Start Again

Part 35

Way back, when Stevie was actively dating, she didn't get to meet her boyfriend's family that often. She believed, she had been in love multiple times, but things were a lot different then. One day she was madly in love with one person, a week later she was seen with someone else. None of those relationships led to marriage proposals either, so maybe that was why. However, as she sat in the passenger's seat next to Eliot, she was nervous. She cared about him a lot, of course she wanted his family to like her. What if they didn't? What then? 

"Relax." Eliot reached for her hand and brought it up to his lips. "Everything's going to be fine. You have nothing to worry about."

Stevie glanced at him and smiled weakly. "You don't know that."

"There's no chance they're not gonna fall in love with you." Eliot assured. "If you're uncomfortable, if you feel out of place, remember that you have me."

Eliot's encouraging words didn't really help much. Stevie let out a shaky breath and turned to look out the window again, her heart was pounding out of her chest. 

Shortly, Eliot announced that they had arrived, which meant that Stevie had no time left to prepare herself. He said, they would get their things later, he wanted to introduce her to everyone first. Eliot slid his arm around her back, she took Luke's hand in hers as they walked to the front door of Eliot's brother's house. 

"Welcome!" A slightly younger version of Eliot opened the door.

Stevie was slightly taken aback by how similar the two brothers looked. They stepped over the threshold and Stevie was clutching Luke's hand tightly. The boy tugged at his mother's hand and she looked down, giving him an apologetic look. 

"Lawrence, this is Stevie." Eliot smiled. "And Luke. Stevie, Luke, this is my baby brother, Lawrence."

"Will you ever stop calling me that?" Lawrence laughed. "I'm literally two years younger than you." He then directed his attention to his guest. "It's nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, too." Stevie nodded once, forcing a smile. "Say, hi, baby." She tapped Luke on the shoulder.

"Hi." And that was all Luke said. 

"Well, come on in then." Lawrence showed them to follow him through the house. "There's a whole bunch of people, who can't wait to say, hello."

Lawrence wasn't lying. The backyard was full and everyone's eyes immediately landed on Stevie. She guessed that every single person was likely going to want to talk to her, but Eliot firstly walked her over to his mother, who sat at the head of a long table, already set for dinner. Eliot hugged his mother and kissed her on the cheek, he then stepped back, his arm around Stevie again.

"This is Stevie and her son, Luke." He said and the elder woman smiled at the two. "This is my mother, Diane." 

"It's not every day my boy brings a whole family home with him." Diane was still smiling, but Stevie was unsure if she'd just made a joke or not.

"Oh, well..." Stevie laughed nervously. "I hope it's okay."

"Why don't you take a seat right next to me, dear." Diane showed to her left. "And, Eliot, I'm sure you have a lot to catch up on with Lawrence." Stevie gulped, her eyes on Eliot, silently begging him to not leave her alone. "We're gonna have a chat." Diane added, giving her son a pointed look.

~

AN: so, this is just the boring introduction part, but I'll be back later ;) spoiler alert, things aren't going to go as planned.