Who Am I (A Jai Courtney Fanfic) Book 2

Chapter 56-Jai

Jai

Easter Sunday arrives and I rise early to see that Megan must've already showered. I get ready for the day and come downstairs realizing how it already smells like tucker. I'm not sure if it's brekky or the meal for this arvo but it smells incredible.
I see Megan and Hannah both dressed nicely with aprons on. The bench is covered in heated crockery and warming food already. The oven is loaded with crockery, too, probably as much as there's room for.
Meg approaches me and smiles, kissing me gently. "I'll make you a plate. I think you'll like it," she says.
She hands me a plate of some sort of baked eggs, sliced snags—I think, and I'm not sure what the other is.
"That's egg casserole, kielbasa—which is polish sausage, and French toast casserole," she explains. "It's so much easier to make it quickly in the oven while we prepped everything else."
I smile and thank her. I sit in their dining room and see that impressive croquembouche as the centerpiece. I can't believe she made that. I've only seen a few of those at parties.
Mikey joins me but he's got some bed head going on—not showered yet.
"Yeah, I smelled this and knew I needed to eat first," he laughs lightly.
"Is Easter always such an event?" I inquire as we eat together.
"My mom and Megan have always thought so. Christmas is usually bigger for us but everything is spread out over more than one day. This is kind of unique for us to have everyone come. Usually it's us and Artie's fam. They generally do Thanksgiving with her folks and we split up Christmas Eve and Day with her parents," he explains.
I nod, "That must get tough with extended families and the distance."
"Yeah," he agrees with a distant look in his eyes. He actually looks pretty sad.
"You alright, mate?" I ask worriedly.
"I'll be alright," he nods. He purses his lips and tries to smile.
"You sure?" I ask concerned.
He sighs. "Not everything in life is perfect. It can feel like it sometimes... but, I'm grateful. Today is a gift. And I'm going to live like it is."
I nod and don't press him any further. It's clear to me that something is wrong and everyone wants to act like it's not. Megan comes in smiling.
"How's breakfast?" she asks glowing.
"It's wonderful, love," I tell her.
"Thank you. Mom let me make it all this year," she tells us.
"It's good," Mikey nods. "I never would've known it wasn't Mom's."
She hugs her brother and thanks him for the compliment. I get a hug and kiss, too.
As soon as Meg is out of sight he drops the smile.
"Something is wrong... isn't it?" I ask him seriously.
"You can't tell her. She can't know. Not yet," he says and I realize they're keeping Megan out of the loop.
"I don't know if I can keep secrets from her," I admit.
"You'll know soon enough," he tells me softly. "Let's just be grateful for good days. Today is a good day," he says.
I nod and agree.
We attend Easter service and it is incredible, more people than usual attend and it's outside under a tent. Megan and I help with the coffee and then we sit together during worship. I hear her singing beside me and I can't help but admire how beautiful her voice is. The sermon is wonderful. Pastor Gill speaks on putting faith in God and trusting in him for everything. He shares testimonies from the congregation. They're all vague, but inline with what Megan said before about her healing she received. I'm so overwhelmed by how amazing it is to hear what God has done just with this particular group of believers.
The service ends quicker than I expected and I help Megan clean up the church kitchen before we return home. She assists her mum and I help Mikey to bring up tables and chairs from a downstairs storage room I hadn't realized they had. We set them up outside on the veranda and in the grass of the garden. I'm grateful it's a nice day and warm—not snowing because I did see it is supposed to tomorrow.
Mikey also pulls out some bins of toys they keep stashed downstairs. "This'll keep the little ones entertained until the meal is ready," he comments.
"I hope so," I agree.
The guests begin to arrive, starting with Artie and his family. Tabby runs right up to me first surprisingly. I pick her up and hug her. Jojo pulls on my daks and I grab her, too.
"I see you both got matching rabbits," I say.
"Yeah, the Easter Bunny is nice and gives matching gifts so they don't fight," Artie points out. 
"That's good to know," I laugh.
I notice Artie walks his grandad back to Nick's room.  I say hi to him and he smiles and greets me but I think he's focused on sitting down.  He's probably tired and overexerted himself. 
The girls tell me what they named their toys and they run off to play in the basement. Yvette sits down with a sigh on the lounge.
"You feeling alright?" I ask.
"I'm due any day now," she mentions.
"Oh, I hadn't realized," I reply.
"Any time within the next month," Art clarifies as he comes back. "The others were early, though, so she's hoping."
I nod in understanding.
Her sister, Yvonne, arrives with her army of ankle biters. I see them all in passing and they're cute. They run downstairs to play as well. I'm introduced to Yvonne and her husband, Ellis. I meet their parents—Clyde and Yasmine. I smile and shake their hands. They're kind of surprised it's really me.
"We thought Yvette was joking," Clyde tells me. "She was always telling tall tales as a child."
"Nope," Yvette replies.
I laugh and talk with them a little.
Then, Nick's siblings arrive.  I meet his brother, Daniel, and his wife, Lilith.  Their kids couldn't make it. 
"Maybe I can get them to come down for the Christmas party," Lilith says. 
Nick smiles at that. "That would be nice," is all he says. 
Megan comes in and hugs her aunt and uncle.  "They're from central Michigan," she tells me.  I nod in understanding at how they're not too far away. 
I meet Nick's younger sister, Savannah, and her boyfriend, Jimmy.  I'm surprised she's wearing such a revealing outfit, especially for her age, but she seems comfortable. 
Then, Hannah's family arrives and she stops what she's doing in the kitchen to greet them.  I see her hug the lady who must be her mum.  They all look so alike.  I realize Megan will be a beautiful older lady.  It seems like there's long life on both sides.  Megan introduces me to her bubbie—granny.  Her name is Eliana Cohen.
"This is your man now?" she asks Megan in shock. 
"Yes, Bubbie," Meg nods. 
"I like him better than the last one.  He's more handsome and taller," she says and I laugh lightly at that. 
"It's nice to meet you, ma'am," I say reaching out to shake her hand.
She hugs me anyway.  "He's strong, this one.  He'll make a good father.  Is he Jewish?" she continues talking to Meg like I'm not here. 
"No, Bubbie," Megan shakes her head. 
"Eh, nobody's perfect.  He's close enough," she shrugs dismissively moving on. 
"Well, that's encouraging.  She saw Spencer and her first response was I don't like this one.  He's too short for you," Megan whispers. 
I chuckle at that, how honest and open she is with her thoughts.  I meet Hannah's sister, Sara, and her husband, David Goldman.  They're friendly.  They have one child, Asher—a boy close in age to Mikey.  He's probably in college now.  I shake his hand and he's rather quiet. 
We sit down for the meal. I sit in with Hannah and her family. I eat the lamb and the kosher spread because it's all new to me except for the lamb but the seasoning is different.
"What's with the croquembouche?" Eliana asks.
"I made it with goat's milk from Arthur's goats," Hannah explains.
"Ah, trying to stay kosher—sort of. I like that," she nods. "No milk and meat together from the same animal."
"No cooking an animal in its mother's milk," Megan whispers in my ear. "It's in the Old Testament."
I nod in understanding.
"They don't put butter or milk on the table when they eat beef. Does that make sense?" she asks me softly.
"It does," I agree.
"What are you two talking about?" Megan's Aunt Sara asks us.
"I'm explaining kosher rules," she answers simply.
"I like him better than the last one. He was kind of a snob," Sara says.
"He wasn't the kindest man," Megan admits. "But Jai is."
I smile at her and hold her hand.
"I like this one. Very respectful," her granny says.
"Thank you," I reply.
I listen to them talk and they say a lot of words I don't understand—not English, I don't think.
At one point, Megan's granny pinches both of her cheeks and calls her a name.
"What does that mean?" I ask.
"Bubala? It means darling or sweetie," she laughs.
Hannah and her mum share a quiet conversation. At one point her mum slaps the table in surprise.
"You alright, ma?" Sara asks concerned.
Eliana coughs a little. "It's alright. I'm just a little verklempt," she says fanning herself. She looks at me and I know Hannah is telling secrets. So did Nick right afterwards. I guess I better get on it—two more days.
Megan and I excuse ourselves from the table when we're finished. I see her take a slice of ham and put it in a small croissant making a little sanger. I try the ham, too, and it's incredible.
"Your mum made this?" I question.
Megan shakes her head.
"There's a local company that makes the ham. She just ordered several and warmed it up," she explains.
"It's local?" I question.
"You know Harry & David? It's a company you can order food from. They sell it but the ham company is local. There's several shops around town and now in Michigan," she says.
"I might have to order one of these sometime," I say taking another bite.
"We'll have dinner probably after everyone leaves tonight. But my mom will most likely send a meal home with everyone," she tells me.
"I have to try your potatoes," I tell her.
"They are good. But they're my mom's recipe," she says.
I smile and put some on my plate and then a little of some vegetables so I don't feel guilty and more of that ham. I grab one of Hannah's homemade croissants and realize I got more than the last time. I figure it's a party so I shrug it off. I go outside and sit with Mikey and Artie. Rellies from all sides are out here. I hear them talking about Jada and how she's coming to the baseball game.
"Did you ask her out yet?" Artie questions.
Mikey shrugs, "I don't know if she's interested."
"The last boy she dated, she said he was a dog," Meg chimes in behind me. "You must be hungry," she whispers kissing my cheek.
"Not really. It all looked good," I tell her.
"A dog?" Mikey questions raising his eyebrow.
"That means he cheated on her. It has nothing to do with his physical appearance. She wasn't saying he was unattractive. What she was saying was he was going door to door for what she wasn't giving him," Megan explains.
"How do you know this?" Artie asks baffled.
"Yeah, I'm wondering the same thing," I add.
"You know I helped out with the youth group for years there. I know the lingo," she points out to her brother. "You don't think I picked up anything there? I made up most of the dances the youth group still does."
"I didn't realize you know modern dance, too," Mikey says.
"I picked it up," Meg shrugs it off.
"I'm impressed," I tell her.
"Me, too," Arthur agrees.
"Thanks?" Megan shrugs walking away.
"How are my wife's Brussels sprouts?" Artie asks me.
"Is that what they are?" I inquire. They're prepared differently than what I'm accustomed to—kind diced up like a warm salad.  He nods. "They're good," I reply. They're loaded with bacon and onions.
I finish my plate and I hear dessert is out. I try Megan's cupcakes and I've seriously never had one this good before. I wait until someone else takes the first cream puff and I try one of those.
"How'd I do?" Hannah asks me.
"They're good. Probably the best I've ever had," I tell her.
"I wrote the recipe down for Megan. She's good at following instructions. This'll probably be my last," she says taking one and eating it. "They are good... the best I've made, I think.  She'll be able to make it in the future."
"You're not going to make it again?" I ask surprised.
"It's a lot of work. I'm not as young as I once was," she frowns. "Maybe I'll have the energy one more time."
I smile at her but she looks sad.
"Mom? The kids want to do the Easter egg hunt. Are you ready?" Megan asks.
Hannah smiles. "Have the boys taken the tables down?"
Megan nods.
"Jai? Would you help the boys scatter the eggs?" Hannah requests.
"Sure," I agree.
I'm given a bag full of plastic eggs. I'm not sure if it's coins or lollies in there but I work with Mikey and Artie to spread them out in the garden. Mikey puts a few out at easy spots for the little ones while Artie and I make it harder for the older kids.
"Not too high," Megan laughs. "They'll never see those." She comes out to me smiling. I kiss her gently.
"Alright," I agree. "How high?"
"About this high," she says holding her hand to her waist. I smile and kiss her again.
"Got it," I agree.
I set the rest of the eggs on tree branches and under shrubberies. I see an empty birds nest and can't help but set one there. I put them all around the veranda and on the ledge of the arm rail. I empty out my bag and I see the kids with a bucket each waiting patiently. They're all in order of age. It looks like Jojo is second. The youngest goes out with her dad. It seems like they're giving them a few seconds head start by age. Jojo is next with Artie. I see Tabby waving to me.
"Uncle Jai! Uncle Jai! Take me out?" she requests.
I smile and nod. We wait for a few smaller kids to go out. Then, it's her turn. She picks up a few and when she can't see anymore, I pick her up and she gets the high ones. I watch as she grabs the one in the bird's nest. She laughs and sticks it in her bucket. Eventually, I think all of them are found. I watch as the kids happily open their eggs. Some are lollies, some coins and bills. They all seem excited. Hannah passes out the paper bags Megan and I filled yesterday and even gives one to her nephew. He thanks his aunt and opens it seeing lollies he's allowed to have. That was thoughtful. Megan, Mikey, Artie, and I are all given one, too.
I smile and thank her. She hugs me and tells me she's so glad I could make it.
After that, I help wrap up some of the tucker. We make up individual meals for each family in take away containers and bags. Most everyone leaves except Hannah's family who's staying overnight. She has another meal mostly prepared for dinner—a separate meal, a kosher one at that.
Nick plays The Ten Commandments for them while Hannah is in the kitchen. Meg and I help with the dishes and putting away other foods. There's actually not too terribly much left except maybe one meal of each for the next couple days. We finish the cleanup and offer to assist Hannah but she says this meal is simple.
"What'd you make?" Meg asks.
"Baked salmon, noodle kugel, and asparagus," she shrugs.
"That is simple," Megan agrees. "You want to watch the movie? I don't think we've missed much," she asks me.
"Sure," I agree. "I don't think I've seen it before."
"It's an old Charlton Heston movie loosely about Moses in Egypt and the Ten Commandments," she explains.
"Alright," I nod.
We walk in and sit down. It defo looks like a classic film and I find it surprising that I've never seen this one.  It isn't bad for its age.  It's got to be close to seventy years old.  It's quite long but interesting.  I hear Nick talking with Hannah's family on how Moses's mum and dad were close rellies.  They don't believe him. 
"Is that true?" I ask Megan. 
"It wasn't until the Ten Commandments and the rest of those laws were given that that kind of thing wasn't acceptable.  I don't think they've read it before if they don't know that," she whispers to me. 
I have so many questions for her and I'm sure she can see it. 
"Ask me later," she says softly patting my hand.  I nod and hold her hand on the two seat lounge. 
We stop at the intermission for tea and it's good, and nice to visit with her rellies still.  I do think Megan gets her looks more from this side than Nick's.  Her brothers are an even mix of both.  We finish the film and it does seem like a blockbuster.  I'm glad I finally got to see it. It makes me think though, although it was kind of dated, it was rather timeless and epic. It makes me want to work on something so powerful and lasting, making an impact in my career.