Sweetheart, Just Be Real

"Johno, I heard you're dating Kimmy Halvorsen!" My cousin Lilly exclaimed from across the table. Oh, how I love Christmas with the family.

"John's got a girlfriend?" My aunt teased.

"Yeah, I've got a girl." I nodded.

"What's she like?"

"Is she hot?"

"How old is she?"

"She's coming over later." I shrugged, not answering their questions.

"Oh, she is?" Lilly smirked. "My little John is growing up."

"Yeah, when will you?" I mocked.

"John, not on Christmas." My mom scolded.

I smirked at Lilly and kept eating. Although we bickered like a brother and sister and she annoyed the hell out of me, I loved her.

Finally we were done eating and I started helping my mom clear the table. Once everything was cleared I started helping her do the dishes in the kitchen.

"John, why did you get home so late last night?" She asked.

I tried to hide the blush I was getting as I thought about Kimmy in that little outfit.

"I hung out at Kimmys after I took her home." I answered. It was kind of the truth.

"You two aren't...?" She asked, trailing off not wanting to say the words.

I was so glad we were the only two people in the kitchen.

"No." I answered, shaking my head as I dried the plates.

"I'm not telling you that you can't, but just don't be dumb. I don't want any grandchildren for awhile." She joked.

"I know, ma." I nodded.

"Just making sure." She smiled. "John, I really do love Kimmy. I'm glad you two are together."

"Me too." I grinned. "Hey, can I go pick her up?"

"Sure. Just be careful. It's supposed to snow a little bit." She warned before giving me a kiss on the cheek.

"Okay, thanks mom! See ya soon!" I exclaimed before hurrying out the door and to my car. I followed the directions she gave me and pulled into the driveway.

I figured I'd be polite and greet her family before stealing her.

I walked up and knocked on the door and waited for it to open. When it did, I was met with Kimmy and Erics mom.

"Hi John, how are you?" She smiled as she opened the door for me.

"Good, you?" I asked politely as I stepped in.

"I'm good. A little tired." She laughed. "The kids are in the living room."

"Thanks." I nodded before walking in.

I smiled when I saw Kimmy with her little cousin on her lap. She was reading some book to him and didn't even notice my presence.

"The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, in hopes that Saint Nicholas soon would be there." She read. "Flip the page." She instructed sweetly.

I just stood there watching her in awe. I'd never seen her around kids. I had no idea she was so good with them.

She kept reading the book to him and listened intently when he would ramble about something in the book.

Once she was done reading he stayed in her lap and just flipped through the book by himself. She wrapped her arms around him and rested her head on top of his.

"We, we don't have a chimney so when Santa came daddy said that he used the, the front door." The little boy said to her.

"Yeah? Santa used our front door too last night." She smiled. "Did you leave some cookies out for him?"

"Yeah! I left out two chocolate chips, one sugar, and three peanut butters with the hershey kisses on top!" He told her excitedly.

"The peanut butter blossoms? Those are my favorite!" She laughed.

He was about to say something else to her but he looked up and saw me. He became quiet and his expression turned blank.

Kimmy gave him a confused expression and followed his gaze to me. She grinned widely and motioned me over.

"John this is my cousin Quentin and Quentin this is John. Say hi?" She asked him.

He just stared at me and I crouched down to his level. "Hey Quentin." I smiled.

He just stared at me with his mouth closed and Kimmy frowned.

"It's okay, Quentin." She urged. "He's nice."

He turned around and whispered "Are you sure?" to her.

"Positive." She whispered back.

He turned back to me and gave me a little smile. "Hi."

"Hey Quentin. I'm John."

"Hi John. Kimmy likes you a lot. She says you're cute, whatever that means." He said rolling his eyes and letting out a scoff. I grinned at the kid and looked at Kimmy.

"Quentin, you weren't supposed to tell him that!" She whined.

"Oh! Sorry!" He exclaimed and he brought his hands up to cover his mouth.

"It's okay. I forgive ya." She sighed as she kissed his head. "Well buddy, I think we're going to go now."

"No!" He cried.

"I'm sorry, bud but I promised John that I would spend some time with him." She frowned.

"But I don't want you to go." He whined.

"I'm sorry hun, but I'll visit you soon, okay?" She bargained.

He didn't say anything before unwrapping her arms from his body and stomping away.

"Incoming Eric!" She sighed and stood up. "So are you ready to go?"

"I was gonna say hi to you family first, but then we can go."

"Okay, well you met Quentin. Everybody's probably in the dining room." She said leading me away.

We walked through the house and she stopped at the dining room. "Hey everybody. This is John."

"Hi, nice to meet you." I waved.

"Hello John. It's nice to meet you too." Presumably her grandmother, said.

"Well, he just wanted to say hi. We're going to go back to his house now." She said as she started walking out.

"Wait." Her mom said as she got up. She followed us to the door and smiled. "Be careful and have fun." She smiled. She gave Kimmy a hug and we were on our way.

We talked about what we got for Christmas and I brought up Quentin. "You're really close to him aren't you?" I asked.

"Yeah, he lives in Tuscon so we don't get to see each other much. He's got a form of autism and nobody else in our family really knows how to handle it. I'm the only one who he really opens up to." She confessed.

"Oh, is that why he's so shy?" I asked.

"Yeah pretty much. But I think he liked you." She smiled.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

We got to my house and walked inside to find everybody sprawled out in the living room.

"Hey guys. Aunt Marie, Lilly, Jake, Uncle Scott this is my girlfriend Kimmy." I introduced.

She smiled and waved at them.

"Hi everybody." She said shyly.

"Hi Kimmy. I'm Lilly," She started. "Johnny boy wouldn't shut up about you today."

Kimmy laughed and took a seat next to Lilly. She talked to everybody and I could tell that they all fell in love with her. She was so charming and lovable, how could they not?

Eventually they left and it was just my family with Kimmy.

"Hey I have a surprise for everybody." She announced as she went to go get her purse. She came back and handed everybody a wrapped box with a huge grin on her face.

"Kimberly, you didn't have to do this." My mom gasped.

"I wanted to." She shrugged.

We all opened our gifts and everybody got something different.

Seth got the new Call of Duty, Chad got a College Humor book, my dad got a Bob Dylan box set, and my mom got a necklace. I opened mine and it was a little book.

It said To The Worlds Best Boyfriend: Gift Cards

I looked confused and then I flipped through it. It had tons of different little cards in it like one free hug, get out of a fight free, one home made meal.

"This is awesome, Kimmy!" Chad cried.

"Yeah Kimmy this is too much." Seth smiled.

"No, it was nothing. It's the least I could since I'm over here all the time."

"John you better not let this one go!" My dad warned.

"I won't." I said as I pulled her close and gave her a kiss. "Never."