Sequel: Run the Show ›
Somebody Needs You
Chapter 21
The day before Christmas Eve rolling around quicker than usual, or so it felt like, Katie watched the away game from their apartment, trying to finish the packing they had to do. They were flying out to Ottawa to celebrate Christmas with her family at her sister’s house the following morning and she wasn't lying when she stated they really were nowhere near ready to leave.
With the game being against the Habs, more than 3points were at stake, sadly – without going into too much detail – it wasn't a good game for the Leafs. Or Luke. He’d been a healthy scratch for several games and when he got to play; his times often didn’t break the ten minute mark…
As he came back to the apartment several hours after the game ended, she tried to help him forget about the bitter loss and everything surrounding it, but she knew it was most likely just a momentary fix.
The following morning they boarded their flight up to Ottawa at the airport and as they were leaving Toronto behind, Luke realized he had never wanted to get away from hockey as much as he did in that moment. And he knew that spending a few days of the holidays surrounded by family and celebrations, was just what he needed. If not, his nerves would make him not think about hockey as much anyway.
Landing in Ottawa, they quickly collected their bags and Katie hailed a cab, giving the driver her sister’s address as she leaned back in the backseat. Reaching out, she squeezed Luke’s hand as she noticed the look across his face. She knew that the scratches and the lack of shift time were wearing down on him.
He loved hockey, playing was his number one passion in life and being benched without much of an explanation wasn't helping his confidence out there. Added with the papers writing about his supposed Sophomore Slump alongside their currently track record of losing more than they were winning, he wasn't in such a great place at the moment and she knew it.
“Are you sure that they are going to like me?” he asked concerned, looking away from the passing sights outside the car to look over at her.
“Just get a foot in with the kids and everyone will follow,” Katie shrugged nonchalant, seeing the look on his face; it was somewhere between horror and dread. “Don’t worry so much,” she smiled amused, leaning over and placing a chaste kiss on his cheek. “They will love you,” she promised him.
“How can you be so sure about that?” he watched her closely. Meeting girlfriend’s parents wasn't one of his favorite pastimes, that were for sure. He literally hated it. And here he was meeting her whole family at once…
“My dad might be a bit hard to win over,” she would give him that, “but everyone else is just interested in meeting you. They’re harmless,” she insisted, smiling softly.
“I’ll hold you to that,” he nodded skeptically, he’d heard that before.
“Just go to Josh, he’s a massive Leafs fan,” she helped him, taking in the familiar sides outside, knowing that they weren’t far away now. “He’ll get you Julia and Anna, and then Kris and Eli will be an easy target, after that the rest of them are a shoe in,” she shrugged.
“Glad you find this so amusing,” he rolled his eyes at her.
“I love you,” she pointed out. “I wouldn’t do anything to put you in an awkward position, just call for me and I’ll rescue you,” she promised, quickly kissing him as she driver pulled to a stop at the end of the driveway to her sister’s house. “We’re here,” the smile on her face alone would cause him to willingly walk into that house with her, without any sort of backup.
Climbing out of the car as she paid the fare, he got the bags out of the trunk and stepped up on the driveway as he looked up at the house. It was a large, two story stone and red brick house surrounded with a lot of trees. And snow, masses of snow. He could also see some snowmen and other figures that had been built in the front yard.
It kind of reminded him of his family’s house when he was growing up…
“You ready to head inside?” Katie appeared next to him, a wide smile across her lips.
“Yeah,” he nodded slightly. “It’s a big house,” he commented as he easily carried their bags and they walked up the driveway before turning up the small walkway leading to the front steps.
“Eli’s a contractor and his older sister Emilia is an architect,” she told him. “So they know a lot of people who helped build this. And my dad’s a real estate agent, he helped them pick out the designs and all that,” she smiled as they walked up the stone steps and she used the wrought iron knocker to announce their presence. The door was a large, probably oak, thing with a massive evergreen wreath hanging on it, just adding on to the Christmas spirit of the whole area.
“Wow,” he noted appreciatively.
“Don’t worry,” she whispered as they could both hear a lot of noise coming from inside the house. “They all have fancy jobs, but are still very much blue collar,” she told him just as the door was pulled open and she was engulfed in a massive hug. By a woman not much older than her, who had soft looking, chestnut colored hair and who had to be her sister he noted silently.
“Kris, I can’t breathe,” Katie wheezed through her laughter as she hugged her sister back. “I'm serious.”
“I haven't seen you in so long,” Kris pointed out with a wide smile as she reluctantly let go of her younger sister, taking a step back and noticing the boy at Katie’s side. “You must be Luke,” she stated. “I'm Kristen, this one’s older and much cooler sister, but everyone simply calls me Kris,” she introduced herself, forgoing the formal handshake in favor of giving him a friendly hug.
“It’s nice to meet you,” Luke managed to get out in his state of surprise.
“Come on in, it’s cold out there,” Kris ordered them, practically tugging them inside the house before answering the call from the kitchen. “Just make yourselves at home,” she called over her shoulder as she hurried back over to the kitchen where something appeared to be going very wrong. “You're staying in the usual room,” she added before disappearing around a corner.
“And that was my older sister,” Katie commented dryly as she shrugged off her wool coat and hung it in the closet along with Luke’s jacket before removing her dark, knee high boots.
“She’s…” he really struggled to find the right words to describe the woman he’s just met.
“She’s usually not that over the top,” she smiled widely. “It’s the pregnancy that has gotten her crazy,” she commented.
“She’s pregnant?” he asked surprised, he clearly hadn’t noticed that…
“Yeah, five months now, or maybe six…” she frowned slightly, not fully remembering. “She’s due in the beginning of March anyway,” she told him. “So do you want to check out where we are staying before we track down the rest of my family?” she wondered, knowing that at times they could be overwhelming and should probably be met at intervals, preferably individually.
“Sounds like a good idea,” he nodded quickly, not acknowledging the knowing smirk that appeared across his girlfriends lips.
“Alright then,” she smiled as they picked up their backs and she motioned for him to come with her as she moved towards a large staircase.
The whole house was very designed, but it still felt homey and lived in. If it was Kris who had been in charge of the decorating, Luke harbored no doubts as to where Katie had gotten her talent in designing…
Walking up the stairs, they headed right and pointing out where the bathroom and the other guestroom was, she soon pushed one of the white doors open to reveal a guestroom decorated in beiges and light greens.
“Ready to find the rest of my family?” she smiled up at him as they’d placed their bags on the floor and she loosely wrapped her arms around his waist.
“No,” he replied seriously. “But there’s no time like the present,” he continued, leaning down and brushing his lips against hers.
“True,” she nodded slightly, leaning up and kissing him once more before taking his hand and towing him behind her as she left the room and headed back down the stairs.
Taking in more of the house as they passed through it, Luke noticed that they were really taking the holidays seriously, there were decorations all over the place, but somehow it didn’t look like Santa’s village…
Knowing her sister’s house about as good as she did the house she’d grown up in, or their own apartment, Katie lead him through the bottom floor and ended up in the living room where her parents were currently helping the children decorate the Christmas tree that was taking up much of the large bay window facing the front yard.
“So who’s who?” he asked under his breath, keeping her from alerting her family they were standing there.
“I’ll just introduce you,” she wasn't going to let him off that easy. “Mom, dad,” she announced herself, quickly catching the attention of pretty much all the people currently in the room.
“Katie,” the older woman, who still didn’t appear to be a day over forty-five, broke out in a wide smile and made quick work of hanging up the ornament she’d been holding in the tree before crossing the room and wrapping her second oldest in a tight hug. “It’s been too long,” she gushed as she – like mothers tend to do – held Katie’s face in hers and looked at her closely.
“It’s only been a few months,” Katie disagreed with a wide smile.
“You're my baby,” the woman pointed out. “You brought a date,” she announced, causing both her daughter and Luke to blush rather unattractively. Parents always know how to embarrass you, even if they aren’t even your own parents.
“Hi daddy,” Katie said softly, hugging the older man that joined them just then.
“Hi princess.” Luke knew he was in trouble when he heard those words, girls whose fathers called them princess, was never easy to please and nothing – no one – was good enough for their baby…
“Yeah,” Katie nodded to her mother’s question. “This is my boyfriend; Luke Schenn,” she introduced him as he looked between her parents, feeling unbelievably uncomfortable. “Luke, these are my parents, my mother Andrea and my father Robert.”
“It’s very nice meeting you,” Luke forced himself to smile politely as he held out his hand to shake Andreas. Once again he was surprised when he was pulled into a hug. “Nonsense,” Andrea smiled widely as she patted him on the back. “It’s not every day Katie is dating someone serious enough for her to bring them home to the family, especially over Christmas,” she told him, a beaming smile across her features. “And you can call me Andie, everyone does,” she added.
“Will do,” Luke nodded stiffly.
“Nice to meet you lad,” Robert smiled, reaching out and shaking his hand, pulling him into one of those sort of manly hugs, patting him hard on the back. “Your last season with the Leafs was excellent,” he complimented him, surprising him.
“Thank you, sir,” Luke replied, managing to keep any trace of being stunned out of his voice.
“It’s Rob,” he stated, clapping Luke hard on the shoulder before he returned to the tree with his wife, barely making it in time to keep the girls from climbing something to get higher.
“See, painless,” Katie smiled knowingly.
“You were right, they’re pretty harmless,” Luke agreed, not able to mask his surprise.
“I don’t think that any of my or Kris’ boyfriends has ever been rejected by my parents,” she shrugged slightly, tugging him slightly closer.
“Your mother, she’s…” he trailed off, not waiting to be rude and immediately regretting asking.
“Young?” she asked knowingly.
“Well, yeah,” he nodded curiously.
“She about three years younger than dad,” she began telling him. “They met when she was still in high school and she, accidentally, got pregnant when she was a few months shy of twenty,” she explained. “She wanted to finish her education, so she only took a year off school and then she went back, they waited about five years and had me,” she smiled slightly as she caught sight of his serious he looked. “And those two rug-rats are my younger siblings,” she told him, pointing towards the tree where three children were in the middle of dressing it.
“Josh!”
“Hey Kat!” the fourteen, almost fifteen year old kid broke out in a wide grin as he saw his older sister, only to curse and be told off by his mother as one of the girls pinched him in the side.
“He’s eight years younger than me,” she explained the age difference. “They apparently thought they were done with me and Kris, but when we were getting older they wanted another baby,” she shrugged slightly.
“Huh,” he nodded slightly. “So he’s the one who’s a Leafs fan?”
“Massive,” she confirmed with a nod. “His bedroom back in London is completely covered in everything blue and white, loads of Maple Leafs around,” she told him. “And the blonde girl is my little sister Julia, the brunette is Kris’ daughter Savannah, or Anna, my niece.”
“They the same age?” he frowned slightly.
“Yeah, born like a week apart,” she nodded. “Saying that mom flew of the handle when Kris came home pregnant, in her fourth or fifth month, I can’t remember, when she herself was right at the same point in her pregnancy, is not exaggerating it,” she said, remembering the mood that had covered their house as a thick blanket for weeks. “But now they’re just happy that they have each other, it’s sad they live so far apart, but thank god for Skype and broadband,” she rolled her eyes slightly.
“They close?” he looked down at her, wrapping his arm around her shoulders.
“The closest,” she confirmed. “They want to spend their entire summers together if they can,” she added. “They’ve even managed to get to celebrate their birthdays together,” she told him. “This last October, when I flew out to London for the day,” she trailed off, seeing him nod in remembrance. “They celebrated turning eleven.”
“They’re about as old as my sisters,” he noted.
“How old are they?”
“Madison’s twelve and Macy’s ten now,” he had to think about that one for a moment, to him it seemed just yesterday that they were five and seven and still played with dolls. Madi had gotten her first boyfriend! He and Brayden were about losing it.
“We should set up a play date,” she joked slightly. “Jules, Anna,” she called the two girls who immediately looked over but seemed torn as to whether or not leave the tree-dressing to the annoying teenage boy on the other side. “I’m just going to go talk to Kris, but I’ll be right back, I promise,” she told them before taking Luke’s hand as they nodded and she pulled him with her out of the room.
“So now what?” Luke asked, kissing her cheek as they went.
“We track down my sister,” she smiled heading straight to the kitchen where she could hear her sister’s distinct voice, along with a very familiar laughter.
“Alright,” he smiled amused, seeing her with her family, just surrounded with them was amazing, she seemed so relaxed and at ease.
Approaching and walking into the large sized kitchen on the other end of the house, he had to give it to the architect, it was an amazing house. The kitchen, much like the rest of it, was open planned and spacious, without feeling too large or unused and it was dominated by a large island with a marble counter top, in the middle of the room.
“There are kids in the house,” Katie stated frankly, surprising the couple who were all but making out in the kitchen, the male having his hand pressed against Kris’ slightly swollen stomach, and causing them to jump apart.
“Hey squirt,” the male, who was tall, dark and handsome Luke noted, you know if you went for that…, placing a kiss on Kris’ forehead before rounding the island and wrapping Katie in a hug.
“Keep trying, it’s not going to get me,” Katie smirked as she hugged him back. “I want you to meet someone,” she stated as they pulled apart. “This is Luke, my boyfriend. Luke, this is Katie’s longtime boyfriend Elijah Port, and pretty much everyone calls him Eli,” she informed him, a wide smile across her lips.
“I'm going to get you one day,” Eli mock glared at his almost sister-in-law and held out his hand to Luke. “Nice to finally have another male around these two,” he stated.
“Watch it, or you're sleeping on the couch tonight,” Kris threatened, pointing at him with a spatula.
“You love me babe,” Eli smirked widely.
“What do you mean?” Luke asked surprised.
“You haven’t seen those two together,” Eli stated frankly. ”They’re worse than Rosemary’s babies,” he continued. “They’ll drive you crazy within the week,” he could still clearly remember the first vacation he ever went on with the two sisters – and several of their joint friends – to the mountains for a week of skiing. He’d been climbing the walls within days of getting there…
“Don’t listen to him,” Katie smiled widely. “He’s only jealous cause he’s a younger brother and never got to harass someone,” she stuck her tongue out as Eli glared at her.
Watching the people in front of him interact, Luke felt strangely at home. With a few different people and locations it could easily have been his own family about to celebrate Christmas.
And he liked it…maybe a bit too much…
With the game being against the Habs, more than 3points were at stake, sadly – without going into too much detail – it wasn't a good game for the Leafs. Or Luke. He’d been a healthy scratch for several games and when he got to play; his times often didn’t break the ten minute mark…
As he came back to the apartment several hours after the game ended, she tried to help him forget about the bitter loss and everything surrounding it, but she knew it was most likely just a momentary fix.
The following morning they boarded their flight up to Ottawa at the airport and as they were leaving Toronto behind, Luke realized he had never wanted to get away from hockey as much as he did in that moment. And he knew that spending a few days of the holidays surrounded by family and celebrations, was just what he needed. If not, his nerves would make him not think about hockey as much anyway.
Landing in Ottawa, they quickly collected their bags and Katie hailed a cab, giving the driver her sister’s address as she leaned back in the backseat. Reaching out, she squeezed Luke’s hand as she noticed the look across his face. She knew that the scratches and the lack of shift time were wearing down on him.
He loved hockey, playing was his number one passion in life and being benched without much of an explanation wasn't helping his confidence out there. Added with the papers writing about his supposed Sophomore Slump alongside their currently track record of losing more than they were winning, he wasn't in such a great place at the moment and she knew it.
“Are you sure that they are going to like me?” he asked concerned, looking away from the passing sights outside the car to look over at her.
“Just get a foot in with the kids and everyone will follow,” Katie shrugged nonchalant, seeing the look on his face; it was somewhere between horror and dread. “Don’t worry so much,” she smiled amused, leaning over and placing a chaste kiss on his cheek. “They will love you,” she promised him.
“How can you be so sure about that?” he watched her closely. Meeting girlfriend’s parents wasn't one of his favorite pastimes, that were for sure. He literally hated it. And here he was meeting her whole family at once…
“My dad might be a bit hard to win over,” she would give him that, “but everyone else is just interested in meeting you. They’re harmless,” she insisted, smiling softly.
“I’ll hold you to that,” he nodded skeptically, he’d heard that before.
“Just go to Josh, he’s a massive Leafs fan,” she helped him, taking in the familiar sides outside, knowing that they weren’t far away now. “He’ll get you Julia and Anna, and then Kris and Eli will be an easy target, after that the rest of them are a shoe in,” she shrugged.
“Glad you find this so amusing,” he rolled his eyes at her.
“I love you,” she pointed out. “I wouldn’t do anything to put you in an awkward position, just call for me and I’ll rescue you,” she promised, quickly kissing him as she driver pulled to a stop at the end of the driveway to her sister’s house. “We’re here,” the smile on her face alone would cause him to willingly walk into that house with her, without any sort of backup.
Climbing out of the car as she paid the fare, he got the bags out of the trunk and stepped up on the driveway as he looked up at the house. It was a large, two story stone and red brick house surrounded with a lot of trees. And snow, masses of snow. He could also see some snowmen and other figures that had been built in the front yard.
It kind of reminded him of his family’s house when he was growing up…
“You ready to head inside?” Katie appeared next to him, a wide smile across her lips.
“Yeah,” he nodded slightly. “It’s a big house,” he commented as he easily carried their bags and they walked up the driveway before turning up the small walkway leading to the front steps.
“Eli’s a contractor and his older sister Emilia is an architect,” she told him. “So they know a lot of people who helped build this. And my dad’s a real estate agent, he helped them pick out the designs and all that,” she smiled as they walked up the stone steps and she used the wrought iron knocker to announce their presence. The door was a large, probably oak, thing with a massive evergreen wreath hanging on it, just adding on to the Christmas spirit of the whole area.
“Wow,” he noted appreciatively.
“Don’t worry,” she whispered as they could both hear a lot of noise coming from inside the house. “They all have fancy jobs, but are still very much blue collar,” she told him just as the door was pulled open and she was engulfed in a massive hug. By a woman not much older than her, who had soft looking, chestnut colored hair and who had to be her sister he noted silently.
“Kris, I can’t breathe,” Katie wheezed through her laughter as she hugged her sister back. “I'm serious.”
“I haven't seen you in so long,” Kris pointed out with a wide smile as she reluctantly let go of her younger sister, taking a step back and noticing the boy at Katie’s side. “You must be Luke,” she stated. “I'm Kristen, this one’s older and much cooler sister, but everyone simply calls me Kris,” she introduced herself, forgoing the formal handshake in favor of giving him a friendly hug.
“It’s nice to meet you,” Luke managed to get out in his state of surprise.
“Come on in, it’s cold out there,” Kris ordered them, practically tugging them inside the house before answering the call from the kitchen. “Just make yourselves at home,” she called over her shoulder as she hurried back over to the kitchen where something appeared to be going very wrong. “You're staying in the usual room,” she added before disappearing around a corner.
“And that was my older sister,” Katie commented dryly as she shrugged off her wool coat and hung it in the closet along with Luke’s jacket before removing her dark, knee high boots.
“She’s…” he really struggled to find the right words to describe the woman he’s just met.
“She’s usually not that over the top,” she smiled widely. “It’s the pregnancy that has gotten her crazy,” she commented.
“She’s pregnant?” he asked surprised, he clearly hadn’t noticed that…
“Yeah, five months now, or maybe six…” she frowned slightly, not fully remembering. “She’s due in the beginning of March anyway,” she told him. “So do you want to check out where we are staying before we track down the rest of my family?” she wondered, knowing that at times they could be overwhelming and should probably be met at intervals, preferably individually.
“Sounds like a good idea,” he nodded quickly, not acknowledging the knowing smirk that appeared across his girlfriends lips.
“Alright then,” she smiled as they picked up their backs and she motioned for him to come with her as she moved towards a large staircase.
The whole house was very designed, but it still felt homey and lived in. If it was Kris who had been in charge of the decorating, Luke harbored no doubts as to where Katie had gotten her talent in designing…
Walking up the stairs, they headed right and pointing out where the bathroom and the other guestroom was, she soon pushed one of the white doors open to reveal a guestroom decorated in beiges and light greens.
“Ready to find the rest of my family?” she smiled up at him as they’d placed their bags on the floor and she loosely wrapped her arms around his waist.
“No,” he replied seriously. “But there’s no time like the present,” he continued, leaning down and brushing his lips against hers.
“True,” she nodded slightly, leaning up and kissing him once more before taking his hand and towing him behind her as she left the room and headed back down the stairs.
Taking in more of the house as they passed through it, Luke noticed that they were really taking the holidays seriously, there were decorations all over the place, but somehow it didn’t look like Santa’s village…
Knowing her sister’s house about as good as she did the house she’d grown up in, or their own apartment, Katie lead him through the bottom floor and ended up in the living room where her parents were currently helping the children decorate the Christmas tree that was taking up much of the large bay window facing the front yard.
“So who’s who?” he asked under his breath, keeping her from alerting her family they were standing there.
“I’ll just introduce you,” she wasn't going to let him off that easy. “Mom, dad,” she announced herself, quickly catching the attention of pretty much all the people currently in the room.
“Katie,” the older woman, who still didn’t appear to be a day over forty-five, broke out in a wide smile and made quick work of hanging up the ornament she’d been holding in the tree before crossing the room and wrapping her second oldest in a tight hug. “It’s been too long,” she gushed as she – like mothers tend to do – held Katie’s face in hers and looked at her closely.
“It’s only been a few months,” Katie disagreed with a wide smile.
“You're my baby,” the woman pointed out. “You brought a date,” she announced, causing both her daughter and Luke to blush rather unattractively. Parents always know how to embarrass you, even if they aren’t even your own parents.
“Hi daddy,” Katie said softly, hugging the older man that joined them just then.
“Hi princess.” Luke knew he was in trouble when he heard those words, girls whose fathers called them princess, was never easy to please and nothing – no one – was good enough for their baby…
“Yeah,” Katie nodded to her mother’s question. “This is my boyfriend; Luke Schenn,” she introduced him as he looked between her parents, feeling unbelievably uncomfortable. “Luke, these are my parents, my mother Andrea and my father Robert.”
“It’s very nice meeting you,” Luke forced himself to smile politely as he held out his hand to shake Andreas. Once again he was surprised when he was pulled into a hug. “Nonsense,” Andrea smiled widely as she patted him on the back. “It’s not every day Katie is dating someone serious enough for her to bring them home to the family, especially over Christmas,” she told him, a beaming smile across her features. “And you can call me Andie, everyone does,” she added.
“Will do,” Luke nodded stiffly.
“Nice to meet you lad,” Robert smiled, reaching out and shaking his hand, pulling him into one of those sort of manly hugs, patting him hard on the back. “Your last season with the Leafs was excellent,” he complimented him, surprising him.
“Thank you, sir,” Luke replied, managing to keep any trace of being stunned out of his voice.
“It’s Rob,” he stated, clapping Luke hard on the shoulder before he returned to the tree with his wife, barely making it in time to keep the girls from climbing something to get higher.
“See, painless,” Katie smiled knowingly.
“You were right, they’re pretty harmless,” Luke agreed, not able to mask his surprise.
“I don’t think that any of my or Kris’ boyfriends has ever been rejected by my parents,” she shrugged slightly, tugging him slightly closer.
“Your mother, she’s…” he trailed off, not waiting to be rude and immediately regretting asking.
“Young?” she asked knowingly.
“Well, yeah,” he nodded curiously.
“She about three years younger than dad,” she began telling him. “They met when she was still in high school and she, accidentally, got pregnant when she was a few months shy of twenty,” she explained. “She wanted to finish her education, so she only took a year off school and then she went back, they waited about five years and had me,” she smiled slightly as she caught sight of his serious he looked. “And those two rug-rats are my younger siblings,” she told him, pointing towards the tree where three children were in the middle of dressing it.
“Josh!”
“Hey Kat!” the fourteen, almost fifteen year old kid broke out in a wide grin as he saw his older sister, only to curse and be told off by his mother as one of the girls pinched him in the side.
“He’s eight years younger than me,” she explained the age difference. “They apparently thought they were done with me and Kris, but when we were getting older they wanted another baby,” she shrugged slightly.
“Huh,” he nodded slightly. “So he’s the one who’s a Leafs fan?”
“Massive,” she confirmed with a nod. “His bedroom back in London is completely covered in everything blue and white, loads of Maple Leafs around,” she told him. “And the blonde girl is my little sister Julia, the brunette is Kris’ daughter Savannah, or Anna, my niece.”
“They the same age?” he frowned slightly.
“Yeah, born like a week apart,” she nodded. “Saying that mom flew of the handle when Kris came home pregnant, in her fourth or fifth month, I can’t remember, when she herself was right at the same point in her pregnancy, is not exaggerating it,” she said, remembering the mood that had covered their house as a thick blanket for weeks. “But now they’re just happy that they have each other, it’s sad they live so far apart, but thank god for Skype and broadband,” she rolled her eyes slightly.
“They close?” he looked down at her, wrapping his arm around her shoulders.
“The closest,” she confirmed. “They want to spend their entire summers together if they can,” she added. “They’ve even managed to get to celebrate their birthdays together,” she told him. “This last October, when I flew out to London for the day,” she trailed off, seeing him nod in remembrance. “They celebrated turning eleven.”
“They’re about as old as my sisters,” he noted.
“How old are they?”
“Madison’s twelve and Macy’s ten now,” he had to think about that one for a moment, to him it seemed just yesterday that they were five and seven and still played with dolls. Madi had gotten her first boyfriend! He and Brayden were about losing it.
“We should set up a play date,” she joked slightly. “Jules, Anna,” she called the two girls who immediately looked over but seemed torn as to whether or not leave the tree-dressing to the annoying teenage boy on the other side. “I’m just going to go talk to Kris, but I’ll be right back, I promise,” she told them before taking Luke’s hand as they nodded and she pulled him with her out of the room.
“So now what?” Luke asked, kissing her cheek as they went.
“We track down my sister,” she smiled heading straight to the kitchen where she could hear her sister’s distinct voice, along with a very familiar laughter.
“Alright,” he smiled amused, seeing her with her family, just surrounded with them was amazing, she seemed so relaxed and at ease.
Approaching and walking into the large sized kitchen on the other end of the house, he had to give it to the architect, it was an amazing house. The kitchen, much like the rest of it, was open planned and spacious, without feeling too large or unused and it was dominated by a large island with a marble counter top, in the middle of the room.
“There are kids in the house,” Katie stated frankly, surprising the couple who were all but making out in the kitchen, the male having his hand pressed against Kris’ slightly swollen stomach, and causing them to jump apart.
“Hey squirt,” the male, who was tall, dark and handsome Luke noted, you know if you went for that…, placing a kiss on Kris’ forehead before rounding the island and wrapping Katie in a hug.
“Keep trying, it’s not going to get me,” Katie smirked as she hugged him back. “I want you to meet someone,” she stated as they pulled apart. “This is Luke, my boyfriend. Luke, this is Katie’s longtime boyfriend Elijah Port, and pretty much everyone calls him Eli,” she informed him, a wide smile across her lips.
“I'm going to get you one day,” Eli mock glared at his almost sister-in-law and held out his hand to Luke. “Nice to finally have another male around these two,” he stated.
“Watch it, or you're sleeping on the couch tonight,” Kris threatened, pointing at him with a spatula.
“You love me babe,” Eli smirked widely.
“What do you mean?” Luke asked surprised.
“You haven’t seen those two together,” Eli stated frankly. ”They’re worse than Rosemary’s babies,” he continued. “They’ll drive you crazy within the week,” he could still clearly remember the first vacation he ever went on with the two sisters – and several of their joint friends – to the mountains for a week of skiing. He’d been climbing the walls within days of getting there…
“Don’t listen to him,” Katie smiled widely. “He’s only jealous cause he’s a younger brother and never got to harass someone,” she stuck her tongue out as Eli glared at her.
Watching the people in front of him interact, Luke felt strangely at home. With a few different people and locations it could easily have been his own family about to celebrate Christmas.
And he liked it…maybe a bit too much…