Thankful
 

by MysticWhim

"Starsky, will ya knock it off?" Hutch lowered his binoculars momentarily to glare at his partner. Starsky was busy using two pencils as drumsticks, performing a drum solo on the dashboard of Hutch's car. The stakeout they were on was getting tedious andboring, and his partnerwas doing his best to find ways to entertain himself.

"What, you don't like In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida? Come on, Hutch! It's classic rock and roll!"

"Maybe you should leave it to Iron Butterfly. Your version leaves a little something to be desired." Hutch snatched the pencils from Starsky's hands and tossed them over his shoulder to the back seat. He raised the binoculars to his eyes again.

"Can I at least turn on some Christmas carols? There're bound to be plenty playin' today."

Hutch rolled his eyes. "For chrissake, Starsky! It's not even Thanksgiving yet! Don't start with the Christmas carols now!"

"Technically, it IS Thanksgiving. It's two a.m." Starsky grinned. "It's been Thanksgiving for two whole hours now. So can I put on the radio at least?"

"All right, all right." Hutch relented. "But do me a favor and find me anything BUT Christmas carols. I'd rather listen to the real Iron Butterfly than your instrumental version."

Starsky gleefully tuned the radio in to a rock station. "How come you're not going home for Thanksgiving?"

Hutch sighed. "They were doing the big country club Thanksgiving dinner, and I didn't know my schedule soon enough to get my reservations in."

Starsky wrinkled his nose in distaste. "Country club Thanksgiving? What's that?"

"Their country club hosts a dinner. You know, turkey, stuffing;all the fixings. My parents are bringing my sister and her family, along with my aunt and uncle."

"At a country club? What kind of family dinner is that?"

"We didn't go to the country club when I was a kid," Hutch explained. "That's something relatively new. Mom is getting up there in years, and doesn't want to hassle with the whole meal and party. They take the family to the country club instead. It's quite a nice affair, actually. The food is unbelievable."

"Why doesn't your sister just cook the meal?"

Hutch laughed. "She can't cook as well as you can."

Starsky got indignant. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Come on Starsk. You aren't exactly Julia Child."

Pouting, Starsky crossed his arms and slumped in his seat. "Yeah, well, I bet I could fix a decent Thanksgiving turkey easily enough."

Hutch glanced over at his friend. He looked genuinely hurt by the comment regarding his cooking skills. "You aren't mad, are you?"

"Huh? No. I'm fine." Starsky glanced out the window to watch the darkened building. "I think all this talk about Turkey Day is getting me hungry, that's all."

Hutch smiled. He handed Starsky the binoculars, then reached over the back of the car seat to pull out a bag. It was inevitable that Starsky would complain about being hungry at some point during the long stakeout, so he had come prepared this time. "Here ya go," he casually tossed the bag onto his partner's lap. "Happy Thanksgiving buddy."

Starsky stared at Hutch in surprise. He recognized the bag from Huggy's place, and excitedly opened it to inspect the contents. "What'd ya bring?" Incredible smells wafted up from the large bag.

"It's a Huggy surprise," Hutch laughed. "He said you would love it. Claimed it was the perfect snack for a Thanksgiving stakeout."

Starsky unwrapped a sandwich and greedily took a bite. "Oh! This is GOOD! It's a Thanksgiving dinner sandwich!!" He quickly unwrapped a sandwich for Hutch and handed it over to him.

Glancing inside the bread before taking a bite, Hutch's expression changed to suspicious. "You say it's good?"

"It's great! Trust me!"

He took a bite, and slowly chewed the strange looking concoction. His face lit up in pleasure. "This really is good!" he exclaimed.

"I told ya! Hell,how could you go wrong? It's got everything in here. Turkey, stuffing, even cranberry sauce!"

 

"Gotta admit," Hutch shook his head, "the cranberry sauce is the part that worried me. But it's actually quite good!"

"He packed a bunch of sandwiches," Starsky observed. "We won't go hungry."

"There's more than sandwiches in there," Hutch nodded toward the bag. "I brought dessert too."

"Pie!  There's pie in here!  It's pumpkin!"

Hutch laughed at his friend.  "Yeah, there's pie in there."

"Mmmmmm."  After eating, Starsky leaned back in the seat, content.  "That was great.  Thanks for bringing the food, Hutch." 

Hutch nodded.  "What about you, Starsk?  How come you didn't go home for Thanksgiving?"

Starsky shrugged.  "Couldn't afford it.  The airfare's a killer.  I'll go out there around Christmas and see Ma.  It's just too hard to do both holidays."

"How's your mom doing?"

"She's good.  Just fine.  It's one of the things I have to be thankful for."  He stared out at the empty warehouse again.  After pondering the lonely scene for a while, he asked Hutch, "What're you thankful for?"

"Me?"  Hutch adjusted his sitting position to get more comfortable.  "I don't know.  I'm thankful for a roof over my head, food on my table, my bills paid.  I'm thankful my family is safe and healthy.  I'm thankful for my job, even though it means I'm sitting in a car watching for drug peddlers on Thanksgiving morning.  I'm thankful for my friends, and I'm thankful to have you for a partner."  He turned and gave an affectionate slap to his friend's arm.

Starsky smiled at him, then turned to stare at the building again.

"What about you, Starsk?"

He grew thoughtful for a few minutes before answering.  "I'm thankful my dad was a cop."

Hutch waited for him to continue, but he just stopped there.  "That's it?  You're thankful your dad was a cop?"

"Well yeah."  Starsky faced Hutch.  "It's 'cause my dad was a cop that my mom and my brother are safe and protected right now.  It's 'cause my dad was a cop that I entered the academy, where I met you.  It's 'cause Dad was a cop that I became a cop.  It's 'cause Dad was a cop that I'm sitting here right now, eating Thanksgiving sandwiches with my partner and my best friend, working at a job I love."  He shrugged and returned his gaze out the window.  "I'm thankful my dad was a cop."

Hutch picked up his thermos of coffee and poured a cup.  He sipped the hot black liquid, then offered the cup to Starsky, who took the cup and drank from it as well.  Starsky handed the cup back to Hutch.  Just before Hutch put the cup to his lips, he said, "You know, I'm thankful your dad was a cop too."