The alarm clock woke Katie early on Thanksgiving morning. She jumped out of bed, excited to begin the day. This Thanksgiving was the first time the whole family would be gathering at Katie’s house for a holiday. Grandma and Grandpa, Granddad and Uncle Carl, Aunt Linda and all the cousins were coming to share Thanksgiving dinner.

“Will we all fit at the table?” Katie had asked.

MomLee showed her the wooden leaves that would make their dining room table big enough for the whole family. And MomAnna said, “There’s always enough room for the people we love!”

Katie and her moms had cleaned the house from top to bottom to get ready for the big day. And of course, they’d chosen a great big turkey to roast. Everyone who was coming would bring a dish to add to the feast—sweet potatoes, green beans, cornbread, and dressing. Katie was going to make the cranberry sauce all by herself!

Now the day had finally arrived. Katie eagerly reached for her robe on the chair by the window. But what she saw out that window made her eyes open wide.

Great, fat flakes of snow were flying as thick as puffy white bees. The houses and the cars were completely covered, as if they had been tucked under a soft white blanket. All of Maple Street was filled with beautiful snow.

“Good morning, Katie.” It was MomAnna standing in the doorway in her robe. “Have you looked out the window?”

“Yes! Snow for Thanksgiving!” Katie called out, bouncing on her bed.

MomAnna shook her head sadly. “I’m afraid that means we won’t be having the big crowd we expected for Thanksgiving this year. It’s dangerous to travel.”

Katie flopped back on her bed. It wasn’t fair. How could two great things like Thanksgiving and snow somehow add up to one really bad thing, like a big family feast with no family?

MomLee made special blueberry pancakes for breakfast, but all anyone could think about was the Thanksgiving meal. MomAnna said, “We’ve got to decide about the turkey. Should we roast it? If it’s only us at dinner, it will be a lot of food.”

“Why not?” said MomLee. “We have the turkey and the cranberries and everything. We might as well cook them.”

“But there’s not much else to eat,” Katie pointed out. “Everyone else was bringing the other dishes—green beans, sweet potatoes.…”

“Well, we can enjoy what we have,” MomAnna said. “And we’ll share with whoever’s able to come. Either way, this will be a Thanksgiving we’ll never forget!”

While the Moms put the turkey in the oven to roast, Katie rinsed the cranberries. Then she stirred them in the saucepan with the bubbling sugary water and watched as the cranberries popped and slushed themselves into a thick soup. As the good aroma of turkey was filling the kitchen, Katie placed the bowl of sauce carefully in the refrigerator so it could turn into jelly.

Meanwhile, snow was falling fast and thick. Katie just had to get out there and enjoy it, Thanksgiving or not.

Katie climbed down the steps and was suddenly up to her shins in soft, wet snow. The thrill of the sudden cold and the feel of the heavy snow loosened the lump in her throat and lifted her spirits a little. She picked up each foot slowly and put it down again deliberately, watching the big, goofy footprints she left behind.

“Katie!”

It was Katie’s friend, Jasmine, from next door. She was standing next to a huge pile of snow, patting it into shape. Jasmine waved a snowy, gloved hand to invite Katie over. Katie trudged into Jasmine’s back yard.

“Hey, Jasmine,” Katie called. “What are you doing?

Jasmine was patting more snow onto the pile. Then she smoothed the mass, rounding it out. “I’m making a polar bear,” she said. “Is your company here yet?” “No,” Katie told her, brushing the snow from her coat. “They can’t get here because of the weather.”

“Us, too,” replied Jasmine. “I mean, we can’t get to Grandma’s, either. And Mom and I baked three pies,” she added. “Pecan, pumpkin, and apple.”

“Mmmmm,” Katie smiled. “They’re all good.”

“But that’s all we have!” Jasmine sighed. “And you can’t just have pie for Thanksgiving dinner. That’s just sad.”

Suddenly Katie had an idea. “We’ve got a turkey and cranberry sauce,” she said. “And nobody’s coming. How about if you and your parents come over and share with us?”

“That would be great!” Jasmine clapped her snowy gloves.

Jasmine’s father called from her back door. “Sweetie! Come on in now and warm up. You’ve been out there all morning!”

“Okay, Dad!” Jasmine called. “I’ve got to go in now, Katie. See you for Thanksgiving dinner. We’ll bring the pies!”

Katie made her way slowly around the side of the house and towards the sidewalk. In the middle of Maple Street she saw Nisha and her brother and sister pulling a sled over the snow.

Katie galumphed towards her friend. Nisha said, “We were sledding on the hill near school. There’s nothing else to do. We were supposed to go to our cousins’ house. Mom made a whole lot of curried vegetables to bring. But then …” she stretched out her arms towards the snow-filled street.

“Us, too,” said Katie. “We’ve got a big turkey. Our whole family was coming, until the snow.” Katie suddenly had a thought. “You should all come over to our place. Jasmine and her parents are coming. You come, too!”

“That sounds great! We’ll bring all the food we were going to take to the cousins and share it with you.”

“Okay! See you later, Nisha!” Katie watched as Nisha ran through the snow to catch up with her brother and sister.

Katie continued down the middle of Maple Street. Up ahead she saw David and Thea in their front yard.

“Katie, look what we got!” Thea called. “Cross-country skis!”

“Cool!” Katie said. “They’re perfect for today.”

Thea made a careful turn. “They’re really fun. But we can’t go to Grandma’s for Thanksgiving. We’re just staying here.”

David grumbled, “And we’ve got a ton of turkey dressing, but no turkey.”

“We’ve got a turkey!” Katie told them. “Why don’t you all come to our house? Jasmine and Nisha and their families are all coming over. You and your dads should, too!”

“Turkey! Hurray!” exclaimed Thea, and swooshed happily forward on her skis.

“But there’ll be a lot of people,” said David. “Will there be any room for us?”

“Sure, no problem,” Katie assured him. “We’ve pulled out the table and added a bunch of leaves, so it’s huge.” She stretched out her arms as far as she could.

“Okay, then,” David told her. “We’ll be there with the dressing!”

“See you later!” Katie waved goodbye and headed back home. She smiled as she made her way through the snow. Instead of just MomAnna, MomLee, and Katie all alone at the big table, now there would be a whole group of friends to share Thanksgiving dinner.

When Katie came to her house, she saw MomLee out front, shoveling the walk. Katie waved and galumphed faster through the snow.

“Hi, MomLee! Can I help shovel?”

“Not now, Katie,” said MomLee, dumping a big shovelful of snow to the side of the walk. “But MomAnna could really use some help inside. We’re expecting a whole bunch of people for dinner.”

Katie hurried inside to help MomAnna. Then, suddenly, she realized something awful. Because she thought no one was coming, she’d invited practically the whole neighborhood to Thanksgiving dinner. But now people were coming—a whole bunch of people! She imagined her moms’ startled faces when all the people she’d invited showed up at the door, expecting a big dinner. What if Katie had ruined her family’s Thanksgiving?

Katie pulled off her boots, her coat, her hat, and her gloves and walked slowly towards the kitchen. She’d have to tell MomAnna all about the people she’d invited. Whatever would they do?

“Katie, would you arrange these mushrooms on the glass plate? They’re hot, so be careful, please.” MomAnna quickly pointed to the kitchen table and then dove into a low cabinet.

Katie gulped, and then quietly said “MomAnna? I need to talk with you about something.”

“Katie, I’m sorry, but I’m really, really busy now.” MomAnna arranged bowls and plates on the kitchen table. “Lots of people will be here very soon.”

“It’s about the people, MomAnna,” Katie began. Then the front door bell rang. They were here!

MomAnna took the platter with the mushrooms. “I’ll do the mushrooms. Katie, would you please open the door?”

Katie swallowed hard and headed for the door. Whose family would be there, she wondered—Jasmine’s? Nisha’s? David and Thea’s? Or would it be the people the Moms had invited? She took a deep breath and opened the door.

There they were—all of the people she’d invited: Jasmine with her father and mother (with the pies), Nisha with her brother, sister, and parents (with the curried vegetables), and David and Thea with their dads (with the turkey dressing). All of them were standing at the door with big smiles, ready for Thanksgiving dinner.

What could Katie do? “Um, I’m sorry, everybody, but, um …” she mumbled.

Suddenly, MomAnna was behind her.

“Katie,” she said. “Please let our company in. They must be cold, standing out there.”

Katie’s mouth fell open. MomAnna gently pulled her to the side so everyone could come in.

“The parents called us, Katie,” MomAnna whispered. “Just to make sure that it was all right to come. Of course, we said yes.” She squeezed Katie and kissed her on the cheek. “Thank you for inviting them!”

They were a bit crowded at the table, but nobody minded. They were all too busy tasting all the different foods and talking and laughing together. Somehow the turkey and the dressing and the curried vegetables and the three kinds of pie went together perfectly. And everyone loved the cranberry sauce Katie made.

Later in the evening, after everyone went home, Katie and the moms cleared the table and loaded the dishwasher. “I was just thinking,” Katie said, “this wasn’t exactly the Thanksgiving we planned. But I think it was a really good one, anyway.”

“You know what, Katie?” MomLee replied, giving Katie a big hug. “I’ll bet everyone who was here today feels the same way!”