A/N: JUST AS A HEADS UP THERE WILL BE A THIRD PART TO THIS I JUST HAVEN'T STARTED WRITING IT YET.
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"I was thinking that maybe you could come home with me this Christmas?" Ally suggests to Alex. Alex shrugs.
"I don't see why not. Tom is visiting his mom in Germany and I guess it is about time I met your family." He replies earning a huge smile from his girlfriend.
Alex was nervous to meet them. Sure he had seen them over FaceTime calls and phone calls but he'd never really gotten past introductions with his girlfriend's family.
He figured it was time though. Him and Ally had been dating for nearly five years now and they had never once met face to face. The trip from NY to California was long and expensive, one that Ally's family didn't have the money for. Ally didn't either as she was a college student in New York nor did she have the time to visit often. Alex offered to pay for her to go home often but she always declined not wanting to take advantage of his money despite how many times he's told her it's no trouble. The only times she accepted plane tickets were her birthday and other special occasions.
Two weeks later the couple were on a plane to California. Allison kept a grin on her face the entire ride and didn't stop until they were getting their luggage. Alex had never seen her move so quickly to the point where she was basically running to grab a taxi to the Standall home.
The pair made their way up the steps of a white picket fence home. One Alex had only heard of when talking about the American dream. The normal for Americans was very different from English homes.
"Mom! Dad! We're here," Allison shouts the second the door opens.
Two people rush out of the kitchen to greet the two of them. They both hug their daughter before turning to greet her long term boyfriend.
"Alex, it's so nice to finally meet you face to face," she says while giving the 23 year old a tight hug. He smiles in her embrace before replying.
"It's nice to meet you too Mrs. Standall," he says as she finally releases him.
"Oh none of that now," she says with a small swat of the kitchen towel. "Call me Jenna."
Alex smiles a bit and nods. Her father shook his hand.
"Anthony," he states after releasing his hand.
"Dinner will be ready in about 30 minutes. Why don't you guys bring your stuff upstairs?" Ally's mom suggests.
Ally and Alex bring their luggage upstairs to Ally's room.
"This is cute," Alex comments teasingly at all of the boy band posters on the pick walls of her childhood room.
"Stop it Alex," she says while shoving him a bit. They both fall into chuckles though as they put their stuff down. "How are we going to fit on the bed?" she asks.
"I'll take the floor. It's fine," Alex offers. Allison shakes her head in return.
"My mother is not going to let you sleep on the floor."
"Fine, we can sleep on top of each other," Alex says.
"Dinners ready," Mrs. Standall calls from downstairs. The two make their way to the dinning room where the table was set and Mrs. Standall was already making their plates.
The pasta was delicious and Alex had more than one portion of it.
"This is delicious ma'am," Alex comments as they are.
"None of that ma'am stuff, Alex. Just call me Jenna," she laughs and he shyly nods again. "Anyway. It's just so good to finally meet you Alex," she gushes. "For a while we all thought you didn't exist," she comments while Ally rolls her eyes at her mom.
"It's really good to meet you guys too. It's been a long time in the making," Alex said after a small chuckle.
"Our other children are going to be coming home tomorrow," Jenna informed the couple. Ally's face brightens.
"Even Tami?" She asks. Jenna nods with a smile.
"Is that one of your sisters?" Alex asks.
"Yeah. She's the oldest, 9 years older than me. Then Jacob who's 6 years older than me. Carrie and Chance are 3 years older. Carrie is working at a law firm in the city. Chance is doing construction around here as well. Jake is in the military and Tami is a consultant and translator so she travels a lot," Ally explains.
"Tam also joined the peace corps a few years back so she doesn't get home often," Jenna explains.
"That must be hard," Alex says softly. Ally talked about her siblings every now and then but Alex also knew she didn't want to rub her family in Alex's face.
"What about you, hon? Any siblings?" She asked. Ally's face paled a bit.
"No. It's just me," Alex answered a bit awkwardly before Allison could say anything.
"Was it nice being the only child?" Anthony asks the parent not quite understanding he meant he had no family.
"Um. Yeah. It was okay. My uncle raised me after my parents passed so it was really just the two of us," Alex explained.
"Oh. We're so sorry, we didn't know that," Jenna apologizes as Anthony nods next to her. Alex waves them off. He's managed to get over it after all these years.
"My friend Tom is still in London though so I go and visit him when I can," Alex tells them.
"That's nice. You two must be close. Sorry, it just slipped my mind, what do you do for work again?" Jenna asks.
"I teach at a high school and I'm also a personal trainer," Alex responds.
"Where did you go to college?" Anthony asks him.
"Dont grill him guys," Ally cuts in.
"It's okay," Alex says to her. "I didn't actually go to a specific college. Back home I had a weird situation and I was able to get a degree for what I needed. It's not like I'm teaching sciences or maths."
Technically he didn't get a degree. He asked Joe Byrne to fridge one and his wish was granted but it's not like he really needed schooling for that.
"What are you teaching, Alex?" Anthony asks him curiously.
"I coach football or um soccer and I teach Spanish and French as well," Alex responds politely.
"You like languages?" Jenna asks with a smile.
"Yeah. I enjoy different languages," Alex asks. It's not a lie either. Even after his spy days were over he continued to pick up new languages because he enjoyed doing it.
"Tami will love you. What languages do you speak if you don't mind me asking?" Jenna questions.
Alex doesn't see the harm in answering honestly.
"I speak English, Spanish, French, German, Russian, Arabic, Italian and Korean fluently. I can get by in Japanese, Mandarin, and Dutch. There's a few others that I can use broken sentences but yeah," Alex says scratching the back of his head.
"That's quite a list," Anthony comments in shock.
"Yeah."
They finish their dinners and Jenna scoops out ice cream for dessert. They all exchange pleasantries before heading to bed.
"Carrie and Chance are probably going to get in early tomorrow because they always come for breakfast. Jacob usually comes later and I don't know when Tami is going to be home," Jenna says as a heads up to Alex before she went to bed and Alex thanked her.
Ally and him squished together on the bed as he kissed the top of her head before they both fell asleep.
