinned. "Well, let's teach him. I'll go grab your dad and cousins."

                "Come on," I said, pulling Silas to his feet. "Every year, we have a dart competition. Winner gets first dibs on loading his plate at the next Thanksgiving."

                "I ain't too bad at darts," Silas said. "But I ain't going to be here for dinner. I always eat with Ray."

                "That's okay! If you win, we'll give you first dibs on dessert next year," I said, and he looked a little surprised. But I wanted him to know I planned on him being here next year. I wanted him to be part of our traditions and get to know my family. A game of darts would be a good way for him to get comfortable talking to them.

                "Sure. Hey, uh, thanks for inviting me. I guess," he said, not looking at me.

                I smiled at him. "When it quiets down, let's go star gaze. I bet it'll look beautiful with the snow falling."

                "Yea, bet it will," he said, the smallest hint of a smile on his face.

                I was thankful he was here. I was thankful I had a loving, supportive family. I was thankful Silas lived with a loving and supportive family now. And I was thankful we got to share the beauty of the holidays and the world itself together.

                But the stars would be there when we were done. So we went into the basement with my family, talking and laughing and teasing each other as we set up a game of darts. Silas was still nervous, but he looked a lot more at ease than before.

                This was what Thanksgiving was about. Family, loved ones, and being grateful for these little moments we got to share together.

----------------------------------------------

A.N.- Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Have a fantastic, food-filled day!