Who You Say I Am (A Jai Courtney Fanfic)

Chapter 63-Jai

Jai

We arrive at Megan's house to her parents chatting in the living room. Her father already has on casual duds and he is, in fact, wearing shorts in the cold.
"G'day," I greet them when we walk in.
"Hi, Mom, Daddy," Megan says hanging up her coat.
"Hi, sweetheart," Nick greets us.
"Lunch is on the stove. Dinner's in the crockpot. Don't get them confused," Hannah teases.
"Oh?" Megan says surprised. "What's for dinner?"
"Beef stew," her dad answers.
"That sounds good on a cold day," Megan comments.
I agree and I hope I'm invited. Hannah's food is excellent. I'm not that used to good home cooked meals. My mom cooked sometimes but she worked full time when I grew up. Meals were like a jar of spaghetti sauce with boiled noodles. It was decent but restaurants were better.
We step into the kitchen and it smells incredible, like chicken soup. Megan lifts the lid from the stock pot and it smells even better. "Could you open the cupboard behind you and grab me two bowls?" she asks me.
"Sure," I say surprised.
I'm perfectly content with being treated like one of the family. I open the cabinet door and see the dishes. I grasp some crockery and hand them to her. She ladles out two scoops in one, one in the other.
"Would you like some more challah?" she asks.
"That's the bread last night?" I question. She nods. "Defo."
She laughs and sticks two slices into the toaster. I watch as she sets the crockery onto the bench and she gets two glasses out. She opens the fridge.
"What would you like to drink?" she asks.
I step over and peer in. It is overwhelmingly stocked with food.
"What do you have?" I ask coming closer to her.
"Let's see... milk, orange juice, iced coffee, lemonade, white grape juice..." she offers.
"Whatever you're having," I say.
"Really?" she laughs. I hum a reply. "We're having grape juice."
She pours us each a glass and gets two spoons out. I watch as she puts the carton away. I see several pictures on the outside of their fridge. "Who are these?" I ask.
"Oh," she says coming over. "These are missionaries from our church," she explains. "This family is in Southeast Asia, this one India, Africa, South America, Mexico, and this one went to Paris."
"Lots of missionaries needed in France?" I question surprised.
"Yeah. Since the French Revolution, I think, or maybe it was something else... anyway, there are many abandoned churches there. It's sad really. Many unbelievers in a place that's so full of tons of beautiful historic churches. The buildings still stand but the church is the people, not the building," she explains.
I've never heard of that before... referring to all of it but mostly the last thing she said. She smiles sadly at me. The toaster goes off and she gets more crockery, placing both slices on the same one. I don't know why but it warms my heart to share... and to be invited in, to feel like one of the family.
"Aren't you going to come sit with me?" she asks patting the seat beside her.
"Yeah," I say joining her side.
I watch as she dunks her bread into the soup. I try a spoonful and it's got to be the best chicken soup I've ever had. "Your mum made this?" I ask.
"Yeah," she nods. "She usually boils a whole chicken. There's also carrots, onions, parsnips, and celery in there."
"What are these?" I ask.
"Matzoh balls. They're like a meatball but made with special breadcrumbs and eggs instead of meat," she explains.
I watch as she takes a bite.  I try mine as well.  They're really good, actually.  "So your family is Jewish?" I inquire.
"On my mother's side," she nods.  "So, technically yes, I'm half Jewish by blood.  But my mother's a Christian."
"What happened there?" I ask curiously. 
"My mother met my dad and they fell in love.  My mom converted," she tells me. 
"That sounds simple enough," I say. 
"It wasn't simple," she says softly, pausing.  "My grandparents disowned her... but after Arthur was born, they just couldn't stay away.  They wanted to be a part of their grandchildren's lives."
I nod in understanding.  So, that created some tension. 
She laughs lightly.  "My grandmother always asks if we have some nice Jewish friends.  I think she thought we'd turn back or something.  I mean, there's a Messianic Jewish Temple in town.  I'd consider going there... but I just don't believe what my grandparents believed."
"And what's that?" I ask. 
"I believe Jesus is the Son of God.  They didn't.  They thought he was just another Jew.  He's the foundation of my faith," she says meeting my eyes. 
I nod somewhat grasping what she's saying.  They just believe different things. 
We finish our lunch and change into casual duds.  I hang my suit up in their spare closet.   Nick takes me downstairs to the basement to go through his collection.  We walk to a door I've never been behind.  He opens it up and it looks like they have their own grocery store down here with shelves upon shelves of canned and packaged food.  "My wife's father lived through the Holocaust.  He made it out—the rest of his family didn't.  He came to the US to start over. Her mother's family was from Russia—kicked out for their religion. Then, they lived through the Great Depression. When you've gone hungry for so long, it's kind of ingrained in you to never go hungry again.  Hannah learned that from her parents. If it makes her comfortable, I don't mind.  Megan usually goes through and gives the excess away to the inner city church.  They give it to people who really are hungry.  So, I don't mind," Nick explains. 
I nod in understanding.  She's got some serious family history.
"Over here is my arsenal," he says showing me his collection and I'm surprised by how much he has.  I have no fear that Megan will ever be in danger, that's for sure.  He has shotguns, assault rifles, and handguns with boxes upon boxes of ammunition.  Megan joins us a minute later wiping her damp hands on her pants.  She smiles at me and picks up a case. 
"What's that?" I ask.  She grins at me and turns her head.  I realize she braided her hair and I figure... "That's your bow?"
"Yeah," she smiles widely. 
"She's better at that than me.  I grew up on the recurve bows.  She has a compound bow.  Be careful with that or you'll hurt yourself," Nick warns me. 
"Do I want to try it?" I ask skeptically. 
"Maybe watch the first time," she suggests.  "He's right, you can get hurt.  They have lessons at the place we're going to."
I observe as she grabs a quiver of arrows and throws it over her shoulder.  I love that she's not the type of fan girl to just watch... she's into doing. 
I assist Nick with carrying his gear that we're taking upstairs and to the boot of his 4WD.  Megan sets hers on top.  She smiles at me. 
"It's been a while, hasn't it, Daddy?" she asks. 
"Yeah, you'd been busy with school and other things," he replies.  I get the feeling he means her ex.  She tries to smile at him and I know for sure that that was the problem. 
Mikey joins us and I decide to sit in back with Megan.  She looks cold though.  I have a feeling that her dad wears the shorts because he's always warm.  I put my arm around her and she smiles at me gratefully.  We drive through the bush—not the city—and oddly we end up near the airport again.  I look to Megan in surprise.  She seems pretty excited. 
"Are you doing indoor or outdoor archery, sweetheart?" Nick asks. 
"I'll do indoor this time.  I think I'll shoot with you first, though," she says. 
"Are you teaching me?" I ask. 
"Of course," she smiles. 
Nick parks and we all help him carry gear inside. As we enter, I hadn't realized this was a shop and a range.  I've always handled props, never the real thing.  I'm pretty stoked about this.  We walk over to the gun range and I see there are already people shooting on the far end.  We get into a couple lanes and set the gear down on the table.  I get first choice and I look to Megan.  She picks the handgun and loads it.  We put on ear and eye protection.  She has me come with her.  It looks like she's debating on having me hold it or her.  She decides to hold it and has me come around her.  I actually like this position with my arms wrapped around her.  She aims and has me hold the gun like she does. 
"We're going to hold it like this, aim, and shoot.  There will be a recoil.  Keep your feet planted and hold tightly or it'll kick back to your face," she explains loudly so I can hear. 
"Got it," I say thinking this sounds familiar. 
"Ready?" she asks.  I reply and we fire.  I'm blown away by how loud and powerful that actually was.  It's nothing like in the films.  She steps aside and places it in my hand after she flips the safety.  "Keep your finger off the trigger until the very moment you want to shoot.  They always get that wrong in the movies.  I guess they think bad trigger discipline looks cool," she says and I realize she should be advising for films.  She's fairly knowledgeable.  I shake the thought away and focus on the task at hand.  I stand in position, aim, put my finger on the trigger and fire.  The kickback was more than I expected so I plant myself firmly and take another shot.  It's better.  I look to Megan and she's smiling.  She assists me with aiming once more and it's perfect.  I empty the clip and we do another clip each.  Her shots are better than mine but I think they're pretty close for a first day.  We switch with her dad and brother.  My favorite part so far is when I watch her demonstrate what to do and I get to hug her while she shows me.  With the shotgun and rifle, the key is to pull the butt of the gun to your shoulder.  The handgun is to hold it out with both hands to keep it in position.  I think of all the one handed shots I've made in films and they're kind of unrealistic.  It's like a kid playing with a toy gun.  That's not how to handle the weapon at all.  Maybe if my skill improves in the future I could practice one handed. 
Megan and I leave them to it for a while as she takes me to the archery range.  We remove the ear protection and leave it on the table with the rest.  When we arrive to the other range, I see a bloke with a crossbow and it's pretty gnarly.  I watch as Megan sets up and I'm honestly happy just to watch her. 
"When we get back, we'll have to change our clothes and shower," she says.  "There's some nasty stuff that backfires onto us and we need to get cleaned up.  If someone goes to the gun range and then goes home, they don't want to be hugging anyone afterward until they're clean, especially not children."
I nod.  I didn't know that.  That's definitely not portrayed in films. 
I observe as she gets her bow out of the case and tests it first.  She gets into place before she grasps one of her arrows from her quiver and nocks it.  I watch as she looses it and it's about dead center on the target.  She nocks the next one and this one is dead center.  She shoots all her arrows and waits for the other bloke to finish before they both collect their arrows. 
"That was nice," I comment. 
"What?  You didn't want me going when other people are shooting?" she teases. 
I laugh lightly.  "No," I tell her firmly, though.
"I never understood how Eric was supposed to be Erudite but he always spoke out of anger and did foolish things like that," she says. 
"He was supposed to be Erudite?" I question. 
"That's what Tris thought when he interrogated her in his office," she explains. 
"Book only?" I ask.  I don't really remember that part. 
She nods. 
"Your part was too small in that one, too, I thought.  It feels like they cut your parts short when you should have a larger role in the movie.  That's just my opinion, though," she tells me. 
"Thanks, love," I grin.