Sabrina stood there, frozen in place. The longer it took for her to respond, the more concerned I became. Had I done something wrong?
I got the turkey like she wanted.
I wasn’t very familiar with the American holiday of Thanksgiving, but I thought I’d understood it well enough. Seeing the look on my friends face told me I must have missed something. She appeared to be very upset, which was the last thing I wanted while she was pregnant. I was supposed to be helping her out, not adding to her stress. That was the whole reason Soren had me fly out here.
How angry would my brother be when he found out I failed his wife? Would he send me back home with the title of worst sister ever? His wife watched the turkey wander around the living room with inquisitive clucks and gobbles.
“Astra,” Sabrina calling my name broke my thoughts out of their downward spiral. “I wanted a turkey from the store… you know, one that is already dead and ready to go in the oven.”
Oh, that made more sense. In retrospect, I really I should have known better. When she asked for a turkey, I thought it was a bit odd. Most people didn’t keep livestock, especially not in a house or community like this. Luckily, that was a problem in knew how to deal with. “Well, we could easily fix that.”
Sabrina covered her mouth with her hand as her gaze switched from me to the creature currently brushing against my ankle. “We couldn’t do that!”
Right, Soren had mentioned how people did things differently here. Most people didn’t go out and kill their meals themselves. They preferred to have other people do it.
Sabrina pulled her gaze from the fowl and studied me. “Where did you even find a live turkey?”
“I found a farm. It was not far from here.” I pointed in the direction of the farm, though we couldn’t see it from here.
She raised an eyebrow at me. “Somehow I doubt that,” she commented with a chuckle. “Statistics have shown that yours and Soren’s definition of far is very different than mine. You guys can walk for miles like it is nothing.”
“Which is good, because it seems I need to go to the store.” She needed a turkey to cook for the holiday meal, so she would get one.
“Oh, no you don’t. You are not leaving me alone with a turkey in this house! I’ll ask your brother to pick one up on his way home.”
Our gazes drifted back to the large bird, who stared back at us for a brief moment before gobbling loudly and returning to its exploration the house. “If we aren’t going to eat it, what should we do with it?”
Sabrina’s head tiled to the side. “Honestly, I have no idea.”
“It is a beautiful bird,” I said, admiring its red and drown plumage. In the right light, I could even spot traces of orange.
I held my hands together as my gaze dropped to the floor. “Sorry about the misunderstanding.”
“Oh, it’s fine.” Sabrina moved to stand next to me and placed a hand on my back. “Soren has taught me quite a bit about Alfheim over the years. I know this is all new to you, and don’t worry about Lloyd, I’m sure Soren will be able to find a home for it.”
It was my turn for my head to tilt. “Who’s Lloyd?”
“The turkey, obviously.” She studied him for another moment. “He looks like a Lloyd to me.”
My mouth formed a little “o” before I nodded enthusiastically. I wasn’t about to argue with her about it.
We spent the rest of the evening keeping an eye on Lloyd, who turned out to be a really well behaved turkey. Sabrina believed it had something to do with him being in the presence of an elf. I couldn’t argue with her. Animals did have a tendency to be on their best behavior around me.
After a few hours, Soren arrived. He went straight to the kitchen carrying a turkey that was definitely not living. “It’s criminal what they charge for a turkey!” he called from the kitchen.
As he joined us in the living room, he froze in his tracks. “Why is there a turkey in here?”
I jumped to my feet and began apologizing. “It is my fault. I misunderstood what Sabrina meant when she asked me to pick up a turkey.”
My brother’s face remained blank for a breath, before he burst out laughing. He bent over, clutching his stomach. “You bought a live turkey?” he wheezed.
“Be nice to your sister! It was an honest mistake.”
My face burned as Soren continued to laughing, but I appreciated Sabrina’s defense. I resided to just taking the laughs until he got his fill, but my sister-in-law wasn’t having any of it.
“Soren, stop laughing or I’ll start telling Astra about all of your trouble with understanding logos.” She turned to me with a grin. “It took him months to understand the Starbucks logo.”
“All right, all right. I yield.” His own cheeks grew red. “So, what are we doing with it?” he asked, indicating Lloyd.
“You are going to find a new home for Lloyd.”
“Why me? Astra messed up. I vote she takes care of it.”
Sabrina stared pointedly at my brother as she stood and placed a hand on her stomach. “You vote?” she asked in a challenging tone that made everyone, even Lloyd, shrink up. “The democracy we had ended the moment we learned of this little one and will remain suspended until he or she is born. Until then, I’m in charge. Got it?”
Soren nodded dutifully as he pointed over his shoulder. “I’ll get on it right away!” He scurried off to his office and Sabrina smiled as she sat down again.
“That was impressive,” I commented. I’d never seen my brother change his mind so readily before. I really liked Sabrina.
“That’s the power of pregnancy. I’m making sure to take advantage of it for as long as I can.”
Lloyd gobbled contentedly from his little corner of the room. Sabrina pointed excitedly at him. “Lloyd gets it!”