The Last Year

Christmas Eve

Ever since Jeremiah met my family he's been over at my house for the last couple of days. The weird thing is he'll come over when I'm not home. He told me he made a deal with my aunt last Sunday that he would come over and help Uncle Jeff with shoveling the snow or helping him with his cars in the garage. Uncle Jeff loves cars. For a side job he repairs and fixes people's cars for fairly a good price. I believe what Jeremiah is saying but I feel as if there is more to the story. My aunt wouldn't have acted like that the other night just to give him work. I decided to trust him. Jeremiah would tell me when he was ready to.Whatever he's  hiding couldn't be bad. Tonight was Christmas Eve and my aunt finally gave me permission to go to Jeremiah's house for Christmas Eve dinner. I decided to wear a very festive red dress. I was hoping and praying I wouldn't mess anything up. I wanted them to like me and I wanted everything to go smoothly.

I heard Jeremiah pull up in the driveway and I ran downstairs to met him. "Mia." My aunt said stopping me before I could burst out the door. "They're going to love you." She said pulling me into a hug. "Thanks Aunt Beth." I said while turning to the door and going to Jeremiah's car. "You look great." Jeremiah said as I got into the car. "Thank you." I said blushing. The necklace he gave me was still around my neck and it complemented my outfit perfectly. He leaned in and kissed my cheek. As we drove to his house I was very fidgety. I couldn't sit still. "Are you nervous?" Jeremiah asked. "Kind of. I just really really really want them to like me. That's all." I said. He smiled as we pulled into the driveway. "They'll love you trust me." He said.

As I walked into the house it immediately smelled wonderful. "Come on everyone is in the living room." He said leading me into the living room. His dad and little brother Niki were playing a video game on the tv as we walked in. "Hey guys." Jeremiah said as we stood in the doorway of the open room. Mr. Parker then paused the game and stood up to greet us. "You must be Mia." Mr. Parker said coming to shake my hand. "I am sir." I said smiling at him. "We've sure heard a lot about you." Jeremiah's dad said looking at his son. I look over at Jeremiah and see him blushing. I giggle and say "All good things I hope." His dad laughed. "Yes yes. Jeremiah here could go on and on about how wonderful you are for hours." He said patting his son on the shoulder. Jeremiah's face was now bright red. "Niki come meet Mia before Dad kills me of embarrassment. Me and his dad both laughed. Niki reluctantly got up from his position on the couch. "So you're the famous Niki." I say smiling at him. He was the spinning image of Jeremiah and his dad. "Jeremiah you did good with this one she's prettier than the last." He said and then went back to the couch. I laugh really loudly. Jeremiah and his dad both give him a disapproving look. "Niki be polite to our guest." Mr. Parker said. From the couch Niki said "Nice meeting you Mia." I laughed again and said "It was a pleasure meeting you too." Jeremiah just shook his head. "I'm sorry." He said looking down not meeting my eyes. "For what?" I questioned. "My family. They're...." He trailed off. "Jeremiah they're perfect and funny." I said. He looked up at me and smiled. "I'm glad you like them but wait until you meet mom. She'll be all over you." He said. "I'm sure she'll be lovely." I said. Just then his mom walked in the room from the kitchen. "There she is!!" Mrs. Parker said smiling from the doorway of the kitchen. She then walked straight over to me and scooped me up in a hug. "It is so wonderful to finally meet you!!" She said. "It's wonderful to meet you too." I said just a little surprised. "Oh my. You're so beautiful." She said. "Thank you Mrs. Parker." I said blushing. "Darling to you its Angie. Now I hope these boys haven't been torturing you." She says smiling warmly. Before I could answer Jeremiah asked. "Mom is dinner ready?" "Yes it is. I hope you're hungry Mia because we have a lot of food." She said leading all of us into the dining room.

Dinner was excellent. I loved every bite of my food. Jeremiah's mother is definitely a chatter box. She can talk up a storm. She's so very friendly though. I absolutely love his family. His parents asked me a lot of questions I was prepared to answer. I hoped I was making a good impression. I answered all their questions honestly and truthfully. Mrs. Parker or Angie went on and on about how she wants to have a girls day out just me and her. Of course I said I would love to but honestly I wasn't so sure about it. Like this was my boyfriend's mother that he adored. I wanted her to like me and il afraid if I spend a lot of time with her she'll start to find faults in me and not like me but as dinner came to a close it seemed his whole family liked. Even his little brother Niki seemed to like me. As me and Jeremiah put all our winter gear on by the front door I asked him his opinion on how well the night had went. "Well.... I think they really really like you." He said as he zipped up his coat. "I hope they like me. I've been secretly stressing about them liking me all evening." I said wrapping my scarf around my neck. "Mia you think too much. I'm not exaggerating when I say my mother absolutely adores you." He says opening the front door and walking out to the patio. I follow him out and say "I'm glad she's a good woman. I really like your family." I say closing the door behind me. "I'm glad." He said smirking mischievously. I got  suspicious. "Why are we just standing on your patio?" I asked. He smiled even wider. "Look up." He said. I looked up to see mistletoe right above us. I smile at him. Before I could say or do anything he kissed me and it was wonderful. I had always dreamed of this happening and now it was finally happening. Jeremiah pulled away and said "Now let's get you home before Santa comes." I laugh and follow him to the car. As we get in the car I ask "You still believe in Santa?" He gives me a looks of astonishment. "What?do you not believe in Santa?" He shoots back. I just look down. "Mia Maria Lurks are you telling me you don't believe in Santa?" He asks." When I was a kid I.." He then interrupts me. "Don't give me that crap about believing when you were a kid. For Petes sake Mia were still kids. How can you even celebrate Christmas?" He says. "I just celebrate." I say feeling silly for even having this conversation. "Mia you obviously have a lot to learn." He says as we pull into my drive way. "What do I need to learn?" I ask. "Well first you need to learn how to not over think things. Then we'll teach you how to not stress about every little thing and we'll teach you how to be a kid. I will also get you to believe in Santa." He says. I smile and say. "And you plan to accomplish this all by yourself?" I ask jokingly. "Yes I do. I'm determined to break you Mia Lurks." He says squeezing my hand. I could feel my face light up. "Thanks for everything." I say kissing his cheek. "Anything for you." He says. All night I couldn't stop thinking about Jeremiah. I don't think he realizes how every little thing he does makes me fall more deeply in love with him.