Thanksgiving is coming

 Joon overheard Poppy telling Niah she wished she had a friend of her mom's to talk to. Joon felt sad about it. That night they'd stayed up talking to the point that he had to call in sick.

Oh, he guessed Bom thought he and Poppy were moving in together, but both of them had quite a bit of baggage to bring along too. It was best to not rush into anything. He knew Poppy was still quite shell-shocked from her previous relationship. It seemed she'd put up with a lot with Alfie that not even her Dad knew about.

Alfie tried to go for a lot of drunk drives, it seemed, but somehow she always stopped him. And that wasn't very pretty either. He felt she'd been a hostage in her own home, just trying to keep him from going off the deep end. And it continually happened.

"Why didn't you tell anymore?" He didn't want her to ever have to go through anything like that again. If anything, he was someone who could understand. He knew she deserved better. And he did want to make things better.

Of course, Niah knew she spent the night that started everything. Only, in Niah's eyes, it was as if he'd already married Poppy. Before he could stop her she was telling Bom and anyone else who would listen that he was with Poppy now, he found himself having to answer a lot of questions. 

He'd tried to explain it to Bom but she said he didn't have to explain anything. After all, Thanksgiving was coming. Would Poppy be there for Thanksgiving? He couldn't tell her anything for sure.

"I think we're spending it with her Aunt." He told her. It was the right thing to do. He didn't want Poppy seeing her Aunt alone. Perhaps if he and Niah could entertain her enough maybe Poppy could find that friend of her mom's that she needed to know who her mother was.

Dan carried baby Angel about as if he might be walking in his sleep. At least the baby slept sound. He handed the baby off to Matty as if he needed to get used to infants. Ivy only watched. Perhaps a little sullen. She didn't like the baby's name, but it was too late to say anything about it. She thought they'd settled on Ethan. She'd always wanted an Ethan.

Of course, Dan sweet-talked her into saying, "But he looks like an Angel." And his dad's name was Angel. Of course, it was all a bit of Spanish to her. She didn't even know the language. It felt like a lie. Dan had been adopted into Hispanic culture. They'd always treated him as one of his own. It was practically his first language.

Sometimes, Dan and Valentina conversed in a native language they weren't even native to. But usually, they thought they were alone. Ivy was certain they were just sharing secrets. 

It wasn't long until Matty passed the baby to Val. They both smiled. Ivy did her best to smile, but she was tired and practically under the weather. It had been a miracle she serviced the whole ordeal. After all, she'd decided she would not have any more babies. So it was a permanent choice now. Maybe that was why she didn't feel so well.

"They're having a big Thanksgiving at Minnie and Josh's," Dan said to Ivy. Although, they were staying home. Bom would bring them food.

"Oh, we aren't going anywhere, either," Matty spoke up. "We first thought we'd go to my family's, but we think it's best to be in a small crowd."

"Yeah, maybe we'll make it a mini-Thanksgiving," Val said they were opting for Chicken breasts this year. Besides Matty was working in the wee hours that night to get ready for Black Friday.

"Sounds good to me," Dan smiled back. Ivy didn't even care. Actually, she didn't know what day it was nor even the time.

"Oh, we'll be all right," Yuki said to Brandon. She was going solo these days even if she was still with Remi.  Having Friendsgiving at Brandon and Declan's was enough.

"But we missed out on Halloween with you," Brandon sounded as if he needed to make it up to her. Of course, he had a fresh pumpkin pie along with stuffing and turkey to send her home with. Remi was still at work.

"It's fine." She did her best to smile. Somehow, Yuki had managed to make fudge with store-bought icing and peanut butter. Honestly, she had no time to cook.

 Remi got word that Brandon's friend Riley was with Melissa (Remi's ex-roommate with benefits) now. They didn't see Brandon and Declan that much anymore because Remi was angry about it. Although, she told Brandon it was just work. But they needed work to make ends meet.

Yuki had moved on to being a receptionist at a senior living place. It was right across from the memory unit where Remi worked. Really, everything was fine. Although, she wished Remi wasn't so angry. It was a quiet anger. It was as if she didn't want to talk about anything anymore with Yuki. She knew Brandon wouldn't want to hear about that.

"But she's mad at me," he knew. "What did I do that was so wrong?"

"It's not you." Yuki did her best to smile back. "Not every relationship is perfect, you know."

Brandon sighed. "But are you really happy?"

"Of course, I am." Still, she wondered if she would lose Remi in the end. It wasn't that she was drinking again. But sometimes, Yuki felt she was the least important person to her. And the holidays were coming. Although, Yuki wasn't sure she could fake being happy much more.