85 Thanksgiving

"There's my son!", Matt exclaimed as soon as Zephyr entered the kitchen. "How are you today?", Matt inquired. 

"Surprisingly not busy for once", Zephyr remarked, taking a brief moment to think about his answer. 

"I knew you'd be!", Matt exclaimed, patting Zephyr on the back, "First time you're not cooking for Thanksgiving in a while, ey?". 

"Hm", Zephyr nodded his head, "Thanksgiving is more ... relaxed for once". 

"You sound surprised", Matt commented. 

"It's just that Thanksgiving has been rather ... hectic in recent years", Zephyr stated, "It's surprisingly stress-free for once since we're joining Alex's family this year". 

"I know", Matt nodded his head, "I was surprised when Phil invited us, but I'm actually looking forward to it". 

"It's going to be a mess", Zephyr analysed, "Phil's the one who's cooking". 

"You're worried that the food will taste bad?", Matt asked. 

"No", Zephyr shook his head, "Phil's using an app that guides you on how to cook the perfect turkey for Thanksgiving". 

"The what?", Matt questioned. 

"With Phil cooking, Claire's going to panic and cook a backup Turkey", Zephyr answered, "And knowing how they are, Phil will find the turkey and it'll spark a fight between them. Recently, Cam's been spoiling Lily so chances are that Mitchell's going to use Thanksgiving as an opportunity for Cam to stand up to Lily. Gloria, Jay and Joe were meant to go to Mexico but there was a landslide at the local airport where Gloria's family live so they likely cancelled the trip. Knowing anything that can go wrong will go wrong, they'll get caught which will spark an even bigger fight. Aunt Melaina finally got a boyfriend but Uncle Nikos doesn't want him to come to Thanksgiving since we don't know him that well which has caused some tension between the two which will likely cause a scene at Thanksgiving". 

"Wow", Matt muttered in shock at Zephyr's analysis, "How the hell did you find all this out?". 

"It was rather easy", Zephyr answered, "This is Phil's first time being in charge of the Thanksgiving cooking and knowing Claire, she'll have cooked a backup because of her fear that Phil will mess up. She's a control freak so it's not that surprising. Second, I've observed that Cam is incapable of standing up to Lily because he feels an innate need to be the fun dad due to Mitchell not having been as present in Lily's early childhood. In addition, Lily's a child so Cam constantly caving into Lily's demands will cause Lily to be somewhat spoilt, something that's going to frustrate Mitchell. Knowing how things go, Mitchell will have had enough on Thanksgiving and use it as an opportunity for Cam to get a spine. I know about the mudslide because recently, it's been raining a lot in Colombia and since Gloria's relatives live in a rural environment, it's likely that the bad weather damaged the airport airstrip. As for Aunt Melaina and Uncle Nikos, Elena told me and I could easily deduce that there would be some tension. Put all of that together and the infamous reputation where everything goes wrong during big celebrations, it's likely that problems will coincide and create a big mess of Thanksgiving". 

"How the hell did you say that all in one breath?", Matt asked in shock. 

"That's what surprises you?", Zephyr raised an eyebrow, "And if you must know, I've got a better lung capacity than most people". 

"You know", Matt muttered, "I've got a feeling your prediction's going to be more accurate than I'd like". 

"I don't make predictions, I give certainties", Zephyr interrupted, "Unless I'm over 95% sure, I don't voice my opinion on matters related to chance".

"Ugh", Matt groaned, "Don't remind me". 

Zephyr rolled his eyes, "It's not my fault that my guesses are that accurate". 

"I'm certain that you cheated. You must've bribed the referee or something", Matt argued, "There's no way you can consecutively guess the score of every soccer match we've watched. You guessed the result of the Champions League final we watched with Melaina, Nikos, and Elena, guessing the exact number of goals Real Madrid and Athletico Madrid would score". 

"I wouldn't go to such lengths for a soccer match", Zephyr shook his head, "I was able to analyse both the teams' performance and deduce the result from that". 

"Liar!", Matt exclaimed, huffing in frustration, "You deffo cheated!". 

"I didn't", Zephyr neutrally answered, "But you're free to believe that if it'll help you sleep better at night". Before Matt could even retort, Zephyr walked out of the kitchen, grabbing an apple on the way out as he did so.

Seeing him walk away, Matt sighed and shook his head, "He only turned 18 a few days ago and he's acting like this. Children nowadays". 

[Time Skip]

"Hey", Alex greeted Zephyr upon opening the door. "You're early", Alex commented, glancing at the clock on the wall. 

"I don't have anything to do today so I thought it'd be nice to spend some time with you", Zephyr answered as he entered the house. 

"I'm bored as well", Alex muttered, "We're done with our midterms and we've finished our college essays, so there's not much to do. I was planning on going on a bike ride and seeing where things go from there". 

Zephyr sighed and began stroking his chin, as though in deep thought. He stood like that for a few seconds before snapping out of his trance, "I've got it". 

"Got what?", Alex asked. 

"Since you were planning on going on a bike ride, how about you I take you for a ride instead?", Zephyr asked, "I got a new bike a few days ago and I haven't really taken it out for a spin". 

Alex looked at him for a few seconds, considering her options before releasing a deep breath, "Sure". 

"Do you have a helmet?", Zephyr asked. 

"Dad's got one somewhere in the garage", Alex replied, "Let me go get it". 

Alex and Zephyr quickly navigated the house and arrived at the garage door. Silently opening the door, Alex and Zephyr found themselves spectating Claire, who was intently staring at something hidden under a cover in a crib. 

"What are you doing?", Alex asked, startling her mother who quickly covered up the contents of the crib. 

"Crib? What crib?", Claire anxiously asked, purposefully standing in front of the crib in a poor attempt to hide it, "You must be imagining things!". 

"Why are you acting so guilty?", Alex asked, stepping forward with Zephyr doing the same, forcing Claire to step back as well, only to hear the dull thud of her back hitting the crib. 

"Wh-who's guilty?", Claire asked, looking around, unwilling to meet their gaze in fear of crumbling under pressure. 

"Evidently, it's you", Zephyr answered, "Your hands are clammy, you're stuttering, you keep looking to your left, you're unwilling to look at us in the eye, your hands are firmly grasped on the cloth, the temperature of the garage is 4 degrees higher than it should be, I can hear some bubbling and I can smell seasoning".

Hearing his irrefutable argument, Claire caved in and spilt the details. "Fine! Damn it!" Claire exclaimed, removing the cloth, "It's a backup turkey. I bought it in case Phil's doesn't work out, which I hope it does. In which case, this could come in clutch and save him from embarrassment". 

"I predicted this would happen", Zephyr whispered into Alex's ear. 

"I could've seen it a mile away", Alex whispered back. 

"Please don't tell Phil", Claire begged, "It'd break his heart if he found out that I bought another turkey because I didn't trust him". 

"Interesting", Alex muttered, "I'm going off to college soon and, all of a sudden, you're keeping something warm in my old crib. I don't know how I should feel about this". 

"I don't love being the person who hides in her garage with the secret crib turkey, but it's not always fun being the backstop", Claire defended, turning to look at the garage and surprised to find that Alex and Zephyr were gone, "Of course, they're gone. Just my luck". 

[Meanwhile]

"It's going to be a disaster isn't it?", Alex asked Zephyr as she put on her helmet and sat down behind Zephyr on his motorbike. 

"Yep", Zephyr answered, making sure to pop the 'p', "We might as well make the most of what little time we have left". 

"We should", Alex agreed but then stopped midway, "Please don't drive that fast. I've never been in a motorbike so please be careful". 

"Hey", Zephyr argued, "I'm nothing if not careful". 

"Right", Alex nodded her head as though she didn't believe him, because she didn't. 

"What's with that look?", Zephyr asked. 

"I've seen you drive your car, hell, I've been in your car while you're driving. It's like being on a mobile death machine", Alex stated. 

"It's not that bad", Zephyr argued. 

"Isn't it Zephyr? Isn't it?", Alex countered. 

"Fine", Zephyr grumbled, "I won't drive that fast". 

"Go-oooood!", Alex exclaimed, screaming from the sudden acceleration which caused her to cling tightly to Zephyr. "ZEPHYR!", Alex shrieked as Zephyr laughed at her reaction.