Secrets 2: Looking Through Different Eyes - 34. Chapter 34 S2

Chapter 34 – Another Joint Thanksgiving

CSU lost their next football game to Wyoming, 15-24, but then they turned around and won there next two games. They beat San Diego State by a score of 22-19, and Nevada 30-20. That took us to the Thanksgiving break, and Devin and I were eager to get to my house for the joint Thanksgiving celebration with our families.

We were able to leave after we ate breakfast on Wednesday morning, since we were able to talk our professors into letting us take Wednesday off as a study day. It didn’t take much convincing, either, since the professors that were going away for the holiday liked the idea of an additional day to travel.

Devin and I arrived at the house even before my parents got home from work, so we unloaded our things out of the SUV and carried them up to my room. After we finished doing that, we headed downstairs so we could greet my mom and dad when we heard their SUV pull into the driveway.

“I’m glad you both made it here safely,” my mom said in greeting. “I know you said you’d probably be here before us, but I thought it was just wishful thinking on your part. Didn’t you boys have any classes today?”

“No, our professors gave us today as a study day. It’s the same thing that happened the previous two years as well, since they knew most of the students would probably just skip class anyway, so they could leave for home. Some of our professors were glad to have the extra day off as well, since they were leaving town to have Thanksgiving with their families.”

“Oh, that was nice of them and it worked out well for all of you. I’m afraid that I’ve got to cut our conversation short, though, because I’ve got to hurry and fix supper before Devin’s parents get here.”

Devin and I helped by setting the table, and as soon as everything was either ready for supper or in the oven, she came out to speak with us in more detail. However, we’d just started talking again when Ma and Pa arrived. Devin and I went outside to greet them and traded hugs. After that, we carried their suitcases inside and took them up to the guest room.

“Thank you for inviting us again,” Ma said as she greeted my parents.

“You’re always welcome here,” Mom replied. “Not only are you and your husband our good friends, but we’ll soon be part of the same extended family, once the boys exchange their vows.”

After she said this, Mom and Ma looked over at Devin and me and smiled. No pressure! Yeah, right.

Devin and I also knew my mom would eventually ask if we’d run into any of our old friends, so we told them about watching the football games with Barry.

“Isn’t that the boy that you went on the camping trip with after your freshman year at college?”

“Yes, it’s the same guy,” I responded.

“I thought he was much older than you boys. Shouldn’t he have graduated already?”

“He did, and now he’s a graduate student. Devin and I have been hanging out with him and some of our other friends to watch the CSU football games. We go over to Barry’s apartment with a few other friends to watch the away games, since his TV has a 60 inch (152.4 cm) screen, and then we all sit together at the home games.”

“Yes, my dad said he and his brother sat with all of you when they went to watch a couple of Colorado State games this fall,” Pa added.

“That’s right! I remember you told us last year that they still enjoyed going to a few of the football games,” Dad replied.

“Yes, they go to a couple of games every year, and since the boys have been going to college there, they do other things with them as well.”

“Yeah, they take us out to eat when they are there.”

“It’s nice that they sit with the boys and spend time with them, but can they afford to keep taking them out to eat?”

“Yes, they can. You don’t have to worry about that.”

“Cindy, I know you did all the work fixing supper for us again tonight, so I’ll help with the cleanup and fixing the rest of the meals while we’re here,” Ma offered.

“That will be much appreciated.”

“And Devin and I will set the table for every meal, like we did the past two years,” I offered. “And we’ll also help with the clean up after each meal, as long as you don’t mind that we spend some time working on the projects and papers we have due when we get back.”

“No, that will be fine. Besides, Mike and Aaron will probably be glued to the television watching football and Doris and I will be going out to do some shopping on Black Friday again,” my mom replied. “That means you can take as much time as you need to work on whatever you have to do.”

“Yes, take all the time you need,” Ma added, “because we want you to keep getting the same fantastic grades that you’ve chalked up the previous two years.”

We continued to chat with our parents after we’d cleared the table and washed the dishes, and then around 11:00 our parents decided to go to bed. Devin and I chose to stay up a little longer, and as soon as we were alone, we discussed how we thought the evening went.

“It was pretty much how I thought it would be,” Devin stated.

“Yeah, and its great being here with all of them again,” I added. “It’s too bad that we’re going to be so busy with our assignments while we’re here.”

“We can make up for that when we are all here to celebrate Christmas.”

“Yeah, because final exams will be over and we’ll have an entire month off to rest up and enjoy each other and our families. We’ll be home from December 16^th to January 15^th, so we’ll be able to do whatever we want.”

“Yeah, I can’t wait.”

After we finished chatting, we made love. It was kind of a subdued session, considering both sets of parents were here, but it was still satisfying. And when we finished, we took a shower before getting in bed, and this time I spooned up behind Devin.

When we woke up, we headed downstairs and found our mothers in the kitchen working on the big Thanksgiving meal. After saying “good morning” and giving each of them a kiss, they said we could go sit at the dining room table and they’d fix our breakfast.

While Devin and I were eating, our dads yelled out to let us all know the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade was on TV, so we hurriedly finished eating. And before we went in to join our dads, we talked our moms into taking a break so they could watch some of the parade with us. At first they said they had too much to do, so they couldn’t watch the parade, but after we pestered them for a couple of minutes, they gave in, but said they couldn’t watch it for very long.

They seemed to enjoy the parade while they were watching it with us, but eventually they went back to the kitchen and started working again. In fact, it seemed as if they spent most of the morning and early afternoon preparing the various dishes and desserts for our Thanksgiving meal.

When the parade ended, Devin and I set the table, and then we went upstairs to concentrate on the projects and papers that would be due when we got back. We didn’t ever talk to each other while we were working on them. Devin sat at my desk and I sat on the bed working on my laptop, and we did that until we were called down to eat. .

We were having our Thanksgiving feast at 2:00, and once we were all seated around the table, my dad spoke. “While I’m carving the turkey, we can go around the table and say what we’re thankful about this year.”

“Mickey, we’ll start with you,” my mom added, volunteering me again.

”Can’t we just skip doing it this year?” I asked.

“I’m sure we all have something new we’re thankful for this year, so tell us what that is for you.”

“Just like last year, I’m thankful for being able to spend quality time with each of you, and I’m thankful that Devin and I are doing well at CSU. Oh, and I’m also thankful for getting to spending time with both sets of grandparents last summer, as well as getting to spend time with Ben and Katy and getting to know Aunt Linda and Uncle Ted better.”

“That was very nice, and how about you, Devin?”

“I’m thankful for spending time with my parents and that Ma and Pa took me on vacation with them again this year, because we did a lot of neat things. I’m also thankful for the friends Mac and I have at CSU and that my grandfather and great uncle came to watch a few football games with us. I think they want us to join them to work on something In Missouri again this summer.”

“Oh, they do?” my mom gasped. “Do you know what they have in mind or when they’re planning on doing it?”

“No, we’re going to talk about it over Christmas break, because they had to see if they could make arrangements first.”

“Oh, I see,” she responded before moving on to Devin’s parents.

Devin was referring to the fact that we’d be going back to Missouri this summer to see if we could get past the blockage in the cave and discover if there was any treasure hidden there. We felt this would soften the blow by mentioning it now, just like we did the past couple of years. We did it in my freshman year about going on a trip with our friends, while we were really going to the reservation. And we did it again last year, in preparation for our first trip to Missouri. I’ve found that by letting them know in advance, it makes it easier for them to prepare themselves for me doing those things.

While I’d been thinking about the trip and wondering if we’d find any treasure in the cave this year, both sets of parents had said what they were grateful for. I’m sure it included that they were grateful for Devin and me, but I’m just as certain that my mom probably said something to the effect that she’d be grateful if I didn’t go on that trip.

The meal consisted of the typical fare for Thanksgiving, and it was delicious, but the mood around the table wasn’t quite as festive as usual. That’s because my mom was already brooding about what we’d just told her and my dad was wondering if it might interfere with the vacation plans he’d already made. Unfortunately, Ma and Pa didn’t say anything either and waited for my mom or dad to speak first.

When the meal ended, Devin and I helped our moms clean up the mess, and then we headed up to my room to work on our projects or papers again. We also knew it would be a safer place to be right now, otherwise my mom would attempt to grill us about what we’d told her earlier, and we didn’t want to deal with that right now.

We all got together again later, when they called us downstairs for dessert, and we enjoyed the pumpkin and apple pies that our moms had made. As soon as we finished our desserts, we went back up to my room to resume what we’d been doing, but in reality we were just avoiding my mom again. I knew she wouldn’t give us the third degree in front of the others or interrupt us while we were working on our schoolwork, so I was doing my best to make sure she didn’t have a chance to get us alone.

We all returned to the table again later that evening for leftovers, which consisted of turkey sandwiches, vegetable soup, and a salad, and then Devin and I agreed to watch a movie with everyone else before going to bed. As soon as the movie ended, our parents said goodnight and turned in, but Devin and I stayed up a little longer.

“I thought today went fairly well,” Devin stated once we were alone, “but I was worried that your mom wasn’t going to go upstairs with your dad so she could confront us.”

“I think my dad made sure she went upstairs with him, because he knows what she’s like when something is troubling her.”

“It worked out, though, because we broke the news to your parents and then managed to avoid giving your mom a chance to confront us about it further.”

“For now, but I’m sure she’ll eventually confront us, since we’ll be here two more days before we head back to Fort Collins.”

“Maybe not, because she said she and my mom will be going shopping tomorrow to cash in on all the Black Friday deals. That may mean we’ll only have to avoid her on Saturday.”

“That will help, but I know my dad won’t go with them and I think he wants to know whether he should wait to make any vacation plans until we know what we’re going to do with your grandfathers.”

“My dad won’t be going shopping either, so hopefully he’ll be able to keep your dad busy, since he knows what we’ll really be doing.”

“Ok, I just hope he can do that for us.”

“Oh, I’m sure he will.”

Our moms were gone by the time we woke up, but we didn’t have to make breakfast for ourselves and our dads. Instead, Pa already had everything set up and he was just waiting for us to come downstairs. He had whipped up a batch of pancake batter and had two frying pans ready so he could start whipping up some pancakes for all of us.

The four of us nearly emptied the bottle of syrup as we covered our pancakes with it, and they were not only quite tasty, but they were also very filling. And then as soon as we finished eating, Devin and I cleaned up the kitchen before joining our dads to see what they were watching on TV.

Once we discovered that it was nothing that we were interested in, we went up to my room again, and we stayed there until lunchtime. As soon as we started to get hungry again, we went downstairs and discovered Devin’s dad had everything ready so he could fix grilled sandwiches while my dad was heating up the soup.

“Do you want me to make you both a grilled cheese sandwich as well?” Pa asked.

“And I can heat up another can of soup if you do,” my dad added. “You’ll just have to tell me which variety of soup you’d like.”

“Yeah, that sounds good,” we agreed, and after talking it over I added, “and we’ll go with Minestrone soup.”

When it was ready, we sat down and ate lunch with them, and when we finished we each had a slice of pie topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

“That hit the spot. Thanks for fixing lunch for us.”

“Aaron did the hard part. I just opened cans of soup and heated them up.”

“Making the grilled cheese sandwiches wasn’t difficult,” Pa said.

“Maybe not, but I can always open a can of something to tide me over until Cindy gets home from wherever she’s gone.”

“You should learn to do more, because you never know when you might have to do more than just open a can of something and heat it up.”

“By the time that happens I’ll be able to heat up frozen meals in the microwave.”

“I guess that’s fine, as long as you’re satisfied with those types of meals.”

After we finished eating, Devin and I did the dishes so my mom wouldn’t complain about the mess when she returned home. Once that was taken care of, Devin and I went back up to my bedroom and focused on what we’d been working on earlier. We left Devin’s dad with my dad so he could keep him occupied so he wouldn’t bother us.

Our moms hadn’t come home until it was nearly suppertime, and when they arrived they called us downstairs to help them carry the packages inside.

“Why didn’t you just ask Dad and Pa to do this?”

”They’re watching football and it’s easier to just let them do that, rather than listening to them bitch about missing some of the game.”

“Damn, then we should have watched the game with them then.”

“That wouldn’t have saved you. I don’t mind you whining and griping about being bothered, so now it’s time to get to work. Doris and I will sort the packages first, and Doris will give Devin the things she purchased, and I’ll do the same with you. Then you can take the things I bought up to my bedroom, and Devin can take the things his mother purchased up to the guest room. Just don’t peek into any of the bags.”

“Yes, ma’am,” we both responded, and then they began handing us the various bags.

It’s a good think the bags had openings that we could put our hand through, because that way we could carry multiple bags with each hand. But then they gave us additional bags that we pinned against our waists. It appeared that our moms had bought a lot more than what we could carry, so they followed us with the rest of the bags.

“Is that all?” I asked when we reached the bedroom.

“No, there are a few larger items that aren’t in bags, but none of those things are for you, so if you wouldn’t mind, I’d appreciate it if you’d helped me with those items.”

“Sure, I can do that, as long as most of the things in the bags that we’d just carried up here are for me,” I teased.

“I guess you’ll have to wait and see if that’s the case on Christmas Day.”

Ma must have told Devin the same thing, because they were already at the SUV when we got there. As soon as we carried those things up to the bedrooms, Devin and I returned to the living room to join our dads, who were currently watching a football game. Our moms came down a little while later, and when then did, my dad asked her a question.

“I hope you didn’t max out the credit card,” he joked, “because it looked like you carried even more things inside than last year.”

“I’m shopping for Christmas, dear, so drop your Scrooge routine,” she shot back. “I hope you guys all ate earlier.”

“Yeah, Aaron made breakfast and lunch for all of us.”

“Then Aaron must have done all of the work,” my mom mused.

“He made pancakes for breakfast, and I carried the butter and syrup to the table. And he made grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch, and I heated up a couple of cans of soup.”

“I hope you didn’t strain yourself, and I’m glad Aaron can do those things. I just hope that you didn’t leave a mess.”

“No, Devin and I did the dishes and cleaned up the kitchen for you.”

“Thank you, honey, and you too, Devin. I appreciate that.”

“Cindy and I are beat from shopping all day and I know there are a couple of DiGiorno pizzas in the freezer, so would you mind if we heat those up and make a salad to go with them?”

“No, that will be fine,” my dad replied with Devin’s dad nodding in agreement. “And then we can have what’s left of the pies for dessert.”

“Yeah, that’s fine with us too,” Devin and I agreed. “In fact, we’ll heat up the pizzas and make the salads so you and Ma can rest up.

“Thank you. That’s very thoughtful of both of you.”

“It’s not a big deal, and we’ll set the table and do the cleanup afterward.”

“Aaron and I will eat in here, so you can set up two of the TV trays, and then we’ll bring our food in here.”

“Ok, we can do that as well.”

Devin and I chatted with our mothers while we were eating, because we hoped they might slip up and talk about the things they’d bought for us earlier. However, they only commented about how nice it was to have two helpful and considerate sons. My mom also wondered what Dad was going to do if she died before him.

“Don’t worry about that, Mom. Dad will either go out to eat or he’ll survive on frozen meals that he can heat up in the microwave or he’ll find something he’s able to heat up from a can.”

“And he’ll probably make a mess of my kitchen.”

“But you won’t be around, so don’t worry about it.”

After we finished eating supper, we spent a quiet evening watching a Christmas movie with our parents, and then they headed up to bed. Devin and I stayed up a little longer than the others, to give them a chance to use the bathroom first, and as soon as we were alone, we chatted about a few more things.

“Well, we managed to get through another day,” Devin stated.

“Yes, we did. I think my mom was hesitant to confront us, since we were being so helpful, even though she had a chance to do it while we were eating. So, we only have one more day to get through.”

“Yep, because my mom and dad will probably be leaving early on Sunday morning, just like we’re planning to do.”

“That works out well, because our dads will be spending most of tomorrow watching college football games. I know CSU plays an away game in Hawaii, so we’ll have to check to see what time that is on, if it’s being televised.”

“Let’s just watch all of the football games with them, when we’re not working up in your bedroom, and that way your mom won’t be able to ask us any questions about what we’ll be doing this summer. She won’t dare to do that while we’re watching football with our dads or while we’re working on our class work.”

“Good plan. I’m glad I’m gonna be marrying a smart dude.”

“You will be marrying ME, not just any smart dude,” Devin shot back with a devilish grin on his face.

“That’s what I meant. And I wonder what was in all of those bags we helped to carry inside. There were even more bags than last year.”

“Yeah, I was wondering about that as well. I hope they got us some great things for Christmas.”

“That’s what I was thinking, and now we’ll have to find time to do our Christmas shopping.”

”Yeah, but we can do that on the weekends when we’re not shopping for presents for the kids in the hospital.”

Before we got ready for bed, I thought of something else.

“I hope we’ll be able to keep my mom from questioning us about the trip until after Christmas Day, so we won’t ruin the holiday for her.”

“It would probably be better if we could put her off until after New Year’s Day so she’s not sulking all that week. I want to have fun on New Year’s Eve.”

“Yeah, that’s a good point. I’m glad you’re so damn smart and are able to figure out these things.”

“I do my best.”

After we finished talking, we made love again, took a shower, and then Devin spooned up behind me this time as we fell asleep.

When we woke up the next morning, our moms fixed breakfast for all of us, and this time they prepared French toast and sausage links. And while we were eating we chatted.

“As long as we’ll be spending New Year’s Eve together,” I began, “we should probably do something special.”

“That’s a great idea,” my mom added. “We can make reservations and go out to eat someplace where they’ll also have a band or a DJ so we can dance.”

“Oh, I like that idea,” Ma squealed in delight. “We usually celebrate at home with Aaron’s family, so I haven’t gone out on New Year’s Eve in ages.”

“Great, then I’ll start checking to see which places are advertising a New Year’s Eve special offer and then we’ll select the one that offers us most of the things we want for the best price. But how will I get in touch with you to see if it meets with your approval.”

“The only way you could do that is if you called Aaron at work, but we trust your judgment, so just go ahead and select the place you think is best, and then make the reservations for all of us. I’m sure we’ll all have a wonderful time.”

“Ok, then after I decide on a place, I’ll call and make a reservation for six.”

“Do you think they’ll let me and Mac dance together if they have a band or DJ?” Devin wondered.

“I’ll ask that question when I call and I won’t choose a place unless they allow you boys to dance with each other.”

“And of course we’ll expect you boys to also dance with your mother and future mother-in-law as well,” Ma added with a giggle.

“I suppose we can do that too,” Devin and I agreed.

“Terrific, because that will give Aaron and me a break from having to dance every dance with them,” my dad said playfully, although I suspect he was being brutally honest about it, if the truth be told.

It turned out that the conversation was not only interesting, but it was productive as well, and we also had an enjoyable meal together. And when it ended, Devin and I got up to clear off the table.

“Doris and I will take care of this, so go work on whatever it is that you’re doing for your classes.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, go work on your projects for school now, because I’m sure you’ll be watching some of the football games with your dads later.”

“Ok, we’ll do that until we have supper, and then we’ll watch football with Dad and Pa, because we want to see if the CSU game is on.”

Devin and I headed up to my bedroom to work on our projects and papers for a while, and then my mom called us down to have lunch. Once we finished eating, we went back up to my room and continued working until supper was ready.

Dad and Pa hurried through their meals so they could get back to watch the game that was on, but the rest of us took our time and enjoyed our meals. However, before Mom had an opportunity to ask us any questions, we excused ourselves to go watch the football games with our dads.

“We’ll do the dishes later,” I said while we were leaving.

“No, Doris and I can do that. Just go spend some time with your fathers.”

Devin and I didn’t argue and went in to see which game our dads were watching. During a commercial, they checked to see which channel the CSU game would be on, and that’s when we discovered it wasn’t going to be televised. Since it was nearly 9:00 already, and that’s the local time that the game was going to start, I grabbed my laptop to determine if we had any other option. That’s when Devin and I learned it would be on the radio, so we announced that we were going up to my room to listen to the game. Obviously, Hawaii and CSU’s records weren’t good enough to warrant television airtime, except on networks that we didn’t have access to.

CSU scored first on a running touchdown, and then just before the end of the 1^st quarter, Hawaii scored on a pass for a touchdown, tying the score. CSU scored first in the second quarter as well, but this time it was a field goal. And then three minutes later Hawaii score on another pass play for a touchdown, giving them the lead at 10-14 by halftime.

Hawaii was the only one to score in the 3^rd quarter, on a running touchdown, widening their lead to 10-21. And then early in the 4^th quarter, Hawaii scored again, on a field goal, making the score 10-24, but then CSU woke up and got back in the game. They scored two touchdowns, both on pass plays, tying the score at 24 all. It looked like the game would be going into overtime, but then Hawaii kicked a 51 yard field goal as time was expiring and they won the game 24-27, That meant CSU ended the season with 5 wins and 7 loses, definitely nothing to brag about.

“I know a team has to win at least 6 games or have a minimum of a .500 season to be eligible to play in a bowl game,” I stated, “but I doubt they would have been chosen even if they had finished at 6-6. They’re too erratic at scoring and the defensive play isn’t consistent.”

“You may be right about that, but I’d still have liked the team to win. I know it would probably have been a long shot, but maybe they would have been invited to one of the early bowl games that don’t mean as much as those that are played on New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day.”

Now that the game had ended, we packed up our things so we’d be ready to leave after breakfast in the morning. But since we were so depressed about the team losing the game, we didn’t feel up to making love or taking a shower. We just got in bed, cuddled, and fell asleep.

My mom got up even earlier than the rest of us and had everything ready to make breakfast by the time we’d taken a shower and come downstairs. She did this because she knew we would all be leaving before long and wanted to make sure we were all well fed for the long drives we had to make. For Ma and Pa that meant returning home, while Devin and I would be heading back to Fort Collins.

While we were eating, I decided to make certain that Devin’s parents were going to join us for Christmas.

“You guys are coming back so we can have Christmas together as well, aren’t you?”

“Yes, we’ll be here, but we hate to keep imposing on your parents like this,” Ma replied. “We’d offer to have it at our place, but we don’t have a guest bedroom.”

“That’s alright and it’s no imposition,” my mom stated. “We enjoy having all of you here and I know the boys enjoy doing this as well.”

“It’s just that we’ve always spent Christmas with Aaron’s family, but I think doing it this way will be better for the boys, so they can be together on Christmas morning.”

“My family understands and doesn’t mind if we have Christmas here,” Pa responded. “We’ll just have Christmas with them the weekend before again. Everyone seemed fine doing it that way last year.”

“I’m glad they don’t mind,” my dad stated.

“No, they didn’t mind about us coming here today, so I’m sure they’ll be fine with our plans for Christmas and New Year’s as well. In fact, they might enjoy going out with us on New Year’s Eve, if that’s alright with all of you.”

“It would be fine, so why don’t you ask them,” my mom suggested.

“Ok, I’ll do that, and then I’ll call to let you know what they say.”

With that settled, we finished eating breakfast, and then we loaded up Devin’s SUV with our belongings. When we finished doing that, we carried out the packages with the things that Ma had purchased on Black Friday, while Ma and Pa carried their suitcases to the SUV. Once the last of those items had been placed inside their vehicle, we gave each of them a hug and said goodbye before they drove away.

After they had gone, we said goodbye to my parents and gave each of them a hug, and then we got in Devin’s SUV and started our drive as well. Once we had driven out of sight, I turned toward Devin and spoke.

“I’m glad our families agreed to do something together on New Year’s Eve, and I hope Gramps, Pops, and their wives will join us. It should be a lot of fun.”

“I think so too, so we’ll see what they have to say. If they join us, it should make up for having Christmas with them early.”

“Yeah, that would be great if they do it with us, but that means we’ll have to dance with Hope and Faith as well.”

“I’m sure they’d enjoy that, but it means we won’t have as much time to dance with each other.”

“That’s ok, as long as we get to dance with each other some of the time, especially the dance that will happen as it reaches midnight.”

“Yes, that is the important time and I’m sure that our parents, as well as Gramps, Pops, Faith, and Hope, will all want to have that dance with their spouses.”

“I agree, so we shouldn’t have a problem.”

We spent some additional time talking about where my mom might find a place where we can have a nice dinner and be able to dance, and then we moved on to other topics. We talked about returning to our classes and getting ready for Santa’s visit to the hospital until we reached the house in Fort Collins.