A/N: Two chapters in one day! I love it when I get to do that. Here ya go! Oh, and Rissa545, thanks, finals went pretty good. Only three more days of them.


Headliner

Chapter 16

Lexi hugged both of her parents as they made their way out the door for dinner. She watched them climb into her grandfather's car and drive down the long dirt road to the main street. She shut the door and ran upstairs to her room.

Tara, as the oldest cousin at eighteen, had nominated herself as guardian of the younger kids. She smiled, saying that she had been through this enough times. She did, however, still want reports as to what was going on. She also let them know, that if need be, she could waltz right in on the "meeting" and not be in trouble because of her age. Shelbie wrote Tara's name down in a box on the whiteboard reserved for updates.

"So, how are we going to do this?" asked Katie.

"Well, Hutch," said Tara, "I'm thinking we do it the same way we did for Dillon's last girlfriend: shifts. It'll be easier that way and we'll all get to hear stuff." Katie nodded. "Lexi, do you want to stay up here, or do you want to get in on the action?"

"I think I want to hear this for myself," Lexi replied.

"Okay, let's give it five minutes and then get busy," Tara noted.


Nick pulled open the car door and held it as Sara stepped out. "Nick, you don't have to do that," she said.

"Hey, we might as well make this fun. Besides, whenever I take someone to dinner, I act like a gentleman."

"So about once a year?"

"Funny. Keep that up and you can buy your own dinner."

"Sorry," she said laughing.

"You look nice tonight."

"Thanks. Lexi helped me pick it out. Do you think she has any idea why we are at this dinner?"

Nick opened the door to the restaurant. "Oh yeah. I'm sure the group has told her. And if I'm right, which I usually am," he chuckled at Sara's eye roll, "right about now they'll be planning where they can eavesdrop the best."

"Do the adults know they listen?"

"I don't think so. I caught them once when I went to get drinks for all of us. That was about four years ago, and I think they've all improved since then."


The first group, made of the three Hutchins daughters and Lexi, climbed delicately down the stairs. It was very important that they made as little noise as possible. Lacey crouched low at the door, followed by Lexi, then Ace and Katie. They pressed their ears to the wood, straining to hear anything. Apparently the big discussion hadn't started yet. They were about to back off for a moment when a voice came from inside the room. "Let's get this show on the road then."

"That's Grandpa," whispered Ace.

"Okay, I'll start. My first complaint is that she's obviously a vegetarian."

"Lexi is too. You going to hold that against her?" asked Darren.

"No she's not. She just held off because she saw the looks some of us were giving her mom. We've got to remember to be more discreet around her. That gal picks up everything."

"Did any of you stop to think that if Lexi knows how we feel, Sara does too?"

At Lexi's puzzled look, Katie mouthed, "Camille."

"So what? That's never stopped us before. The woman should know exactly what we think. It's not right to be dishonest. Let's get back to the point. She's not a very good Texan, not being a meat eater."

"Dad, Michael's not a meat eater and you like him. He's a man, too."

"Thanks, Hailey."

"Plus," the woman added, "she's not a Texan. She's from Las Vegas."

"I'm not a Texan either," said Michael, "I'm from South Dakota."

"Farmers should eat meat," Bill Stokes mentioned.

"Sara's not a farmer, is she?" asked Jamie.

"No," Darren said, "she's not. She works at a crime lab. You know, the place where people see dead bodies every day."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Jillian asked. It was the first time she had spoken.

Darren continued. "Let's think about that, shall we? If someone sees bodies ripped up and blood everywhere, don't you think that might be a reason to dislike meat just a little?"

"I think that might change my liking a tad," said Justine.

Katie tapped Lexi on the shoulder and pointed toward the stairway. The four girls sat atop the stairs before going into the bedroom.

"You know, if the first thing Grandpa can come up with is 'she's obviously a vegetarian,' you're probably good," Ace noted.

"Yeah," Lacey said, "Usually they hit the big stuff first. Like she's a murderer or something."

"A murderer?" Lexi inquired.

"Uncle Nick dated a chick with a record one time," said Katie.

"It wasn't pretty," added Ace.

The four girls got up and went into the room. The rest of the gang looked to them with expectant faces. "Alright, Hutch, you look like you're about to burst, what's the scoop?" asked Shelbie.

"Well, I think we're golden. Grandpa complained because Sara doesn't eat meat. That caused quite a stir. I think most people were on Sara's side with this one."

"Good. We're up, Stokes kids," Shelbie said looking at her brothers and sister.

Lexi sat down in the circle and joined in the game the kids were playing. The game was Crazy Eights and she had taken over Shelbie's hand.


Nick smiled as the waiter set down a large steak and mashed potato dinner in front of him. Sara had chosen a pasta meal. Nick was telling her stories from his childhood.

"So as I was saying, I'm lying on the grass with my arm hurting like no other, and Darren is looking down from the tree laughing. Jamie heard me crying from where she was playing dolls and ran to get Mom and Dad. They were angry with me at first, but when I pointed out that my arm was practically killing me, they got more concerned and drove me to the emergency room. As it turned out, it was broken."

"Ahh," said Sara, "your first battle scar."

"No, the battle didn't come until I got home. Darren wasn't paying attention and I whacked him in the arm with my cast. Let's just say we were both reminded of the incident for a long time."

"You sure seem to get along with Darren fine now," she mentioned.

"Yeah, after he moved out we didn't have any reason to dislike each other. I was a fourteen-year-old with the coolest nineteen-year-old brother in the world. You should ask my parents about this; I completely idolized him." Nick noticed that she busied herself with her food at the mention of his parents. "What's wrong?"

"I'm worried, Nick. What if after all of this, your family still doesn't accept me? I can live with it, I think. I'm an adult, I don't have to impress everyone, but Lexi won't understand. She will be absolutely crushed if they don't like me."

"Well then, we're just going to have to make sure that doesn't happen."


A/N2: Opinions, please. :)