Her Sweet Flavour

seeing the family

POV: Evane

Why is my heart pounding so hard?

I've been nervous before but my heart has never beaten like this.

Addie is going to meet all my siblings today, and my mother. My mother won't arrive until later but she's the one I'm most worried about Addie meeting.

Addie doesn't seem like the kind of person that my mother would get along with. She's shy in new situations and this is going to be a lot for her already without my mother piling on.

When we left this morning, Addie asked I she could bring Bambi along just in case she got too overwhelmed but I suggested against it. My mother isn't fond of dogs plus I want Addie to actually interact with everyone else, not sit in the corner playing with her dog.

I'll be there in case she gets overwhelmed to the point she's shutting down, and I've given her the option that we can leave early if it proves too much for her. I expect that it will but I want her to try and she was the one that asked to come along the next time all my family met up.

Now it seems like she's doubting her choice to come along by how she's fiddling with her clothes and focusing a lot more on her breathing than usual. She's gotten better at being in my car and trusting me to drive but right now she's doing her breathing exercises that prevent her panic attacks.

I place my hand on her thigh while I drive, rubbing my thumb over it to comfort her. It's not far now. Only a few minutes at most.

"Are you feeling okay?" I ask her.

"Excited. And anxious...mostly anxious," she eventually admits. "What if they don't like me? What if your mother doesn't like me?"

"She will. She'll be all over you. She might actually be too much, but I'll be right there with you, okay? There's no need to worry. Remember what I told you?"

"If it becomes too much, just say Bambi and we can leave early," she repeats, confirming that she remembers the codeword we agreed on for if she gets overwhelmed.

"Good girl. Now just focus on your breathing and try not to think of the worst senerarios, please. You'll be fine, I promise."

Addie hums and goes back to her breathing while I tell her there isn't long left, letting her calm her nerves as much as possible before we get there.

Mia and Connor will be there and usually the partners all go into a separate room to hang out during the first few hours and let the vampires catch up alone. At least Addie will know someone there and is already friends with Mia who can help support her when I'm not directly by her side.

The family meeting is at Alex's house this time. I had to make quite an argument since it was meant to be at Max's and I don't want Addie anywhere near his place. I've been there and I hate it.

It's disgusting and he always has so many girls round even when his family is there that he flirts with constantly. I hate the place and don't want Addie anywhere near there.

"We're here," I inform her as I park in the driveway, looking over to check on Addie.

"This is a big house..." she mutters, not so much in awe but more intimidated by it and all the cars parked outside.

"You'll be fine, Addie. And I'll be right there the whole time," I assure her. "Are you ready?"

I watch Addie check her hair in the mirrors of the car, smoothing out her clothes before sighing and giving me a nod that doesn't imbue me with confidence. I'm not going to get much better though. I'm considering it lucky that she isn't having a panic attack right now.