вυмp ιn тнe nιgнт

TWENTY NINE

the graves family was almost all collectively nervous as they pulled up to sam and emily's house, where they could see a couple of tables had been set outside for the evening. marcus, though, was considerably the most anxious about the oncoming evening that had been set up, and maria kept having to quietly reassure him that everything would be alright.

since jasmine had met the pack altogether that one afternoon, sam had arranged for the tribe elders and the graves family to all come to his home for a sort of potluck kind of dinner.

the fact that billy and harry were going to be there, was what was setting marcus' nerves off. he never anticipated that he'd have to come clean about his family to his new friends, considering he didn't think they knew anything about the supernatural in the first place, but now that paul had come clean to them about the pack and all, it explained quite a bit about his two newest friends.

"so, uh," he starts to say, turning off the vehicle and staring ahead at the cozy looking home, his nerves evident to everyone in the car. "anyone else rethinking this whole thing?"

"no, not really."

"nope, just you."

"alright, alright, he gets it," maria cuts jasmine off before she can add onto the unhelpful string of disaffirmations, olive giggling in her seat and earning her a playful glare from the woman. she turns back to her husband, reaching out and taking his hand off the steering wheel and into her own, comfortingly squeezing it.

"it'll be fine, love. all three of you have kept secrets from each other, but now that they're out in the open, you don't need to be all nervous about seeing them. i mean, i'm a little nervous to meet sue here and talk about this stuff, but it's nothing to get so worked up over, you know?"

the man looks to his eyes, letting out a deep breath and closing his eyes momentarily before nodding, allowing a small smile to form on his face. turning to look over his shoulder at his kids, eyes skipping over the empty seat in the back, he grins at them.

"everyone ready to try and get through this evening without any trouble whatsoever?"

there was an unstable chorus of groans and affirmations that left the parents laughing before marcus unlocked the car and allowed them all out, moving to lift olive out of her seat and to the ground playfully. the little girl grins before yelling out in excitement at seeing someone come out of the bungalow, barreling past her father and yelling their name.

"embry!"

said teenager is initially startled by the sight of olive running straight at him, but then he smiles and rushes down the few steps of the house and meets her in the middle, lifting her into his arms and high into the air as they both laugh loudly.

"little ollie has joined the party! wow, kid, you've gotten so short," he teases once setting her down, and she playfully pouts up at him.

"nuh-uh! you just got super tall!"

embry laughs once more, squeezing her carefully into a big hug that has the rest of the graves family smiling, along with the people that came out of the house at the sound of loud laughter. sue was quick to come down the steps and embrace maria, the two women having grown into steady friends the more often their families met up, and both were glad to have a close female friend they could -- now -- confide in about the supernatural aspects of their lives.

"it's so great to see you all," the quilete woman states, grinning at the rest of the family before it falters upon noticing the missing member of the family. "where's-"

"hey, there's my new favorite fairy!"

attention shifts to jacob as he comes practically barreling outside, his father not far behind him in his wheelchair, and approaches the now much shorter cecilia. she glares at both him and embry, who were smirking down at her upon noticing the much more apparent height difference.