Thanksgiving

At first Amanda wasn't going to talk about her mother. They were just going to get this dinner done. It would be normal. How hard could it be to cook a turkey and make all the trimmings.

"It's easy." Kyle got out the Stove Top stuffing. "We use it every year, honest." Well, maybe not this year since his Mom was going to make it special with Ellie's Dad and all, but usually, when it was the two of them, she'd just throw some chicken breast in the over, bottled gravy and instant mashed potatoes with some frozen peas..and you had Thanksgiving dinner. But someone had given Amanda's family a Butterball turkey Actually, it was a box of everything needed for dinner. Kyle supposed maybe someone from church or the hospital had brought it to them.

But suddenly, Amanda broke down crying. She wouldn't dare say she missed her Mom, but he knew she did.

"So how did she like her sweet potatoes?" Kyle wanted to know.

"Marshmallows on top," Amanda sniffed.

Kyle found the marshmallows.

He then got the turkey ready. Dug out all the yucky stuff in the almost frozen cavity. His hand was almost stuck, but a little hot water took care of that. Soon everything was started. He peeled real potatoes.

"Why don't you get Derrick in her to make a pumpkin pie," Kyle then told her. Of course, the shock on Derrick's face was priceless that he'd have to make something.

"Come on, it'll be fun," Kyle told him. Of course, Derrick was skeptical.

"Tell you what, you get that pie mix in that frozen pie crust, then you can make brownies."

"We don't even have a brownie mix." Amanda quickly informed him. She was busy with a green bean casserole.

"You have cocoa?" Kyle asked.

Amanda nodded. Kyle told Derrick the rest ingredients to fine. One by one he went on a scavenger hunt in the kitchen. In no time, Derrick was following the recipe on the back of the cocoa can. Of course, when it was all over, Derrick said they were best brownies he'd ever tasted, and they were microwaved brownies. The pumpkin pie wasn't so bad either. Dan didn't show up until they were cleaning up. He'd forgotten it was Thanksgiving.

Later they went back to the hospital to visit. Derrick brought his Mom pie and brownies. She couldn't eat them, but she said it smelled really good.