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"Food?"

"Check."

"Family?"

"Check."

"Plates, utensils, napkins?"

"Check, check, check."

"Appetites?"

"HELLS YES!"

"Then dig in!"

The Lamar family Thanksgiving dinner was underway.

Bobby took his cue from the rest of the family and helped himself to a serving from the dish nearest him before passing off to his left. The process was amazingly efficient, and everyone found himself with an overflowing plate in record time. There was no secret signal for starting to it; everyone seemed happy to just start, which suited Bobby down to a T.

The table was set for eight. Dave and Lisa sat at each end; Bobby sat next to Malcolm, who occasionally played footsie with him in that wonderfully silly, romantic way he had (they'd be twining their tails together next, if they could keep them still long enough); and across were the tiger twins, Duncan and Daniel, with Duncan's new girlfriend in the middle. The slender, slate-gray whippet - Lindsey, he recalled her name - seemed an odd choice for Duncan, or at least Bobby thought so. He got the impression from Mal that he felt the same way, but like his parents, the young tiger was too gracious to let it show. The eighth place, to Dave's right and next to Mal, was fully set but empty.

Conversation was limited to requests for various serving plates, gravy, rolls, condiments, and ultimately to nothing at all as six muzzles were robustly stuffed with great food, and one was tentatively taking small bites from her plate as if afraid that the meal would somehow cause her to grow old, fat, and ugly within seconds. Bobby found that he could barely keep his thickly-tipped tail still from sheer delight. When he finally slowed down enough to be able to speak, he spoke to his hostess at his right. "Lisa, when it comes to giving thanks, you get all of mine. This meal is terrific!"

Smiling, the lady cat demurred, "And I in turn give thanks to Randall's Market, especially for the mince pie, which I have little ability to make from scratch."

"And I could burn Jell-O," Dave quipped.

Bobby let himself chuckle at the statement. He was already feeling much more comfortable with the 'rents, having played some three-on-three footie with himself, Malcolm, and Lisa opposite Dave and the twins. Duncan had been scouted by one of the pro teams and was in his "practice squad" year, Daniel was no slouch himself at coaching for the local high school team, and Dave was in good shape as well... but Lisa knew exactly how to dribble a ball, and Malcolm's cleverness and his own speed gave them an advantage that racked up points faster than a corrupt voting machine in Boss Tweed's Tammany Hall. The elder-by-twelve-minutes twin groused that his side would've won if tackling were allowed; the younger twin quipped that only Malcolm was allowed to sack the quarterback, and Bobby quickly realized that, yes, this was definitely Mal's family. And he was already starting to feel part of it.

"Are we expecting someone else?" the whippet asked, her eyes revealing more confusion than anything else.

"The place for the stranger," Duncan volunteered.

"What... stranger?"

"An old tradition from many sources," Lisa observed. "In Poland, it's called Wigilia." Bobby heard this as_VIH-jill-ya._ "An extra place is set at the Christmas Eve table in case a friend, or relative, or even a stranger comes by to join us."

"I knew a Jewish family in Florida who did that," Bobby added, "for their Seder dinners. I didn't understand it, as a kit. I wondered if they really thought that the prophet was going to come sit down for food."

"Are you Jewish?" Lindsey look askance at Duncan. "Or Polish?"

"Could be," Dave allowed quietly.

Malcolm looked at the young female with something like challenge in his eye. "I grew up thinking that maybe it was for someone who couldn't be here anymore. Like my grandparents. Or someone who... moved away..."

The lone lion at the table suddenly knew who that plate was for, at least in his lover's mind, and his heart turned over lazily. Turning his face back to his plate, he moved his left hindpaw over to touch Malcolm's tenderly. The freshman flinched slightly, but recovered himself, and his hindpaw moved gently against the lion's. The meal continued for another moment or two in silence, and Bobby suddenly was sure that everyone at the table knew that it was Father Aiden that the young tiger was missing. He wondered how much of the story they knew. Of all the family, he noticed, it was Daniel who kept his glance on Malcolm the longest.

The conversation started up again, a bit fitfully, but focused eventually on the various careers at the table. The Family Fun Center was doing well, and Lisa got to tease her youngest that his replacement wasn't nearly so focused as he had been, and he had a job waiting for him when he decided to give up this whole book-larnin' lark. Bobby made it clear that his own college career depended on Malcolm giving him "the answers to the tests."

"Just make it through and break into the majors," Duncan grinned. "I know your record; you're definitely good enough to get scouted. Surprised there haven't been offers already."

"I think they're waiting to see how I do in varsity. You know, real football?" He chuckled good-naturedly, as did the rest.

"If they start sniffing about, feel free to talk to me. I don't know everything, but I've learned a few things along the way."

"Duncan's their new star," the whippet piped up, her long slim muzzle smiling all too prettily. "He's going to be a major player soon, full contract and everything!"

The younger of the twins grinned at his brother. "Got yer first fan, Dunc!"

Duncan had the good grace to blush a bit, although Bobby was sure that the tiger athlete thoroughly enjoyed the praise. "You can count me as a second," the lion said, saluting him with a forkful of particularly good mashed potatoes. "A quarterback always appreciates his blockers. You buy us time to get rid of the ball in the first place."

"Hopefully in the right direction," the elder twin teased. "But you've done well for yourself this season. Eleven-oh? One more game to go?"

"Next week," the lion nodded. "After that, I've got no excuses not to study for finals."

"From your lips to the gods' ears!" Malcolm chuckled.

Bobby flinched when he felt the mild slap to the back of his head. He looked to Lisa, who simply said, "Pass it down." Malcolm tried to duck but couldn't manage it in close quarters. He and his brothers giggled in almost the same general tone as Dave gave a thumbs-up in approval. Lindsey didn't seem to appreciate the humor, keeping her face to her plate, trying awkwardly to smile.

The meal continued with various comments, jokes, and off-paw comments about pretty much every topic. Bobby felt comfortable enough to indulge in second helpings of several dishes, which no doubt also helped him to open up a bit about his family background. The twins got the story of how he and Malcolm met, although without the depth that he'd gone into with Lisa. This led to asking the young whippet how she met Duncan.

"Guess I'm something of a sports groupie," she admitted with a nervous giggle.

"She was at the summer practice a lot," Duncan noted, "sitting in the stands for most of the hot days. I noticed her right off." He grinned with the appropriate amount of testosterone-fueled leer on his muzzle. "Difficult not to."

Lindsey blushed, or at least pretended to. Bobby felt the idea more than actually thought it - something like a performance, something she was supposed to do or say or behave like. He had a flash upon one of the times he'd managed to "score with the sorority babe," as he would have called it in his pre-Malcolm days. The same sort of mannerism, the sense of being just too_nice_ for this sort of conversation, while the rest of the actions seemed to be begging for a good hard rogering just as soon as possible. He hadn't been able to name it before, and since his talks with Jerry, and then finding Malcolm, he hadn't bothered to name it. Now he knew: It was part of The Game.

A good half-dozen memories ran though his mind as he recognized exactly what was going on. It was that completely artificial and mostly worthless courtship dance that, with the sorority females, the groupies, the hangers-on, wasn't even about courtship. It was about getting laid, although females never ever said so, because that would be "unladylike" or some such crap. Everything with females had to be played just so, packaged a certain way, concealed, translated, lied about. He remembered some guy telling him, "Females are strange and unfathomable creatures, cruel and demanding task-mistresses... and that's why I like 'em." Bobby didn't pay much attention at the time; the guy was a big studly elk who didn't look like he'd take crap from anyone, especially not someone just playing games. But if the guy wasn't lying, he was a living tribute to The Game - he certainly got laid a lot.

And that, he finally realized, was why he was never happy. Because The Game never ended. There was never a reasonable playbook, never a good strategy, and never a clear goal. You could score plenty of points driving one through the uprights, but no one ever actually won.

The lion shook his head slightly; he must have paused longer than he thought. He heard Lisa asking, "Saving room for dessert?"

"Yes," he said, recovering quickly, a smile on his muzzle. "Might take an hour or two."

"Perfect timing," Lisa smiled. "Who wants a movie? Got the big screen ready, and lots of sofa space to fall asleep on."

General assent was made to this, and with Dave and Lisa promising that they'd take care of dishes and leftovers, the five younger adults moved into the living room. Daniel took the rocker/recliner, being the solitaire amid two pairs. Lindsey made a bee-line for the love seat and managed to get Duncan to sit first, and he then pulled the whippet into his lap as if he had planned it all along (point scored to the female, illusionary point scored to the male). Bobby and Malcolm made do with space on the sofa, close but not too close. Despite how comfortable he felt in general in the household, the lion still was a bit nervous about displaying too much affection in front of others.

A brief and lively debate, including the votes from the kitchen, finally resulted in a clear win for a classic action/adventure flick,Spy Game, chosen from the selection of NetFlix DVDs nestled in a special holder near the television. "Our best value since the kits have left the den," Dave said to the group as he put the disc into the player. "Collapse in front of a good movie anytime we want."

"And how often is that, Dad?" Malcolm grinned.

"Almost every night," he said, dropping himself onto the far end of the sofa. "The trick is to stay awake for the whole movie."

Lisa padded up to the sofa and grinned at Malcolm. "Make a hole, bagger."

"Make it a square one so you can fit your head in it," the young tiger grinned back. The way the entire family reacted, Bobby had the feeling that this was one of those in-jokes that he would understand one day. The idea made him feel good.

The lady tiger pushed her youngest kit toward the lion to make room for herself. "You've got your pillow over there, mine's here, make some room!"

Amid the good-spirited jostling, the young lion found himself cuddling up close with his tiger lover, discovering that he didn't mind the feeling one bit. Both of the twins grinned at him, even as Daniel fake-pouted, "Everybody's all doubled up except me!"

"You should have invited someone," Duncan squeezed his girlfriend playfully as she took out her smartphone. "Think you can find him a quick date on there, Lind?"

"Just checking emails and tweets," she said, half distracted, half frowning.

"I was going to ask one of the cheerleaders from school, but her mother wouldn't let her come."

"Damn," Dave swore softly, "too far away to Gibbs-slap."

"We'll get him when he leaves," Lisa assured him. "Quiet now; you know Bobby Redford is still on my To Do list."

The young lion in the room let himself be happily lulled into relaxation by the film, the creeping tryptophan in the turkey, and the wonderful feeling of Malcolm warm and close, his head against the footballer's luxurious mane, Bobby occasionally petting the tiger's headfur softly... and with family about him. That, more than anything else, was what put the smile on his muzzle, the kind that made him wonder if he'd end up having his face frozen like that, as his momma had warned him...

One of the really good thrillers of the day,Spy Game kept everyone's attention sufficiently throughout, save for the occasional blips, dings, and weird shurring sounds from Lindsey's smartphone. The lithe gray pup had the thing out a dozen times during the show, to the point where Bobby wondered if someone in the Lamar clan was finally going to ask her to shut it off or shove it somewhere. Even Duncan looked a bit embarrassed by it. Eventually, she managed to ignore the thing and put it away, leaning up against the elder twin and letting him actually cuddle her a little. This seemed to be Malcolm's cue to fold himself up against Bobby a bit closer as well, and the lion found himself reveling in the feeling. He felt a little bad for Daniel, although anytime he noticed the younger twin casting a glance in his and Malcolm's direction, he had a certain approving glint in his eye.

The film came to its eminently satisfying conclusion, and Lisa pushed herself off of her comfortable Dave-shaped tiger pillow, announcing that it was time for dessert. "Bobby, wanna come lend me a paw? Or can you get out from under my kit?"

"Or do you_want_ to get out from under him?" Daniel asked with a grin.

The lion lifted Malcolm bodily from his lap, setting him into the space that Lisa had just vacated as the kit giggled and meeped in surprise. He stood and eyed everyone in the room. "Only because I want pie too!"

Lisa pointed to each person as she ticked off the selections. "Mince for the twins, pumpkin for Dave and Malcolm... Lindsey, would you care for mince or pumpkin pie?"

"I'll just have a bite of yours," she said to Duncan rather than Lisa, producing what Bobby thought was a precisely calculated giggle. "Don't want to ruin the figure."

Something in Bobby wanted to cringe, but as he figured she might, Lisa saved the day. "Two mince, two pumpkin, and you and I can choose when we get there." She smiled at the lion and preceded him to the kitchen.

Once there, she indicated the short stack of plates that she'd set aside for the desserts and went to get the pies from the refrigerator. Bobby distributed the plates onto the kitchen island in short order as Lisa brought out the large kitchen knife. "You're welcome to do the honors?"

"Thanks, but I'm afraid that having something sharp in my paw right now might not be a good idea."

"I admire your restraint," the lady cat grinned. The mince pie, store-bought and fresh, was smaller than the pumpkin that Lisa had made herself. She cut it in half, then quarters. "They'll probably take the rest home with them... unless you...?"

"I'm a pumpkin guy. Besides, Malcolm blabbed; he told me that you swirl heavy whipping cream into the filling right before baking."

"Bang goes another family secret. You get much more involved, you'll know our PIN numbers to our bank accounts!" The tigress laughed easily, as did Bobby, to his own happy surprise. As she cut the larger pie into generous sixths, she said, "Bobby, I'd like to ask for your permission."

The lion blinked. "What for?"

"I'm not much of a shutterbug, but I do like family pictures from holidays. I just didn't want to bring out the camera before asking you first." She looked up at him. "I don't do Facebook or any public venue. And until you feel comfortable enough, I won't even share pictures of you with my extended family. If you'll forgive me being a mother, though..." She smiled. "I'm hoping that this is your first of many Thanksgivings with Malcolm and us, and I'd like to have a few photos commemorate that. You know, in case you bring me grandkits. And don't tell me you haven't been trying."

Bobby couldn't have held back his bray of laughter if he'd wanted to. Instead, he walked over to Lisa (who, considerately, put the knife aside) and hugged her tightly. She returned the hug and kissed his cheek, chuckling softly with him.

"Hey! Put that lion down; you don't know where he's been!"

Lisa turned to grin at her youngest. "We were just talking about that." Ignoring Bobby's sputtering laugh, she jutted her chin toward the dish drainer near the sink. "Eating utensils; let's get these pieces forked."

Six forepaws carried six plates to the waiting crowd. Lisa brought two pumpkin for herself and Dave, Malcolm handed a mince slice to Duncan, and Bobby the other mince slice to Daniel. The younger twin took the plate and gestured the lion to lean a bit closer. Quietly, the tiger said, "Make sure I see you for a bit before I leave, okay?"

"Sure," Bobby whispered back. "Everything okay?"

"Better than okay." The big brother grinned with a glance back to Malcolm then to the lion again. Bobby felt his emotions flow from worried to merely curious. When he looked back at the sofa, he saw that Malcolm had carefully taken up exactly one third of the space. He thought of telling him to make a hole, as Lisa had, but the Lamar spirit of independence asserted itself, and as its newest family member, he instead sat on the floor between Malcolm's legs, his back to the sofa. He set his pie aside for a moment, draped the young tiger's legs over his shoulders, then settled in to enjoy himself quite thoroughly.

"Kodak Moment!" Lisa crowed and rose to get her camera.

Malcolm leaned forward to whisper in the lion's ear. "You okay with...?"

The quarterback twisted his muzzle around to kiss the young tiger quickly as the first shurring sound of a camera motor announced itself. "It's okay," he whispered back, "tell you later."

Lisa stepped forward, her digital camera making a silent flash and a small click. "That's a keeper!"

"I'd like to think so," Malcolm agreed softly, planting a kiss atop Bobby's head as another flash captured the moment, and another shurring camera motor sound effect came through. The lion was still nervous about it all, but it felt too good to argue with. Besides, he wasn't the whole center of attention. Lisa tried to get a cuddly photo of Duncan and Lindsey, but she had to get the pup to put away her smartphone first. An annual photo of "her males" included Dave, the twins, and Malcolm, even though Lindsey seemed slightly put out at having to stop sitting in Duncan's lap for a few minutes. Bobby and Malcolm insisted on Daniel posing with them, as the odd kit out; the two older felines got into a scrimmage pose on either side of Malcolm, who put on a terrified look as if he were about to become the tackling dummy. It was as silly and precious as one of those smarmy camera commercials on television, and it was also just plain fun. It got even more fun when Dave and Lisa got into a tickling match that ended in Twister-like hilarity on the living room rug; sufficient blackmail material was gathered by Malcolm on Lisa's own camera.

As the evening went on, Duncan and Lindsey started to make their farewells; they had to drive back to the big bad city, all of an hour and a half away. Daniel lived in town, so he had an excuse to linger a bit longer. After the elder twin and his date left, Malcolm and his parents went back into the house. The younger twin touched Bobby's arm gently to keep him outside for just a moment.

Daniel hesitated only a moment. "Bobby, I just wanted to tell you... well, something like thank you, I guess. I see you with Malcolm, and it's such a great match. I'm not big on the mushy stuff, as Dunc would call it, but... I'm really glad to know you."

The lion grinned gently. "That's about how I'd put it, yeah. You can tell we're jocks." Both felines laughed, tails moving a bit nervously but friendly. "First off, thanks. And... Malcolm can say it better than I can, but Daniel, I swear I'll never hurt him. He's ... okay, cliché time, he's the best thing that ever happened to me, etc., etc."

The tiger chuckled and patted the lion on the shoulder. "I know you won't. And not just because Mom would have your hide if you did!"

"Thanks for confirming that suspicion! Uh... I guess you've met Lindsey before?"

"Nope." Daniel put his forepaws in his pockets. "I hope Dunc wises up sooner than later."

"You got that too, huh?" Bobby shook his head. "I think Lisa will agree with you on that score. Are you going to talk to him about it?"

The young twin considered for a moment. "You know, I think that line about not being your brother's keeper is too easily made into an excuse to do nothing at all. I can't make up his mind for him, but I can still give him my two cents. I heard Bill Cosby once say, a word to the wise ain't necessary; it's the stupid ones who need the advice."

"Yup, you're Malcom's brother!" The lion chuckled. He put out his forepaw. "Thanks, Daniel."

"You gonna make me catch the gay?"

"No, I did that when I spat on your pie."

"Oh, you are so gonna fit in with this family!" The tiger put an arm around the lion's shoulders and led him back inside.