“This is going to be horribly awkward,” I said, pouting out of the window.

                “Oh, lighten up Theo,” dad said.

                “You people need to stop enjoying my pain on Thanksgiving!” I said, my pout getting deeper.

                “Nah,” mom said.

                “Thank you mother,” I grumbled.

                I mentally sighed as dad pulled into the Ivanov’s driveway. Mr. and Mrs. Ivanov had invited our family to join them for Thanksgiving dinner. Thalia was spending the day with our aunt, so she got out of this awkward dinner. It also saved me the trouble of explaining the fact that Dimitri and Alek were actually brother and sister.

                We got out of the car and I cursed my life as we went up to the front door and rang the doorbell. Mr. Ivanov pulled the door open and let us inside.

                “Hello Mr. Ivanov,” dad said.

                “Alexei,” Mr. Ivanov corrected, shaking my dad’s hand.

                He led us to the dining room, where the table was set neatly. Alexei gestured to the table.

                “Please, take a seat anywhere,” he said.

                We sat down at the table. I could smell delicious food, and it made my stomach growl. I watched Alexei as he went to the doorway.

                “Kids! Come downstairs!” he called.

                He stepped back as the sound of footsteps on the stairs reached us. Galen appeared in the doorway and Alexei held his arms open. Galen ran into them, giggling as Alexei swung him around and kissed his cheek.

                “I hope you’re hungry,” he said.

                “I’m starving daddy!” Galen said, wrapping his arms around Alexei’s neck.

                Alexei carried him over to the table and sat him down in a chair. Galen eyed me with distaste.

                “Hi Theo,” he said.

                “Hi Galen,” I said, resisting the urge to roll my eyes.

                I looked over as Alek entered the room, promptly ignoring me. She sat down at the table, next to Galen.

                “Alek, do you know if your brother was drawing?” Alexei asked.

                “I have no idea, dad. His door was shut,” Alek said.

                “Please go get him. Even if he’s drawing. It’s Thanksgiving, and Theo and his family are here,” Alexei said.

                Alek got up and left the room. A minute later, she returned to the room. Alexei shot her a curious look.

                “He fell asleep. I woke him up. He’ll be down in a second,” she said, taking her seat again.

                Dimitri came into the room about two minutes later, looking sleepy. His purple fohawk was lightly messed up, and his bright orange shirt was wrinkled.

                “You look like a tired traffic cone,” I said to him.

                “Hello to you too little Theodore,” he greeted, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. “And hello little Theodore’s family. It’s wonderful to have you all here. Tragically missing Thalia, of course.”

                “Hello Dimitri,” mom greeted with a smile.

                “Dimmy, sit next to me!” Galen said, patting the empty seat next to him.

                “Of course, dear,” Dimitri said. He came over and pulled me to my feet, dragging me over to the other side of the table. He sat down next to Galen, forcing me to sit next to him.

                “I was sitting there,” I said, pointing at the chair next to my mom.

                “And now you’re sitting here,” he said, kissing my cheek.

                “Are you okay? You looked exhausted,” I said, noticing the dark marks under his eyes.

                “I’m fine. I pulled an all-nighter last night working on some drawings,” he said, resting his head on my shoulder. I rubbed his back, kissing his hair.

                “Hello!” Dimitri’s mom said as she came into the room. “Jared and Amelia, correct? I’m Eva.”

                Dad and mom shook her hand. She and Alexei disappeared into the kitchen and came back, setting food on the table. I watched eagerly, my stomach growling loudly now.

                “Dimitri, did you sleep last night?” Eva asked, eyeing her sleepy son.

                “No, mother dearest. I’m afraid I didn’t,” Dimitri said.

                “Dimitri! Don’t do that. You need to sleep,” she said sternly.

                The Ivanovs sat down with us. Dimitri sat up, taking my hand in his, and Galen’s in his other hand. I watched as Galen, Alek, Alexei, and Eva began to hold everyone’s hand, and copied them.

                We bowed our heads and I listened in confusion as Alexei said something in Russian. Dimitri released my hand when his father was done speaking.

                “Turkey time,” he said with a grin, grabbing a plate and scooping turkey off of it. He gave some to Galen, and passed the plate to me. We loaded our plates with food and dug in hungrily.

                “This is delicious,” mom said to Eva.

                “Thank you,” she said with a smile. “But I can’t take all the credit. Alek helped with a lot of the food!”

                “Dimitri and I made dessert!” Galen said eagerly, smiling up at his brother.

                “Indeed we did. And it’ll be the most delicious dessert they’ve ever eaten,” Dimitri said, winking at him.

                “I’m glad you joined us for dinner,” Alexei said to my parents.

                “Well, thank you for having us,” dad said gratefully.

                “You always have Dimitri over at your house. I hope he behaves,” Eva said nervously.

                “Hell, half the time I like him better than Theo,” dad said.

                Dimitri chuckled as I glared at my dad. “Now, now. Little Theodore is quite charming as well!”

                “Dimitri, I am going to buy you a bib. You got food on your shirt again!” Eva said.

                “You moron,” I said, taking a napkin and wiping at the gravy he had gotten on his shirt.

                “I am truly thankful I have my little Theodore to care for me,” he said as I finished cleaning his shirt.

                “Oh, oh! Mommy, can I say what I’m thankful for? I wrote it on my hand turkey, but Dimmy and Alek didn’t see it!” Galen said.

                “Go ahead Galen,” she said, giving him a sweet smile.

                Galen smiled up at Dimitri. “I’m thankful for my brother!” He kissed Dimitri’s cheek and turned to Alek. “And my sister!” He kissed her cheek. “And my mommy and daddy! And…” He glanced at me and I swear the kid literally swallowed his pride. “And I’m thankful you make my brother happy, Theo.”

                “You are such a sweetheart, dear,” Dimitri said, ruffling Galen’s hair.

                “I love you Dimmy,” Galen said, hugging Dimitri.

                “I love you too my fabulous little brother,” Dimitri said, hugging him back.

                Galen giggled and turned to Alek, hugging her. “And I love you too Alek!”

                Alek smiled at him and put her arm around him, kissing his cheek. “I love you too Galen.”

                Dimitri slipped his arm around my waist and kissed my lips. I offered him a smile before going back to eating. We finished dinner, talked for a little, and then had dessert.

                When I was so stuffed that I thought I might explode, I backed off of the food. Dimitri had rested is head back on my shoulder, and I had an arm around him.

                “Oh, Dimitri fell asleep on you,” Eva said with a sigh.

                I looked down in surprise, and saw that Dimitri was sleeping. I laughed and shook him gently.

                “Wake up,” I said.

                “Hm?” he said, cracking his eyes open. He sat up slowly. “Sorry about that darling. Eating so much didn’t exactly wake me up.”

                “Why don’t you two go upstairs for a little?” Alexei offered.

                “Come on you,” I said, standing up and pulling my boyfriend with me.

                We went upstairs together and laid on Dimitri’s bed. He rested is head on my chest and I played with his hair, not even caring that I was ruining his fohawk.

                “I’m glad you spent today with us darling,” he said, sliding his fingers through mine.

                “Me too. I love you Dimitri,” I said.

                “And I love you, little Theodore. I’m honestly thankful for you,” he said with an honest smile.

                “Yea, yea, yea. Cliché thankfulness. Now, I’m tired from all that food. And you look dead on your feet. So let’s nap for a little,” I said.

                “That is a fantastic idea,” he said, his eyelids giving up and falling shut. He cuddled up against me and I put my arm around him.

                Dimitri was fast asleep within two minutes. I smiled at him and allowed my own eyes to shut. As I drifted off to sleep, the smile stayed on my face. I was truly thankful for Dimitri.

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A.N.- I KNOW IT'S NOT THANKSGIVING ANYMORE. But I promised you guys I would do more than one, and I felt bad because I never had time to write another one haha. So, here's a late Thanksgiving special. Hope you guys enjoy!