Hi5 Family

Thanksgiving

I woke up the next morning wrapped up in Gunner's arms. I smiled to myself as I rolled over so I was facing him. I felt safe and I didn't have any bad dreams that night. I smiled watching as he slept so peacefully. I felt his arms tighten around me a little as I could tell he was starting to wake up. He opened his eyes and looked down me smiling as he placed a sweet kiss on my nose. "Good morning beautiful. How did you sleep?" "Really well surprisingly." "Well are you ready to head to my place for Thanksgiving?" "That's one of the things I meant to talk to you about..." "Don't tell me you are getting cold feet already." "No! no! I just don't really feel comfortable staying at your place. Maybe there is somewhere else I can stay?" "Yeah I already called my tia Nora and she said you could stay with her." "Okay cool that's really sweet of her." I roll out of his arms as I head to the closet to get a small suit case of stuff ready as I also get dressed for the day. I throw on a quick outfit before sitting at my vanity to do my hair and makeup.

"Damn!!!" I heard Gunner say as he sucked in air. I looked over at him and his draw was dropped. "You're drooling." I said rolling my eyes as I turned my attention back to my hair and makeup. "Let me drool you're worth it! Looking like a whole damn meal." I laughed as I finished my hair and makeup and zipped up my suitcase as I packed a small bag for Tank. "So..." I heard Gunner say and I could tell he was thinking about what he was gonna say. "So?" I said as I crawled onto the bed and leaned over and kissed him. He wrapped me in his arms pulling me onto his chest. "So what do I tell my parents you are?" I thought for a moment. "Well what do you want us to be?" I said looking at him. "I want you to be my girlfriend, but if you're not ready to date I completely..." "Then I'm your girlfriend." I said holding his face in my hands as I kissed him. He smiled. "Now get up and get dressed so we can leave!" I said pushing him off the bed and onto the floor. He laughed as he fell to the floor with a loud thud. He got up and walked off to get dressed. I grabbed my phone and texted Kierstien.
J: Guess what?!
K: What?
J: Gunner and I are official! :)
K: OMG SERIOUSLY!!! It's about time!!! I'm so happy for you both!! Get it boo!
J: lol just thought you should be the first to know
K: I'm so honored. Anyways as much as I love and support ya'll just take it slow. You never have to do anything you don't want to do.
J: I know and thanks girl.
I tucked my phone into my back pocket as I carried my bag and tanks bag out to Gunner's BMW. Tanner was already in the car. "Why don't you sit up front so I can stretch out in the back across the seats?" Tanner said. "Okay if that's what you want." I said before climbing into the passenger seat. Gunner got into the driver seat and Tank climbed into the back laying on the floor. We started driving down the road playing music. We knew it was going to be a rather long drive, but we all thought it was going to be a fun one. After a while of driving Tanner and Tank fell asleep in the backseat leaving Gunner and I in completely silence. Gunner took my hand in his kissing the back of my hand. "Would you drive please?" I said rolling my eyes and trying to take my hand back. "I can drive with one hand!" "Yeah not well!" I said and he acted offended. "So you don't want me to hold your hand is what your saying?" "I never said that. All I said was I was concerned that your lack of two handed driving was going to kill us." We both started laughing as he let go of my hand and continued driving. We finally made it to Gunners house and there were several cars parked in his driveway. We parked by the curb and got out of the car stretching. I took a couple deep breaths and smoothed the front of my outfit. I think Gunner could tell I was nervous because he wrapped his pinky around mine. I nodded and kept Tank close to me as we walked up to the door. Tanner knocked on the door and Gunners mother was the one who opened it. "My boys!!" She said as she started crying and hugging Tanner and Gunner. She stopped and her smile faded when she saw me. "Who are you?" She said crossing her arms over her chest. "Mom this is my girlfriend Julia." Gunner said and I held out my hand. "It's nice to finally meet you Mrs. Gomez!" I said trying to look and sound pleasant. She looked me over and didn't shake my hand so I just rested my hand on Tanks head. "Doggie!!!" A little girl squealed pushing past her mother. "Ah ah!" Gunners mother yelled pulling the girl back before she could pet Tank. "He has a vest on sweetie. You aren't supposed to pet service animals." The girl stopped and dropped her head looking sad. I knelt down and took off Tanks service best leaving his leash on. I tucked his vest away in my bag. "It's okay he loves the attention." Gunner held my hand as he had to maneuver past his mother pulling me with him. "Gunner!" The little girl hugged him. He picked her up and held her. "Hey Olivia! You've gotten so big!" Gunners brothers Christian and Micah who I had already met came over and hugged me. I shook Gunners fathers hand and another woman came over to me. "You mist be the girlfriend!!! I'm so excited to meet you!!! Gunner she's a lot pretty then you said she would be!" The woman said hugging me. "I'm Gunners aunt Nora, but you can call me Nora. I take it you are my new tenet for the week." "That I am. Thank you again for letting me and Tank stay with you." She knelt down and kissed Tanks head and face. "Of course dear! It's not trouble at all!" "So you are staying with her because my house isn't good enough for you?" Mrs. Gomez said and the room went quiet. "No ma'am I think you have a very beautiful home and family, but I respect Gunners choice to stay pure until marriage and in order to avoid temptation I figured it would be more appropriate to stay in a different place." "I like her!" Mr. Gomez said and I smiled. "You said you respect Gunners choice to stay pure...you don't think he would respect your choice to stay pure or were you already a slut before dating my son?" "Mom!" Gunner yelled and the whole house went quiet. "Christian why don't you be a dear and take Olivia and Micah out for some ice cream. It's on me!" She handed Christian some money and Tanner left with them. "So am I wrong in thinking you were a slut before my son?" "I wasn't sexually active before Gunner." "Oh so you're saying you are now because of Gunner?" She started yelling and Tank presses against my leg. I didn't say anything, but I could tell she didn't like me. "Don't think I don't know about you missy! My son drove home crying because you broke his heart! You treated him like crap!" "Mom..." "No Gunner it's okay she's right." I said biting my lip. "No she isn't. Look mom Julia and I have settled our differences. We've moved past it and now we are dating." "Snakes can change their skin mijo but not who they are." She said and I squeezed Gunners hand. "Babe I'm gonna go outside for some air. It was really nice meeting all of you. I'm sorry for whatever hurt I've caused." I said before grabbing Tanks leash and walking back out the door. I was walking toward the car when I heard Gunners aunt Nora call out. "Wait. Look my sister means well but is too protective of her sons. I for one am glad that you and Gunner are together. So why don't you grab your things and put them in my car so when you are ready to leave we can." I nodded and smiled as I grabbed my bags from Gunners car and put them into Noras. By this time you could hear the yelling from inside the house as Gunner stormed out the house slamming the screen door behind him. I saw him run his hands through his hair as I walked over to him. "Maybe it wasn't such a good idea for me to come with you." I said taking Gunners hand in mine. "No I want you to be here with me." He pulled me into a hug wrapping his arms around me. I looked up and kissed him before he pulled away and kissed my head. "I'm not leaving remember?" He hooked his pinky in mine and held it up in front of us. "I remember." I kissed him again before I got into the car with Nora and she drove me off to her house. It was quiet in the car and every now and the the silence would be broken by a sniffle. I looked over to see Nora blinking back tears. "Nora are you alright?" "Yes hija I'm just glad to see Gunner so happy." I smiled as Nora pulled into her driveway and I carried my bags from the car to the spare bedroom with Tank following behind me. I set up his bed in the guest bedroom with everything in it. I walked out into the living room to see Nora holding a glass of wine and she offered me the second one. "I just wish I would be able to stay long enough to see all of my nieces and nephews find their happiness." I sat down on the couch with her and sipped the wine. "What do you mean?" she looked down at her glass and I could tell she wanted to talk about something that was bothering her. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, but if it makes you feel better I promise if you do tell me anything it will stay between the two of us." I said resting my hand on her arm. She wiped away some tears and I leaned over and hugged her. "I...I have breast cancer and because it's so aggressive there is no stopping." "Nora I'm so sorry." "It's alright I've made my peace with it, but I have also made my peace with not telling my family until I absolutely have to. I don't want them to worry about the funeral and things and I don't want them to be sad the whole time I am still alive. I want them to be sad when they have to be does that make sense?" I nodded holding her hand. "It's why I'm so glad Gunner has you." She said and I sipped my wine taking a deep breath. "Actually I'm blessed to have him." She looked at me confused and I explained my whole back story to her and how Gunner is involved in the whole thing. She sat there and listen intently tears running down her face. She held my face in her hands and kissed both sides of my face. "Honey you are so beautiful and so strong. I'm so happy my nephew could help in any way for you and now I understand the whole pinky promise he was telling me about." I smiled and wiped away my tears. "That pinky promise has gotten me through so much." "Well I know my sister may never say it, but you are always welcome in this family hija." "Thank you Nora and I promise to keep this conversation between us." "Thank you. If I could ask one more favor of you?" She said holding my hand. "Anything." "When the holidays come around and my sister is being rude and sulking after I pass promise me you will do for her what I have done for you. Take her into your home and provide for them during the holidays. Please this is all I ask you to do." "Of course. I'll do it." I smiled and hugged her again before I went to the guest room and went to bed. I woke up bright and early the next morning and got dressed before I decided to take Tank for a walk.