At five o´clock on Wednesday they turned the phones over to voice mail and the call center. Only the number known only to family would ring. Supper was quiet and slow.
Afterward, Sigrid said, “Boy, I´m pooped. It´s been a great fall, but I am wiped. Tom? Let´s go upstairs tonight. I need some sleep.”
To no-one´s surprise, the Big Bed was empty that night.
The next morning, work began on Thanksgiving dinner. The only guests were Sarah and Steve, who arrived early and pitched into the preparations. Anne made candied sweet potatoes, Mary made a stuffing with green chilies.
“Don´t you dare put that in the bird,” Anne said when she saw the preparations. “We´ll cook it alongside and baste it with the drippings.”
“Hey, I just thought it up. Wouldn´t dare.”
When dinner was ready, they sat around the table. Saul stood up.
“It´s Thanksgiving. We have a lot to be thankful for, and mostly it´s our wonderful family. And our wonderful luck. Let´s drink to that.”
.oOo.
After dinner, the men watched football. The women cleaned up the kitchen, having shooed the men away to their television. Eventually they sat around the table with beer and popcorn.
Sigrid said, “Heather, I don´t think I told you. I talked with your mother on Labor Day about having babies.”
“I assume she was in favor of that? That´s how she makes her living. Hope she didn´t sell you a bill of goods.”
“No, I was just curious. Tom and I really want to start a family after we graduate.”
“I do, too,” Anne said. “Have to figure out a few details, though.”
“You mean getting married?” Sarah asked.
“No, that´s easy, and you don´t really need to, anyway. I mean, who gets first crack? Saul or Will?”
“I suppose you need to ask them, right?” Mary said.
“Yeah. Hope it doesn´t get complicated.”
Heather said, “Well, that´s one that´s not for me.”
“You mean because you only have one love? Or is it you don´t want children?” Anne asked. “I always thought you did.”
“No, that´s because of my Earth Mother body. Will saw me as Ceres, but I´m not, I just look that way. Everyone thinks I´ll have a flock. I just don´t want any.”
“Alex okay with that?”
“Yeah. We´ve talked about it. He´s happy with it. Says there´ll be more kids around here than we can count anyway. I think he figures he can be a father to any of them. I like the idea of having lots of fathers ... And mothers, as long as I don´t have to do it full time.”
“What about you, Iris?” Sarah asked. “You going to be a mother?”
“Well, I don´t know yet. I´m still getting used to having a family, having a couple of dozen lovers, most of whom I haven´t met. Actually, I think I want to wait until I´ve gotten some of the other things done.”
“In the fashion business, you mean?” Anne asked.
“Yes. I´m not sure where it´s going, but our stuff is loads of fun, and I love wandering around promoting it and coming home and making it. Especially lately, when I´ve had some time to get on the computer. It´s a real kick.”
“What about doing real clothes? Don´t you think you´ll get sick of virtuals?”
“Well, Anne, maybe I will, but I´ve just gotten rolling on it. I´m working on Heather´s stuff some, and learning how to do it myself. No, for now, virtual clothing is just fine. If I need a change, you´ll know.”
“You grew up in New York, didn´t you?”
“Yeah, my dad was in the garment business. So, it was natural for me to go to F.I.T. My mother left about the time I got out of high school, and I got real close to my dad for a while, until he died.”
“Not a lot of other family?” Sarah asked.
“No. Funny, too. Most Jewish families are ...”
“You´re Jewish?” Anne exploded, “Does Saul know? My God, wait until Muriel finds out.”
“Muriel´s his mom, right? Oh, my ... Well, you know, I´m not observant, haven´t been to synagogue since mother left. And she wasn´t what you´d call observant either ... Uh, let me tell Saul myself ... Oh, hell, it doesn´t matter. He´s so crazy about you, Anne.”
“How´d you end up here? Working for FedEx?” Mary inquired. “You told us you hated fashion for a while, but that´s all. We´ve been too busy to talk much.”
“Followed a guy out here – you know. I thought he was great, and he wasn´t. Needed a job and got that one. Nothing complex, just drifting.”
“Why´d you really drop fashion?” Heather asked. “You´re just too good to have hated it. Mary said you thought it was vicious and phony and that, but that can´t be all. Or, is it?”
“No. My dad spent my last year at F.I.T. dying of cancer. He wanted to see me graduate, made sure I did well even though he was sick. He lasted two weeks after graduation.”
Iris´s eyes were streaming, Heather went to her, pulled Iris´s head between her breasts and stroked her hair. After a while Iris hugged her back, sat up and blew her nose.
“So, when I graduated, I was like you guys – head of the class. Got all kinds of offers from the big companies, all that stuff. I was thinking about it and then my dad´s partner went off with everything they´d built together. Wouldn´t talk to me, sent me a check for fifty thousand dollars and a note that said he never wanted to see me again.
“That wasn´t so bad, really, it was only money. But he started bad-mouthing me around town, too. Nobody believed him, and I got some really good job offers anyway. Even one with Dior. By that time, though, I´d had it. I just left town. Went out to L.A. stayed with some of my friends from school, screwed every guy I met until I fell for the creep who brought me here and dropped me. I spent the six months I worked for FedEx sorting myself out.
“And then I made a pass at you.” Mary said.
“Yeah. Scared the shit out of me,” Iris smiled through her tears. “Almost couldn´t handle it. I´ll tell you, it took an act of faith to send you guys that note.”
“Move over Heather. I want to hug her, too,” Mary said as she moved around the table.
.oOo.
Someone built a fire downstairs in the evening, and they all settled down together. The TV was on for a while, but it was early when it went dark.
They slept late in the morning, rolling and cuddling until two of the men went upstairs and brought down pots of coffee and trays of English muffins.
They had splurged on a pool enclosure, and Anne and Saul and several others ran from the sauna along the enclosed boardwalk to the pool for a swim.
Lunch was turkey tostadas and re-fried beans, their Thanksgiving tradition. The rest of the day was a lazy mix of fire-watching, sauna, swimming, cuddling and loving.
Saturday morning was the same, except that Iris went to synagogue with Saul and Anne, and afterward, they all went off to prowl the malls and supermarkets, looking at the racks of VeeCees and VeeSes they had been almost too busy to investigate before.
On Sunday, the phone rang while they were all still snuggling on the Big Bed. Will answered.
“Hi, Harry. Saul´s busy right now. Yes, he´s here, but he´s busy. Who? Uh ... Heather. Yes, pretty soon, I think.” Will could hardly control his laughter. “Shall I put you on the speaker?”
“Happy Thanksgiving everyone!” Harry´s voice rang out. “Me, too,” said Muriel.
“Saul, you done yet?”
“Dad, I´m going to kill you.”
“So am I,” called Heather.
“Never mind, you can always start again, after. Guys, Muriel and I want to extend an invitation.”
“Sounds great, we accept,” called Tom.
“Not so fast, Tom,” Muriel said. “There´s a catch.”
“Okay, what is it?” Anne asked.
Harry said, “We´ve called all the others. We want to throw a party for you at New Years. The catch is, we want to have it at your place. We´ll do everything, you won´t have to move a finger.”
“How come?” Saul asked.
“We´re all proud of you, that´s why, and you´ve made all of us so happy the past year. It´s been a year of laughs and love and happiness and you´ve all done wonders. We want you to join us in celebrating it.”
Saul said, “Hands? ... You have a deal, Dad.”
“Great. Now one other thing. I want to talk to the Iris.”
“Iris, say hello, Harry,” Saul said, waving his arms.
“Hello, Harry,” they all chorused, then Iris, “Hello, Harry and Muriel. Thank you for calling us.”
“Welcome, Iris,” Muriel said, “we´re looking forward to meeting you.”
“Will?” Harry asked, “You gotten lazy or something? What´s with calling our new goddess by her real name?”
“Harry,” Will responded, “Iris was the goddess of rainbows and a messenger for the gods. Our Iris is – well, call it colorful, with that red hair and all. And, she´s the best field representative I´ve ever seen. Will that satisfy you?”
“Sure, just kidding you ... Iris, we saw you on that morning show you did here a while ago ...”
Muriel continued, “Iris, I got the impression those guys were giving you a hard time, but you really handled it well.”
Harry resumed, “What I liked was that you just turned and talked to the audience directly. Really shut ‘em up. Congratulations.”
“Thank you both. Very much.” Iris´s eyes were shining.
“Muriel,” Anne said, “Iris told us something Thursday you´ll want to know.”
“What, dear?”
“Mom, Iris is Jewish, too.” Saul blurted.
There was an instant´s pause, a chuckle, then a phony wail, “Oh, my God! Now it happens. Too late! Too late!” Muriel chuckled again. “Iris,” she went on, a smile in her voice, “all joking aside, a double welcome from Harry and me. We´re glad to have you with us. You´re with Ken and Mary aren´t you?”
“That´s right, Muriel. Just the thing for me.”
“Congratulations. And congratulations to you all. See you all at New Years.”