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Fiona rolled her eyes at him somewhat speechlessly, slightly condemning Shane for ruining the atmosphere.
But she still turned her head slightly to the side, brushing her hair away to reveal her neck.
The silver chain touched her skin, cold for a moment, then quickly warmed by her body heat.
Shane fastened the clasp and took half a step back. "Perfect."
Debbie's eyes were shining: "Fiona, you are really beautiful."
Carl tilted his head and said: "You finally don't look like you're going to scold someone now."
"Then you can only look." Fiona sniffed hard, then blinked, forcing back the tears that were about to fall.
"If you waste food later, or don't finish what's on your plate, I'll still beat you."
"That's right, this is the big sister of the Gallagher family. Dressed like she can go hook a rich husband, but her mouth can still curse us to death."
Gifts distributed, the cardboard box was finally empty.
The atmosphere at the table had changed from the initial awkwardness to noisy excitement.
Lip had plugged in the computer, looking at the computer while studying Ian's sports watch with him; Carl held his science experiment kit, already asking Debbie if she wanted to be his assistant.
Debbie ignored Carl. She put the doll on a small chair beside her, pressing the button from time to time to make it repeat that sentence:
"I love you."
Fiona crumpled the last tissue into a ball, threw it into the trash can, and took a deep breath.
"Alright, gifts received. If the Thanksgiving feast isn't served soon, it will get cold. Hurry, eat, eat!"
"Yes, sir."
Lip put the computer on the cabinet beside him and went to the kitchen to bring out the dishes.
Ian got up to get the soup pot, and Carl was responsible for the mashed potatoes and various meat platters.
Debbie carefully put the doll on the chair, letting it "participate" in the dinner too.
Steaming dishes were quickly placed on the table: turkey, mashed potatoes, corn, gravy, steak... plus some very nice-looking salads.
This was a Thanksgiving after getting rich. Coupled with the gifts just now, it vaguely had the atmosphere of those rich people's Thanksgiving in the West Loop of Chicago.
Just as Shane put the last plate of food on the dining table and was about to sit down.
Bang!
Bang bang bang!!
Someone knocked on the front door, and the living room suddenly quieted down.
Debbie subconsciously glanced at the front door, uncontrollable hope flashing in her eyes, but she immediately lowered her head, staring tightly at the doll in her arms.
Lip stopped his movements, fork suspended in mid-air, his gaze glancing towards the door.
Ian also paused while serving soup. Fiona was holding a napkin to help Liam spread it, but now she stopped there, her whole body somewhat stiff.
Another three knocks, louder than before, followed by a familiar voice from outside.
"Hey, Gallaghers, open the door. If you don't open the door, I'm going to call the police."
It was Kevin.
The eerie tension in the air relaxed instantly.
Fiona threw the napkin on the table. "It's Kevin and V."
She stood up and went to open the door.
As soon as the door opened, some cold wind poured in from outside.
Kevin, who had gained a considerable amount of weight, stood at the door holding a large aluminum tray, followed by Veronica carrying several bags of stuff.
"Happy Thanksgiving, brats." Kevin roared at them. "I'm here to save your pitiful Thanksgiving dinner."
V shook the bags in her hand at everyone. "And alcohol, and these things I made myself. You ungrateful little bastards better have saved a seat for me."
The room immediately became lively.
"Yo, Kevin," Lip raised his chin. "You guys finally came. If you didn't come, you'd only be helping us wash dishes."
Kevin stepped in, put the large aluminum tray on the table, and lifted a corner. Inside was a plate of glistening roasted chicken wings and meatballs.
He was about to say something when he scanned his peripheral vision and noticed that there was something in front of every child.
"Whoa," V reacted first, whistling. "Look at you guys. Whose birthday is it today? So many gifts?"
Kevin squinted, stepped forward, reached out to touch the laptop on the counter, then looked down at the shoebox by Ian's feet, and that set of science experiment kit that looked expensive like spices.
"Did your family rob a supermarket?" Kevin said half-jokingly. "Target? Walmart? Or that poor little shop on our street corner?"
"Yes," Shane started to bullshit. "Not only that, we used your broken van for the robbery. Now your car is on the police's key investigation list."
"Oh, shit," Kevin widened his eyes directly, holding his head with both hands. "I wondered why those patrol officers kept wandering around my street recently."
V glanced at Shane, smiled, and raised her hand to slap the back of Kevin's head:
"Listen to him farting. He's joking with you. How fast can your broken van go? To rob, at least you have to change to a decent car."
"That's true." Kevin touched his chest, pretending to be scared, and exhaled a long breath. "Really scared me to death."
He looked at the uncontrollable smiles of the circle of children at the dining table again and shrugged.
"Fine, as long as I'm not wanted. So which little bastard among you won the jackpot today? If I guess correctly, it should be your family's... Saint Shane Gallagher, right?"
Shane grinned. "Forget about being a saint. I don't want two holes nailed in my palms."
V looked at the clothes placed next to Fiona. "Tsk tsk tsk, even got a coat. Looks like our Fiona walking on the street in the future will be mistaken for someone from a normal neighborhood."
"Fck off." Fiona rolled her eyes at V.
Kevin and V put their things down and sat at the dining table together, helping to move the dishes to the middle.
But the dining table was too small to squeeze so many people at once, and there weren't enough chairs. Kevin simply moved a beer crate to sit on as a stool.
"Oh, right," just as everyone sat firmly, Shane seemed to suddenly remember something, stood up, and pretended to rummage in the basement again.
"I almost forgot." He coughed and took out two more things from the basement.
"All family members have Thanksgiving gifts. How could I miss you two?"
"Ha, there's ours too?"
Kevin's mouth almost grinned to the back of his head, upper teeth all exposed. Coupled with his obviously fatter figure now, he looked like a total fool.
"Aha, I knew you wouldn't forget me."
V had an expression of "I expected it long ago."
Shane first stuffed a long black box into Kevin's hand. This box looked very high-end.
"This is for our South Side's most hardworking, but also most unscrupulous bartender."