Sparingly in Stuff

I’ve been slow to write about Thanksgiving because I think I wanted to collect my thoughts. The day was simultaneously good and peculiar. Not necessarily bad, but definitely a little off.

I was up early getting food going. We made a nice breakfast and sat around talking for a bit. Whenever we have really nice family time like this I can’t help but feel a little sadness about the fact that the time is not far off that the kids will be growing up and moving on, and mornings with us all together will become much less common.

Megan came over at about noon. She had asked me what I wanted her to bring but I said instead of that she ought to just come over early and help me in the kitchen. She seemed perfectly happy with that.

She dressed up nicely and I felt a little weird about that because I was in yoga pants and a tank top. I put on a shirt with sleeves when we sat down to eat, but I almost felt guilty that our guest was so much better dressed than the rest of us.

We worked well together and she was a good help. I admit part of me thought she would be clueless in the kitchen. I have this idea in my head of her only eating tofu and bean curd but she seemed very open to a traditional Thanksgiving meal, even though she ate very sparingly.

As we were sitting down to eat I remembered the bottle of wine I had in the cupboard that I’d received as a gift at work. I’d tucked it away as something I might serve to a guest or re-gift to someone and I asked Megan if she wanted wine with dinner. I told Olsen she could have ONE glass only, if she wanted. Megan seemed reluctant but I told her this was exactly the type of scenario for which I’d saved the wine and was happy to let her have it. I said she could take the rest of the bottle home with her.

Dinner was great. Everyone was talkative and we felt like a big happy family, which is exactly what I think we are. I’m glad there’s not an enormous amount of family drama with the four of us, even if there might be with the more extended family. We regaled Megan with stories about us and she really fit in well.

After we were done the kids made their way into the other room and Megan stayed at the table. I did a little cleaning and she stayed sitting there. After a while she called me over and whispered to me that she didn’t think she could stand up. I was confused at first, and then she motioned over to the mostly empty bottle of wine. She started giggling and said that she almost never drinks and really shouldn’t have done that.

Up until that moment, I hadn’t even noticed that she seemed drunk. She was great at hiding it.

Olsen happened to walk into the kitchen at that moment, and since my hands were dirty with cleaning up dishes, I asked if she’d help Megan into the other room to lay down. She did exactly that, no questions asked.

I almost forgot about her. I wasn’t upset about it. If anything, it felt like my fault for almost forcing the wine on her. And I figured if there was going to be a case of her drinking too much and needing to lay down, it’s good that she was here with us.

Hours passed and I was ready for bed. I figured that Megan was in the guest room and would be able to take care of herself. Either she’d spend the whole night in there or she’d get up at some point and go home.

But then I went into my bedroom and found her passed out on my bed. I had no idea why Olsen put her in there and I was mildly annoyed. I was going to go into the other room myself but Megan was all the way on one side of the king size bed and I decided to just sleep in my own bed next to her.

I changed into some more appropriate sleeping clothes (I usually sleep nude) and then thought about how Megan was still dressed, including shoes, so I went over to her and took off her shoes. This woke her up enough that she sat up, smiled at me, took off her shirt, then her bra, and then put her shirt back on and laid back down. Never said a word.

I laid down and felt a little weird laying next to her. I think I was having trouble falling asleep because of the awkwardness of it. After about maybe 20 minutes Megan rolled over and faced me. She started talking. She was drunk mumbling. After really not drinking that much, and a four hour nap, it was surprising to me how drunk she seemed. I guess she really can’t handle alcohol.

She talked so much. She told me about her childhood, about her career, about her marriage. I feel like I know so much about her right now and she might not even remember telling me all of it. I’d bet she talked to me for more than an hour. I mostly listened. She was kind of cute, confiding so much in me for no reason other than booze.

I don’t remember falling asleep, but I remember waking up a bit later in a dark room with Megan cuddled up next to me. I thought about pushing her away or getting up, but instead I just fell back asleep.

In the morning, I woke with her still next to me but turned away. Her butt pressed into my thigh. I gently woke her up and was expecting her to feel awkward or uncomfortable about the night and how we apparently slept together. But there was none of that. She started talking about what a nice dinner we’d had and thanking me for the invite.

I responded, “I wasn’t expecting us to sleep together.” I said it both as a lighthearted way to bring up the weird night and as a true statement: I really never imagined that was how the night was going to play out.

I think the awkwardness of it all finally hit her and she seemed really ashamed. She put on her bra and shoes and seemed like she couldn’t leave the house fast enough. I followed her to the door and said, “It’s all good, I’m glad we had a nice Thanksgiving with you,” but I think she just wanted to get away.

So yeah, the whole thing was weird.

Last updated November 28, 2017