I flailed around, attempting to silence the blaring ringing that had hauled me from dreamland. My hand hit the nightstand and I felt nothing. I poked my head out from the warmth of the blanket and squinted in the sunlight shining in from the blinds.
Right, I thought. Alarm is on his side,
I rolled over slightly. “Lighty, get the…”
The bed was empty save for me. Giving the void next to me a glare, I shifted across and silenced the shrieking clock. Sliding out of the bed, settling my glasses over my eyes and padding my way down the hall of our apartment, I found him in the small second bedroom, hunched over a book and flipping through it’s pages with his feet up on his desk.
I walked up behind him and wrapped my arms around his neck.
“You know,” I whispered in his ear. “I’m ok waking up next to an empty bed on the days you work. Doing it on your vacation, however, can be hazardous to your health.”
He set the book down on his desk and turned the chair around, pulling me down into his lap.
“Ah, but the thing is, did you notice the time on the clock?” Sunlight Shimmer gave me a smirk that might have been equally at home on my face or either of our mothers.
I blinked and realized that he was fully dressed save for shoes. I glanced at the wall clock and gasped as I struggled to get up from his embrace.
“We are going to be late!” I cried, trying to squirm free. “Let me go!”
“We are fine,” Lighty said, releasing me. “Your mom called an hour ago saying that we could take our time. She got called through to help mediate a settlement between Yakyakistan and the Dragonlands. it’d just be us, Rory, and your mom there right now.”
“So you let me sleep in, then,” I finished.
“Someone had to,” he said with a grin, picking his novel back up. “Celestia knows you don’t.”
I shifted slightly in the seat, propping my feet on the dash of the car, adjusting the sleeves of a leather coat that had seen more milage than the sedan we were in.
“And I got to tell you,” my husband continued. “I’m looking forward to this week in Rainbow Falls. If I have to stare at that lab for one more minute, I might scream.”
I turned to look at him. “You scream like Aunt Fluttershy,” I teased.
“It’s still a scream,” he said, sticking his tongue out at me.
“I’m just glad to take a break from teaching,” I said. “Some of this bunch of Unicorns don’t know which end of the horn to use. One actually managed to fry his own coat trying to cast a light spell.”
“Whoa,” Lighty said. “I can at least do that much.”
“You can do more than that, Light,” I said, reaching over and squeezing his thigh. “It just took a bit of practice. Which you’re behind on, by the way.”
“Yes, Professor Sky,” he said with a grin as he eased onto the off ramp for Canterlot City.
“Oh, you two!” Aurora squealed as we came through the door, wrapping my husband in a tight hug. “Happy Thanksgiving!”
I held up the pair of grocery bags I had brought in. “I got the stuffing and berries.”
I heard Mother’s voice call out from the kitchen. “And I got the main course going. Get your butt in here and hug your mother.”
I looked at Lighty. “Well, I got my orders,” I said with a smile.
“Does that include me as well?” he asked.
“It’d better,” Mother called out.
I turned the corner to the kitchen of the old rancher and saw my mother covered in flour and rolling out dough on the counter. I went over and hugged her, nuzzling her on the cheek.
“How was the drive, honey?” she asked as she repeated the actions with Sunlight, the kneading of the dough never stopping as she nuzzled the young man.
“Oh, uneventful as usual,” Lighty said. “Better than our usual commute to tell the truth. Middy only got angry once.”
“It’s called a turn signal,” I muttered under my breath.
“Mom going to make it back before you finish rolling out the dumplings?” Rory asked,
“She’d better if she knows what’s good for her,” Mother said with the impish smile that indicated good-natured jest. “She said it shouldn’t take too long to take care of the border dispute.”
“Anyone else of the family going to be here?” I asked.
The door opened again, the cry of an excited Pinkie preceding her entrance to the kitchen with a large cake box in her grip. “Happy Thanksgiving!” she said, hugging us all in turn.
“Hey,” Aria said as she trailed in. The singer had on a simple tunic and jeans, a similarly dressed Rhapsody, her wavy hair bound up in a high tail, followed behind her.
“There's half the guests,” Mother said.
“Dagi and Sandal pulled in behind us,” Aria said, grabbing Pinkie by the ear and pulling her away from the cake, protecting it from her wife.
The racing footsteps of an eleven-year-old boy sounded on the porch. I turned and crouched, catching my cousin Beach in a hug as he leaped through the door.
“Midnight!” he spoke quickly. “I lost another tooth, look!”
I put my hand over his mouth. “Better be careful, kiddo,” I said. “They might all fall out right here.”
He clamped his hands over his mouth with a look of shock on his face.
“Middy,” Adagio said as she came the rest of the way into the house, her youngest child Concertina against her hip as Sandalwood carried in the case of cider stamped with the Sweet Apple Acres emblem.
I raised my hands. “Hey, I haven’t seen the tyke in a few moons,” I said.
“Your point?” Rory said, taking Concertina from Adagio so the woman could return to the vehicle and grab the rest of their donation to the family dinner.
“She’s an imp,” Sunlight said as he exchanged hugs with the Sirens and a firm handshake with Sandalwood.
“Traitor,” I said to him with a glare as I ruffled Beach’s hair.
Mother was cutting the strip dumplings to drop into the boiling water when Mom got home.
“Anyone loud in the next half hour will be banished to the moon,” she groused as she shucked her coat. “I just spent three hours in the company of Yak Ambassadors with no concept of indoor voices.”
Everyone looked at Pinkie.
“Whaaaat?” she said as she finished plaiting Rhapsody’s hair.
I walked over and hugged Mom. She grinned as she fingered the leather of the jacket I was still wearing.
“Still got this old thing, huh?” she asked.
“Why would I get rid of it?” I responded. “Every good memory of yours helped build some good memories of my own in it.”
She winked at me as I felt Lighty blush a bit behind me. This bond we had was still kind of nascent, but being able to feel emotions from him wasn’t as hard as it was for him to feel mine. He was an open book compared to me.
“You’re not corrupting my daughter, are you?” Mom asked giving the poor man a narrowed stare.
Rory burst out laughing. “Mom, please,” she said as she wiped a tear away, most of us giggling as well. “if anything, Middy is corrupting him.”
Adagio sat back from feeding Tina and began to burp the infant. “Please,” she purred. “None of you know how to properly corrupt another.” Her sister copied her grin.
“If you all are debating corruption,” Mother called from the kitchen. “Could you send my wife in here so us former demons can do a bit of commiserating?”
“Is that what they call it now?” Sandalwood teased as my Mom made her way to the kitchen. A less than polite gesture was thrown his way before she disappeared.
I plopped back down on one of the couches, slipping back into Lighty’s embrace. Aurora looked around, smiling at all the couples gathered here.
“Oh, this is just too sweet,” she cooed.
Rhapsody giggled. “Any chance you’re going to bring someone into this group?” the college freshman asked sweetly.
Aurora screwed up her face in a faux look of dismay. “No, I don’t think I shall,” she dramatically wailed. “I fear that I am doomed to forever be alone, no white knight for me!” My sister then fell backwards into the easy chair she had monopolized.
Mom and Mother chose that moment to enter the living room, a smirk blossoming on the fiery-headed woman.
“Oh, look, honey,” she said, looping her arm across Mother’s waist. “Rarity decided to drop by. I though she was spending the holidays at Fluttershy’s folk’s place this year, though.”
Rory sat up and gave her a suffering look. I had to give it to my sister. Ever since Lighty and I had managed to solve our little inter-dimensional issue, she had become much less fussy though still very fashion forward. Our favorite way of teasing her - by mussing her hair - no longer fazed her, her multi-hued hair very often in tails or braids over the last three years.
“Ha, ha,” she deadpanned. “If I really were Aunt Rarity, I wouldn’t be struggling with Senior Year Juries and have the prospect of still working at CHS cafeteria while trying to get a spot in an orchestra.”
“Tough performance pieces, sis?” I asked.
“Like you wouldn’t believe,” she said. “One of the pieces my advisor chose has more chromatic arpeggiated runs than Flight of the Bumblebee and in a worse key. Another is so syncopated we actually sat down one lesson to make sure all the beats were included.”
“I’m confident you’ll do fine, Rory,” Light said. “You know she’ll tease you mercilessly if you don’t.”
I gave a wolfish grin.
She rolled her eyes. “Your husband’s right,” she said. “You are more impish than ever.”
“Why not go into teaching?” Aria asked. “You’ve got a pleasant enough personality.”
She gave Mother a glance. “You want this one?”
Mother sighed as she leaned back against the wall after a quick glance into the kitchen.
“With a lot of the new legislature, teaching has become pretty political,” the college educator said. “Public school teachers without tenure often don’t even have the ties others have for advancement. And with school boards upping tenure thresholds again, you have to be more or less perfect for six years. No complaints from students, parents, or fellow faculty.”
Aria nodded as comprehension dawned. “Say no more.”
Lighty frowned, as did most of the cousins. Rhapsody breached the topic first.
“I don’t get it,” she said.
“Your cousin doesn’t deal well with, how did you put it to Fancy Pants?” I asked. “It was something like ‘stuffed shirt, self-absorbed, cloak-and-dagger populist idiot.’ Aunt Rarity was fit to die of embarrassment that day.”
A tinge of red colored my sisters face. “He insulted my dress,” she whispered.
Mother nodded. “She’d never make it to tenure, let alone retain a post in most public schools,” she said. “And even though she could get on rather easily at Crystal Prep because of Cadence, she’ll still face the politicking.” A hissing sound from the kitchen sent her into her domain of the holiday.
“Have you talked to Octavia?” Pinkie asked excitedly. “I’m sure she could help you prep for auditions!”
“Or Vinyl, for that matter,” Adagio said as she made a funny face at Concertina. “She might have session work for you at her studio. We’ve all done bit work from time to time.”
She furrowed her brow in thought. “Maybe,” she murmured.
Mother poked her head out and caught my eyes. “Plates,” she said simply.
I patted Light on the knee. “Dinner is close to done,”I said, standing. “Care to help set the table?”
“Sure,” he said, rising and following me into the dining room where Mom was dropping off a basket of biscuits on the table.
“You all know the rules, right?” Mom asked. “Twilight cooked…”
“Raffle for dishes,” came the assembled reply of most of the adults in the dining room.
I held my hand like a gameshow hostess as the voices filtered in.
“Oh, just set the table, Imp,” she said with a laugh. “How do you put up with her, Sunlight?”
“One day at a time,” he said as he pulled some plates from the china cabinet. “With a lot of love and a lot of patience.”
“All right, all right, calm down everyone!” Mom shouted over the commotion of multiple conversations, drawing all eyes to her. “Now I now that we’re enjoying this magnificent feast that my darling wife and friends have made, but there is something that we need to do before we’re stuffed to a point of needing a nap.”
“Too late,” Aria said, poking Pinkie to wake her the rest of the way up.
“And as the hosts, Twi and I will go last,” she continued without pausing. Twenty-three years of family Thanksgivings allowed her to keep her momentum when someone would interrupt. I saw her eyes zero in on me. “How about we start with the youngest couple present?”
“Seriously?” I deadpanned. “I have made no secret about how thankful I am for all of you guys and Lighty especially.” I squeezed my husband’s hand tightly. “Especially him.”
“Well, I’m glad I’m able to take part in this wonderful family’s traditions,” Light said. “Because we beat some long odds getting to where Midnight and I are. I’m thankful for every dinner and visit and that day back on the beach.”
I saw the warm smile spread across Mother’s face as she lifted her wine glass. “Hear, hear,” she said softly.
“I’m glad I’ve got such a wonderful bunch for family,” Rory spoke up. “I love you guys.”
“Even me?” Beach asked.
“Even you, squirt,” my sister laughed.
“I am thankful for all the opportunities I’ve had in life,” Rhapsody said. “And that I managed to get early acceptance to culinary school.”
There was a round of clapping and congratulatory words at the announcement.
“I’m thankful that Tina is finally sleeping through the night,” Adagio said, with emphatic agreement on Sandalwood’s face. “I’d forgotten what that was like for a while there.”
All the mother’s around the table nodded in agreement.
“Middy was the worst about it,” Mom said.
“Mom!”
“It’s the truth,” she said. “You seemed to fight us if we tried to put you down early. It was exhausting.”
“I couldn’t have been that bad,” I groused, crossing my arms.
“You’ll understand when you have your first child,” Mother said with a sly wink.
I glanced at Lighty, both of us flushing furiously at the thought that flickered between us. I didn’t need my folks knowing that we had started talking about it. His folks already knew because he told them everything that he was comfortable with sharing. Which was almost everything.
“i’m sure,” I said, hurriedly raising my glass to my lips, hoping the blush color of the wine would be blamed for the color on my cheeks.
“I’ll tell you what I’m thankful for,” a voice said from the living room, causing us all to look in that direction.
A pair of women walked in, carrying a couple of large bottles.
“Some great friends to share a holiday with,” Princess Twilight finished, her wife Fluttershy leaning against her.
Mom got up and went to hug the pair. “What brings you over?” she asked.
Fluttershy smiled and hugged the red-head in turn. “We always hear such wonderful stories about the times you guys share, we thought we’d stop by this year.”
“But I thought it was a dinner?” Aunt Sparky said, looking at the partially empty platters on the table.
“It’s something of a misnomer,” Mother said, smiling at her counterpart. “Many families have it in the mid afternoon, and we tend to follow that out of tradition and convenience.”
“There’s plenty left,” Mom said, motioning to me and Lighty. “You’re more than welcome to join us.”
I brought one of the spare chairs over as we all shuffled to fit the two additional guests. I looked at them, mentally cataloging the slight differences between Mother and Aunt Sparky, Aunt Fluttershy and Ms. Fluttershy.
“I’ll second her sentiment,” Mother said. “Great friends, loving family, and some relative peace in the time being.”
“You only say that because you don’t have to hold court,” Princess Twilight said with a smile.
“Speak for yourself,” Mom grumbled. “You know I’ve been taking some of your court appointments since you opened the school. You know how I feel about court half the time.”
“I can always ask Starlight to cover the court at times,” Twilight said. “Or cancel it.”
“Let’s not drag work into things,” Mother said firmly, locking eyes with Mom. I felt the faint vibration of their connection, reminding me of the similar one I had with Lighty.
“You win,” Mom said before turning to her fellow princess. “What’d you guys bring to the party?”
Fluttershy held up one of the bottles. “Applejack laid these bottles down the year Meadow was born,” she said. “Figured they had aged enough.”
“Aged Equestrian cider?” Mom said. “That’s going to be a nice treat.”
Adagio turned to Beach before he spoke up. “None for you, you’re too young.”
“Aww,” he pouted.
I have to say that the prospect of Equestrian Ale sounded good to me. I leaned over to Lighty.
“You ok driving home tonight instead of me?”
He looked at me with a smile.
“There’s a bottle back at the house,” he said. “I was going to keep it for Hearth’s Warming.”
“Good going,” I said, leaning over and pecking him on the cheek.
“So, I’m thankful that we all made it here safe and healthy,” I heard Aria say. “And we've got a lot of memories good and bad with each other.”
Mom sat forward. “I’m thankful for so much,” she said, her face taking on a somber look that she rarely wore. “I’ve got a gorgeous wife, two beautiful daughters and a sweetheart of a son-in-law. I have a lot of great friends and all of us have been brought together out of a lot tough circumstances…but we beat them all, and come out stronger and better for it.”
She raised her glass, freshly filled with some rare Equestrian ale. “To family,” she said.
The sound of the repeated response was deafening, and the warm glow stayed with me as I unlocked the door to our apartment that night. As we got ready for bed, I felt Lighty wrap me up in a hug as I tried to button the warm pajama top.
“I’m thankful that I’ve got such a lovely wife,” he whispered in my ear.
I smiled and leaned back, running a hand along his arm.
“You could have said that at dinner,” I said softly, turning in his grasp.
He smiled at me as my arms went around his neck. “I think it’s something a little more personal like this,” he breathed. “More intimate.”
“Well, I like it,” I said, tilting my head back. “Say it again.”
He smiled. “I have such a lovely wife,” he said, kissing me lightly between his words.
“Don’t ever forget it,” I said.
“No chance,” he said, leaning down and kissing me.
