The boy stood up after, and put his hand out. Kirsten accepted it obligingly. "I'm Luke. Nice to have your acquaintance."
Kirsten was relieved to finally know which boy was which. The older one had to be Kevin. They all reseated. Joan and Luke launched into a huge conversation about themselves and Arcadia. At last the silence was over. It had taken long enough. Kirsten smiled as she saw that Ryan was getting rather flirty with Joan. They were around the same age. Kirsten wondered if it was legal, as Ryan was there foster son. Oh well, it didn't matter. Seth was in a deep conversation about some comic book with Luke, and Sandy and Helen were discussing their jobs, rather intensely.
Kirsten and Sandy started up their own conversation when Helen left to get tea ready. They shared their first joke when Kirsten offered to help in the kitchen, but Seth highly advised not to, as she was a danger in the culinary department.
The front door once again creaked open. This time it was Kevin. Kirsten was speechless. She hadn't realised that he was a paraplegic. She had forgotten that one of Helen's sons was injured in a car accident, and she didn't realise that it was that bad. She quickly turned away, as she figured she must have been staring. She was horrified to see that the rest of her family was also staring. Joan, rather casually, said "Oh, hi Kevin!" without even looking up. Helen came out from the kitchen, and introduced the boy. "This is my eldest, Kevin."
Kevin gave a friendly wave and approached the table. Ryan was the first to react.
"Hello, I'm, err, Ryan," he said in a half-shy voice. Sandy, then Seth and finally Kirsten followed suit. Kevin was perfectly polite, but Seth noticed that he gave his sister a sideways glance that said 'I love introductions.'
Conversation fell back into place; however, Kirsten couldn't stop thinking about being so arrogant to think that her cousin's family was as simple as it appeared. Will didn't come home until later that night, after tea. When he mentioned he was a police officer, Sandy immediately started up a passionate conversation about the law. Will looked a little shocked, but contributed to the conversation wholeheartedly. Kirsten looked around at the families. Helen was in the kitchen washing dishes. Kirsten hadn't done that in ten years. The two men were getting along famously, Luke and Seth were still talking about comic books, Ryan was having a slightly automatic, nevertheless interesting, talk about the last international football match, and Joan was watching. She suspected that Joan fancied Ryan.
Kirsten strongly believed that she was like a fifth wheel in the household. She sighed, and decided to bite the bullet. She went into the kitchen, and helped Helen wash the dishes.
She entered the kitchen, not surprised to see Kirsten scrubbing away at a pot.
"Do you want some help" shae asked as politely as she could.
"Okay, thanks Kirsten," replied Helen warmly, handing her a tea towel.
Helen handed Kirsten the pot she had been frantically scrubbing. The first thing that Kirsten noticed was how heavy the pot was. She had barely made a meal in her life, let alone clean up.
"So how long have you lived in Maryland?" she asked, trying to make conversation.
"Oh, about two years now, I guess."
The rest of the night, they filled up conversations with small talk. Kirsten could feel her arms starting to tire, and her hands were becoming wrinkly from the water that clung to the pots. She never really knew how a middle-class family worked, but she established it wasn't easy. The worst thing that had happened to her recently, was releasing Julie Cooper's magazine, Newport Living. Helen had been through so much more; her son almost dieing, moving, her daughter being critically ill. Kirsten wasn't feeling a connection with Helen, but through her, she had realised how lucky she really was.
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