Decisions Ch. 05

"I should've known it was the two of you making so much noise." My mom said, rubbing her eyes. I was just about to sputter out that what they heard was not what we were doing, before my mom continued. "Chris, what have I said about waking up this early and playing video games? We could hear the TV all the way in my room."

I sighed and relief and was just about to reply before Stasi cut me off. "Sorry, Susan." She said, guiltily. "I woke up in the middle of the night and couldn't fall back asleep. I wasn't tired so I woke up Chris and asked if we could play on his XBox to pass the time. I guess I left the volume up too loud." She blushed, her cheeks having slightly more color behind them because of the rapid feed session.

She already looked way better than when I saw her half an hour ago. The bruises under her eyes were gone and the haggard look she was sporting had disappeared.

"Oh, you poor thing!" My mom said, still slightly bleary eyed. "Would you like me to call your parents and ask them to drop off a prescription for those day pills? I know your parents are really early risers."

Stasi shook her head. "No, thank you. I don't think it'd work. Besides, it looks like everyone is awake and I don't want to be the only one sleeping through the morning when I should be helping. Speaking of help, do you need help making breakfast?"

My mom grinned. "No, but I'd appreciate the help. I'll have to ask Yulia and Anton if I could keep you here permanently. You'd be the perfect daughter."

"In-law!" My dad called out from down the hall and making the two of us turn as red as tomatoes.

"He's only teasing." My mom said. "I'll wait for you two downstairs. Bacon and eggs?"

"Yes, please." We both chirped at the same time.

"You two never change." She laughed. "Before I leave, Anna would you like for me to open up a synthetic for you?"

Stasi looked at me, a glint in her eye. "No thank you, Susan. I'm fine."

"Alrighty then." She turned around to head downstairs. "Come down when you're ready. We have a lot of work to do and it's better to get started now."

There was a reason my parents woke up so early and it wasn't just because they heard the TV. Thanksgiving dinner was a tradition and we had it at each other's house, alternating every other year. While the Sokolov Family preferred a little more intimate feel with just the two of our families, my family did things a little bit differently. Everybody that wanted an invitation got an invitation.

All those people that were coming needed some good food, right?

So for that very reason, we all woke up early on Thanksgiving to start preparing the food for tonight's feast. Even though some of the families that were coming would be bringing a dish, it'd still wouldn't be enough to feed everybody, so all hands were on deck. It was a good thing that Stasi was here, because four pairs of hands were way better than three.

We all started after breakfast and got to work pronto. We all knew what to do, having done it every year ever since we were six, when the both of our parents mutually decided that even though we weren't mature enough to avoid having a food fight, we were mature enough to prepare the food to supply said food fight.

"Chris, you should be paying more attention.." My mom clucked, looking over at my work at the sink.

"Huh?" I tore my eyes away from the tablet I had perched on the island, where I was watching a record of the Vikings vs. Lions game. I hadn't had a chance to watch it yesterday, so I was catching up. Even though my football season was over, I had to get my fix of gridiron action somehow.

I turned my eyes back down to my handiwork where I was blindly peeling a mountain of potatoes. They hardly looked like potatoes anymore. They looked like spuds that had Jason Voorhees go on a rampage on them. "Oh... shit... sorry." I muttered under my breath.

"Language!" Stasi and my mom scolded, at the same time. My mom was working on the turkey stuffing with Stasi.

"Sorry!"

Stasi wiped her hands on a rag, looking at the bowl of potatoes in the sink. "Huh... I guess we know what dish everyone's going to be avoiding." She snickered.

I shot her a glare. "If you're so good at cooking, why don't you come here and help? Some support from my girlfriend would be nice."

"You go ahead and show him how it's done, Anna." My mom said.

"Thanks, Susan." Stasi laughed, picking up a spare peeler and coming to the sink. She bumped me to the side with her hip. "Move over and stop hogging the sink. Watch the master at work, young padawan." She kissed me on the jaw before picking up a potato and beginning to peel it. She was hardly doing a better job than I was doing. But, together, we managed to get thing done relatively quickly. At last, we threw the last peeled potato in the huge bowl of water.

"You hardly did a better job than I did." I muttered, inspecting the lumpy spud.

"A little appreciation for my help would be appreciated, you know." Stasi placed her hands on her hips, pouting.

"Yes, because a little appreciation goes a long way, Chris." My dad sniggered, coming into the kitchen and carrying the defrosted turkey. He set it down on the table, giving my mom a kiss on the cheek. "Everything looks excellent, darling." He added, looking around at the kitchen island, which was filled with food prepared for Thanksgiving Dinner.

"Thank you, honey. I couldn't have done it without these two." She gestured towards Stasi and I. "Especially her, because all he did was stand around, watch football all morning and afternoon, and tried to sweet talk Anna."

"Mooooooom!" I moaned out, while Stasi giggled.

"I'm only kidding, Chris. It was cute. You both are cute. Why don't you both go upstairs and get changed for later? The guests will be arriving at five and it's already four. We have a special guest coming and I don't want you both to smell like you've been working inside of a kitchen all day."

"Who's the special guest?" Stasi asked, curiously.

"It's a secret." My mom replied, mischievously. "Now go on and get changed." Without further ado, she shooed us out of the kitchen so we could get into our outfits. Stasi sat down on my bed as soon as we entered my room, looking at me interestedly.

"Who's the special guest going to be?"

"If I had known, I would've told you downstairs. It's probably going to be some business owner or investor." I shrugged. I opened my closet, pulling out the maroon oxford shirt and khaki pants. I laid them out on the bed. "Is Josie going to come?"

Stasi shrugged. "She said she was going to try to come to California, but she's always busy because of the work the Royal Family is doing patching up relations in the Coven. Especially after... you know... the incident."

The deep South of the United States was still one of the most racially divided regions after the West Coast, enforced by the law and by the culture. Monsters faced legal and economic disparities from their human counterparts, and faced violent retribution when they attempted to draw attention to their problem. One such attention-drawing event was the Birmingham Incident. The Birmingham Incident was a massive demonstration organized by Monster Rights Activists to take place at the Civil Rights Museum in the city of Birmingham

Although the demonstration was supposed to be nonviolent direct action, bringing attention to the wrongs brought on by the DTOSA, things kicked off after police attempted to arrest a young activist. Demonstrators swarmed the officers attempting to make the arrest, and the demonstration quickly grew violent, until it turned out into an all out riot.

Birmingham was still under curfew and under heavy police presence.

"Is she alright, though?" I asked, taking off my T-Shirt and putting on the button up.

"Oh yeah, she's fine. We facetime each other all the time. Oh, speaking of facetime, she told me to say hi and that the Royal Family still wants to meet you."

Princess Josephine Duquette was quickly becoming a very good friend of mine. I met her at the Coven Ball on Halloween and she was an amazing person. Hard working, charitable, and kind were all very good traits to have.

"Tell her I said 'hi' as well and that I hope to see her again soon."

"You want to see Josie again? I've been replaced, haven't I?" Stasi pouted adorably, sticking out her bottom lip.

"No one can replace you, my little vampire. Now come on, let's get changed." I laughed, stepping out of my sweat pants and chucking them into the corner, never to be seen again. I slipped on my khaki pants, turning to see Stasi watching me intently. I raised an eyebrow.

"What?" She said, defensively. "I can't look at my boyfriend's cute butt anymore?"

"Cute butt?"

"Yes, you have a cute butt. You should've played tight end on the football team." She laughed. "I don't know why but the blood you fed me this morning put me in such a good mood." She hopped off my bed and to her feet gracefully, walking over to her half of the closet. I wasn't sure why she had half of my closet, considering I didn't have half of hers. But relationships were all about sacrifice, right? Stasi continued to peruse through the closet before pulling out a maroon turtleneck and a pair of jeans.

"I didn't know we were going to match." I mused.

"You don't know a lot of things, lyubov." She felt the material of the turtleneck. "I think I'll look ok in this."

"You'll look phenomenal in anything."

She flashed me a toothy grin. "Thanks, lyubov. You don't look so half bad, either." She gave me a kiss before peeling off her tank top and shucking it into the corner where I threw my sweatpants, making my jaw drop. She wasn't wearing a bra, much to my delight. I could spend all my life admiring her body, from her delicious curves, taut stomach, and flawless chest, but that still wouldn't be enough.

"I wonder if I have any Thanksgiving themed lingerie for tonight..." She mused, giggling when she saw my reaction. Stasi was more breathtaking naked than she was clothed, no matter the theme of her lingerie.

Chapter 5:

"Hey, I'm glad you could make it." I greeted, shaking the hand of Ricky's dad as he came through the door with his family. He was as tall as his son, if not taller, topping out at near seven and a half feet. At least, I think he was. I was super bad at reading height.

"I wouldn't have missed this for the world." Mr. Ortega boomed. "Good food and good company. Hello, Anna!"

"Hello, Mr. Ortega." Anna said politely. "Is Ricky here?"

"Ricardo? Yes, he's right behind us. Ricardo, entra aqui, por favor!"

"Coming, dad." He huffed, hefting a pot of carne asada into the house. Well, I say pot, but it more resembled a bucket. Giants were big people with big metabolisms. They needed a lot of food. "What's up amigos? Are Jazz and Lucy here yet?" He asked excitedly.

"Yeah, they're upstairs in the loft with all the other young people. Here, let me take that from you." I held out my hands for the bucket, which Ricky promptly handed off to me. I nearly dropped the entire damn thing because it was so heavy.

"Right, let me just take this into the kitchen." I wheezed, taking the pot away and leaving Stasi to talk to Ricky, and Mr. and Mrs. Ortega.

I liked to think that we played the role of hosts marvelously, despite our shortcomings when it came to welcoming people. Stasi was quite standoffish, somewhat awkward, (some would say rude when it came to the strangers), but I was talkative and a complete chatterbox. I handled most of the talking and Stasi did most of the thinking and put in her input when necessary, steering the conversations to our comfort zones. We were a team.

I don't mean to toot my own horn, but we were also a hit. It seemed that everyone wanted to talk to us and we actually had fantastic conversations with some of the guests.

I carried the pot into the kitchen, weaving past party goers and bopping my head to the music coming from the Bluetooth speakers. I grunted and hefted the pot onto the kitchen counter. "The Ortega's are here... along with the carne asada." I told my mom. She flashed me a thumb's up from behind Yulia, Stephanie, Jazz's mom, Eva, and a few other people. My house was packed. There were a lot of families at my house, both monsters and humans alike. It was as if the DTOSA was... forgotten for the time being.

"Thanks, honey." She said, gratefully. "That looks heavy but oh so delicious. Did you manage to grab a bite to eat, yet?"

I shook my head, a smile on my face. "I'm saving my stomach for the turkey leg." I declared, making the women laugh.

"We know how hard you've been working to make sure everyone's been settling in. I'll make sure we save the leg just for you." Yulia said, warmly. "But please, it's your party. Go grab Anastasia and get a plate of food before everything gets cold and yucky. Better yet, before Ricardo eats it all. Then go upstairs and keep an eye on Elena." She gave a motherly grin, revealing her long fangs.

"Yes, Yulia." I said brightly, dipping out of the kitchen and coming back to the foyer to retrieve the love of my life. She was animatedly talking with Ricky's mom. His dad must've gone into the living room to meet with my dad. Stasi turned when she saw me coming, smiling radiantly at me, her fangs poking out of her mouth. It's times like these where I'm wondering what I must've done to have her in my life. "Hello, Mrs. Ortega." I said, interlocking fingers with Stasi. "What were you guys talking about?"

"We were talking about Ricky and basketball." Stasi replied.

"You mean, you were talking how good he was, right? He's amazing on the court." I gushed, making Mrs. Ortega swell up in pride.

Ricky not only was good at football, but he was fantastic at basketball. He was the Belcourt Minotaurs starting Center. I guess his height and girth had something to do with his success. His ball skills were excellent and he played as if he were a battering ram. His college prospects were cloudy, given his status as a monster, but I had no doubt that some well known college will suck up their pride and recruit him. He was a monster, both figuratively and literally, on the court.

"Thank you, Christopher. I would've thought you would've played basketball your senior year, no? What position were you? Shooting Guard?"

"Yes, shooting guard. I didn't want to play because Belcourt was going to have a hockey team, and I liked hockey much better than basketball." I admitted.

"Yes, I understand, Christopher." Mrs. Ortega patted me on the cheek. "It would've been nice to see the both of you take to the court one last time."

"I know. I'm actually pretty depressed about that." I replied, sadly. Ricky was by my side on the field for four years. Four relentless years where we pursued a championship title to no avail. Even though we had good seasons, the definition of 'champion' eluded us... in all my sports.

Stasi squeezed my hand, pulling me out of my thoughts. Remembering what I came here for, I turned to her. "Stasi, your mom said that we should go grab a plate of food before Ricky eats it all."

"Sure, I'm actually hungry, do you mind, Mrs. Ortega?"

"No, I do not." Mrs. Ortega laughed. "Ricky will end up eating everything in no time so make sure you guys get a plate."

"We'll make sure to try the carne asada." Stasi spouted off, turning me around and leading me back towards the kitchen. As soon as we walked in, we grabbed plates, hoping to intercept all the good food before Ricky could finish talking with Lucy and Jazz upstairs and come down to get his bite to eat. I spooned my plate sky high with carne asada, potatoes, salad, and some deviled eggs, making sure to leave room for the turkey.

Yulia leaned over when she saw us grabbing our food. "Are you and Anna going Black Friday shopping?"

Black Friday was the day following Thanksgiving in the United States. It's regarded as the beginning of the Christmas shopping season in the U.S., and most retailers opened early to offer an exorbitant amount of sales. Although Stasi and I used to go to go buy Christmas gifts, it seemed like a hypocritical idea to go shopping immediately after giving thanks for everything you have.

I shook my head no. "Nyet. I have everything I need right here." I said, gesturing to Stasi. Yulia's grin was as wide as I ever saw it.

"You two are so adorable together." She gushed. "Especially you, Christopher. A perfect match for Anna."

"Spasibo." I said, politely, heading over to Stasi. She just finished spooning gravy onto her mashed potatoes.

"Got everything?" She asked, her plate just as filled with food if not more. We were both massive foodies. We loved to eat.

"Yup. Want to eat here or upstairs with everybody?"

"Let's eat down here. I don't want to get mashed potatoes on the carpet again." Her pale cheeks blushed.

The words 'mashed potatoes' and 'on carpet' were firmly engraved in my mind. The last time that happened, it was when we were way younger, both of us sophomores in High School. Stasi used to be extraordinarily clumsy and somehow managed to trip over a stray cable with a plate full of mashed potatoes. She got an earful from her parents and it took forever for the both of us to scrub out. Stasi had wanted to do it on her own since it was her mess, but as always - we were a team.

"Good choice."

We carried our stuff to the dining room, sitting in our own area.

"Intimate." Stasi remarked.

"Mhm.." I began to cut up my carne asada. "I like it that way, y'know? Just the two of us. Good choice, Stasi."

"As it always has been, lyubov." She declared, pecking me on the cheek. "Although, I do want to see our other friends."

"As do I, we'll come upstairs eventually. Let's just enjoy ourselves here. I don't want another repeat of 'mashed potatoes girl 2K14' again."

Stasi glared at me, baring her fangs. "If you call me that again, I'll fling this plate of mashed potatoes at you."

I raised my hands in surrender. "Ok, relax... mashed potatoes girl." I laughed. Stasi picked up a tiny speck of mashed potatoes and flicked it at my shirt. Thankfully, it didn't have the momentum to go far and simply fell on the table. We continued to eat and converse, enjoying our little private time. Naturally, It wasn't long before the both of our mothers came over with a man in tow. "Christopher, Anastasia, do you remember when Susan said that there was going to be a special guest?"

"Yes, mama." Anna said, looking up.

"This is the special guest I was talking about earlier." My mom declared. "Mike, meet Anna and Chris, the seniors of Belcourt High School."

The man was a human. He was thin and slender, with sharp brown eyes. He looked rather eccentric, with his hair slicked back, and wore a casual outfit, khaki shorts and a blue jacket. A black baseball cap rested on his head. He stuck out an oversized hand.

"Chris, good to meet you at last." He said, grinning. "You too, Anna. I have heard nothing about good things about you two."

"Likewise." Stasi and I replied at the same time. We shook his hands and he stood there, awkwardly, until my mom coughed.

"Right, yes... Mike, do you mind telling Chris and Anna who you are?"

"Yes, certainly. Do you two mind if I sit down?"

"No, please, go ahead." I gestured to the empty seat. He sat down in front of us, looking excited.

"Michael Lee here, is a professor for biochemistry at the University of California, Los Angeles." My mom explained, proudly, making the both of our eyes widen. "He found himself in the city this Thanksgiving on a seminar and we invited him here for dinner."

"Yes, a marvelous dinner, Susan, Yulia, make no mistake! Now, Chris... I may teach biochemistry, but I'm not here for just Anna. I'm here to talk to the both of you. But first, I'd like to talk to you. I owe a favor to a friend that I'd talk to you about football. He sent me in his stead. Now, you weren't good enough to start on the Jefferson High School Football Team and it wasn't until your school was 0-5 did you manage to actually take the field as a quarterback, is that correct?"