Psychosis

Chapter 27- Turkey Day

Isabel was bent over the stove, trying to make sure that everything was perfect for this day. This could be her last chance, and she wanted to make sure she got everything possible from it. The heavenly smell of what she was cooking swirled in the room and Isabel knew that nobody could hate this dish. It smelled too good to be bad. Her partner had also made a dish that was sitting in the oven, but unfortunately, they were going to separate locations. They wouldn't be spending this together. Isabel looked over to where her partner was sitting, half-asleep, waiting for the timer on the oven to go off.

"Did ye not get any sleep last night?" Isabel asked, and her partner shrugged.

"Nah, just a little drowsy from the painkillers. Hangovers suck dick," her partner groaned, and Isabel shrugged.

"Maybe ye shouldn't have had that much to drink last night. And don't deny it, ye know ye did. If ye didn't, ye wouldn't be hungover," Isabel told her, and her partner sighed, laying her head on the table. Isabel laughed and went back to her dish. She had to make sure it was perfect. She was actually going home for the holiday.

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Ciara put on a pair of oven mitts and tried to peek at what was inside through the door, but it wasn't quite see-through enough to tell her if they were ready. Sighing, she opened the oven door and looked at the cinnamon rolls, and decided that they still needed a few more minutes in the oven. She didn't want to cook them for too long, but she knew that they needed to be in for a little longer. The case way back when in Towanda had made her extremely wary about how long she cooked her food for. She checked her soup on the stove, deciding that it was ready to go. Akilah was putting the final touches on what she had called saleeg, which was a dish from the Hejaz region of Saudi Arabia. That day was Thanksgiving, and everyone from the BAU was meeting at Rossi's house. Hotch was bringing Jack and JJ was bringing Will and Henry, all three of which Ciara had yet to meet, and she was excited to meet Will and the two young boys. Morgan had suggested that both her and Akilah bring something from their home, and Ciara was ready with hers at the mention of it. Akilah had to take a little bit longer to decide.

"So what do you do at Thanksgiving, may I ask? You know I've never celebrated before, but now that... well, you know what's different now," Akilah mentioned, and Ciara nodded. Now that Akilah had completely and utterly fallen from her faith, she was going to try a few, in her words, "American traditions". Ciara was okay with that. She was glad to have her friend join her for the holiday.

"Do ye want to hear the history behind the holiday, or just what most people do?" Ciara asked, knowing Akilah could easily want either.

"Just what people do. I could care less about the history," Akilah said.

"Well, it's a little different for each family. Some families have their own traditions when it comes to Thanksgiving, and some don't celebrate it at all. But what's common is that families, or in our case, friends, get together and enjoy one another's company. Oh, and there's lots of food involved," Ciara explained, not really good at summarizing holidays.

"I see. Well, it sounds fun. I'm kind of excited to try this whole Thanksgiving thing. Do you think anyone will mind that I've never celebrated before?" Akilah asked.

"Nah. I think that since this is yer first time celebrating, they'll try and make it special for ye," Ciara answered, and Akilah nodded. In a few minutes, Ciara checked on the cinnamon rolls again, and this time, she knew they were ready. Pulling the frosting she had made earlier out of the fridge, she spread it around on the rolls and decided that they were good. What she was bringing wasn't only from Nebraska when they were alone, but bringing the two of them together was a Nebraskan tradition that she hadn't seen anywhere else. Chili and cinnamon rolls, her favorite combination.