Divine Intervention: Thanksgiving

Chapter 5: Meeting the Family

We spent the afternoon telling stories and coming up with a game plan for how dinner should go. Michelle headed home to get ready for dinner and Avi and I headed upstairs to shower and do the same. I told him that it was a pretty casual place and we dressed accordingly. Michelle came back and we headed to the restaurant.

We went in and the hostess took us to our table. We were the first ones there. I got really nervous while we waited for my parents and my brother to show up. My brother, Michael, showed up first. He hugged Michelle and then realized who was sitting next to me. His mouth dropped open and it took him a moment to find words.

"You're Avi Kaplan. I thought I was meeting a girl friend of my sister's." 

Avi reached out and shook his hand. "I am and it's a long story." He smiled and motioned for Michael to sit.

“I can’t wait to hear this one.” Michael laughed. “Is this one of those instances where I need to give the ‘if you hurt her I will break your face’ speech?”

Avi blushed, Michelle laughed, and I about spit out my water. My brother’s gaze just kept shifting across our faces. Just then I spied my parents walking towards us. I thought I was ready for this, but the nerves in the pit of my stomach determined that I was not. We all stood up as they approached the table. Hugs were given all around until my parents realized who was positioned between Michelle and I.  

Mom froze and dad held out his hand to shake Avi’s. “I don’t believe we’ve met, son. My name is David. Please call me Dave.”

Avi took his hand and shook it. “I’m Avi. Avi Kaplan, sir. I’m a friend of your daughter’s.”

For once in my life, I could not read my father. I know that he knew who Avi was, but he probably couldn’t place why he was here with me.

My dad turned to me as he took his seat, “I thought you had a girlfriend coming out for the holiday?” His question was very direct.

“To be honest dad, I thought I did too. Let me tell you a story.” I told them all about California, leaving out the parts they didn’t need to know. Avi jumped in here or there to fill in necessary details, following my lead and leaving out the parts that were just for us. Michelle jumped in to relay her part in all of it. By the time the whole story was told, dinner had been ordered and everyone was smiling and laughing.  My parents were still giving each other skeptical looks, but were keeping their thoughts to themselves.  Conversation drifted towards the easy and light as our food arrived. I busied my mouth with food to avoid saying something stupid.

As dinner drew to a close, we discussed Thanksgiving.  Avi agreed to help cook and the menu, location, and guest list were settled. This year it would just be the six of us at the table and the menu would be relatively simple. Michelle agreed to host because she had the most space. We ordered and ate dessert. Avi insisted on taking care of the bill after a joking disagreement with my father. We all gave out hugs and headed off in our separate directions.  Avi, Michelle, and I had all come together. We stood in the driveway and made tentative plans for the following day. We said goodnight to Michelle and headed into the house. I was very curious to get his thoughts on the whole evening.

I headed into the kitchen to make tea. I asked if he was interested in any. He wanted whatever I was having. He settled in on the couch and pulled out a blanket. I smiled when I saw him and got comfortable with him on the couch. I handed him his tea and sighed. “Hopefully that wasn’t too rough for you.”

He slipped an arm around me. “Not at all. I kind of love them all.”  He sipped his tea.  “They love you and care about you, that’s easy to see.”  He kissed my forehead and sighed. “I had no worries at all.”

I smiled at him and giggled. “I was very nervous. I am still not looking forward to telling them about L.A.”

He pulled me close to him.  “We’ll cross that bridge when we get there. We don’t need to discuss anything that hasn’t been decided yet.”

“But--”

He cut me off by placing a finger to my lips. “I am not asking for an answer right now.  I meant what I said about getting through the holidays before we decide anything.”  He ended the conversation with a soft kiss to my lips. He set his mug down on the coffee table and took mine out of my hands and placed it next to his. The soft kiss soon devolved into a hard biting thing and he was soon guiding my back to the couch. I let him take control easily. I soon forgot everything except the man whose body was above mine and slowly removing my clothes.