Chapter Sixteen
"Are you sure there is nothing that we can bring with us?"
Jensen patted your arm from the back seat of the SUV, but he didn't look at you. Probably because you were starting to sound like a crazy person. "Y/N, please breathe," he said softly, still patting you like a man nervous to anger his cat. "I've asked Jared several times, per your request, if there was anything that he needed for tonight. Each time he's told me that Gen has it all taken care of."
You sighed feeling more useless that a sack of potatoes. "I just don't want to walk in empty handed."
"Trust me, the fact that I'm bringing you over is all they want."
Chewing your bottom lip you thought about the shit show that this night could become. "What if Gen hates me?"
Now he looked at you, his eyes focused hard on you in the dimness of the car. "What is with you thinking that everyone is going to hate you?"
"It's just.. it's a thing I have okay."
"No, no, you don't get to give me some vague half assed answer. I'm asking you, what is your deal?"
That was not the kind of personal question you were expecting to answer tonight. But then again, who was to say that Gen and Jared wouldn't grill you with a million questions of their own. "Can I get a rain check on my answer?"
Jensen stopped rubbing your hand, only to remove his hand completely and cross his arms like a child getting ready to throw a tantrum. His eyes stayed solidly on you. "I will not get out of this vehicle until I get an answer."
You stared back at him, all the while going back and forth about whether or not to give him an honest answer. There was no way that he would know if you were lying or not, but at the same time you felt like it wouldn't be fair to the little game that you had invented for the two of you. It was the kind of question that you avoided at all costs when someone asked you, and it wasn't the first time this has caused an issue in the past.
Your lip was starting to hurt with how hard you were biting into it. "If I'm being honest, this isn't the easiest thing in the world for me to talk about, but I can promise you that it extends more than my high school boyfriend's mother hating me."
He uncrossed his arms and leaned forward with his elbows on his thighs, sealing your fate of this answer he so desperately needed; apparently. "I'm all ears."
"You can't take a hint, can you?"
"Can't say I've always been the listening type," he teased.
Your hands were getting ridiculously sweaty. It was actually starting to annoy you with how the anxiety was starting to settle in your chest. What was making it worse was the fact that you couldn't pin point if it was because of what was happening on this night or because of this conversation. Or both.
"You can blame my father."
Jensen's eyebrow quirked a tad, but whatever he was thinking in that minute, he wasn't showing it in his expression. His face was neutral, but you did notice that his crossed arms relaxed just a tad. "My parents separated when I was really little, like maybe about two or three. Just young enough that I wouldn't quite remember, but enough that I could ask questions when I was older. Questions about how a man that I thought I had dreamt up some nights wasn't around anymore."
"Sorry to hear about your parents separating," he said softly, his arms completely uncrossed now.
You turned your stare out the window, noticing that the car had turned from the highway into a more suburban looking neighborhood. It meant that you were getting closer to the Padalecki residence.
"I'm sure it was for the better," you answered honestly followed by a slight shrug. "But that's not where I am going with this. When – when I turned eighteen, I decided that I wanted to go and find my father, you know get to know the man."
You took a shaky breath, remembering that day in Seattle so well. "When I found him, he shut the door in my face so fast, I thought maybe I was knocking on the wrong door. But when he looked at me again, he knew just who I was. And it was even more clear before he even spoke that he wanted nothing to do with me."
Now Jensen had unbuckled himself, scooting himself over so quickly, you thought he would get whiplash. His arm snaked it's way around your shoulder until his hand pushed you to lean into him while you continued to speak. "I found out that he had remarried only months after he left my mom, had his own kids with some woman that he had probably been talking to while they were married and wanted to pretend like I didn't exist."
"Y/N, I'm so sorry."
Now the SUV pulled into a driveway for a house that had just about every light on inside. From where you were sitting with your semi-blurred vision, you could make out a tall looking figure and a much shorter one in what you could guess was the dining room.
You wiped your hand across your cheek, feeling the warmth of the tear you had just swiped. "You have really shitty timing, Ackles."
He didn't say anything, instead he just held you close to him. You were grateful for that little bit of silence because it allowed you to get your breathing in order and make up an excuse for the possible redness that always came with a set of tears.
"I'm good, I'm good," you assured him, scooting away from him slowly.
Jensen made sure to give you the once over, those green eyes of his telling you that he felt like an asshole for even making you relive that. But in an odd sense, you were happy to get that out of the way. One less embarrassing thing to have to admit to make this relationship appear real.
Without another word, you scooted over to where the door handle was and gently popped open the door. "Thank you Cliff," you said, offering him a smile that you knew he could see through the rearview mirror. "We'll see you later."
You noticed his solemn nod and took deep breath as the door closed in front of you. With another deep breath you heard Jensen come up next to you before cautiously reaching for your hand; you gave him a reassuring smile while intertwining your fingers with his.
"I'm okay," you promised him.
He squeezed your hand while leading you towards the front door, which too much of your surprise had Christmas lights all around the border. Once you were standing before the entryway, Jensen turned you to face him, rubbing your arms up and down with his hands to keep you somewhat warm against the chill that was forming.
"I'm really sorry about that," he said, but when you opened you mouth to reassure him that you were completely okay with explaining to him what had happened; he cut you off. "But you deserve to know that your dad made a horrible choice by not allowing you in his life."
That hit you somewhere deep in your chest.
Right then the door swung open and a very petite looking brunette, in a form fitting magenta dress, stood there with a massive grin having taken over her facial features. "I thought I saw Cliff pull up."
"Hey Gen," Jensen said with a slight chuckle.
She stepped forward, reaching up and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him down to her level for an embrace. "It's been way too long Jay."
From over her shoulder, you saw him give you a slight smirk like that would explain her behavior. Once he had been released from Gen's grasp, they both turned to face you, making you feel like you were standing under a spotlight.
"And you must be Y/N," the woman stated, keeping that huge grin on her face while she wrapped you in her own hug. It was not what you had been expecting compared to what went down in Texas. "It's so nice to finally meet the girl who snagged up Jensen."
"It's nice to meet you too, Genevieve."
When she pulled away, Gen looked you up and down with a look of approval in her eyes. You didn't know whether you should curtsey like you were meeting the Queen of England or just continue to stand there while someone looked you over like a show dog. "Please, call me Gen."
You gave a small smile before she ushered the two of you inside to where you found Jared running around the living room with two young boys. The younger of the two was straddling Jared's back while they ran after the older boy making what sounded like dinosaur noises in the process.
The image before you was one that you could have only imagined happening in almost any normal family household.
"They've been at this for about an hour now," Gen confessed, her hands on her hips while she looked at her boys. "We told the boys that Uncle Jay was coming over tonight and somehow that seemed to be like a shot of sugar to their system."
You heard Jensen laugh from behind you. "It hasn't been that long since I last came by."
The side eye that Gen gave him was enough for you to guess that his timeline was a little off. "I think the last time we saw you as a family was Thanksgiving of last year."
"Jesus," he muttered and you could picture him shaking his head at the realization.
She turned her attention back to the two of you. "So what can I get the two of you to drink? I have the usual choices, but I also have some beer and wine."
"I'll have a glass of wine if you don't mind," you answered while Jensen happily said he'd have whatever beer she had available.
Gen nodded tilting her head to the right, "I have a couple choices between red and white. You can come with me to the kitchen and decide."
"Uh, sure," you replied, shooting a slightly panicked look at your date. Instead of helping you out or reassuring you that his best friend's wife wouldn't bit your head off, he just offered to take your coat from you.
Your heart pounding in your chest as you followed Genevieve through the foyer and into a massive kitchen decked out with granite counters and stainless steel appliances. The island counter had several different plates across it from cheese and crackers to a fruits and vegetable platter. And whatever was in the oven smelled so delicious, your stomach started making cave noises without warning.
"Please ,Y/N, help yourself to something," Gen said with a wave of her hand to all the food in front of you while she opened a small cupboard on the left side of the island. "Jared went a little overboard with getting the food."
"You think?"
She laughed, pulling two bottles out and placing them in front of her before heading towards a cabinet closer to where the oven was. "We weren't too sure what you would like, or if you had any special dietary preferences."
"I eat just about everything," you replied, watching as she struggled a bit to grab a pair of wine glasses. "I don't know why Jared didn't ask me what I liked – I've only seen him every day this week."
Once she had the glasses in hand, she went back to where the wine glasses were waiting. She tilted them back towards the light, revealing the small print label a little bit better. "He's a guy," she said with a chuckle. "They don't think about those things until we remind them."
"You would be right," you answered with your own still slightly nervous giggle before swiping a slice of cheese to nibble on. "I had to ask Jensen a million times what I should pack before we went to Dallas, but in the end I just looked up the weather forecast on my phone."
"Oh, Jared never told me when I was going to meet his parents until the day they just surprisingly showed up at his apartment," you could see her cheeks blushing at the memory. "Word of advice, never answer the door in something lacy and see-through because you think it's Jensen forgetting his key."
"Oh my god," you snorted feeling the embarrassment for her.
"Yeah, that was a great way to meet the Padalecki's," her cheeks still burned while she poured a little of a red liquid in one wine glass before popping open the other and following suit with a white wine.
She grabbed both of the glasses by their stems and headed around to where you were standing, before putting both hands out towards to you to make a decision. "These are two of my favorites. Don't ask me to pronounce their names though."
The best way to tell if you were going to like a certain wine was to take a sip and kind of savor the flavor. But the reality was you knew you were going to drink it either way. So going by what you sort of knew about wine, you reached out and took the red one from her hands.
"Cheers," Gen said, tilting her glass in your direction before bringing it to her lips.
You followed her lead and was pleasantly surprised by the notes of sweet and sour berries behind your sip. It was just the perfect amount of sweet and dry that you liked with a decent red wine.
"So," Gen finished her sipped and leaned over the counter in front of her. Her eyes gave way to the focus that she was placing on you. "How was that trip to Dallas?"
Deciding to take a better sip in preparation of your answer, you took your time swallowing. "Uhm, well, it wasn't bad, I guess. Meeting Jensen's parents wasn't as bad as I had been preparing it to be."
"Yeah, Momma likes to make everyone feel like her house is a second home." She nodded, looking forward again to a timer that was perched on the oven. "I heard that she even invited Danneel."
You stayed quiet, turning your attention back to the delicious drink before you. You felt her eyes on you again before she even spoke. "How did that blow over?"
"Didn't she tell you?" You asked, meeting her gaze this time, making sure she knew that you weren't one that could be scared off easily. Despite the insane pounding that was happening in your chest. "Jensen told me that you guys are really close."
Gen gave you a smirk, one that actually reached her eyes before she stood up and came to stand before you. "Y/N, as close as Dee and I are, what she did to Jensen was all on her. And to be honest, I wouldn't have forgiven her either in his shoes. Even if she asked me to give you hell tonight, I'm not that kind of person."
The pounding started to subside only to be replaced with the warmth of the kind words of, hopefully, you're new friend. "So did she tell you to give me hell tonight?"
"Only a little."
You laughed, twirling your wine around in your glass while you thought back to your time in Texas. As much as you didn't want to admit it, what happened when you were there had completely changed the dynamic of your relationship with Jensen. Or at least you thought so.
Beep. Beep.
The timer went off on the oven and before you knew it, all the boys came running into the kitchen like a pack of hungry wolves. Jared still had the younger boy on his back and Jensen seemed to be the new race horse for the older one. The grins on all of their faces as well as how out of breath the two adult men were clearly showed that they were having the time of their life.
Gen ordered the children to head off to the wash room to clean their hands before giving her husband a kiss, followed by an order to get his best friend a beer from the fridge. Jared promptly agreed, jokingly smacking his wife on the behind as he made his way towards the two door refrigerator.
In no time, the whole gang was gathered around the farm style table, with the kids on the bench across from you and Jensen, and Genevieve and Jared on either head of the table. There was a mixture of a roasted herb chicken, mashed sweet potatoes and green bean casserole in front of you.
"Everything smells amazing Gen," Jared said while admiring the food before him.
His wife's smile said it all about his compliment. "Please, guys, dig in. There is plenty. Just make sure you save room for dessert."
Jensen's head whiplashed quickly in her direction. "And just what will be having?"
Gen wiggled her thick eyebrows over at him, "Pie."
--
Dinner was amazing, as you had expected. Jensen and Jared had both told you earlier in the week about how much Gen loved to cook and that she was damn good at it. You, on the other hand, hadn't been expecting to eat so much that you felt like if you stood up, you would have looked six months pregnant in your dress.
It was nearing eight o'clock when Jared stood up and said he was going to get the boys, Shep and Tom, in bed. He made sure to tell Gen to wait to start dishing out the sweet smelling apple pie until he came back. In the meantime, Jensen and yourself helped Gen clear the table and you even started running the sink to get some things cleaned for her before she shooed you away muttering about how you were her guest. You tried to argue around her reasoning, explaining how it wasn't a big deal to wash at least the dishes the you and Jensen used, but she wasn't having any of that.
Less than fifteen minutes later and Jared was back. With a deep breath, he was sitting back down at the table. "I think all that running around earlier helped with getting them to lay down so easily."
"You sure you didn't slip them something?" Jensen teased.
His friend shot him a look before promptly flipping him the bird. "Just you wait man. Once you have your own kids, you'll be surprised at how much work bedtime is."
"I got time for that," he grinned, eyeing you next to him. "I kind of like my current sleeping arrangement."
You felt your cheeks flush, swatting at Jensen's bicep. Before you could even give a proper explanation for his behavior, Gen walked back into the dining area with some plates and a wonderfully smelling apple pie.
Everyone had some a slice of warm, gooey goodness in front of them when Gen nearly knocked you out of your seat with her next question. "So, I've been dying to ask this forever, but how did the two of you meet?"
Pretty sure you were not prepared what-so-ever for that question. In fact, Jensen and you hadn't even gotten around to discussing how you would answer it if it was ever brought up – not even if he were to be asked it in an interview.
"Oh, uhm," you started, suddenly really interested in the cinnamon covered apple slice you had just stabbed with your fork.
"I'll tell it," Jensen answered for you, reaching a hand down and giving your thigh a squeeze. "We meant at a bar."
"Really? A bar?" Jared asked, his eyebrows reaching his hairline with amusement. "I thought all this time you were picking up chicks at the library."
Jensen's laugh was low and deep before he returned his friend's gesture from earlier. "Yes, asshole, I was at the bar with a group of guys that I know in New York. And no, Jared, you don't know them – one of them was a college buddy."
Both you and Gen laughed at Jared's expression of mock hurt that his best friend would have other people to hang out with besides himself. Jensen continued through the fit of laughter, "I remember it perfectly because I'm pretty sure my buddy James was just rambling on about something law related when I looked over and saw this gorgeous girl almost fall out of her stool on her way to pick out a song. As soon as I heard the intro to Seven Nation Army start playing, I just had to talk to her."
"You remember that?" You asked in utter awe.
Jensen looked at you, not a smirk or teasing tone in sight. "Of course. I don't think I could ever forget it."