The Quiet Sister✔️

31. Family Gathering

Finally, time to be normal for a while.

The holiday season was upon them, though she was never one to go all in for the holidays. She would not do any holiday if it wasn't for her sisters always wanting to go all out. She did not cook, so unless it was healthy baked chicken, steamed veggies, and only a serving size of carbs, no one wanted to eat her food.

Thanksgiving was going to be at the Kelly house, and since she was the only one living there at the moment, it was up to her to have everything ready. She was not the best housekeeper, so she hired a service to thoroughly clean the four-bedroom three-bathroom house that she was born and raised in.

Then she hired someone else to decorate it and make the house more festive-looking. She had an area for the kids, well the pre-teen/teens, Brandy, Monica, and Atiya, who Sarena had for the holiday, and then there was an area for the babies, IceeJay, Kayley, and Kaycee. Krystle was still not traveling with Kerrie so she stayed in Italy with her husband.

She wanted to hire caterers for the food but Sarena nixed that idea. Sarena cooked most of it, with Kitty bringing some vegetarian dishes. Tennille was in charge of desserts so she was sure they would be store-bought. Krystle had refreshments and shipped over some of her husband's best wine. CJ and she would be on the cleanup crew.

She asked her sisters if it was okay for her to have a date, and they said why not.

"I feel honored you asked me to come to meet your family," Ronan said to her when she picked him up at his house. This was a big step for her, letting him know where she lived. She still liked to keep things private, not trusting anyone. This was her first time inviting him to her place, and she knew him since the beginning of the school year.

"No big deal, it's not like you don't know them already. Just follow the media obsessed with them. Kitty and Icee are always on the news. Kryssy marrying a billionaire made big headlines. Tennille is on the top of the music charts with a possibility of several nominations for Grammys. And Sarena is even a big deal now with the newfound solo success of Ginger Hollands and Tone."

She was still under most people's radar and that is how she liked to keep it.

"I don't listen to the media gossip," he said. "I like to get to know the person as I have with you."

"But do you really know me," she said with a side grin at him. "I mean, really know me?"

"I think so. Besides being smart and beautiful...you care for people a lot. You have this tough exterior where you result to...ahem...unnecessary violence sometimes, you do it for protection, not to bring harm to anyone. Because of your family, how close you all are, and what you all went through, you keep this barrier around you and don't want to get close to anyone."

"Hmmm, go on."

"You trust no one, and you bottle up all your feelings inside."

That was a pretty fair assessment, and she did not deny any of it. It was nice hanging with Ronan and Drew but she had yet to have any deep conversations with either of them. They knew what she wanted them to know, which was not a lot. She was having fun with them and there was nothing wrong with that.

"I don't want you to act weird or anything around my family. They may be celebrities but to me, I don't see them that way."

"I won't embarrass you, Nola." He picked up her hand and kissed it. "Besides, I'm just here for you, that's all that matters."

Of course, before she brought anyone around her family, she had Victor run several security checks on him. Nothing there, he was just a regular student like everyone else. Still, in the back of her head, no one was ever totally a hundred percent clear.