♡ chapter 21 ♡
Timid is an understatement to describe how I felt luring Harry into my grandmother's home. Behind that small wooden door would be an enormous family that was anything but quiet and had an odd liking to pick on people. I already had myself prepared for a lecture on bringing Harry - either a teasing lecture or one from my grandpa where he reminded me boys had cooties.
I was his first granddaughter, and so in a sense, he's more protective of me. I'm not sure why, or how that even works, but bringing up the mere thought of a boy around him as always been a no-go. Unless you want to sit for thirty minutes on him ramble. He may be a man himself, but he does nothing but bash his gender.
You could hear loud laughter from out back and it was clear that's where most of the family was. Later on there would no doubt be a bonfire. My family had odd traditions for cookouts and special occasions - no one planned anything but the food, yet somehow we all knew how to blend. It was like telepathy ran through our veins. We just knew.
Noah, Neil, and Bill all ran through the back gate to meet up with the other cousins while Mom, Harry, and I entered through the front door. The elders were mainly the ones piled in the kitchen, cooking and finding other things to do while they gossiped on stupid people in the world, the ID channel playing in the background.
My grandparents have special names - Sitti and Giddi. It's odd, but it's actually Lebanese for grandma and grandpa. I liked it. It gave me a unique quality I wasn't sure many other people had.
Sitti was in the midst of rolling the grape leaves when she spotted the three of us. "Oh, Madeline and the kids are here! And... some company?"
Aunt Frieda shot up from her seat at the bar to give us each hugs, then paused at Harry. "And who is this handsome man?" she said, giving him a hug nonetheless. Harry seemed unsurprisingly uncomfortable.
"This is Harry. Harry, this is Aunt Frieda, Aunt Nikki, Aunt Pearl, and my grandma. We call here Sitti, but you can probably call her Kathy," I said, wringing my hands together. I hated introducing people. It put me on the spot and I didn't like that.
"Do y'all need help?" Mom asked, mustering her best smile.
"Oh, that'd be lovely, dear," Aunt Frieda said as she went back to the couscous. "Is your fiance going to be making an appearance?" She wiggled her eyebrows.
Mom laughed as she walked over to help. "He may show up, yes."
That was all it took for me to grab Harry's wrist and drag him towards the backdoor. I didn't need to hear about this "fiance" stuff over again.
"Was that a murder show playing in the background?" Harry asked.
"Yeah. Frieda and Sitti are sisters and they both have a massive hatred for the world, so it's kind of fitting."
Harry hummed in response and I was praying he didn't already classify me as insane. My family is borderline of insanity, but I'd like to think I'm a little more... composed than they are. But then again, my family's craziness is why you can't help but to love them.
I glanced out the backdoor window before sighing. "All right, the cousins are out there. Here's a quick background - Sadie, totally egotistical and fake. She's the second oldest. Zach is the third oldest, and he's a complete country boy. You ask him to build or fix something, and he's on it in a heartbeat. Super sweet but kind of a bully at the same time. It's weird." I leaned over to see who else was outside.
"Troy is the fourth oldest, Sadie's brother, and he's a cocky asshole that thinks everyone is destined to kiss his feet. Don't let him show off to you - he's really just an egotistical idiot, much like his sister. Lizzy is next. She's definitely dizty but for the most part is one of the only cousins I can tolerate. She's boy crazy but great to confide in. And then Ace is Lizzy's brother and he's kind of a cry-baby, but he's pretty cool, too.:
Harry nearly smirked. "You almost sound ashamed of your family."
I sighed. "I love them to death but there's only so much of them you can handle, you know?"
His eyes saddened for a moment and he cleared his throat, looking out the window to brush it off. It took me a minute to remember he's adopted. "And the two little girls? Who are they?"
"Kennedy is Sadie and Troy's sister - total brat and thinks she always get's her way. Sophia is Zach's little sister and she whines nearly all the time but is super cute. Her and Kennedy or six months apart - Kennedy being the oldest." I waved my hand, growing a headache. "You'll see what I mean. I'm just trying to warn you."
He chuckled. "It's all right, Grace. Pretty sure I can handle it."
Puffing out air from my cheeks, I rested my hand on the knob. "Right then. Let's walk into hell, shall we?"
The two little girls are currently running around the backyard playing God knows what, Noah, Neil, Bill, and Ace hiding out in the tree house with Legos, most likely. Troy and Zach are in the midst of throwing the football around, the uncles standing around talking with Giddi near the grill. I took a big sniff, a smile stretching on my face. No food was on it yet, but the grill alone smelled amazing.
"Grace!" the uncles called, then noticed Harry. My cheeks heated up and I instantly did a mental face-palm. There was no way I was wiggling out of this.
"Well, who do we have here?" Giddi asked in his country accent, a dead giveaway he was definitely from the South.
"This is Harry," I said. When they all seemed to get the wrong idea, I quickly added, "He's a friend."
Uncle George - the third oldest behind my mom - snorted. "Yeah, and my shit smells like roses."
"Really?" I groaned. "Way to give off a first impression."
Uncle Will - the youngest and the happy drunk - laughed. "I'm a bit surprised myself. You actually got out the house, Grace?"
I gave him a look. "Hilarious, really."
I never thought I'd be grateful for Troy, but when he called my name it was all I could do not to actually kiss his feet for getting me away from the situation. Harry followed me over to the two still throwing the football.
"Can I help you?"
Troy nodded his head to Harry. "Who's your friend?"
"An alien from Mars."
Zach laughed. "Grace is too cool for normal people, obviously."
"Thank you," I said, then turned to Troy. "This is Harry. He's a friend."
Troy rose an eyebrow, catching the football and holding it up. "You play, dude?"
Harry shrugged. "Somewhat."
Oh yeah, it's not like your the captain of the football team at school or anything, Styles. Way to be modest.
Troy smirked. "I thought you're kind played soccer."
"His kind?" I asked, eyebrows shooting up.
Troy rolled his eyes. "His British, Grace. That's all I meant by that. Sheesh, take a chill pill. Sorry to insult your boyfriend."
My cheeks heated up, but I didn't have time to deny it before he spoke again, "You wanna play, Brit, or not?"
Harry licked his lips. "All right. Are you just throwing it around?"
Troy grinned. "Oh, buddy. You see this yard? We can get a little game going on. I'll go get Noah and the others."
Zach shook his head when Troy scampered towards the tree house. "Acts like he's the toughest thing alive."
I gave Harry a look.
He shrugged again. "What? I might as well shut the little lad up, right?"
I laughed. "Wow."
"What?"
"Nothing," I said. "I've just never heard you talk so high of yourself before. You always act like you suck at everything."
Harry looked on the verge of smiling, but didn't quite make it. "Everyone has a cocky side, Grace. And quite frankly, I'm already annoyed with this kid's."
"Warned you," I said, nudging him with my elbow.
And so Troy came back with the other little dudes, splitting them into teams. Considering he thought of himself better than Harry, he wanted to be opposite of him to prove his theory. Everyone seemed to know his theory would be proven wrong accept Troy.
It ended up being Zach, Troy, Ace on one side and Noah, Bill, Neil, and Harry on the other. Troy said, "The Brit can get the unathletic ones. Fair enough, since he's older, right?"
Lizzy joined me, folding her arms across her chest. "Sounds a little like you're just afraid to lose."
Troy glared at her. "Shut up."
And then the game began.
***
"What are you guys doing?" Troy yelled after Noah had slipped by Ace to score a touchdown.
Zach shot him a dirty look. "You're the one not doing anything."
Uncle Dave - Troy and Sadie's dad - laughed from where they watched. "Stop being such a sore-loser, Troy!"
"Pretty bad when your dad says so, huh?" Ace grumbled under his breath.
Troy socked him in the shoulder.
It was obvious Harry was enjoying this, but he wasn't smiling as much as I'd hoped. I assumed it was because more people were around, not just me. But I was just glad he was enjoying himself. At least today wasn't wasted on his part.
Neil laughed. "And you said Harry wasn't even allowed to run. The nerds are doing all the running and you're still losing."
Harry scratched the back of his neck, fighting a smile but also trying to seem a bit guilty of the feud he's started. Sadie and Lizzy have been rambling on about their crushes at school, asking me about Harry and such. I'm not sure how long it took me to convince them we weren't dating, but it sure did take a while.
"Would you like to call the game?" Harry asked, again trying to be modest. "I believe we're tied right now."
Noah nodded to confirm Harry's questioning.
Troy shook his head. "No, we're finishing this. And we're winning."
Zach rolled his eyes. "We're not doing anything. You can keep playing. I'm done."
Ace nodded. "Me too."
Troy gave them a look. "Why, because we're losing? You bunch of sissies."
"No because you're a jerk!" Ace said, the first time he's ever really raised his voice like that. "All you're doing is blitzing!"
"Blitzing is important."
"Not when your opponent is freaking six foot compared to your five foot," Zach said. "I'm done, man. Are the steaks cooking yet?"
Giddi shook his head. "Hey, son! How do ya like your steak cooked?"
Harry looked over. "Medium well, would be fine, thank you."
Giddi looked offended. "Damn, son, you wanna burn it? Shoot, all you do is take the cow, slap it across the grill, and it's done!"
Harry chuckled a bit. "Never really had it rare before, sir."
"You gonna have it rare today!"
I nudged Harry. "The entire family eats steak rare. Don't feel excluded or anything - that's just how we are. Giddi is just..."
"An awesome person," Harry replied, smiling a little. "No worries, Grace. Isn't it good to try something new?"
"That's what my mom always says yet I still get chicken tenders no matter what restaurant we go to."
"Chicken tenders are good."
"Yeah, but obesity isn't."
Harry rolled his eyes. "Will I ever win an argument?"
"Probably not." I smiled, laughing a bit when Harry waved his hand at me.
Troy called out, "Hey, are we gonna finish playing or not?"
Harry squinted against the sun. "I think I'm done, mate. It's quite hot outside."
Troy rolled his eyes, muttering something under his breath about Harry being a loser before he followed Ace and Zach inside. Sadie and Lizzy still stood out, Sadie making goo-goo eyes at Harry while batting her eyelashes. She's literally the only person I know that wear's booty-shorts, a crop top, and high wedges to a family cookout - along with loads of makeup and her hair styled perfectly.
"She's making me uncomfortable," Harry muttered to me.
I fought a laugh. "We can go inside with the crazy women, if you'd like."
And so while we waited for the steaks, the ladies and I gave Harry some grape leaves and stuffed celery to try. His reaction was priceless, but overall he admitted they were delicious. I grinned - a real grin - and felt happiness I hadn't felt in a while.
***
"What I'd tell you about that steak, boy?" Giddi asked with a proud smile on his wrinkled face as he looked at Harry's clean plate.
I couldn't help but to laugh as Harry complimented the old man, Giddi then going on a tangent about how "exquisite" his food was. I didn't even know he knew such a word, but it only made me laugh harder.
"Who's up for some cards?" Uncle Dave asked.
Uncle George shook his head. "Last time I played cards with you, there was nearly a fist fight."
Uncle Will took a swing of his beer. "That's only because your dumb ass couldn't handle taking a loss. Now, let's go-" He paused to count the tabs off the cans of beer in his pocket "-I've had sixteen beers so far and ready for more."
Harry's eyes nearly popped out his sockets as he looked to me. I shrugged. "His record so far is twenty-seven in one night. He keeps the tabs to keep track."
"You ever played canasta, son?" Giddi asked as he took the head seat."
Harry pursed his lips. "No sir, don't think I have."
"Whoo, there's a lot to teach you." Giddi shook his head. "Don't worry. You'll be one of us by the end of the night, I tell ya."
Even I was just as amazed as Harry at how well this was going. Giddi had never taken a liking to one of my friends so easily. He especially wasn't too fond of Jacob when he first met him because he was gay, but now the two are closer than ever. Yet that took months, and this has only been merely hours.
Uncle Will nodded. "Grab a chair and we'll teach you. Or Grace can. All I know is it's gonna be a long night," he said, smirking as he took yet another gulp of the beverage.
And all I could do was pray tonight would continue going well.
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A/N: Eh, idk why this took so long because it's kind of short. But this was basically my family! However, my grandpa passed away a few years ago but I had to put him in the story... Hope this was satisfying! Love you all (: xx
P.S. Certain things are to come soon (;
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