Survivin' - [B.C.]

Chapter 22: Her Christmas Spirit

"So much better now." He said, beaming at me.

"So much better."

========= SURVIVIN' =========

Descending down the stairs was a lengthy and heart-thumping process. Two flights of stairs, Toby following directly behind me... and then, of course, there was the whole prospect of meeting Ben and Sophie's family.

(A/N: Alright, so of course we all know what Ben's parents look like. However, it's much harder to find pictures of his sister and pictures of Sophie's mother [her father will not be in this story]. And I couldn't find any pictures of the rest of Sophie's family either, so I'm just gonna go off what I think they all look like.)

The people in question were actually standing in the foyer, actively being told about me by Ben and Sophie. I got a look at them all from the balcony before finishing the route of the stairs. I took a deep breath and put on the most polite and convincing smile that I could.

"Oh, look at you!" An older woman with shoulder-length white hair exclaimed. She opened her arms and waddled towards me, grabbing me up in a big hug. I actually laughed and hugged back, making sure to angle my head in a way so that my cannula wouldn't get snatched out of my nose.

"You're just so darling!" The woman continued to gush as she let my body go and held my face. Her hands were very soft and smelled like vanilla. An older man came to join her as well. He engaged in a hearty handshake with me, though.

"You must be Cal," he said. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Timothy, but you can call me grandpop. If you're comfortable of course." He patted me on the back with a nice big smile and I instantly knew I was going to love having those two around. No sarcasm intended, I swear.

"Oh, and you're wearing the suit! Aww," Mrs. Cumberbatch was fondling the lapels of the hideous article of clothing. Ben didn't hear this.

"You can call me Nan, by the way," the elderly woman said. I nodded once with a small smile.

The two of them turned around and dragged me over to meet the rest of the family. I was, you know, just about shaking in my boots. No, not my boots - my fuzzy socks.

"Ah!" Ben exclaimed as he noticed me getting pushed towards them all. He pulled me to his side and smiled reassuringly at me, giving me a small wink.

"Everyone, this is Cal," He said. And then everyone was scrambling head over heels to meet me.

First, there was this older woman, not as old as Ben's parents, but definitely older than him. She had strawberry-blonde hair. Strawberry-blonde hair which looked fake... I wondered what was up with that. But she was very sweet and was very outgoing and boisterous.

"Hello, dear." She said, giving me a small hug. "I'm Tracy, I'm Ben's sister."

Next person was a lady around Ben's age, slightly younger, who was almost the spitting image of Tracy save for her slightly more wavy hair. But She seemed more anxious and shy than Tracy did.

"Hi, I'm Emily," She said. "Tracy's my mum. Ben's my uncle."

Then there was Sophie's mom, Anna, who asked me to call her "Nanna" because it was funny. I didn't think so, but I obeyed her wish. She was very nice, though, however loud and talkative. She had chin-length dirty blonde hair and was wearing the ugliest scarf I'd ever seen.

Sophie's two brothers, Timothy and Patrick, greeted me at the same time, but only with solemn nods and firm handshakes. Patrick kept glancing down at my cannula.