Prove It

Chapter XLI

"We're here!" Mr. Sloane announces to us and I breathe a sigh of relief. God I am so ready to get out of this car. Mrs. Sloane was right about being cramped in that seat, my legs are tired and my mind is groggy from sitting so long in one place at a time.

"Are you ready?" Marcus asks from beside me.

I nod timidly in response. I guess it didn't matter if I am ready or not, because we're already here and there's no going back home now.

Marcus helps me out of the car like the gentleman he is, and leads me into his grandmother's house. I look around and study the outside of her home. It's quite idyllic, a lovely little ranch home in the cul de sac with a painted white porch attached to a light yellow house. A flower garden lays directly in front of the house, obviously not in bloom, and another patch of dirt is present on the far right of a large red maple tree without the leaves.

I follow the family in to the house, letting the screen door rattle close behind me. I shake off my jacket as the warmth of the house enveloped me. The pellet stove that I see in the corner of the kitchen is doing wonders to this house.

Aside from the warm interior I'm instantly overwhelmed with the number of people crowding the small space. Dozens of people are all over the kitchen, the couches and there are children running around all over the room and crawling on the floor. This house is chaotic at it's purest and I don't know whether to freeze or embrance it.

I quickly put the tuperware on the counter to prevent questions, sliding it next to the other plates of brownies and cookies.

As the family goes to greet everyone, Marcus takes my hand in reassurance and leads me to meet his relatives.

I relearn name after name, all of his family greeting me in a smiliar fashion. The women are all very touchy while the men usually just nodded a friendly hello or a handshake, but all welcoming in their own way. They all comment to me how they've been waiting to meet me since his mom has brought up that Marcus has a girlfriend.

I try and be as polite as I can while also trying to seem relaxed and in control of myself. There's no reason to be nervous I keep telling myself, but when he finally brings me up to his grandma.

I'm not sure why grandmothers always have this matriarchal stance about them, but even when they look sweet and endearing, I will never not be intimidated by another grandmother.

"Marcus!" the woman holds out her arms for a hug, and Marcus leans over to give her a squeeze.

"And are you Miss Amanda?" she asks me.

I nod and smile at her. "Yes I am, happy birthday." I hope she likes me, almost as much as I wanted Marcus's parents to like me.

"Well aren't you a sweetheart!" she declares and pulls me in for a warm hug.

I hug her back, but I definitely feel awkward hugging a stranger. Even with the warmth I can feel radiating from her, I feel a little stiff in her presence.

I think Marcus might have seen my discomfort because he pulls his grandmother's attention to something else in the room.

I sigh and try to cool my body from embarrassment. I'm most likely imagining it, but I feel like I'm under a microscope in this house. Like everyone's watching my every move like the outsider I am in this family. It makes me feel small, and I avoid eye contact with everyone in the room.

"I hope you like stew and potatoes because that's all we have today," his grandmother says to me. "It's my favorite, and Amelia made sure that we had large portions."

"That sounds great," I reply with a smile.

Marcus leads me to the smaller dining room with a huge wooden table, the piece of furniture almost taking up the entire room.

But even in the other cramped room, it still maintains the cozy appeal with all the people crowding the chairs.

"Amanda you can sit on the bench next to Marcus." I follow Marcus around the table to the long bench, the subsitute for chairs, and sit next to him and one of his older cousins. I think he's... Blaine?

"You good?" Marcus chuckles a bit in my ear.

"Yeah, it's just so many people," I whisper back to him. I hope the amount of noise at the table keeps everyone from hearing in on the conversation.

"Just relax, they all really like you," he reassures me, but I'm not so sure. How could they like me so much after one hello?

I don't argue with him, but I still feel uneasy around so many new people at once. I don't know how Marcus dealth with meeting my family so well. I'm just sitting here like a statue, listening in on conversations rather than joining in. But then again, who am I to butt in?

"Amanda where do you plan on going to school?" one of the women at the table ask. I turn towards the voice, not exactly sure who asked the question.

"I'm actually committed to Florida State," I answer. Even though I love the fact that I'm going there, the school itself doesn't have the best reputation on it's own- the main reason my parents didn't really want me to go there.

"Oh my, that's so far away," she comments, and I definitely don't miss the look she makes between Marcus and I.

"Yeah, it's actually one of the things I wanted. I mean I don't have a problem with Connecticut, but I've lived here my whole life. I want something different," I explain.

"That's how I was when I was younger," her husband says to her, oblivious to the look, or what the look hinted at.

"So are your parents sad you're going away, or have they already come to terms with the distance?" the next woman across the table questions.

"I mean, my mom was worried obviously, but I think they both are fine with it now."

Now I really don't know how Marcus dealt with all the questions from my family because I feel like I'm constantly explaining myself to them. Even as Marcus rubs my leg soothingly under the table I'm still rigid by their comments. Although they probably mean nothing by it, I'm still on edge.

********************

We say our goodbyes late that night and we all pile back into the car. I'm exhausted, mentally drained from the constant conversation between me and some person I didn't even know.

The ride home is quiet, mostly due to everyone being just as tired as I am.

I'm really not sure how I think meeting his whole family went. Don't get me wrong they were all very nice, but I don't think I was able to fully immerse in their family like Marcus was so easily able to do in mine.

I don't know what was wrong with me. They probably think I'm a cold, bitter girl, the last thing I would have wanted them to think.

When we are finally back to the Sloane's house, I thank his parents for having me, and Marcus walks me to my car.

"I'm really sorry about tonight," I say when we arrive at the end of the driveway.

"Why?" he asks, rubbing my arms.

"I didn't know how to interact with everyone, and, I know I didn't really spend as much time with everyone as I should have, and I'm sorry." I look down at the ground, my eyes starting to sting. I try and take quiet, but deep breaths to control myself.

"You don't have to apologize. There was a lot of people, I know that. Your entire family has ten people. There was nearly three times that number in the house tonight. I'm not upset Amanda, I could never. Don't cry," he pleads when his kind words let the tears loose.

"I love you," I say through my tears and he hugs me tighter into his chest, stroking my hair.

"I've loved you for so long, my whole family likes you, you're perfect," he whispers, making a whole new wave of tears flow out.