The Hand That Stuffs The Turkey

"Where's the marshmallows?" Kari muttered, peering into the pantry.

"There'll be plenty of sugar in the pies already, with Susie baking them." Kari's father winked at Susan, his new wife of six months.

"I'm all the sugar you'll need this year." Susan teased him back. "Sugar free, egg free pumpkin is what's going in the oven."

Kari was not amused. "We always put marshmallows on our sweet potato casserole."

"Not this year. Your father needs to cut back on sweets. In fact, we're skipping the sweet potatoes altogether. Doctor's orders." Susan turned toward the stove, gently stirring a pan of steamed green beans.

Kari stared at her father, waiting for his usual resistance to unwanted changes made to his diet. He only smiled, and kept right on chopping, the diced yellow onion multiplying on the cutting board in front of him.

Tears welled up in Kari's eyes, and not just from the pungent scallion. It was all too soon. Last Thanksgiving, her mother had stood, as she always had, for the last thirty four years, right where Susan now was, and lovingly prepared the family's traditional holiday meal.

"Well, then, I'll just whip up the Gravy." Kari determined, shaking off the memory.

"Thank you, Kari, but my son, Jake, is bringing the gravy later." Susan set the green beans on the counter, covering them with a lid.

"Oh, that's right. You haven't met Jake yet." Her father finally glanced up from his task.

"I could have met him at the wedding if you two hadn't eloped." Kari reminded them.

"At our age, when you know what you want, there's no reason to wait!" Her father rose, wrapping Susan in a brief hug.

"Need me to do anything else in your kitchen?" He offered.

"You go get in your recliner, Kari and I will finish the rest. Susan swatted him away.

This was not Susan's kitchen. Kari crossed her arms, and turned her back to the pair. Her mother's recipe book lay open on the side table. A notation scribbled into the margins caught her eye. She bent over to read it. That was not her mother's handwriting! How dare this imposter change a single measurement to these treasured recipes.

Breath in, breath out. Kari fumed to herself. Forcing a polite smile she faced Susan, "Looks like you have dinner all in hand, I'll just join Dad in the living room."

Her barbed remark didn't seem to faze Susan at all, in fact, she'd started to hum by the time Kari retreated into the den where her father relaxed in his designated comfy chair, reading the morning newspaper.

"Thanks for coming over early." He folded the paper, setting it aside, "Susie appreciates the help, too."

"Dad, I can't do it!" Kari paced back and forth, arms still crossed.

"You need to give her a chance." He pleaded.

"She doesn't need my help." Kari argued.

"Of course she does, she may do things a little differently, but she still needs you, and not just in the kitchen. Kari, this is an opportunity to get to know her better.

"She wrote in Mom's cookbook!"

"That was me trying to cook before I met Susan." He frowned.

The doorbell interrupted their conversation, and her father rose to answer it. Kari was left alone, staring at her mother's portrait on the living room wall. "I miss you, Mom" She whispered. "If you were here, this wouldn't be happening."

Deep masculine laughter followed her father and his guest down the hall until he appeared, a ruggedly handsome man by his side. "Kari, meet Jake. Jake, this is my daughter, Kari."

Kari took Jake's outstretched hand, surprised at his firm, yet gentle, grasp. Spying the glass bottle of store bought gravy Jake held in his other hand made Kari cringe, but she didn't mention it.

"I've heard so much about you!" Jake grinned, revealing an even set of straight white teeth, an influencer's smile. Kari mused.

"I wish I could say the same," Kari glanced at her father, "It's been rather sudden, I'm afraid."

"Jake, you're here!" Hearing her son's voice, Susan came flying out of the kitchen, throwing her arms around his tall frame. Kari backed up, giving them space for their reunion. "It's been too long since I've seen your face." Susan cooed.

"It's been a minute." Jake agreed, sharing a conspiratorial look with Kari. She couldn't help but smile back at his easy going attitude.

"When are you going to settle down and give me a grandchild?" Susan demanded, taking the forgotten jar of gravy from his hands. Jake actually blushed, which Kari found rather endearing, even if she understood his embarrassment all too well.

She decided to rescue him from the awkward question, but her father spoke instead, " Ah, Susie, leave the boy alone."

Jake was hardly a boy, Kari allowed. She hadn't pictured her new step brother to be so attractive. In truth, Jake couldn't be more than a few years older than herself, and as he began to fill them in on his photojournalism travels in his animated way, she found herself drawn into his energy. Maybe this Thanksgiving wouldn't be so hard to get through after all.

The smell of something burning drifted into the living room, and Susan hurried into the kitchen, Kari, Jake, and Kari's father all on her heels. Smoke rolled from the oven, but thankfully, no fire.

"Oh, I've ruined the turkey." Susan cried, carefully removing the blackened fowl.

Kari's father turned the oven off, and Jake opened the windows. Kari waved a kitchen towel in the air, helping the smoke dissipate.

"It's alright, Mom, I'm vegan anyhow." Jake's dry humor failed to lift Susan's disappointment, but Kari's father laughed out loud.

For the first time that day, Kari felt sorry for Susan. "Here, Let me see that turkey." The pan was heavy, but she managed to carry it to the back door, which Jake opened for her with haste. She dumped the bird unceremoniously into the trash bin.

Susan watched warily from the kitchen table, as Kari proceeded to take charge. "Dad, pull out the good china."

"No, that's your mother's!" Susan insisted.

"And she would approve." Kari opened the refrigerator, perusing the contents, while her father set the table.

"Were you serious about being vegan?" Kari asked Jake, who was cutting the sugar free pumpkin pies, already previously pulled from the oven before the disastrous turkey burnt.

He nodded, and grinned again, "Fortunately, yes."

"Good. Then avocado toast, black bean burritos, tossed salad, green beans, and sugar free pumpkin pie will be served soon." Kari started pulling ingredients out and placing them on the counter. Her father patted Susan on the back, his eyes shining with love for his daughter, his new wife, their new budding relationship expanding before him, and the peace offering Kari was extending. This was what the holiday was truly all about.