The month of November was flying by quickly. It was Thanksgiving. The whole family was in the living room watching the Macy’s parade. I was preparing dinner. I could hear the kids giggling. It brought a smile to my face.

I was cutting up potatoes when Nick entered the kitchen.

“How’s it going? You need some help?” He sat down at the island.

“It’s all good. You can stay and talk to me.”

“What are our plans for the day?”

“Dinner should be ready by two.  Kevin wants us to come over for dessert around five.” I placed the potatoes in the mixer.

“Who’s all going to be there?”

“My mom, Brian, and the girls. Kevin wanted to keep it low key this year.”

“That’s good. You don’t need to be around a lot of stress right now.” Nick walked to the fridge and took out the pumpkin pie.

“Yeah, we have enough stress of our own. Stop eating all the pie. I think you’ve gained five pounds in the last week.” I rubbed his belly. He was definitely gaining weight.

“I can’t help it. Every time you get pregnant, I gain a ton of weight.” He sprayed a ton of whipped cream on his pie.

“I can’t help it, that you get all of the pregnancy cravings.” I teased.

I started taking out the ingredients for the pumpkin cheesecake I was making for later in the day. A wave of morning sickness came my way. I set down the cream cheese and ran to the bathroom.

I sat on the cool tiled floor after puking my guts out for the second…no third time today. It was only ten thirty. All I wanted to do was curl up in the covers and go to sleep.

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The table was filled with a ton of food and my beautiful family. I was thankful for all of them.

“I hungwy. I wanna eat some turk...ay.” Lucas smiled at me.

“Who would like to say grace?”

“I will.” Rachel volunteered. “Dear God, thank you for this blessed day. Bless our family and the food we are about to eat. We are truly grateful for what you have given our family. May we continue to be blessed?  Amen.”

Food started to be passed around. I wasn’t even hungry. I helped the triplets with the food they wanted. I placed a slice of turkey and some mashed potatoes on Logan’s plate. She started shaking her head no.

“Lo Lo you need to eat.” I said calmly as I placed cranberry sauce on her plate. She continued to shake her head.

“Sweetie, just take one bite for daddy.” Nick tried to get her to settle down. She was not listening to either of us.

“Watch it. You almost knocked over my milk.” Aiden screamed. That got my attention.

“Can everyone just calm down and eat quietly.” Nick suggested. The older kids just rolled their eyes. They weren’t doing anything but trying to eat dinner.

I watched everyone quietly eating. Liam was making a mess. He was eating with his fingers instead of a fork. There was food up to his elbows.

“Liam James, please use your fork.”  He smiled at me.

“But it tastes so much betterer with my fingys.” Liam stuck his fingers in his mashed potatoes and gravy, and then stuck them in his mouth. I was slowly starting to lose my patience.

Dinner was actually quiet for once. Usually there was lots of talking going on. The pregnancy was making me irritable. Nick was annoying me by ignoring what was going on at the dinner table. I looked over and saw Aiden and Jackson elbowing each other for the last crescent roll.  Before I could say anything, Aiden’s cup of milk was on the floor. Milk splattered onto Rachel.

“Would you two stop? Look you got milk everywhere, including my plate.” Rachel hissed. She was ready to kill her brothers. Lucas and Liam started laughing. Aiden started crying.

“Enough. Can we try to have a relaxing dinner? Jackson, go get a rag to wipe up the milk.” Jackson sighed and got up.

“Why do I have to do everything?” He mumbled as he left the room.

I was ready to cry. Thanksgiving was not turning out the way I had planned.

Liam was under the table licking up the milk.

“Look mommy! Liam is a kitty cat. He’s drinking like a kitty cat.” Lucas shouted.

“Liam James, you need to be in your seat by the count of three. One. Two. Three.”

Liam James crawled out from under the table. He had the biggest smile on his face. I think he was proud of the fact that he licked up milk like a cat.

“Meow…Mee-ow…Meow. I’m a kitty cat.”

“Liam, mommy asked you to sit down. Please follow directions.” Nick reminded his son.

Jackson came back and started to clean up what Liam didn’t lick up. When he was finished, Jackson slumped on his chair.

I thought everything would settle down after that, but clearly I was wrong. I noticed Lo Lo had not eaten anything on her plate. She was busy staring into space.

“Lo Lo, take a bite of your cranberries.” I encouraged.

She looked at me and shoved her plate on the floor. Then she started screaming and crying. Logan jumped off her chair and ran into the living room. I started to get up and chase her.

“Mom, I’ll go get her.” Rachel dashed out of the room.

Tears started to fall from my eyes.

“Are you okay, baby girl?” Nick asked in concern.

“Does everything look okay?” I snapped at him.

“I’m sorry things are such a disaster.”

“Well you aren’t helping by just sitting there. I can’t do it all myself.”

“Maybe that’s why you shouldn’t have eight kids.” Jackson muttered under his breath so no one could hear.

“I am so sorry that you’re dad knocked me up and it interferes with your social status. I’m sorry I try to take care of all of you and no one gives a crap.” I stood up and walked out on Thanksgiving dinner.

“Jackson that was uncalled for. You’re mom is doing her best to make today perfect. Finish your dinner.” They all ate in silence.

-------------------------------

Nick walked into our bedroom. I was sitting on the window seat. I was not in a good mood.

“Ashton, I’m sorry about what happened at dinner.” Nick apologized. I continued to ignore him.

He sat down next to me. I turned my back to him. I was in no mood to talk to him or anyone else. I wanted to be left alone. I wanted to runaway and never come back. The tears were still falling from my eyes.

“Baby, wipe your eyes.  Cause I don’t want to see you cry.” He sang to me. “I don't want you thinking I'm a bad guy.”

“Nick stop it. This is not the time to be singing to me. I’m upset. I don’t feel good. I just want to be left alone.” I growled at him.

“Ashy, it’s almost time to go to Kevin’s.”

“I’m not going. I don’t feel like being around happy people. I’m going to bed. I’ll see you when you get back.”

“How am I going to get seven kids to Kevin’s by myself?” Nick asked with annoyance.

“I’m sure you can figure it out. If I can do it everyday, I’m sure you can do it this one time.” I got up and walked into the bathroom. I closed the door and locked it. I was done with Nick for now.

Lyrics: Funny Face by Backstreet Boys