140:Let Us Give Thanks

The table was beautiful.

A stunning cornucopia sat center stage, complementing the bounty of serving dishes and food that could have been featured in a Norman Rockwell picture.  Color abounded in the butternut squash, Brussels sprouts, corn, cranberries, green salad, turkey and stuffing.  Glasses of red wine added a rich burgundy hue to the setting, and the colorful personalities around the table completed the vibrant setting.

With all the kids but Lucas eating in the kitchen, the young adults in the living room and the adults talking animatedly while filling their plates, Charlie should have been “happier ‘n a dog in dirt”.  No doubt, she would’ve been if there wasn’t one empty chair at her dad’s end of the table.

“Chiara,” Jon scolded quietly in her right ear from beside his dad.  The two patriarchs were respectfully stationed at either end of the table as heads of the family.  “I told you… If she doesn’t call by the time dinner’s over, we’ll drive into the city to look for her.  Now enjoy the moment.  Please.”

Compressing her lips, she nodded and accepted the platter of roasted butternut squash that was Anna’s specialty.  He’d already pointed out that Millie wasn’t enthusiastic about accepting their invitation in the first place.  The independent woman hadn’t accepted anything from them beyond a cup of coffee and a pastry, so it wasn’t all that surprising that she didn’t show.   He also speculated that, since she had both of their phone numbers, she’d eventually call one of them to extend her excuses. 

Charlie just had to be patient, and she found herself sympathizing with Jon’s lack of it for the first time. 

“You know what might be fun?”  Lilah’s hypothetical question came from across the table and Charlie determinedly focused her attention on Jon’s sister-in-law.  “If we all went around and said somethin’ we’re thankful for.”

“Oh, God.”

Jon’s quiet bemoaning didn’t faze Lilah in the least.  She directed a radiant smile at him over two-year-old Lucas’s head and nodded approvingly.  “Good start.  Thank ya, Jon.”

 

His snort was overridden by Charlie’s laughter and Mr. Bongiovi’s dry, “We can always count on you to keep things interesting, Lilah.”

“Aww, Papa B….  That’s sayin’ a lot in the company of your boys.  Now what are you thankful for?”

“Health and family.”

With Lucas plucking at the turkey’s eyes on her dress, Lilah smiled and nodded approvingly.  “Who’s next?  And I know it would be easy to repeat the same thing over and over since those are the two biggest blessin’s, but let’s try and be creative.  Jersey, how ‘bout you?”

Rolling his eyes but fully indulgent of the wife whose elbow found a spot between his fifth and sixth ribs, Tony smothered a sigh.  “Unconditional love.”

All the men at the table laughed and, honestly, most of the women.  Lilah’s mouth twitched amusedly while huffing with indignation, but she didn’t berate him.  “And I’m thankful for Fate.  It brought me an amazin’ husband and two gorgeous children.  I only wish Andrew coulda been here.”

Charlie smiled into eyes that were a little glassy as the proud mama dropped a kiss onto Lucas’s head.  “Who’s Andrew?”

“Oh, Lord!  I haven’t told you about Andrew?  Talk about bein’ a lousy mother…”  She popped a bite of mashed potatoes into her little boy’s mouth and explained, “Andrew’s my oldest child.  He’s twenty-one and goin’ to Berklee College of Music but also has a band that tours when school’s on break.  Today, I think he’s in Wilmington, North Carolina.” 

This time, there was no mistaking the sheen of tears in Lilah’s eyes.  “He’ll be home for Christmas, won’t he?”

“Christmas eve and day,” came the sniffling confirmation.  “I can’t wait.  I haven’t seen him since his birthday in July.”

Charlie turned to Jon.  “Are you helping him with the band?”

“Oh, Lord, no!  And please don’t mention it again.”  Lilah snorted loudly as some of the Bongiovis laughed.  “Jon and I nearly came to blows over that particular subject.  Richie used to put his hand in now and again, but Andrew and his friends are very self-sufficient.”

Flicking her eyes back and forth between the two of them, Charlie stated, “I’m going to need more of the story than that.  Jon?”

Putting down the wineglass that Lilah had driven him to gulp from, he swallowed the fermented beverage along with a sigh.  “I might’ve suggested that her only interest in Tony was getting to me so that I’d pimp Drew’s band.  I didn’t know her very well and she showed up like some damn psycho stalker out of the blue.  What was I supposed to think?”

“Can we not do this again?” Tony’s groan was quickly seconded by Matt.  “We’ve been through it a dozen times.  Tell Charlie about it later and let’s get on with the Thanksgiving stuff, for God’s sake.”

This sounded way too interesting to Charlie, but she was willing to pass the cranberries to Jon with a stern, “I’m holding you to that.”

His mouth pulled down at both corners but he accepted the serving dish with nothing more than a nod as Lilah prodded the next family member to be thankful, and that happened to be Luke.  He sat at Lilah's right side because she’d practically forced him to do so, saying that on this day of observing blessings, she would add another to her list by sitting between the two most handsome men in the room. 

“I’m thankful for blind dates.”

Charlie grinned while pushing a fork under the serving of stuffing on her plate.  Luke and Lucy were still getting along really well, and it was good to see her brother in a relationship again.  She bumped Jon with her knee, prompting him to loudly announce, “You’re welcome.”

Vince was thankful for grandbabies, even though his kids were with their in-laws today, along with baby Gracie.  Anna chose “new experiences”, which was politely vague, but Vivi was tacky enough to thank God for a peek of the inside of Jon’s house.  The dark glare her husband cut her was met with wide eyes and a defensive hand thrown in the air as though God himself had forced the revelation from her. 

Dominick – because he was a chef – was grateful for good food, and Matt followed up by lifting his glass and praising good wine.  Desiree expressed her thanks for good friends, while Mrs. Bongiovi gave appreciation for this day and any other that she was surrounded by her sons, the women who loved them and their progeny.

“That was just a fancy way of sayin’ ‘family’, Mama B,” Lilah scolded with a wink at her mother-in-law.  “But you were creative, so I’ll let it slide this time.  What about you Mr. Del Vecchio?”

Edward put down his fork and focused on his plate before looking down the table.  “You can always tell when you’re getting old, because the little things become the most important ones.  I can’t find anything more beautiful to me in this moment than Charlie’s smile, knowing that she’s truly happy.  That’s what I’m thankful for – at least until they announce the wedding date.”

She almost got misty-eyed until her dad got to that last part.  He’d been told there wouldn’t be a wedding, but he continued to remain optimistic, saying that it would happen in good time.  Charlie was forced to chastise, “Daddy…”

Jon halted the rest of her admonishment with a heavy hand on her thigh.  “Not today,” he requested under his breath.  “Don’t argue it today.”

It was understandable that he wanted harmony at his table on Thanksgiving, and Charlie would give it to him.  She nodded and placed her hand atop his to squeeze, murmuring, “Okay.”

“Now, what are you thankful for?”

This was said loud enough for everyone to hear and his beautiful smile coaxed up the corners of her mouth. 

The short answer was “him”.  Without him, she’d be exactly where she was last Thanksgiving – treading water and marking time until she could reclaim her life.  Now she had it, and damn if it wasn’t worth every bit of angst and bullying Charlie endured to get here – with both of their families together under one roof, celebrating the holiday and one another.

It wasn’t possible to convey the depth of that gratitude, and she blinked wetly into Jon’s eyes while choosing words that would suffice.

“I’m thankful for the sunrise that ends a long, dark night.  For new days filled with promise and hope.  I’m thankful for stubborn white knights who are honorable above all else, and I’m just… thankful.”

The hand beneath hers flipped over to squeeze it as he used the other one to lift his wineglass and tilt it in a silent toast.

“Dang, girl.”  Lilah’s exclamation drew Charlie’s attention from the man whose brilliant blue eyes radiated love.  “I said ‘one’ thing.  You didn’t need to compose a sonnet!”

She beamed unconcernedly across the table.  “What can I say?  I have a lot to be thankful for this year.”

“That you do,” the feisty woman agreed with a twinkle before turning her attention to Jon.  “And last but not least… my infamous brother-in-law and our gracious host.  You’ve got so much to appreciate that this might take the rest of the day.”

For once, he didn’t bristle or give Lilah any version of his patented stink-eye.  He merely gave an agreeable dip of the chin.  “I do have a lot, but since everybody’s covered all versions of family, and I’ve told most of you individually how happy I am to have you at my table today, I’ll stick with the latest and greatest.”

The hand that was still curled around Charlie’s squeezed again, but his attention was focused on the rest of the table when announcing, “I’m thankful for a beautiful and shrewed lawyer who found the missing link that allows me something else to be thankful for – my new recording contract.  I signed the deal yesterday.”

After gasping, Charlie confronted with him wide eyes, accusing, “You didn’t tell me that!”

She was absolutely elated, but he was giving her too much credit.  All she’d done was suggest a slight change in verbiage and mentioned that he might be able to meet them in the middle on one of their demands while expanding the points that weren’t under contention.  She thought everyone would feel like they were getting more that way, and it evidently worked.

“I wanted to surprise you.”  His hand slipped free to tuck under her chin, lifting her lips to his for a quick kiss.  “Thank you.”

“Man, that’s awesome!” Matt cheered with a lift of his glass.  “Who’d you go with?”

“Island.  I can still say I’ve only had one label.”

“Loyalty is good,” was his father’s sage proclamation as he nodded with approval.  Pride shone in Mr. Bongiovi’s eyes.  In her limited exposure to Jon’s parents, it was easy to see that they were proud of him and his brothers. 

Charlie could relate – kind of.  Pride wasn’t appropriate in her case, since this was the Jon she’d known from the beginning.  He simply was determined and successful.  She was somewhat in awe of him for that very same reason, however.  Slugging through obstacles one at a time until finally arriving at his destination made him a man to admire.

“I’m happy for you, sweetheart.”

His lips parted to say something at the same time his phone rang, and Charlie immediately regressed from gratitude back to anxiety.  “Is it Millie?”

“Let me get the damn thing out of my pocket and I’ll find out,” he grumbled benignly before inspecting the screen.  “I don’t know the number.  Maybe.  Hello?...... Speaking.  Who is this?”

Alert blue eyes cut in Charlie’s direction and held while he listened, their brilliance dimming the longer the silence lingered.  The severity of his frown had the hair on her arms standing at attention as she sent up a silent prayer that everything was okay.

In hear heart, though…  She knew it wasn’t.