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hey so this is more of the maynard family's chapter. i mean there are still bits and pieces of chris and astrid, but it's more of astrid and her family and chris bonding with papa maynard ;)
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"So, Chris. Which EPL team are you on?" Gary starts off, wiping his mouth with the napkin as he spoke to Chris.

"Well, Liverpool's the best team. Manchester United and Manchester City have a lot of room to improve on so they are still pretty bad." Chris took a sip from his glass when he finished his point.

Gary nods his head as the rest of the table waited for his response, "I like you."

Astrid heaved a sigh of relief, glad that she, or rather, Chris, passed one obstacle.

"What do you do for a living, love?" Helen asks, putting down the utensils in her hand.

"No way, Mama. You seriously don't know?" Anna gasps.

Helen looked back at her youngest child, "If I know, I wouldn't be asking, Anna."

"Mama, he's Chris Evans. Captain America?"

"You're kidding me. Captain America did not have a beard." Helen frowns.

Conor hollered a 'Fake fan alert!"

"Mama, you obviously did not watch Infinity War."

"Oh wow, the women in my yoga class go crazy for you, Chris." Helen laughs.

"Yeah well you still can't recognize him." Astrid whispered under her breath.

Chris' hand slides over and pinched her thigh, making her jump. He looked at her knowingly, trying to get her to break the news to her family.

Astrid glared at him, before clearing her throat. "Mama, Papa, and children. I'm, uh-" She breathed deeply. "I'm moving to LA." Astrid closed her eyes shut, her hands tightly gripping Chris' under the dining table.

Papa hums, "And you've thought about this?"

Astrid opens her eyes, and nods her head at Papa.

Mama forced out a 'why' out of her lips.

She took a sip from her glass, "I'm opening up a gym with Ari, and I'm already quitting rugby, so. I figured it would be nice to move to a new place too. And, it isn't too far from Chris too, y'know."

Papa nods his head, "Okay. It's your life, sweetheart. As long as you're not ruining it, I will always approve,"

Mama abruptly stands up. Her chair dragging on the wood flooring. She walks away, almost stomping towards the common room.

Astrid sighs, biting the inside of her cheek, she looks at Chris guiltily. Chris' hand rubbed her knuckles soothingly.

"Hey, Ast. C'mon, lets talk," Jack called her out, gesturing towards the backyard.

Astrid smiled grimly, before standing up and following behind him.

She closed the door shut behind her, her head resting against the door as Jack takes out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket. He lighted up the stick before placing the lighter into the pack and tossing the pack to Astrid.

She easily catches the pack, before following what Jack did. She took a long drag from the cigarette, her head falling back against the door as she tried to ignore what just happened inside.

She smokes when she gets stressed. And she gets really stressed around her mother.

She huffs out the smoke, "Life really do sucks sometimes, y'know,"

[meanwhile]

Conor and Anna had headed out to talk to Mama, leaving Chris and Papa in the dining room.

"It's always like that. Out of all of them, Jack and Astrid are the closest, and they help one another out all the time. And most of the time, it's over a couple cans of beer or a stick of cigarette," Papa explains.

Chris nodded his head in understanding. He always noticed that Astrid was around Jack more than the rest of her siblings. It wasn't until he caught the last part of what Papa said.

"Wait, Astrid smokes?" He questioned in confusion.

"She does, every now and then. Maybe one or two sticks in a month at most. Mostly when she's stressed," Papa drinks from his glass, before continuing, "But she has a high tolerence for alcohol, I tell you."

Chris laughs, recalling how even Jeremy was aware of her extremely high alcohol tolerence,"I knew that one since the first time we met,"

Papa laughs with him, "So, how did you meet my daughter in the first place?"

Chris cleared his throat, "Well, I'm friends with Jeremy. And he invited me to watch Astrid's rugby match and I knew her from then on," He wasn't sure if he wanted to add the drinking bet they had, but he added with a chuckle, "She's a lot of trouble but we got here somehow,"

"You're truly in love with her, aren't you, son?"
Papa noted.

Chris grinned guiltily, "Is it really that obvious?"

"That glint in your eyes when you talk about Astrid, I've seen it before in my father when he talks about my mum." He smiled softly to himself, "Take care of my daughter, Chris."

"I will. As long as she wants me,"

"Come on, lets head out back and join them. She's gonna need you to convince her to talk to Helen. Both of them are bloody stubborn." Papa stands up, heading out to the backyard, Chris walking right beside him.

Astrid was sitting on a bench as Jack stood in front her when Chris walked out with Papa. Her conversation with Jack immediately cut off. She took a last drag from her cigarette before crushing the butt beneath the heel of her ankle boots. Astrid stands up, walking towards her boyfriend. Her eyes lighting up as she goes over and wrapped her arm around his torso.

He smiles, his head dipping slightly to kiss her forehead. "You okay?"

"Peachy," She shrugs.

"C'mon. Lets talk to your mum." He ruffles her braided hair.

"Can we not? It stresses me out." She groans, reluctant to talk to Mama.

He leans down to whisper into her ear, "Papa already likes me. You just need to convince your Mama, okay?"

Astrid grins at the first part, before realising that she still has to talk to Mama.

"We'll get this over and done with."

She breathed deeply, before dragging Chris behind her back into the house.

Papa looks at Jack. "That was easy."

Jack chuckles, "Papa, they are a couple. Chris obviously whispered something to her just now. She's getting some tonight."

Papa bursts out in laughter, "You're not wrong." He pauses, "He makes her happy,"

Jack hummed, "He does. I'm glad she found someone good for her,"

Papa pats Jack's back, "My first kid is settled. Now when are you, Conor and Anna going to find someone?"

Jack snorts, "I'm waiting for Toff,"

"Good. I'm very sure she likes you," Papa laughs, "Come on, I'm pretty sure the fight is still going on."

Jack cracks up, "It's gonna be an interesting one,"

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