Sisters By The Pool Part 16 (Thanksgiving Special)

Things progressed rather stagnantly after the school carnival rendezvous. Danielle and I continued to be an item in school, and weekends generally consisted of the two of us, with the occasional guest appearance from Hailey. It had actually been a while since I had seen Melanie, or the rest of the cheer squad, and the break from juggling more than two girls at a time had been a welcomed recovery period.

Of course, there was still that little annoying chore called school in the way. I was a pretty smart student, but the overwhelming majority of my classes were boring, and it eventually became a game of survival. I had heard of many young adults working for the weekend, but that was essentially what I was doing during the school week. I finished homework assignments ahead of schedule so that I could have as much fun on the weekends as possible. And, with Danielle and Hailey around, it certainly wasn’t difficult to find something interesting to do with free time.

As November flew by, we eventually made it to the first extended holiday of the school calendar – Thanksgiving. Danielle and I had briefly discussed trying to spend the occasion together, though there was still the matter of telling that idea to my parents.

“Really?” my mom responded when I mentioned having Thanksgiving dinner at Danielle’s house. “Our family always spends Thanksgiving together. I know you like this girl, but certain days are just for family.”

“I suppose we could have Thanksgiving together” my dad chuckled, and my eyes nearly bugged out. The thought of all of our parents sitting around, especially with the awkward arrangement of Danielle and Hailey, was a little more than I could handle.

“No, that’s not practical” he finished. “I don’t think they’ve been seeing each other long enough to do something like that.”

“Why don’t I just spend the first part of the day here, and then when we finish eating, I’ll go over there for a while?” I finally proposed. After a brief pause, they both seemed fine with my compromise, and I relayed the news to Danielle.

“Better than nothing” she texted back with a smile emoji. “You’ve already met my folks, so there’s nothing to worry about.”

Ah, yes, I had met her parents during the interesting vacation we all took a while back. Her mother was a non-issue, and seemed to be totally fine with me. Her father was a bit of a tougher rock to crack, but I think I had done a decent job of presenting myself to be an acceptable young man, at least away from closed doors. Of course, we didn’t have the amount of conversation time that we would most likely have at tomorrow’s event.

…

After an unimpressive night of sleep, I woke to the smell of turkey in the oven. Thanksgiving was always up there on my list of favorite holidays. Between the multiple day break from classes, seeing some family, and the delicious food options, there were few holidays that could beat it. I put on some clothes, walked downstairs, and flipped on the early Thanksgiving football game.

Shocking…the Lions were losing again. A Thanksgiving tradition. I chuckled and walked into the kitchen, enjoying the incredible aromas coming at me from all different directions. It wasn’t long before family started to line the couches, talking about everything from sports to politics to holiday travel plans. I didn’t have the biggest family, but there were some good people in it.

“How’s the love life?” an uncle asked me from a seat over.

“Oh, it’s good” I responded awkwardly. “I’m kind of seeing this girl from my class.”

“Kind of?” he chuckled. “Don’t put it like that if her family asks.”

It seemed as though some members of my family knew I was heading to Danielle’s later that day. I could only imagine the gossip and conversations that were happening.

As the day rolled on, I finally received a text from Danielle. “Let me know when you’re clear. Everyone is really excited to see you.”

“Everyone” I thought to myself. I wondered just how many family members might be over there.

At last, turkey was served, and the feast began. The other good thing about Thanksgiving? Most of the talking is done before the dinner, and by the time all that food is available, everyone is preoccupied chewing. I heard my dad and cousin going at each other about politics, and I looked towards the clock.

“You can go when you’re ready” I heard my mom say, noticing my consistent looks at the time. She was certainly understanding of the situation.

I finished up what was on my plate, bid some relatives farewell, and made my way towards the door. I couldn’t help overhearing a snicker or two, as well as some bits of unneeded advice being tossed in my direction as I finally shut the door behind me.

I took a deep breath as I made my way outside. The air was crisp and super pleasant, as I made the familiar walk towards Danielle’s house. I was dressed in a polo shirt and khaki cargo shorts, and the evening air surrounded my skin. I took another deep breath, allowing the fresh air deep into my lungs, and worked my way between houses and out towards the main road. Some cars passed in the dimly lit evening, possibly on their way to the store to get a few extra potatoes for their big families.

I finally entered Danielle’s neighborhood and noticed how many houses had extra cars lining their driveways and front lawns. Their house was no exception, and I took an extra minute to ready myself before knocking on their door.

“Hiii!” Danielle’s mom was actually the one to greet me, opening the door and offering a hug. She had clearly had a few. “Come on in, the girls will be so excited to see you!”

I found it interesting that their mom usually referred to both girls being excited to see me. It wasn’t just Danielle, but both of them. Obviously, Hailey gave off enough vibes about me that her mom noticed, though luckily it wasn’t enough to pique her curiosity in any way.

As I made my way inside the house, the noise got consistently louder until it hit me in the face as I entered the room. People were sitting at tables, couches, chairs and even a makeshift bar. I actually didn’t even see either of the girls right now, but I did see their dad, and figured the right thing to do would be to greet him right away.

“How are you sir?” I asked, extending my hand for a shake as I approached him.

“Heh-hey there” he responded and nearly shook my hand off. He had apparently had a few himself. “Rick, I want you to meet Danielle’s boyfriend Chris” he said, introducing me to her uncle.

“Pleasure to meet you son” he said with a hint of a southern accent, as he shook my hand. “I’ve definitely heard a lot about you.”

“Well, I hope you’ll give me a chance anyway” I said, cracking a smile and looking at the two men. There was no response for a few seconds.

“Ha ha ha ha! I love this guy!” Rick responded and slapped my back. His hand stayed on my shoulder as he talked to their dad. “Looks like Danielle has a good one here” he continued, laughing heartily, coughing after a while in what sounded like a smoker’s laugh.

Finally, I felt a familiar hand on my back, and Danielle appeared behind me.

“Sorry Uncle Rick, he’s mine” she teased and that sent everyone into another round of laughter.

“Well Dani, why haven’t you brought this guy around more often?” he laughed loudly again.

She shrugged and managed to excuse me from the area, bringing me towards a couch in the next room, where the noise was much lower. Back there, it was just Danielle, Hailey and some other relatives closer to our age.

“So you’re Danielle’s boyfriend?” one of her male cousins asked. “Hailey sure seems to like you a lot too” he said after I answered affirmatively to his question.

“Yeah she’s like my little sister at this point” I said, giving her a high five, and playing things off as best I could. The answer seemed to quell the curiosity that anyone had over her general consistent excitement to see me.

Just as things quieted down again on our side of the house, I heard more yelling pick up from the main room.

“Where is Chris at?” I heard her uncle ask rambunctiously.

“I DIDN’T DO IT” I shot out, drawing laughter from the group around me.

“Danielle, you know he can’t be a part of the family until he has his initiation” he continued as I finally looked around the corner.

“Uncle Rick, come on, not now” Danielle responded. I tried not to panic as I thought of all the things that initiation could mean.

“Now now, no one can stay without an arm wrestle” he hollared, putting his elbow on the table and looking over towards me. Though I was quite active in sports, I had no chance against her much larger and older relative.

“Just go real quick, it’ll be fine” Danielle reassured with a whisper in my ear as I walked over to the table with her uncle and father again.

“Ok sure” I said as cheerfully as possible, putting my elbow on the table and grasping his hand.

“Go!” I heard her dad say as I felt the pressure start against my grip. I just wanted to make a respectable showing, so instead of pushing back with all my strength, I focused on staying centered and upright. It wasn’t long before Uncle Rick fell out of his chair and landed on the floor.

After a second or two of silence, the whole room started cracking up. Relatives rolled around on the floor and on couches, as even Rick played things off with another hearty laugh.

“Well help me up Chris” he struggled, trying to make his way back up to his chair, but failing without assistance. “He’s alright” he told Danielle, and we were finally free from the event.

At this point, Danielle led me upstairs to her room, away from the boisterous crowd.

“I figured you deserved a break” she couldn’t help but giggle. “You did great. They all love you.” She kissed me quickly and then took a breath. “So how was it at your house?”

“It was fine” I started, looking at her sexy blue eyes. “I think my parents told the rest of my family about tonight.” It had really been the first time so many people had called me Danielle’s girlfriend, and having a night with her family seemed like another large step. This was as serious as our relationship had seemed to this point.

“Yeah, there was some teasing here too” she said. “It’s kind of nice though. They can see your mine and not mine and my sister’s. Well, technically anyway.”

And here we were again. Every time Danielle got a little more comfortable with the three of us, it took another emotional step sideways. I was fine with it, as long as she snapped out of things each time, which she always had so far.

“That’s right” I smiled warmly at Danielle and kissed her cheek. “I am your boyfriend” I said, emphasizing the word your.