This Love

Thanksgiving Day Parade

Oh did I love writing these little snippets and piecing them all together... :)

Happy Thanksgiving to all those who celebrate! Regardless of the holiday, I am so very thankful to all of you who read my writing! Thank you!!!
🧡🧡🧡

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Happy

Happy groaned as he felt a little hand tap the side of his face. He'd heard her little footsteps when she walked into his room, but he'd ignored them. Angela usually left him alone if he was sleeping. Today was different, though. He knew what she wanted, and he had a feeling she wasn't going to go away. He opened his eyes to see her big dark eyes looking back at him. "Hap," she whispered, shaking his shoulder now. "Hap, the balloons!"

He knew she meant the big Thanksgiving Day parade in New York with the gigantic balloons. His four year old cousin had been talking about it the whole week. It was one of the few things she remembered about Thanksgiving, and since this was the first one without her father, he was willing to oblige her with whatever she wanted. She smacked him again, repeating, "Hap, the balloons!"

"All right, all right," he muttered, sitting up with a grunt. She was wearing a t-shirt and blue pajama pants with motorcycles on them. There were small goosebumps on her arms due to how cold his room in the garage was. He stood, grabbing a sweatshirt from his closet. "Arm's up."

She put her arms in the air, and he dropped the sweatshirt onto her, chuckling at how the fabric completely engulfed her. She giggled in response, peeking up at him from underneath the hood. "Balloons, Hap?"

He nodded, scooping her up onto his hip and carrying her towards the living room. He sat down in the big armchair with her, letting her snuggle into his side as he reached for the remote. He put on the damn Thanksgiving day parade, gently pulling down the hood of his sweatshirt on her so she could actually see. Angela cheered, clapping her sweatshirt-sleeved covered hands together. She was enraptured by the whole thing. Ooh-ing and Aah-ing over every new float, every balloon. Dancing in her seat with the singers and dancers. He couldn't help but smile just a little at her excitement, grateful something so simple could make her so happy. Things had been rough since her father's passing, and he was glad to see her smiling, hear her laugh. She was a much needed light in the darkness of grief that had invaded their house. He squeezed her side to get her attention. "You good, kid?" he asked.

She looked up at him, dark eyes sparkling happily.  "Yeah! This is the best!" she replied before sitting up slightly and pressing a kiss to his scruffy cheek. "Love you, Hap."

He smiled, nodding slowly. "Love you too, kid."

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Kozik

Kozik woke up with the feeling of something heavy on his legs. This was the first time he'd been invited to spend Thanksgiving with the Lowman-Ruiz family. He and Hap had gotten in late the night before, and he'd crashed on the couch. Opening one eye, he found Happy's eight year old cousin sitting at the other end of the couch, her legs draped over his calves. She was wearing the hoodie he'd thrown on the armchair the night before, and it looked more like a dress than anything. The big hood was pulled over her head, so she couldn't see him, hadn't noticed he was awake. The remote was in her hand, and she was bouncing her little legs excitedly as she surfed through the channels. Finally, she settled on one, and he couldn't help but grin when he saw the Thanksgiving Day parade on the screen. She made sure the volume was low, so as not to wake him. For someone so young, she was very considerate. He wondered how many times she'd been yelled out for blaring the TV when someone was sleeping.