A/N: Here is the fourth installment of my story! I wanted to make this chapter focused around Carter's extended family, and Thanksgiving is right around the corner so I decided to make it a Thanksgiving family dinner scene. As always thanks to anyone reading my story, I hope you are liking it so far. Don't forget to vote and review! Also for the record I'm basing Daphne's family off of Scooby-Doo Mystery Incorporated and I am basing Fred's parents off of Scooby-Doo Pirates Ahoy (Because I'm not a fan of the whole family situation in MI). This chapter is very long which is my way for making it up to you guys since I haven't updated in a while. Anyway here you go...

Date: November 25 (Thanksgiving Day)

Oh Thanksgiving...that awkward holiday in between Halloween and Christmas. There isn't really any decorations or hype for Thanksgiving, no candy sales, lights, or presents, just a bunch of food. I mean you can't go wrong with food ever, but still the minuet Halloween is over Christmas lights go up and the inflatable snowmen start to inch their way into front yards. I guess there is always black Friday, which I have absolutely no doubt that my mom will participate in that. She should probably talk to someone about her shopping addiction, but you know for now it's probably fine. She will most likely come back at an insane hour of the morning with a ton of shopping bags in hand full of various clothes and gifts for everyone and that will be the end of her Christmas shopping extravaganza. I always tell her specifically beforehand that all I want is some new books or the newest game counsel (*cough* *cough* the Nintendo Switch *cough* please), but she will end up getting me some 'trendy' and 'hip' clothes from stores that I have never heard of. I swear that woman is trying so hard to live out her teenage years again vicariously through me even though her and I are almost complete opposites. I guess she was a little disappointed when I started veering to the tomboy route when her master plan/idea of mother daughter spa days, tea parties, and shopping sprees were sorta crushed.

Anyway off of that tangent, it is Thanksgiving day which means for me being dragged to my grandparents house , more like mansion though it's even way bigger than ours, for a family gathering. My mother's parents consider themselves elite members of society and don't mind to flaunt their wealth whenever possible, as opposed to my mom and dad who are thankfully more modest. My father's parents (Skip and Peggy Jones) are your usual down to earth, loving, cheerful grandparents, whom I love dearly, but since we went to their house last year for Thanksgiving it was time now to spend time with the Blake side.

I look down at my outfit my usual sweatpants/sweatshirt combo and after a hard debate between myself so I change into something more formal, don't want to make my mom mad if I presented myself to my grandparents looking like a hobo. Can I help it though? In my mind comfort always trumps presentation as opposed to my mother's mindset on that oh so touchy topic. She will even argue with my dad if he is wearing two different shades of blue together out in public, consider that a lesson learned from both my dad and I.

After throwing on a semi-comfortable black and grey sweater dress with black leggings and a pair of nice black leather boots. Looking in my bathroom mirror fixing the large mess that is my brown curly hair, after ten minuets of attempt of taming it, I decide that I look good enough so I head downstairs to the living room to wait for my parents to finish getting ready. The remote appears in my hand as I turn on the TV gearing up for some free time to watch something as my mom probably is going to be a while. I look at the grandfather clock in the corner of the room as it displays 3 pm figuring I have about 45  minutes until we leave to be there at 4:30. It's kinda nice that were they live in Crystal Cove is not too far from where we are in Coolsville, unlike my grandma and grandpa Jones who reside in Orlando Florida which is a considerable amount away from us in Ohio. It's always a bonus when visiting them because I can visit both DisneyWorld and Universal whenever I'm down there which is my favorite thing to do. I flip through channels on the flat screen upon the wall as I chill on our large L couch looking until I find a show that interests me. Today Wilkinson has the day off being a Holiday, but I can't help to wonder what he is up to, so far he is probably having a better Thanksgiving than me sitting here alone on the couch, wait I can't quite say alone now as Hank wonders into the room joining me on the couch. I finally decide on watching Ghost Adventures on Travel Channel because that show is quality and ghost hunting is always funny to watch because it's such a joke. Twenty minutes into my show I hear someone walk downstairs and the doors to the family room open entering my father. He is wearing nice blue dress pants and a white sweater, he cleans up nice when he wants to or when my mother wants him too, which is most likely this case.

"Dang dad, don't you look nice?" I exclaim as he starts walking over the the couch.

"Ya I guess I do don't I?" he says in a posh manner looking at his refection in the mirror beside the nearby wall.

I laugh out loud at this and he can't help but laugh a little too as we both realize the only reason why we have to look this fancy is because we have to endure a evening trying to impress my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and multiple cousins. My dad and I are the most alike due to the both of us being simple people, having a knack for inventing, and of course our love of food. It is hard to not find either of us with some kind of snack in our hand, which sometimes bothers my mom because she isn't too keen on our slightly unhealthy eating habits. I'm still young mom so let me live my life I can worry about that later, as for my dad tho maybe he should consider following that advice, but I'll let him do him.

We watch TV for a couple more minutes until my mom finally comes down. My dad, being the gentleman he is, stood up when she walked through the door.

"Daphne you look absolutely beautiful!" my father said complimenting her appearance. My mother smiled at this and kissed him on the cheek.

She was dressed in a luxurious purple dress with a subtle silver geometric necklace hanging around her neck and black heels to top the outfit off. Never as there been a time that my mother fails to look 100% her best at any given moment, especially when she tries to dress good for a certain occasion.

I grab the remote and turn off the TV initiating us leaving. "Yeah mom you look really good!" I say enthusiastically standing up walking over to them.

"So are we ready to go gang?" my dad says as he puts his arm around my mother's waist.

My mother inhales nervously and rests her head upon my father's broad shoulders "Ready as we will ever be I guess."

"Don't worry mom I'm sure everything will be fine " I say reassuring her. I can see her nerves showing in her expression probably due to the fact that she needs everything to be perfect tonight. Like me, her relationship with her parents is kinda complicated. My grandparents on my mother's side are very wealthy and well off even more so than us. They had six daughters with my mother being the youngest. When my mother was my age still figuring out her life, my aunts had all possessed successful careers by then and my grandparents were pressuring my mom to do the same. She had a lot to live up to and most times felt like she was disappointing her parents. Sounds familiar right? That is why she feels so stressed out during these family events, not going to lie but I feel some of that too. It's always a little awkward being around that side of my family as I am most of the time the odd one out. Basically tonight's just going to me at a dinner table surrounded by a bunch of successful judge-prone gingers, thank God there will be good food. That is the one thing I can count on which I am very thankful for.

I say goodbye to Hank and give him a milk-bone, because dogs deserve Thanksgiving treats too, as we leave for the garage to head for the car. Opening the door to the garage reveals the small army of various sport cars, which surprisingly is my dads new favorite past time. I spot my compact black Audi near the end of the line of cars and dread taking it to school once this Thanksgiving break is over with. My dad starts heading towards the mustang, but my mom gives a cough suggesting him to stray away from that idea and instead they agree to take the jet black Cadillac Escalade. My dad hops in the driver seat and my mom sits shotgun next to him while I sit quietly in the back seat opening my book to pass the time during the drive. I glance out of the window taking in every inch of my surrounding, looking at the beauty of the forestry and occasional cornfield, I mean we are in Ohio so your'e going to end up seeing a cornfield once in a while; or even better you might run into the occasional Grandpa's Cheese Barn. Just by looking outside I see the familiar scenery leading to my grandparents estate. As we near our final destination I can tell my mom is getting more nervous as her breath staggers, my dad senses it too and reaches one hand off the steering wheel to hold her hand reassuring her that everything will be fine. I will never stop adoring how much my parents love each other, like for real actual relationship goals. I can't help but smile looking up from my book at them then suddenly that moment vanishes in time as we pull up to the gate leading to their driveway. My mom punches in the six number code and both door of the gate open up revealing the gigantic household. As usual we are a tad bit late to this family gather, but it's probably fine.

We exit the car, my parents still hand in hand, and head to the dark mahogany double doors signaling the grand entrance of the house. I was in charge of the hostess gift which means i had to lug a semi large bouquet of arranged flowers up the long drive way, especially since we had to park behind all five of my aunts' cars, to the door. My mom rings the doorbell after taking in a deep breath and it opens to a staff member who greats us, takes our coats, and leads us into the foyer where all the Blake clan is gathered. Walking down the hall it is hard not to notice all the intricate artwork, furniture, decorations, and especially portraits of the family that lead from the door to the main part of the house. My eyes can't help but catch the largest most extravagant piece hanging on the wall which is a picture of the entire family in a rose garden. Looking back, I can remember that day so well. We had to drive very far out of our way to this so called 'secret garden' place and of course my dad managed to get us lost as he doesn't always trust the GPS, so it took the Jones family a lot of extra time to finally find it.

I slide my feet down the slippery freshly waxed wooden floorboards lagging slightly behind my parents and even farther away from our guide as I tend to be the slow one out of most people. Finally we head into the foyer and everyone stops their conversations and look at us as we are introduced.

"I now present the Jones's arrival" declares the staff member. It takes some getting used to being a part of all this fancy smanchy crap so I fidget and look awkwardly around as this is happening trying to pretend that this lifestyle is normal. After this totally necessary announcement is made he then exits the room taking the flowers from me to probably find a vase to display them in.

I feel a bit overwhelmed with all the people in front of me, I mean with my mom being one of six sisters our extended family is rather large. You have my aunt Daisy who is a well acclaimed doctor with her husband James and three sons, considerably my cousins, Benjamin(23), Steven(21) and Jackson(18). Then we have my aunt Dawn who is a model with her husband Nate and their daughter Carly(13). Next is my aunt Delilah the marine corps general and uncle Frank with their two sons Ronald(19) and Harold(15). Following her is my aunt Dorthy the world famous race car driver and her husband Phillip and their twins Samantha(10) and Luke(10). Then finally there is the oldest out of my mom's sisters Denise the astronaut and her husband Terrance. Also I can't forget my grandmother Nan Blake and my grandfather Barty Blake they're basically in charge and the most invested in this family.

"Oh Daphne it has been too long! You look so nice dear" my grandmother said being the first to speak out as she gave my mother a small hug.

My father walked over to my grandfather shaking his hand wishing him a happy Thanksgiving and then walked back joining my mom. I don't usually like these type of social greeting things, but I gave a small wave and smile to my aunts, uncles, and cousins as I was approached by my grandmother being bombarded with questions about every aspect of my life per usual.

"Oh Carter it is so nice to see you too! What have you been up to? Hows school? Any boyfriend that I should know about? How's college shopping?" I swear these questions never end.

"I'm doing well grandma I guess, school is fine and it's nice to see you too" I reply back only answering like two out of the infinite questions she previously asked me.

My grandfather then chimes in "So Fred, how is the company doing? I've heard nothing but good things about it, I'm very proud of you son."

"Yes sir Trap-Co is thriving as usual. Stocks are rising and business is booming" My father replies.

"Glad to hear you Jones' are doing well, someone needs to support my baby girl Daphne"

After hearing this comment made by my grandfather my mother scoffed and fired back "You know dad I have a job too...Maybe you've seen me on my national broadcast television show Coast to Coast reporting and following news stories?"

"Oh yes Daphne how could I forget about that little hobby of yours. In fact I have it recorded sweetie" he responds.

My mother lets out a big sigh claiming defeat and walks over to socialize with my aunts. I decide to follow her but instead I veer off to join my cousins; lets keep these awkward conversations rolling shall we? Now out of my cousins I am the middle one out off all the them which just fits the stereotype of me being the odd one out. Not am I the only brunette as the rest possess the famous Blake red hair trait or had blonde locks, but I also have basically nothing in common with them. Aside from being a larger male presence in the Blake grandchildren you would think the girls would team up, but I swear Carly has it out for me and Samantha is just too young to care about anything. I come up to Jackson who is the closest one to me in age and try to strike up an intelligent and stimulating conversation.

That plan automatically fails as he just takes this talk as an excuse to brag about himself and how well he is doing in college and how he has his perfect life right on track. I can't help but tune him out as he continues on and begin to think about my own future. Hell, I have no idea what I want to do with my life. How do all these people have everything set in stone and just steam rolling their way down their path so fast? I guess it's just good old fashioned Blake enthusiasm and success, which I somehow managed to dodge in the gene pool. Just my luck. I come back from the thoughts inside my head by the shrill ringing of a bell indicating that dinner had been served. We all make our way to the gigantic luxurious dining table and take our seats carefully pointed out by name place cards. Typically my mom, dad, and I were placed towards the end of the table while my aunt Denise and her husband sit next to my grandparents at the head of the table.

I overhear most of the conversations around me which range from business to politics to the hype of the fast approaching black Friday sales. Again my first instinct is tuning them all out as I am hypnotized by the beauty that is the grand amount of food placed in front of me. I look at my dad and he looks back at me and we just have this unspoken conversation about how good this food is about to be. My mom slaps us both out of it as she coughs alerting us that we are about to say grace. I grab my father's and my uncle Phillip's hands and just start the countdown before I can dive in. I swear I'm really just here for the food; does that sound bad? Probably, but I don't care. Finally we finish saying grace and I immediately take a chunk of the roasted turkey in front of me accidentally bumping into my dad's reach as he had the same idea as me.

As I was peacefully enjoying my meal, I was interrupted mid bite of my roll by my aunt Daisy as she asked "So Carter...what colleges are you leaning towards?" Ugh no please no I do not want to discuss and declare my unknown future with everybody as they all stop their own side conversations and listen for my response.

"Umm actually I don't know yet exactly. I am still browsing around. Things like this take some time you know?" I reply.

My grandfather decides to chime in as well.

"Well Carter why don't you look into Darrow University. You know all your aunts graduated from there. There even is a entire building baring the Blake family name."

I take a moment to digest his statement and say "Yes I am aware of that, but I'm just not entirely sure that Darrow is the school for me."

As soon as those words come out of my mouth my entire family gasps in shock. I mean they're probably thinking how a school that is good enough for them isn't a good fit for me. And that's it just because all my aunts and cousins have attended that school it automatically means that I'm going. I like to embrace my differences and stand out from the pack that is my family. I immediately crossed Darrow University off my list the moment I began to search for schools. This is just the first step of me forging my own path.

My dad then backs me up a bit, thank God I can't handle much of this awkward judgmental silence, by saying "Finding the right school can be extremely hard, but I'm sure we will find the perfect fit for Carter whether that be Darrow or not."

This response is totally understandable coming from my dad as he and my mom did not attend Darrow either as they went out of state to the semi less prestigious Waterford University. And again back then after hearing this news, my grandparents were anything but excited for them to go to a school that wasn't Darrow.

My mother looked between both my dad and I and sensed our helplessness as we were both being stared down, so she promptly changed the subject asking her sister Dawn how her modeling career was coming along. Rule number one for the Blakes, if you want to avoid a topic just ask any Blake member about their life and they will completely change the subject to focus on them. Not going to lie I have done this a few times with my mom when she starts asking me personal stuff, I just turn it all back to her and her TV show.

Dinner finally slows down as the variety of deserts ranging from pumpkin pie to cinnamon rolls to creme brulee have all been consumed. Coats are gathered from the closet and are put on in preparation for the cold fall Ohio breeze that will greet us outside. Small hugs are exchanged between family members and talks of Christmas plans are discussed. I shove my hands in my pockets and leave the estate with memories of the grand feast that I was blessed with, also trying to attempt to forget all the awkward conversations and moments