Devin | Phone Call | Wednesday, 2pm
Looking back, Devin thought that maybe he should have asked his parents if it was alright for Quinn to come spend Thanksgiving with them. While he knew they probably wouldn't care, as they had always been more than happy to have friends of his stay with them, it was more the point that it would have been the polite thing to do. Also the fact that he hadn't really thought through the whole inviting-his-girlfriend-of-two-weeks-to-go-meet-his-parents-and-spend-a-holiday-with-them thing. She had just been so sad and he didn't want her to have to spend Thanksgiving by herself in the city so he'd offered without really thinking about what it meant. He didn't regret it at all, and thankfully it hadn't scared her off, but still.
But as it was, he knew he needed to call and warn his parents that not only was he bringing someone home, but that he was pretty much demanding a real Thanksgiving. So during a break between classes, he found a relatively quiet place, got out his cell phone, and called his mom.
"Hello?" The phone had barely rung twice when he suddenly heard his mom's lilting voice break across the line.
"Mum, I love how you always answer like you don't know who it is," he teased. "Because unless you changed your settings, I'm pretty sure my ringtone is pretty different than your normal one. And my name should pop up."
"Listen here, cricket," she started, amusement clear in her voice. "I'll have you know my phone was on vibrate because I just got done with a class and I didn't look when I answered. Now did you call just to have a go at me or did you actually need something?"
"Well, I just wanted to call and see if it was okay for me to bring someone home with me for Thanksgiving."
"Of course it is! Was that all?"
"Not quite," he said, rubbing his jaw as he thought through how to word everything. "Just so you know, that someone is my girlfriend..."
"I didn't even know you had a girlfriend. Not that you have to tell me these sorts of things, of course."
"Well I haven't really had the chance. We've only been together for almost three weeks..."
"What? Quinn was going to be stuck in the city by herself for Thanksgiving and that's just not fair." Devin knew she was just giving him a hard time, but still. "And along those same lines, I think you've been cheating me and Lily all these years."
"Oh?" He could practically see her eyebrows raising at him over the phone.
"I'm just saying that I'm twenty-years-old and I've never had a proper Thanksgiving."
"Devin, aren't we thankful for things every day?" Her tone was patient, if not slightly patronizing, and it was the same thing she'd asked him when he was little and asked why they didn't have a big fuss about it, so he couldn't help but grin a little.
"Yes, we are, but it's just not fair that everyone else stuffs themselves with the same traditional foods year after year and we just have, like, spaghetti or something," he continued, keeping firm in his argument. "I think that at least this once, you and dad should act like real Americans and we should have a giant feast. For Lily's sake, if nothing else. I worry for her getting teased at school that she didn't get to have turkey and green beans and... pumpkin pie or whatever."
There was a pause, but Devin was almost completely sure that he heard some sort of laughter being muffled. "So because you're worried about your sister being bullied at school over her lack of pumpkin pie, you want us to have a traditional Thanksgiving meal?"
"That's exactly why. She's little. I worry for her safety in these troubled times. She'd just be such an easy target, you know. I think that this would be such an easy way to give her some safety for a while..." He stopped for a moment before adding, "I have a list of traditional foods that I can email to you."
"Of course you do." The dryness was back in her voice, and Devin was pretty sure that he'd won. "Alright, fine," she said with a sigh. "Email me what you want me to make, and just let me know when you two are going to be getting here. We'll have your 'traditional Thanksgiving,' just don't expect your father to watch some sort of American football."
"Oh, never," Devin said, wrinkling his nose a little. "And do me a favor and don't tell Lily I'm bringing anyone? I'm pretty sure that she and Quinn will get along far too well, and I don't want to give her a head start."
"Whatever you like. I've got to go to a meeting now, so just make sure to email me. Toodles!" Devin grinned as he ended the call, checking the time as he headed toward his next class, stopping outside to text Quinn before heading into the room.
