Thanksgiving Thursday...2019 Part 2 (S11-E2)

Picking up where we left off, Luke and Laura are hosting a small, intimate Thanksgiving dinner this year in their home, but the one thing that has everyone nervous is Rufus.

Everyone gathers round the table to take a seat as food is passed around and plates are filled with the delicious feast that Laura has worked so hard to prepare. 

Rufus forks some food into her mouth slowly chewing the food as she savors the flavor. "Mm...", she says still slowly chewing. "This is good. So tender and juicy."

Laura sweetly smiles from across the table. "I'm glad you like it. It's an old family recipe."

"I should hire you as my personal chef...", Rufus touts and teases. "The one I have in Cali does not make southern food so good like this."

Laura brushes off the comment and continues to make small talk, "That's right you're from Texas." recalling Luke has told her that before about Rufus. She gets bits and pieces from him here and there over the years. But now she is gonna have to really get to know Rufus if they are going to make this new family dynamic work.

Rufus nods and mumbles a yes then turns her attention to Shaun who is sitting to her right. "Hey Shaun...", Rufus says with that wild look of inspiration in her eyes. "We should buy a house here for the band to stay in. That way we can all share it. Like we did in the old days..."

Shaun sighs, "I dunno Ru...That was a long time ago and we all got our own lives to live now."

"So what...We're still a band. I think we should do it." Rufus pushes back not giving up so easily "I think it would be great for us to spend the summer here, write our next Album like we did in the old house in Cali."

Laura groans ever so softly hearing what Rufus has to say on her thoughts of moving here, but Luke can still hear it. "You okay babe?"

"Oh, um yeah...I'm just tired. My back is killing me for one thing", she says as she looks over at him. "And this little one..." with a pat on her belly. "Keeps jabbing in the spine."

"Do you need to go lay down for a bit, it's okay if you do babe." Luke assures her knowing Laura will not want to ditch her guests to go rest, but she is nearly 9 months pregnant now, which means she is so close to giving birth to their third child. 

"He's right.", says Amari. In fact you don't need to worry about the clean up, Cuz...I will take care of all of that. You've worked hard enough today making us all this delicious food to eat.", Amari says to Laura while they all continue to eat.

"Thank you Mari...That would be really wonderful.", replies Laura with a genuine smile. "I am definitely tired." Laura then turns her attention to Ruby who is sitting quietly at the table eating her food. "Ruby, you're so quiet today. Are you enjoying the food?" 

Ruby looks up from her plate of food with a smile, "Yes, but can I go sit at the little table with my brothers?" She asks finding the conversation at the adult table to be very boring.

Laura blinks not used to hearing Ruby refer to her children as her brothers. "Oh um..." she pauses for a moment.

Luke steps in and answers her question, "Sure Ruby...You can go sit with your siblings." he says with a smile.

"Do you need help with your plate?", Laura asks.

Ruby smiles again, happy to leave the big boring table, "No, I got it!" she says with pep in her voice. So Ruby gathers her food and sits at the kids table that Laura setup in the living room not realizing she should have let Ruby sit there from the beginning. 

While one half of the table was distracted by Ruby, hoping she did not drop her food on the way to the other table, Rufus is still debating with Shaun about buying a house. "Fine..." Blurts Rufus. "We'll let Luke settle it...Hey Luke!"

"Yeah." Luke replies as everyone's attention turns towards Rufus.

"You remember the old house in Cali, right?" She winks at him knowing full well he remembers that house. Laura tries to not roll her eyes at the suggestive comment. 

"Why?", Luke says confused and also worried about where she might be going with this.

"I was telling Shaun that we should buy a house here so the band can use it to stay in while we write our next album." she smiles. "Like the old days, remember?"

"Oh!", Luke blurts with some relief. "I don't fucking care if that's what you want to do, then fine..." then Luke turns to look at Laura hoping she is okay with his answer. "Right babe?" The two are still working on their relationship and still going to couples therapy as well.

Laura rubs her belly and yawns, she is exhausted from getting up so early this morning to finish working on the food. "I guess. I mean New Orleans is a great place for music inspiration..." she replies as she turns to look over at Luke, not sure how she wants to respond to this sudden revelation, but knows she would like to keep things as drama free as she can right now. Technically she cannot stop Rufus from choosing to move here even though she would absolutely hate it. 

"See Shaun...Even Laura is not opposed to it. Plus you have family here too." Rufus says as she continues to eat.

"Mari lives in Houston, not here.", Shaun counters as he looks over at Mari hoping she will back him up. Following Luke's lead. "Right Mari?"

Amari turns to look at Rufus, "I don't think it's a bad idea. Y'all been staying in Air B&B homes anyways when on tour so what's difference?"

"Exactly!", says Rufus. "At least someone here gets it..."

Shaun is completely surprised by Amari's reaction, "Seriously Mari? Why?"

"Stop whining Shaun...My mind is made up." Rufus demands then moves on to change the subject. "Everyone! I have an announcement! I figured since this is our first holiday season as a family that we could all go get family photos with Santa!", She says with excitement as she forks her food. "I paid for us to have a whole private session this evening!"

Laura is absolutely shocked by Rufus's grand gesture, she is not used to this though everyone else at the table is. Even Amari who has spent more time with Rufus these past few years when her and Leila come to visit Shaun on tour. "Oh...Wow! That's, that's really nice of you to do, Rufus." 

Rufus smiles, "It's nothing really, but I wanted to contribute to this evenings festivities. A girl can't come empty handed." she adds. "Especially since you made this wonderful meal for all of us." 

Laura smiles again across the table, "It's nothing really. I love cooking for my family." Laura adds already feeling that unspoken passive aggressive tone from Rufus.

"I know...I can see that." Rufus quips. "Not all of us are fortunate to have birthed multiple children to make up an entire family."

"Ru!!!", Shaun scolds her slamming his hands on the table, "C'mon don't be like that! It's thanksgiving for fucks sake!"

"Ignore her...", Luke says to Laura. "She is trying to get you to you."

Laura nods holding back her tongue on Rufus not wanting to feed into her insanity. "I know..." she says softly pushing food around on her plate suddenly not sure if she is hungry anymore. Luke was right about one thing Rufus is good at trying to drag you into her pit of drama and distain.

"I'm not trying to get to anyone." Rufus scoffs. "I'm just stating a fact!"

Laura picks up her fork like she is going to begin to eat again then puts it back down, "You know what I think I'm gonna go lie down for a bit like you suggested." she says looking over at Luke.

"Right now?", Luke says a little caught off guard knowing Laura really hates to have to dismiss herself for being the hostess of her own thanksgiving meal. 

But can you blame her? Rufus is a piece of work and Laura needs a moment. Laura then begins to get up from her seat. Her back is sore and her body is tired. "Yes right now." she says pushing in her chair.

"Um...okay. Babe?", Luke pauses not sure what to say to Laura in front of everyone else. He knows how harsh Rufus can be and just when you think she is not harsh enough she doubles down.

"Luke..." Rufus cuts him off. "She's as big as a house. Let her go rest for now." Rufus blurts reverting to her judgmental, bossy nature instantly. Amari smacks her forehead and mumbles under her breath. "C'mon Mari you know I'm right..." Rufus snubs as she continues to eat like she is the queen making some kind of declaration.

"You can say it more tactfully, Ru...Remember we're guests in this house." Shaun says to her. "Fuck man!" he mumbles out hoping that this the end to the drama today and not the beginning. 

"We're all family here, I'm sure Laura understands. I'm only looking out for her after all we will be busy later with my half of today's family gathering." Rufus admits showing her true colors to everyone in the room. Clearly someone is jealous of the hostess.

Luke gets up following Laura to the stairway. "Babe wait...You want me to come up with you? You need anything?"

"No. I'll be fine." Laura says with a forced smile stopping at the foot of the stairs. "I just need a little break, that's all. You stay down here with our guests. Make sure the boys eat before they're allowed to have dessert."

Later on while everyone has been upstairs in the music room after they all got their fill of thanksgiving feast, Amari has been downstairs cleaning up the kitchen. Shaun comes downstairs to check on her while the others continue to jam to some music upstairs. "Rewarding yourself with another glass of wine?", Shaun teases as he walks into the kitchen.

Amari takes another sip then sets her glass down onto the kitchen island. "I dunno how Laura does it all.", she says with a smirk, knowing her cousin has had a lot to deal with lately then on top of that manages to pull off a delicious home cooked meal for everyone. "How's Leila, is she still having fun?"

"She's fine.", Shaun replies as he walks around the kitchen island. "I came down here to see how you're doin'...I can't believe you sided with Rufus over me..."

Amari nods with a smirk, "Oh yeah?...I can't believe she paid for a private session with Santa. She always gotta be more extra than everybody else." Amari shakes her head in disbelief. 

Shaun smiles back as he meets her around the other side of the island, "Yeah...You need any help?"

"No...I'm worried though she might need a nap before we go see Santa." she admits as she sips her wine again.

"Leila's fine. So should we take pics as a whole family with Santa?", Shaun asks her as he steps in closer.

Amari blinks as she looks up at him from her glass. "Is that what you want?", Amari asks him. 

Shaun nods, "I think it would be a good memory for Leila. Don't you?"

"Hm...It would." Amari agrees. "What about us Shaun?", she asks with curiosity. Lately these two have been finding themselves drawn to each other again, but the moments have been subtle and fleeting.

"I dunno.", Shaun shrugs in admission. "But I do know I want to kiss you right now..." he says as he steps in closer.

Amari drops her wine glass from her lips and holds it between them, "Then kiss me..."

Amari bites into her lip in anticipation as she watches Shaun step in closer. She never stopped being attracted to him and neither did Shaun when it came to his feelings for Amari. However, sometimes people just need to grow up a little to realize what they are missing. Shaun dips his head down to meet hers, his mouth softly covering her wine laced lips in a slow passionate kiss. "Mm." Shaun mutters. "You taste good baby..." Softly licking her lips. Amari giggles maybe having a little too much wine this afternoon, then accidentally spills the remaining contents of her glass onto the front of his trousers.

Shaun jumps back then Amari gasps seeing the red stain right on the fly of his pants. "Oh, shit! I'm so sorry!" She immediately blurts her hand flying up to her mouth trying to hide another giggle.

"Ah fuck! I can't go see Santa with a red stain on my pants!", Shaun panics. 

"You should wash that out before it stains."Amari says to him. Shaun walks off to the small half bath under the stairs that Luke and Laura had installed a few years ago when they remodeled the kitchen.

Amari gets a rag with some dish soap and follows him to the tiny bathroom. She steps inside and Shaun turns around to face her. "It's not coming out!" he says with panic.

"Relax, lemme help.", she says to him holding out the cloth she has in her hand. "Unzip your pants." she says looking down at his crotch. "We need to get the stain from the inside out."

Shaun unzips his fly and lets Amari get to work on the stain. "You sure this is gonna work?"

"It should." she says as she rubs the rag over the stain. Trying to avoid contact with other parts of his body, but not being too successful at it.

"Careful now..." Shaun smirks. "If I didn't know any better I'd think you might've done this on purpose." he teases as their eyes look up to meet each other's gaze.

"What if I did?" Amari teases him back. "You can't prove it."

"I don't have to, baby...I can already see that look in your eye." he says his voice dropping a little deeper as his eyes darken watching her watch him. The unspoken sexual tension has hit its peak. His hand reaches up and cups her backside squeezing gently. "I think I need you right now..." he growls.

Amari immediately drops the rag to the floor upon hearing those words, "I think the stains out." she says as her hand slides inside the fly of his trousers. "I need you right now too." she boldly admits.

(To read the entire unedited story you can find it on my

Patreon Page)

"You make me happy too. I just want us to be sure about what we're doing here. The sex was always good Shaun. I just don't want to get my heart broken again. And what about Leila? We have to put her first..." Amari reminds him knowing that they have to make sure that this time is for real, and not just some misguided fling between the two.

"I know...You're right. We need to be careful and take things slow this time, which means we better clean up, and get upstairs before someone comes looking for us.", Shaun suggests knowing these two still have a lot to figure out.

To be continued!

You can read this month's episode on my Patreon Page...

See Y'all next month! ^_^

Thanksgiving Thursday 2019...(S11-E1)

At Luke and Laura's house the table is set and Thanksgiving dinner is almost ready. Now we just need family and friends to gather...

Shaun and Amari are the first guests to arrive while they wait for two more guests. Luke and Laura decided to have a very, small intimate gathering this year considering all that they have gone through these past months.

Over in the living room Phineas and Leila quietly play allowing the adults to take a break, chat and catch up. The soft sounds of motorcycle engines roaring and horses neighing.

In the kitchen, Laura finishes prepping the turkey while she chats with her cousin Amari. Her and Shaun are a perfect example of how two people can co-parent, and learn to get along for the sake of their child. Laura can only hope that this can be a possibility with Luke and Rufus. "So?..." Amari sighs with hesitation knowing Laura has been through a lot of drama this last year. Amari of course is no stranger to drama, having a child with a rock star has definitely taught her that. "How are things going with you and Luke?"

Laura looks up from her work and smiles. "Good...I'd say. Things are going much better than they were. Of course we're both very anxious for this baby." She gestures at her big round belly, after everything that befell them last spring, the one thing Luke and Laura could not avoid was the fact that Ruby would now be a permanent part of their now growing family and lives, which means Rufus will too. "I just hope we can all get along like you and Shaun have managed." Laura admits while she gets back to work on carving the turkey.

"For your sake, I hope Luke does find a way to make it work with Rufus. You know all this change has stressed Shaun out too?", Amari tells Laura. "He is worried about Rufus. I can see he definitely cares about her and how well she will hold up given their history." Amari pauses and lowers her voice. "Shaun told me some of their fights were insane."

Laura continues to carve the turkey and talk. "Luke will not go into much detail about him and Rufus, but I know it's a part of his life he would like to put behind him." 

"Are y'all still doing the marriage counseling?" Laura nods with a hummed yes. "How's that going?" Amari asks. 

"I think it's helping." Laura says with confidence. "Of course he still complains I'm not wanting to be intimate as much as he'd like." Laura rolls her eyes. "But I'm fat and bursting here, ya know?" 

Amari gestures with her hand, "Girl...say no more. I totally get it. That last month with Leila was rough."

Laura nods and says. "I'm so ready to have this baby already...I think I'm definitely done after this one." 

"Well, you definitely better figure that out before you let Luke have his way or you gonna end up with another bun in the oven." Amari jokes.

"Oh I have! I told him that he's getting a vasectomy after this baby is born.", Laura says as she moves the carved turkey slices to a serving dish. "I brought it up at our last appointment, and thankfully he agreed with me on that." Laura divulges. "Help me get these bowls to the table it's almost time to eat."

Right before Shaun and Amari showed up, Luke took Phoenix upstairs to break up the little tiff he was having with his brother Phineas. While the two decompress upstairs, Luke guides Phoenix through practicing a few chords on his little guitar. "Good. Just like that." Luke instructs as he helps Phoenix hold the chords with his small fingers. "Now strum the guitar with your other hand."

Phoenix follows his father's instruction and rakes his hand over the strings as it gently sends a tune out into the void between them. "I did it!" Phoenix squeaks in delight.

Luke smiles the pure joy on Phoenix's face makes him so happy to be a father. "Good job little man! Now see if you can do it without my help." Luke adds. "Just remember to hold your left hand like this." Luke says showing him one last time.

"Okay, okay! Lemme try!", Phoenix says with excitement as he pushes Luke's hand away. He loves to sit up here in this space and learn to play guitar. Laura has suggested to let Phoenix take lessons, but Luke and Phoenix enjoy these moments together. Before Phoenix can get his fingers placed his attention is diverted to the door. "Uncle Shaun!" he shouts beaming with excitement.

"Hey little man!", Shaun says with a smile as he steps into the room. "Looks like all the fun stuff is happening up here, huh?"

Luke spins in his chair, "I didn't even hear you come up." surprised to see Shaun.

"Going deaf already old man?", Shaun teases. "I made a pit stop at the bathroom that's probably why."

"Oh, well I'm glad you could make it.", Luke says to him. 

"And miss this shit show?", Shaun jokes. "But seriously, I do hope we all survive this meal."

"Fuck. I'm not looking forward to this, but we need to get along somehow.", Luke admits. "Enabling her delusion is what I'm worried about."

Shaun nods, "I know we all are, but I think you're doing the right thing man. Ruby needs you in her life and hopefully Rufus can manage herself through all of this." Shaun says with sincerity. He knows how much pain and drama Luke went through with Rufus he was there for it all. 

"Uncle Shaun! Look!, Phoenix shouts as he places his fingers on the chords and strums the tune Luke just showed him.

"Hey! You did that? Wow!", Shaun replies. "You know what? We could start a band with Leila on vocals and you on guitar. That'd something! Wouldn't it Luke?"

Luke smiles, "Yeah that'd be something alright. Show Shaun the other chord I taught you."

Phoenix gets his fingers into place struggling to get them to go just where they need to as Luke and Shaun watch. "Okay...You almost got it.". Shaun shows him. "Like this..." as he holds up his fingers in the same pattern.

Then in an instant Phoenix strums the guitar again and the room celebrates the achievement. "Good job!" Luke says with a smile. "Just keep practicing those till your fingers are sore."

While the men upstairs are bonding over their love of the guitar. Downstairs on the front steps of Luke and Laura's house Rufus and Ruby have arrived for Thanksgiving dinner. This is the first time the entire new family has gathered together since Luke signed the paternity papers. Recently most meet ups have been in public, since that was what Rufus wanted for her fans to see. This of course put more strain on Luke and Laura's tender relationship, but today they're gonna try and make it work without the outside world looking in.

As Rufus walks in a hurry to the door not wanting to be seen by anyone, Ruby stops her. "Momma?"

Rufus turns to look at her, "What is it?"

"Are you and Daddy getting married like they said online?", Ruby asks.

"Where did you see that?", Rufus asks taken off guard by Ruby's question. Rufus knows that her and Luke will never be together again, but the pain of realizing it never ceases to hit her hard every time she thinks about it.

"Someone at school showed me a picture of you and Daddy and how happy you looked. They said when people are happy like that, they get married.", Ruby explained to her.

"Ruby you cannot believe everything you read online...Now let's get inside.", she snaps. 

Amari answers the door and Ruby dashes inside to greet her new little brother Phineas. "Fin!", she shouts as she wraps her arms around him. She is excited about having siblings in her life.

After finishing up in the kitchen Laura walks into the living room area to greet Rufus and Ruby."Welcome!", she says with a smile. "I'm glad you two could make it." Laura knows the best thing to do right now is work her southern charm today and hope that helps keep the peace between her and Rufus.

Meanwhile back upstairs the men continue to bond, "See? My fingers have callouses on them now from all the years of playing guitar." Shaun explains to him holding his hand up.

"Yuck!", Phoenix cringes and crinkles his nose in disgust not liking the thought of having to endure pain to learn how to play guitar.

Luke smiles and laughs, "Hard work comes at a cost, but believe me it's worth it"

"Your dad is right." Shaun says with a smile as he looks at Phoenix. 

Then in an instant Shaun and Luke hear a familiar voice travel up the stairway "OH MY FUCKING GAWD! You look like you're about to pop!"

"Shit! Rufus is here..." as Luke's head whips around to look towards the door. "We better get down there."

"Right behind you..." Shaun replies knowing this may very well be a long evening or short evening depending how long Rufus can keep it together.

To Be Continued...