Chapter 2
Thanksgiving ended up being much less horrible than any of them had imagined. They laid out mom's letter and took turns picking which items they'd cook, after picking a draft order by playing rock paper scissors. Eric ended up going last and so eventually got stuck with the turkey when everything else had gotten taken. The girls knew more about cooking than Eric did, but the instructions were pretty straightforward and Eric seemed far less grossed out by the need to remove the extra parts stored in the body cavity and rinsing off the bird than one of the girls might have been.
Their recipes had come with a chart showing when they should start making each dish, based on all of them being ready at the same time, so of course the turkey was the first item to get prepared. The girls helped Eric find the ingredients he needed and the proper cookware to use for roasting the turkey. Ellie had the Thanksgiving Day parade going on the living room TV and even though there were no crowds this year, they still watched it, and joked about how lame and cheesy most of the entries were, not to mention the hosts.
As they were getting around to the last few dishes on the chart, one of Cassie's recipes called for a dash of white wine in the sauce and there was note to look at the back of the vegetable drawer in the fridge. Sliding the drawer all the way out, and emptying the other contents, Cassie discovered an unopened bottle of chardonnay, buried at the bottom of the drawer, with a smiley face drawn on the label, just like their mom had put on their lunches and snacks growing up.
When they'd come home from school they'd sometimes find their mother had baked something, and the house rule was, if it had a smiley face post it on it, the kids were free to help themselves. It made sure that they didn't accidentally dig into something she'd prepared for one of her women's groups, a bake sale, or a pot luck. Even when she made something for one of those reasons, she almost always made a little extra and set it to one side, covered in cellophane and bearing the tell-tale smiley face sticker. You had to beat Ellie to the plate if you wanted to make sure you got some, as she was notorious for eating everyone else' if she got there first, but the smiley face had always been the sign for something special their mom had set aside, just for them.
Cassie turned to show it to Eric and Ellie with a look of mixture of surprise and sentimentality washing over her face. While none of them was legally able to drink yet, and their mother was normally the least likely person on the planet to encourage them to do something wrong, it seemed like she had bent the rules, and secretly surprised them, once again.
Ellie wasn't the least bit emotional about it and started digging through the kitchen drawers to find a corkscrew, but Cassie and Eric convinced her that they should at least hold off until the food was ready, so they could enjoy it with dinner, the way mom had likely intended. Ellie wasn't too happy with the decision, but she was outvoted and didn't seem ready to break the truce, especially when there was still something to look forward to.
The parade gave way to football games before the food was ready and with about a half hour to go, Ellie surprised them by suggesting that they all change into something a little more dressy to enjoy dinner, even if it was just the three of them. With a look of mild surprise Cassie agreed and they took turns going upstairs to change while the other two watched the food.
Eric went first to put on a button down shirt, along with a sport coat, a pair of khakis and some loafers. He didn't feel like wearing a tie and over the last few years he learned that he could get away without one, even going somewhere with his folks. He went downstairs and Cassie had a break in the timing of her dishes, so she dashed upstairs to change next.
When Cassie came back into the kitchen, both Ellie and Eric were floored at the transformation. Cassie had pulled her hair up and fastened it with a clip, applied makeup for what seemed like the first time since they'd been home together and was wearing a fitted, knee length, black cocktail dress, complete with heels and what looked like their mother's pearls. Cassie blushed at their reaction and explained that she'd been invited to the faculty Christmas party that year, in honor of being accepted into the grad program, and had bought the dress to try and look more grown up. After the initial shock wore off, Ellie squinted deviously for a moment, set her chin and whispered, "It's so on!" dramatically at Cassie, right before she dashed upstairs.
Cassie set the table while Eric looked after the resting turkey and read through carving instructions on his phone. He looked over toward Cassie as she came in and out of the kitchen and watched her as she pulled various dishes to take to the table. Eric couldn't help notice how her high heels made Cassie almost as tall as he was, along with the effect they had on shaping her legs and butt as she walked from the room each time. While he had never really been a "leg" man, he was surprised at how much the shape of her calves and butt affected him as she walked from the kitchen each time. The dress was cut to accentuate the curves of Cassie's long body and the deep plunge in the back revealed a large area of exposed smooth skin, as well as the toned lines of her lovely back. Her neck was so much longer than Eric had remembered, and the way her hair was pulled up accentuated how graceful and ladylike she appeared.
Cassie had put on a bright red lipstick, and with the more dramatic accent of her eye make-up. Eric struggled to think of who it was she reminded him of, until he realized that it was the actress who had played Catwoman, in that Batman movie where Bane had taken over the city. He couldn't remember the actresses' name, but his sister's full lips, accentuated by the shade of her lipstick, and the way her make-up highlighted her large brown eyes, in that dress, made her a dead ringer for how the actress had appeared in one of the party scenes from the movie.
At one point it dawned on Eric that Cassie couldn't be wearing a bra with that dress and a large lump formed in his throat. He made an effort to help carry things out to the table to help her, and did his best to conceal the fact that every time she bent forward, his eyes darted to the neckline of her dress to try to catch a glimpse of her cleavage as she did. A few times he had been treated to a peek at the swell of her pale breasts, as the fabric scooped down and she leaned over, and through the thumping of his own heartbeat echoing in his ears, Eric tried not to be too disappointed that he hadn't quite been able to see all the way down to her nipple each time. With as tall Cassie stood in heels, he decided that he'd have to be standing right next to her, or have her bend way over, before he would be able to get the right angle.
Eric found himself reluctant to pull away from helping her, when the timer sounded from the kitchen, and he had to go begin carving the turkey. Pulling up the instructions on his phone, Eric moved the turkey over to the center island in the kitchen, to give himself more room to maneuver, and began to take the turkey apart, step by step. He was carefully slicing the breast meat when Ellie came into the room with a flourish, and practically made him jump by exclaiming "Ta-daaaa!" in her characteristically overly loud voice. Eric looked up just as Cassie came in from the dining room, to ogle at Ellie, decked out in a shimmering green mini-dress that she had worn to prom a few years earlier. Eric remembered the arguments that Ellie had endured with their mom, to get permission to buy and wear it, and in that moment, he finally understood why.
The skirt rode well up Ellie's shapely thighs, and the form fitting dress must have had some sort of elastic property, because it looked like her curves had been poured into the fabric. Ellie had put on a pair of high heels of the type that his friends had always teased him that strippers wore, and her bust looked absolutely huge, as it threatened to spill out over the top of the strapless top. Like Cassie, Ellie had also applied make-up and pulled her hair up. But rather than simple pearls, Ellie had put on the oversized earrings, necklace and bracelets that she'd worn originally with the dress to prom. She had applied green eye makeup, that seemed to sparkle a little as she blinked, a shimmering hot pink lipstick and was doing her best to make a kissing pout and cock her hips as she posed for her siblings.
"Can you believe it still fits!?!" she squealed as she bounced and clapped for herself in delight. She made a quick spin, as gracefully as her dangerously high heels would allow, and exclaimed, "I never thought I'd get to wear this outfit again! I feel like mermaid princess!" She brought a single finger deliberately to her lips and squinted her eyes thoughtfully, "Do you think a tiara would be too much?" before breaking into a delighted giggle and asking, "Can we finally open the wine?"
"Okay, but I want to get a quick picture in front of the table for mom and dad before we do." Cassie insisted. "I don't know if dad knows about the wine and I don't want it in the picture". They had called their parents earlier to wish them a Happy Thanksgiving, but now that they were dressed up and had the table set, Cassie thought it would cheer their mom up to see them all enjoying the holiday. Ellie never needed an excuse to take "selfies" and as Eric had the longest arms, and had the newest phone, they had him hold the camera for the pictures, trying to capture all three of them with the table in the background. Eric tried a couple different angles high and low to get everything in and they finally chose one that looked the most appropriate to text to their parents.
"Can you text me all of those, Eric?" Ellie smiled over at him once the text was sent. "My boobs look awesome in the others and it would be a shame to waste them. I can post them later and tag you guys!" She winked, and ran in tiny high-heeled steps into the kitchen to finish opening the wine. Eric decided she looked less like a mermaid, and more like an 'R' rated Tinkerbell, as he watched her curvy butt and voluptuous thighs, as she bounced away from him in the sparkling green fabric that hugged every curve.
Dinner was surprisingly good, even if everything didn't taste exactly like mom made it. The wine certainly helped, and for a few hours, it was like they all forgot how messed up everything had gotten in their lives.
