A Paduan Thanksgiving

by Merry Amelie

Title: A Paduan Thanksgiving
Author: Merry Amelie
Archive: MA only
Category: Alternate Reality, Angst, Qui/Obi, Romance, Series
Rating: PG
Summary: No Mastersons at the table

I'm posting Arcadia and Q/O drabbles to TPM 100: http://community.livejournal.com/tpm100/

Series: Academic Arcadia -- # 89
A chronological list of the series with the URLs can be found under the header 'Academic Arcadia' at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/master-apprentice/files/

My MA story page: http://www.masterapprentice.org/cgi-bin/qs.cgi?keyword=Merry+Amelie

Feedback: Is treasured at MerryAmelie@aol.com
Disclaimer: Mr. Lucas owns everything Star Wars. I'm not making any money.

For
My beta team: Nerowill, Emila-Wan, and Carol
Mali Wane for posting
My former betas: Alex and Ula

A heartsick Ian looked up from his essays when Quinn got off the phone with the telemarketer. Not the call they'd been hoping for. The Mastersons hadn't phoned in weeks, and Thanksgiving was just a day away.

Ian stood up to hug him, Quinn's Aran pullover soft under his bare forearms. He kissed a particularly tasty spot beside Quinn's right ear, all the while hoping that he and his family would be enough to put a smile on his husband's face this holiday season.

Though he was glad they'd be together for Thanksgiving this year, he would have preferred Quinn to be welcome in his childhood home.

"No worries. Your dad will come around." Ian nuzzled the spot he'd kissed, lavishing attention on it. "He loves you." He could feel Quinn relax into him. "I love you."

Quinn squeezed him tight. "That's all that matters to me, lad."

"Me, too, but I know how hard it is. You don't have to pretend for me." Ian petted the chestnut hair so soft beneath his fingertips.

"Ah, laddie, it's tough to be cut off from them, but it's worth it." Quinn kissed him tenderly. "If they can't accept us, there's nothing we can do. We're better off focusing on those who have."

Ian tried to concentrate on forgiveness, but couldn't dampen the flare of resentment within himself. Quinn was a wonderful son, by any measure. A call from his parents, and he was on the way to them, frequently postponing his own plans.

To have his exemplary devotion repaid by this chilly silence was the height of injustice. But Ian did not allow his disappointment in John to color his words. "Everyone's delighted you'll be with us this year."

"So am I." Quinn's kiss left no doubt of his sincerity.

Ian forced a lightness he did not feel. "Lelia helped with a second batch of cookies just for you."

"Now how could I resist that?" Quinn nuzzled his cheek. "At least we'll be together this time, lad."

Last year, though married less than eight weeks, they'd had to separate for the two family parties, a timely reminder of their limitations, despite their new status.

The men arrived in Padua early on Thursday afternoon. They brought the meal with them, which had spared Jo and Kathy days of effort. Ian's quip about a movable feast drew the expected groans, and an unexpected grin from Quinn. Well worth it, then. Keith and Monty helped them unload innumerable packages from a favorite local restaurant.

Hugs and kisses all around, with Quinn getting a bit more than his share, Ian noted approvingly. His clan was a demonstrative bunch; nothing like a welcome from them to feel surrounded by love.

The men got to work foraging for extra chairs, while the women checked on their pies. This year, the table leaf turned out to be exactly where Quinn had last seen it -- acting as an impromptu shelf for Jo's overflow of books near the washing machine.

At the sultry look in Ian's eye, he ignored it for now, in favor of agitating his lad as he'd done in years past. His lean thigh slid home between Ian's own, and rubbed up against the real feast of the evening. Ian gasped, and clung to him like a honeysuckle vine. And indeed, Ian began to suckle his chin until they were swaying on their feet. An agitated Ian had Quinn salivating before they reached the table. Quinn feasted upon his lips, careless of the meal to come. He happened to know that the cider was already upstairs, having carried it himself, so there was no hurry to their kisses.

"Why would I want to be anywhere else, lad?" Quinn kissed his way across a stubbled chin.

Ian groaned his agreement, pressing more firmly against his husband.

A creak of the floorboards overhead broke their spell, and they rubbed noses for a long moment. With a final brush of teasing knee, Quinn let Ian go, and they each picked up one end of the leaf. After fitting it into the oaken grooves, they were shooed outside by Kathy to rake leaves with Monty and Keith, while the women spooned savories into waiting china.

A bit of raking fired up their appetites, and the dinner bell was just what they wanted to hear. Leaving their rakes on the stoop, the men trooped in for the feast.

Quinn and Ian made straight for their usual seats to Keith's right, and bowed their heads in silent thanks with the rest of the family. Only Lelia's giggles broke the silence, until Kathy shushed her with a smile, and the little girl quieted down.

The fire was at their backs, warming them as they gazed at the holiday table. Candlelight gleamed off Jo's heirloom china, bringing them back to Christiana Campbell's Inn at Williamsburg. The hush became part of them.

Keith carved the turkey, putting white meat on a platter for Jo, Ian, and himself first, then slicing dark meat for the rest.

When Quinn took a mere foothill of cornbread stuffing, Jo urged, "Go for it. There's more in the kitchen," and smiled as he did just that.

"Who's up for dominos after dinner?" Monty blended cranberry sauce with his mashed sweet potatoes. At his brothers' nods, he said, "Dibs on Quinn."

"Oh, ho!" Ian grinned like a hungry cub. "Competitive, are we?" He turned to Kathy. "How 'bout it, Sis? Think we can take 'em?"

Kathy winked at him. "We did last Saturday. Let's do it again."

Teams decided, they settled into the feast. Jo passed around a second plate of biscuits Keith had just gotten from the oven. Quinn went for more dark meat with gravy, mixing it into his butternut squash, while Ian had the green beans amandine. Finally, they pushed away their plates, unable to eat another bite. The others had long since thrown in the fork. The cookies and pies would have to wait for midnight snacks.

Quinn got up to take snapshots with the digital camera Ian had given him two Christmases ago. Then Kathy took the camera, waving Quinn into the picture. Ian beamed at her; thanks to Kathy, he had a trove of 'couple shots' with the family.

The men cleared the plates before Jo even thought of rising, then took them to the kitchen. Quinn rinsed the gravy off and Ian put them in the dishwasher, stealing a kiss or two along the way.

When they returned to the living room, Mary Poppins had come in on the east wind. Lelia snuggled into Jo's lap as they watched the movie with Keith, while the domino tournament began apace, with Ian across from Kathy, and Quinn facing Monty over the card table.

Monty chortled as he slapped down the double-six tile to start the game. He had two more sixes to support his opening.

Quinn couldn't help smiling at Monty's enthusiasm, one of the few traits he shared with Ian.

The tiles fell fast and furious after that as the game heated up in a blur of black dots. Quinn was also strong in sixes, so their edge turned out to be insurmountable.

Monty crowed, "Thirty-five points!" and wrote it on the scorecard.

Kathy started the next round with a four-five piece, the usual sign she had no doubles. Since it was always easier to discard singles, she and Ian had the advantage from the get-go. He had four tiles to help her, and they won that round with twenty-three points.

Kathy couldn't resist a chuckle of her own; Monty should know better than to count his dominos before they toppled.

Quinn began play next, with a strong double-two combination. He found himself drifting up to the enchanted world above London rooftops with Chim Chim Cheree in the background, but tried to focus on the here and now so he wouldn't let Monty down. Though his partner didn't have any twos, Ian did, giving the round to Kathy and him.

The fourth round, Ian's opening, looked to be the clincher. Both teams needed less than twenty points to win. Ian started strong with the double six, and watched in glee as neither Quinn nor Monty had sixes. He and Kathy cruised to an easy victory.

They joined the others watching the film just in time to hear Feed the Birds, one of Quinn's favorite songs. Its sacred chords soared as the pigeons flew over St. Paul's Cathedral. He took Ian's hand with a grin, wanting to share a moment of his childhood with him. His smile deepened when Ian's fingers tightened around his own. Lelia watched transfixed, thumb in mouth, and Quinn knew that the next generation would carry on the love of Mary's magic.

Quinn remembered seeing the movie with his folks when he was five, and the song's bittersweet resonance was all the more apparent without them here beside him. He felt Ian's fingers start to caress his longer ones, as if his husband could somehow tell what he was thinking. They were so closely linked that he just might be able to, at that.

By the time the movie ended, they were all half asleep. Jo pressed a mug of coffee into Ian's hand, and a bag of leftovers into Quinn's. Five minutes later, they were out the door, after almost all the hugs they could wish for.

Wistfulness and exhaustion weighed on Quinn, and Ian got him home as soon as possible. Pausing only to check on the dogs and put the leftovers in the refrigerator, they sleep-walked to the bedroom. Ian undressed Quinn as he sagged against the side of the bed, then got his flannel pajamas out from under the pillow and put them on him. He tucked Quinn in, a surge of tenderness cresting as he kissed Quinn's forehead. Getting into his own pajamas quickly, he joined Quinn in bed, wrapping his arms around him as tight as he had for their wedding kiss.

Murmuring drowsy endearments, Ian felt Quinn relax into sleep in his arms. He could only hope that next year the Mastersons would join them at the table.