Chapter 54
**Thanks go to Jaime for helping with the guest list, even if she didn’t know she was doing it!**
Elizabeth opened the door and smiled. Lucky was wearing a dress shirt and nice pants, and had his hair slicked back. He looked very sexy. “Hi,” she said simply.
“Hi yourself,” Lucky answered with a grin. Elizabeth was wearing a simple burgundy dress, but she looked gorgeous. “You sure you’re up for this?”
“Why, should I be afraid?” she asked as she got into the car.
Lucky shut the door and fastened his seat belt before turning to her. “Let’s just say there is going to be an interesting combination of people there today.”
“What does that mean? How many people are we talking about? Do I know them?”
He laughed as they drove away from her house. “I’m not sure how many, I lost track. Let’s just say this will probably be the most entertaining Thanksgiving you’ve ever had.”
She looked warily at him. “Why am I suddenly worried?”
Lucky only laughed harder and shook his head. He couldn’t wait to see her reaction when the guests began to show up. A few minutes later they pulled into his driveway and got out. He noticed the look of apprehension on her face and smiled. “Don’t worry, no one’s going to be here for another half hour or so. If things get hairy, I’ll be there to protect you.”
“Okay, now I am worried! I’m going to need protection now? What kind of people are coming here?”
He laughed and pulled her in for a kiss before opening the front door. “Friends of the family.”
“Happy Thanksgiving, Elizabeth!” Laura greeted as they entered. Liz smiled as the scent of roast turkey wafted out of the kitchen. The house was full of the familiar holiday bustle. Laura and Bobbie were setting the tables, which Liz noticed was for quite a large number of people. Luke was sitting on the couch with his cigar, being completely unhelpful. He smiled up at her. “Good to see you, Liz. I hope the Cowboy gave you fair warning, though. This place could get quite heated later.”
“He mentioned something about that.,” she said hesitantly. Luke just laughed. Laura shook her head and motioned for Liz to come join them in the kitchen. She followed, and Lucky joined his father on the couch.
“So, throwing her to the wolves right away, huh?” Luke asked, grinning fiendishly.
Lucky shook his head in amusement. “Come on, Dad, they’re not that bad! At least, not on their own. Now that I think about it, having them all in the same place... Man, what was I thinking, inviting her? She’s probably going to run screaming by the end of the night!”
Luke chuckled and put his arm across his son’s shoulders. “I doubt that. Think of it this way, if she makes it through dinner with some semblance of her sanity, then you’ll know she was meant to be a Spencer!”
Lucky rolled his eyes and flipped on the TV. “Thanks, Dad, that’s real encouraging. Which game is on?” The two men spent the next half hour watching football while the women toiled in the kitchen, keeping up the old traditions, however antiquated they might be.
“So who’s coming today? Lucky kept warning me about all these people that are going to be here, I was starting to wonder if I should be worried!” Liz asked as she helped Laura spoon the mashed potatoes into a bowl. Bobbie and Amy were checking the turkey.
“Oh, just ignore them. They’re making a big deal out of nothing. Granted, our friends are a pretty strange mix, but I don’t think there will be any bloodshed this time,” she answered with a chuckle.
“This time?” Liz asked incredulously, causing the other women to start laughing. “Oh, you were kidding.” She blushed at how gullible she was and went over to get a spoon.
“Seriously, though, you don’t have to be nervous. They’re all wonderful people, and I’m sure they’ll all be on their best behavior today, don’t you think, Bobbie?”
Bobbie shrugged. “I sure hope so. Did you at least warn all of them about the others? I mean, some of them could be in for a surprise if you didn’t!”
Laura laughed. “Well, Luke did most of the inviting, and knowing him, he probably left out that little detail. Maybe we should all be a little worried after all!”
Liz was not feeling any better with the way the conversation had turned. Just as she was about to say something, the doorbell rang. “I’ll get it!” Luke shouted from out in the living room. Lucky appeared in the doorway and motioned for her to join him. She wiped her hands on a towel and walked slowly out of the kitchen, wondering who was there.
Luke flung open the door with a welcoming grin, but frowned as soon as he saw who was on the other side. “Oh, it’s you,” he said, stepping out of the way so Nikolas could enter, then turned to Emily and smiled. “Happy Thanksgiving, Emily.”
“Happy Thanksgiving, Mr. Spencer,” she said, giggling at his reaction to seeing Nikolas.
Luke frowned. “Please, call me Luke. Mr. Spencer is my father.” She giggled again and nodded, following Nikolas back to the kitchen to say hi to Laura. They greeted Lucky and Liz on the way, and just as Luke was heading back to the couch, the doorbell rang again. He turned around and opened it, smiling again.
“Well, howdy there!” he greeted, letting the new batch of guests inside. “Barbara! Your, um, whatever-you-call-him is here!”
Bobbie emerged from the kitchen and glared at Luke before kissing Jerry, then bending down to hug Lucas. “Thanks for watching him while I helped Laura,” she said to him. “Hi Jax, Chloe. How was the honeymoon?”
They both grinned at each other for a moment, still every bit the newlyweds. “Wonderful!” Chloe gushed, wrapping her arm around Jax’s waist.
Luke rolled his eyes. “Great, now we’ve got two mushy couples here today!”
“Two?” Jax asked, wondering who else he could be talking about. He looked around the room and laughed. Lucky and Liz were standing by the kitchen door gazing at each other, completely lost to the rest of the world.
“Hey you two! Snap out of it!” Luke yelled with a laugh. “Come greet our guests.”
They blushed and walked into the room, saying hi to everyone. Liz smiled. So far, no one too scary. Maybe they were all just bluffing, trying to make her nervous. Before she could turn around and head back to the kitchen, the bell rang again.
Noticing that no one else was making a move for the door, Luke went to it, grumbling, “Who do you all think I am, Reginald?”
Chloe laughed. “No, Reginald never answers the door. At least, not according to Edward.”
“Hey, how come you guys aren’t at the Quartermaines?” Lucky asked, putting his arm around Liz. “I thought they were big on family holidays!”
“They are, but they’re not having dinner until later. Monica is on call this afternoon. We promised to stop by later with Emily,” she answered, the end of her statement drowned out by Luke’s hearty greeting over at the door.
“Welcome! Welcome!” Luke said loudly as Mac, Felicia and Tony came inside with Maxie and Georgie.
“Daddy!” Lucas shouted, running to hug Tony.
“Okay, girls why don’t you go play with Lucas and Lulu?” Felicia said, shooing the kids over to the other side of the room where the two kids was been playing. They hurried over, happy to get away from the adults. “Hi, Luke. Thanks for inviting us,” she said, hugging him quickly. Mac and Tony shook his hand and followed him to the couch, where they both sat down with him to try to watch the game.
Lucky and Liz sat in a nearby chair, her in his lap, trying to get him to explain football to her. Jerry and Jax had joined the other men in the living room while Chloe and Felicia went into the kitchen to help Laura and Bobbie put the finishing touches on dinner. Emily and Nikolas were also sitting nearby. She was trying to convince him that he had done the right thing by coming there, that Luke had promised to behave.
The doorbell rang again and Luke grinned, knowing that there were only a few people left. “Cowboy, would you get that? I’m tired of being Reggie.”
Lucky rolled his eyes and helped Liz off his lap so he could get up. She sat back down in the chair, watching him walk to the door, smiling to herself at how good he looked in those pants.
“Happy Thanksgiving!” Lucky said half-enthusiastically as he opened the door.
“Hey Lucky, how come you’re not with the little woman?” Sonny teased, clapping him on the back. Luke had told him all about Liz and the long road the two had taken to finally get together.
“Dad got tired of answering the door. Don’t worry, I don’t plan on being away from her for long,” he answered with a sly smile, hurrying back to her chair as the remainder of the guests filed in. Carly let go of Michael’s hand so he could go over and play with the other kids. Even though he was still young, he loved playing with his cousins Lucas and Lulu, and Maxie and Georgie loved to fuss over him. Jason came up behind her and chuckled.
“It looks like we’ve been replaced as his favorite people,” he said, wrapping his arms around her from behind.
“It’s Thanksgiving. Kids hate being with the adults at things like this,” she answered, leaning back into his embrace.
“Okay, the chili’s here!” Tammy said cheerfully as her and Mike followed them in. She held up a large bowl as she made her way back into the kitchen. Mike headed for the living room to see what was going on with the game.
“I think I’ll go see how the food’s coming,” Sonny said, heading for the kitchen. Football didn’t interest him, and he had just noticed that Mac and Jax were there. He made a mental note to have a word with Luke about that later.
“Chili?” Liz asked, looking at Lucky in surprise. “Since when is that a Thanksgiving dish?”
“Aunt Ruby made it every year, so it became a tradition. I have a feeling Dad told Tammy she couldn’t come unless she brought some with her!” He pushed her off of his lap and stood up, grabbing her hand. “Come on, I want to introduce you.”
She looked at him apprehensively as he led her over to Jason and Carly. She had never met a mobster before, and was nervous now that she knew she’d be sitting at the dinner table with two of them!
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