It made him truncate a slice of breast shorter than he’d wanted it, but he didn’t give a fuck.
He looked sideways at her.
“Okay?” she asked softly.
“The best I’ve ever been,” he answered honestly.
Her eyes widened at that.
Then her face got soft, he was reminded again just how freaking beautiful she was, and she gave him what he needed in that moment.
She let it go and finished whipping the potatoes mostly leaning into his side.
He stood strong to hold her upright and carved turkey.
Eventually, though, Pepper got busy with putting the potatoes in a bowl, pouring the gravy in a boat, and sorting anything left, with excellent timing because he was finished with the bird.
“Juno! Where’d you go? We’re good to sit down and give thanks,” she called as Auggie carried the platter to an island that was now crammed with food.
They hadn’t had time to do his hush puppies, and with all that food, it seemed like that was an auspicious turn of events.
Auggie was hungry and looking forward to eating.
What Auggie wasn’t going to do in that moment was allow it to hit him how he’d never seen that much food on a family table at which he’d had a place.
But he’d decided ten minutes earlier that this, in all its incarnations, was going to be his future.
That meant the time to let the past slide away was while he’d been standing on Pepper’s back patio.
And the time to get used to it was now.
“Juno! Dollface! It’s turkey ti…”
Pepper trailed off and Auggie went stiff as Juno showed at the end of the hallway.
Gone was the Juno of ten minutes ago who was excited about their Thanksgiving table and Auggie’s pint glass.
She now looked scared out of her mind.
And she did because behind her stood Brett “Cisco” Rappaport.
Well…
Shit.
“Okay,” Juno said fast, her gaze glued to her mother. “I know this is sneaky and I know sneaky is bad, but I asked Mr. Cisco—”
He felt Pepper tense beside him for some reason at those last two words, and Juno kept talking.
“—to have dinner with us because he helped me make today what it is because he helped me get you and Auggie together, Momma. And you can’t be too mad, because you were being silly about it, and now you’re not being silly and Auggie’s here and we’re all happy.”
He heard Pepper take in a breath.
Juno kept going.
“And also, Mr. Cisco should have someone to have Thanksgiving with. And I asked him, and he said he didn’t. And he should. Because I’m thankful for him. And you should be thankful for him. And I like him, and he’s been looking out for me and you guys and I just think…I think…”
Damn.
She was losing it.
Just when he thought he’d have to step in, she found it again.
“I think he should be our friend and friends have friends over for Thanksgiving.”
After that, no one said anything, but Auggie put his hand on Pepper’s back, preparing to take a hit for Juno, or even Cisco, explaining how this went down, and that he knew about it, if Pepper lost it.
“How…exactly…did you and…Mr. Cisco…make today happen?” she asked.
Auggie moved even closer to her and began to speak.
He didn’t get a word out.
“That was my doing, Pepper,” Cisco lied. “With you the last of the four women who had yet to take the plunge, I decided—”
“Mr. Cisco,” Juno cut him off quietly.
He shut up and looked down at her.
She shook her head.
He then looked to his shoes when Juno turned her attention back to her mom.
“He’s fibbing for me because it was me,” she kept talking quietly. “I got his number from Auntie Ryn’s phone and I called him and asked him to help me, and he did and he gave me a phone so it would be safe for us to talk to each other because I…I…um, met him at Fortnum’s when I was supposed to be at Emily’s house—”
Pepper sucked breath.
“—and I know I need to give the phone back, and I will. And I swear, swear I never used it for anything except to talk to Mr. Cisco. But I don’t want to give Mr. Cisco back because…because…” Juno took Cisco’s hand and Aug didn’t miss how it instantly engulfed Juno’s or how the man got a little closer to her, “…because he’s nice to me and he listens to me and he told me to tell Dad how I was feeling and I didn’t so it got bottled up and burst all over the place today and he’s my friend and—”
“Baby, be quiet and take a breath,” Pepper said softly.
Juno’s body startled and her expression grew hopeful as she did as she was told.
After she did, Pepper said, “I think there’s quite a bit of this to go over, and we’ll talk about it some other time. Not now. Not tonight. Today has been a lot for all of us. So I think we need to talk about what we’re thankful for and then eat.”