"Austin, this is my mother Gwendolyn."
"Oh Austin, look at you. You look handsome. Come in, come in." She steps aside and Remi holds the screen door open for me to step through. The house is filled with noise. Conversations, laughter, cooking, and toys. It's warm, too, and smells amazing. The front door opens to a hallway with French door to the right and a closed door to the left. There are stairs starting beside the door and I can see at least two more doors upstairs. Remi leads me further in the house. The hallway gives way to a nice sized dining room with a table large enough to fit eight people. To the left is the kitchen.
"There's a bathroom off the back of the kitchen here," Remi says. "Or there's also one upstairs if this one's occupied."
"Thanks," I whisper. His mom walks into the kitchen behind us at the same time the woman I'm assuming is his sister turnsaround from the stove. It smells like cinnamon in here and my tummy rumbles.
"Oh, Austin. You're here." Her smile is wide and genuine. I can see the similarities in facial features between her and Remi. They both have the dark brown hair, soft eyes that dip just the tiniest bit at the outer corners. It's been a while since the one time I met her, but her features are familiar. "I need to finish cooking these apples, but please, set the dish down wherever you can find room. How are you? Both of you?"
"Austin, this is Wendy," Remi says. He takes the dishpan from me and moves a few things around on the table to set it down. With my hands free, I shrug out of my jacket, which Remi takes as well. "I'll be right back. Just going to put these in the coat room."
"Okay." My voice is small and I know my nervousness comes out in that one word. He bends down and kisses the top of my head before walking out of the room.
"It's nice to meet you. Again," his sister says. I move slowly around the circular table in the kitchen to lean against the counter. I'm out of her way, but close enough we can talk without her having to look over her shoulder the whole time.
"You as well," I say lamely. I fold my hands together in front of me. I look around the kitchen. There are bowls and bowls of food, all breakfast items. There's also sliced ham with some sort of glaze on it. Maybe honey. It all looks delicious. I spot the plates on top of the microwave, grateful that they're sectioned.
"You're going to meet quite a few people this morning," she says. "Don't let them intimidate you, though. If you need us to bat them off, just say so. The kids will be running around and it'll be a full housesoon."
I don't know what to say and I'm grateful that Remi comes back then. "I hope my sister isn't annoying you yet."
"I'm not that bad of company," she says, sending a glare to Remi. He sticks his tongue out at her like they aren't thirty-four and forty-one. It makes me smile. "I was just giving him the heads up on the fam before they all pile into the house."
"The only one you have to watch out for is her," Remi says as he moves me away from the counter and takes my spot, pulling me back against him. It's so casual and in front of his family. Like him saying 'hey, this one is mine'. I should probably not find such a caveman thought sweet, but I do. I let my head drop back against his chest. His mom walks back into the kitchen and gives us a quick glance before moving to the fridge.
"Austin, sweety, I have all kinds of drinks in here. Tea, water, soda, juice, even Kool-Aid if you prefer that." His mom turns around with a can of Pepsi in her hand.
"Mom, seriously? It's eight in the morning." Remi lifts a hand and motions to the soda.
"Listen here young man," she says. I smile at her tone and the way Wendy snickers. "I am seventy-two years old. I've had two cans of soda every day for the last fifteen years and my doctor says I'm as healthy as expected for my age."
I let out a small 'ooh, she told you' and his mom gives me a wink. It makes me laugh. Remi raises both hands and I take the moment to move between his mom and sister to grab my own drink. I don't want Remi to go Daddy on me in front of his family, so I stick with the orange juice. He gives me an approving nod.
"There's vodka in the freezer if you want to make that a Screwdriver," Wendy whispers. Remi's answering grunt tells me he heard that. Before I can say anything, she's alreadytalking to Remi. She points the spatula at Remi. It's comical and I'm just standing there with the juice in my hand watching them. "If he wants a drink, he can have one."
"I actually better not," I say, to save Remi. "I have to see my family after this and I'd rather do that sober."
"Ooh, double feature with the fams." She finishes stirring the apples and Remi hands her a bowl to transfer them out of the hot pan. He hands me a plastic cup next. "Okay, that was the last bit. Now we just have to wait for the others to show up and we'll be ready to eat."
As if summoned, a commotion by the front door hits my ears and soon I'm being introduced to him and her and this cousin, that uncle. It's a lot of names and I try my best to keep them straight in my head. There are just as many kids running around as adults. Toys get pulled out and played with in the hallway, a couple of the teenage kids are braving the cold outside on the porch. The TV is playing the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. It's a lot of noise, but I love it. It's family and fun.
By the time we're all gathered around the kitchen table and out into the dining room, someone gives a short toast and another passes out plates. Remi points out what each dish is. His family can definitely cook. I put enough to fill my plate and follow Remi to the table. The other seats are taken quickly and conversations pop up around bites of food.
I have two sausage balls, mini chocolate chip pancakes, two different types of quiche, glazed ham, and a spoonful of corned beef hash on my plate. I'm mindful of the lunch we're going to be eating in a couple of hours too.
"So, Austin, how did you and Remington meet?" Frank, an uncle to someone, asks when we're all mostly done with ourplates. All eyes turn to me and I have to keep myself from shrinking back and hiding behind Remi.
"We, uh, met through a mutual… friend." I look at Remi, not sure how much to reveal. "I've known him for years but we only recently made things official."
Remi takes my hand under the table and squeezes. He looks at everyone around the table. They are a great family and I know they don't know our history. It's an innocent question.
"Official, huh?" The lady beside Frank says. "I don't know if you know this, Austin, but you're the first person Remington has brought home to any family function in a good while."
I didn't know that. I know Remi has past relationships and I just assumed he brought them around his family. Remi smiles at me and leans over to kiss the side of my head. I blush under the eyes of his whole family. "He's special. Figured he should see what he's getting into if he plans on sticking with me for a while. Just watch out for Willow over there. She's a little crazy."
Some type of food gets thrown across the table and smacks Remington. The whole table erupts in uncontrolled laughter and conversations turn back to school for the kids, what the plan for Christmas and New Years is. I'm included in these future events like I've been part of the family for years instead of one day. Remington gives updates on his job, Danielle and Yvonne announce that they're going for their interviews to become foster parents. For the most part, I just sit and listen, but I'm included in most of the questions aimed at Remington.
Remi's family is great. They're warm and accepting, clearly care about each other. I finish all the food on my plate and drink all of my juice. Remi smiles at me and mouths, 'Good boy', before taking my plate to the trash. We all move to the livingroom. His mom has two couches on either side of the living room. There's a real log fireplace with a TV mounted on the wall above. Most of the seats are taken already but Remi pulls me down onto his lap in the recliner chair. It's an older chair and I feel like it was most likely his dad's and they never got rid of it.
