Epilogue: Quittin' Hot Turkey

Following their year of bonding and the farm's rebuilding, the Simmons and Sterlings get together to celebrate Thanksgiving.

It was only August when the Simmons and Sterling families parted ways, and despite their promises to keep in touch, this didn't amount to more than the odd phone call or video chat. Both parties seemed to be just a bit too preoccupied with their own lives. Junior and Rosemary spent their days trying to rein in their constantly growing bundle of joy, while simultaneously looking after their house as well as their share of Mark's business empire. Meanwhile, Paul, Lorraine, and their twin daughters busied themselves working on their refurbished farmland, managing their new crops and livestock, and starting to rely less and less on the generous checks that Katrina mailed to them each month. Zeke was able to begin his studies at the college he'd dreamed of attending all his life, and thus was kept far too busy to contact his new cohorts very often.

But that status quo only lasted for another three months, as November finally came along. True to long-established tradition, everyone began to shop more than ever in preparation, as the last Thursday of that month would be spent celebrating Thanksgiving. Most of the stores around would be closed, all the TVs would be tuned into the annual morning parade, the smells of turkey and stuffing would waft through the chimneys of every house in the vicinity, and pretty much no one would be outside, choosing instead to laze around indoors with their families. Some would obsess over the football game after the feast, assuming they didn't consume too much tryptophan, while others would go out to see the hot new movies that inexplicably premiered in theaters on this holiday.

---

Normally, the Simmons would all gather together at Mark or Junior's place to celebrate Thanksgiving amongst themselves, occasionally inviting over a few family friends from throughout Kicksburg, and one year they'd even traveled to Italy to celebrate with Katrina's parents. But this year, they decided to leave town for once and head down south to visit the Sterlings on their farm, wondering what had become of it since it was so graciously rebuilt. Boarding one of their private jets, they took the three hour trip down to Montgomery and taxi'd over to the address they'd been given beforehand. The farm was covered in snow once again, but nowhere near as much as during the previous winter-only about a few inches, and most of it had been shoveled aside. Looking around, the family was pleased to see everything that had transpired here in person for once, as opposed to just in photographs. Crops had regrown to their full size, animals flourished and were able to reproduce, and nothing too concerning was present.

"Well this is a nice surprise!"

Everyone looked over to the front door of the house, where Kendra and Kendall happily stood, both dressed in matching nehru jackets and ushankas, some dark leggings layered under their floor-sweeping Bohemian skirts.

"What's up, you two?" Justine asked, having finally gotten over them.

"We're doing fine," Kendall replied.

"And you guys?" Kendra asked.

"Oh, we're just peachy," Katrina replied, carrying a ceramic pan in her arms. "Your ma told us to bring dessert, so we brought bananas foster. It's Southern, so we assumed you'd like it."

"Actually, none of us have ever tried it before, but we're interested regardless," Kendra replied. "Now come on in, before you all freeze to death."

The Simmons looked around at the interior of the house as they entered, appreciating its simple, cozy feel as they got settled in. The furniture was old-school but still in mint condition, flowery or striped wallpapers covered every room, and a large mason jar of bacon grease sat in plain sight on top of the fridge.

"Well look who we have here," Lorraine greeted as she rushed into the room, enveloping Mark in as warm of a hug as she could muster. "Great to see you folks, again."

"You too, Lorraine," Mark replied, quickly finding himself being embraced by Paul too.

"How are y'all doin'?!" Paul greeted.

"We're doing great," Rosemary replied, she and Junior walking with Primrose between them, each holding one hand.

"Ooh! Look who's walking!" Lorraine gasped, zooming over to scoop up her granddaughter. "Paul, come see this!"

"Oh yeah, I see it alright. Hmm? You finally learned how to use those legs of yours?" Paul cooed. "Heh, soon enough, she'll be able to help us out on the farm."

"Dad," Rosemary moaned, but didn't lose her smile.

"Huh, I thought I heard the door open."

Everyone looked up the nearby staircase to see Zeke making his way down. He'd swapped out his houndstooth headband for a Harvard-themed one, wearing a matching sweater vest to accompany it.

"What's going on, guys?" Zeke continued as he greeted the Simmons.

"Oh, the usual. How are your studies going?" Rosemary asked.

"Pretty well, so far. But if there's one thing I really miss about high school, it's that those teachers never made me write an essay over Thanksgiving break," Zeke grumbled.

"Well look on the bright side. At least in college, summer break starts much earlier to compensate. You might appreciate that more than I did." Justine rolled her eyes. "I mean seriously, did summer really have to last from early May to late August? And I thought summer lasting 104 days was just a cartoon thing."

"But back on topic, maybe you could cut down on the turkey this year, and then you can get right back to it," Junior suggested.

"I could, but I also don't want to miss the game this afternoon," Zeke continued. "Plus, Dad's fried turkey is to die for."

"Fried turkey?" Katrina raised a jet-black eyebrow.

"So it's, like, basically fried chicken, except it conks you out?" Justine looked confused as well.

"Eh, something like that." Paul rubbed the back of his head.

"We figured, since you were so kind to teach us some new things about your lifestyle, why not return the favor?" Lorraine explained. "Now normally, we'd welcome our guests by roasting a whole pig Carolina style-"

"The best kind of barbecue by the way."

"…but since it's Thanksgiving, we decided to be a bit more festive."

"Well regardless of how everything turns out, I'm sure it'll be an eye-opener for all of us," Mark assured his family.

"Yeah, but it will be odd to celebrate Thanksgiving without Mom's timballo pattadese," Junior sighed.

---

While Rosemary and Lorraine headed back into the kitchen to put the finishing touches on the impending feast, everyone else dispersed. Paul turned the football game on in the living room, constantly shifting his attention between it and the whole bird he was frying out back. Zeke managed to knock out two paragraphs of his paper, before deciding to wrap it up over the upcoming weekend and spend the rest of today with his family. The two sets of twins conversed on the couch, paying little attention to the game and also playing with Cletus and Clovis, who were now accompanied by the two hound puppies Mark had purchased, who had doubled in size since they were taken in. Looks as though Primrose wasn't the only one who'd grown since the last time the families met up.

"You mean to tell me you guys own four dogs?" Junior asked skeptically.

"Yep. The hounds are trained to work, while these two are indoor lapdogs," Kendra replied, petting Cletus.

"Alright! Dinner's on!" Paul called from outside, crispy, golden-brown turkey in hand.

"Coming!" the four twins replied in unison.

---

Everyone gathered at the table, which was a bit cramped compared to the one at Simmons Manor, but nobody seemed to mind all that much. In addition to the marvelous-looking turkey, among other things, there were also the usual gravy, cornbread stuffing, dinner rolls, and mustard greens cooked with salt pork. A batch of macaroni and cheese, similar to the one Katrina and Lorraine had collaborated on earlier, was also present, and there was even a pan of mashed sweet-potatoes topped with marshmallows-the only dish on today's menu that Primrose was capable of eating. Throughout the meal, Junior and Rosemary would take turns feeding their daughter, which allowed each other some time to feed themselves.

"Mmm! Y'know, I've eaten some damn good cornbread in my time, but I've never had any that was made with freshly-grown corn," Mark groaned in delight, wiping the yellow crumbs from his face. "Seriously, I can taste the difference."

"I'd be willing to grow corn in my yard back home, but the soil up there just ain't right," Rosemary replied.

"I'm sure you could buy the right kind, if you so desired," Junior replied, sipping some pino noir. "At the risk of sounding pretentious, we are wealthy enough to use hundred-dollar bills as baby wipes, after all."

"But seriously, though, this stuffin's excellent," Katrina said. "And even better, the butter on these rolls is also freshly-made. Lemme guess, the old-fashioned way?"

"You know it." Lorraine smiled.

"I am curious, though. If all of you do everything by hand, then how come Zeke's the only one with the muscles to show for it?" Justine inquired, wiping some pino grigio off her lips. "Really, he's probably like the one guy I'd ever go straight for."

"Because the rest of us just eat too goddamn much," Paul laughed as his son blushed a bit.

"Okay, can we please stop cursing like construction workers in front of the baby?!" Rosemary spoke in an exasperated manner. "I know the world's not pure, and she'll probably learn the words sooner or later, but I don't want her first words to be expletives."

"Our bad," the two patriarchs replied in unison.

---

Everyone continued their friendly banter throughout the rest of the main course, and even during the commercial breaks while they watched the football game together in the living room. Not a single person had a complaint about today's events as an air of peace hovered above all of their heads the entire time. This tone continued throughout the dessert course, where the Sterlings finally got the chance to try bananas foster for the first time; they watched as Mark and Katrina took out the various components of the dish they'd bought, cooking them over the stove and adding bourbon, which set the pan on fire for a couple of seconds. After everything cooled down, every last bite of dessert was eaten in front of the TV, accompanied by some homemade vanilla ice-cream that happened to be tucked away in the freezer.

The who gang ate to their heart's content, stuffing their gullets to bursting and falling asleep all over the living room, even to the point of missing the entire second half of the game. No one cared that there was still a large mess in the kitchen. No one cared what might be going on back up in Kicksburg. In fact, no one cared at all about anything happening outside the humble farmhouse. Today truly felt like a day of perfection, togetherness, and happiness all around.

~ ~ ~ The End ~ ~ ~