Chapter Thirty Seven – A Shindigitty I Reckon

Olivia had been incredibly quiet during the drive into Jersey for the picnic. She'd been so quiet in fact that Suvi had poked his head between the front seats and nosed at her arm to make sure she was okay. Olivia had only rested her hand on his head and continued staring out the window. Ben reached out and rested his hand on top of Olivia's, which basically pressed Suvi's chin down onto the middle console.

"It's going to be okay."

She made an indistinguishable noise in response indicating she'd heard, but she didn't answer him verbally or look away from the window. Ben sighed. He wanted to do something to help her relax even if he couldn't convince her that the picnic wouldn't be as bad as she thought. There was one thing that had worked so far. Ben reached for the radio and started flipping through channels. It took a few stations before Olivia noticed. She glanced over at him, her forehead wrinkled in confusion.

"What are you doing?"

"Trying to find a good station. I'm sure I'll find something sufficiently ridiculous to make you smile."

It turned out he didn't even need to find a song that fit the bill. The knowledge that that was what he was trying to do was enough to make Olivia smile. Her smile was small and a touch pained, but Ben would take it. Even a tiny improvement was good.

When they pulled up at the park Ben's family was already there. They were the only group in the area, and Olivia watched most of them wander around one of the picnic tables. Ben opened his door but paused when he realized Olivia had made no move to leave the car. She was still buckled in and looking out the window. Shifting so he could face her, he reached over the middle console and touched her shoulder.

"Hey, what are you most worried about?"

"The questions. The looks of pity and disgust."

"I've already talked to them. They'll behave around you. Besides, I'm the one they'll be bombarding with questions. They won't want to scare you away."

"Oh yeah?"

"I told you. I don't have any luck with relationships. They have pretty much given up hope. Me, I'm the new forty year old virgin."

"Yeah right," Olivia returned complete with an eye roll.

"Alright. So more like the forty year old bachelor. Better?"

"It's at least more accurate."

Ben laughed and got out of the car before coming around to her side. After opening her door he held out a hand for her.

"Come on. You can't sit here all day."

With the door open and Ben obviously inviting them out, Suvi decided to take it upon himself to do exactly what Ben was asking. He jumped into the front seat and crawled over Olivia. She got swatted in the face and nearly got a mouthful of tail before Suvi hopped out of the car. He glanced up at Olivia before eagerly looking over at the park. His tail picked up speed and his front paws were nearly dancing. Ben's smile widened. Suvi was making this way too easy for him to get Olivia out of the car and to the picnic.

"Look how excited he is. You can't regret coming with that, and you have to get out of the car now. You'll disappoint him if we just go home."

That was very true. Now that Suvi had realized where they were and had gotten out in excited anticipation there was no turning back. It would disappoint Suvi to the extreme if they did, and Olivia wouldn't be able to stand the look on his face. He could pull off sad eyes better than most humans. There was nothing for it; she was going to have to go to the picnic despite her reservations. Olivia got out and rubbed Suvi's neck before turning her attention to Ben. He was the real one she blamed for this mess, not Suvi.

"You're such a con man."

"Don't look at me. Suvi is the culprit. It was just too perfect. How could I ignore the opportunity?"

"Of course you couldn't." She looked over at Ben's gathered family before grabbing Suvi's leash and Ben's hand. "Alright. Let's go."

He gave her hand a reassuring squeeze and started toward his family. Olivia tried to ignore the knots in her stomach that were tying themselves tighter with every step she took. So far Ben's family was too busy filling the table with food (which Ben's homemade potato salad would be added to) and hadn't noticed their approach. Personally Olivia was hoping she would come up with some valid reason to take off before Ben's family noticed their arrival. She suddenly stumbled sideways as Ben unexpectedly bumped into her. He'd actually sidestepped into her purposefully hoping to break up her thoughts.

"Don't start coming up with reasons to leave. It's not going to work."

"How did you know I was thinking that?"

He grinned rather cheekily at her.

"Because I know you."

Before Olivia could respond to that they were noticed, though not by any of Ben's family. Cole's dog Jerry had spotted them first and raced toward them. That was enough to catch Cole's attention, though he didn't realize at first why Jerry was running away.

"Jerry! Get back here!"

Suvi's tail started spinning as Jerry approached, and he lunged forward. Olivia wasn't going to have any of that even though he wasn't on the job.

"Sit."

Suvi's furry butt hit the ground in an instant. Jerry kept coming and started sniffing at Suvi excitedly. He was almost climbing all over Suvi, but Olivia's dog remained sitting like she'd asked. That was exactly what he'd been trained to do, and Olivia smiled proudly.

"Good boy."

Cole came running up and snagged Jerry's collar.

"Jeez, I'm sorry, Olivia. I hadn't expected him to come running over."

"It's okay."

"I'm glad Ben convinced you to come. Would have wanted to give you a better greeting though."

"It's fine, Cole. Really. Canine greetings are sometimes the best."

"Good. Come on then. Everyone's waiting," Cole said as he started dragging Jerry back toward the picnic table.

Ben glanced over at Olivia with a triumphant smile on his face.

"I told you they wouldn't act any differently."

"That's just Cole, and you said you'd told him already."

"You're just trying to come up with excuses because you don't like to be wrong," he laughed.

"And you're trying to prove yourself right before all of the evidence has been presented."

"That's what I get for dating a cop."

"Mmhm."

"So be brave, Miss Detective. You're about to meet my family."

The smile that had touched Olivia's face quickly faded away. Ben was pretty sure her face had even paled slightly. His family's eyes were on them, and while that didn't bother Ben, he knew it unsettled Olivia. Her mind was probably reeling as she imagined what they were all thinking of her.

"I thought you said you always brought friends," Olivia whispered as they got closer.

She knew how many people Ben had in his family and with the number of people that were there nobody could simply be a friend. This was a family event and that only made her feel even more out of place. She wasn't family; she was barely even a girlfriend. She would have already had a lot of attention on her even if she hadn't been the odd one out, and since that was exactly what she would be, the focus would be even greater.

"We normally do, so don't worry about it."

Olivia wasn't sure how she could not worry about it. She'd been uncomfortable with coming even when she thought she wouldn't be the only non-family member there. They reached the table, and Olivia tried to lock her fears away like she had to do when she'd been a detective. Ryan's eyes were locked on her, but it was Clarissa who approached them first.

"Hey, Ben. It's so good to see you," she said as she wrapped her arms around him.

"You too, Ris."

When they pulled away from each other Ben turned toward Olivia.

"Clarissa, this is Olivia."

"Hey. Ben told us about you. It's nice to meet you," Clarissa told Olivia with a warm smile.

There was no sign that she even knew about Olivia's challenges. It eased some of the tension that was vibrating through Olivia.

"You too."

"Come on, Liv," Ben said as he squeezed her hand. "Let's go introduce you to everyone else."

"We don't bite," Clarissa assured.

"Well, most of us," Ben corrected. "Sometimes we have to muzzle Ryan."

"Ben!" Clarissa laughed and swatted at him.

Olivia smiled but tried to hide it by looking down. When she'd first met Ben she'd wondered whether his seemingly random and off the wall comments were reserved only for her. From the way Clarissa had reacted Olivia figured she was rather used to Ben acting that way. Being around Olivia definitely wasn't the reason he behaved the way he did. Not completely at least.

"Hey guys," Ben called out. "This is Olivia."

She offered Ben's family a small smile and unconsciously touched Suvi's head. It was a defense mechanism and a security blanket she didn't even know she had.

"Damn. She's even hotter in person," Ryan said.

Cole whapped him on the back in annoyance, and Ben rolled his eyes. He should have expected as much from Ryan. If he hadn't been so concerned about Ryan saying something hurtful he would have been worried about his brother being inappropriate. There were only so many things he could warn Ryan not to do.

"Ignore him," he told Olivia as he glared at his brother. "That's Ryan, though I'm sure you figured that out already."

"Yeah, I did." Her eyes snapped to Ryan's, all unease and bashfulness gone. She knew how to deal with people like him. "Watch yourself. You don't want to give me a reason to put you in your place."

Ben grinned proudly. Olivia had been so concerned about meeting his family, but she was holding her own against one of the most challenging members.

"I'd listen to her, Ryan. Trust me. She could kick your ass if she wanted to."

"Ben, the kids are nearby," Clarissa warned.

"Sorry, Ris."

Clarissa gently touched Olivia's arm and pointed to the three kids sitting at the picnic table. The oldest girl was totally focused on her phone, and the two boys sitting next to her were busy peeling the bark off of sticks. They'd been using the same sticks to have a sword fight moments before Olivia and Ben had arrived.

"They're all mine. Kinsey's thirteen, Tommy's eleven, and Chase is ten. I can't promise they'll behave, but I have asked them to try."

"It's alright. They're kids, and I'm sure they'll have a lot of questions."

"Are you okay with that?" Clarissa asked uneasily.

"To a certain extent. I'm not sure how much Ben has told any of you."

"Questions later," Ben's father argued. "Food comes first. We're happy to have you, Olivia, especially since you're here with this idiot of mine."

"Thanks, Dad. Makes me feel so good."

"Ah, give me that," he growled as he grabbed the bowl of potato salad out of Ben's hands. "Let's go eat."