One of the Good Ones ✓

Operation Turkey Day: Part 2

"Ma! We're here!" Chris yells out as we step inside the house. There's a brief moment of screaming, followed by the sound of a charging army before we're blind sided by three blurs.

"Uncle Chris! Uncle Chris! You're finally here!" Ok, it's his niece and nephews.

"Yeah, I'm here squirts." I stand awkwardly behind him as he hugs them all. "And this is my friend, Lexi. Lexi, this is Ethan, Miles and Stella. They're my sister Carly's kids."

I smile at them. "Hi, it's very nice to meet you." Ethan and Miles run back out the way the came but Stella pulls Chris down to whisper in his ear.

"She's really nice. And pretty." She says with a giggle before running off.

"Sorry about the initial assault. I can't make any promises that the rest of them won't be like that as well." Chris says, scratching the back of his neck.

"It's ok, Chris. I can handle the questions. I'd be more concerned if your family didn't ask them. I mean, you've been spending more time at my house than your own these days."

"That's not completely true." He says quietly, the tips of his ears turning red with embarrassment.

I laugh out loud at that. "Have you even noticed that Dodger has his own bed and food for my house? Or that your favorite beer is in my fridge, always stocked?" He smiles. "See? Now you get why I'm not shocked that your family will have questions and that I'm prepared to answer them?"

"Thank you. You've become one of my best friends and I want them to like you as much as I do."

"The feeling's mutual dude." I say as he wraps an arm around my shoulder and leads me into the kitchen. "Ma, Carly, Shanna. This is Lexi. Lexi, this is my mom Lisa, my oldest sister Carly, and the youngest Shanna." They all wave a little in turn.

"It's very nice to meet you. Chris has told me a lot about y'all." I say timidly.

"The feeling is definitely mutual. This one talks about you any chance he can get." Lisa says.

"Ma, stop." He groans, his cheeks turning red. I chuckle a little.

"I didn't know what to bring, so Chris was pretty insistent that a pie would be great." I say, placing the dish down on the counter.

"Oh thank you! We almost had no dessert. We're hopeless with baking and Chris insisted that we shouldn't do store-bought and this is obviously why." Carly says, checking out the pie.

"Oh my gosh! This smells amazing!" Shanna adds.

"Thanks." I say quietly, a blush rising on my cheeks.

🍂🍁🍂

"So where are you from?" Scott asks once we're all sat down to eat.

"Oh, umm, I'm from eastern Pennsylvania. Reading, to be exact."

"Omg! Did you know Taylor Swift?" He asks excitedly.

I laugh. "Unfortunately no. But it is my biggest flex when people ask where I'm from."

"What made you decide to move all the way up here? Do you have family in the area?"

"Oh, no, nothing like that. I've always been into history and I actually like seasons, so the Boston area seemed nice. And when I got the job at the museum, everything else just kind of fell into place."

"So no family?" His mom asks.

"Ma." Chris says, giving her a look.

"It's fine Chris." I tell him. "Nope, it's just me." I tell them, keeping my face as neutral as possible.

"Well, you're more than welcome to dinners over here. We all need a family, even if it's not blood." Lisa says with a smile.

"Thank you." The rest of the early afternoon passed rather quickly with me getting to know Chris's family. Everyone loved the pie and I received far more compliments than I was used to.

Pretty soon it was time to head out to his dad's. Thankfully, his siblings, niece and nephews were coming so I wouldn't just have Chris as a life line. "Stick by me. I'm the fun one anyway." Scott says as he hops into Chris's car with us.

I laugh at the face Chris makes. "Do you like Disney movie marathons too?"

"Yes!"

"Sorry Chris, I might be trading you in for a younger model." I joke and the brothers laugh.

"Thanks Scott. Maybe now I don't feel bad for stealing Ginny from you in high school." Chris laughs.

"What?! What did you do?" Scott yells up from the front. I look on confused.

"So Scott was really good friends with this girl when we were in high school. She was in my year but he thought she was amazing. Anyway, I was a jealous shit so I told Ginny that Scott had this huge crush on her and she pretty much avoided him after that. We'd hang out but if Scott came, she'd make her excuses to leave pretty quickly after that."

"I can't believe you! She still lives in the area and still won't talk to me, regardless of the fact that I'm out and proud." Scott laughs.

I'm laughing so hard I have tears running down my cheeks. "That's horrible."

"That's brotherhood." They both say. "Do you have any siblings?" Scott asks.

"I have a half-sister and a stepbrother, but we don't really talk much." I say, moving to look out the window. I'm quiet for several minutes before Chris takes my hand, giving it a squeeze.

"Hey, don't think about it today. Today is good. You're spending it with 2 of the coolest people ever." He jokes while Scott makes a face in the back, causing me to laugh.

"And let's not forget humble." I quip back. "But you're right. I'll put it out of my mind. Can't change the past." I didn't miss the confused look on Scott's face but neither Chris nor myself went any further with an explanation. "Is there anything I should know about your dad before we get in there so I don't look like an ass?" I ask with a chuckle.

"Not really. His name is Robert. But you can always call him Mr. Evans if you'd feel more comfortable, with that." Chris offers with a small smile.

"Right, got it." I say, anxiety slowly creeping into my voice.

We pull up outside a nice house and Chris rushes over again to help me with the door and the second pie. My fight or flight instincts were going haywire and I wasn't sure if I should stand my ground or make for the hills.

I wasn't left with much choice when Chris opened the door and pulled me inside. "Dad! We're here!" He yells. I swallow heavily as I take in the scene before me.