I helped my mom prepare food in the kitchen while my dad went shopping for more ingredients. "Mom, have you seen Lilli?" I kneaded the dough for the apple pie as I asked.

She shoved the turkey into the oven while replying, "No, but I'm sure she's around here somewhere honey." She came besides me and started cutting up apples. "So... is there anyone you want to invite tomorrow? Maybe Charlie? Molly and Andrew? How about that boy I'm constantly hearing about?" She smirked as I froze.

"You mean Daniel?" She just shrugged and continued with the apples. "Well, Charlie is going to Florida for Thanksgiving and Molly and Andrew are visiting family. So they can't come."

She smiled. "So then what about Daniel?"

I thought about it. I mean, he has his grandmother...but I don't really hear him talk about anyone else. I've never seen them either. "Would it be okay if his grandmother came also? If Daniel comes, I wouldn't want her to spend the holiday alone."

"Of course, sweetie! I'll just tell your father we're expecting more guests. You go on and call him, this can wait!" My mother shooed me away and I went into my room.

I picked up my phone and my thumb hovered over Daniel's name nervously. Finally, I tapped on it and it started ringing.

"Mia?" He picked up.

"Yeah, uh, hi..." I blushed. If he was here, he probably would of pointed it out.

He laughed. "Is there a reason for calling or did you just want to hear my beautiful voice?"

I smiled and rolled my eyes. "Uh- yeah actually there is. Do you by any chance have plans for tomorrow?"

"Mia, tomorrow is Thanksgiving..."

"Oh, I know! It's just, I was going to ask, if you and your Gramm don't have any plans for tomorrow, my family and I would like to invite you for dinner." I sighed, being about to spit that out.

There was a silence on the other side for a moment. "You want us to come over for Thanksgiving dinner?"

"Yeah." Uh-oh. He's gonna say no isn't he?

"Me and Gramm? Both of us?"

I chewed on my lip. "Mmhmm..."

"Uh- I don't know, Mia. I don't thi-" his voice was suddenly cut off and there was ruffling on the other end. I heard whispering and then a big slap. I giggled when Daniel cried "ow Gramm" and the phone got picked back up.

"Mia, darling, it's me, Gramm. My grandson is an idiot, he would love to come!" She spoke.

"You're invited too! I wouldn't just invite Daniel, nobody should be alone on a holiday!" I said smiling.

There was another ruffling sound and I heard Gramm shout "I adore this girl Danny", then come back. "Darling, you are just too kind. We both would love to join you for dinner tomorrow. What time should we be there?"

I checked with my mom before replying. "Maybe around four/four-thirty so you can meet my family and chat and all that jazz." She laughed. "Is that okay for you?"

"Of course, dear! We'll be there! See you soon!" We both said goodbye and the line went dead. I placed my phone in my back pocket and went back down to the kitchen. Before I started cooking again, I received a text from Daniel. It said: You have no idea how happy you just made her...and me...

-------

Rushing, I threw my sweater over my blue blouse and buckled my skirt over it (Refer to picture above). I made sure my makeup was okay and brushed through my hair one more time before slipping on my shoes and running down the stairs. My mom was in the kitchen with my dad preparing everything but Lilli was no where in sight. "Guys, I still can find Lilli. When was the last time anyone saw her?" My parents shrugged.

"Honey the last time I saw her was when I let her back inside before I left to go shopping yesterday." My dad said. "Haven't seen her since." I nodded and ran into the next room calling for her.

She didn't come running like she usually does. I looked in my room, the bathroom, my parents room, the spare room, the guest room, the backyard, but Lilli was no where in sight. I was about to check the east wing of the house but the door bell rang. "Mia, get the door please! I sighed and ran to the front door. Trying to catch my breath at the same time, I opened the door. Daniel and Gramm stood on there smiling. "H-hi, come in. H-happy Thanksgiving guys!" I smiled and they laughed. They stepped in the door and took off their coats.

"Are you okay, dear? You seem out of breath." Gramm chuckled.

I smiled and offered to take their coats. "Yeah, I'm fine. I was searching the house for my dog. I'm still not used to how big it is here." I joked around and they nodded.

"You're right your home is big, but very beautiful!" Gramm admired.

"Thank you! I'm glad you think so!" My dad walked in with my mother. "Nice to meet you, I'm Axel Summers, Mia's father." He shook hands with Daniel and Gramm and so did my mother.

"I'm Meredith, her mother. You must be Daniel and Gramm. Mia has told us so much about you, all good things of course." My mother smiled. My parents continued talking with Gramm and left Daniel and I awkwardly standing there.

"So..." I mumbled.

"So..." He rocked back and forth on his heals. I noticed how he left his hair the same but dressed nicely. When he noticed I was looking, he smirked.

"... Want to help me find my dog?" I blurted nervously. He chuckled and nodded. I informed the adults of where we were going, grabbed Daniel's hand, and ran. When we stopped running, I went to drop his hand, but he didn't let go. I blushed and turned my head.

"You look beautiful," he complimented, "and kinda nerdy." Just when I thought he was being serious. "I like it." Oh. I smiled.

"You look good too." I said quietly.

"Thank you." I nodded. Suddenly, he stopped walking, making me stop as well. "No, seriously." He started walking towards me, as I walked back, until my back was against the wall. "Thank you for everything." He whispered as his forehead rested against mine and he stared into my eyes.

"F-for what?" I stuttered.

"Inviting Gramm and I here. Making Gramm happy. Making ME happy. For giving me a chance. For challenging me, and never disappointing me." He smiled. "Mia, I want to tell you something. And it's kinda important. Mia, I think I li-"

He was cut off by Lilli's bark. My eyes went wide and Daniel sighed, backing up. ""Lilli?" We ran down the hall looking for her. We slammed every door open until we found her. "Oh. My. God." I stared at my dog...well dogs.

"I thought you said 'dog', as in singular?" Daniel chuckled.

I smiled and pulled him into the room, shutting the door behind us. We both sat down and pet Lilli, watching the newborn puppies squirm and making cute noises. "I can't believe she had puppies! This is awesome!" I said excitedly. Daniel smiled at my excitement and reached out to Lilli, petting her head softly.

"Hey girl, congratulations! Look at you, aren't you pretty." He cooed at the dog. "Look at all your cute little babies." He turned to me. "Maybe we should fix them a bed kinda thing, and get the mother some food?" I nodded and got off the floor. Why does he have to be so adorable?! Ugh!!

We walked out to the living room with huge smiles on our faces. The adults eyed us suspiciously, but Gramm smirked and my mother smiled. "Kids, dinners ready." My dad said.

We sat down at the table with my parents and Gramm. Gramm cleared her throat. "If you don't mind, is it okay if we say what we're thankful for? It was Daniel's and I's tradition since he was little."

"No, of course you can! Mia and I used to do it too!" My mother said. Gramm thanked her and started.

"Well first of all, I'm thankful for being alive and healthy. I'm thankful for everything I have. I'm thankful for my grandson, Daniel. He makes my life meaningful and never disappoints me. He is my pride and joy. I'm proud to call myself his grandmother... I'm also thankful for Meredith and Axel for bringing this beautiful young woman into this world. I'm grateful she is who she is and that she's here with us. She makes Daniel happy and brings out his better side. And seeing him happy makes me happy. So I'm thankful for all of you too." I smiled, along with everyone else. Daniel took my hand from under the table and held it. I blushed and hid my face with my hair.

"I'm also grateful for everything I have. Gramm, you're like a mother to me. I'm blessed you're in my life. I'm thankful for my friends, they've stayed loyal ever since I could remember. And I would like to thank Mr and Mrs Summers for bringing Mia into this world as well. She's changed my life honestly. I don't know why I never noticed her in school before, but the day we accidentally ran into each other, I knew she was different." Daniel laughed to himself. "Trust me, I tried flirting with her using every trick in the book, but she was the only one who never really cared about that. She was shy when I tried being the bad-boy round her. She stuttered and blushed and gave me those big brown eyes. She was beautiful, and wanted absolutely nothing to do with me. Then I showed her my real self, the one that doesn't have that big of an ego or-"

"We get it Danny, you like her! Have you finished being cliché yet?!" Gramm interrupted. Making all of us laugh.

He smiled at me. "Yeah, I guess so. But, yeah. I'm thankful for you guys giving the world Mia. Because if she wasn't here, I wouldn't be who I am today." By now I'm sure my face was brick red. I was definitely stunned by his whole speech. I didn't even hear my mother or fathers speech. I didn't know it was my turn until Daniel nudged me and broke me out of my trance. "Mia, your turn."

"Oh, uh, okay. Well um I'm thankful for my parents and my friends. Um, I'm thankful for them always being there for me. Even though I despised one of them, he was there for me and I didn't know it." I smiled at my dad. "I realized it was time to forgive, and now that important person is back in my life. Um... Gramm I'm thankful for meeting you. You're a wonderful person, you make me laugh, and I love you already. And Daniel, I'm thankful for you. You helped me in ways you don't understand. I was honestly scared of you at first. But once I saw the real you, I liked it. I got used to your ego and competitiveness. I met the comforting, glitter loving, bad boy who wasn't afraid to be good. I wasn't completely under the radar, yet he found me and got me out of my scared and broken shell. And I..." I stopped myself from what I was about to say and replaced it with something else, "...I'm definitely thankful that you've dealt with me for so long, Glitter Boy."

I smiled as I finished. Daniel looked at me and smiled from ear to ear. For the rest of the night, we talked and told stories. Just as we finished eating, I stood up. "Um, guys? I have to tell you something." Everyone looked at me confused. "Um, how do I say this? Uh-okay. Well, um, I found Lilli. And, well.... There might be puppies in the laundry room?" I said it more like a question.

"WHAAT!!!"