The sisters and brothers creep up on Thanksgiving

Ellington confronts the turkey, with thanks here.

Ellington and Henri's parents had to be "away" for Thanksgiving so of course the boys spent the holiday with Ambulancia and Sireena's family, where hi-jinks were the order of the day.   Of any day.  They even traded their signature bow ties for the popular "four-in-hand" in splashy cranberry, roast turkey and pumpkin pie colors.  The girls' father complimented both brothers on their mastery of that sometimes elusive knot.  Dexterous chaps they were.

Had the brothers not been there, Ambulancia and Sireena might have been a bit mopey.  Their next-door neighbor, Nadine, who was in high school, was due to start a Christmas job on Friday.  She, lucky cat, would be working in both the craft and toy sections of the best department store in town, possibly any town, selling doll clothes, crepe paper, crayons, all sorts of gummed seals, ribbon by-the-yard and small metal sports cars with doors that opened.  Nadine loved to, as she called it, "go thrifting" with the girls and their mother and though she was nearly grown up also loved to frolic with the sisters among their costumes and oddities.  They would miss her being around once vacation started but they also envied her hands-on, not to mention paying, job in a retail wonderland.  And she was getting an employee discount.  Great sighing ensued when the news broke.  Nadine knew she would see the girls often as the days crept up on Christmas.

From their existing and not insubstantial stash of new and salvaged crepe paper, the girls made nut cups for all the dinner guests, an assembly that included but was not limited to one grandmother, two honorary uncles who baked the best pies, an older cousin who made them all laugh and first-time visitors their father invited for "it seemed the thing to do."  It was a tradition with him.  Some came back, year after year, while others appeared only once.  Regardless, they were always a perfect match for the party and the girls loved every exotic, aromatic and/or glittering facet of them.  Away from the holiday season, they often exchanged postcards, for which the girls insisted on using fountain pens.

An Ambulancia/Sireena holiday nut cup.  Source.

Henri, being of the most serious frame of mind, asked to say grace and all took turns, as they held hands, speaking of that for which they were most grateful.  Then the laughter started and, over the clink of cutlery accompanied by polite chewing, the most frequently heard sound was someone's quietly issued "Heh heh."