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]

"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.