"Fill your plate with whatever you want to try first," Damon told Abby quietly, after Aaron told them where the buffet was. "They'll be plenty of food believe me, as most of the family, brings food of some kind. They bring side dishes, main dishes, dessert dishes and everything that involves food."
"I wouldn't mind trying a little of everything, but I doubt I'll have room," Abby said, looking regretful.
"I never have enough room in my stomach to try some of everything so you have to pick and choose," Damon said. "They'll be another buffet tomorrow and some of that will be leftover from today, though they'll be new items too. By the time the holidays are over most everything will have been picked over and consumed. There's usually at least a few items left though."
"It's a good thing we're staying until December 31, then," Abby said, "as that will give me a chance to taste of a variety of different dishes."
"You'll have to tell me which ones you like best and I'll tell you who likely made it," Damon said. "They might even be willing to give me their recipe so I can make it for you and me both. If you really like something, just let me know."
"I will," Abby promised, as she filled her plate with a variety from the different dishes, sitting on one of those long buffet style tables.
"Now we just need to find a place to sit," Damon said as he looked at all the people that was sitting on every piece of available furniture as well as the floor.
"Finding a place to sit is going to be a challenge," Abby laughed, as she looked at all the people in the room where the buffet was and knew that the rest of the house would likely be the same. Damon's family had hundreds of members and the house wasn't that big, so it was no wonder that every possible piece of furniture was being used by one of his siblings or his cousins.
"I'm surprised your parents don't go insane with such a mob in their home," Abby said as she and Damon walked to the house, looking for a place to sit down for a minute. "I certainly would."
"Are you kidding me?" Damon laughed, as the two strolled from room to room, holding their plates of food and also the drinks they had gotten from the drink area. "They love it, love having the company, and seeing their family is just an added bonus. Remember, they're immortal and so throwing these parties for the holidays, just breaks up the monotony. It also allows them to spend time with their children, grandchildren, and so forth."
"I suppose if it was only doing the holidays, Thanksgiving and Christmas," Abby said, "I could put up with having so many people in our house for a few weeks."
"Believe me after a few decades you'll welcome the company," Damon told her with a smile. "You might not think so, but immortality can be a really boring trust me on that. Breaking up, the monotony is very important for people like us. Quiet and solitude are all well and good on occasion, but still, you'll find you crave company other than me and our children if we happen to have any at the time. Not all the time of course just sometimes."
"That's nearly impossible for me to imagine, but I suppose, we'll see if I agree with you, in a few decades," Abby said.
The two of them finally found a place to sit that two other people had just abandoned and sat down before anybody else could claim them. They were just folding chairs and not very comfortable, but then they didn't have to sit in them very long so it didn't really matter. The chairs were the type you could fold up and stuff in a closet when not in use, the kind that you sat in to play cards around the table with your buddies.
They both started eating and listened to the conversations that were going on around them about halfway through their plates when they were approached.
"Hey Damon, I don't think I've met your mate yet," said a voice.
"Shawnda, where's Spencer," Damon asked.
"He's around somewhere," Shawnda said. "He'll turn up. It's not like he can come to harm here in the home of my godparents."
Abby listened to the conversation, then filed any useful information away and when Shawnda said godparents that meant that she was a Rossi not a Hotchner. She did look like her father Dave so she was sure she would've figured it out even without that piece of information. Spencer must be her mate, Abby figured.
"Shawnda, this is my mate Abby Sciuto. Abby, this is Shawnda Rossi Reid, oldest daughter of Uncle Dave and Aunt Jazz.
Ah! She had been right! Abby thought triumphantly in her head.
"It's very nice to meet you Abby," Shawnda said, as she shook Abby's hand, the one that wasn't holding a plate of food
"It's nice to meet you too, Shawnda," Abby looking curious at the name it was so similar to Damon's mother's.
"I've seen that look before," Shawnda laughed lightly. "You're curious about why my name is so similar to Damon's mother's."
"I won't say I'm not," Abby shrugged. "If you don't want to tell me though, that's fine. It's none of my business really."
"It's not like it's a secret," Shawnda said lightly. "I was indeed named after Damon's mother, because I was the first born child of Jazz and Dave and my mother and godmother have been best friends for centuries. Since Shonda's name is so unusual though they had trouble coming up with something similar, but finally managed it just before I was born."
"I suppose, I'm not surprised, they just didn't give you the same one since I can't think of any nicknames for Shonda," Abbey observed.
"Exactly," Shawnda agreed. "There isn't any decent nicknames for my godmother's name which is why my parents had trouble coming up with something similar that still sounded different enough that I would never be confused with Damon's mother."
"The story goes, that mom would've officially killed Jazz if their first girl had been named after her," Damon added. "It's kind of an inside joke, as there's no way my mother would really kill her best friend, but she likes to pretend she would've been so offended at not being named godmother that she would've done exactly that."
"And also, if she hadn't been named the godmother to all my siblings," Shawnda said chuckling.
"Yes, mom is godmother to all of Shawnda's siblings, just as dad is godfather," Damon confirmed smiling, as he finished his plate of food.
"The reverse, is also true," Shawnda said and Damon nodded, as she took a sip of her drink.
"That's rather interesting," Abby said, as she took another bite of the food on her plate that was now sitting on her lap.
"I'm not surprised you think so, because you're new to the family and I'm sure you'll find all the stories that we have to tell fascinating," Shawnda said smiling in a friendly manner. "Most newcomers in the family do, and we just love to retell stories of things that happened to us over the centuries. Besides, who else could all the parties involved possibly name as godparents, as most people don't know that we're different from other families and we're not about to tell them."
"I understand," Abby said. "Stories are a way to pass the time with the added caveat in this case, of them being true, instead of made up or read out of a book. You also have a point about that other thing as I can see why you don't tell most people about your magic or immortality. I am not naïve, and I know the way the world works."
"Exactly," Damon said finishing his plate of food. "I'm heading for a refill if you could save my seat, I would appreciate it," Damon added looking at Shawnda.
"I'll be happy to. It'll give me a chance to get to know Abby a bit better, as we probably won't have much opportunity to talk except at gatherings like this," Shawnda agreed as Damon headed back to the buffet table. "I'll be glad to get off my feet for a few minutes."
"I wouldn't think they would ache considering you're immortal," Abby said.
"It's not so much they're aching, just that I'm tired of standing so sitting down is a boon," Shawnda explained, as she took Damon's chair.
"If you've been on your feet since you got here then I guess I can't blame you for wanting to sit down for a few minutes," Abby said. "How long have you been here?"
"Me and Spencer got here at 9 AM," Shawnda answered. "It is now after 2 PM, so that means I've been on my feet about five hours with no break."
"Then you definitely deserve to sit down for a few minutes," Abby said. "I know I'm not immortal yet, but I stand on my feet for hours at a time at work, so I know that someone can get tired of just standing and unlike you my feet start to ache after a few hours, which is why I make sure I wear comfortable shoes."
"So what do you do for a living?" Shawnda asked.
"I'm a forensic scientist and I work in a lab. I'm often on my feet with no break until the end of my shift," Abby said.
"Well, you and Damon are well matched then, since he's also a forensic scientist, just a slightly different field."
"Yeah, he does cybersecurity," Abby agreed.
"So how did you meet?" Shawnda asked.
"He just happened to bump into me on the sidewalk, literally, as he was distracted," Abby said smiling, as she remembered. "He immediately apologized for nearly spilling my coffee that I was carrying and asked me to dinner. Since he was going to one of my favorite places that was right down the block and I hadn't eaten yet I immediately agreed," Abby explained with a slight smile remembering how she had met Damon. "It just went on from there and while I thought he might be some kind of criminal since our society seems to be filled with them I'm glad we are together now. I now know that he would never become a criminal, but I didn't know anything about him at the time or how unusual he would turn out to be."
"That's some story," Shawnda said, as she finished her drink.
Damon came back just then and Shawnda bid them goodbye saying that they'd see each other sometime over the holiday.
"So you and Shawnda have a good talk?" Damon asked
"Yeah, we did. I'll say, she's an interesting woman and hopefully, we'll forge a friendship, even if we don't see each other that often," Abby said.
"There's no rule that says you two can't get together, even if you live thousands of miles apart and go to the spa for a few days or whatever you decide to do," Damon said. "Spencer and I will miss you while you're gone, but we know you'll return so we'll deal. It will have to wait though, until our bond has had a chance to mature, but in a few years, you'll be able to do stuff like that if you want to."
"That's a rather interesting idea," Abby decided muling it over. "That's for later, though, as it won't happen for a few years anyway, probably at least 10 or so. I think I'll go get me another plate of food though. I'll probably end up skipping dinner, because I'll be too full, but it's so worth it."
"That's what I end up doing when I eat like this," Damon said. "It won't do me any harm and it's only a few times a year."
"I'll have to start doing the same thing," Abby decided, as she went to get herself a second plate of food after asking Damon to save her seat for her.
It was hours later, when Damon and Abby told the elder Hotchners goodbye and that they'd see them tomorrow before they headed back to the hotel.
~~~Damon and Abby~~~
"Boy! I'm exhausted," Abby said.
"I can't really blame you for that," Damon said, as he sat down in a chair in the sitting area of their hotel room while Abby was stretched out on the comfortable couch. "You talked to a lot of different people and ate a crapload of food, so it's no wonder your tired, as you've been standing on your feet for a good portion of the day."
"It feels like I talked to at least 100 different people," Abby said.
"You probably did, even if you didn't have long conversations with them. It was more a chance for you to meet a lot of the family, but not get to really know them," Damon said.
"And that's probably not even half of them," Abby said.
"You're right about that. Considering your parents and godparents have been procreating every few decades for centuries, I would say not," Damon laughed. "That wasn't even a quarter of them."
"Still, I enjoyed every minute of spending time with your family, even if I am tired," Abby said.
"Believe me, I'm tired too. I'm just used to all the noise and people when we have one of these events. You'll get used to it too and then you won't feel even half as tired, but it will take time," Damon said.
"Still, it was so worth it," Abby said, "but compared to my family yours is huge."
"And it's only going get bigger," Damon laughed. "Something, my parents and my godparents don't mind at all and are ecstatic about."
"If you were any other guy, I would think you were pulling my leg about the size of your family, but since I saw all the people at your house less than an hour ago I can't really tell you you're making things up to shock me, now can I?" Abby said.
"Nope, you can't," Damon told her cheerfully, even as his head was resting back on the head rest of the chair he was sitting in.
"I can't believe that was only a quarter of them, as there must've been at least 100 people there and if you count the backyard not to mention all the ones that were on the front lawn I would say there was at least 150 people," Abby said.
"They're probably was and maybe more than that, but I didn't bother to count them," Damon said. "So many of us have found our mates that that just increases the number of family. If you count the children everyone has had, plus adults there was probably at least that many if not more there. Some just come to see my parents and godparents and to fill up on all the delicious food and then leave again, so there were plenty of people that were just in and out and didn't stay for more than half an hour or so."
"So in other words they just didn't mingle and just left after filling up on food and saying hello," Abby said.
"Basically, yes," Damon agreed. "Those people will probably be back when it's less busy, so they can hold an actual conversation with mom and dad. Some of my family just doesn't do that well in crowds, even though they're all related and prefer to be around as few people as possible."
"They're introverts," Abby said.
"I wouldn't go that far, just that like some humans, they don't like crowds or the noise they can produce, even though their family," Damon said. "They talk to people and hold down a regular job, but it probably is one where there isn't a lot of people in one room where they work. Like they have their own separate offices or something like that."
"So not exactly introverts, just don't like crowds and a ton of noise," Abby said.
"That's a better description," Damon agreed. "They can't get headaches or migraines or anything like that, so that's not the reason they don't like a lot of noise of crowds. My sister Minerva, for example, is a seer, so she doesn't really like crowds for that reason as being among them can send her into a full-blown vision. When she goes into one while she's awake, her eyes roll back in her head and people think she's having some kind of an attack and then they call 911."
"Wow! I've just learned something new," Abby said. "I had no idea that seers existed, but I suppose, if you can change your appearance and your mother is a telepath that it makes sense that some of your other family would have other talents."
"She's the only one among of us, except her children who got that particular talent," Damon said, "and so far there's only a few of them that got that ability."
"I would think that would be a rather troublesome talent to have," Abby said.
"It can be, though they mostly come when she's sleeping, but sometimes they come when she is awake as well," Damon agreed. "You know the reason she doesn't like crowds, is that she can go into a full-blown vision if someone brushes up against her, so it's not really fear of being amongst a lot of people, just of what can happen when she's in one."
"I guess I can see why your sister doesn't like being in crowd then," Abby said thoughtfully. "So you mentioned something about her children getting the gene."
"That's right, about one per generation got that particular gene," Damon said.
"I'm surprised that so many of her children got the gene since she is the only one in your family that did," Abby said.
"It's not really that surprising at all," Damon said. "It's a matter of simple genetics. The gene would simply be more dominant in the Gideon branch of the family. After all, you have to remember that a lot of Shonda's children got her telepathy."
"What's the percentage?" Abby asked.
"About 80% though I might be a little off in that estimate," Damon said.
"Wow! That's a whole heck of a lot of people considering how many children your parents have had," Abby whistled.
"Yes, it is," Damon said in an amused tone at Abby's amazement.
"So, I suppose, that being able to shapeshift also runs through the family line," Abby said.
"Yes, it does, though it's more of a recessive gene than a dominant one," Damon agreed with a shrugged.
"So are you the only one that got the shapeshift gene and can you change just your face or your whole body?" Abby asked her curiosity plain to see on her face and in her tone of voice.
"Yes, I'm the only one at least so far that has gotten that particular ability," Damon agreed. "As for children at least some of them will likely get my ability, but they also might get my mom's telepathy or the ability to see the future, because as you know, all of the above run through our family genetics."
"This is all so fascinating," Abby said yawning a little. "I have so much to learn about immortality and magic."
"You'll get there and as you'll be learning about both for decades to come, so there's no rush. Let's go to bed and we can discuss it more in the morning when we're rested," Damon said seeing how tired his mate was
"It's still fairly early, but you're right, considering where we just came from I suppose, I'm more tired than I normally would be at this time of day," Abby agreed without arguing.
"You'll get used to family gatherings and you won't be so tired afterwards once you do, but since this was your first, it's no wonder you're exhausted," Damon said.
Both Damon and Abby rose from where they were sitting or in Abby's case laying down and headed into the bedroom to get ready for bed.
~~~Damon and Abby~~~