If you are really thankful, what do you do? You share. [Thanksgiving Day in the City]

[gloriouscurse]

Never had Regina had an abundance to be thankful for. Henry, of course, she was glad every day for him. Under the curse they'd had this holiday together, though it had always been just them, and after it broke the holidays had fallen to the wayside as event after event happened in Storybrooke. Then there was the year spent back in the forest, and though everyone knew what it was, there hadn't been much to celebrate. Or if anyone had, Regina certainly hadn't taken part in the festivities. She'd had nothing but newfound vengeance. In her life before, there was no such thing as 'Thanksgiving' and the last large meal she'd had, the last grand gathering, had been the king's birthday and she couldn't have cared less if she tried.

This year is different. This year there's family and friends of the family and things to celebrate. There's Henry getting to have a holiday with all three of his parents, there's Robin and Roland and a happiness that has managed to settle into Regina's belly and slowly allow her to relax. She hasn't had a terrible dream in weeks, and maybe she's started to let herself believe that this could be how her life is. She finds herself wanting it, the warmth Cora's home never allowed for, the laughter she's denied herself, and so she works hard at it, cooking and baking. Henry's with her in the kitchen in the morning after spending the day before hunting wild turkey with Robin. There are appetizers out by eleven: parmesan and cream cheese pumpkin puffs, deviled eggs and veggies with homemade dip. The wine and drinks are flowing by noon, and at three, dinner is served with traditional fare: turkey and stuffing, mashed and sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, real cranberry sauce and everything in between. She'd urged her guests to bring food they enjoyed too. Dessert is during mid-cleanup and includes Henry's no-bake pumpkin pie, an apple pie, pecan, and sweet potato.

The dull chatter in the room, the occasional laughter and the noise of whatever people watched on television during Thanksgiving all lended itself to make her step back and watch for a moment, eyes suspiciously damp. She's truly thankful, because she never thought she'd have this.

[ooc: Treat as gathering! Lots of mingling and tagging one another.]

Comments

[storybrooke_savior]

Emma had gotten there early enough to give Regina a hand with the massive amount of food, but given her mediocre skills in the kitchen, she'd been relegated to sous chef duties only. That was fine with her, honestly. She might not have an eye for spices, but she could chop, snap, and stir with the best of them.

With Regina in such high spirits, and the warm, homey scents of good food filling the whole apartment, it was easy to find the holiday spirit (even if Emma had been very, very insistent that they distance themselves from the actual origins of the holiday). She even accepted a glass of apple cider from Regina to go with her pie (pecan, not apple--for Emma, pretty much all apple pastries were forever ruined) and found a spot on the couch to curl up after the food had been demolished. She should've probably offered to help with dishes. Maybe she would in a minute. But for the moment she felt too full and sleepy and content to uncurl from the cozy spot she'd claimed as her own.

[infamousdelsin]

Delsin flops down onto the couch next to her and lets out a loud, contented sigh. "Hey, whoa, come on, you can't sleep yet!" he says when he sees how comfortable she looks. "Food comas are for after all the guests are gone. Or, so I've heard." He's looking pretty content himself, though, eyes and cheeks warm with some kind of seasonal beer that settles in his belly amidst the — holy shit, amazing — food.

[storybrooke_savior]

Emma lifted her head and smile warmly as Delsin's flopped down next to her, looking as full and happy as she feels. "I'm technically a guest," she pointed out, shifting to plop her head down on Delsin's shoulder and yawning. "In the sense that this is Regina's apartment, anyway. Would it be terrible of me to ask Henry if I can sleep on his bedroom floor? I'm not sure I should drive home this full of food. It's like I'm food-drunk. Is that a thing? It should be."

[infamousdelsin]

"Pretty sure it's a thing," he says. "Even if it's not, it totally is." He rubs her shoulder fondly. "You should so sleep on Henry's floor. Kid adores you, by the way." Just in case she hadn't known that.

[storybrooke_savior]

Emma's smile was immediate and happy; yes, she knew, but she never got tired of hearing it. "Think it's safe to say it's mutual adoration," she said, sighing lightly, her gaze softening as she looked around at the gathering of their motley crew. "I never would've thought this would be a thing. These people, this...weird little family thing going on. I can't even tell you how long it took to get to this point and how many people here used to hate each other."

[infamousdelsin]

He grins and kinda squeezes her a little. "Well, I'm happy for, Em." He really is. She's been a great friend since he's come here, and he wants her to be happy.

[wanttobeahero]

Henry had indulged in a lot of food, unsurprisingly, and was feeling just as pleasantly warm, full, and sleepy as his mom looked. He'd spent most of the time during dinner talking to the friends he'd invited, and now that everyone had eaten and things were winding down and his friends had left, he wanted to just hang with his mom, so he sat down next to her, resting his head on her shoulder.

"That was good, the dinner."

There was still the fact that his dad was here, which he knew was hard for his mom to deal with, too, but just for today, all of them being together...it made Henry really happy.

[storybrooke_savior]

Since his friends had cleared out, Emma felt it was safe to wrap her arm around Henry and rest her cheek against the top of his head. He hadn't really said anything yet, but she knew he was rapidly reaching that stage where Obvious Displays of Affection from parental figures was Embarrassing, and she was trying to be respectful of that.

"It was," she agreed with a contented sigh. "I especially liked the turkey. How was that, by the way, turkey hunting with Robin Hood?"

[wanttobeahero]

His mom just got it - well, both of them were pretty good about it, but sometimes he worried Regina would slip up in front of his friends occasionally and plant a kiss on his cheek - and he was grateful. With just their family left, really, Henry had no reservations about settling in closer, getting comfortable and stretching out a little.

"It was so awesome," he smiled, tilting his head up slightly to smile at her. "Robin's a really great teacher. He never misses a shot, I hope I'm that good someday."

[storybrooke_savior]

Emma made a mental note for potential Christmas gifts, setting Henry up with his own bow and arrow, and some tutelage from Robin. She worried a little about her son potentially owning so many weapons, but at least archery was a common enough hobby. Swordplay, outside of fencing, not quite so much.

"Well, practice makes perfect, and all those other lame parentisms," she teased, turning her head to smile down at him--and quietly assess him at the same time. "How we doing, kid?" she asked gently. "We've had a lot thrown at us these past couple of weeks."

[wanttobeahero]

Henry, of course, was thinking about everyone else, with Christmas coming up. He had a lot of money saved up, which was good since he had a lot of people to buy for, too. He wanted to get something really special for his mom, he just hadn't figured out what that was yet. At least he had time.

"It's okay," Henry smiled softly up at her. "Pretty good, actually. I was kind of upset at first because...I know we can't stay here forever, and when we leave, I won't have my dad again. But...I know I want to just enjoy it while I can, and at least I'll remember this when we go home." He didn't know about that yet, that he actually wouldn't remember any of this.

He hoped his mom was okay, though. Especially knowing that there was...sort of a thing with her and Hook now. He didn't need details, only needed to know she was good. "Are you good?"

[exitthewallflower]

In the flurry of introductions before everyone went to putting away a truly pornographic amount of food, I think I remember hearing that this woman was Henry's mother. And because Henry is Aggie's friend, I want to get to know her. That's how this is supposed to work, right? So when things start to quiet down a little, I grab a glass of... something delicious and probably alcoholic and walk over.

"This seat taken?"

[storybrooke_savior]

"No, not at all," Emma replied with a friendly--if still a bit lazy and food-dazed--smile. "You're, uh, Barbara? Aggie's guardian, right? I'm Emma, Henry's mother." She can't remember if she said, or if someone else said. There were a lot more people here than Emma had anticipated.

[exitthewallflower]

"Yeah, I kinda took her in." For reasons which still elude me, not that I care. I love her like a sister. Like a mother, I guess. It's complicated when I think about it, but she's all mine and I'm all hers.

"I got the short-short version of Henry's family here, but it's really nice to finally meet you."

[storybrooke_savior]

"It's nice to meet you, too," Emma replied easily. She'd done this before, in New York, the whole meeting-your-kid's-friend's-moms thing. It wasn't so bad as she would've thought it would be. "Aggie's a good kid. It's been good to see Henry making new friends so easily, and strangely enough I enjoy having them around."

[exitthewallflower]

"I wish I made friends half as easily as she does." Which I realize sounds totally lame as soon as I say it. I would probably be better at making friends if I didn't keep saying things like that.

"Sorry, that sounds really pathetic. I'm really happy for her, really, just missing people today, I guess."

[cassidyneal]

Neal hesitated for a minute, didn't want to be the reason she might tense, but he figured if he's leaving he might as well say goodbye first. He'd been there for a few hours now, spent time with Henry, mingled and met people, and it was more socializing than he'd done in a while.

"Hey, Emma. Think I'm callin' it a day, but this was good. Who knew Regina'd let you near the food? You two did great, best meal made by fairytale characters I've ever had," he said in an attempt to keep it light, maybe make her smile.

[storybrooke_savior]

Blinking herself out of her food-overload daze, Emma frowned up at Neal and checked the clock quickly to confirm the time. "You're going already?" she asked. She knew Neal wasn't the most social creature, but she'd still figured he'd hang out a little longer if only for Henry. Then, of course, she fretted that it had something to do with her (and the very un-subtle disappearing act she'd performed since he'd arrived)). "You don't have to go," she assured him, in case her uncomfortable suspicion was right. "I mean, there's a ton of pie that still needs to be eaten. Regina went all out...I'd avoid the apple, but you know. I have reasons for that."

[cassidyneal]

He knew how to read her, and he knew that she was serious about him staying. Though he didn't really think that meant 'sit down and talk.'

"In a really weird turn of events, looks like the apple's almost gone. People start droppin' around here we know what happened." He cracked a little grin. "Guess no one reads their fairy tales."

[storybrooke_savior]

"Well to be fair, I think I'm the only one here whose mother and son she poisoned with them," Emma pointed out with a wry smile. And Emma didn't plan on spreading that information around, either. There was no reason to.

"You want to sit?" she asked, moving one of the throw pillows next to her and tossing it to the other end of the couch (useless wastes of space, throw pillows, no purpose but to sit there and look pretty, because they damn sure weren't comfortable).

[cassidyneal]

"She likes her dramatics," he noted, and for a minute he hesitated, but then Neal found himself sitting, relaxing back into the couch.

"I figured you didn't cook anything, not with what I know about your skills in the kitchen. But I heard you got roped into helping, at least. Which means I can thank you for dinner." He'd already thanked Regina, figuring he was heading out soon.

"This was a pretty good day. A little surreal, but good." For example, he'd met the baby named after him, and for long minutes, he'd just thought about Henry and everything he'd missed.