They Say It's Your Birthday
Nikki's POV
So February came and the 5th was Duff's Birthday. His family had all pitched in and got him a round trip ticket to Seattle. He was pretty close to his family. That's sorta a foreign concept for me. I'm more the lone wolf type. My own family never gave a shit about me, so why should I give a flying fuck about them? But, since I'm stuck in Duff's body I have to play along. My role is the youngest of eight. Jesus Christ his mom probably sneezed and shot Duff halfway across a room. Eight fucking kids? Why the hell would anybody have that many kids?
Duff prepped me for a week straight. I had to look at a thousand pictures. Then he gave me a pop quiz. I had to be able to put faces with names. That's not so easy to do with a family of nine, not including Duff. But I finally got them down. I've been in Duff's body about three weeks now so I'm getting better at imitating him. I wasn't too worried about meeting his family really. They hadn't seen much of him in a year, a lot can change about a person in a year. So any mistakes I make will most likely be overlooked. They'll just think it's Duff and his LA living. And if they still think somethings off...well... I'll just have to fucking kill them.
So I touch down in Seattle and naturally it's fucking raining. I too had lived in Seattle at one point. I'd forgotten how dreary the fucking weather was most of the time. But it was the wettest place in the continental US afterall. It's really no wonder that Seattle has the highest suicide rate of any other city in the country. I soon spot Duff's mom and brother Matt.
"Welcome home sweety," his mom flies into my arms. I wrap Duff's arms around her and hug back. It feels strange to be hugged. I'm not used to happy greetings with hugs and kisses. "Happy birthday son."
Then Duff's brother Matt hauls me into his arms and hugs the fucking air out of me. "Happy birthday Duff! Welcome home baby brother!"
So after a whole lot of invading my personal space we start to make it to the car. I'm given a rundown of events that Duff's missed in the last year. I hear about the family dog being put down because it was retaining fluid around its heart. I hear about cousin Jessica getting knocked up in a one night stand. I hear about nephew Scott winning a trophy for track. I hear about a brother and a sister getting married. I get told about moms best friend dying of cancer. But I play my Duff personality to Oscar levels if I do say so myself.
At his mom's house all the brothers gather with me on the back patio swilling beer and asking me questions about LA. I start telling them about the girls in California and I swear to god they start to drool. They are not familiar with the world of silicone and collagen. And tanned bodies...well not in Seattle. They poke a little fun at me but it's all friendly. I am actually having a good time talking with them. And so far, no one thinks I'm acting strange.
Then dinner stars and we sit down at a super long dining table which is actually two identical tables butted up to one another. So sixteen of us sit at the table ranging in age from fifteen to sixty. The kids all eat at a kiddie table set up in the living room. I've never seen this many relatives together in one place before. It's like some shit you'd see on TV. Who knew these big family gatherings really happened?
Then it comes time to serve the food. People start grabbing bowls and dishes from the center of the table and get their serving, then they pass it to the right until it makes it full circle. I'm fucking starving! Since I've been living at hell house I don't eat much. I'm about to dig in when Duff's mom says something about the blessing. I've never prayed over food in my fucking life. But naturally I'm the one who gets nominated to do the blessing since I've been away so long. Shit. What the hell do people say as a blessing? Think about movies and TV Nikki, what do they say?
Everyone starts taking each other's hands until we're just a circle of conjoined hands. I clear Duff's throat and bow his head. "Oh god, thanks for this awesome meal. Bless my family. Bless all those that couldn't be here with us today. And please send a record deal my way. Thank-you,. This is Duff by the way. Amen."
They hesitate with the amens and look at me strangely. "Duff must be out of practice," one of his brothers laugh.
"As skinny as he is I'd say he doesn't get the chance to pray over meals very often," another adds.
I smile, "You try being a struggling musician." And then I take a bite of food. It's amazing. If it isn't then I'm fucking half starved. "This shit is awesome," I say aloud and get another bite.
"Watch your language," Duff's mom says, "Don't think that just because it's your birthday that I won't wash your mouth out with soap."
I just smile and continue eating. Conversations strike up on all sides of me and I listen attentively as they talk about normal mundane things from the lives of ordinary people who work for a living. So this is what it's like to have a family. Like a real fucking family. There's four generations of McKagan's here at the table. There's no way I'd ever do something like this with my own family. I don't even have this many immediate family members. Duff's a lucky guy.
