“Cold ham is really good!” Samantha observed as they drove home. “Maybe you could cook Emily’s tomorrow and serve it with the cold turkey Saturday evening?” Laura had to chuckle at the way her daughter casually referred to her own roasted then cooled and refrigerated body as the cold turkey, already imagining herself as simple left-overs. “If you cook it with honey and maybe pineapple rings it should taste different enough!”

“That’s a very good idea!” Laura smiled. “And after all, we’re having some of Emily as part of the main course too so it would seem fitting for her to join you in the evening as well!” Samantha beamed, proud and happy that her suggestion had been taken on board. “And what about Zahra’s?” Laura asked. “What do you think we should do with that?”

“Well,” Samantha replied thoughtfully after pondering for a few moments, “we did chat but she was your special friend really! Her meat is supposed to be a present for you. Isn’t it your wedding anniversary at the end of February?” Laura confirmed that it was. “Perfect!” Samantha grinned. “You should keep it for then and make a nice romantic meal out of it, with wine and candles!”

“You’re good at this!” Josh chuckled, thinking how much like her mum she already was, a similarity that would likely only have increased with time, had she not being going in the oven the day after next!”

At home, they made space for Zahra’s ham in the freezer while the rest of the meat went in the fridge. Aided by Laura’s famous list, the family carefully checked off everything that was needed for the party as well as for the special Christmas Even night dinner. Realising that they still needed to pick up fresh vegetables for both occasions, Josh offered to go to the supermarket with Samantha but this was a job that Laura wanted to do herself. It was not that she did not trust her husband, especially if sent with a shopping list, but if the shop was out of something and a substitute required, she would rather be there to make that call. In the end, the three of them went together and it was a special thrill for Samantha as she pushed the trolley around to know that almost everything that went in it was to accompany her own meat!

“Wait!” She exclaimed, as they started to head to the checkout. “Don’t we need stuffing?”

“Don’t worry,” Laura smiled, “that’s already taken care of.”

“Really?” Samantha frowned a bit. “I didn’t see any at home and I don’t want us to…”

“Does that seem like a mistake your mum would make?” Josh asked with a raised eyebrow. Giggling, Samantha agreed that it did not and, if Mummy said that stuffing was taken care of then it must be!

When they got home, Samantha had fun helping Laura wrap the Emily bacon around the Emily sausages and rolling the extra sausage meat into balls. There really did seem to be quite a lot by the time they were done but, as Laura reminded her, there were a lot of people coming and it was a pretty big turkey they had to accompany!

“Maybe you can put this on my tummy?” Samantha suggested, seeing that there was still a reasonable amount of bacon left now that all the sausages were wrapped. “Maybe my thighs too if there’s enough?” Laura agreed this sounded like an excellent idea and carefully wrapped the remainder of the bacon back in its grease-paper wrapper and popped it back in the fridge. The prepared meat they put into Tupperware containers to make it easier to take to the hall on Saturday morning.

“What should we do with these?” Samantha asked, smoothing out the sections of paper that had the photographs of Emily on them. A full frontal, a full back view and a smiling close-up head-and-shoulders portrait just like the ones Laura had seen taken of the turkeys. “It doesn’t seem right just to throw them away?” Laura put a hand on her daughter’s shoulder and looked with her at the pictures of the smiling, naked girl, remembering how happy she had been to become meat, and not a centrepiece like Samantha either but anonymous, unidentifiable food, existing purely for the pleasure and enjoyment of others.

“Well there’s those pages at the back of your memory book?” Laura suggested. “Meant for photos of your cooking and when you’re served, that sort of thing! Maybe we could stick a set of these in there?”

“Ooh perfect!” Samantha beamed, smiling lovingly up at her mum. “Emily is part of the meal too so she should be acknowledged! I’m the turkey and she’s the trimmings!” she added with a giggle. “Can we put the other one in a little frame or something? For that table where I’m going to be displayed?”

“Good idea!” Laura nodded. “I’m sure I have a spare one somewhere.” And so it was settled. With no more photo occasions coming up until the big day itself, Josh spent the evening putting together the slide-show to play on a loop in the background of the party, other than for the time when the short film Samantha had been so excited about would be on the screen. Samantha sat on his lap, helping him pick which photos from the fairly extensive archive of her childhood should be included and, when it came to the more recent shots of her showing off her meat, of which there tended to be several iterations of each pose, choosing which ones she felt showed her, and sometimes Amelia, as the most delicious. Every so often, Laura would check in to give her approval on the selection so far but she kept reminding herself that this really was Samantha’s party and, when it came to this kind of thing, it was right that she should have the final say.

After dinner and another cosy Christmas movie, the three of them all went together to the big bed for what they knew would be the last time as Samantha would be spending the following night, her last in this life, with her friends. Of course nobody bothered with pyjamas and her parents made sure that Samantha felt like the absolute centre of attention, her every need and desire seen to by both of them, practically worshipping her delicious young body until she passed out from blissful exhaustion.

The next morning, Christmas Eve, Laura was all business. It was almost as if she were organising a military operation rather than a Christmas party! She was up, showered and dressed long before Josh and Samantha were even awake, working on her final list and making a light but filling breakfast. When everything was ready, she went back up to wake them and they came down for breakfast in just their dressing gowns.

If Samantha could have her way, Laura was fairly sure, she would never put clothes on again but there was still quite a lot to do and she at least wanted her to look respectable when they collected their guests from the foster home. She had no doubt that her daughter would find some excuse to shed her clothes during the course of the evening and from then on she could spend the rest of her life naked if that’s what she wanted but she still needed to be a girl for a few more hours, not a turkey just yet! So after breakfast she sent her husband and daughter to shower and get dressed.

Although they would not be actually decorating the hall until the afternoon, when Amelia, Rob and Amanda were around to help, there was far too much that needed taking to the hall to manage in a single car journey, especially with so many people, so she delegated the task of ferrying the pile of boxes, packets, bags and other things by the door to the hall in as many trips as it took to Josh and Samantha while she would stay home and get the house ready for the evening.

When they arrived at the hall with the first car-load, Mr Jenkins was there to meet them, to hand over the keys and have Josh sign the final pieces of paper-work, mostly waivers relating to the use of the equipment in the hall and commitments as to how it was to be left when they returned the keys.

“The heating’s on for you.” the caretaker explained. “You can adjust it if you like but please don’t turn it off all together. Remember just to leave all the dirty plates and cooking equipment in the kitchen, we’ll handle that. Any waste food goes in the green bags,” Samantha felt a thrill of excitement knowing this description included the bones, scraps and few other inedible parts that would be left of her once everyone had eaten their fill and perhaps been given foil-wrapped slices of cold roast Samantha to take home! “Any other rubbish goes in the black bags. Please make sure the bin outside is closed properly.” he warned them. “We’ve had some trouble with foxes in the past. Well,” he looked down his check list. “That seems to be everything my end! Any questions from you?” They both shook their heads. “Well then,” he passed the keys to Josh, “I’ll leave you with these and wish you a very Merry Christmas!” With that, he left them alone to bring in the first car-load, consisting mostly of the camp beds and sleeping bags which Josh suggested should go on the stage behind the curtain so they would be out of the way.

It took five trips all together to transfer everything from the house to the car and they both felt they had got to know the route between very well! When they arrived home after the final load, they found Amelia there, helping Laura make sandwiches for lunch. She was dressed in a short red denim skirt and a white vest-top that showed off her budding chest rather nicely. A red denim jacket that matched her skirt hung over the back of one of the chairs around the kitchen table but this was not the first thing that either Samantha or Josh noticed – rather that was the rhinestone-studded white leather hat and boot combo she wore.

“Wow! Where did the Sidney gear come from?” Samantha beamed, hugging her friend.

“A Christmas present from my Mum and Dad!” Amelia grinned. “Seemed like the right occasion to wear it!”

“Definitely!” Samantha agreed. “Will you wear it to the party tomorrow too?”

“Sure!” Amelia nodded. “You’re giving Amanda the pink ones, right? We can be twinsies!” The girls giggled and Josh considered expressing sadness that Amelia would not be wearing her pretty new Christmas dress but remembered the threats she had made if he were to breath a word, threats he had no doubt she was perfectly capable of making good on and then some, so decided to keep quiet!


To be continued...