Chapter Thirty Six – Whatever You Call It

Author's Note: So… this update took a while, and you shouldn't be expecting the next ones to take less time. Thanks to my sister being home from college her bird is screeching near continually. Since his cage is right next to where I do my writing, it's become nearly impossible for me to do anything. Until she heads back to school, I won't be able to work very much.

As they made their way out of the history museum Ben slipped his hand into Olivia's. She looked up at him and smiled happily. The trip to the museum had been a gamble since she hadn't been sure if Ben would enjoy it. He'd actually wound up being surprisingly enthusiastic, though she suspected that had more to do with their laughter than the exhibits. Ben's usual crazy comments and personality had infected her right away and set the tone for their entire trip. She'd truly enjoyed herself and with how much Ben had laughed she suspected he had enjoyed himself too. Suvi had simply been happy to be doing something that didn't require him to stay still. The only people who may not have been so happy about their date were the others in the museum. Everywhere Olivia and Ben had gone the silence had been shattered.

"Thank you for coming with me," Olivia told him.

"Sure, I had a good time. Picturing you wearing a suit of armor could keep me entertained for days."

"You better start picturing me skewering you with that sword I'm wearing in your head."

Ben laughed openly. He could definitely picture her doing that. It was one of the reasons he'd found the thought of her in armor so amusing. Armor fit her personality in so many ways.

Olivia smiled at him again before releasing his hand so she could button her coat. It was starting to get colder and while they didn't need warm coats yet, it was about time to start digging them out of the back of their closets.

"The weather's changing. It's about the last chance for an outdoor shindig," Ben commented, seeming reading the direction of her thoughts.

"Shindig? That's really the word you want to go with?"

"Would you prefer shindigitty?"

"Ugh. No. Please, no."

Ben grinned in triumph, and Olivia simply shook her head at him. A moment later she eyed him warily.

"This is leading up to something, isn't it?"

"Could be."

That was worth an eye roll. There was no "could" about it. She'd known from the look on his face that he was definitely leading up to something. Something she probably wouldn't be all that thrilled about too considering he wasn't coming right out and saying it.

"Spill, Ben."

"My family has a picnic around this time every year. Out in Jersey. You should come this time."

"Ah, I don't know, Ben. I wouldn't want to intrude."

"You wouldn't be intruding, Liv. We've all brought friends before. Besides, it's not like we have it at anyone's house. It's just at a park."

"Still…"

She looked down uneasily. Meeting Ben's family was a big deal, and she wasn't sure if she was ready for that. Cole was one thing. Everyone else was something completely different. And then there was Suvi.

"You've already met Cole you know."

"Reading my mind are you?"

"It's not that hard. You're worried about meeting my family."

"And about what they'll think of me," she whispered.

"I don't think you have to worry about that."

"Come on. I'm a disabled woman with a service dog. That's not exactly what any parent would want for their child. People don't usually have a very high opinion of me either, even when I'm not dating someone from their family."

"I kind of like the sound of that. Dating."

Olivia swatted him lightly, but Ben just slipped his arm around her in response.

"So don't kill me," he began softly, "but Cole already knows."

"About me and Suvi?"

"Yeah."

Olivia stared at him for a moment before looking away. She really couldn't blame him for telling Cole about her even if it did make her a little uneasy. It was just one more thing to weigh on her mind.

"What did he say?" she asked with her eyes still on the ground.

"Nothing bad. He has more of an issue with me than you." When she gave him an odd look he continued in an attempt to explain. "He's my overprotective little brother. All he wants is for me to be happy, but he doesn't understand why I had to pick someone so difficult. So stubborn."

She smiled weakly and rubbed at the bottom of her coat nervously. It wasn't news that she was stubborn. In fact, she openly admitted that she was. There was no point in being upset over it even though she didn't particularly like hearing that Cole wished Ben had chosen someone else. She'd told Ben that before, but this was different. This was someone else who thought she wasn't right for Ben. It hurt more than she thought it would. Ben picked up on that shift even though she was trying to hide it. His arm was still wrapped around her so he pulled her tighter against him.

"Stop. Whatever is going through your head right now, just stop. I guarantee you that it's not what you're thinking. Cole likes you. He's just worried you're not as serious about me as I am about you. I know that's not true, and he'll see that too."

"I hope so."

"He will. They all will."

"Yeah."

She still didn't sound the least bit confident about that though. Her eyes were still lowered, and Ben could nearly feel the sadness and doubt radiating off of her. It didn't surprise him that she was responding the way she was. It was really a pretty common reaction for her, one that Ben had almost come to expect. He desperately wanted to make it easier for her somehow.

"Nobody else has to know that Suvi is a service dog if you don't want them to know. We'll be outside so he doesn't need his vest. It'll be fine."

"Unless I have a seizure."

"So we hope you don't, and if you do then I'll explain."

"That's leaving a lot up to luck."

And Olivia didn't put all that much stock in luck. While it had held out at first with Ben and her seizures, she felt more like luck generally went against her in her life. It was better not to rely on it at all.

"Then I can explain before we go over. Give them a heads up and lay down some ground rules if you'd like."

"I don't know…"

"I don't mind doing it, Liv. If it'll make it easier for you, then it's worth it. Just tell me what you want me to do."

"Okay. You can let them know ahead of time."

Hopefully that would temper some of the stares and questions she was bound to get. Chances were Ben's family would still be walking on eggshells around her. It was the usual response she received because of her disability. She hated seeing people try to walk the thin line between being too sensitive to her injury and turning away from her because of it. People treating her differently was something that always bothered her.

"Don't worry too much. I'll get it all sorted out before the picnic. I want you to be able to enjoy yourself."

"I'm not sure that will happen no matter what you do, but feel free to try."

"So little faith in me. But that's fine. I'll just have to prove you wrong."

"Of course you will," Olivia grumbled.

He was lucky she hadn't outright refused to go. There was no way he was going to be able to convince her that everything would be fine and she would have a good time. She was meeting his family after all. That had a good chance of going poorly regardless of her injury. She was definitely not looking forward to it.

"So how long do I have to prepare myself for this?" she asked.

"About a week."

"Great."

Ben wasn't anywhere near as concerned as Olivia. Cole already knew about Olivia's injury, and Clarissa would handle the news well. She would probably help him keep Ryan in line too, which was something Ben would definitely need. Reading his older brother the riot act was going to be the biggest challenge he had. Ryan could definitely ruin the evening for Olivia, and therefore ruin the evening for Ben as well. As for his parents, Ben was hoping he would have enough time to get them both sorted out before they met Olivia. They would definitely have a lot of questions, but hopefully they would focus them on him. The biggest wildcard issue was his mother. Sometimes she could be a bit critical. As long as that criticism was turned on him and not Olivia it would probably be okay. He was used to it, and she wasn't. Of course with how unsure of herself Olivia could be sometimes, even if the criticism wasn't directed at her she could still suffer some ill effects from it if it involved her in any way and she heard it. Ben was just going to have to try and find a way to convince his mother to hold her questioning, whether she thought it was harsh or not, to when they were alone and Olivia wasn't around. Getting that to work would likely be impossible though.