"Happy Thanksgiving!" Madison said as Taylor walked into the kitchen where she and Diana were making the food for that night's dinner. The Hanson home was busting with activity that day; Davis, his vice president Louis and their families were over so they had to prepare for almost twenty people�it wasn't that much more than they were used to having for holidays, but with twenty different tastes she didn't really know, Diana had no idea what to make. She'd heard somewhere along the line Davis's youngest daughter Julie was a vegan, his oldest daughter just had a baby (and was bringing it along), and Louis's seven-year old son was allergic to turkey.
Taylor grumbled and plopped down on a chair at the kitchen table. Dinner would be served in the dining room later, where the ten adults would sit at the dinner table and two separate tables seated the other eight people. It would be rather crowded, but the room was big enough for most of them to move around without too much discomfort.
"Why so glum hotshot?" Madison asked, grinning at him. She'd been cooking all day with Diana and of course some of the other women helped out, but mostly she and Diana had been doing all of the work.
"Julie has been following me around all day." Madison giggled.
"Aww�Taylor she's just got a crush on you."
"I know! You would think she'd be shy about it! But no, no she has to follow me around all fricken day. I'm getting too old for this. She's fourteen."
"So? She's still allowed to think you're cute."
"Doesn't she realize it's incredibly illegal?"
"Probably not. All she knows is that her daddy's friends with this really hot 21-year-old guy and, hey, it don't bother her!"
"Well it bothers me. I told her brother to keep her away from me."
"Taylor! You are so bad!" Despite that, Madison laughed again and looked over at Diana who was adding marshmallows to the yams. "Mom, isn't he bad?"
"Oh, horrible. I think you should let her follow you around. When was the last time someone paid that much attention to you?"
"Before the war," Taylor muttered and stood up. "The food smells good."
"Of course it does, we're making it. You're just being a bother. Either do something productive or leave," Diana said. "Madison could use your help with the vegetables."
"Yeah, Taylor. I need someone to stop me from eating them all." As she spoke, she stuck a bit of raw pepper in her mouth. Taylor sighed, looking at them, obviously stricken between helping prepare food or going back out into the living room with the guests and risk being followed around by Julie again.
"I think I'll go check and see if Baby Jane is still asleep upstairs." He left the room.
"That is the most adorable baby I have ever seen," Madison said, dicing more peppers to compensate for the ones she'd been eating. Baby Jane came with her parents, decked in an oversized Bangles hat and tiny jersey (the Bangles were one of the teams playing football that particular day). She looked adorable and wore the hat without any question, although it was far too big for her. She'd been active all day, crawling all over the place, until she finally tuckered out about a half an hour beforehand and Diana had her stashed in one of the bedrooms for the remainder of her nap.
"Have you and Zac talked about having kids?" Madison paused a moment. She hadn't seen or talked to Zac in so long she'd almost forgotten they were engaged, and had completely forgotten that Diana knew. Madison turned around.
"Yeah," she said. "We talked about this a long time ago, before either of us had thought about getting engaged. He wants gobs of children and I didn't really want many because, obviously, the way the both of us grew up. He has a lot of brothers and sisters and I just had my brother. I think we compromised on three or four."
"So you definitely are going to have kids?"
"Oh, yeah! I want kids, I just don't want a million of them running around. Why? Are you eager to be a grandma?"
"Well, sort of, but mostly I miss having a baby around and I know you'll need help so I'm going to be around a lot." Madison smiled. "I just love babies and seeing Jane makes me think about having another one�if I hadn't promised myself I was done with Zo�."
"I think seven kids is enough, Mom."
"You never know."
"I am so glad you like me," Madison said suddenly. Diana stopped and looked at her. "Well, you know, there's all these people who get married and their mother-in-law hates them and they can't get along with anybody and all this jazz, but I've never had a problem with you."
"I think that's because you're a very likable person, Madison. You do good things for other people and that's always a bonus in my book." Madison smiled and turned around, continuing to chop her vegetables.
Dinner was served at nearly five o'clock. At the main table sat Diana and Walker, Madison and Taylor, Davis and his wife, Louis and his wife, and Davis's oldest daughter Virginia and her husband. Jessica sat with Davis's son Steven, who was a year older than Jess, Avery, and Julie. At another table sat Louis's son Andrew, Mackenzie, and Zo�. Baby Jane was still upstairs asleep, but when she would wake up, she'd join her parents at the main dinner table.
"As is tradition around here, after we say grace everyone has to go around and say one thing you're thankful for over this past year," Diana said. Diana led the group of people in saying grace, and looked at Madison to start.
"Everyone knows what I'm thankful for," she began, "but I'll say it again anyway. I'm incredibly thankful for Davis and his dedication and help over this past year and the years before that. Because of him, everybody's coming home."
Taylor was next. "Well I'm thankful for Mom, and Madison of course, for making such a lovely dinner for all of us this year, and for putting up with us all day. And to the both of them for putting up with me all year." Madison grinned and looked next to Taylor at Davis.
"I am also thankful for Diana and for Walker for inviting us here today, but mostly, I'm thankful for Madison and for Zac, who isn't here physically but we know wherever he is, he's thinking of us. Without them none of this would have been possible." Davis's wife, Stephanie, opened her mouth for her turn when the phone rang. Startled, she paused.
"Who would be calling us now?" Diana asked.
"I'll get it," Madison said, standing. "Excuse me, I'll be right back." She ran into the kitchen and picked up the phone. The conversation continued in the dining room, just a few feet away. "Hello?"
"Hello, I'm dreadfully sorry to call on Thanksgiving, but is either Diana or Walker Hanson available?"
"They're both eating dinner right now. May I ask who is calling?"
"Oh, excuse me. My name is Sergeant Boyd with the US Army. To whom am I speaking to?"
"This is Madison Ashton."
"Ah, Miss Ashton, yes I've heard of you. Is it possible that I could speak to either Diana or Walker?" His voice was very remorseful but stern.
"What's going on?" Madison asked, her voice soft. She immediately knew something was wrong. Why would anybody from the army be calling in the middle of dinner on Thanksgiving if something wasn't wrong?
"I think it would be best if I spoke to one of�"
"What's going on?" Madison yelled. The conversation in the dining room stopped and everyone looked at her; she could feel their eyes on her but it didn't even register. Her back was turned away from them.
"I'm afraid Zac was present when the North Korean army launched a surprise attack on Seoul, dropping bombs, one landing on the camp Zac was located." Madison put a shaky hand to her lips.
"Oh my God," she said, her body trembling noticeably. "Oh my God! Is he�is he all right?"
"He's in a coma in a hospital in Seoul." Despite the news, she had to let out a sigh of relief. He wasn't dead. "His condition has been promoted to stable this afternoon but he was in intensive care for quite some time."
"So�what's going to happen, what's going on?"
"We would like to transport him back to the United States, however, we'd need consent to do so. There is a risk that his condition might worsen if he was flown back home." Madison paused.
"What about Isaac?"
"Who?"
"Isaac Hanson, his brother. He was stationed at the same place."
"I'm just a doctor here at the hospital; I haven't heard about any Isaac Hanson so he's all right. He wasn't killed or injured, otherwise I would have been notified." It lifted her spirits a bit. At least he wasn't hurt. "Could I possibly speak to one of his parents?"
"Yeah�sure." Madison put her hand over the speaker and turned back to the room of people, all impatiently waiting and fearing the worst. "It's Zac." Diana took in a short breath. "There was a bomb dropped on his camp or something and he's in a coma. They need to speak with one of you." Diana stood up and took the phone from Madison, going deeper into the kitchen. Madison stoically walked back to the table and took her seat. Everyone was looking down at their empty plates, not bothering to serve themselves any food. She couldn't speak for everyone, but she wasn't hungry any longer.
When Diana came out of the kitchen, Madison was the only one who dared to look up at her. The silence was so thick she was afraid to speak, and fortunately, Diana began to speak for her. "I'm allowing them to bring him back here," she said, her voice timidly quiet. "I think it'll be best if when he wakes up he's not there. There is a risk that the change in air pressure will affect him, but it's worth it for him to be home. He should be here this time tomorrow."
Madison stood up. "I'm not hungry any longer," she said and turned around. As she ran out of the room, the rest of the group agreed. The kids started clearing the tables.
"Hey," Madison said, and sheepishly pushed her dark hair behind her ears. These kinds of things were always so weird. What exactly do you say to a person in a coma? Taking a seat, she huddled herself into a little ball as far away from her future husband as possible. It was the first time she'd seen him since August became September but it wasn't him lying in that cold white hospital bed. This wasn't the person that left. Amongst all the tubes and wires that kept some kind of life flowing through him, his soft features were corroded with the pain of war and enough stitches to keep a med student busy all day.
Looking over his seemingly lifeless body, she felt herself begin to cry. Her vision blurred over with tears and she felt a numbing chill start her hairline and work its way to her toes, a feeling she always got when she was ready to cry. She pressed her lips together and took his left hand. "I found you a ring a few days ago; I know you were so worried I wouldn't like mine you didn't even think about yourself. I know you'll like it." His hands were frozen, but she couldn't blame him. It was nearly arctic weather in this damn hospital. "I love you, you know. You have to come back to me now. I know you, Zac, and you won't let this war beat you. You have been fighting and fighting ever since the beginning and you won, Zac! Davis is the president now and as soon as he gets into office he's going to bring everybody back home and he's going to keep them home. Smith isn't going to be able to get a job shining shoes now�not after what he did to you. Nobody in their right mind would give him a job. He might as well retire and move away. He can go to Korea." She smiled to herself. "I missed you. Things were so boring here without you. There's only so much I can do by myself when it's clear that everyone just likes me because of you."
She shut her mouth and leaned back in her chair. This had to be one of the weirdest things she'd ever done. She was talking to nothing. It was like talking to him while he was asleep. She'd never done that before because she knew he couldn't hear her and she knew that there was no point. There was no point to this. He'd never be able to remember. She decided to leave and got up and walked out of his room.