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“There is no way I’m putting that thing on,” Gordo said shortly, crossing his arms and refusing to take the sweater Elizabeth was offering him. Mark rolled his eyes, taking the offered sweater and sending Gordo a pointed look that was ignored. Elizabeth moved aside to allow Mark in, but was immediately back in place, blocking Gordo from entering despite his valiant efforts.
“You know its tradition,” Elizabeth said, her tone mockingly serious, but her eyes sparkling with amusement. Gordo could feel the happiness that was flowing from her and could see a number of green paint smears on her jeans accompanied by a collection of seasonal colors.
“Tradition can change,” he shot back, but Elizabeth didn’t budge.
“Tell Gordo to get over himself and get his ass in here,” Rico called from the kitchen, and there was a rumble of laughter in response. Elizabeth tilted her head slightly. The amusement in her eyes was blinding as she pushed the sweater closer to Gordo.
He pulled it from her hands and over his head without another word, entering the house and ignoring the slight bow Elizabeth executed as he passed.
Despite his reluctance to take part in the tradition he would admit to loving when he was younger, the nostalgia of seeing all of the pack members throughout the house pulling ingredients from the pantry, carrying pumpkins out to the picnic table outside, and laughing like there wasn’t a cloud over their head was enough for him to forget about the aforementioned cloud for an afternoon.
“I’m not saying that pecan pie is bad, I’m just saying that it’s more of a fall dish,” Carter was saying, and Jessie was looking at him in a way that screamed I couldn’t care less about your opinion.
“Why don’t you just accept that both of them are fall dishes and move on?” Jessie shot back, setting down the container of pecans on the counter with a thud.
“Oh, I don’t know, maybe because pumpkin pie is the superior fall dish, obviously. Sure, you can have both, but in a situation where it’s one or the other, pumpkin pie all the way,” Timber whined at Carter’s feet before moving over to Jessie, as if to say she’s right on this.
Carter raised his eyebrows and blinked.
“I see how it is. As of now, we are at war.”
Carter turned pointedly away from Timber who started whining but stayed next to Jessie.
“I don’t see what you see in him,” Jessie said down to him. Timber whined again and lay down on the ground.
Jessie nodded as she returned to the pantry for the remaining ingredients.
“I guess we all have to fall for at least one idiot before finding out about standards,” she grinned at Ox, but the effect was lost slightly because of how he was focusing on reading the pumpkin carving instructions on the couch. Joe, whose head was resting in Ox’s lap, sat up and waggled his eyebrows.
“Wouldn’t that make you an idiot too?” he asked innocently. He barely dodged the measuring cup that Jessie threw at his head. Ox looked up at that point and looked between the two of them looking mildly amused before looking back down into the pamphlet.
“Be nice,” he said quietly, and Jessie leaned on the counter behind her as her shoulders shook from laughter. Joe resumed his position in Ox’s lap with a contented smile on his face, allowing his eyes to close.
---
Gordo had taken the warm apple cider offered to him by Mark before the two of them exited the house again, sitting down on the porch swing and looking out on the reddening forest that made up the Bennett property, along with the rest of Green Creek.
Cloudy steam rose from the warm mugs as the two sat silently, blown away by the gentle breeze making its way through the air. Gordo closed his eyes, allowing the soft rustles of the leaves to take over the thoughts in his head. He couldn’t remember the last time he had simply sat somewhere and appreciated the sounds and the people around him. Mark’s hand brushed his own and he opened his eyes, not finding it in himself to glare at him as a smile slid across Mark’s face.
They didn’t need words to communicate the feeling in the air. Maybe there weren’t words to describe the feeling of complete peace, only feelings. Why ruin a perfect feeling with words that have such a tendency to misconstrue perfection?
Instead, Gordo let Mark lean against his shoulder as the two continued to let the comfortable silence, aside from the noise from the house, envelop the two of them.
A sudden shout interrupted the serenity of the scene.
“Why would you think throwing eggs at each other would be a good idea?” Elizabeth’s usually calm voice rang through the house, and everything fell completely quiet. Even the occasional singing bird ceased its song.
“Well, technically-” Tanner’s excuse was shut down immediately.
“I want all of you out of the house. Now.”
Mark took a sip of cider as a grin split his face.
“All of you” turned out to be the shop boys, Jessie, Joe, and Ox. Ox was in the midst of attempting to get the remnants of eggshell from his hair as Jessie cackled.
“I don’t even understand what I did,” Ox muttered, shooting Jessie a look.
“I think we should settle this once and for all with a bit of a game,” Joe announced.
“What kind of a game? And what are we settling? We already settled the debate of who’ a better kisser,” Jessie replied as she sat down on a tree stump. Joe had a gleam in his eye, and Ox looked slightly concerned.
“When did you guys settle that?” He asked, looking slightly panicked. Jessie and Joe both ignored him.
“A duel,” Joe’s eyes flashed red, and Ox sighed.
“Joe, we’re taking the day off from fighting if you haven’t noticed. Why don’t you do something like…football? Or something.”
A wicked look crossed Jessie’s face at the proposition.
“A football game, you say? I agree. You, Ox, and Chris will be on one team, and I’ll be with Tanner and Rico. Winners get to eat first.”
“It’s a buffet style you idiot,” Joe said without heat, and Jessie rolled her eyes.
“It sounds cooler when someone has to suffer. But winners get to go first in the line”
The game was nothing less than an all-out brawl, and Gordo had a feeling if there wasn’t a considerable amount of leaves on the ground surrounding the area in which the group was playing, there would have been more than bruising occurring. Not that there wasn’t anyways, with Jessie in the mix. Neither side seemed to be safe from the threat of an elbow or a fist when coming anywhere close to contacting the ball.
---
"I don't see how you're struggling with a basket weave lattice," Kelly muttered as he pulled the pie from beneath Robbie's fingers, sighing lightly as he undid what was currently lain across the pie. Robbie leaned on his palm, watching as Kelly rearranged the strips to something that mirrored what Elizabeth had recently placed in the oven.
"It's hard," he protested quietly, lacking any heat as Kelly pinched the edges of the pie and pushed it back in Robbie's direction. Kelly couldn't help but smile as Robbie brushed an egg wash on top of the strips of dough. A crease had formed in the middle of his forehead in concentration, despite it being such a simple task. His concentration was undeniably adorable.
Elizabeth slipped in at some point as Robbie tried again to tackle the basket lattice as Kelly quietly directed him, leaning against the doorway as she sipped her warm apple cider in her hand. There was a gentle green surrounding the two of them, the whispers of a bond slipping between the two of them through the gentle touches Kelly used to direct the strips of dough when they went awry, and the way Robbie looked at Kelly as he did so, a small smile sliding onto his face.
Carter and Timber had slipped away when Jessie had started throwing eggs, and at times the three in the kitchen could hear Carter shouting at Timber.
"I told you I was taking a shower, get out you smell like rotten eggs and wet dog!"
Elizabeth smiled.
If she listened hard enough, let herself relax into the rhythm of the world around her, she could sense every beating heart around her. With that came a quiet, steady presence that would always be around, beside, and within her in the shape of Thomas. It was quiet, but a thing she relished in every moment she experienced it. It was strongest when the pack was together, enjoying themselves, loving, learning, and healing.
On this evening, she could hear every note of the old song the two of them used to sing together.
There was a bittersweet relief to it all.
"There!" Kelly sounded relieved, "Mom, can you believe it? Robbie actually did a lattice."
"You didn't have to say it that loud," Robbie mumbled, wiping his glasses off on his sweater as a blush ran across his cheeks.
"It's beautiful," Elizabeth said gently, taking the pies on the table towards the oven and sliding them inside, picking up an old kitchen timer and setting it for the required time, "these things take practice to perfect these sorts of things. Kelly used to do worse, so there's no need to worry."
Kelly shrugged in defeat, and Robbie smiled to himself.
Carter was yelling again, and Timber was barking.
There was a sweet relief in the conflict within a family rather than those seeking bloodshed.
---
In the end, which was caused by a general consensus that it was time to stop fighting or someone’s nose was going to get broken, it was Jessie’s team that was ahead. Joe groaned as Jessie raised her hands in triumph, grinning triumphantly.
“Have fun eating cold turkey, fuckers,” Jessie exclaimed, fist bumping Tanner and Rico, and giving Joe’s team a very colorful hand gesture. Ox was smiling, still looking slightly confused at the remarks exchanged earlier, but he was happy to see the rest of the pack mingling and enjoying themselves.
Elizabeth had come outside to call them into dinner and thought she didn’t look too pleased to see the bruises forming on everyone’s bodies, there was relief glimmering in her eyes, reflected by the aura of green flowing from her person.
Dinner was a gentle affair with candles and warm food, gentle touches as the food was passed from hand to hand. The conversation was easy and amusing, though at times somewhat antagonistic.
Yet that was what their pack was, and there was peace in the hearts of those who recognized it.