Secrets 2: Looking Through Different Eyes - 9. Chapter 9 S2

Chapter 09 – A Joint Thanksgiving

We didn’t get nearly as many trick-or-treaters as we’d anticipated, so there was a lot of leftover candy. Maybe the kids had been scared away from our street after stopping at the Wicked Witch of the West’s house in the past, or possibly there just weren’t very many kids living in our neighborhood. After all, the old witch had told us once before that she was used to living in a quiet area, hadn’t she? Maybe we should have picked up on that verbal cue and figured out that it might mean that only a few kids and no other college students lived around here. Anyway, we both enjoyed seeing those that had stopped by and now we had a month’s worth of candy left over, if not more.

“We’ve got to do something to Louella,” Devin suggested after we closed up from trick-or-treaters for the night. “It has to be something that she won’t be able to tie us to.”

“Like what?”

“If I remember correctly, her driveway is on the other side of the house and it goes back to the detached garage that is behind the house and opens up facing away from our property. Her yard is on the other side of the garage, so there’s a large open space, so we could transition into owls first and fly back to her yard.”

“And what are we going to do when we get there?”

“I thought we could transition into bears or mountain lions and make some kind of noise behind the house so she’ll come out to see what’s going on. That should scare her when she comes out and see them, and it should teach her about being so nosy.”

“It may scare her for a short time, but it won’t last.”

“Then what about if we do it as skunks? I know she keeps her trash cans at the side of the garage, so we can tip them over and make a bunch of noise so she’ll come out to see what’s going on. In addition to the large black trash bin for household garbage, she also has two aluminum cans she uses for her yard trash, because you can put a black trash bags into the aluminum cans and then put the bags out to be picked up every so often. So, when we tip the aluminum cans over and make a bunch of noise, she’ll come out to see who or what is making the noise, and that’s when we can spray toward the back of her house.”

“I like your idea, because being Halloween she may think its trick-or-treaters getting into things, but I don’t think our spray will reach as far as the back of the house.”

“Ok, then we’ll spray the garage and the trash cans so she’ll have to walk past that area in the morning when she goes to get in her car.”

“Ok, then we’ll go back to the other side of the garage after we’re done, transition into owls, and fly back to the house, but we can’t both do it at the same time.”

“Ok, then we’ll start off as great horned owls, because they won’t have many predators, and then we’ll fly back to the house one at a time as barn owls, because they’re smaller. And you can fly back to the house first, but you’ll have to be careful. If there are real great horned owls around or other predators, then they might attack us.”

“Ok, I’ll be careful. Actually, I’m not sure we should be doing this, but Louella has been asking for it.”

We quickly undressed, went out the back door to the covered stoop and transitioned into great horned owls, and then we flew over to Louella’s yard. Once there, we transitioned into skunks and went around the garage to where the trash cans were kept. Once there, we tipped over the two aluminum trash cans that she uses for yard refuse, we then banged them together and made quite a ruckus. When Louella turned on the light and opened the back door, she yelled.

“What’s going on out here?”

That was our cue to start spraying, and we sprayed the garbage cans and the garage, so she’ll have to live with that smell for a while.

“Shoo, shoo,” she yelled while holding her nose.

That’s when we ran to the other side of the garage and transitioned into barn owls. We waited until she went inside and turned off the light, and then we flew, one at a time, back to our place. Once there, we transitioned into ourselves again, went inside, and then burst into laughter.

“That should teach her,” Devin said, and then we went up to our room to turn in.

There were now only a couple of weeks before Thanksgiving break and Devin and I were looking forward to our first joint Thanksgiving with both sets of parents. And shortly after we returned there would only be a couple more weeks left to the semester, and that would be crunch time for us. There would be projects to complete, along with studying for final exams, because the exams would be given before we went home for Christmas.

Devin and I would also have one additional activity to deal with during that time, and it would be to collect the donations and purchase the toys as we prepared for our visit to the hospital. We had already stopped by the campus newspaper office to see if they were prepared to collect the donations and the editor told us a few had already been dropped off. That was probably due to the fact that they had already run an article about the upcoming Second Annual Toy Drive and our visit to the Children’s Ward at the hospital.

In the meantime, our lives went back to normal and we resumed making our daily trips to the dog park. While we were there, Bear and Bailey would run around for a while first, and then they would go through the agility course. Preston and I would sit and watch as they were doing these things, and then one day Preston made a comment.

“I’m really glad Bailey and Bear are getting along so well and Bailey seems to thoroughly relish following Bear’s lead.”

“Yes, they appear to be enjoying themselves and I’m glad they get along so well. I hope she’ll be able to handle it when we go home for Thanksgiving and then for Christmas.”

“I’m sure she won’t understand why you’re not here, but hopefully there will be other dogs around to keep her occupied until you return.”

Devin and I went over to Barry’s apartment to watch the next away game with him and his friends. I was surprised that Barry continued to order the same number of pizzas and bought the same snacks, so I asked him about it.

“You know, you could probably get away with only ordering one mushroom and bell pepper pizza for any upcoming away game, as well as purchasing a smaller vegetable tray.”

“I know, but if I do it this way then I can give the two of you some of those items to take home with you, and it will also leave a little extra for me to enjoy later. Just consider it my other friends’ penalty for bailing on me and not helping to clean up before they leave. At the same time, it’s our payment for doing those things for them.”

“Ok, that’s one way of looking at it and we’re certainly not going to complain, since we’re the beneficiaries of you doing it this way.”

We all sat together at the next home game as well, and eventually Devin and I had to tell Barry that Gramps and Pops would be coming to another home game and we’d be sitting with them instead.

“I know you feel obligated to sit with them, since your grandfather is letting you live in his house, but why don’t you bring them along and have them sit with us too. None of the other guys will mind.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’ll just explain the situation to them and I’m sure they’ll be cool about it.”

“Ok, then let me check to see if they want to do it first,” Devin replied. “Knowing them, I doubt they’ll have a problem with it, as long as you and the other guys don’t mind.”

“Nah, I’m sure my friends won’t care, but I’ll still explain the situation to them and see what they say, but I don’t think they’ll mind doing it either. Besides, they’re probably afraid that you’ll beat the crap out of them if they don’t agree.” He laughed after saying this, but I imagine there was some truth in that statement as well.

When Gramps and Pops arrived for the last home game before we left on Thanksgiving break, the team’s record was 6-4 and they were about to face off one of the better teams in the league. At dinner on Friday, we explained that Barry had invited all of us to join them for the game, because we wanted to see how Gramps and Pops were going to react.

“Barry seems like a nice young man and we wouldn’t mind meeting your other friends, so let’s do it,” Gramps confirmed.

“Sure, it sounds like a great idea,” Pops added.

We were pleased they wanted to do this, and they also wanted to go with us to the dog park again.

“Are Preston and Bailey still coming every day?” Pops asked.

“Yes, but I’ve already warned him that we won’t be there over Thanksgiving and Christmas breaks.”

“And how have you worked it out so Devin is able to transition before you go there?”

“He’s been doing it in the SUV after I drive to an area of the campus that is basically deserted at that time of the morning. And after we leave the dog park, I drive to the abandoned gas station that we pass on the way out to the hunting camp so he can transition back before we go home.”

“Ok, as long as it’s working for you and no one has seen what you’re doing.”

“We’ve been fine and I’ve even worked out an excuse to explain why I’m at the abandoned gas station if anyone stops by to question what I’m doing. So far we’ve only had one time when that happened and we haven’t had a problem since.”

“But we’ll have to drive out to the hunting camp and transition while you’re here,” Devin added.

“Yes, we know.”

Seeing those issues had been clarified, they all grabbed their collars and leashes while I got the key out of Devin’s SUV, and we headed out to the hunting camp first. After they had each transitioned, we all got back in the SUV and I drove to the dog park. When we arrived there, Preston’s face lit up when he saw I had the entire pack with me.

“I see that you’re dog sitting again.”

“Yes, my friend and his wife are attending a wedding this weekend.”

“And you’re picking up a little spending money in the process,” he stated. “I usually take Bailey with me when I go most places, but if there’s ever a time when I can’t do that, would you be willing to sit with her? I know she would love staying with Bear.”

“Yeah, sure, as long as it’s not over a vacation or I don’t have a major test or assignment coming due. My studies come first.”

“And that’s the way it should be, so I’ll discuss it with you first, if a situation like that arises for me in the future.”

After we left the dog park, I made a quick trip out to the hunting camp so the others could transition back, and then we hurried home to change for the game. Barry had told me where they’d be sitting, so after we entered the stadium we started looking for them. When we spotted Barry, we all said hello to him first, and then Devin and I introduced Gramps and Pops to the others.

“It’s nice of you to invite us to join you,” Gramps stated once the introductions had been completed.

“Hey, if you’re related to Devin or Mac, then you’re welcome to join our little group,” one of the others replied.

“Yes, Devin’s my grandson, and even though we’re not biologically related to Mac, he’s like our grandson as well.”

“That’s cool.”

Unfortunately, the game wasn’t going well, but Barry and his friends were getting along really well with Gramps and Pops. Our team was down 17-3 by halftime and ended up losing the game 38-6.

“That was a disappointing showing,” Gramps said when the game ended. “We were considering having you get us tickets for the last game, but now I think we’ll pass on it.”

“Yeah, they’re 6-5 for the season right now and the worst they can do is to end up 6-6 or a .500 season, because they only have one more game and it will be played during Thanksgiving break.”

“They won’t get invited to a major bowl game, and if they don’t play better than this it won’t matter. They’ll get beat no matter what team they play,” Pops added.

Supper was pretty subdued that evening, since we were still down after the game. However, Gramps and Pops said they were willing to take us out for breakfast in the morning before we headed to the dog park. And then they planned on leaving for home after they dropped us off at the house after we finished up there.

“Have you seen any more coyotes at the hunting camp?” Pops asked.

“Yes, but they usually take off as soon as they see us,” Devin replied. “They seem to associate us with the death of the other two.”

“In that case, we might take a look to see if they’re roaming around when we go to the cabin to transition after we’ve been to the dog park,” Gramps stated. “If they’re there, then we may be able to eliminate two more of them for you.”

“They haven’t been a problem, but that might be a good idea,” I agreed.

Preston and Bailey were happy to see all of us again, and just before we left I told Preston that this would probably be the last time they’d see Strider and Max again, at least until after the New Year. Preston seemed disappointed, but he said he was pleased that Bear and I would still be there, except for over the holidays.

The following week was a short one, but Devin and I were still quite busy, because we were trying to finish the projects that would be due shortly after we got back. We didn’t know if we’d be able to work on them over the break and we wanted to make sure they’d be done well before they were due.

Devin and I left for my house after we had breakfast at the dining hall on Wednesday, and we arrived there before my parents got home from work. We took our things out of the SUV and carried them up to my room, and then we went downstairs so we could greet my mom and dad as soon as we heard their SUV pull into the driveway.

“I’m glad you both made it safely,” my mom said in greeting, “and 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, since they knew most of the students would probably skip class anyway, so they could leave for home.”

“Oh, that was nice of them, and now I’ve got to hurry and fix supper before Devin’s parents arrive.”

I thought she was going to pursue this topic about us not having any classes today, but she was busy working on supper and didn’t mention it again. Devin and I set the table, and now that she had everything either in the oven or on one of the burners, she came out to speak with us in more detail. However, Ma and Pa arrived just then, so we went out to greet them, as well as to offer to help them carry there belongings inside.

“Thank you for inviting us,” Ma said as she was greeting my parents.

“You’re always welcome here,” Mom replied. “Not only are you and your husband our good friends, but it appears as if we’ll soon be part of the same family.”

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 us if we’d made any friends yet, so we decided to beat her to the punch.

“Devin and I have been hanging out with the same group of guys to watch all of the football games together. We go to one of their apartments to watch or listen to the away games with them, and then we all sit together at the home games.”

“Yes, my dad said he met your friends when he went there for a couple of the games during the season and he thought they were all very nice young men,” Pa added.

“So your dad goes to the CSU football games?” Dad asked.

“Not all of them, but he and his brother always go to a couple of games each year. My dad graduated from CSU, and recently they’ve been able to go to the games with Devin and Mac, and he said their friends all seemed like a really nice group of young men.”

“That’s good to know, and I’m glad you’re making some friends,” Mom chimed in.

“Is that the same group that you went camping and canoeing with?” my dad followed.

“Only one of them and the others we just started getting close to this year.”

I was slightly worried that Ma might say something and contradict what I’d just said, but Pa must have sensed that happening as well and some way signaled her to keep quiet. I knew we’d just dodged a bullet doing this, and now we could enjoy being home with our families.

“Cindy, I know you did all the work fixing supper tonight, so I want to help you with the rest of the meals while we’re here,” Ma announced.

“There will be plenty to do and I’m grateful that you’re willing to help.”

“And Devin and I will set the table for every meal and we’ll also help you do the clean up afterward,” I offered. “But we’ll have to spend some of our time working on the projects we brought with us, since they’ll be due shortly after we get back.”

We brought them with us just in case, but we really don’t expect to have a lot of time to work on them. But at least it will give Devin and me a little time to be alone.

“I understand and whatever you do to help out will be appreciated, so thank you,” Mom stated. “Just make sure you take all the time you need to work on your projects.”

“Yes, because we’re hoping Devin’s grades will be just as good as they were last year,” Ma confirmed.

We continued chatting with our parents after we’d cleared off the table and did the dishes, and then around 11:00 our parents went to get ready for bed, but Devin and I stayed up a little longer. Once we were alone, we discussed how we were going to handle my family’s typical Thanksgiving ritual before we also turned in.

By the time Devin and I woke up the following morning, our moms were already in the kitchen working on the big Thanksgiving meal. However, they still took time out from what they were doing so they could fix our breakfast. We also convinced them to take a break so they could watch some of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on TV with the rest of us. After that, they went back to the kitchen and started puttering around with the various dishes they were preparing for our Thanksgiving feast.

When the parade ended, Devin and I stayed to chat with our dads for a while before the first football game started, and then we set the table before going upstairs to concentrate on our projects. One of my projects was to confirm or refute a mathematical proof for an equation that I’d been randomly assigned by one of my professors. The other project was to design a software program that would define all of the parameters for a space mission to Mars. I was sure Devin’s projects were just as daunting and that he’d be interested in checking out my software project when he had some extra time.

We had our big Thanksgiving meal at 2:00, and after we were all seated around the table and before my dad began carving the turkey, each of us was expected to say what we were thankful for this year.

“Mickey, what are you thankful for?” my mom asked.

“I’m thankful that I was able to spend some quality time with each of you over the summer, and I’m thankful for the new friends that Devin and I have made at CSU. Oh, and maybe this is the wrong place, but if you buy me clothes for Christmas, get the kinds that will stretch. It will help when we’re playing Frisbee football with our friends. I burst the seams on my pants playing a game and had to pay a girl I know to restitch them for me.”

“That was very nice, dear, and I’ll remember that when I’m shopping. What 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. I’m also thankful for the new friends Mac and I have made at CSU, and I’m also thankful that my grandfather and great-uncle want to take Mac and me on a fishing trip over spring break. Oh, and I want to let you know that I’d wear clothes that fit me better if they were the stretchy type as well.”

“Oh, they do?” my mom gasped. “I guess that means you won’t be coming home during that week this year?”

“No, I’m sorry that Devin broke the news to all of you like this, but they’re going to take us to the same place that they like to go fishing when they’re in the area. We’re going to camp out there as well.”

“Oh, I see,” she replied, and I could see the disappointment on her face and hear it in her voice, but then she regained her composure and spoke to Devin. “And Devin, I’ll try to remember what you said about your clothing,” she confirmed before moving on to Devin’s parents.

This was what Devin and I had talked about the night before, since I knew we’d be going through the Thanksgiving mealtime ritual as usual. Last night we broke the news that we’d made new friends at college, just as my mom and dad wanted, and now we’d broken the news about spring break. We felt it would also help to soften the blow for what we were going to tell them over Christmas break about our summer plans. Now that those things had been taken care of, we were able to focus on the food.

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 trying to convince her that it wasn’t a big deal. He kept emphasizing that we were adults now and able to choose what we wanted to do, and this meant we might not be spending quite as much time at home. I’m sure Pa was ok with our plans, since we’d be with his dad and grandfather, but I wasn’t sure how Ma was taking it. She certainly wasn’t showing what she thought or felt about our announcement, like my mom was.

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 again. We 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 work on our projects, but in reality we were just avoiding my mom again. I knew she wouldn’t give us the third degree in front of Devin’s parents or interrupt us while we were working on our projects, 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 our parents 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 the others so she’d be able to confront us. It worked out well, though, because we broke the news to your mom and then avoided giving her a chance to question us about it further.”

“For now, but I’m sure she’ll eventually corner us, since we’ll be here two more days.”

“Maybe, but I heard her and my mom talking about getting up early in the morning so they can go shopping. They want to see if they can cash in on some of the Black Friday deals.”

“That will help, but I know my dad won’t be going with them. I think he wants to know what our plans are going to be for the summer and if he should wait to make any vacation plans.”

“My dad won’t be going shopping either, so hopefully he’ll be able to keep your dad busy, since he has a good idea about what we might be doing this summer with his dad and grandfather.”

“Ok, I just hope he can do that for us, because I really didn’t want to tell them until after Christmas, and hopefully not until after the New Year, just before we go back to CSU.”

“Oh, I’m sure he’ll do his best.”

Our moms were gone by the time we woke up, so we ended up making breakfast for ourselves and our dads. It was nothing fancy and I merely made scrambled eggs while Devin fried up a package of bacon, and we also made toast. I was a little surprised when Devin’s dad put the scrambled eggs on one slice of toast and placed some bacon on top of it before he added a second slice of toast. He’d just made his own breakfast sandwich, so we all did the same thing, and it was actually quite good.

After cleaning up the kitchen afterward, because my mom would throw a fit if she returned home and found a mess, Devin and I went up to my bedroom to focus on our projects. We left Pa with my dad to keep him occupied and out of our hair.

Our moms hadn’t come home by lunchtime, so I asked my dad what he thought we should have.

“Take some ground beef out of the freezer, and since it’s in a freezer bag, just place it in hot water to thaw it out. There’s also a bag of French fries in the freezer, so throw them on a cookie sheet and put them in the oven after you’ve thawed the meat. While the French Fries are heating up, you should be able to make some patties for hamburgers and then cook them in a frying pan. We’ll be able to have hamburgers or cheeseburgers, French fries, and pie for lunch, since I know we didn’t eat all of the pumpkin and apple pies yesterday.”

“Ok, it sounds good to me.”

We didn’t have any hamburger buns, but we had some left over dinner rolls, so we made smaller hamburgers and cheeseburgers and placed them on the dinner rolls like sliders. It wasn’t fancy, but it was filling, and afterward Devin and I cleaned up the kitchen again before heading up to my room. Our moms didn’t return home until around 3:00, and when they came inside they were looking for help.

“Mickey and Devin, will you please come down here and put on your coats so you can come outside and help us carry in our purchases?”

We came downstairs and put on our coats, and then my mom gave us more instructions. “Mickey, you can help me carry the things I bought up to my bedroom, and no peeking in the bags. Devin you can help your mother carry her purchases up to the bedroom she and your dad are staying in, and I’m sure she doesn’t want you to do any peeking in the bags either.”

“How will we know which bags belong to whom?” Devin asked.

“Your mother and I will hand the bags to you.”

Both or our moms had bought a lot more than we expected, so maybe they did find some really good deals. After we helped them carry everything upstairs, we all went to the living room to join up with our dads, who were currently watching a football game.

“I hope you didn’t wear out the credit card,” Dad joked, “because you carried a lot of bags inside.”

“It’s for Christmas, dear, so don’t act like Scrooge,” she shot back. “By the way, have you guys eaten anything today?”

“Yeah, Mickey and Devin took care of us.”

We then told her what we fixed for breakfast and lunch.

“I’m impressed and glad to know that you do better taking care of yourself than your father does,” my mom responded while looking at me. “He probably would have starved until I got home, if you two weren’t here. And you even cleaned up the kitchen after you were done.”

“Yeah, we cleaned up after ourselves, and I’m sure Dad would have figured out something.”

“Possibly,” she said, but she didn’t look convinced. “I know this is going to sound like we’re giving you more bread to eat after what you’ve told us you’d already had today, but how do hot turkey sandwiches and the rest of the leftovers sound for supper? Doris and I are beat from shopping all morning and afternoon and we don’t feel like making a big meal.”

“That will be fine,” my dad replied with Devin’s dad nodding in agreement.

“Yeah, that’s fine with us too,” Devin and I agreed.

After supper, we spent a quiet evening watching a Christmas movie with our parents, and then they headed upstairs to turn in. Devin and I stayed up a little longer again, and once we were alone, we chatted about a few more things.

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

“Yes, so we only have one more day to go.”

“Yep, because my mom and dad will probably leave early on Sunday morning, just like we’re planning on doing.”

“That works out well, because our dads will be spending most of tomorrow watching college football games. They’ll be so into the games that we can hang out with them for part of the day, and I hope the CSU game is on TV. My mom knows better than to start a long conversation during a game, so we should be safe doing that as well.”

“There’s always halftime.”

“Yeah, but that’s when we’ll probably eat, so we should be fine.”

“I wonder what was in all those bags we helped to carry inside.”

“I’m curious about that as well, because there seemed to be a lot more stuff than my mom usually buys for Christmas and there’s still a month left for her to shop.”

“That’s what I was thinking too.”

By the time we got ready for bed, I thought of something else.

“You know that we’re going to have to find time to do our Christmas shopping before we come home next time.”

“Yeah, I figured we could do it when we’re buying presents for the kids, because I’m sure we’ll have to do that again.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right and that’s a good idea. We just won’t tell our parents about our summer plans until after Christmas, and maybe even later than that. I don’t want to make them miserable on Christmas Day, and I’d really like to have a nice New Year’s Eve celebration with them as well, so maybe we’ll be able to wait until New Year’s night.”

“Yeah, that’s a good idea too.”

When we woke up the next morning, our moms fixed breakfast for all of us, and they made pancakes and cooked up sausage links to go with it. We had a nice, enjoyable meal together, and when Devin and I got up to clear off the table, my mom stopped us.

“You two did enough yesterday, so Doris and I will take care of this.”

“Are you sure?”

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

“Ok, we’ll go work on our projects, and we want to watch the football games as well, especially if the CSU game is on TV.”

Devin and I then headed up to my bedroom to work on our projects for a while, and eventually my mom called us down to have lunch. Once we finished eating, we stayed downstairs to see which football games were on. Devin and I really aren’t huge football fans, although I followed my high school team and attended many of the games throughout my four years there, and now we both enjoy attending the CSU games.

Unfortunately, nothing was mentioned about the CSU score during the game we were watching, but we kind of expected that. CSU was 6-5 at this point and today’s game would help to determine if they’d end up with a winning season or just break even with a .500 season.

Most of the sporting world was focused on the teams that would be playing in the major bowl games in December and January, but mostly those will be involved in the college football playoffs. Just the same, Devin and I kept our eyes and ears open for any reports about the CSU game and we watched all of the scores as they popped up on the screen. We also listened to the announcers as they reported the scores from the other games.

It was nearly 8:00 before we heard the final score of the CSU game, and it was apparently a squeaker. We even got to see a replay of the big play of the game, and it was when our team blocked the extra point on the last touchdown the other team scored. It ended up giving our team a one-point victory and a 7 win and 5 loss season, so it was also a bright spot for the team. It might even be enough to give them a chance to play in one of the lesser bowl games, and even if that doesn’t happen, the underclassmen will be ending the year on a positive note. It might even give them a reason to begin looking forward to next season.

We shouldn’t have been surprised that we didn’t hear about the CSU game until so late, it’s just that we forgot they weren’t playing until 6:00 today. If Gramps and Pops had decided to go to the game, we were going to go back early so we could join them, so our moms were probably glad that didn’t happen.

After we finished eating supper, Devin and I went up to my room to pack our things for the trip back to campus the following day. Ma and Pa went up to their room to do the same thing in preparation for their return trip home as well. When we came downstairs again, I heard Ma telling my mom that they would be leaving in the morning, at approximately the same time as Devin and I were planning to head back to campus. That’s when my mom began insisting that none of us could leave until we all had a nice breakfast together first, and we agreed that would be fine.

When the last game of the day ended, my dad turned off the TV and we all said goodnight before going up to our rooms to get a good night’s sleep. We all wanted to be fresh and alert when we left here and headed in opposite directions to reach our destinations.

My mom got up even earlier than the rest of us and had everything ready to make breakfast by the time we came downstairs. While we were eating, I decided to make certain that Devin’s parents were going to join us for Christmas.

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

“We hate to keep imposing on your parents like this,” Ma replied.

“It’s no imposition,” my mom stated. “We enjoy having all of you here and I know the boys enjoy having us all together.”

“But we usually spend Christmas with Aaron’s family,” Ma stated.

“I’m sure they won’t mind,” Pa responded. “We’ll just have Christmas with them the weekend between Christmas and New Year’s Day.”

“Ok, if you’re sure they won’t mind.”

“No, they didn’t mind about Thanksgiving, so I’m sure they’ll be fine with this as well.”

With that settled, we finished eating breakfast and then we loaded up Devin’s SUV with our belongings. When we finished doing that, we helped Devin’s parents carry their suitcases and packages out to their SUV. Once the last of those items had been placed inside their vehicle, we all said goodbye to them before they drove away.

After they left, we said goodbye to my parents, and then we got in Devin’s SUV and drove off as well. Once we were away from the house, I turned toward Devin and spoke.

“I’m glad our families will be having Christmas together as well, but I wish we could also invite Gramps and Pops and their wives.”

“I know, but they understand, so it’s not a big deal. In fact, I think their wives liked the idea of having a quieter Thanksgiving this year, and I’m sure they’ll feel the same way about Christmas. It’s not often they get to spend time alone with their husbands over the holidays, and since Hope and Faith get along so well, I think they also like the idea of it being just be the four of them.”

“Ok, I hope you’re right about this.”

“Trust me. I am.”