Grace was rushing to get ready for dinner. She was nervous about her family meeting her boyfriend's family. It wasn't just about nerves from meeting that parents, but she was nervous about how Ben's parents would see her and her family.
"I can feel your anxiety from the next room." Jake said as he appeared in the doorway of the bathroom.
"Twin perk?" She grinned.
"No, you're making me nervous." He said. "Will you just calm down?"
"Ben's parents are Christian, like really Christian." She said. "They have strong values about the traditional family. Our family is not traditional."
"Do they know about our parents?"
"Ben knows that we live with Matt and that our parents don't have custody because of their drug problems." She said. "But he didn't tell his parents and I never told him that Dad's in prison or Mom is still in rehab."
"Why?" He frowned.
"I told him not to." She sighed. "I don't want to meet his parents and have them judging us before they even know us."
"I don't care what they think about me."
"Well, I do care." She insisted.
"So, they think they're meeting your parents?" He grinned. "Do Uncle Matt and Gabby know?"
"Not exactly." She mumbled.
Jake grinned. "I'm pretty sure they're going to realize Gabby is not our mother. We aren't Latin."
"Now do you get why I'm nervous?"
"Are you two almost ready?" Casey interrupted.
"Ben's parents think they are meeting Grace's parents." Jake said with a smirk.
"I am your parent, Jake." Casey said. "These people don't need to know my personal business, or yours, in the first five seconds of meeting them."
"Thank you." Grace smiled at him.
"We're leaving in ten minutes." He said before leaving the room.
"You did the same thing at your UCLA tour." Grace said.
"Well, yeah, because Matt is our legal guardian. We were adopted." Jake said. "And after two years, I could care less what people think. He's our Dad."
Grace nodded. "I know."
"Then why are you so nervous?" Jake asked. "You aren't lying to them. Matt is legally your parent. And who cares what they think? If they judge you for a situation you had no control over, they aren't being very Christian."
"Look who got smart." She grinned.
"Hey now," He said. "I did get a 2100 on the SATs, you know."
Grace laughed and they finished getting ready. She curled her hair naturally wavy hair, creating bigger and softer curls. She had on light make-up; concealer, bronzer and mascara. She wore a simple dress that had tiny white, light pink and blue flowers as a print. It had a fit and flare silhouette with capped sleeves and a scoop neckline. She paired it with black flats and pearl stud earrings.
"You look beautiful." Dawson said as she handed her black pea coat to her.
"Thank you," Grace smiled. "So do you."
Dawson was a wearing a tight fitting royal blue dress with black side inserts to highlight her waist. She wore black pumps with a black jacket and carried a black purse. Casey was dressed in black dress pants and a burgundy dress shirt with a black tie. And Jake wore grey dress pants with a light blue dress shirt, open collared.
"Yes, my girls look very beautiful." Casey nodded.
"I'd say we look pretty dashing ourselves, Uncle Matt." Jake said. "Or should I call you Dad to prepare for this sure to be interesting evening?"
"Get in the car, you knucklehead." Casey grinned at his nephew.
"I call shotgun!" He said.
"Hey, I am your mother for the night!" Dawson said. "I get shotgun."
"Okay, ha ha." Grace said. "I get it,. It's all some big joke to you guys."
"I got dressed up for this." Casey said. "See these shoes, Italian leather. These pants, these are my good pants. And this shirt? This shirt is a lady killer. This is no joke."
"Exactly, I don't look this good for nothing." Dawson said. "If these people want to judge, this mama bear is going to be ready to fight."
"Oh, my God." Grace mumbled. "You're all insane."
"Are you embarrassed?" Casey asked.
"If you act like this, yeah." She said.
Casey turned and high fived Dawson. "Step one officially completed: Embarrass teenage daughter."
Grace shook her head, trying not to laugh as she made her way to the car. They walked into the restaurant and Grace scanned the room for Ben. They were already at the table and she gave him a nervous smile and small wave as they were lead over.
Ben and his parents stood when they approached. Grace could tell right away that they were wealthy. They were both dressed very well and so was Ben. They were a bit older than Grace expected but they didn't look snobby.
"Mom, Dad, this is Grace." Ben said. "And this is Lt. Casey, Gabriella and Jake. These are my parents, Jack and Ellen."
"It's nice to finally meet you." Ben's mother said as she shook her hand. "You're so pretty."
Grace smiled. "Thank you."
"Lieutenant?" Jack asked as they sat down. "Are you in the military?"
"No, I'm a firefighter." He explained and Grace quickly realized that Ben didn't tell his parents much, if anything about her family.
"A firefighter?" His Dad questioned. "What's that like?"
"It's a very challenging and rewarding career." He said.
"Lt. Casey is the commanding lieutenant of truck, which means he is responsible for figuring out how to put the fire out." Ben explained. "There's also squad, they rescue people, engine, they are in charge of the water distribution, and Emergency Medical Services. Gabriella is a paramedic with the firehouse."
"Ben, you can call me Matt." Casey said.
"So, you two work together?" Ellen asked.
"We do for now." Dawson said. "I passed the Firefighting test so I am being moved to another house to work."
"Oh, will that be challenging for your marriage?" She asked. "If you end up on opposite shifts?"
Dawson hesitated and shared a quick glance with Casey. "It may cause some problems but we think our relationship can stand it."
"What kind of shifts do you work?" Jack asked.
"We work twenty-four hour shifts, one day on, two days off." Casey explained and he had a feeling he knew where this was going. "When we're on shift, Grace and Jake stay with my sister."
"That's very nice of her." Ellen said. "It must have been hard when they were younger to be away."
"I think it's hard to be away from your children no matter their age." Casey said.
"That's definitely true." She said as she smiled at Ben.
The rest of the dinner went smoothly. Grace and Ben tried to keep his parents from asking too many prying questions about her home life. They talked about college, what Ben was taking and what the twins were thinking of majoring in and what schools they were looking at. Jack is a basketball fan so he talked to Jake a lot about his chances of playing college ball.
They ended the evening with what Grace considered a successful night. Ben's parents may have sensed something was different about their family, but they didn't seem too bothered by it if they did. Grace hoped they liked her and her family, as she knew their approval was very important to Ben.
When they arrived home they scattered to change. None of them were very fond of dressing up. Grace changed into yoga pants, a loose fitting t-shirts and a cardigan. She took off her makeup and threw her hair up in a bun before heading downstairs.
"Uncle Matt, that was emotionally exhausting." She whined as she covered her face and sat down next to him on the couch and leaned on his shoulder.
Casey laughed and wrapped his arms around her. "That's why you need to be yourself, sweetheart."
"His parents were really intimidating." She mumbled. "I was trying to look happy but I felt so on edge the entire time."
"I think it went well." He said. "You're just tired and worrying about it because you're overthinking it."
"Do you like him?" She asked as she looked at him.
"Yes, I've always liked Ben." He nodded.
"Do you think his parents liked me?"
"How could they not?" He smiled and kissed her head. "You need to get some sleep, baby."
Grace nodded and headed back upstairs. It didn't take long before Dawson knocked on her door and came into her room in a similar outfit a few minutes later. Grace was sitting on her bed with her laptop as Dawson sat down on the edge of her bed. Grace sighed and closed the laptop, knowing she wanted to talk about something Grace wasn't sure she wanted to think about.
"So, let's talk about Tyler." Dawson said. "Do you still have feelings for him?"
Grace nodded. "Kind of."
"And do you think you might have those feelings because Matt and I and some of people don't approve of him?" She asked. "Or do you really like him?"
"I love him, Gabby." She admitted. "I never got over him. Even after everything he did and what happened. Our relationship had no closure."
"Is that why you went out with him last weekend?"
"I wanted to see what it would be like." She said. "He's back to the boy I met when I first got here. The one that swept me off my feet and made me feel so special."
"He's your first love, Grace. That feeling is hard to let go of." Dawson smiled. "But you have to remember that he broke up with you when you wouldn't sleep with him and that he physically hurt you twice."
"He-"
"I know what you are going to say." Dawson said as she put her hand up to interrupt Grace. "He was on amphetamines. Which brings me to my next point, he gave you amphetamines."
"Why can't we put that behind us and move on?" She asked. "Everyone always brings it up. I made a mistake and I don't want it thrown in my face every time someone wants to make a point."
"I'm not bringing it back up to throw it in your face. I'm trying to remind you that your relationship with Tyler was not perfect." She said. "Ben is a really good kid, we like him and how he treats you. But, I don't want you to date him just because you know that we approve of him."
"I'm not." She said. "I like him too, I really do."
"Okay," Dawson nodded. "I just wanted to see where your head was at."
"If only my heart and my head agreed." Grace mumbled as Dawson left the room, closing the door behind her.
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