Okay... slight delay (for me) was because of my dear cat recently dying on Friday. It was crushing, but I'm okay. I'm obviously well enough to write. Unless of course this chapter actually isn't up to standards, in which case, I stand corrected. I think it is though. Anyways... time to meet Mr. and Mrs. Cooper!

Chapter Four: Same Size

Sonny's Point of View

After quicker-than-I-thought-was-possible introductions to Chad's parents, Mary and Thomas Cooper, we sat down in their elaborate dining room. Hanging above the rectangular, dark cherry wood dining table was a beautiful chandelier.

I caught a look at all of the priceless- more or less –breakables in a see-through glass cabinet positioned against the wall and prayed I wouldn't break anything. I remembered the white carpet beneath my feet and added that I please wouldn't spill anything either.

"So," Mary Cooper, Chad's mother began after eating a delicate spoonful of some soup that I couldn't pronounce. "Sonny, where are you from again? Don't take this the wrong way but… you really don't seem as though you're from around here."

I smiled kindly. "Yeah, I'm actually from Green Bay, Wisconsin." Everyone but Chad stared at me. I think even the woman serving us missed a step. My smile became more anxious. "You know… home of cheese… and cows?" More silence.

Chad set his spoon down and stared down his parents. "They know. Remember, I told you all where she was from."

"Hmm… I think I may recall…" Thomas said thoughtfully.

Mary looked indifferently at her soup. "Isn't Colleen from New York, Chad?" she asked casually.

I'm not the jealous girlfriend type, but who the heck was Colleen?!

Chad sighed loudly. "Yes, mother, she is." He turned to me and smiled reassuringly. "She's an old family friend," he said, adding an eye roll for emphasis.

"A very nice one too… Have you talked much to her lately?" Mary directed her question to Chad.

"Why should I? We were never close," Chad said, dismissing the topic.

"Oh…" Sheyenne said disappointedly a few silent minutes later. "I forgot what I was going to say."

Conveniently enough, as soon as Kaylee, their cook, got around to serving me the pot roast, Sheyenne suddenly slammed her palm down on the table and smiled, saying: "I remembered." Everyone jumped slightly in their seats, including Kaylee, who spilled a ton of gravy on me.

"Oh my goodness, I am so sorry Miss," Kaylee apologized.

Out of the corner of my shocked eyes, I thought I saw Chad hide his face in his hands. "No, no, it's okay. Stuff like this happens to me so much, I'm starting to get used to it," I said while Kaylee tried to hastily wipe it off my dress.

"Sheyenne, take Sonny to your room and get her something to wear," ordered Mary shortly.

Sheyenne smiled and stood up from the table. "Alright… come with me, Sonny."

On my way out of the room, I caught Chad glaring at Sheyenne. I'm guessing that was a warning to not try anything funny with me.

Once we were in her giant walk-in closet, she threw me a pair of dark wash skinny jeans and a white t-shirt with a design on the front. I caught the clothes and examined the front of the shirt more closely. On the front was the name "Chad Dylan Cooper" with a big, red slash through it. I decided against asking her why she would have a shirt like this.

I laughed nervously. "Umm… you wouldn't happen to have a different shirt, would you?" I looked around at the hundreds of hangers and shelves full of clothes.

"No, sorry. I don't think I have anything else that'll fit you." Sheyenne tapped a pink nail to her chin. She looked around and grabbed a low cut pink tank top where less was obviously more in the design of it. "Unless you'd rather wear this…"

I shook my head. "No, that's okay. I'll just… wear this…"

While I pulled the jeans up around my waist, Sheyenne casually leaned against the wall. "So… Chad told us so much about you."

"Really?" I hoped she could hear the smile in my voice.

"No," she said curtly. "You know Portlyn right?"

"Yes…" I said cautiously, while I buttoned the jeans up.

"Well, she's been here before too."

"Oh?" I acted disinterested. I already knew that there had never been anything going on with Chad and Portlyn.

"Yes. She's very nice," Sheyenne commented thoughtfully.

"Is she?" I asked, slipping the offensive shirt over my head.

"Mmm… yes, she is. Chad and… well the whole family really, just loves her," Sheyenne gushed. She picked my dress up off the floor and flung it into her hamper. "We'll return it to you later," she said before shutting the lights off and heading back to the staircase.

I had to stumble back into my shoes and run just to catch up to her pace.

Okay, so it could've been going better, but… the night was still young.

When we reentered the dining room, they had clearly been waiting for us to get back before they ate. Chad looked at me and when he caught sight of the shirt I'd been given he raised his eyebrows and frowned.

"Sheyenne, you couldn't have given her a different shirt?" Chad asked.

Sheyenne just shrugged and took her seat. "It was either that or one other shirt but she didn't want it." When Chad continued glaring at her, she looked up from her plate of pot roast. "You know I don't have very many clothes left back from before I lost ten pounds," she said defensively.

My mouth dropped open self-consciously. Was she insinuating that I needed to lose ten pounds?! I quickly shut my mouth to hide my shock. Unfortunately nothing could hide the embarrassment that had made itself known on my cheeks.

Before Chad even had a chance to protest, Michael piped up for the first time during dinner. "What're you talking about? You're the same size as she is."

Sheyenne gave me a barely-noticeable once over before flipping her glossy blond hair over her shoulder and stabbing a small piece of meat with her fork. "I don't think so…"

Mary cleared her throat and raised her wine glass to her full, blood red lips, slowly shaking her head reproachfully at Sheyenne.

"So, Sonny… what do your parents do for a living?" Mr. Cooper asked.

I had just taken a bite of baked potato, so I had to take several seconds before I could swallow and answer. "Well, my mom is the one of the owners of a bookstore that's actually really close to the studio."

"Oh, yeah, I've passed by there before," Chad said enthusiastically.

Thomas nodded in approval. "And your father? What does he do?"

My smile faded and I played with my fingers under the table. "Uh… my dad doesn't exactly do much…"

"He must do something, though," Michael pressed.

"Well… uh, my dad doesn't really have a job anymore," I said hesitantly, beating around the bush like a scaredy cat.

"Mmm… unemployed?" Thomas asked with sympathy in his voice.

"Dad," Chad took on a warning tone when he spoke.

"Uh, no, not exactly…" Even Chad turned his head to see exactly where I was going with this. "Well… my dad… kind of… died… a little over a year ago…"

I looked down at the sage green napkin in my lap before I could see anyone's reactions.

"Oh, we're so sorry, dear," I heard Mrs. Cooper say. "And Thomas is sorry for asking."

I heard a thumping sound before Thomas said, "Yes, yes, I'm sorry for prying."

"Sonny?" I looked up slightly and glanced to my right where Chad sat. "Are you still eating?"

"No, I'm full," I said.

"Okay, then may we be excused?"

"Yes, of course. Lovely meeting you Sonny," Mary said while I took the napkin out of my lap and set it on the table.

"It was nice to meet all of you too," I said formally. I stood up and walked out of the dining room with Chad at my side.

Once we were completely out of sight and earshot, Chad pulled me closer to him with one arm, so we were walking right next to each other. "Sorry about that," he said.

"Which part?" I leaned into his side.

"All of it." We walked up the stairs and went in the opposite direction we had gone before. "This is why I didn't want you to meet them."

"Well sorry," I mumbled.

"Don't you apologize." Chad opened the door to what I assumed was his bedroom and walked us inside.

"Why not? I'm the one who pressured you to bring me here," I stated.

"Oh, okay, so it's your fault my sister was rude to you and my parents brought up random girls and crossed boundary lines?" Chad asked while he turned me so that he could see my face.

"No," I admitted.

"That's right... I'm sorry but that shirt that you borrowed is really starting to annoy me." He disappeared into his walk-in closet.

"Yeah, any particular reason she has a shirt like this?" I called out fingering the collar of my borrowed shirt.

"Other than the obvious one that she's jealous of me, no."

I followed him into his closet right as he pulled a dark blue collared button down off a hanger. "What are you doing-and why do you have so many shirts that are the exact same design?"

He shrugged and handed me the blue shirt. I took it absentmindedly, while I looked at how many he had. All the same in different colors.

"Don't you like anything else?" I asked.

"I wear t-shirts in spring and summer, you know, sometimes," he offered.

"Okay, that's a tad weird," I said smiling at him.

"But at least I'm consistent," he said, backing out of the closet.

That was when I noticed his shirt in my hands. "Wait, why'd you give me this?"

"Put it on over Sheyenne's shirt so I don't have to see my name crossed out the rest of the time you're here." He looked at the shirt with disgust.

"Seriously…? Okay…" I slipped my arms through the sleeves and buttoned it three fourths of the way up. Part of his crossed out name was still showing but I figured it didn't really matter. I struck a pose, with the too-long sleeves covering up my hands completely. "What do you think?"

"Not bad. Other than the sleeve issue and the fact that I can still see the other shirt."

Ah the art form of subtlety in action. I sighed dramatically. "Fine…" I buttoned it up more, but I left two buttons undone. "Happy now?"

"Yes, I am as a matter of a fact," Chad said smiling. He took two steps closer to me, leaving almost no space between us.

"Control freak…" I muttered.

He put a single finger to my lips and I crossed my eyes to look at it before I looked up at him. "The time for talking is over, Sonny," he said like he was acting. I remembered one of the first times he fed me that line after Mackenzie Falls ruined our peace picnic.

I moved his hand away and smiled. "You're right." I slipped away from him and wandered over to the bookshelf that had hundreds of DVDs stacked on it. "I need to go through these and see exactly which movies I have got to have you watch tomorrow when you come over to my house."

He narrowed his eyes and smiled at me. "Okay… But is it really necessary? We have plenty of time to get me caught up on all the movies I just have to see," he said, mocking me.

I stuck my tongue out at him and continued scanning the titles. "Oh, that's right! I know exactly what we're watching tomorrow, because I know for a fact that you've never seen it before. Trust me."

"How do you know for sure?"

"It's an old comedy," I stated without turning around.

"You're right; I've never seen it before."

I smirked at him and put a hand on his arm. "I know I'm right." As soon as I said it we both started laughing.

And now we have officially met the Cooper family. Aren't they something? Next we get to see what movie Sonny picked and, more importantly, what Connie Munroe is really like. And that's all in the next chapter which will be out... in the future. Vague, aren't I? Okay, how about, the near future? But before that, I've already written out a little one-shot that takes place after the new episode "Fast Friends," which is officially airing on TV this Sunday. You can find the episode online if you're super super curious. I already watched it a few times, but I'm waiting until the minute after the new episode ends to post it. By the way, that'll be Pacific Time for me. Keep an eye out for it, because sometime around 8:30, Eleven O'clock To the Rest of My Life, will be popping up. So that just about wraps it up. Thanks for reading and keep reviewing!