章 18: Thanksgiving

I pull my perfectly brined and seasoned turkey out of the oven and set it on top of the dish towel awaiting it on the island. I am so proud of myself this is my first Turkey away from home. I place my candied yams and macaroni into the top oven as the bottom one is currently baking cakes and pies. I look over at my handsome as he's kneading dough for rolls and my anxiety of the last few days being in a new place. Our friends are all coming over bringing dishes it will be a fun evening.

"Baby relax," he says bringing me a glass of red wine clinking against the ring on his finger.

"Mm I know, I know," I say accepting his glass of wine and kiss.

"This is our first Thanksgiving here at our new home it'll be fine," he says wrapping his arms around my waist and I know that my home is wherever he is.

"Yes because I have you here with me," I say sinking into his embrace as I've always done easing myself.

"I will be wherever you are" his deep voice says into my ear and my heart starts pounding away. To this day he has this kind of effect on me.

We stand like this for quite some time. We moved here to this new city a few months ago and visits home are few and far between. He knows how homesick I've been and he does his best to take care of me. Holding me in his embrace whenever I'm feeling down or having my parents surprise me at Halloween he's always thinking of me.

'How selfish of me. This is both our first Thanksgiving away from home and here I am having him worry about me. Get it together girl! He needs you! Plus your friends will be here soon.'

"I'm feeling better honey. Thank you," I say to my love confidently.

"Okay, let's finish up our dishes they should…" he says as the doorbell rings interrupting him.

"I'll get the door," I say.

"Let's go together," he says grabbing my hand and we go to greet our guests together.

He opens the door and our closest friends are all here at the same time. I look at him because I know he arranged all of this for me and my love for him grows even more.

"Ahhhhhhh," I, Nova, and Rylie all scream as they come into the house and we hug each other.

It's been so long since I last saw my best girlfriends. Their significant others are shaking their heads along with my husband at our childishness. Mekhi's friends come in and I greet his friends' wives as well. My heart is swelling with joy and happiness seeing my living room full of our nearest and dearest friends. The ladies and I all go into the kitchen and take seats at the island while the guys occupy the living room. I pour them glasses of wine when the timer goes off. As I'm placing the wine on the counter Mekhi comes and takes out his dinner rolls, cakes, and pies.

"I got it baby," he says as I try to help him arrange them on the counter.

"Alright," I say immediately giving up and taking my seat at the bar stool closest to the oven.

He turns the oven off and let the remaining heat finish cooking the mac and cheese as he adds marshmallows to the yams making them candied and put them back into the oven. When he's finished he washes his hands and grabs a six pack out the fridge and return to the living room.

"How have you been," Nova asks after he leaves.

"I'm alright. I miss y'all like crazy though," I say taking a sip of wine.

"Mekhi takes good care of you," Rylie says.

"He does on top of him being busy with his business he finds time and energy to look after me. He's a really good husband," I say to the ladies.

"He is. You haven't made any friends here," Susu asks.

"A few. I miss you guys so much. I haven't really gotten out the house to explore the city yet," I say to them.

"We can go out to explore this weekend while we're all here," Naomi (Mekhi's friend Owen's wife) says joining in the conversation.

"Yes let's do it! A spa day and shopping to boot," Nova says dangling shopping in front of us as if we could reject it.

"Sounds really good to me," I say excitedly.

The ladies and I talk about all the possible adventures we can go on in the next few days while they're here in town with me. We catch up on the latest gossip with us and our families. I complain about my house being so empty and needing to liven it up. Somewhere in the middle of our conversation Mekhi returns to the kitchen and removes the last few dishes from the oven and begin bringing them over to our dining room. When he's finished he tells us to head into the dining room and we follow him with wine glasses and a new bottle of wine in hand. Once we're all seated and settled in Mekhi grabs my hand and asks for everyone to hold hands as he blesses the food.

"…and thank you for my wife whose love and patience drives me to work harder every day to give her all that she asks and more," he ends the blessing with and he leans over to kiss me.

"We would like to eat some time tonight," his friend Nate blurts out and we all burst into laughter.

While our friends are very used to our PDA I am sure that they don't miss seeing it.

"Alright y'all leave my husband alone. Let's eat," I declare and we all begin filling our plates.

Conversations break out around the table and at my third glass of wine for the evening I begin drinking the water Mekhi placed at each place setting. As I drink it I feel a little more invigorated and go into host mode leading the conversation and offering to get refreshments from the kitchen.

"Feeling better baby," Mekhi asks when I return from the kitchen after getting more bottles of water.

"Yeah, this is what I needed. Thank you honey," I say leaning over to kiss him.

"I have a surprise for you after dinner," he says in a low voice.

"Ooh what is it," I ask him excitedly.

"You'll see my love," he says taking a sip of wine.

When we're all finished eating Mekhi and I remove the dishes from the table and replace them with the different desserts we made and ice cream. Gluttony takes over me as I place a small slice of each dessert onto my plate and cover them with ice cream. My husband gives me a knowing look with a smirk and continues his discussion with Cameron. He knows how I love my cakes and pies but only ever indulge in them occasionally so he leaves me be. Nova smiles at me when she sees the happy and content look I wear whenever I'm eating something good.

I start a conversation with Cameron's wife Tyler when I'm finished eating and full of junk. We're all nursing over stuffed bellies as we make our way to the foyer to retrieve our jackets to go for an after dinner walk to help our food digest. Of course this is Mekhi's idea and helps me into my jacket before we make our way out the door to walk the property. Mekhi moved us into a gated community and into one of the bigger houses. He takes my hand and leads me to the path that winds through our property. Each couple is holding hands engrossed in their own conversations.

"Did I do well baby," Mekhi says as we follow our group of friends in the mild evening air.

"Very well! I'm so happy thank you my love," I say to him smiling very hard.

"Anything for you," he says squeezing my hand.

"I feel like I don't do enough for you sometimes. You work so hard and make sure that I'm okay; I want to make sure you're okay," I say to him apologetically.

"You're my lady. I told you and your parents that I would take care of you and I'm a man of my word.

As long you're happy I'm happy. My world begins and ends with you," he says sweetly.

"You're too sweet," I say to him.

We continue walking until we reach the gazebo that sits on the edge of our koi fish pond. He leads me inside and he wraps his hands around my waist as we watch the stars in the sky.

"Isn't it beautiful," I say to him observing the heavens.

"It is," he says when all of a sudden fireworks light up the night sky.

I gasp in surprise and look at Mekhi. Our friends ooh and ahh as they watch the firework show as well.

"Surprise," he says lovingly.

"Thank you, it's beautiful," I say to my helpless romantic husband and we kiss.

When the fireworks end we begin our walk back to the house. Even though I feel as though my energy is endless I can feel the sleepiness setting in. Our friends decide to head back to their hotels for the night giving us some privacy. When we reach the house we take off our jackets and finish cleaning the kitchen. With the kitchen cleaned and sleepiness setting in I'm ready to shower and go to bed. He grabs my hand and pulls me towards our bedroom and pauses outside the door.

"Close your eyes," he says. I look at him puzzled before following his instructions.

"What's going on," I ask him trying to guess his intentions as he pulls me into the bedroom and sit me down on the bed.

I feel something furry and wet in my arms and I immediately open my eyes.

"Surprise," he says kissing me as I pet the cutest puppy I have ever seen.

"When did you have time to get a puppy," I ask him shocked.

"I had help with it," he says.

"I see. What his name," I ask him.

"Milo, do you like it," he asks.

"Yes, it fits him perfectly," I say looking between my husband and the blue eyed baby Alaskan Husky on my lap.

"Happy Thanksgiving baby," he says as he starts kissing me and I'm forced to put Milo back into his basket. We made love all over our bedroom that night and poor Milo slept through the whole thing peacefully.