The next day, the family got up and started their day with a swim. Tina and Bette prepared a big breakfast and were cleaning up the kitchen when the chef and his wife arrived to start the Thanksgiving preparation. Bette showed them into the guest room off from the kitchen and allowed them to get settled.  Just before lunch, Bette and Tina had coffee with them to discuss the menu and the schedule. They decided to get started right away with the preparation of the turducken since it would take a significant amount of prep time and possibly as long as 15 hours to cook. They wanted it to have finished cooking by 6:00 am the next morning. Therefore, it needed to be in the oven by 3:00 pm that afternoon. And since it took up an oven, the second and third oven would be rather busy.

The chef was a young black man who had been born and raised in New Orleans. He had finished high school some 15 years ago and had immediately joined the Navy. He spent eight years on an aircraft carrier and had been in the Pacific most of his career. He had met and married his wife some 4 years ago in culinary school. His name was Spencer Eason.

Spencer’s wife was born in Mexico and was a few years younger than Spencer. After culinary school, Spencer and Juanita had worked in several restaurants and hotels. The time came in which the couple thought they were ready to begin a family. Dylan met Spencer at an establishment and invited him to interview with Helena to be the inhouse chef for their Malibu home. Helena hired the couple and provided the couple a two-bedroom beach condo near the Peabody compound as a part of the compensation package. Since Helena and Dylan traveled frequently, Spencer and Juanita had periods of time where they were free to pursue other hobbies and employment.  The couple had decided they were ready to have a child, but after multiple failed attempts and medical examinations, it was determined that they couple could not have their own children. Spencer was disappointed and Juanita was devastated. So, the couple was in a period of time in which they were acclimating to fact that natural children were not in the cards and determining if they wanted to pursue other avenues to have the family of their dreams. And no matter which path they decided to pursue, the fact was they wanted to be financially ready, so doing a Thanksgiving dinner engagement for the Kennard Porter household was a welcomed job.