Page 47 of Searching for Thanksgiving

“They are a force of nature as my grandmother would say,” she laughed.

Devon was about to retort they were much worse, but the riposte died on his lips at the bright shimmer of joy and amusement in her eyes. Despite the danger, he could feel himself being pulled into the warmth and acceptance flowing throughout the room. He had not felt this sense of family since his mother and step-father were murdered.

“What is it?” she asked in a soft voice.

He swallowed past the tightness in his throat. He didn’t want to break the magic of the moment. This was something he never thought that he would experience again, and for a short period of time, he wanted to be selfish and hold it close to him.

At least we will have the memory.

He started when Crystal slid her hand down to his arm and threaded her fingers through his. She led him over to the table. He slid into a chair when she released his hand. She gathered the plate of her untouched meal from earlier with a grimace.

“I don’t know about you, but I’m starving. I’ll make us something to eat,” she said.

“Whatcha’ going to makes?” Leo asked, leaning on the table.

Crystal looked at the plate in her hand and sighed. “I would kill for a pepperoni pizza right now, but it looks like eggs and toast,” she said.

“Pizza? Like my mommy makes?” James asked with wide eyes.

“Probably. Unfortunately, I don’t have the ingredients to make one and it would take too long,” she replied.

“The Goddess mades Morah’s knapsack magic. You could asks it for one,” Pearl said.

Devon curled his hands in his lap. He was surrounded by the kids… well, except for Hope and Sacha who were still playing with his symbiot, drawing designs on it. His symbiot now had little gold heart spots on it. His dragon and cat snorted with amusement, thankful that the girls couldn’t do that to them.

“A magic knapsack, huh,” Crystal said.

Morah pushed the knapsack on the table. “Ask it for what you wants. Leo does it alls the time.”

Crystal studied the knapsack before she opened it to peer inside. She shrugged and looked at Devon with a bemused smile. He lifted a shoulder to show that he wasn’t sure about this ‘magic’ knapsack either.

“I would like a large pepperoni pizza,” she said before she paused when Leo tugged on her sleeve. She bent down and he whispered in her ear. She grinned and nodded. “Correction. I would like two extra-large pepperoni pizzas and cheesy garlic rolls,” she requested.

Her lips parted on a surprised gasp when steam, and the fragrant, yet familiar aroma of spicy pepperoni and garlic, rose from the knapsack. She reached in and pulled out two telltale square cardboard boxes neatly stacked on each other along with a smaller box.

Devon frown and peered in the bag with her. All he could see were colorful dolls and a few other items. He pushed his hand in and wiggled his fingers before pulling it out and looking in the bag again.

“Arilla made it so it’s like we had Alice or Adaline with us,” Morah explained.

“You should have seen it when the raft popped out on tops of Morah, Hope, and Sacha. That was funny,” Leo mumbled around a garlic roll.

“I-I’ll get some plates,” Crystal said in a faint voice filled with awe.

Devon fingered the bag. He pulled it off the table and placed it next to his chair. The power of having a bag like this was not lost on him. With it, he would never be hungry again—or have to chance being seen while hunting for basic necessities for him to survive.

He listened to Crystal and the children as they chatted between eating. He murmured his thanks to Crystal when she put three of the strange-looking flat, triangular gooey slices on his plate. Pleasure washed through him and his stomach growled with delight as he took a bite.

He didn’t realize how hungry he was until he was reaching for a fourth piece along with one of the cheesy garlic rolls. He understood why Crystal and the kids liked this pizza. It was bursting with flavor—something he hadn’t appreciated how much he missed.

“This is… very good,” he mumbled.

Crystal laughed and sat down across from him. She dished up a slice along with two of the garlic rolls. Her moan of pleasure drew an immediate response from his dragon… and his cat, and… a part of himself that he hadn’t felt in a long, long time. Her delighted moan drew a matching purr from his two-legged form–for an entirely different reason. It made him think of things that he shouldn’t be… especially in a room full of very observant dragonlings.

“How did you meet this Goddess, Morah?” he asked.

Morah wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and perked up. “It’s a longs story that started two days ago! Ambers and Jades was telling us a story….”

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