Friends with the Football Team

4~ Dinner with the Erickson's

"Hi, you must be the Barnes's. I'm Karla welcome to our home. Will your wife not be joining us?" She asked my dad.

"Oh um my wife and I are divorced, it's just me and the kids" He answered politely.

Karla covered her mouth with her hand. "I'm sorry I had no idea"

Dad gave her a reassuring smile. "It's no big deal really"

"Please come in" She stepped to the side and the boys piled into the house. They introduced themselves as the walked in. I was the last one to enter.

"You must be Cora" she smiled at me.

"Yes ma'am" I answered.

"I've heard so much about you from Will and none of that ma'am stuff call me Karla."

I nodded in answer. "How far along are you?" I asked.

"Six months, he's due in August." She smiled adoringly at her stomach.

"Congratulations" I smiled and followed the same path the boys walked.

"Thank you" She smiled and closed the door behind me.

Their house had a homey feel to it. You could tell that this house was full of love the second you walked through the door.

"Kenzie, Come down and greet the guests" Karla called up the stairs.

A girl, who looked to be around thirteen, came down the stairs wearing a red crop top with 36 written across it, light wash denim shorts and a black and white flannel wrapped around her waist. She wore white hightop converse and gold jewelry with it. Her hair was black like her mother's and thrown into a low messy bun with a backwards hat.

"I'm Kenzie" She said as she walked up to me with a smile.

"I'm Cora, it's nice to meet you. How old are you?" I asked.

"I'm thirteen, I'll be in seventh grade in the fall. Are you a senior, like Will?"

I shook my head. "No, I'm a junior"

We walked into the living room, where all the boys are.

"Hey guys, I'm Kenzie"

"Cooper" he smiled with a wave.

"Connor" he smiled.

"Carter" he half waved, but didn't bother looking up from his phone.

The boys took their turns sharing their names.

Will walked down and all the boys stood up and did their weird bro-hug things. "Hey Cora, It's nice to see you again" He smiled at me. I love his smile, somehow it always seems to brighten my day.

"You too" I smiled at him.

"Dinner's ready!" A middle-aged man came in holding a plate of what looked like chicken, but I couldn't tell as he took the plate into the kitchen.

"Kids, table" Karla pointed to the dining room.

Kenzie and Will obediently walked into the dining room to set the table. Karla stood up from her place on the couch with the help of Connor.

"Thank you Connor" she patted his arm. We followed Karla into their dining room.

We all took our spots. I sat in between Connor and Will. On the left of Will, was Carter. Dad sat at the head of the table on Connor's side and Mr. Erickson on the other. Cooper sat to Dad's right and across from Connor. Karla was sitting to her husband's left and Kenzie sat next to her.

"Thank you guys for coming. I hope you like it here in Greenhill." Will's dad, whose name I have yet to learn, said.

"Thank you, Michael, for having us. We really appreciate y'all welcoming us to the town." Dad answered.