The Castaway Hotel: Next Generation - 20. Something To Be Thankful For

Jake and I had prepared some of the food the night before, after the boys went upstairs, and then we got up at 4:00 and put the turkeys in the ovens – one in the oven in the stove and the other in the built-in wall oven. We had two huge birds and hoped it would be enough to feed the mob we were expecting.

Shortly after noon, the first of our extended family began to arrive. We wouldn’t be eating until 2:00, but some of them came early, to see if they could help out. Jake and I were happy to accept any offer of assistance we received and everyone brought a dish to add to our feast.

I’m certain Elliot’s head was spinning as Danny and Brandon took him around and introduced him to everyone. He had seen many of them at his father’s funeral, but at the time nothing much was sinking in. Now, Danny and Brandon spent a few minutes talking to each individual, so Elliot could learn a little about them before moving on to the next person. Many of the extended family took this opportunity to once again offer their condolences about his father and express their sympathies over what he’d been through, before welcoming him to the family. It was quite a lengthy process and kept the three of them rather busy for quite some time.

While Danny and his little family made their rounds, I enlisted many of the other boys to put up the extra tables, so there would be enough space to accommodate everyone who had agreed to attend. Once Elliot saw how many places were set, he began to worry that we wouldn’t have enough food to feed everyone. We all assured him there would be plenty and we wouldn’t run out of anything, but he still looked dubious. I guess that’s to be expected, especially for a first timer to one of our gatherings.

About a half hour before we were to sit down to eat, some of the boys gathered back in the rec room. I was too busy with the meal to keep track of what was going on, so I didn’t learn about this until much later. Let’s just say that Elliot was already beginning to become acquainted with some of his uncles.

“Elliot, I’ve got something for you,” Ricky told him. “It’s part of a family tradition.”

Elliot looked curious, as he went to see what was contained in the bag Ricky was holding. Cautiously, he watched as Ricky brought out an object and held it in front of him.

“This is our Pilgrim’s Collar,” Ricky announced, while holding up a black leather dog collar with silver studs. “All new family members have to wear it the first time they celebrate Thanksgiving with us.”

“You’re kidding. Right?” Elliot responded, after listening to his uncle.

“No, this is a family tradition. Isn’t that right, guys?” he asked, as he drew some of the others into his plan.

Unconvincingly, Cole, Graham, Little Ricky, Andrew and Jesse each nodded his head. Elliot still wasn’t sure about this, but he didn’t have much time to think about it before Ricky fastened the collar around his neck. He didn’t want to get on anyone’s bad side, especially since this was the first time he’d met most of them. Therefore, he went along with it for now.

“There’s one other part to this tradition,” Ricky continued, once the collar was fastened. After we’ve said grace and you’ve filled your dinner plate with what you want to eat, you have to get up from the table, set your plate on the floor and then eat your dinner on your hands and knees, like a dog.”

“I’m not doing that. Now, I know you’re joking,” Elliot objected, while looking toward the others for confirmation.

“No, it’s part of the tradition,” Ricky insisted.

“Why would anyone have to do anything like that?” Elliot protested.

“It’s to teach you humility and give you something to be thankful for when you celebrate Thanksgiving with us in the future,” Ricky explained.

“I don’t buy it!” Elliot exclaimed.

“Jesse, tell him you had to do it too,” Ricky stated, while pulling Jesse deeper into his scheme.

“Um… yeah, I had to uh… do that too ah… the first Thanksgiving I was um… here,” Jesse stammered.

Elliot still looked unconvinced.

“If you don’t want to do it, that’s fine,” Ricky informed him, “but then everyone will treat you differently and you will never be a true member of our family.”

After saying this, Ricky turned to leave, with the others following his lead, but they didn’t get very far.

“You’re really serious about this then?” Elliot asked, as he gradually began to believe what he was being told.

“Absolutely,” Ricky confirmed. “We’ve all had to do it, but if you don’t want to, that’s up to you.”

They all started to leave again, when Elliot stopped them a second time.

“Okay. I think it’s stupid, but I’ll do it,” he agreed. “I really don’t want to offend anyone, especially on Thanksgiving.”

Having received his acceptance, the boys all congratulated Elliot for being such a good sport and told him he was doing the right thing. A few minutes later, they all came out and took their places at the table, because they’d been summoned for dinner.

As was typical on this day, we took turns telling what we were thankful for this year. Everyone had their own list of things they wanted to mention, but Danny, Brandon, Jake and I all added a statement saying that although we were saddened that Elliot had endured so many horrible things, we were thankful he had come to live with us. We were also grateful that he had decided to stay, even though he had discovered he had relatives who wanted him to come live with them.

As we made our way around the various tables, I noticed something and thought it a bit odd. Once the person who was speaking finished his comments, I interrupted, before the next person began to speak.

“Elliot, what is that you’re wearing around your neck?” I inquired.

“It’s the Pilgrim’s collar,” he answered, looking a bit apprehensive.

Since I had no idea what any of this meant, I decided to pursue it further.

“Is this some sort of family tradition you are bringing with you?” I followed.

After all, he had given it a seasonal sounding name.

“Um… I was told this was uh… one of your family tradition and I um… had to wear it today,” Elliot responded.

Suddenly, we all began to hear a few snickers filling the air.

“Elliot, I think you’ve been had,” I told him.

“Excuse me?” he said next.

“You’ve been fooled,” I clarified. “Someone is playing a trick on you and I know precisely who that is. Ricky, would you explain this please.”

“Hey! Why do I always get accused of everything that happens?” Ricky whined.

“Probably because you’re usually involved,” I replied. “Elliot, who told you to do this?” I asked, to clarify the situation.

“Um… he did,” Elliot said, while pointing at Ricky.

I merely glared at my blond prankster.

“Hey, I didn’t say I didn’t do it,” he pleaded. “I just wanted to know why I always get blamed.”

“I think that’s obvious.” I answered. “You get blamed, because 99% of the time you are to blame.”

“Oh, okay,” he stated. “I just wanted to see what you’d say.”

Everyone began to giggle.

“So I don’t have to set my plate on the floor and eat my food like a dog?” Elliot asked next.

Mrs. O’Hara bristled when she heard this, but fortunately Brandon and her husband were seated on either side of her and kept her from making a scene. They knew I would handle it.

“No, Elliot. You do not have to do that,” I informed him. “but I think I might have Ricky do it instead.”

Everyone’s turned and looked at Ricky and began to snicker.

“Elliot, I apologize for this,” I continued. “It seems you’ve been hazed and initiated into the family by your wacky uncle. I guess we should have warned you to watch out for the pranks, although I thought they might give you an adjustment period before they started in on you.”

Danny and Brandon got up and walked down to reassure Elliot that this had been done in fun and he should take it that way. However, they each smacked Ricky in the back of the head as they passed by.

‘Hey! Watch it!” Ricky complained.

I don’t think anyone was feeling any sympathy for him though.

Once Danny and Brandon had a chance to speak with Elliot, he began to grin and even laugh.

“I thought it was a joke, but when the others agreed that I should do it, I finally gave in,” he said grinning. “You can make me look stupid all you want. I’m just glad I came here to live and you’ve all been so nice to me – well, everyone except Ricky,” he said, good-naturedly.

After he made that comment, he stuck his tongue out at his devilish uncle. Now that this had been settled, we finished going around to the rest of the tables and allowed the others to say what they were thankful for. Then I announced it was time to get down to business.

The ladies were very helpful in assisting me with bringing the food out and placing it on the tables, while Jake and Steve carved up the two birds and stacked the meat on platters. The platters were then brought out and placed on the tables too. Then we said grace and began to pass around the food.

There was more than enough to go around and no one went hungry, as Elliot had feared. Once we finished eating, I pulled Elliot aside for a private chat, while some of the others were helping to clear off the tables. Once Elliot agreed to my proposal, I made an announcement.

“Would everyone please go to the family room for a few minutes,” I urged. “I know it’s going to be a little crowded, but there’s something I’d like to share with you in there.”

They did as I asked and I took Elliot with me. We stood by the piano and waited for the others to settle down.

“Since this is the first time most of you have met Elliot,” I began, “I have talked him into sharing one of his talents with you. I believe you’ll all be pleasantly surprised by it.”

Having said that, I encouraged Elliot to sit down at the keyboard and begin playing. He played a classical piece first, and then selected a Christmas carol, in order to set the mood for our next big holiday.

Once he’d finished playing the Christmas carol, he began another song. A few chords into it, Dion asked him to stop and start over. When he did, Dion joined Elliot at the piano and sang the lyrics for us.

Sleep, my child, and peace attend thee

All through the night

Guardian angels God will send thee

All through the night

Soft the drowsy hours are creeping

Hill and dale in slumber sleeping

I my loving vigil keeping

All through the night

While the moon her watch is keeping

All through the night

Will the weary world is sleeping

All through the night

O’er thy spirit gently stealing

Visions of delight revealing

Breathes a pure and holy feeling

All through the night

Though I roam a minstrel lonely

All through the night

My true harp shall praise sing only

All through the night

Love’s young dreams, alas, is over

Yet my strains of love shall hover

Near the presence of my lover

All through the night

Hark a solemn bell is ringing

Clear through the night

Thou, my love, art heavenward winging

Home through the night

Earthly dust from off thee shaken

Soul immortal shalt thou awaken

With they last dim journey taken

Home through the night.

I think they made a great team and I’m certain the others agreed with that assessment, judging by the delightful expressions on everyone’s face. Once he finished playing, Elliot was congratulated by nearly all of the others and I could tell that he now felt as though he was accepted as an equal member of this wonderful group.

Slowly, the others began to make their way out of the room and they then went off in several different directions. Before Elliot disappeared though, I had one more thing to say to him.

“Elliot, if you’re going out there, watch out for those guys and don’t let them pull any other tricks on you,” I advised him.

Elliot merely smiled and nodded his head, before disappearing with Jesse.

Some of the older crowd stayed in the family room, where we sat and talked. Just after I finished speaking to one of our guests, Kevin came up to me and asked if we could go somewhere to talk. I was surprised by this request and couldn’t imagine what he wanted, but I agreed. We ended up going to my bedroom, which was one of the few places currently unoccupied.

“What’s up?” I asked him, once we were alone.

“Dad, I know you aren’t going to be happy when you hear this and it’s why I waited until after we had finished dinner.”

I looked at Kevin confused.

“Vinnie and I have found a first floor apartment and we can start moving in December 1^st,” he explained. “It’s nearly halfway between where Vinnie and I work, but I will have a slightly longer drive than he does. That’s fine and doesn’t bother me, since I was worried about Vinnie making the drive every day, especially in the winter.”

“Well, I knew this day was coming,” I confessed. “Although I’m sorry we’ll be losing you, I’m not upset. A parent raises his children knowing that one day they’ll be moving out on their own. Have you told your Uncle Steve and Aunt Mary yet?”

“Vinnie’s pulling them aside and telling them about our plans, while I’m in here telling you,” he explained. I guess that made perfect sense.

Since Kevin had shared this information with me, and I had reacted better than he’d first assumed, he wasn’t as surprised by my next statement. I offered to assist them when they moved. He thanked me for the offer and admitted they could use the help, since Vinnie wouldn’t be able to do much, except for packing and unpacking. I was glad we had been able to work this out and get the matter settled.

While I had been with Kevin, some of the other boys had gone back to the rec room, where they were listening to music and chatting with each other. The rest of the boys had either gone up to their rooms to take a nap or were sitting down to play games at the tables where we’d just enjoyed our meal.

Elliot and Jesse were among the crowd in the rec room, so Elliot thought he’d get something cleared up while they were in there.

“You should have told me he was pulling a joke on me,” Elliot said, matter-of-factly.

“I couldn’t,” Jesse replied. “Ricky said that if anyone messed it up, he’d do something far worse to us.”

Elliot looked dismayed.

“Could he do that?” Elliot wondered.

“Oh, yeah,” Jesse confirmed. “Ricky has lots of pranks he can pull on you. Some of them are funny, but others aren’t. I didn’t want to be on the receiving end of one of his pranks that isn’t so funny.”

“Interesting,” Elliot remarked, contemplatively.

Since Jesse had told him he’d only gone along with this so something worse didn’t happen to him, Elliot forgave him. However, Elliot knew he would have to be much more careful in the future and figured from now on if it sounded like a joke then it probably was.

About an hour and a half later, I had everyone gather back in the dining room, to have coffee and dessert. Well most of the boys didn’t have coffee, but they did have dessert and a drink. We sat at the tables a while longer, as we chatted with others who hadn’t been in the same room with us prior to returning to the dining room. Finally, I invited everyone to come back the following afternoon for leftovers, combined with a few new dishes.

When we grew tired of sitting there any longer, we got up and moved to more comfortable locations. Many of the extended family began to leave over the next couple of hours and return home. They all promised they’d be back the following day, as we said farewell to them. It had been a truly enjoyable and interesting day.

Elliot thought about asking Jesse to do something again, but he was just too tired. Even though he wanted to, he knew there would be plenty of other opportunities, so he just hopped into bed. He fell asleep nearly as soon as his head hit the pillow.

On Friday, the boys decided to go out and play their annual ‘Currie Family Holiday Touch Football Game.’ They also made sure to ask Elliot to play and included him in on the fun. Unfortunately, Frankie and his girlfriend had to leave and couldn’t join them, but we understood he had to return home, because he was scheduled to work. Despite his loss, the game went on without him.

At first, Elliot seemed reticent to participate. He said he wasn’t much use when it came to team sports, like football. However, the other boys wouldn’t hear of him sitting out and said everyone had to participate. Elliot thought this might be another joke they were trying to play on him, so he asked me. I told him this was a family rule, so he relented and joined in the fun. Hey, it was only a little white lie. Seeing Mike Lawrence, Pat O’Hara, Uncle Steve, Jake and I got roped in to playing too, I wasn’t about to give him a free pass.

It wasn’t great football, but it was a wonderful experience and Elliot seemed to loosen up and have fun too, once he realized he wasn’t the only one who lacked talent for the game. I actually thought he did fairly well playing end. He was fast and able to free himself up with some quick moves, except he dropped the first couple of passes thrown to him. Once the other boys gave him some tips on how to be more successful at catching the football, he made a few grabs that helped his team get out of a bind. I think he actually enjoyed himself and was even slightly proud of what he’d accomplished.

When the game ended and we came inside, everyone was laughing and joking around. They were teasing some of the others about their less than graceful plays, while also attempting to belittle some of the more extraordinary efforts some of them had managed to pull off. Once Elliot began to see how they interacted with each other, he started to relax and join in the fun. By this time, he was also feeling better about the little prank they had tried to pull on him the previous day.

This also gave the O’Haras a chance to sit down and chat with Elliot for a while, so they could learn a little more about him. Brandon had shared some information with his parents concerning Elliot’s background, but this allowed them an opportunity to discover a little about his personal likes and dislikes too. The time they spent together went well and the O’Haras told Elliot more about themselves as well, so each side came away with a better understanding of the other.

A little later, some of the others began to return for leftovers. Actually, there weren’t that many leftovers to go around, so Jake and I went to check on the items we had started to prepare before we went outside for the game. Since there wasn’t much turkey left, we had prepared a couple of turkey rolls, which didn’t take as long to cook. We then sliced them up and added the meat to the platter, so there was plenty for those who wanted to make a turkey sandwich or to just add a little turkey to their plate.

We sat down at the tables and began chatting while we were filling our plates. The subject of this morning’s football game came up and Aunt Mary asked who won. This began a succession of stories about the game, since there was some disagreement over the final score. Before long, many members of our extended family were laughing hysterically at the conflicting and humorous stories they were being told.

After we finished eating, some of the boys went in to watch a college football game in the family room. It actually became quite crowded in there and bodies were strewn all over the place. If that weren’t bad enough, the place erupted each time a big play occurred, as those rooting for the team making the play celebrated and those cheering for the other team grumbled.

Those who weren’t interested in the game moved into the living room instead, so they could continue chatting. Jake and I were conversing with Susan and Alice, Mark and Jesse’s mothers respectively, when Elliot approached us.

“I just thought I should say thank you, since you two fixed most of the food the last two days,” he began, as he glanced between Jake and myself.

Then, he turned his attention solely to me.

“And thank you for yesterday, with Uncle Ricky. I didn’t mind it that much, but it is nice to know that you are willing to stick up for me.”

“Danny and Brandon might be your fathers, but we’re your grandfathers,” I told him, referring to Jake and myself, “and we won’t let anyone do anything to hurt you.”

“Thank you and that’s nice to know,” Elliot responded.

He then gave Jake and me a hug. I thought that was a very nice gesture on his part.

After the football game, which the boys were watching on television had ended, the extended family began to leave and return to their homes. When this happened, many of the boys headed upstairs to go to bed. Jake and I stayed behind, so we could speak with Mike and Julie Lawrence for a while longer, and then we all turned in too.

Once Jesse and Elliot got to their bedroom, Elliot quickly talked Jesse into repeating what they had done two nights before. They hadn’t engaged in anything Thanksgiving evening, because the activities during the day and the big meal had completely tired them out.

This had been especially true for Elliot, because he had been through a lot for one day and had many other things on his mind, which kept him from thinking about any physical pleasure. His thoughts had been consumed by the prank Ricky had pulled on him and reminiscing about the comments he received after showing off his skills on the piano. His head was also still spinning from meeting all of the others, so this collection of thoughts had totally occupied his mind. Therefore, the idea of doing something sexual hadn’t entered his thoughts, even though he had totally enjoyed his first experience.

Tonight, however, the boys quickly stripped out of their clothing and Jesse suggested he should do Elliot first again. Elliot eagerly agreed and settled in to enjoy what was about to happen to him. This time he was able to concentrate on each move Jesse made and every feeling he received from it. He reveled in how different it felt to have someone else do this for him, than when he did it for himself. When he thought about it, this made him enjoy what was happening even more.

Since Elliot was no longer a novice at this activity, he lasted a little longer this time, which allowed him to revel in the enjoyable feelings he was receiving from it. When he did explode, it was very similar to his previous experience, but he remembered more about it than he had on his previous encounter.

When he returned the favor, Elliot discovered that his arm still got sore and ached slightly, but he didn’t think it happened as quickly or felt as badly as it had the first time he had done this. Maybe Jesse was right and he’d eventually become used to it, so his muscles wouldn’t throb at all, but it really didn’t matter. Elliot felt he could put up with a little discomfort, so he could relish the pleasure he got in return, from doing this with Jesse. He enjoyed it too much to allow a little discomfort to ruin his fun.

Once each of them had enjoyed an orgasm, they cleaned up and got ready to go to sleep. Since they were both so relaxed now, they fell asleep rather quickly. Sometime later, Jesse unconsciously rolled over, facing Elliot, and draped an arm over his friend.

When Elliot awoke the next morning, he noticed Jesse was cuddling with him, but it didn’t really bother him. He realized he not only enjoyed it, but he’d also had the best night’s sleep he could remember since coming here to live. This made him conclude that he not only liked what had happened, but he also wanted to try even more stuff with Jesse and hoped Jesse would be willing to participate.