Prelude

Chapter 13: Cook Outs Can Be Fun Without Big, Armed Men Too

Guinevere beat Harper to the house by three seconds and she danced happily into the house as he shouted that she had cheated behind her. There was a squeal when Guinevere stumbled into the house and she turned to see Riley, Harper's sister, running towards her. She laughed as the woman collided with her and made her drop all of her bags to the floor. 

"It's so good to see you! Look at all this hair! You're walking and everything!" Riley said with enthusiasm as she held Guinevere at arm's length before hugging her again. 

"So is your daughter!" Riley laughed and Guinevere smiled. "Come on! Come meet her." Riley took her by the hand and pulled her into the kitchen where her mom was holding a conversation about growing hearts with a twelve year old who was chopping up lettuce surprisingly fast. "Baby girl, meet Guinevere. G, this is Claire." 

"Hey. Harper tells me you want to be a heart surgeon."

"Eventually. I have to go through med school and residency first but that's the end game." 

"Very Cristina Yang of you." Guinevere told her. Claire broke into a grin. 

"You watch Grey's Anatomy?" 

"Of course. How else would I know what happens at hospitals?" The adults in the kitchen all snorted. "As much as I would love to keep talking about Grey's with you, I have to shower before dinner."

"You invited your friends?" Her mom asked her before she could run off upstairs. 

"Yep. All seven of them. A majority of them have to shower before they come over so they should be here within an hour." She said as she stole a grape from the bunch her mom was pulling from the stems. Her mom nodded her understanding as Guinevere swung around on the banister. "Is dad home yet?" 

"Nope. He had to make a grocery run for us on his way home and pick up some lights for the back yard too." 

"Got it." Guinevere nodded once before jogging up the stairs and into her room. She texted Lydia her address and then jumped in the shower to wash off all of the sweat she had accumulated during practice. After she pulled on some overall shorts and a crop top, she tied her hair up in a ponytail as she headed back down the stairs. 

"One thing before they all get here," she announced as she walked through the kitchen to look out the window at the driveway, causing her mom to raise a brow, "I swear some of them have super hearing. It probably won't come up, but don't mention that I had cancer." The kitchen became a little somber before they all nodded. 

"Okay." Her mom said kindly. 

"Okay, Guin," her dad said loudly as he burst through the front door, arms laden with grocery bags, "am I taking the gun off or not?" He asked as he put the bags down on the counter and made her mom smile as she rolled her eyes. 

"Yes. Most definitely." She told him, already knowing he wasn't going to until after he had met her friends and decided for himself. 

"Staying on it is." He beamed at her. She gave a playful groan to appease him and it worked as he switched his attention to Harper. "It's damn good to see you Harper." He pulled him into what looked like an aggressive hug that was more of bodies clashing than anything else. 

"It's good to see you too, sir." 

"You know it's Brian, Harper."

"I know, sir." Harper said with a lopsided grin as they pulled apart. Riley walked into the kitchen with Hakeem on her hip and as soon as she saw Guinevere's dad, Guinevere swooped in to take the child before he was crushed by her dad's bicep.

"Mr. H!" Riley said in excitement. 

"Riles!" Guinevere's dad said with a grin on his face as he was attacked by the woman. "Hey, kid."