Candice Merriman, as the caption under her picture identified her, was a very pretty girl with pale skin, green eyes and straight, glossy jet-black hair cut into a bob just below her ears. She was a little bit older than her character, looking around nine or ten while the character of Rosie who appeared in the opposite frame was identified in the book as being six years old, close to the age of the book’s target audience, but Samantha understood that this was normal practice in the industry as an actress of Rosie’s actual age could probably not be relied upon to deliver her lines convincingly, or to learn them well enough in the first place that she would not have to read them.

Something Josh and Laura both spotted but which apparently went unnoticed by the children, or at least remained unremarked upon, was that the head-and-shoulders portrait of Candice in the frame had bare shoulders, along with the as much of her chest as was visible, giving them impression that she was naked. They exchanged glances, wondering if this would mean what they suspected, and hoping that Samantha and the others would consider it an extra treat if so!

Since the source material was a picture book with minimal text, a direct dramatisation of which would barely have lasted ten minutes, it was not surprising that some extra material had been added to pad this film to half an hour, including three songs, but both Josh and Laura were very pleased for Samantha’s sake, given how much this story meant to her, that the plot of the book remained intact.

All five watched, enchanted, as Rosie learned that her family were too poor to afford a turkey that year, visited farms to ask if they had any spare, leading to some comical scenes involving barnyard animals, tried to go hunting for a wild turkey in the woods near her house with a home-made bow and arrow, only to be told by a friendly man out walking his dog that there were no such thing as wild turkeys in England and the most she was likely to catch was a sparrow or, if she was very lucky, a pigeon, which would still not go very far among a family as big as hers, and even tried to get a job to pay for a turkey herself, only to be told again and again that she was too small for any advertised position she came across.

Eventually, in despair, she began to wander home, looking longingly in shop windows as she went, until she passed the butcher’s shop and saw two other little girls, stark naked, going in with their mother. Surprised and confused, Rosie asked why they had no clothes on and they explained that they were going to be sold as Christmas turkeys! Now that she knew that girls like her could substitute for poultry as the centrepiece of a Christmas feast, Rosie ran home to tell her parents and siblings the good news. They would have a big, delicious turkey for Christmas after all!

The next scene showed Rosie, now with no clothes on herself, helping her mum chop vegetables and peel potatoes then, when everything else was ready, climbing into the roasting pan ready to go into the oven! Finally, just as in the book, Rosie the Christmas Turkey was served up for her large extended family who all gathered around the table to admire her golden-brown roasted carcass while her dad prepared to carve the delicious meat.

The angle of the theoretical camera changed until the viewer was looking down on Rosie from above with none of the other characters visible and, in a surprise to Samantha and her friends but not especially to her parents, the image on the screen morphed so that the animated character of Rosie was replaced by the young actress who had voiced her, just as naked and clearly roasted for real, her once-pail skin brown and crispy, ready to serve.

As the end credits rolled, a photo montage was shown of Candice, wearing a pink coat and woolly hat, standing outside the main entrance of a Sidney’s restaurant, taking a selfie with the sign clearly visible above her. Next she was shown signing a contract on a clip-board held by a pink-shirted staff-member, then part way through undressing in the locker room. The next picture showed her in the kitchen, posing cheerfully naked between two of the black-shirted kitchen workers who smiled obligingly for the camera. The next few pictures, which faded from one to the other in fairly rapid succession, showed her being scrubbed and oiled up then getting into a roasting pan just as Rosie had done, adopting the same turkey pose that Samantha would be taking in what was now a matter of hours. Then finally she was shown served on a platter while the rest of the cast gathered around her, the famous actor who had played Rosie’s dad posing with a carving knife and fork just as his character had done. The final credit was a thanks to Sidney’s and a message that read “In Loving Memory of Candice Merriman” followed in smaller letters underneath by the rather cheeky message “She was even more delicious than she looks!”

“Wow!” Samantha gushed as soon as it was over. “That was awesome! And she really roasted at the end? How cool is that?” The others, even Rob agreed, as the five of carefully disentangled themselves from each other and stood up, Laura folding the quilt carefully and laying it over the back of the sofa.

“I don’t suppose there’s any point in asking if you girls want to get dressed before dinner?” Laura asked with slight hope but little to no expectation. In reply she received withering glares from Samantha and Amelia and a more sheepish grin from Amanda, all very obviously conveying the same message! “Very well!” she half sighed, half chuckled, “Come sit at the table.”

The dining table had been set just as it always was for Christmas dinner, with a white tablecloth with gold edging and an embroidered holly pattern around the rim, place-mats in the shape of silver snowflakes and the good plates, glasses and cutlery that only came out for special occasions. Once the children were all seated, Josh and Laura quickly brought over the bowls of vegetables and potatoes jug of gravy and plate of stuffing balls which they arranged around the table, leaving space in the middle.

“Now, please remember this is the first time I’ve ever cooked girl.” Laura reminded them in a slightly apologetic tone as she slid the baking tray out of the oven and removed the foil. Everyone, Samantha especially, tried to peer into the kitchen to see as the meat was transferred onto a platter. Really, it had finished cooking just before the film began and had been kept warm in the oven since, on a very low temperature and covered over with foil so that it would not dry out. From what they could see, Laura was arranging something and, when she seemed happy, she brought in the round platter, much smaller of course than the one that Samantha would be served on, and set it in pride of place in the middle of the table.

In the middle of the platter was the single buttock which, coming from an older teen, was made up of almost as much meat as the entire rump of one of the girls around the table, criss-cross cuts across the surface into which garlic butter had been rubbed. Fanned out around it were slices of breast that had been pan-fried in the same garlic butter, infusing the creamily-textured but notoriously bland meat with flavour. It was generally understood, Samantha knew from her research, that all breasts contained approximately the same amount of flavour, with little ones like hers, no bigger than ping-pong balls, being the most flavoursome. The popularity of larger breasts like the one they had purchased lay in the texture and also in the aesthetic – most people loved looking at big boobs after all, so the thought of eating one was, for many, fun and exciting. The secret to making them tasty was in the cooking, something her mum apparently understood well!

There was a suitable round of ooh and aahs as well and thanks and congratulations to Laura then, just like the dad in the film, Josh took the carving knife and fork and began to carve the rump, giving the requested end piece, along with another generous slice, to Samantha and picking out the slice of breast that had the nipple attached for her too. Next her served Amanda, then Rob, then Amelia, then his wife and finally himself. With plenty of meat on everyone’s plate, it was clear that there would be enough for seconds and maybe even third helpings for those who wanted it!

Everyone was tucking in merrily and chatting to each other as they enjoyed their Christmas Eve feast, helping themselves to more as directed by the adults and making short work of the vegetables and other side-dishes that had been lovingly made to accompany the delectable teen meat so none of the children noticed when Laura and Josh nodded exchanged looks then nodded to each other, as if in agreement, nor paid any particular attention when Laura got up to go to the kitchen and came back holding something behind her back which she slipped under the cushion on her chair for safekeeping until the meal was over.

“Hey, I just realised!” Samantha looked up, an expression of happy realisation on her face, “This is the first time you’ve ever eaten girl-meat, isn’t it Mummy?” Laura confirmed that it was. “So?” the sweet soon-to-be turkey asked expectantly, “What do you think?”

“So good!” Laura grinned, licking her lips wolfishly. “Makes me want more! Better be careful,” she teased, “or I might gobble all three of you up while you’re asleep!” All three naked girl giggled.

“Oh you wouldn’t do that, Mummy!” Samantha chided her with playful severity. “That would mean everyone tomorrow would go hungry! Unless Daddy cooked you instead of course?” This was met with more giggles and protests from Laura that she was too old and would be tough and chewy!

“Well I’ll keep a close eye on her tonight,” Josh promised, glancing at his wife and receiving a subtle nod of confirmation, “to make sure we’ve still got our turkey for tomorrow as I really do need to keep your mum around for… well, do you want to say, darling?” Looking a little nervous, Laura slid the large red envelope she had brought from the kitchen out from under the cushion and set it on her lap.

“We know it’s not Christmas until tomorrow,” she addressed the siblings, “and we were going to save this present until the party but, since tonight is a celebration too and we wanted Sammie to know about this, we thought we’d give you this present now.”

“What is it?” Amelia mouthed silently to Samantha, looking puzzled.

“No idea!” Samantha mouthed back in equal bewilderment, giving a discreet shrug. Both girls, who were sat either side of the brother and sister, leaned in to listen every bit as eagerly as Amanda and Rob themselves.

“The thing is,” Laura continued, “after Sammie… After tomorrow,” she rephrased what she was about to say but her meaning remained clear, “we’re going to have a lot of extra space in this house and, although Sammie’s decided it’s her time to move on, we, well,” she looked at her husband and took his hand, squeezing it for moral support, “we’re not quite ready to stop being parents yet. We know things haven’t been easy for you these last couple of years but, well,” she took the envelope off her lap and passed it to them, “if you’d like, if you’ll have us, that is, we’d like to adopt you.” Everyone was silent for a moment, tears welling up in every eyes. It was Amanda who eventually broke the silence.

“Do you mean it?” she asked in a quiet, timid voice. “For real?”

“For real!” Josh confirmed with a loving smile. “It’s all agreed with the authorities, pending your approval, of course. It would technically be fostering at first but after a year, if you’re still happy, we’d be able to adopt you officially.”

“We can put a second bed in Sammie’s room for the time being,” Laura explained, “but in the Summer we’re thinking we will move in there, take down the wall between what’s now our room and the box room and put up another one more in the middle so you can each have a room of your own. We know you’d want that as you get older.”

“Really?” Rob asked, happy tears running down his cheeks. “You’d really do this for us?”

“If you’ll have us!” Laura repeated.

“Does that mean I get to call you Daddy?” Amanda asked Josh with a cheeky grin, making him blush a little.

“If that’s what you want!” he answered with a chuckle. “When you’re ready!”

“Speaking of being ready,” a thought occurred to Laura, “I’m not sure if all this,” she waved her finger in a circle, indicating Amanda’s authentic Sidney outfit, “is just for fun or if you’re thinking any deeper but the anti-exploitation laws mean that if we foster or adopt you, you can’t cook for at least five years. I’m not sure if the clock resets on that when we upgrade from fostering to adoption. Are you okay with that?”

“Hmm…” Amanda looked up at the ceiling, cupping her chin and tapping her lips with her index finger like people in cartoons when they’re thinking deeply. “I suppose I could live with that! Just gives me more time to grow and get some nice juicy melons like these!” she stabbed one of the small remaining slices of breast on the platter with her fork and popped it into her mouth, chewing happily.

“That’s the spirit!” Samantha grinned before flinging her arms around her. “Welcome to the family, sister!”


To be continued...