Angels of Long Island | Mathew Barzal

~39~

We take the short drive from Garden City to Roslyn Estates Village to my parents house. We planned to meet them there for brunch and spend the rest of the morning together and then have a big family dinner, Mat's parents included. He still has no idea his family is here to surprise him and his reaction will be the greatest gift I'll get from him today.

We arrive at my parents and Mat pulls his Audi in behind my dad's car. He comes around and opens the door for me and takes my hand. He's been silent for a majority of the car ride here. "You ok babe?" I ask as we start walking towards the house. "Oh yeah, I'm fine. Just a little nervous." He says, holding his arm our for me, which I take. "Babe look, there's no need to be nervous, they'll love you." I say, standing on my tiptoes to kiss his cheek. Snow has started to lightly fall on his floppy dark hair. We get to the front door and I ring the doorbell. My mom is the one who opens the door and welcomes us in with open arms.

"Oh honey we've missed you so much!" She says as she dries her hands off on a hand towel and wrapping me in a hug. "I missed you too momma." I say. "And you must be Mathew." She says almost lovingly and she hugs him too. "It's nice to meet you Mrs. Callahan." He says, hugging back. "Oh honey, call me Nancy." Mat smiles and then my dad comes up behind my mom and hugs me. "Merry Christmas honey." He then turns in Mat's direction and sticks his hand out. Mat reaches for it and shakes it firmly. "Nice to officially meet you Mat." My dad says, a little intimidatingly. "It's nice to meet you Mr. Callahan." Mat says with a big smile plastered on his face. His confidence in meeting my parents probably made him feel more comfortable. "Please, call me Rich." We break from the little congregation in the foyer and make our way into the living room. The giant room where my family has had Christmas every year. Just then, I hear footsteps coming down the stairs and Colton appears in the doorway with his girlfriend, Bella. "What's up dork?" He says hugging me tightly. A little too tight. "Colton, I want you to meet Mathew." I say, turning away from Colt and facing Mat. Mat steps forward and shakes my brother's hand. "Nice to meet you man." My brother says. "Nice to meet ya." Mat says. "Girl, you didn't tell me your boyfriend was HOT and also one of the league's superstars. Also, is that a hickey on his neck?" Bella whispers in my ear. I giggle and hug her. "Oops, I missed you girl."

We all sit down on the couches in the living room with the fireplace going. Mat and I are on one couch with Colton and Bella and my parents are on another. My mom asked me about how we met and started dating. "You tell them." I say, looking up at Mat from my spot curled up into him. "Well it was after one of the games, and I went to Starbucks with a couple of the guys and I guess Lexi had been there and I bought her drink for her and asked for her number. I called her and I asked if I could take her out so I took her to uh Canaan Lake and we had dinner." Mat explained. "Then we went to Robin Lehner's for a party." I finish. "Mat that's so sweet." My mom gushes. We sat there for a little bit talking about me and Mat and all of a sudden, the doorbell rings. My heart and stomach started fighting knowing it was Mat's parents. Mat kept on talking to Colton about hockey as I get up to answer the door.

I open it and am greeted by Mat's dad, mom and sister Liana. Quietly, they step in and I give them all hugs. "It's so nice to meet you honey!" Mat's mom, Nadia says. "It's so nice to meet you too." I say, hugging her. Next, Liana steps in and I give her a hug too. "It's nice to meet you Lexi." She says. Mat's dad hugs me too and says "Merry Christmas dear." "Merry Christmas Mr. Barzal" I say. "Oh please, call me Mike dear. And this is Nadia." He says, motioning to his wife. "Come in come in, come see Mat." I say, getting really excited. I lead the way into the living room where Mat and Colton are still talking. "Mat, somebody was at the door for you." I speak up. The living room gets quiet and Mat's head turns and his eyes get wide when he sees his family behind me. "Dad!" He says. The look on his face was pure surprise as he stands and rushes over to hug his dad, then him mom. "Liana!" He exclaims when he sees his little sister. He gives them all tight hugs and then he turns to me. "Did you do this?" He asks. I blush and nod, looking down at my shoes. "Oh my god thank you so much babe!" He says, hugging me tightly as his parents greet my own. "I can't believe you guys are here!" He exclaims, giving his mom another hug. "This was all Lexi's doing. She flew us out to surprise you." His mom says. "How long are you guys here?" Mat asks. "Just until the day after tomorrow." His dad says. "So you'll be here for the game then?" He asks. "Yeah, we were planning on coming." His mom says. The smile hasn't left Mat's face since he first saw them and he says "I still can't believe you guys are here." He says. "Thank you so much baby." He whispers in my ear. "Well brunch should be just about ready." My mom says. We all stand and head into the gorgeous dining room of my childhood house. On the table is a gorgeous spread of fruits and pancakes and eggs and bacon and toast. All the works. "It looks amazing mom." I say, hugging her. "Well, let's eat then." My dad says, sitting down first. We all sit down. I sit between Mat and Liana and Mat's mom is on the other side of her and my mom is on the other side of Mat.

I fill my plate up with chocolate chip pancakesand strawberries and eggs and cheese. We all talk and laugh for most ofbreakfast before eventually we're just sitting and talking and everyone hasstopped eating. I help my mom clean up and Mat tried to help as well but my momshooed him away.