"Are you sure it's OK if I come for Thanksgiving," Alex asked Perry. "I mean I'm only your girlfriend and Thanksgiving is supposed to be about family."
The two of them were sitting in Perry's den talking about Thanksgiving. Perry had shown her his workshop in his garage and Alex had oohed and ahhed over everything he'd done. There were projects in various stages of completion and also a lot of finished pieces.
"You'll be family soon enough," Perry told her making his intentions plain. "Besides, there're always friends of the family there as well, so it's no problem. My mother told me to make sure you knew you were invited unless you were going to spend it with your own family."
"No I am not, as they live in Kanas," Alex said. "I went last year and I'll go next year. I try to do at least every other year."
"Well then, you're invited for Thanksgiving. Believe me, you'll enjoy it. My mother is a great cook and so is my aunt and not just of desert type items. My uncle also cooks and often helps out, especially if we're having a lot of guests. A lot of the younger ones bring some side dish or a dessert while the main meal is taken care by my aunt, uncle and mother. It'll be quite the feast. I'm also sure they'll be plenty of leftovers for the kids, namely me and my siblings and my cousins to take home," Perry added with a wink at Alex. "Believe me, my aunts leftovers, especially of the desserts, are always spectacular. They never last long and that's only if there are any leftovers. Usually though there isn't any leftovers of one of my aunts deserts. They're just too popular. We'll be lucky if they leave the plate and not eat that too."
"It sounds wonderful," Alex said smiling truly looking forward to it. It was hard to believe that Thanksgiving was next week and she'd met Perry back in January. It had been nearly a year since they had met and Alex had never been so happy.
"It will be," Perry assured her, even as he put an arm around her slender shoulders giving her a squeeze of affection. "My parents have been wanting to meet you anyway, which is why they have invited us to dinner tomorrow night, so you can meet them before the mob arrives. Once everybody arrives they're not gonna have time to do more than brief introductions. So are you willing to come meet my parents tomorrow night for dinner?" Perry asked giving Alex his best puppy dog look.
"Sure," Alex said caving at the puppy dog look Perry was giving her. She was a little apprehensive at meeting his parents for the first time, as Perry talked about them so affectionately and it was clear he loved them. "I'll have to meet them eventually anyway and it's probably better if I do before Thanksgiving."
"It'll be just my parents and us and probably the Rossis," Perry said. "I have no doubt that they'll fall in love with you, just not in the same way I am."
"I'm looking forward to it," Alex said realizing suddenly that she truly meant that.
"Good, I want you to love my parents as much as I do," Perry said.
"I'm sure that won't be hard to do," Alex said. "They sound like wonderful people. It's clear to me that you had some positive influences growing up, as you turned into a wonderful man. Those influences are usually the parents or at least a close family friend."
"I had plenty of positive influences growing up. Not just my parents but also my aunt and uncle," Perry said.
"I can't wait to meet all of them," Alex said, as she and Perry cuddled on the loveseat.
~~~Perry and Alex~~~
"Welcome," Shonda greeted Perry and Alex at the door.
Perry had driven to Bronxville where his parents lived and saw his aunt and uncle's vehicle already parked on the street so he knew they were there as well. "You must be the Alex that Perry has told Aaron and I so much about."
"Hi, I'm Dr. Alex Blake. It's nice to meet you Mrs. Hotchner," Alex introduced herself politely. Shonda was a lovely woman who didn't look her age Alex thought. There were gray streaks in her red hair but she had very few wrinkles around her eyes or the corners of the mouth. Her green eyes much like her son's were bright with intelligence and humor.
"It's nice to meet you Dr. Blake," Shonda said as she shook Alex's hand politely. "We've heard a lot of good things about you from Perry, so it's really nice to finally put a face to the name. Come on in, everyone's in the den and dinner will be ready momentarily."
"I hope you like ribs, as that's what we're having," Shonda told Alex.
"I love ribs," Alex assured Shonda. "The messier the better."
"A woman after my own heart," Shonda said grinning winking at her son.
"Everyone this is Dr. Alex Blake," Shonda introduced Alex once they had reached the den where everybody was gathered.
"It's nice to meet you Miss Alex," a dark haired man who looked like Perry said rising to his feet and politely shaking Alex's hand. "I am Perry's father, Aaron."
"I figured that already sir, as Perry resembles you more than he resembles your wife," Alex said.
"He's right, Aaron," said a dark-haired woman with mocha skin. The amusement in the woman's tone was clear to Alex.
"So he is," Aaron shot back with twinkling eyes, even as Perry escorted Alex towards the loveseat.
"This is my Uncle Dave and Aunt Jazz," Perry said introducing the other couple.
"It's nice to meet you young lady," Dave said also shaking Alex's hand.
"It's nice to meet you Mr. Rossi," Alex said returning the handshake firmly. "Perry talks about all of you all the time in the most glowing of terms."
"Come, sit down, now that the introductions are over," Shonda said. "There's a little time to get to know each other before dinner will be ready to be served."
"I brought banana pudding for dessert," Jazz said. "I made it fresh just today."
"That's one of my favorites," Alex said now looking forward to dessert. "I wonder who told you it was one of my favorite desserts," Alex added looking at Perry making it obvious she knew who had told his aunt.
"Guilty as charged," Perry admitted with a little smile.
"So Miss Alex, Perry tells us that you teach at a private school," Aaron began.
"That's true I do," Alex said.
"So what do you teach," Dave asked Alex.
"I teach languages, mostly French and Spanish," Alex answered. "I also speak German and a smattering of Italian."
"That's impressive," Jazz commented. "You must really have an ear for languages to speak so many."
"I guess I do, though I never thought about it in those terms," Alex said. "I took French in high school and kept it up when I went to college."
"And how did you speak up Spanish and German?" asked Shonda.
"I had a friend as a child, that was Spanish and she spoke both her native tongue and English and she was kind enough to teach me. I became fairly fluent by the time I went to college and I try to keep in practice. As for the German I dated this professor for awhile who spoke it quite fluently and he taught me. I won't say I was fluent when we broke up but I had a good grounding in it and kept studying it until I was."
"It definitely sounds like you have an ear for languages something that not many people have," Dave said impressed. "I speak Spanish myself, so perhaps you could help me keep in practice, as I don't often get a chance to use it. I'm afraid I'm a lot rusty."
"Be happy to," Alex said. "It'll help keep me in practice."
"You guys can worry about practicing against each other later as dinner is ready," Shonda who had left the room to check on her baby back ribs said from the doorway.
Everybody rose and trooped towards the dining room where they would be eating.
~~~Perry and Alex~~~
"We just serve ourselves," Perry told Alex quietly.
"No droids or human servants?" Alex asked just as quietly. She had figured there would be, as the Hotchners lived in a house that was very elegant and it was clear very expensive, as it was large and had three floors not including the attic. Such a house usually meant the family had either servants or droids and yet the Hotchners had neither. That was strange to her, but it was possible they didn't want their children to grow up dependent on servants for everything and so had done without them. If that was the case that made them unusual and also at least partly explained why Perry had turned out so well.
"No, as we've never needed them," Perry said, even as he went over to where the food was placed and served himself from the offerings. "Get whatever you want and if you eat seconds my mother will love you even more than she already does, as it shows you have a good appetite and aren't afraid to eat as much as your stomach can hold."
Alex got herself a plate off the sideboard and begin to fill it. She took a little of everything, but she wanted to save room for that banana pudding and so didn't want to completely fill up, so she missed out.
When she had got what she felt she could eat and still save room for that pudding she went and sat beside Perry. The table they were sitting at looked like it was made for a much bigger group of people and it probably was Alex thought even as she dug in to her baby back ribs, green beans and rice.
The ribs were so tender they practically fell from the bone and Alex almost groaned at the delicious taste. The barbecue sauce that had been used was nice and tangy and a little sweet, but not too sweet. The ribs were perfect and she would love to have them again sometime. Oh god, if she did marry Perry she was sure that she would get them again and she would probably marry him just so she would.
"Good huh?" Perry asked her quietly while everybody enjoyed their dinners.
"So good," Alex agreed, as she took a bite of her rice.
"Would you like seconds Alex?" Shonda asked.
"I better not, not if I want any of that banana pudding," Alex told Shonda regretfully. "I'm not used to eating so heavily, not even for dinner. I will say this though, you cook a lot better than I do and outpaced my feeble efforts by miles."
"I'll be glad to cook them again sometime," Shonda said with a smile.
"I'll be here when you do," Alex promised. "I don't know how you stay so slim if you eat like this for every meal."
"We exercise of course," Dave told Alex. Dave had been remarkably silent throughout the meal, though it was clear he was enjoying his food.
"If we didn't we would indeed be extremely overweight," Jazz added, as she finished off her ribs. "Especially considering I'm a baker and I definitely sample my own products."
"I've heard from Perry that you're a great baker, so I can't wait to try that banana pudding," Alex said complementing Jazz sincerely.
"If everybody's basically done we'll have that banana pudding in the den where we can all be comfortable," Shonda said.
"I'll get the pudding," Jazz volunteered.
"I'll get the napkins and dessert bowls and silverware," said Shonda.
"I'll help you with that, so you don't have to make two trips," Jazz offered.
"Let's head for the den," Perry said helping Alex out of her chair like the gentleman he had been raised to be.
"We should help," Alex said in mild protest.
"They won't let us help, even if we offered. They would just shoo us away," Perry told her. "We might as well head for the den and wait for them to put the dishes in the dishwashing unit. They would only tell you that your a guest and guests don't help clear the table."
Alex obeyed still thinking she ought to help clear the table, but it wasn't her house so it wasn't her rules.
She and Perry headed for the living room where Aaron and Dave had already disappeared too.
~~~Perry and Alex~~~