His Family

Spending four hours in a car was not usually Stacie's idea of fun, but lately anything was fun as long as she was with Donald. They spent the ride playing their favorite music, arguing over which one of them had better taste and switching the cord that connected their iPods to the radio after each song. "Excuse me," Stacie said, snatching Donald's iPod away as a new song came on. "It's my turn."

"Fine," Donald said, laughing. "Play more of your lame girly music."

"Hey, I don't criticize your music," Stacie said, flipping through the albums on her iPod.

Donald let out snort. "That's all you've been doing all afternoon," he reminded her.

Stacie ignored him and picked a song. The opening of 'On My Own' came softly through the speakers, Stacie singing along. "On my own, pretending he's beside me. All alone, I walk with him till morning…"

Donald was quiet, listening to the song while he drove. He was more sophisticated than Stacie with his criticism. He didn't say anything about it, until the song and Stacie reached the line, "And I know it's only in my mind, that I'm talking to myself and not to him."

"She sounds like a stalker," Donald announced.

"Èponine isn't a stalker!" Stacie said, letting her feet fall from the dashboard as she sat up in indignation. Les Misérables was one of her favorite musicals, and she could tell from Donald's comment that he had never seen it. "She just loves Marius, but he loves Cosette. It's hard to be rejected."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Donald said, "But she sounds like a stalker."

"I'm going to make you watch Les Mis as soon as it comes out on DVD."

"Lay miz?" Donald asked. "What's that, a disease?"

"It's short for Les Misérables," Stacie said, trying to be patient, "And it's the greatest musical of all time."

"Good luck with that," Donald told her, reaching over to grab her iPod. "And now it's my turn."

"Hey, eyes on the road," Stacie said, pushing his hand away. She picked his iPod up off her lap and plugged it in.

"Okay, okay," Donald said. "Just hit shuffle."

Stacie obeyed, tapping the selection that was labeled 'shuffle'. After a few seconds of silence, a song that Stacie actually recognized came through the car speakers. It was 'Hold Me Tight' by the Beatles. "So your taste in music doesn't completely suck," Stacie said, putting his iPod down.

"No, but yours does," Donald teased, glancing at her for a second before turning his gaze back to the road. They were almost to Savannah, which was good because Stacie was starving. Then, as if he had read her mind, he asked her if she wanted to stop and get dinner.

"Sure," Stacie said, smiling. For once, they wouldn't have to worry about running into anyone they knew and blowing their secret. For the next week, they would be able to go out together whenever they wanted and not have to hide. Stacie was pretty sure it was going to be the best week of her life.

"Where do you want to eat?"

Stacie shrugged. "Wherever," she said. She didn't really care; she was in the mood for pretty much anything.

Donald got off the freeway and pulled into the parking lot of the first restaurant they found, which happened to be a Red Lobster. "Are you sure?" Stacie asked, surprised. "I'm fine with going to McDonald's or something." She didn't have a lot of money because she didn't have a job, and Donald had already informed her he was paying for the hotel room.

"Don't worry about it," Donald said, putting his hand on her leg and smiling at her. "I've got it covered."

"Are you sure?" she repeated.

"I'm positive," Donald assured her. "I can handle dinner."

Things went well until Tuesday morning. Stacie had successfully avoided meeting Donald's family, and he had promised not to mention her to them. He went to see them for a couple of hours each day, while Stacie watched one of the many movies she had brought with, but he always managed to get back before noon. "What do they think?" Stacie asked.

"I told them I've been meeting up with friends from high school," Donald said. "Which is true. Everyone is home from school now."

They had run into several of Donald's old friends during their outings, and usually ended up spending a few hours with said friends.

On Tuesday morning, Donald's family had their own plans and Stacie was looking forward to having him all to herself when his phone rang. He answered it and listened for a moment, before saying, "Mom, I have plans today too."

He was silent as his mother talked. "Yeah, I know, but-"

His mother cut him off.

"Okay," he said, talking over her. "You win. I'll do it. Bye."

"Do what?" Stacie asked as soon as he hung up. "What did she want?"

"My mom volunteered me for babysitting duty," Donald sighed. "She loves to do anything that will make her look good, and when the neighbors called and asked if she knew anyone, she told them I would do it."

"Oh," Stacie said, considering this. She'd never had siblings, but she had always been fond of small children. Babysitting actually sounded kind of fun, as long as she got to spend the day with Donald. "Well, let's go."

Donald looked surprised. "You actually want to go? I was going to be nice and tell you that you could stay here and watch movies."

"I actually like kids," Stacie informed him.

"Huh," Donald said, looking her up and down. "You don't look like a kid person."

"Looks can be deceiving," Stacie replied with a smile. "When do we need to go?"

Donald glanced at the clock on the nightstand. "Right now," he said.

Stacie started to get suspicious when Donald started pointing out places he had gone to during his childhood. He slowed a little as they passed a park he had gone to a lot when he was younger. It was a beautiful park, much nicer than the ones that Stacie had grown up with. The houses in the neighborhood were big. Stacie couldn't call them mansions, but they were large. It was obvious that this was a wealthy neighborhood, which led Stacie to believe that Donald hadn't told her everything about himself.

A few minutes after passing the park, Donald pulled up to the curb and stopped. "Here we are," he said. Stacie looked out the window at a large house painted a bright, cheerful yellow.

"You live next door?" Stacie asked, feeling a mixture of surprise and annoyance. She was surprised that he was secretly rich, and annoyed that he hadn't told her.

"Yeah, right there," Donald said, pointing to the blue house on the right.

"What do your parents do?" Stacie asked, trying not to let her jaw drop.

"My dad's a lawyer," Donald answered, "And my mom does interior design."

Stacie stared at him.

"What?" Donald looked concerned.

"When were you going to tell me that you were rich?" Stacie managed to say after a moment.

Donald's looked relieved for a minute, and then he shrugged. "I didn't think it was that big of a deal," he said honestly.

"Right," Stacie said, but she didn't press it. They got out of the car and went up to the door. The mother who answered was beautiful and was wearing a gorgeous dress. It was obvious that she and her husband were going out to some important meal. She smiled warmly and led them into what she called the playroom. She introduced them to a smiley little boy with curly black hair and bright green eyes. He gurgled happily when he saw them, and held his arms up for his mother.

"He's pretty friendly," his mother said, scooping him up. "He should be fine while we're gone, he doesn't usually cry a lot when we leave."

"Is there anything we need to know?" Stacie asked.

"He's already had lunch, so he should be okay until we get back. Just keep an eye on him and put him down for his nap around one o'clock," the mother said. "We need to get going now, or we're going to be late. Good luck!" With that, she passed the baby off to Stacie and disappeared.

"Have you done this before?" Donald asked.

"All the time in high school," Stacie said, adjusting the baby in her arms.

The next few hours passed quickly. The baby, whose name was Zack, was a breeze to babysit. He was happy and easily entertained, and didn't cry once during the whole time Stacie and Donald were there. Stacie's favorite part of the afternoon was watching Donald put Zack down for a nap. Seeing him hold the baby carefully, singing softly to put him to sleep made Stacie's stomach flip. For a moment, she could imagine herself married to Donald, that he was putting their child to sleep, but Stacie pushed the thought away. She was being silly.

When Zack had fallen asleep, Donald laid him down gently in his crib and grabbed the baby monitor. He smiled at Stacie and grabbed her hand. "Come on, let's enjoy ourselves while we can."

Stacie and Donald were getting ready to go out with a few of his old friends after dinner when Donald's phone buzzed. Stacie watched him curiously from the mirror while she was fixing her makeup. "It's my sister," he said, opening the text message. He read it and cursed.

"What's wrong?" Stacie asked, turning around.

"She's asking about you."

"Me?"

"Melissa, the lady we babysat for, asked my mom who you were. Now my mom wants to know."

Stacie bit her lip nervously. "Are you going to tell them?"

"I don't see what else I can tell her," Donald answered.

"Am I going to have to meet them after all?" Stacie's stomach immediately began to churn. She hadn't planned on this. She had never met a boy's family before because none of her boyfriends in high school had been serious enough to make it to that stage.

"You don't have to do anything," Donald said soothingly, looking worried at whatever facial expression she was wearing. She felt horrible for making him feel bad, but she was afraid. She'd never had to worry about others approving of her relationships before, but now she did and it made her nervous.

Stacie took a deep breath. "No, I'll do it," she said, trying to look calm. "It makes sense. If we're going to be together, your family should know about it."

"Are you sure?" Donald asked, putting his arm around her and hugging her to him.

"I'm positive," Stacie said firmly, sounding more confident than she felt. "Text your sister back and tell her."

"Okay," Donald replied, looking a little unconvinced. He held his phone up and typed out a reply to his sister. After a few minutes, she answered. "Looks like we're invited to dinner tomorrow night."

"I'll be ready," Stacie promised.

Somehow, Stacie managed not to panic during the next day. Donald told her more about his parents and his sisters, but it didn't make her feel better. All she could think of was that she wasn't looking forward to the meeting. The day seemed to slip away, until it was time for Stacie to put on the nicest dress she had brought with and put her hair up in a tight bun. She was applying lip gloss when Donald came up behind her and put his arms around her waist. He kissed her neck, his lips trailing up to her cheek. He pulled her face towards him so he could press his lips against hers.

"Quit it," she protested, but he could tell that she didn't mean it. She put her lip gloss on the counter and turned in his arms. She had barely put her arms around his neck when his phone went off. They pulled apart with a sigh, and Donald opened the text. "My sister wants to make sure we're still coming."

"I guess that's our cue to leave," Stacie said, grabbing her jacket off the bed.

Stacie was quiet on the ride over, focusing on her breathing so that she wouldn't start freaking out. When they pulled up outside of Donald's house, she was feeling calmer than when they had started over. "Ready?" Donald asked as they got out of the car.

"Ready," Stacie answered.

The evening passed in a blur. She met his sisters first. Priscilla, the oldest at nineteen, answered the door. She and the other two girls, Kate and Lydia – fifteen and twelve respectively – seemed friendly, and Stacie liked them. She met his father next, and he insisted that she call him by his first name, Dean. He seemed pleased to meet her as well, which made Stacie feel a lot better. The person that she was most afraid to meet, Donald's mother, was the last one to greet her. She was busy finishing dinner, giving Stacie some time to get a little more comfortable with Donald's family.

Donald's sisters are looked alike. Kate was a younger version of Priscilla, and Lydia was a younger version of them both. People would probably start to mistake Kate and Priscilla for twins when they got a little older. They all had jet black, waist-length hair and beautiful hazel eyes. They had perfect teeth and bright smiles, impeccable manners and amazing talents. They were the kind of people that Stacie's English teacher would call 'Mary Sues' if they were fictional characters.

Finally, she met Donald's mother. Her name was Helena and she was every bit as pretty as her daughters. Stacie found her intimidating, but she was friendly as well. In the back of her mind, Stacie wondered just how perfect Donald's family could really be. There had to be something wrong with them.

All in all, the evening went so much better than Stacie had expected. She had thought that his mother, at the very least, would hate her. Maybe they would, if they ever really got to know her. But who knew if that was ever going to happen? At the end of the week, she might never see them again.

Around nine, Donald seemed to decide that she had suffered enough and rescued her from the endless questions that his family had been shooting at her. "We've got plans with Ted," he lied easily, naming one of his old high school friends.

"Dinner was really great," Stacie said to Helena, getting to her feet.

"Thank you," Helena said, smiling. "You'll have to come over again before you two leave on Friday."

"Sure," Stacie said, though she half hoped they wouldn't have to come back. As friendly as Donald's family was, they were extremely intimidating. Meeting them once as all Stacie could handle.

They left quickly, and Stacie felt as if she could finally breathe again. She slid into the seat of his car feeling utterly relieved to be out of there. Donald got in and took her hand. "You were great," he told her, trying to make her feel better. "They liked you."

"I hope so," she sighed, pulling her hair out of the bun. "Can we just go back to the hotel and go to bed?"

Donald grinned. "I'm up for that."

Stacie realized why she was so willing to go through the stress of meeting Donald's family. They were both awake, but they didn't talk as they lay in bed, looking at the ceiling. With her head on his chest, Stacie could feel the steady beat of Donald's heart. It was a comforting sound, and she had come to find that she couldn't fall asleep without it. She felt something stirring in her chest, something she felt every time she had looked at Donald over the past few days. She had been almost shocked when she had finally figured out what it was.

"Donald?" she asked after ten minutes of silence.

"Yeah?"

Stacie sat up, propping herself up on her elbow. "I know this is going to sound crazy," she began, starting to feel nervous, "But the past two and a half months have been… I guess amazing is the only word I can come up with."

"I agree," Donald murmured, leaning over to kiss her

"So I want you to know something."

"What's that?"

Stacie took a breath. "Donald, I love you."

It was impossible to see his reaction in the dark, but it took only a few seconds to know that it was a good reaction. He kissed her again, forcefully, pulling her on top of him. Stacie broke the kiss, laughing breathlessly. "I love you too, Stace," he whispered before pressing his lips against hers again, kissing her hungrily.

Stacie got the feeling that they were in for a long night.

A/N: This was way longer than what I was planning, but I hope you all liked it. Please let me know what you all think! Your reviews mean a lot to me. I'll throw in those characters you've all been asking for in the next chapter. :3