Give thanks, bitches.

[Esme Russel]

Esme had considered cancelling this whole big Thanksgiving celebration and just treating this like a normal day. She didn't know if it was going to be appropriate for her to have this big thing going on when so many people had lost their lives during the shooting. Hell, her husband was still grieving! The thing that had convinced her to go through with this was the realization that she wasn't going to be able to relive these moments in the future - Cici would never have another first Thanksgiving and this terrible tragedy wasn't how she wanted it remembered. It was certainly hard to get up in the morning and start cooking with the knowledge that she wasn't going to have Gin over to help her.

She had been planning on having the sparkly blonde over a couple hours earlier than everyone else so she could either occupy Cici or help with some of the desserts.. Maybe even just sit on the couch and enjoy a mug of warm tea. It didn't matter what she was doing with Gin, really.. It was all about spending that time together. She didn't think that she would care so much if anyone had died during the shooting because her daughter was alive but this felt like someone was tearing her heart apart. It wasn't in waves like Cooper described - it was constant. She missed Gin when she was awake, when she was sleeping.. when she was doing something fun because she wanted to tell her all about it. She couldn't stop thinking about Gavin and Jon.. If losing Gin had hurt her like this then she couldn't imagine what it did to them.

So, she was bottling up all of that pain and throwing herself into this party. She didn't want to be the annoying girl who whines about everything! She wanted to be the girl who was always smiling even when there was really absolutely nothing to be smiling over. Well.. She sort of always had something to smile over, didn't she? Cici was this little ray of sunshine in her life. Right now, the nine or so month old was standing up (supporting herself on the table) and laughing at the cat. Esme wasn't entirely sure why but the innocence of this all made her giggle. Who wouldn't give everything up to be that small again?

She knew that some of her family would be coming by so she had made something that would remind them of their childhood - marshmallow peanut butter pie with chocolate crust. She had never been much of a fan but she knew that Cooper, Annabel and Bee loved it. Lorelai always threw up after she ate it so she obviously wouldn't be having any.. or Esme hoped that she wouldn't. Annabel and William were actually already there but they weren't much help since Annabel had a newborn little boy and a five year old to tend to and William was nursing a beer.

"Pumpkin, can you bring your old man a sandwich?" He had always felt like it was the woman's job to make the food and bring it directly to the man.. This even extended to his own child. "Oh um.. Yeah? But dinner is going to be ready soon?" She sounded uncertain but she was still already setting all of the sandwiches pieces together and she was almost done when she heard him speak once again. "Esme.. Fucking.. I wanted ham not turkey breast. Can't you even make a damn sandwich?" "Oh... I'll remake it." The worst part of the whole thing was that she was actually going to make him a new sandwich when he could easily eat the old one and suck it up.

[Mark Daniels]

The past few days hadn't been very easy for Mark. If there was one word to describe them it would be irregular. His sleeping pattern was messed up. Instead of sleeping at night, he slept during the day but only for a few hours because he had to eat and go to work in the evening. It was impossible to sleep when there was darkness. Perhaps his fear of the dark had returned after his experience with death, once again. He couldn't close his eyes without seeing the horror he had gone through and it was much easier to sleep during the day. Mark felt safe because he was on the couch and his parents were usually going on their usual routine. Routine? Yeah, well the seventeen year old figured out how to go on his usual duties on his own. He stayed up all night until sunrise. Which meant he could take his puppy, Olive for a walk an hour before sunrise. He could feed his rabbits and set his cat, Goldfish's food for her and then fall asleep. Andy felt bad for her son but felt that it was best to allow him to do what he was doing. It worried her because he often looked very tired but he had the strength to pull on a smile. Especially in front of Renata, who was just a baby and had no idea what was happening to her brother. Mark went on usual, although he had moments where he spent his time thinking- overthinking and wondering about many things.

At Riley and Leo's house, the day of their birthday, he realized that life had to go on. It was Michelangelo who spoke about his friends who he had lost in several fights. Mark knew that it was a difficult thing to lose someone but Michelangelo opened his eyes to realize that the show must go on. As much as it hurt everyone, this too shall pass. It was unfair, however. The way Mark saw it was... Yes, it was true but people took time to heal; some longer than others.

As promised, Mark took Ren to the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade along with his parents. It took a lot of energy out of him but he was happy because Ren was astonished by all the displays and the big air balloons. When they got home, Andy began to cook with Ty helping her and Mark slept for four hours. He didn't think it was responsible of him to be absent for Thanksgiving because during the past years he used to always be asking his mom if he could eat the first tamale. He had to put on strength to be there. It was easy. Simply because he loved his family, they made him feel safe. He'd fall backwards knowing that his dad was going to catch him and he would probably squish his mother but she'd find a way to lift him up to his feet. Family sometimes was a wonderful treasure and Mark felt blessed to had been raised by such good people.

It was going to be the longest day in Mark's life. He still was due in Esme's place, she seemed to be looking forward to this dinner and he didn't want to ruin her happiness. They were friends and friends were always there for each other. He called up Keisha the day before to ask her if she was available for Thanksgiving evening and fortunately she was. Mark had to go to work at eleven for the huge sale/stampede/free wrestling show at Macy*s since it was the dreadful Black Friday. He had never experienced it, not even shopping since who really goes shopping when they should be spending time with their family or better yet sleeping? His arm was still sore as ever but he had been getting help with treating it and healing it. He tried not to think about it because it made him remember many bad things and today wasn't about that.

"I am so sleepy..." Mark said, pushing his eyeglasses up because his contacts would simply irritate his eyes and make them red and he would probably scare people at the Esme's dinner and at work. That was just not cute. He had on a jacket because it was cold and all underneath a teal colored button up. His name tag was inside of his pocket. Despite his fatigue, he offered to drive to Esme's house. "Sorry, I shouldn't be whining about that." he sighed, remembering that it was his own fault that he was tired for pushing himself so much. "We're here!" his enthusiasm was slightly dryer than his usual happy self. Keisha understood though, she feel him. He got out of the car and walked to her side to open the door for her.

When Keisha and Mark were both welcomed into Esme's home. Mark greeted mostly everyone and presented Keisha to them since it was her first time here and some of Esme's relatives and other people weren't familiar with her but it's okay she was bound to be famous one day anyway.

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[Danny Dubois]

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Danny was more than excited to be going out for once. Sure it was just to Esme's and he went there a lot, but this was for Thanksgiving, and actual holiday, and there would be people there that weren't just friends and they probably wouldn't all be drunk. Which was saying something. He expected relatives of hers to be over and was quite ready to talk to each and every one of them. He was going to make a good impression, that much he was sure of.

Earlier in the morning, Danny had gone to Baker's house. He was uninvited and unexpected, but if he'd said anything, Baker might've fled the state or something. Lately Baker had been having a pretty rough time, what with the shooting and all, so no one had really seen the boy. Danny had talked to him maybe twice, both times over texts. So he figured it was best to just go to his house, use his key, and kidnap him. Surprisingly, Baker had almost willingly come with to Esme's. Only, of course, once he was told he could make a pie for her.

After having said goodbye to Jett, Danny drove Baker to Esme's. It didn't take long, seeing as it wasn't too far and Danny had a tendency to go a little over the speed limit. Either way, they made it in one piece and soon found themselves on the front doorstep to Esme's house. There were many cars in the street, cars he'd never seen before. He was more than willing to bet that they belonged to her family. He'd heard quite a bit about her dad and was anxious to meet the man. Having heard many bad things but also a fair share of good things, Danny had a picture of what he thought the man might be like in the back of his head. It was like a game to him to finally get to know what the guy was actually about.

"Pie still warm, Bake?" Danny turned his head to Baker after ringing the bell. The boy seemed nervous.

[Baker Atkinson]

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Baker hadn't really wanted to do anything today. He hadn't wanted to do anything for the past few days, actually. But when Danny just suddenly showed up in his bedroom, he felt like he had no choice. And its not like he one hundred percent didn't want to do anything today. There was about a twenty percent chance that he'd actually get off his ass. And Danny being there offering him a ride was all it took to get him to put real pants on and head over to Esme's.

Danny had come pretty early in the morning, giving Baker plenty of time to bake a pie. What's Thanksgiving without pie? It was cherry, which probably wasn't the most 'Thanksgiving-y' pie flavor he could've chosen. Danny was insisting on pumpkin, but he really just didn't have the fixings. And when pumpkin was shot down, Danny said apple. But Baker had never liked apple pie. So cherry it was. And now sitting in the car, the smell of cherries was wafting out the open windows. Baker fought hard to keep himself from eating the whole thing then and there.

This was the happiest Baker had been in a while. The shooting had been so horrible. He knew it was horrible for everyone, and he felt kind of selfish just dwelling on himself. But then again, Baker figured he had the right seeing as, well... seeing as everything that happened happened. Danny, thankfully, was very compassionate. He seemed like the kind of guy that just wanted to care about everything and everyone. Having been sitting next to each other, Baker assumed Danny felt a bit of guilt. He'd practically tackled Jett to the ground to protect him, but Baker had been left there to watch a man die. Its not like Baker held a grudge against Danny; it wasn't the boy's fault. But either way, it was nice to see how much he cared.

Standing on the front step, Baker held the pie high in front of his chest and kept his eyes on it. Now that they'd arrived, Baker was beginning to regret leaving his home. He knew he'd be flooded with a mess of emotion, especially from Esme. He wasn't sure he was ready for that. Only when Danny asked about the pie did Baker finally perk up a bit. "Yea, yea its still warm," he replied, turning his eyes to Danny but only for a second before bringing them back to the pie.

[Deleted]

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Lorelai originally wasn't planning on going to Thanksgiving at her sister's house. It wasn't anything personal - she just preferred spending this time with her mother since she rarely saw her anymore. But, Kendra had dropped the bomb the other night that she and her new husband were taking his children and their children on a cruise for Thanksgiving instead. It really shouldn't have been a surprise considering that she was sort of famous for these kind of things. She'd do really well at the whole mothering thing for a couple of days and then she'd be right back to favoring her new children and husband above everything else in the world. She had really just been naively hoping that it would be different since the shooting was still so fresh in everyone's minds.. even William was making more of an effort to be a better father.

He was still calling her by the wrong name but it was a hell of a lot closer now! She had arrived at Esme's about twenty minutes ago so she had spent a little bit of time hanging out with Annabel and the newest little member of their family. "Lauren, can you bring me another beer?" Lauren? "Dad, it's Lorelai." He gave her a concerned look before asking her if she was sure as if she was a young child saying some ridiculous story. "Yeah.. It's on my birth certificate." It didn't bother her one little bit actually.. Why would it? She knew her name! Plus, she knew that he only really cared about Mark and Jonathan anyway and they weren't even his kids.

She was actually going to get him another beer but William was soon distracted by none other than Mark Armando Daniels walking in with his girlfriend? Or was she just a friend? Lorelai honestly couldn't care less either way. She didn't have a problem with Mark but she saw no reason to insert herself in his personal life.

Her father, on the other hand, felt differently. He was staring in awe at Keisha like she was a goddess. "Good going, Mark! I always knew you were a bad ass player!" He had this look of pride on his face that he really only got for Mark these days. "Mark, you are a god and a shining example for men everywhere.. I really hope that you understand that you are the best guy in this room. Look at the ugly girls that my other sons have!" Oh so he forgot one of those 'sons' was actually married to his daughter.. not the other way around.

[kat]

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Kat was not okay. Not in the slightest. The only thing getting her through these days was knowing that Gin wouldn't want her to sit and wallow forever. She wished Dallas was better, because she didn't think she could really get through this without him. She wasn't even sure she wanted to be here at all. She'd rather be curled up in bed with him and the cat, but she hadn't been able to do that in weeks. She wanted him out of the hospital, especially after Monday.
Monday. Could it have only been three days? Three days since she was just napping in her dorm while her best friend was dying.

She originally met Genevieve last year when she joined student council in the middle of the year. She'd expected not to be accepted, what with the year already well on the way. But the spunky blonde welcomed her with open arms. It was like they had known each other for years, that was the way Ginny made everyone feel. Like they were her best friend.
When she found out about Dallas cheating, she'd turned to Gin for support. She was feeling hopeless and worthless, and like the mother she never got to enjoy, Gin pushed her hair out of her face and smiled softly and all-knowingly.
"Baby," she'd said. "You will do good in this world. You are not worthless, you have so much potential, so much more than you can even imagine. No matter what happens, no matter who is in your life, you will be a wonderful mother, just as you are a wonderful person. Don't focus your life around sadness. You're better than that."

Don't focus your life around sadness.

She tried to remember that as she walked into Esme's house. She didn't want to ruin her friend's party, knowing she was probably also hurting. She knew that Esme threw herself into making others happy when she was upset, so this was probably just her way of mourning. She couldn't be mad at her for for simply grieving in her own way. That wouldn't be fair.

"I felt bad that you were cooking everything, so I brought something," Kat said as she placed a can of cranberry sauce on the counter. It was halfway a joke, but mostly just her lazy way of trying to help out. She wasn't even sure anyone actually ate cranberry sauce, and if they did, Esme probably hand made it herself rather than buying it from a can.
She shrugged off her jacket and sat down at the kitchen table.
"So how are you, Es?" She asked, knowing Esme would probably lie and say she was doing just time.

[Martin Cervantes]

The Cervantes were generally really posh people. Even more extravagant than the Wilkes — and that was too much. So much that Martin was glad that Lorelai had invited him to her sister's house for dinner. He had already eaten but caviar wasn't really filling. These past days had been really gloomy. Despite that he and Lorelai had been safe in her dorm eating ramen noodle, his friends had a really hard time because they either lost someone or had someone in the hospital in condition. It gave him sympathy and somehow their sadness somewhat made him sad. Still, not devastated and he slept very well to say the least.

What Martin was mostly worried about was being appealing to the Reynolds family. Obviously he had a full wallet and even a better bank account and let's not discuss his inheritance. However, maybe they were the beauty on the inside type? Martin was — digestible, to say the least. He often kept quiet but tended to get irritated rather quickly. He was also incredibly observant and sometimes shunned the mainstream.

Speaking of mainstream, Martin really despised Mark Daniels. When he saw him standing there he grimaced. He sometimes wondered why that basic bitch from Peru got so much attention. To Martin, that guy was a pushover and nothing special.

However, he wasn't here for him. Martin was here to accompany Lorelai. He walked to her after smoothing his shirt and making sure he looked presentable but to be quite honest, Martin always looked fine to anything.

Right now, however, Lorelai looked amazing, he thought. Sure it was just a simple dress but he figured it was different? "Hey Lorelai." he greeted her, hugging her tightly which even surprised him but maybe it was the holiday spirit?

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[Keisha George]

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Keisha hadn’t anticipated that she’d be celebrating Thanksgiving in New York. She had plans to stay in New Orleans throughout the break. However, she decided to come back, because vacationing while everybody else was mourning was a dick move.
She had no clue what happened or who was hurt, so she was more grateful and relieved than she’d ever been knowing that nobody she loved was hurt badly - or killed.
Keisha was extremely sad, yes, but the only person to whom she was kind of close was Ginny, and even then it was more of a acquaintanceship. Because of that, she felt like she didn’t have any right to be sad. So, she tried to be cheerful and help her friends along, because people needed that.

Mark asking Keisha to be his date was really convenient, because she was going to Esme’s to help because she probably needed a break and Mark could introduce her to Esme’s family since she had no clue how they’d take her.
She offered to drive, but Mark insisted. “You can whine as much as you want; ain’t nobody getting enough sleep lately,” she sighed. It was true. Nobody seemed to be feeling well, although it wasn’t their fault.

Keisha tried to smile when they arrived and pushed her hair out of her face. She sighed a little, because Mark told her William was inappropriate and had no filter. She really, really hoped he would approve, because she wasn’t in the mood for verbal abuse.
William definitely liked her, but she still cringed at his reaction. William called Mark a ”badass player.” Apparently, she was a pretty good trophy, in his opinion. And, to make matters worse, he was ogling like he was going to get a piece of that. He then yelled about how all his sons had ugly girls, and she was slightly appalled, because he was also including his daughters.
She decided that it was best to just laugh, smile, and say “thank you,” as graciously as she could. She pulled Mark aside and whispered, “is he always that bad? Do I have to deal with this all night?” She was going to be sad if this was going to be how her Thanksgiving would play out.

[Mark Daniels]

Bad ass player? Mark laughed forcefully. He felt fortunate to have so many people who loved him (some a little too much) and William seemed to idolize him. Although he was heartbroken because as nice as Mr. Reynolds was, he was also unfairly mean to his daughters and Cooper.

"Oh let's not be so... Okay." Mark didn't think it was wise of him to argue with William because if he did, the older man would keep insisting. He didn't think the term god was an acceptable word. Was it obvious that Mark was blushing? The blood was flowing up to his cheeks while he simply stood there, smiling although his eyebrows were low. That was definitely not a sincere smile.

Although Mark did worry when William was googling over Keisha and it wasn't respectful. It was so disrespectful that even Mark felt the disrespect. "Oh um," he stammered, trying to say something that would put William's eyes on him and off of poor Keisha. Seriously.

When Keisha, bless her soul, pulled Mark aside. He looked to her and whispered, "I am so sorry." He hadn't meant to put her on the spot. "Let's get something to eat? We'll just tell him that we're starving and I think he'll be concerned about our nutrients?" Excellent idea, Mark.

[Kenix Adler]

Kenix had planned to show up an hour or two early just to be a helping hand. He'd been acquainted to Esme through Mark and while they weren't the best of friends, he knew it was a tough time for everyone and it was a good idea that they stick together. However, Elodie had trouble finding her matching sandals and so the two siblings scoured the entire house to find it. Better late than never, right? Kenix pulled into the Russels' home and parked behind several other cars, some familiar and some not. Right away, Elodie unbuckled her seatbelt and skipped inside as if the reason they were late had nothing to do with her. Kenix came in shortly after, raising a hand to silently greet everyone that was present.

Realizing that she was the only freshman there, Elodie suddenly felt shy and moved to stand behind her older brother, following him around like a lost puppy. Their father was working during the holidays, as usual and Kenix didn't want to leave her home alone. Plus, it would be a great opportunity for her to get to know her schoolmates. It never hurt anyone to have connections with upperclassmen.

"This is my little sister, Elodie," he introduced, stepping aside to show everyone the second most important woman in his life. Well, young woman for now. Elodie gave a small wave and a meek smile. She wasn't very good at meeting new people. For some reason, it made her quite nervous and while she was fully aware of it, she was unable to control it. "So what did I miss?" he asked after chuckling at his sister's odd behavior.

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