'Babe, I'm really shitting myself right about now. You have such a big family, what if they don't like me?' Luke tells you, his grip getting a little stronger on your leg, he is driving to yours and you can tell he is nervous from the grip he has on your leg.
'Don't worry, it'll be fine, mum and dad already like you. Plus there isn't that much family for you to meet. There are just my eight uncles and their wives and nineteen cousins from my dad's side, my three aunties their husbands and my uncle and his wife and another nine cousins from my mum's side. Them my two nans and granddads.' You explain to him trying to keep a straight face. You know you have a huge family, your Italian so it kind of explains it. You only listed the people me make Luke a little more nervous because it was funny to watch.
'Maggie, you do know that is like over fifty people right?' he groans
'Actually its fifty-eight including my mum and dad, fifty-nine with my brother' you shrug.
'You really aren't helping right now. You're enjoying my discomfort far too much' he moans and you laugh sticking out your tongue at him. You finally arrive at your house and Luke has to park half way down the street due to the over load of cars from your family. Your family all take it in turns to host a gathering of some kind so that the family can meet up once a month, this month it is mum and dad's turn to host and you are having a garden party. You and your parents spent all night setting up, hot tub, huge garden pool, three tepee tents for the kids, loads of seats, and two huge BBQ grills. You hold Luke's hand as you enter the house, you can hear the many voices from the living room as you make your way through the house towards the garden. As soon as you step out you send a quick wink of encouragement to Luke whose eyes are scanning the full garden in horror.
'MAGGIE' all of your family shout when they see you, throwing their arms in the air and coming towards you, your used to the huge amount of people crowding around you and you thought Luke would be too since he has groups of girls running after him on a daily bases but he take a small step back and you shake your head pulling him forward. You get attacked by a lot of hugs, kisses, your younger cousins wrapping their arms around your legs. No one has even mentioned or noticed Luke yet, until you Mum calms everyone down.
'THIS IS LUKE' she yells over the notice everyone turning to see mum with her arm around Luke's shoulders, he smile and puts his hand up in a small wave. The whole family are silent, and you begin to worry for the first time, no one moves or make a sound for a moment or two until Uncle Carl throws up his arms and shouts 'LUKE' everyone else joining in as they all approach him, you and your mum catch sight of each other, both letting out a clear sign of relief. You laugh as you see Luke's face contort a little something that happens when he is concentrating, so you assume he is trying to remember all the names that are being thrown at him.
After about half an hour everyone had calmed back down, well as calm as your family get. Your dad and Uncles on the BBQ's, some in the hot tub and a couple in the pool but most just hanging around talking. Luke is sitting on the other side of the Garden with four of your Uncles, your eldest cousin and one of your baby cousins, which he is holding in his arms as he looking interested in the conversation they are all sharing, you watch as they all laugh as something Luke says. You feel a nudge against your shoulder and snap back to the people around you, two of your aunties are laughing as they watch you while your grandmother is smiling sweetly.
'He is a lovely boy' Aunt Melisa comments
'He fits in perfectly darling, you have found a keeper.' You grandmother tells you, reaching out and taking hold of your hand.
'He completely adores you; it's the sweetest thing I've seen. Look at him he can't keep his eyes of you.' You Aunt Hazel coo. You look towards Luke who is in fact looking at you, your smile grows and you stick out your tongue, he laughs shaking his head. You stand up excusing yourself and watch as Luke hands over your cousin to your Uncle Smith, then makes his way to you. Once you finally reach each other your hands immediately entwine.
'Having fun?' you ask
'It's amazing. I don't know why I was so scared, your family are great.' He laughs, you smile and spin your head seeing that you are getting the attention of a couple of your family members, you turn and pull Luke along with you as you head down the side of the house where you can't be seen. Luke pushes you against the wall as soon as your out of sight, his lips smashing into your, moving at exactly the right pace, fitting together perfectly. Your both completely lost in the kiss when your interrupted by the sound of someone clearing their throat, Luke flies away from you, his hurry making you laugh as you meet your brothers eyes. He is winks at you while Luke is shuffling around and you shake your head knowing what he's going to do.
'What the hell is this?' he asks, making his voice a little deeper than usual as he keep a straight face, glaring slightly at Luke. 'You pulling my sister away from her family for this' he continues waving his hand between you and Luke. You glace quickly at Luke he takes a huge gulp that you can hear from feet apart, he is shuffling around and his face is tomato red.
'I..I'm sorry. I didn't mean to cause any offence' he mutters, and you look to your brother to see him looking at you, you both hold in the laughter for a moment but it's coming quick and you both bend over in hysteric laughter, your brother smacking his knees.
'God mate, you should have seen your face. Don't worry about it, I honestly don't mind. It's actually nice to see I was starting to think she was going to grow up an old lady with a million cats' you brother laughs making Luke smile but your laughter stops and you glare at your brother, hitting his shoulder.
'Piss off you creeper' you comment, he shrugs laughing and turns to go back to everyone else, you and Luke follow behind holding hand, Luke bends his head so it's in line with your ear.
'I just nearly shit myself' he comments making you laugh, 'Seriously that was not funny, I'm going get you back for letting him do that to me' he threatens. You don't have time to comment as four of your younger cousins run up the three girls grabbing your hands and pulling you along with them while the boy just looks up at Luke and then asks him to play, Luke nods and offers your cousin a high five who takes it laughing as he jumps to reach Luke's hand. As Luke walk past you and the little girls he kisses you on the cheek and winks following Marvin your cousin over to one of the tepees.
