The Right Time

Chapter Fifty

'My aunt and uncle want you to come to their Christmas dinner with me this year', Beca told Chloe, '...But you don't have to if you don't want-'

'I'd love to!'

It was a couple of weeks before Christmas, and Beca's relatives had invited Chloe to join their annual holiday meal, wanting to make her feel part of the family.

'Are you sure? I don't want you to feel pressured or anything'

'I can't wait to go', Chloe smiled, kissing her girlfriend sweetly on the cheek.
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'Hello?'

'Hello, Beca?'

'Oh hey, Aunt Joan. What's up?', Beca answered the voice down the phone.

'Is Chloe coming over next week?'

'Yeah, is that cool?'

'Of course it is', her aunt replied, 'But I thought I should tell you that Wendy, Rick and Grace will also be there'

Wendy and Rick were old family friends, and were always polite- if a little boring. They were middle-aged and wore matching knitted jumpers every year at Christmas. Their daughter, Grace, was shy and seven years old.

'Okay, thanks for telling me, I guess'

'They don't know that you and Chloe are a couple, so I thought I'd leave that up to you when you introduce her'

'Alright, that's fine', Beca told Joan, before being tugged at the sleeve by Chloe, 'I have to go now- I think Chloe wants to talk to you'

The phone was passed over to the redhead, who proceeded to thank the older lady for the invitation.

'No problem at all, dear. See you soon!'
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A week later, Beca and Chloe arrived at Aunt Joan's with a couple of overnight bags. They were both wearing a santa hat; the brunette's had been forced onto her head, whereas Chloe's had been worn since six that morning.

'Merry Christmas!', the ginger cheered as the front door was opened by Beca's uncle.

'You must be Chloe', the man said, 'I'm Ron. Merry Christmas to you too!'

Beca then greeted her uncle, and after, the two girls were escorted into the lounge, where they were met by the other adults and Grace.

Joan hugged her niece as she smiled at Chloe over her shoulder. 'Lovely to finally meet you', she told the redhead before letting go of Beca and hugging her instead.

'Thank you for asking me to stay!'

Once Joan had finished welcoming Chloe, Beca cleared her throat and began to introduce her girlfriend to Wendy, Rick and Grace.

'Um, hi everyone', she said awkwardly as she did a small wave at them, 'This is Chlo-'

Unable to come to the end of her sentence, the brunette was interrupted by an ambush of handshakes and pats on the back from Wendy and Rick, who were giving her and Chloe an even warmer welcome than Joan and Ron did.

'Grace, could you come over here please?', Rick asked the young girl, who reluctantly and shyly got up and walked over to the group of adults.

'This is Beca's friend, Chloe', Wendy smiled innocently, bending down to her daughter's height.

'Actually-', Beca was about to correct the older woman, but was again interrupted.

'Oh, there goes the timer! Dinner must be ready'

And with that, Ron and Joan rushed off to the kitchen to fetch the food, while everyone else gathered at the dining room table. The table had been decked out with festive placemats, crackers and reindeer-covered drinking glasses. It wasn't more than a minute or so that the dinner was served by the hosts, and the people around the table settled down into their seats.