Elliana X Jason

Thirty Four, Family (With Tacos)

"Ha! I win!" Stacy squealed, placing her last card down in the pile, which was getting really big. Elliana felt bad for whoever was going to get the pile. Although, she guessed no one would, because Stacy had finished the game that had lasted two hours.

"Not yet! You have to survive a final round, then you win." Emily said.

Stacy rolled her eyes. "Fine. That's a dumb rule, though."

"I know. But I refuse to just let you take my title of Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza champion!" Emily grinned.

Stacy rolled her eyes as Emily placed a card on the stack. It was a gorilla. Elliana and Emily both immediately did an incredibly embarrassing exaggerated gorilla impression, while Stacy looked at them, confused. Only then did she look down at the stack, and noticed that she'd missed the move. She groaned and grabbed the cards, and Emily's grin grew.

"This game is never going to end!" Elliana groaned.

Emily shrugged. "As long as I win, I don't care."

"Well now I have beef with you," Stacy said. "So I can't just forfeit."

Elliana groaned again, but placed another card down. Before Stacy could place her card, a knock sounded on Emily's front door.

"I'll get it!" Emily's mom, Gemma called. She opened the door, then looked back to the girls in the living room with a grin.

"Now, which one of you girls went and got a boyfriend and didn't tell me?"

Stacy's eyebrows raised as she looked at Elliana. There was a mirror right across from where Elliana was sitting, but she felt more than saw the blush creeping up her cheeks.

"Wasn't me." Emily shrugged.

"It's Elliana!" Stacy announced with a pointed finger as soon as Gemma's gaze hit her.

Gemma smiled at Elliana, waggling her eyebrows. "Have you kissed yet?"

Elliana buried her face in her hands in mortification. Gemma was the kind of mom that all of Emily's friends considered their friend. She could have these kinds of conversations with the kids without seeming like she was trying too hard. It was as if she was fluent in the language of teenage girl. Although, she'd been this way forever, even when Elliana had been a tiny little eight year old.

"Yep." Jason quipped, popping his head in through the door. Noticing Elliana's expression, he quickly frowned. "Should I not have said that? Is it private or something?"

"I've seen you two kiss. Multiple times. It's not private." Emily deadpanned.

"Fair." Jason shrugged, turning to Gemma. "You're Emily's mom, right? I'm Jason, Elliana's boyfriend. Which you've most likely gathered. It's nice to meet you."

"Suck up." Emily snorted.

"Proud of it." Jason retorted.

Gemma laughed. "Come on in. Yes, I'm Emily's mom, and you can call me Gemma. It's nice to meet you too. And suck ups are good. They're always in everyone's good graces. Not that I would know." She winked.

"Mom. You're embarrassing me." Emily groaned.

"No you're not. You're awesome, Gemma. I wish you were my mom." Stacy said.

"Nah, your mom's awesome. Don't you forget it. And you might want to join the suck up squad along with Jason." She snickered.

Stacy blushed. Gemma smiled warmly. "Don't worry, I'm just kidding. Anyway, I'm gonna go make dinner. Everyone good with tacos?" Gemma asked. The answer to her question was a series of hungry groans. "Great. Jason, would you like to stay for dinner?"