The Ringing (Very Slow Updates!)

Chapter Thirty-Five - Reality Check

Chapter Thirty-Five - Reality Check

Cale's POV

The group date with the families went really well, better than I expected even; there were no issues, no drama, no fights, and I had the opportunity to get to know a lot more about the ladies than I had previously known. The parents were more than eager to share all their embarrassing stories about their kids, and watching the girls try to defend themselves was adorable. Seeing the way, the parents interacted with their daughters and vice versa, helped me understand each of their family dynamics a little better. Sam and Kassi were raised more conservative, Anna and Paige have more laid back and quite lifestyles, while Tori, Liz and Shay have more lively lifestyles, where their families weren't afraid to have a little fun and let loose a little bit.

Each family was allowed to bring four people, so I met moms, dads, brothers, sisters, cousins, friends; every womans family brought four people, except for one, Sam's family consisted solely of her mother and father. I know that Sam is an only child so that explains why she didn't have any siblings there, but I would've thought that they would've at least brought a friend or two with them, or another family member; they did seem very private, not letting onto much in their personal lives, but it just struck me as a little odd. Kassi and Paige's parents were a little different as well, they were all very quiet, reclusive almost - that's not something common for an Alpha family - I learned next to nothing about them, regardless of spending an hour in their presence.

Liz's parents were great, her mother is a saint, and her father is laid back and easy to talk to; I can tell that their family shares a lot of love and laughter, it shows in their daughter as well, Liz is one of my favorites because of her calm demeanor and nurturing nature. Shays family is everything I expected them to be and more; her father is a beast of a man, although highly intimidating to look at, he's actually a pretty cool guy once you get to know him a little. Aria is doll, the sweetest woman I've ever met, yet she has a backbone made of steel; I watched her throughout the night let her grown children push her right to the brink before reining them in with a single look, they knew who held the cards in the family, and just how far they could push her. Jordan is... well, he's basically a carbon fucking copy of my brother Joey - I swear to god if he didn't look like my twin I would be asking for a paternity test. The two of them went at it all night, throwing jokes and insults back and forth at each other; to someone passing by it probably seemed like they hated each other, in reality I was pondering if they had some secret man-crush with the way the two were basically inseparable all night.

The following day we had another group date, with all seven girls; seeing as how the last few group dates haven't gone so well when I have them all grouped together, I decided to choose something a little less competitive this time, an art class. I got the idea when I walked into the tearoom one day and my mom was hosting a 'paint and pour' party; it was a bunch of women taking a private art class with wine and appetizers, they seemed more interested in the wine than the art, but the room boomed with laughter for hours, so I figured it was worth a shot for a date. Believe it or not, coming up with different dates 4 - 5 times a week eventually gets quite difficult; I've had 32 dates in the last eight weeks, my options were running pretty thin! Luckily, I already had the last three weeks of The Ringing planned out, so I only had to worry about the dates this week and next.

The art class went surprisingly well; it allowed enough space between the girls that no arguments arose, and after our first simple painting of flowers in a vase the teacher decided that I would make an excellent model for the girls' next canvass. The wine flowed freely, and the laughs continued throughout the day; most of which were at my expense at the end where everyone showed their 'creations' of me, let me tell you, these ladies may be drop dead gorgeous, but most of them are not artists. If I didn't know that they were supposed to be drawing me, I would've had to question if some of them were even human, they were that bad, but it made for a good laugh from everyone. The date didn't allow me to get much one-on-one time with any of the girls, but I had dates with Liz and Tori this week and I already knew that I was sending Anna home, so I didn't feel pressured to get in extra time with anyone, I would have another week to narrow down the remaining six.