Chapter 13 - Thanksgiving with the Shepherds’
We decided a few months in advance to spend Thanksgiving with Ian’s family down in Mississippi. His entire family is supposed to be there, all three sisters and their families plus his parents. Maybe an uncle or two if their not busy. I’m nervous to meet his family, I’m afraid his sisters will hate me or something. But he’s excited for me to meet them.
This morning we’re leaving to head to Mississippi, we decided to get there the day before Thanksgiving and stay for just a few days, maybe leave Sunday. The trip to the airport wasn’t bad neither was the flight. We sat next to an elderly woman me in between and Ian near the isle way. We politely listened as the woman told us about her son, he paid for her to visit him this holiday season. We had a good time on the plane.
Once at the airport we got a car and headed to his parents house. They lived just a few minutes outside or a few miles outside of a small town in the south of the state. The town is a little larger that Seabrook but still relatively small. We pulled up in front of his parents house.
“Are you sure we can just walk in?” I asked him nervously as we strutted through the house nonchalantly. It bothered me a little bit but certainly not Ian.
“It’s okay.” he said as we entered the kitchen. It smelled great, wonderful even. The first one to notice us standing in the doorway of the kitchen was his mother.
“Ian your home!” she said happily coming over to her son and giving him a hug. It was cute the similarity between the mother and son. He had her eyes but not her hair. His hair came from his father. “And you brought someone.” she said smiling at me.
“Mom this is Meredith Underwood my girlfriend. Meredith this is my mother Kathleen.” Ian introduced us gesturing between his mother and I.
“She’s pretty Ian. She’s very, very pretty. She‘s prettier than you described her on the phone.” she complimented looking me up and down before back to her son. “It’s nice to meet you Meredith. Please, please come in you two everyone is around here somewhere.” she smiled walking back to the counter. “Jackson!” she called out.
“She likes you.” Ian whispered into my ear as we sat down at the barstools.
A man walked in with about five little kids running behind him, I assume them to be Ian’s nieces and nephews. Following the children were what I assumed to be Ian’s sisters and their husbands. “So Meredith, Ian tells me you’re in your last of med school, how is that going?” she asked chopping a few carrots.
“It’s going great, tedious work but nothing I can’t handle.” I smiled in response. I looked around the kitchen, Ian’s father was washing his hands while his sister’s husbands tried to corral the little children back to the living room. “Ian helps me when he can.” I smiled at him.
“Oh Jackson, this is Meredith. Ian’s girlfriend.” she said pleasantly at her husband when he finished washing his hands.
“Nic to meet you, Meredith.” he smiled at me. He gave his wife a kiss on the cheek.
One of the sisters introduced herself as Jordan. I smiled at her and her husband when she introduced me to her husband Levi and her two kids Cooper and Olivia. The kids are cute with their mother’s brown hair and their father’s green eyes.
“Hi I’m Spencer and this is my husband James.” Ian’s younger sister said introducing herself. She is really, really pretty she was the odd sheep of the family, with her father’s blond hair and her mother’s green eyes. Her and her husband didn’t have any kids so that left the other two boys and girl to belong to Ian’s oldest sister.
