Work Text:
Gathering Around The Christmas Table
by Pirate Turner
JD stared at the banquet laid out before him. He had thought he was hungry before, but now, as his stomach growled audibly, he realized just how truly famished he really was. It seemed as though a hundred delicious aromas were battling to gain control of his nose and lead him to them first, and his mouth watered at the thought of just one bite of anything upon the fancy table.
Josiah's stomach felt like a lion, and he clutched one hand to it underneath his jacket. He hadn't seen so much food presented on one table in years! Roast turkey and baked ham glistened with fragrant juices. Casseroles of every imaginable kind beckoned him, and every vegetable that was possible to be had at this time of the year tempted him from their platters. Yellow goodness peeped up at him from opened egg halves, and the three big bowls of dressing each took turns calling his name. The rolls and other breads looked every bit as tempting as the pies and cakes that filled the rest of the table.
But manners had to come first. The preacher swallowed his hunger and looked up at the ladies who stood proudly on the other side of the table. "I do believe I've never seen so much delicious food gathered together in one place before, ladies. You have our deepest gratitude."
"It's the least we could do to honor the magnificent men who protect our town," Mary was the first to speak.
"Please, senors," Inez added as she gestured for the plates, "do dig in."
"I made these rolls," Casey interjected as she handed JD one. The kid took it and tried not to grimace at the hard texture that met his palm. At Casey's expectant look, he quickly told her, "Can't eat without a blessing. Ain't that right, Josiah?"
"Indeed," Josiah murmured, watching the two youngest in their group. He wondered what Maude had made but didn't have to ponder the question long before she spoke.
"An' don't forget we have sweet tea an' freshly squeezed," she said, smiling up at Josiah from underneath veiled eyes, "lemonade to wash it all down with. Y'all just tell us what you want, and we'll fix yoah glasses for you."
Josiah breathed a silent sigh of relief. Drinks the dear lady might be able to manage, but he feared her cooking would prove to be worse than Casey's, if the occasion ever merited such. He grinned as he watched her preparing the glasses. Somehow he really couldn't see Maude cooking and was certain she'd vow it was beneath her.
"Not yet, Vin Tanner!"
"Ow! Nettie, that hurt," Vin complained as he drew his hand back.
"No, it didn't, ya big lug," Nettie replied with a grin.
He smiled bashfully back, then shrugged his shoulders in admission.
"You leave those desserts alone," Nettie instructed, "'til you've eaten good an' proper."
"Yes, ma'am." Vin proceeded to fill his plate with meat, vegetables, casseroles, breads, and piles of potatoes, both the normal and the sweet kind. He paused and looked thoughtfully at a corn dish with red and green peppers.
"Take mah assurance," Ezra told him while flashing Inez a smile that made his gold tooth glisten and taking a spoonful of the dish in question himself, "it is a delicious Mexican dish."
Always open to try new foods, Vin took the spoon after the gambler and ladled some onto his own plate. He moved on to the next dish but looked up again when he heard Chris chuckle. The sound brought an instant smile to the sharpshooter's lips, and then he laughed, as well, when he saw what Chris had caught Chris' attention. "Think ya have enough plates there, Josiah?"
Josiah held a plate in either hand, both of which were filled to nearly overflowing. He smiled back at his friends. "If I could master the manueverings of a third plate," he replied with a grin, "I might agree with your assumptions, but as it is, I'll have to go sit these two down and then return."
The seven men were quick to fill their plates and go to the table. JD was just as fast to sit down, but then he looked up at his companions, each of which still stood. The six men exchanged knowing glances, then turned, as one, to face the women who remained at the banquet table. "Dear ladies," Ezra spoke with a gallant bow, his right arm sweeping to indicate the table, "will you not join us in partaking of this wondrous feast you have breathed life into and granted to us?"
His fancy words left Nettie and Casey at a confused loss. Maude smiled amusingly at her son, and Inez shivered with delight. Mary once more took charge as she looked at the women.
"Casey and I -- "
Vin strode forward and took Nettie's fragile hand in his considerably larger one. "I have to insist you stay an' eat, ma'am. I wouldn't feel right eatin' all this great food without the cooks who made it sharing in it too."
"That's very kind of you, Mister Tanner, but -- "
"Shuck, ma'am, ain't nutin kind about it, just plain truth. You're the kind ones, makin' this big, ole feast for us."
"Please join us." That was the voice of their leader, and as the man in black spoke, each of the other men accompanying him nodded. JD almost knocked over his chair as he rushed to get up. Buck tried not to laugh at the kid's enthusiasm. Reaching out, he gently squeezed his shoulder, then strode forward . . . at the same time that Ezra moved.
Ezra and Buck offered their arms simultaneously to Inez. She smiled at both and carefully considered the situation. Then accepting both arms, she let them lead her to the table. Buck brought her chair out, but Ezra was the one who ever so carefully helped her to slide into place.
Vin gave his arm to Nettie, and JD offered his to Casey. Grinning from ear to ear, the girl took his arm, and they led them to sit down. Josiah bowed to Maude, then escorted her, leaving only Mary standing. Chris hesitated, then took a deep breath and made his move.
Once everybody was sitting, Josiah took the lead in bowing his head and clasping his hands together in front of him. The others followed his lead. His rumbling, resonant voice blessed the food, but then he added, "And, Lord, I'm now going to pass the mantle on as I allow each of my friends here to speak for what they're thankful for." He looked directly at Chris, who gulped at the unexpected announcement.
He looked at each face at the table before his eyes rested on Buck's smiling, reassuring face. "I'm thankful," he said simply, "for friends and for family."
Every one at the table nodded their agreement, but then Buck winked said one of his usual lines, "I'm thankful for the ladies." He gestured to JD.
"I . . . I'm thankful," he relaxed when he felt Buck's hand on his shoulder, "I'm thankful for a new home and, like, Chris said, I'm thankful for a new family."
Larabee hadn't said the word "new", but he didn't call the kid on it as the conversation moved on. "I'm thankful," Nathan spoke, "like the rest of you, for a new friends and family, and also for this town, where people don't always just look at the color of your skin but give you a chance to prove the kind of man you really are. I'm thankful for a chance to do some doctoring -- "
"Hey, now," Buck interjected with a mischievous grin, "don't go thanking for us getting shot!"
Laughter rippled across the table, and then Ezra spoke. He had noted the look on Vin's face and knew the sharpshooter would rather have been anywhere but there when suddenly faced with having to speak. Josiah had never began the conversation to make any one nervous, but that's exactly what had happened. Ezra smiled reassuringly at his friend as he spoke, "With all due respect, gentelmen, Ah believe Ah can sum up the thoughts on every one o' our minds by reiterating the words our dear Chris Larabee has already said. Ah am eternally thankful for the new friends and family who are gathered here today and for a chance, with you all," he continued, ignoring his mother's look, "for a new and happier life." He raised his glass. "Now Ah advise we eat."
A chorus of shouted agreement met Ezra's ears, and no one's grin was bigger than Vin's. He nodded his head in a brief incline that Ezra had learned to take as one of the ways he said thanks without ever speaking a word. Ezra nodded in return and then turned his attention to the delicious feast. With but one bite, he knew he had never eaten so well before in all his life. He smiled around the scrumptious egg. It was going to be a truly merry Christmas, the first one he'd ever had that had been so, and he looked forward to many more to come.
The End