“Late night up packing, Peter?” Brooke teased her ex-band mate and soon-to-be employee.

“Brooke?” Peter looked at the phone, then at the date on his watch. “I’m not starting until December, so I can’t be late. Why are you ringing my phone?”

“Just checking up on you Petey,” Brooke laughed. “I was wondering if you’d be able to come down for a couple of days this week?”

“Sure, I could do that. You wouldn’t mind if I bring a few boxes with me, would you? You know, when you live out of a furnished apartment for the last three years, there’s not much to pack,” the man chuckled at his own expense. “I should have all this packed and ready to go by Wednesday morning. What do you need me for, Brooke?”

“Well, I don’t really need you for anything, but there is something that I’d like you to be a part of.” Brooke paused for a moment then continued, “I was hoping that you’d consider coming to Mom’s for Thanksgiving Dinner.”

“Mom’s…” Peter’s voice perked up, “God, I love her cooking. You know how long it’s been since I ate her cooking?” The man laughed, then answered his own question, “Too long.”

“Well then… I guess I’ll see you there then, right? Hey, I’ll even help you unload the boxes that you bring.”

“Please, Brooke…the down payment is quite enough of a hand. I…I never expected that. Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it, Petey. I’d do that for any employee that I thought deserved it.”

There was a moment of awkward silence before Peter broke it with the only thing he could think of. “God, Brooke…Being with you guys again for dinner…well, that’ll be like coming home to family for the holiday.”

“Look at it this way…you are.” Brooke tapped out a rhythm with her fingers on her desk as she talked on the phone.

“You better believe I’ll be there.” Peter assured her. “So, what time’s dinner? Ah…don’t even bother telling me. I’ll come early like I always do.” The man paused then asked, “So, Brooke…is Sam going to be there? I mean, since its family and all.”

“Yes, she is. We’re ahh…well…let’s say that everyone will know about us Thursday. I can’t wait.” Brooke grabbed a pen and started doodling on her daily calendar. Each time she wrote Sam’s name, the smile grew bigger on her face.

“Good,” Peter sounded happy. “I like seeing the two of you together. It gives me hope. Besides,” the man smirked, “I don’t want to be the one that spills the beans.”

“Yeah? Well someone spilled the beans about you, Buddy. I hear that you spent quite a bit of time with Crystal over the last couple of weeks,” Brooke teased him.

There was the sound of coughing and the clearing of a throat before Peter’s voice came back to him, “Ah…well…I kind of like her.” His voice sounded like that of a child. “She’s different from any girl that I’ve known…special, you know.”

“Yeah, I know. So, have you kissed her yet or are you still working up the courage?” Brooke let out a little laugh.

“Do you want the truth or do you want to hear what the old Peter would tell you?”

“I thought the ‘old Peter’ was dead. Give me the truth.”

“I’m not sure who exactly kissed whom first, but we have kissed. Jeez, Brooke, what do I know, it’s all a blur to me, it happened so fast. One minute we were talking and the next, well…you get the picture.”

“You sound like a school boy with his first crush.”

There was dead silence on the other end for a minute, and then Peter’s voice finally confirmed her thoughts. “I do, don’t I?”

“Yeah, you do. This is definitely you, my friend. I’m happy for you. So, I take it that you’ve met Aunt Sandy…ah…I mean, Crystal’s mom?”

“Thanks, Brooke.” Peter chuckled, then started with his story. “I guess you could say that. I was so tongue-tied that she did all the talking. Crystal’s Mom opened the door when we were a…kissing.”

Brooke imagined how red Peter had turned, then and even now, as he related the story to her and she tried not to laugh at his embarrassment. “Really? Well, that was better than what I did last night. Talk about feeling like a complete idiot and brainless at that.”

“And what could you have been doing that would have been worse?” Peter waited for an answer as he thought. “OhmyGod, Brooke you didn’t…did you?”

The woman laughed rather naughtily, “I needed to take a shower after dinner last night and Sam told me that she’d meet me in bed.” Brooke paused just long enough for Peter to get the idea in his mind. “Well, I took my shower, dressed for bed, and then ran out of the bathroom. I jumped on the bed on top of her and started tickling her. How was I supposed to know that she was on the phone with Aunt Sandy?” Brooke smiled as she remembered the look on Sam’s startled face.

“You didn’t…I mean…ah…say anything did you?”

“No, I don’t think so.” Brooke smiled to herself realizing how much worse the embarrassment could have been for Sam. “Well, at least not until I knew who she was talking to.”

“If that were me, I’d be sooooo embarrassed. I don’t think I’d be able to look her in the eye the next time we met.”

“Actually, when Sam laughed, I spoke into the phone and said hello, then told her Aunt that Sam loved me and that she just didn’t know it yet.”

“Man, Brooke, it’s a good thing Sam doesn’t live at home. I could just see you saying that to her father with the sounds of a mattress squeaking in the background.”

The dark-haired woman become very quiet for a moment then softly muttered out her agreement, “Yeah.”

“Sorry, Brooke. I didn’t mean to bring that up. Crystal told me just how narrow-minded Sam’s parents are. Forget about them, concentrate on Sam and making her happy.”

“I am,” Brooke sighed, “Believe me.”

“I know that you two are good for each other. I can see it when you’re together.”

“Thanks, Petey.” Brooke cleared her throat and changed the subject, “So, I’ll see you at dinner Thursday, right?”

“Yeah, Thanksgiving Dinner on Thursday at Mom’s, I’ll be there.”

“Great, I’ll see you then.” Brooke started to pull the phone from her ear.

“See you then, Boss.” Peter giggled, “You know what?”

“What?” She halted her motion and waited to hear what he would say.

“I like the sound of that. Bye,” he sing-songed the last word.

Brooke smiled and ended the conversation, “Bye, Peter.” She looked down at the phone for a second, happy that one of her old friends was once again a part of her life.

“Oh, shit!” Brooke’s eyes grew bigger and she reached for the phone that she’d just hung up. “I better call Mom.” Punching in the number on her autodail, Brooke listened to the ringing on the other end.

“Hello.”

“Hi, Mom. You having a good day?”

“Brooke,” Mable’s voice became friendlier, “I’m having a wonderful day, how about you?”

“Pretty good,” Brooke replied. “So, is there anything that I can bring to dinner on Thursday?”

There was laughter coming across the phone line, “Well, of course there is. You can bring Sam, that is unless she’d rather be with her family.”

“I was counting on her being with me for the holiday.” Brooke cleared her throat, “Actually, Mom…ah…how big is the turkey?”

There was a second or two of silence before Mable answered, “Well, I don’t know…the usual I guess, twenty-five or so pounds. Why, are you that hungry already, Dear?”

“I uh…kind of invited a couple of people to dinner, Mom. There’s Peter…”

“Peter, how nice. I haven’t seen him at the dinner table for a long time. That’s no problem.”

“Well…” Brooke swallowed, “Then there’s Sam’s Aunt Sandy and Crystal.”

“Is that all, Dear, just the five of you in your family grouping then?”

“Yeah, Mom, uh…five in my fam…” Brooke was shocked by the thought of her family.

“Well, that’s no bigger than Randi’s family,” Mable muttered. “Oh, don’t mind me. I’m just wondering how many we can actually have, once all you girls are settled down.”

“Ah…yeah,” Brooke smiled now at the concept.

“Something tells me that by the time you all give me grandchildren, I’d better rent a small hall for holiday dinners.”

Brooke was totally caught off guard by her mother’s statement and she choked out her reply, “You mean C.C. and Terri, right?”

“Well, I always thought…” the matriarch paused, “…the more the marrier.”

Brooke ran those last few words through her mind. Did she say ‘Marry her’? The executive started to wonder if her mother wasn’t resorting to subliminal messages. “Huh?”

“I mean…merrier.” Mable laughed at her slip. “The more the merrier,” she reiterated.

“You already have 3 grandkids from Randi, Mom. They should keep you merry enough for a while.”

“So, Brooke…is there any special reason why you have orchestrated this little family gathering? It doesn’t matter to me, in fact, I’d like to met Sam’s aunt,” Mable continued without pausing to let Brooke answer. “Care to share, or will that ruin your surprise?”

“Ah…kind of. I really want to spend the holiday with Sam but I couldn’t ask her not to be with her family. Besides…” Brooke paused, then slowly started again, “It’ll be the first time everyone will see the two of us together, as a couple. I love her, Mom. I won’t hide that anymore, from anyone.”

“But Brooke, we’ve seen you two…” Mable paused to gather the full sense of what Brooke was saying. “Oh… a couple. Brooke, I’m so happy for you. I knew she was special when Loran came back for a concert.”

“Loran didn’t, Mom. I did. I just borrowed her stuff.” Brooke grinned, realizing that her mother knew that Sam was special to her. “Actually, if you really want to know, I need to talk to her Aunt about something.”

“Something that I need to know about, Brooke?”

“Not just yet, Mom. I want to wait until I have a definite answer,” Brooke let her voice trail off. “Let’s just say that you’ll either be throwing me a party or holding me while I cry my eyes out.”

“Sounds like my baby is serious about something.”

“Well…uhmm…” Brooke took in a deep breath, “Yes I am, Mom.”

“I’ll plan for the party,” Mable let go with a chuckle, “God knows you never cry.”

“You have no idea, Mom.” Brooke thought back to the multitude of tears she shed when she thought Sam was out of her life, then quickly shook the feeling, never wanting to experience it again.

“I know Brooke, you’re the kind that cries more on the inside than for others to see.”

God, she knows me better than I know myself sometimes. Brooke changed the subject back to the reason for her call. “So, like I said, do you need me to bring anything for dinner on Thursday?”

There was a moment of silence before Mable spoke, “How about you bringing the wine. It sounds like we might be having a toast or two this year. It seems like we’ve all got a lot to be thankful for.”

Brooke smiled as she reached into her jacket pocket and toyed with the small, rounded top box. “I hope so, Mom. I surely hope so.”

Sam watched out the window of the 300 as they pulled up to the Gordon house and parked. She felt the warm touch of Brooke’s hand on hers and turned to look into comforting blue eyes.

“You ready?” Brooke asked softly.

“God, Brooke, I’m so nervous.”

“Darlin’, they already know you and they adore you.” Brooke held Sam’s hand a little tighter, “You’ve done this already.”

“Hey,” green eyes flashed at Brooke, “I was just C.C.’s roommate before.” Sam took in a deep breath, “Now I’m potential family.”

“Potential?” Brooke questioned the idea.

“Yeah…potential. I’m not official in any capacity.” Sam looked over at the looming house and bit at her lip.

Brooke leaned over the center console and placed a tender kiss on Sam’s lips as she turned back to look at Brooke. “You’re official in my capacity.” Brooke grinned at her. “You are my family.” The dark-haired woman smirked, as she secretly patted her jacket pocket, “Besides, who knows what could just fall into your lap at a holiday gathering.”

The blonde knitted her brows at the thought but let it go, writing it off to nervousness. She then smiled, breathing a sigh of relief. “God, Brooke, you always know the right words to say to calm me down.”

“That’s because I love you so damn much.” Brooke looked at her parent’s house, and then at Sam, “Ready, Darlin’?”

“Okay,” Sam took in a deep breath, then blew it out slowly. “Here goes nothing.” She reached for the door handle then quickly turned back to look into loving blue eyes. “Kiss me first.” Sam’s small hand clutched at Brooke, grabbing onto her sleeve. “You’ll love me no matter what, right?”