Thanksgiving this year was different to every other Thanksgiving Connor had lived through, the reason being that this was the first time ever that he wasn't going through it alone.
Family aside, Connor had never spent any significant holiday such as this one with a partner of his own. This year, his boyfriend would be seated beside him at the table and the thought alone scared and excited him at the same time.
Dakota's family was not like Connor's. They didn't really do the whole 'sit down and eat a turkey with family' tradition. His parents were more upper-class in their traditions and any time spent sitting down meant time that could be used working.
Dakota had said that whilst his family may not do big get-togethers and spend all day cooking food, they normally celebrated the holiday differently with trips to their mountain holiday houses or resorts in Cabo. Luxury and first-class were the types of holidays Dakota knew.
Which is why Connor was nervous about his boyfriend spending the holiday with them. Connor's family was upper-middle class and whilst they were well-off, it still made Connor nervous to know that his boyfriend would be sitting down to dinner with them that evening and not spending the holiday lounging on a beach somewhere tropical.
Ever since their senior year of school finished and Dakota had a falling-out with his father over his future prospects, he had avoided going home like the plague. It didn't stop Mrs Anderson, of course, who had flown out numerous times to visit her son at college and check up on him.
Whilst Dakota and his father still talked and could be civil with one another, there was an obvious tension between the two that Dakota had wanted to avoid at all costs. He wasn't even planning on flying home for the holidays until Connor had convinced him otherwise.
"Come home with me," he'd said on their last day before break.
"What?" Dakota had said over the phone as they conversed between their university dormitories. "Like, with your family?"
"Yes Dakota, with my family."
"I wouldn't want to intrude."
"Oh please, we've been dating for a year. My mom is already searching for wedding planners."
Dakota choked as Connor laughed. "But yes, come home with me and spend the holiday with my family. You shouldn't be alone and I'm not leaving you here anyway."
"Only if you're sure."
"Good, because I've already purchased your plane ticket."
Which is how they ended up standing in Connor's kitchen back home as his mom prepared a Thanksgiving feast with the help of two of Connor's aunts.
"I don't see why we couldn't just make one pie." Connor said. "We go through this every year!"
Rachel Taylor stared at her son in disbelief as she fussed over three pies. "Because your cousin Bella is gluten-intolerant, Aunt Tilda is anaphylactic to pecan and your father and Drew are lactose-intolerant."
"So you make three seperate pies?" Connor pursued. "Why not just burn the whole house down if you're going to so much trouble?"
"Dakota," Rachel turned to him with a huff. "Can you please knock some sense into my son? I should warn you now we dropped him on his head three times as a baby."
"Hey!" Connor cried. "You said it was only once!"
"See what I mean?"
"Mom!"
"Oh, there goes the timer!" She turned back around and hurried over to the oven to pull out the pies, not bothering to answer her son's plea.
Connor turned to Dakota with a pout. "She did say it was only once last time."
"I'm sure."
He scoffed. "You're just as bad as they are."
Laughter filtered from the living room next to the kitchen where Connor's extended family was gathered. Aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents and his family had all gathered at the Taylor residence, as per every year in the name of tradition.
Connor had barely contained his eyerolls as his family arrived, each one fixing his hair or dumping a load of questions on him or commenting on his appearance as they walked through the door. It was normal family banter, but Connor insisted they always went overboard. Dakota had to disguise his laughter behind coughs.
Before today, none of Connor's extended family had met his boyfriend. They'd been told over the phone by his mother that he was in a relationship but had never met him in person. They'd been nagging him for months for an introduction which Connor kept putting off. Mainly because he was in New York for college and because a Skype introductory call sounded like the worst thing in the world.
It had gotten to the point where Connor was sick of everyone pestering him about his 'mysterious boyfriend that they'd never met before' so about half an hour earlier he had marched to the front of the room, dragged Dakota to the centre, announced that they were dating and that any further questions could be redirected to the trash can.
Connor's family had been very welcoming of Dakota and offered polite greetings while teasing the hell out of Connor. In response, Connor had thrown his hands up and marched out of the room and left until his mother dragged him back downstairs.
Dakota had watched the whole thing go down with a laugh. After Connor's embarassment had started to subside, he'd begun to relax and engage in coversation with his family as Dakota stood by his side.
Now they stood in the kitchen helping Connor's mom with final preparations for the meal they were about to inhale. They had been icing cookies before helping prepare the Three Obnoxious Pies, as Connor called coined them.
Beside them, Rachel had been busy stuffing the turkey as Connor's aunt cut and roasted vegetables. They both wore ridiculously- festive aprons and were singing along to Michael Buble Christmas songs, out of tune and quite poorly, which Dakota learnt was another tradition in the Taylor family and he watched on with an amused smile.
"Rachel, the side dishes are ready to go. How much longer on the turkey?" Carol, Connor's aunt, asked.
Rachel checked on the status of the turkey and hummed to herself. "About five minutes?"
Carol turned to the two boys. "And the desserts?"
Connor was putting the finishing touches on the last cookie and he turned to face his aunt. "The pies are done and it's just this tray left."
"What about pretty boy over there?" Carol jerked her head in Dakota's direction.
Dakota was leaning against the counter, arms folded over his chest with a smug look. "Finished ten minutes ago."
"So you're telling me that in the hour you've been in the kitchen, your boyfriend has iced three trays in the time you've done one?" Carol asked her nephew. "Why am I not surprised?"
"Hey!" Connor whined, turning around with the piping bag in hand. "I'm just trying to get it to look nice."
His aunt peered over his shoulder at the four trays. Connor had icing all over the counter and himself and most of his cookies had too much frosting to even be considered artful. Her gaze flicked back and forth between Dakota's tray and Connor's as she said, "You've definitely gotten it to look like something. Perhaps you should've let your boytoy handle the icing, sweetcheeks."
"Oh c'mon, it's not that bad."
And it wasn't. If you asked a blind mole-rat, that was.
"Sweetums, you're good at many things but please don't pursue a career in the culinary arts any time soon."
She laughed as he began to pout. Kissing his cheek and patting her nephew on the shoulder, she sent Dakota a knowing look and left the kitchen, leaving the two alone.
The music was still playing in the other room but at the absence of his mother and aunt, the kitchen was thrown into silence. Connor was still icing the last cookies and had a bag of icing in his hands as he worked carefully to put the finishing touches on the tray before him. He was wearing an apron that read Mom's Little Helper on the front which Dakota had given him so much shit for.
He was so focused on the task at hand that he didn't notice Dakota's stare. "You okay?" Dakota asked.
Connor looked up with a slight frown. "Yeah, I'm fine."
Dakota watched as Connor put all his effort into finishing the desserts. He'd never noticed it before they were dating but whenever Connor was working really hard on something, his tongue poked out in the corner of his mouth as if he was biting back nerves. Dakota didn't think Connor even realised he was doing it but he couldn't deny that he found it to be one of the cutest things his boyfriend did.
Even when they were studying together at college, Dakota would often look across and find Connor in the same position he was now. Brow furrowed, tongue curled in the corner of his mouth, eyes direct. He couldn't help but smile every time.
"Con, they're perfect. Stop worrying." Dakota said.
Connor sighed and put the bag down. "I just want everything to look nice."
"And they do. What are you so worried about?"
Connor looked away and understanding dawned on Dakota. "Is it because I'm here?"
Connor looked back at him. "I can handle the teasing and banter every year from them because that's what families do." He winced, sending an apologetic look Dakota's way. "Sorry."
Dakota waved him off. "It's fine."
"Look," Connor continued. "Every year we help each other out, but I usually just set the table or hang the decorations. This year Mom asked me to help with the food and I-ugh, I don't know. I guess I just..."
"Want it to look right?" Dakota guessed.
Connor shrugged. "I guess."
Dakota pushed off the counter and approached Connor, placing his hand's lightly on his waist. "Hey," he said, getting Connor to look up at him. He smiled. "Everything is going to be fine. Just relax and try to enjoy yourself."
Connor met his eyes. "I'm sorry."
"For what?"
"For all of this." Connor gestured around them. "I know I said I wanted you to come home with me and that's true, but you're used to tropical islands and five-star resorts on holidays. This can't even compare to all of that."
"Are you serious?"
Connor sent him a questioning gaze and Dakota scoffed. "You can't be serious."
"Why?"
"Con, do you really think I care about all that?"
"I just feel bad that you're not with your family for the holidays."
"I'm seeing my Mom tomorrow." Dakota said. "You know that. And family isn't always about blood. I want to be here. Meeting your family, cooking food, watching you fail at icing cookies."
Connor managed to laugh. "I guess my aunt was right, huh? They are pretty atrocious."
"So what if they look a little messy?" Dakota wrapped his arms tighter around Connor's waist. "Look how much effort you put into them. Look what lengths you're going to just because I'm here."
Connor said nothing so Dakota continued. "You don't have to be so insecure, babe. I'd take a messy, family-teased, banter-filled, chaotic Thanksgiving over any heated pool and King-sized bed any day."
Dakota knew he'd struck gold when his words were met with that hundred-dollar smile he adored so much. "Hey," he nudged Connor playfully. "Let's just enjoy our holiday together, yeah?"
Connor's grin widened. "Yeah, okay."
***
[Part 2 in next episode]
Comments (1)
See all