so my Christmas special this year is called Are We There Yet and it's about Bdubs traveling to visit his older brother, Scar, and he meets some other people along the way. I decided that since I'm posting that story the first Tuesday of December, I might do some little teaser stuff to get y'all excited.

Please note that this starts out with Bdubs in the story reflecting on his past (so it's like a memory of his younger self). Enjoy! And let me know what you think!

~

Bdubs' Perspective-

I remember celebrating the holidays at home.

Thanksgiving to me used to be the filler before Christmas, and I never understood why my parents were such sticklers about it. They always made sure we put up our Christmas tree after Thanksgiving.

A day before? They acted like it was a national crisis.

It ticked me off since I was a huge Christmas fan, but I soon learned why they did it that way.

Thanksgiving in my family is more than just a filler.

-

"Bdubs! Wanna come watch the parade?" Bdubs' mother called and Bdubs trudged downstairs.

"What?" He asked.

"The Macy's Day Parade." His mother motioned to the TV where there was a giant parade float with a turkey on it. He sat down on the couch next to her and she smiled, rubbing his back.

Bdubs' stared at the TV as some high school band performed Christmas tunes before continuing their march.

Loads of floats and balloons came parading in, each unique and had the people dressing on theme.

The Pokemon balloon had Pikachu and Eevee snuggled on Santa's sleigh while Bluey was waving down at the crowd of people with her bright smile.

Sesame Street rolled in with loads of characters including Bdubs' favorite, Oscar the Grouch.

He sat in the trashcan mindlessly tapping his fingers as the others sung and danced, and he eventually joined in with his growly voice. Bdubs giggled and smiled, having a fun time watching the parade with his mother.

After the parade, Bdubs helped his parents set up their table for Thanksgiving. They had their meal for lunch in the afternoon as they saw it harder for them to try and do later that night, especially since Bdubs' grandparents mostly went to bed early.

Bdubs' father ran around the kitchen, a bit frantic as he tried to prepare everything. His mother, Bdubs' grandmother, was helping bake and Scar was mostly like a messenger, passing plates and spoons to the adults.

Scar had always loved baking and wanted to learn himself, but he was still too young to use the stove on his own and almost set their house on fire using the microwave once (well, that trait ran in the family).

"Scar, do you mind filling up a measuring cup with two cups of water?" Scar's father asked, handing him the measuring cup.

Scar nodded and ran to the fridge, filling the cup just right. He handed it back to his dad and bumped into his younger brother, who was getting silverware.

"Can you get the placemats? Mom said they just came out of the dryer." Bdubs said and Scar nodded.

The two brothers worked together to set up their table and Bdubs even convinced his mother to put out his Beanie Boo turkey that he named Franklin.

The meal was perfect, easily one of their best. Bdubs' mostly guarded the mashed potatoes with his life, and his parents wouldn't get on his case as he was so underweight for his age.

Despite being so tall, he was practically a twig, having burned more calories than he was gaining whenever he played basketball in the evening with his friends.

Bdubs tore the turkey off the bone with his teeth and made eye contact with his grandfather, who raised an eyebrow.

Bdubs looked down immediately, feeling like a fool. He had never really gotten to know his grandfather since he didn't speak much. It was impossible to know whether or not he liked you since he was so quiet and secluded.

He lived such an interesting life, but it seemed the only way to know about his time during the wars would be reading his journals, which were kept in a drawer in his office which he was practically glued to.

"You don't wanna put your head down so much." Bdubs' grandfather said gruffly, elbowing the young boy beside him.

Bdubs' glanced up and nodded, trying to straighten his posture a bit.

"It makes you look unprofessional, scared and timid of what the future might hold." Bdubs' grandfather put down his utensils and picked up the turkey leg. "But I will admit, you got the right idea for trying to eat this."

He bit into it and tore off the meat, his expression making Bdubs' laugh. Bdubs continued to finish his meal and felt a bit more comfortable.

For having never really holding a conversation with his grandfather, he was happy to know he at least liked him.

Even if it was only for that one moment.