OOM: Stopping back home

November 6, 2010

Time moved strangely outside, Chris couldn't quite understand it. Once again, several hours had passed and she arrived back home at 6:30 am. The sky still dark and the house was quiet.

She had come back to get the recipe for stuffing, it was something passed down from her great-grandmother and was a favorite at Thanksgiving. Usually more popular than the turkey. However, after scouring through the cabinets and drawers she realized she didn't have the recipe. The only people who did were Caiti and her uncle Sean.

After sending off an email to Caiti, which she'd probably only see a week later, Chris had set out to her Uncle Sean's house. In her hurry, she had forgotten that it wasn't the weekday but the weekend which meant Sean wouldn't be awake at this hour.

"Dammit," she muttered, putting her head on the steering wheel. I'm really out of it. Rushing around New York, trying not to think about what Angie said...

The sound of someone tapping on her car window interrupted Chris' thoughts and she looked up to see her uncle Sean standing outside the car. He moved back and she opened up the car door to see he was carrying plastic grocery bags. "Hey."

He looked at her, obviously both confused and amused. "Hey! Something wrong?"

"No," she said, leaning on the door. She could tell he had been drinking and hoped he had someone drive him around rather than driving himself. "You went grocery shopping?"

"I gotta make stuffing."

Chris blinked and started wondering what day it was and how much time had passed. No, it can't be Thanksgiving already, I had the radio on and it would have been mentioned it and if I were missing for three walks Sean would have a lot more to say to me...

"Yeah," Sean continued, "I made a bet with Nort'eye last week and he showed up at the bar last night with two turkeys. So we're have Thanksgiving early."

He looked at Chris, now a little more concerned. "So what's up?"

"I came because I needed the recipe for the stuffing."

"Yeah? Well, you're in luck. C'mon, we'll make it," he said before turning and walking towards the house. "I bought enough to make ten pounds of it."

"Uh. All right," Chris muttered, following him. She was worried about arriving back at the bar late but, then again, it might be nice to have a little breathing space.

----------------------------

A few hours later, the kitchen was filled with the scents of a dozen different spices and the sound of the stuffing "browning" in two frying pans.

"Nort'eye's a great guy, got a purple heart in 'Nam. Got a lotta heart," Sean said in between bites of stuffing.

"I can't believe you're still awake."

"Why? Cause I'm drunk or cause I've been up thirtysomething hours?"

Chris laughed. "Maybe both?"

"And I still have to go to the bar after this. Hey, how's that sister of yours?"

She turned the stuffing over with the spatula so it could brown on both sides. "She's all right. I spoke to her a couple days ago. She likes it."

Sean sighed and shook his head. "Halfway around the world, in the middle of nowhere. Can't believe she did that. Y'know, that's your father's influence."

"Really? A lot of people think it was mom's," Chris said, smiling.

"Both. They always wanted to go all over the world, they grew up in the greatest city in the world, why leave?"

"Dad always missed New York."

"Of course!"

Chris started scooping the stuffing into the pan. It was half full now and they only had a little more ways to go before it would be ready. Idly, she wondered what her Uncle Sean would think of Milliways.

"So, what's this about you dating some journalist?"

Oh, for the love of... "Did Caiti tell you that?"

"No, your cousin Gina, she probably heard it from Caiti though." He looks at her an almost serious tone in his voice. "You're not dating a journalist are you? They're such scum."

"I'm not dating a journalist," Chris sighs. "Caiti's imagining things."

I wonder how James is doing.

"Well, then I think Gina has someone she wants to set you up with."

Chris hit the stove with the spatula. "Oh, no! No!"

Sean just laughed and went for the tinfoil to cover the stuffing with. "Yeah, kid, I know. You don't care about getting married do you?"

"Uh," Chris stammered, unprepared for that question. I sorta know I already will be so why bother? "It's not a goal but if it happens, it happens."

Sean wrapped one arm around her shoulders and hugged her close. "Don't get married, Starbuck, you'll just be miserable."

"You've never been married, Uncle Sean."

He smiled. "And look how happy I am! Though there's this girl - sorry, woman at work and oh she loves me. I can tell, women do. I might love her too."

Chris just smiled and emptied the last of the stuffing into the pan. Her uncle had several of these "girlfriends". "What about Katie and Beth, what will they do?"

"Who said I'd stop seeing them?" Sean laughed. "But promise me though if you ever do get married you won't marry no journalist. Though maybe that's a good idea since you'll probably wear the pants in the relationship."

She rolled her eyes, kept quiet and put the tinfoil over the stuffing.

"You should marry someone with a lot of heart, like Nort'eye. But younger," he quickly added.

"Why do you call him Norteye?" She had always wondered that but never asked.

Sean tapped his forehead over his left eye. "His injury. One of his eyes points north. North eye."

"That's nice."