seasonal ♕ nba shorts

the family dinner ❆ lamarcus aldridge

"how am i more nervous than you are?" noelle asked, looking up at lamarcus with her eyebrows furrowed.

the whole drive to her parents' house, the nerves had been eating her up all together while he just kept his eyes on the road and kept his cool.

"because it's your family," he laughed as he pulled up by the curb. he switched off the aircon then the engine, turning his body fully to look at her. "and trust me. i'm nervous."

"you don't look very nervous."

"well, if you're already as sweet as you are, what are the chances of your family being not?"

"a big chance!" she yelped. "promise you won't love me any less after you find out that i'm actually the only decent person in my family."

"i promise, but the only decent person?" he raised an eyebrow as they both unbuckled their seatbelts. "that's a bit of an exaggeration, isn't it?"

her eyes widened and she nodded slightly. "yeah, sure it is." she closed the door of her car and glanced at lamarcus.

her family was basically a bunch of crazy questioning people with no boundaries. even in front of the table filled with food, they had the nerve to talk about what happened in bed.

when they entered the house, noelle tiptoed to kiss her father's cheek then hugged her mother, and just greeted her siblings.

as her mother served the food, her father got to work immediately and started asking questions. it definitely didn't help lamarcus make an impression on her father knowing well that he already had two boys of his own.

even her mother got in on the fun although with more boundaries. how is it playing for the spurs? how did it feel moving from portland back home?

noelle grinned slightly at the way her mother was more gentle with the questions, knowing how she already liked lamarcus. he's the first boy she brought home since she was sixteen, so the joy in her mother's eyes was notable.

"how many children do you plan on having?" noelle's eyes widen at her father's sudden question and she started to cough, sure enough to be choking on her food. "if he already two from his expartner, doesn't he plan on having some with you?"

jade, her sister, patted her back lightly and handed her her cup of water. taking a sip of her water, she glanced at her longterm boyfriend, embarrassed, then turned back to her father.

"pa, we're not married!" noelle almost screamed, but sank back into her seat when lamarcus squeezed her hand slightly. "we don't plan on having any children anytime soon!"

lamarcus cleared his throat and finally gained some attention for himself. "we plan on waiting until after we get married."

"that's good," her father glared at lamarcus that only had her dropping her head in embarrassment. "i mean, they weren't even married."

noelle groaned and held her head. he wasn't helping with the situation. her older brother glanced at her and wiggled his eyebrows slyly at her then turned to lamarcus.

"have you done it, though?" joshua asked, making noelle's eyes widened and she made a sound, somewhere between a sigh and a whimper. "what, i'm being realistic here!"

"no, you're not being realistic!" noelle finally screamed. she got up off her seat, harshly pushing the chair back. "you guys are chasing him away just like how you do to all of my boyfriends that i bring home!"

"but he's the only one you've brought home since you were sixteen," jade trailed off, looking up at her cautiously.

"and you wonder why he's the only one?" noelle whimpered, rolling her eyes. "i'm twenty-nine! i'm old enough to have a boyfriend who you guys aren't going to chase away! respect me!"

"he has children from his first, noelle!" her father brought it up again and she could've sworn that she saw lamarcus cringe next to her. "what makes you think he isn't going to have some with you then just leave too?"

"pa!" she screeched, her voice breaking. "it's a christmas dinner and you requested that i bring him along! i thought you'd be nicer than this!"

"not when he has children that isn't from you," joshua muttered. he glanced at noelle and shrugged again. "you're the youngest, noelle. of course, he's gonna be overprotective of you."

lamarcus rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand, causing her to at least calm down a little. "with all due respect, i love noelle."

"i'm sure you loved your ex-girlfriend too," joshua smiled sheepishly. "how many pairs of parents have you said that too?"

"only two, including you," he shrugged. "i wasn't ready to settle down back then, and my two boys were unexpected. but i wouldn't have changed it for the world. if anything, i am ready to settle down now and if it's going to be with anybody, it's noelle."

"don't explain yourself," noelle sneered, pulling lamarcus up to his feet. "this was a nice dinner. i'll see you whenever."

she walked past lamarcus and dragged him behind her out the door. "they're always like this, i swear," she grumbled as she closed the front door behind her.

turning to lamarcus, she frowned. immediately, a string of apologies escaped past her lips. "i'm sorry about them. i really am. i know jaylen and junior are your life. and i love them, too, you know that! i just- i- i didn't expect them to be this–"

he chuckled and grabbed her face, pressing a soft kiss to her nose. "hey, it's okay."

she shook her head and frowned even more. "no, it isn't. they basically just disrespected you and the kids. i'm not okay with that!"

he pinched her cheeks and laughed, shaking her head manually before pressing his lips over hers. "i understand why they were acting like that, sweetie. it's not everyday your youngest dates a guy who has two children."

"you're way too calm over this," noelle chuckled. she wrapped her arms around him and pinched his side. "you're not human."

↳ tragicstories ↲

okAy. this sucked for a reason. as i've said, i'm extremely sick and i went to a wedding last night and i'm pretty sure there was something in the food that made me allergic to something.

soooooooo if this sucked, i'M SORRY.

AND TWO MORE DAYS TO CHRISTMAS. I'M YODELLIN