His Prisoner

Meeting The Family [26]

Meredith

"You ready to pack?" 

I'm sitting in the living room with Emily, watching a film and snuggled under blankets when Eliot walks in. He seems happy, very happy. A smile is on his face, lighting up his features as he grins down at Emily and me.

"What do you mean?" I ask.

Before Eliot can answer, Chase flies into the room and lifts Emily from the sofa to spin her around. 

"WE'RE GOING HOME! WOOOO!"

"Chase! Put me down." She laughs clinging onto his body for dear life.

I look to Eliot for confirmation, ignoring an excited Chase who's now kissing Emily's face all over. Eliot nods at me before sitting down in Emily's spot next to me.

"You've finalised the deal?" I ask him, a sudden rush of nerves settles in my stomach.

"All done. I've told my dad and we are free to go home." 

It's nice to see him so happy. The weight of stress he was dealing with wasn't healthy so I'm glad he's sorted it now. The only issue I have now is that him going home means I'm also going with them and meeting his family for the very first time. Not only are they werewolves but they're my boyfriend's family. It's nerve wracking enough without putting werewolves into the mix.

"That's great news."

Eliot nods enthusiastically at me in reply, only to frown moments later at my less than happy demeanour. 

"What's wrong?"

"What, nothing." I try to smile convincingly but it's not enough as Eliot raises an eyebrow at me. 

"Meri, I know something's wrong. Come on, spill." 

I hold my ground for a mere five seconds before dramatically sighing and dropping my shoulders in defeat. I don't want to upset him. I do want to meet his family, it's just a daunting experience. I've never met a boyfriend's family before. I've only ever had Jack who I grew up with and he was never really a boyfriend. I never even met his family, I don't know if he has any family. He never mentioned anyone to me. 

This is all new to me and I'm not sure how to approach it all.

"I just... well it makes me nervous thinking about going back to your pack and meeting your family." I mumble to him as I stare at my hands on my lap and twirl my fingers. 

It's silent for a moment and I realise Chase is no longer shouting for joy about returning home. 

"I didn't really think about it but my family will love you." Eliot finally says with a soft tone. 

I lift my head to look at him, the loving smile on his lips calms the butterflies in my stomach. Maybe it won't be so bad. I could be thinking too much into it and be getting myself worked up over nothing. From the three werewolves I've met so far, I've found them to be more loving and compassionate than humans, protective of their family and proud of their heritage. 

I've always loved the idiom 'Don't judge a book by its cover' simply because you can't know a person by how they look or in this case, who they are. You have to talk to them, find out what's inside them, learn what they love, what makes them tick, their passions... it's about their personality and their heart, not their appearance. 

I have to meet his family with the same non-judgemental mind that I had met him, Chase and Emily. It's not about them being werewolves, it's just about them being Eliot's family.