The Real You

Family Get-Together

"Would this be a bad time to ask you to meet my family?" Alan asked cautiously, his voice rumbling inside his chest. His deep baritone reverberated through me as I lay huddled against his chest, head resting comfortably on his shoulder.

I froze.

"...what?" I breathed, unsure I'd heard him correctly.

We'd spent most of the night otherwise occupied, and when we finally got around to some actual sleeping I had done so feeling more content and happy than ever.

It was now early the next morning, not even six a.m., and why Alan was even awake was beyond me. I'd awakened to him gently pulling me close, as I had migrated to my side of the bed during the night. Something he apparently didn't appreciate all that much since he preferred to hold me close.

Which was something I could most definitely get used to.

Contentment.

That's what I felt as I lay in Alan's arms, head resting comfortably on his chest, our legs entwined and his hand splayed on my hip beneath the comforter.

Was this what real happiness felt like? I hoped so, for at that moment I was completely at ease with my surroundings and myself. We'd said 'I love you'. That had to mean something, right? Now that our feelings were out in the open all I could manage was a lazy smile, happy to have finally said the words out loud. Love. Such deep feelings expressed in those three simple words. They held a deeper meaning, some emotion that I was sure was written all over my face now that everything was all right between us again and we'd told eachother how we felt.

And now here he was, asking me to meet his family.

Couldn't a girl get a little respite? A minute of peace and quiet to just enjoy being in the company of the man she loved?

Apparently not.

"I want you to meet my family" Alan told me, his breath fanning the top of my head as his hand continued its careful exploration of the skin of my hip and waist "They're having a little family get-together later today because of the holiday. I'd like for you to accompany me"

His voice was gentle, but I could hear the undertone of anxiety in it, and I knew this meant a lot to him.

But was I ready to do this? I still remembered clear as day that dreadful phonecall his brother had made, and I knew dealing with his family would mean a problem of a different caliber altogether. He'd always talked lovingly about his family, and I knew he cared a great deal about them, and how highly he valued their opinion. Could I do it? Was I prepared to face the judgement of his family, just as we seemed to have figured things out between us?

"And you thought of asking me now?" I whispered, praying to Merlin the Wizard that the panic I felt rising within me didn't show through my voice.

"Well I was planning on asking you over the weekend" Alan muttered, a cool edge to his voice "That obviously didn't quite work out as planned...."

"But you already told them you were coming" I said, now propping myself up on my elbow to look up at him properly.

My voice had an accusatory edge to it, but I couldn't really help myself. After the three days I'd had I thought I deserved to get maybe a Nobel Prize for not having a mental breakdown or something, not having to deal with some family meeting which I was so-not-ready for.

"I told them I'd be attending, and still needed to confirm on the plus-one" he informed me in a clipped voice, rising an eyebrow at my worried expression.

"Plus-one? I'm your plus-one?" I whined, fingers flexing into his skin from where my hand lay splayed on his chest, causing him to hiss "Were you planning on taking someone else?"