RILEY

I tried to hide it, but I was a nervous wreck. Concerned about every detail. Watching the clock tick minute by minute. Would everything be ready on time? What could go wrong? Jesus! What if everybody hated the food? I leaned back against the stainless steel cooler door with a groan.

"Hey Chef," Andy leaned beside me, crossed his ankles comfortably and tilted my hat with a playful poke. I glared at him, knowing that now I looked like the Tin Man, my stove pipe all askew. Pushing the hat straight I groaned again, looked at my watch, the wall clock.

He leaned close to my ear and I braced for bad news. The oven wasn't on, we forgot to stuff one of the turkeys, we didn't make enough gravy. I leaned closer. "What?" I whispered.

"Gotta tell ya, love. You do one fuckin' bonzer job in the kitchen. I like workin' with ya."

I blinked. Heh? "And?"

"And," he pecked a sweet kiss on my cheek. "Glad I took the job. Even if it is in Vermont."

"And?" I was still waiting for the bad news.

"And we're ready, Chef. Showtime."

Taking a deep breath, I smiled up at him, grabbed his face and planted one terrific kiss on my souse chef's pretty lips. "Let's do it!"

As we carried various platters out to the table, John strolled around the bend. "Need help?"

"Yeah, mate," Andy led him into the kitchen. "Pick one."

John eyed the three huge platters, each with a beautifully garnished golden turkey. "Jesus, Riles!" Look at these things." He walked around the worktable, admiring the sugar frosted grapes, hollowed oranges filled with fresh cranberry sauce and the fresh herbs around the birds.

"They okay?"

"They're gorgeous!" He carefully lifted one as I reached for another. "I'll come back for it, baby. Don't lift that."

"Mate," Andy said as he heaved the third to his shoulder. "She's been lifting these things all fuckin' day. She can do it. Trust me."

John eyed me suspiciously as I lifted the turkey, setting it perfectly at my shoulder just like Andy had. He shrugged and perched his bird on his own shoulder. "Lead the way, Chef."

When we walked out single file, the Family had assembled around the table, sitting in their seats and chattering away. Isobel lit the candles and I instructed Andy to place his in front of Jack, and John to set his in the center of the table. I walked to the far end and lowered the platter toward the space in front of Max.

"Oh!" I almost dropped the damn thing. Max's hand had crawled up my skirt. As I set the turkey carefully, that hot hand caressed the inside of my knee. I gave him a sort of glare-slash-smile then stepped safely away, heading to my chair.

"Um," I said to the silent crowd. "That one has cornbread stuffing. The one in the center is traditional stuffing. And the third one," one more glare at Max, "is stuffed with dried fruit, chestnuts and pecans. Ah . . . bon appetite." I thumped into my chair with a sigh just as the applause began. There were actually tears in my eyes as I scanned my Family, their smiles, felt their love. "Eat," I said, hiding my embarrassment.

Cort stood and said the perfect prayer as John pulled my goofy chef hat off with a warm smile. "Proud of you, baby," he whispered after the amens.

SOPHIE & ROCKY

We aren't as stupid as humans think, you know. Of course, when mom called me to the kitchen with that sweet "Sophie, darling!", patting my head and filling my bowl with Kibbles and Bits, loading another bowl for Rocky, we went for it. But it was just a show. No way we were about to miss the real feast. We waited 'till the kitchen was quiet and I turned to Rocky.

"Let's go, doll," he said, pushing the swinging door opened and holding it with his cute butt for me. He is a gentleman, I'll give him that much. Far too energetic for my taste, but pretty damn smart. Not too bad looking either. Terrier. Black and white, no confusion there. I have no idea what the hell mom and dad are talking about when they describe my tan coat. What the hell is that anyway? Color? At least Rocky was colors I can identify. Pretty sharp canine. I winked at him as I passed, shaking my behind along the way.

We skittered under Uncle Bud's chair and into the expanse under the table. I reclined comfortably in the center. Looked up. "Nice table."

"Yeah, yeah, lots of room. Can see the entire field here. Oh, here we go." Rocky scooted toward the far corner, sniffed a dropped roll and carried it to me. "Not bad, not bad, try it."

"Nah, saving my appetite for the main course. What is it?"

"Mmm, turkey. Turkey. Thanksgiving turkey with stuffing. This is your first Thanksgiving, isn't it doll? You are in for a treat, my dear. Turkey and stuffing and potatoes and all kinds of goodies. We are eating well tonight, that's for sure -"

"Hey, Rocky? Did you say turkey?" Sometimes it's hard to follow him. He talks so damn fast.

"Yeah. Turkey. Delicious. You'll love it!"

He scooted around me for another dropped morsel. Came back chewing. "Yuk, cranberry sauce. Jesus, Soph, avoid that at all costs! Nowhere near as good as the jelly kind. This stuff is chunky." He actually looked like he was going to gag there for a minute, but it was my chance to get a word in edgewise.

"Turkey! Rocky, don't you know about turkey?"

He sat close, leaned his ear perked. "What about turkey?"

"Well," I yawned. "Back when I was being newspaper trained, I read this very interesting article about turkey. Seems there's something in it that makes humans lethargic."

"Tryptophan, but it may not affect the canine in quite the same way. In fact, theory has it that canine blood chemistry identifies and processes several . . . what?"

I glared at him. "Theory? And what if it does? I mean, Rocky. I'm a Bulldog. You know how slow and lazy we are! If I get any more lethargic they're liable to think I'm dead! Bury me alive! Jesus. Not taking the risk. I like my parents." I glanced around until I identified dad and mom's shoes. "Look at them. Aren't they sweet together?"

Rocky was looking at his own parents. "Yeah, they are the cat's meow, aren't they?" He leapt and jogged toward Aunt Darcy. She was scratching her knee but I suppose Rocky thought she was offering him a taste of the luscious food above. I must admit, the smell was intoxicating. I rolled onto my back, sighed.

"Bud!" I rolled over as Rocky backed up with a jump.

I heard Uncle Bud's rumbling voice. "What?" Then the tablecloth lifted and I saw his twinkling eyes. Man, I love Uncle Bud. I stood, wagged my butt. Wished that I had a long tail like Rocky. Just for effect, you know. But he smiled at me with a chuckle, after scanning all the knees under the table, focusing on that one guy without a scent first for a long glare. No scent. Freaky. I'd stay away from him, that's for sure.

The fabric dropped. "Just the pooches, Darce," he laughed.

I made my rounds, careful to only nibble what I was sure wasn't turkey then reclined like a Roman goddess in the center of the space. Rocky plopped down beside me, licking his chops, his head down on his cute paws. Well, maybe he wasn't as cute as I thought at first. I wriggled a few inches away.

Damn, he snuggled closer. "Umm, that stuffing was wonderful!" he sighed.

I glared at him and shimmied further away. Watching feet shuffle, listening to the wonderful voices of family above. Rocky started to snore. Right. Some theory, heh? He seemed to be feeling the effects of that tryptophan. I snorted.

With a sigh I gazed around. Stood, took a trek around close to the knees and watched. Something was strange here. I thumped Rocky's head with my paw. "Hey genius."

"Huh," he yawned, his long tongue curling. "What?" Then he blinked and looked at me. Did he wink at me?

"Take a look at this."

"What?" His head spun, taking in the knees and laps, hands and feet all around us.

I sat with a grunt. Snorted. "Observe, Rocky. If tryptophan makes human's lethargic, what's up with that?"

"Oh my." He stood and walked around the knees. "Very interesting."

"Those guys look more like over-excited that lethargic, if you ask me." I rolled my eyes. Not one man's pants were flat, every one of them tented big enough for me to fit inside.

We both leapt to our feet, surprised at what we were seeing when several of the female's hands slapped at the men's. "Have you ever seen anything like that before, Rocky?"

"Nope," he sat, his butt against mine. "Very curious."

I wriggled away. "And what's up with you, buster?"

His eyebrows bobbed and I swear, he was smiling a wicked grin.

"Oh puleeeaaase!" I groaned. "Can you imagine what our children would look like?" I went and sat near dad's feet, glaring at Rocky.