“You brought everyone!? Marcy too?” I questioned. Uncle Jared had two sons, Jase, and Jackson, and then there was Marcy, who was Izzy’s baby sister. She was in her twenties like me, but a couple years older than I was. Taylor, Marcy, and I had grown up together and had more playdates than we can count.
“I sure did, and yeah, she’s here too. She went back outside to get something from the car for Izzy.” Uncle Jared smiled before narrowing his eyes. “I met your boyfriend also. No worries though, I didn’t bust his balls nearly as bad as your dad did I’m sure.” I shook my head. I knew they would give Chase shit. It came with dating me, I had known whomever the lucky shmuck was− that if he couldn’t put up with my family and their shit then things probably wouldn’t work out.
“Oh God, I will never live this day down, Uncle Jared!”
“Let’s eat!! Dinner is being served. Get in here, or you might not get any,” my mom yelled, interrupting our conversation.
“Rematch later?” AJ joked as Uncle Jared called the boys to get their mom and aunt. I rolled my eyes as we headed towards the kitchen.
It was happening. Dinner with my entire family and Chase freaking Winchester was on the verge of happening.
Wiping my palms on my skirt, I took a deep breath and headed over to where Chase was standing. He was smiling and carrying on conversation as he waited for me to come over. When I reached him, we walked from the kitchen and headed into the dining room, taking a seat at the long table that could easily sit our entire family and some. The smell of candied yams, stuffed turkey, and green bean casserole had me salivating as Chase stood behind me pushing my seat in before taking a seat of his own.
Looking around the table, my eyes almost jumped into my belly as they landed on my Aunt Izzy’s famous baked macaroni and cheese, my Aunt Tegan’s sweet potato pie, and my mother’s homemade mashed potatoes. I was more than ready to fill my plate up and eat.
The rest of my family filtered in and took their seats just as the doorbell rang. I looked around the room again, but this time at the faces that sat at the table instead of the food that was placed on it. Everyone was here. Even Taylor had managed to make her way downstairs, so I had no idea who could be at the door.
“I’ll get it. No one eats without me,” my dad sternly spoke while getting up from the table. He knew we never started eating until the table was graced and the turkey was carved no matter how hungry we were, and right now I was pretty hungry, so hungry that I wanted to dip my fingers into the gravy bowl in front of me.
“Can I help you?” I heard my father’s voice from the door.
“This is the King’s residence, correct? We were invited by Bree King, Gianna King’s mother. She said we were having a Thanksgiving family dinner, and since our kids were dating we were part of the family and needed to be here for dinner. Sorry we’re a little late, had to talk the rest of the Winchester gang into coming, but we’re here now. So invite us in already.” Professor Winchester spoke directly to my father, her tone firm as if she was standing in front of her students giving a lecture.
“Mom?” Chase questioned as he automatically stood up. I wasn’t far behind him once I heard the familiarity of the voice as they responded to my dad’s question. Right as we reached them, my father opened the door wider allowing Chase’s parents into our home. My pulse spiked and my insides tingled. I hadn’t expected this kind of surprise. I shot mom a look as she came to stand beside us.
“What? In this house, everyone is family. Now smile and welcome our guests,” she added nonchalantly. I grabbed Chase’s hand and moved forward to greet his family, but before I could, he was introducing me to the entire Winchester gang.
“Professor Winchester, nice to see you today,” I spoke to her as she placed a kiss on my cheek.
“Outside of class, I’m just Mrs. Winchester. No need for formalities here,” Mrs. Winchester said as she gave me a hug. When she finally let go, I smiled as I was hugged by his father, his aunts Jenna and Kennedy, his uncles Rex and Ryder and all of their kids. They really were a big gang, and I couldn’t keep my smile from growing wider as everyone showed me so much love.
“Chase is your boy?” my father asked, and my eyes almost bugged out my head. Please don’t let this go downhill, I thought to myself as I looked around for Chase. With all the hugging our hands had come unlinked.
“Yea, that’s my boy. Is that an issue?” Mr. Winchester stepped up to the plate right as my Uncle Jared and Devon rounded the counter, entering the foyer. He was almost as tall as my dad, and I noticed almost immediately that Chase and he shared the same eyes.
“You’re aware that your son is dating my daughter, and that if anything happens to her, I will−.”
“Dad!” I screeched.
“You’ll what?” Mr. Winchester shoved against my father’s chest and instantly Uncle Devon and Jared reached for their guns. God, this was going to be the worst Thanksgiving ever if shit didn’t turn around right now!
“Oh would you two just stop! They’re our kids, now stop acting like you have a pair of balls when we all know you lost those the day you got married. Tuck your tails and get moving because I’m hungry,” Mrs. Winchester chimed in just as Chance entered the house carrying a dish. I watched as Chase went over to him, peeking into the dish after whispering something in his ear. Her comment must’ve been somewhat funny because my father’s death glare turned to humor within seconds while Chance pushed Chase away.
“You’re right,” Dad said to Chase’s mom, “Where would we be without the women we love?” he questioned Mr. Winchester as he slapped him on the back.
“I don’t know about you, but I’d probably still be chasing that one, begging for a second chance,” Mr. Winchester retorted, a twinkle in his eye forming in the same fashion that Chase’s eyes did more often now than when I first met him.
My chest heaved in relief just as Chase appeared back by my side, wrapping an arm around my waist. He looked down at me and I swore I could no longer see the boy who I hated. He no longer existed, he had been replaced by a man who had stolen my heart without me even realizing it until I had fallen so far down the rabbit hole with him, there was no way out.
“That could’ve been a bloodbath,” he joked.
“Something you’d find in those romance novels of your mom’s you like to read so much.” I nuzzled into his side more as we shared a private moment.
“Oh, well I don’t need to read hers anymore since you got a pretty big collection yourself,” Chase fired back as we all headed for the dinner table. As we sat down one by one, I noticed my mother had added a smaller table to the end of the big table and all the younger kids were now sitting there.
We held one another’s hands as we bowed our heads, my mother leading grace as she always did. It was then, as she talked about how thankful she was this Thanksgiving that I realized though Chase and mine’s journey had been hard getting here, it was beyond worth it.
As grace ended and we waited for each dish to be passed around the table, I felt Chase’s hand cover my own underneath the table. The coolness of a metal being placed on my ring finger grabbed my attention from the interactions of our families to our now entwined hands. Light from the chandelier hanging above us shone against the Bernardine stones embedded into the white gold band.
“Wha−what is this, Chase?” Though our families sat around us, they were completely engrossed in their own conversations that no one was paying us much attention.
“It’s not that, you can ease up on the death grip you have on my hand. I like breathing, I would never think of asking you that unless I had already talked to your father about it first,” Chase spoke slowly, allowing me to take in every word as laughter and chatter surrounded us.