Roger and Jami took their seats on the Path train to go to New Jersey to visit the Davis clan. Jami sat silently in Roger's arms with butterflies in her stomach. Anxiety building up with every mile the train traveled. "I love you, Baby." Roger whispered bringing his hand up gently to her chin, lifting it to look into her beautiful blue eyes.
"Mhm, I… I love you too." she gave him a nervous smile.
"Everything's gonna be fine, James. Trust me." he leaned over to kiss her head.
"I'm fine, Roger." she smiled trying to downplay her anxiety.
"You're a terrible liar, James." he smiled caressing her face.
"I'm doing the best I can here." she looked up at him.
"I know. I wish there was something I could do to ease your anxiety." he said looking over at her.
"I'm sure I'll feel better once I meet them and see that you and Mark were right, but for now just let me be a typical girl who's nervous about meeting her boyfriend's family." she smiled looking up at him.
"I will be glad to let you be anything you want to be. You're all I want, James. No matter how neurotic you are." he laughed looking down at her.
"I guess that's why you're with me. Neurotic seems to be your type." she laughed caressing his muscular chest with the back of her hand.
"Apparently so. But to be fair, I dumped Mark years ago, but it didn't take." he laughed kissing her head.
"Why are you two so mean to each other?" she asked looking up at him.
"We're fighting for the attention of the same beautiful woman. We're just trying to make it easier for you to pick between us." he smiled down at her.
"You never have to fight for my attention, Roger. Mark may be my best friend, but I'm your girl and I'll always be your girl." she leaned up to kiss his soft lips. He brought her to him and held her close as the train continued making it's journey to New Jersey.
As the train approached Hackensack New Jersey, Roger got up to take his and Jami's bags down from the rack above them. They got off the train and walked out to the street. A loud horn honked and a young man, who looked about 30, got out of a metallic blue Ford Mustang.
"Ready, James?" he asked looking down at her.
"Yeah, I… I'm ready." she gave him an uneasy smile.
"Rog, over here." he waved before rushing over to them.
"Chris, what the hell? You got a 'Stang?" Roger yelled walking briskly towards the man. He put the bags down to hug the man.
"Yeah well, working for Uncle John pays well. What do you think?" he asked looking over at the car.
"I guess it is about time for your midlife crisis." he laughed at him.
"I'll give you midlife crisis, little brother." he laughed rustling Roger's blond hair. "You look good. Really. Looks like that girl of yours can work miracles." he laughed looking at his brother.
"Yeah, she's amazing. I'd be lost without her." he laughed at him as he fixed his hair.
"You really do look good. It's great to see you." he laughed at his younger brother.
"Chris, I want you to meet my girlfriend…" Roger started before Chris interrupted him.
"Jami, hey. It's great to meet you. My mom's been talking nonstop about you guys coming all week. We're all really excited to finally meet you." he smiled at her.
"It's… it's nice to meet you too." she smiled timidly looking up at the handsome man. He looked just like Roger, only a couple of years older. They had the same sandy blond hair and green eyes.
"Come on, we better go. Mom's waiting for us. She's been cooking all day and everyone should be at the house at like 6." he said looking over at them.
"Everyone? Who's… who's everyone?" Jami stuttered looking up at Roger as she nervously grabbed the sleeve of his shirt.
"My aunts, uncles and some cousins. It's gonna be OK, James. I promise." he looked over at her. His confidence pouring from his tone.
"You knew about this?" she asked quietly.
"I knew how you would get. It's gonna be fine, James. Trust me. My mom is just excited that we're here. We're a really close family and they all just want to meet you." he caressed her face with his thumb as she stared into his green eyes.
"Um… OK." she told him quietly before following him and Chris to the car.
"So, how did you meet my loser brother?" Chris asked as Jami got into the back seat of the car. Roger was putting their bags in the trunk.
"I… I work with Mark and we saw each other around. Mark introduced us." she told him trying to be more comfortable.
"What do you do with Mark?" he asked looking over at her.
"I'm… I'm a screenwriter and Mark's filming my screenplay." she said looking up at him.
"A screenwriter, huh? Hey Rog, she's smart. What the hell is she doing with your sorry ass?" he asked as Roger got into the car.
"Just lucky, I guess." he smiled looking back at Jami as they started towards Mrs. Davis' house. "This is a beautiful machine. Think I could drive her while I'm here?"
"You wish, little brother. No one drives my baby, but me." Chris laughed looking over at him.
"Can't blame a guy for trying." Roger laughed looking back at Jami, who looked very uncomfortable. He reached his arm back to caress Jami's denim covered leg.
They pulled into the driveway, and Chris turned the engine off. Roger looked back at Jami, who looked pale as a ghost. "Are you guys coming?" Chris asked looking over at his brother.
"Yeah, um… give us a minute." Roger smiled at him.
"Sure, Rog." Chris nodded before getting out of the car.
"Is everything OK, James?" he asked looking back at her.
"Yeah… um…. Yeah, I'm fine." she told him quietly looking up at him.
"It's all gonna be OK, Baby." he smiled reaching back to take her hand in his.
"You're right. We… we should go in. I don't want to keep your mom waiting." she smiled up at him, uneasy.
"I love you, James." he whispered looking over at her.
"I know, I… I love you too, Roger." she smiled as they got out of the car.
"It's all gonna be fine, James. Everyone is gonna love you just like I do." He told her, reassuringly.
"Roger, you're here. You look awesome. Oh my God, I love your hair." A young woman called out rushing out of the house.
"Woah. Since when are you all grown up?" Roger asked as the young girl jumped into her brother's arms.
"I'm 22, ass wipe. You missed my birthday. Again." she yelled looking over at him.
"Sorry about that, squirt. You know how stuff happens." he apologized looking down at his little sister.
"Yeah, I know. I'm just glad you're here now. Hi, I'm Heather. You must be Jami. Mom has been raving about you guys coming all week. She's really excited to have you here." The young girl smiled looking over at Jami. She was beautiful, just like the rest of the family. Long, wavy blond hair and prominent green eyes. She was about 5'6" and slender. She had on a black Pink Floyd t-shirt and blue jeans.
"It's nice to meet you, Heather." Jami smiled at her as Roger reached down to take her hand.
"Come on, I want you to meet mom and Doug." he smiled leading her into the house.
"I have to warn you. Mom made like 3 lasagnas, so you guys better be starving." Heather followed them into the house.
"I'm famished." Jami smiled at her.
"Mom, we're here." he called out walking through the front door.
"Coming." she called out coming from the kitchen. She was also very beautiful. It made Jami feel inferior. The whole family was good looking. She didn't know why she was surprised. The fact that her boyfriend was beyond gorgeous was not lost on her. "Jami. Oh honey, I'm so glad to finally meet you." she smiled rushing over to Jami. She threw her arms around the girl and hugged her firmly. "Welcome to the family."
"It's nice to meet you too, Mrs. Davis." she smiled hugging her back.
"Ahem, your son is here too, you know?" he joked looking down at his mother and his girlfriend.
"I met you already. I wanna get to know this very beautiful woman who is so important in my son's life." Mrs. Davis joked looking up at him.
"It's nice to see you too, ma." he laughed as she leaned over to hug her middle son.
"You look great too, sweetie." she smiled up at him.
"So do you. Did you have work done?" he teased looking down at her.
"You are not too old for me to whip out the wooden spoon." she yelled laughing.
"Idol threats." Roger joked looking over at her.
"I'm getting it." she smiled faking going to the kitchen.
"OK. OK, I'll stop. Jeez ma, we just got here. Do you have to embarrass me in front of my girlfriend right off?" he laughed looking down at her.
"You're right, honey. We have all weekend for that." she laughed making Jami laugh too. Her nervousness had melted away. Mark was right. Roger's family was just like him. It made her feel at ease.
"Oh lord." Roger groaned looking down at his mother. "I wouldn't listen to a word this woman says. She's getting on in years and she may be a little senile already." Roger wrapped his arms around Jami's shoulder.
"Not too senile to outwit you, kid." she snapped back before turning towards the stairs. "Douglas, your brother's here." she yelled before going to the kitchen.
"So what. He's here all the damn time." Doug called out from upstairs.
"Not Chris, you damn doof." Roger yelled looking up at his younger brother.
"Roger." The 25 year old called out as he exited his room. He ran down the stairs and rushed over to Roger, who swiftly took his arm out from around Jami to brace himself for his brothers greeting.
"Hey." he smiled hugging his brother.
"Mom said you were coming and bringing your new girlfriend, but…" he said looking up at him.
"I know. But I'm here." he smiled down at him. He was the carbon copy of Roger, but a few inches shorter and slightly younger. "I want you to meet Jami." he smiled looking down at his brother.
"Hi, Jami. It's great to finally meet you." he smiled holding his hand out to her.
"Thank you, Doug. It's nice to meet you too." she smiled shaking the younger man's hand.
"Rog, she's beautiful." he whispered as he looked over at Roger.
"Dude, what did you expect? She's with me." he laughed putting his arms around her again.
"I thought you were with me." she smiled up at him feeling comfortable with her boyfriend's family.
"Well, I guess she would need a sense of humor to be with you, pretty boy." Chris laughed looking over at them.
"You know, you can be a little nicer to me. At least for my first day home." Roger laughed looking over at him.
"Aw, just when I was having fun." Jami whined looking up at him, making the Davis family laugh as Roger leaned down to kiss her head.
"Told you." he whispered as she stared up at him lovingly.
"Yeah, Baby. You told me." she smiled at him.