Fan Fiction ❯ Almost An Angel ❯ Meet the Family ( Chapter 3 )

I took Michael to his house the night after I first brought him home with me. He stayed inside the building just long enough to pack a bag with enough clothes to last him a few weeks, then came running back out to my car. The entire way back he was worried about how my family would react; I insisted that it would be fine.

I told Mom and Dad a little piece of the truth: that Michael was having some major 'family troubles' at home, and needed a place to stay for a while. They were sympathetic, especially Mom, and said he could stay as long as he needed to. We were hanging out in my room for just a few hours before my parents burst in, grinning widely, and cheerfully moved him into the freshly cleaned and slightly-redecorated guest-room. Michael was grateful but embarrassed; I was just plain happy.

Come on, what do you expect from me? "I was pleased that my mother and father grasped enough of the situation to allow my acquaintance to abide in our residence, trusting him in full… As for myself, I was excited at the chance to begin a new friendship. With only chaste thoughts in mind I quickly set about winning his trust, his friendly sentiments and fond thoughts. Not once did even the briefest of impure thoughts about this frail boy of shattered soul cross my mind…"

I don't think so! That's poetic, and pretty, but really far from the truth in certain areas. I'm sorry, but I'm a teenage guy. That comes complete with the occasional burst of acne, a lack of common sense, and, of course, a body full of raging hormones that never rest. Pretty, pure, and shining? No. True? Yes. My thoughts were more like this like this:

"Yeah! They're letting him stay for a while! This is great! Hey… I wonder if that means he'll stay in my room… That could be fun… Davis, what are you thinking?!? His mind's screwed up and stuff right now, leave him alone! But I can still sneak a few peeks at him… Damn! That's right, leave it up to Mom and Dad to screw my plans up, even though they mean well… Oh well. It's okay. At least I'll have a chance to finally try and be friends with him, we'll see what happens after that…"

That sounds just about right… Throw in a few random mental images of him posing in scanty clothing, or taking a shower, or laying on my bed, covered only by a strategically placed pillow or two, and you've got a perfect account of what I was thinking.

Anyway… The day after I brought Michael home with me, he got to eat dinner with my entire family, including Esther, who had come back from her friend's house. It was pretty funny, if you ask me. Here's what happened.

* * *

"Davis! It's time for dinner! Come down to eat, and make sure you bring that new friend of yours!" my mom called up the stairs.

"We'll be right down!" I yelled back, sticking my head into the hallway. "Are the brats already downstairs?"

"Esther and Jason are, but Sara isn't. Would you mind getting her on your way down? Oh, and make sure she washes her hands!"

I rolled my eyes, but smiled. "Sure thing, Mom!"

I was about to go get Sara when Mom realized what I'd just said and called after me, "And don't call them brats!"

Michael looked up at me curiously. "Time to eat?" he asked. I nodded.

"Yeah, but we have to get Sara into the bathroom, wash her hands, and drag her downstairs before we can do any actual eating."

"You make that sound like such a hard thing. She's five years old, right? How hard can it be?"

I shook my head and chuckled. That was funny. "That's right, you've never met Sara, have you? Well… She can be… Difficult, I guess you could say. She's… Well, you'll see for yourself in a few seconds. Come on, I'll show you."

He looked confused, but followed me out of my room anyway. We headed down the hall and reached Sara's room in a few quick seconds. I knocked once on the door, then let myself in without waiting for a reply. Come on, she was five years old! What five-year-old needs privacy?

"Come on, kiddo. Let's go. Time to wash your hands and eat supper." I announced, walking over to her large bed. It was covered in every shade of blue and green possible, and lots of cute stuffed animals were scattered across it.

"Dun wanna." Sara mumbled, scooting to the middle of her bed. She was reading a book. Yeah, it was just a Doctor Seuss book, but still… I just don't see why some people like reading so much. I mean, Sara's only five; she should be outside playing all the time, or running through the house screaming! You know, something normal.

"Hello, Sara." Michael said, stepping forward and pausing at the edge of the bed. "My name's Michael. I'm your brother's friend." He smiled, and I almost melted. Not even my weird little sister would be able to resist him, I was just sure of it.

"What do you want?" she asked suspiciously, looking up at him shyly. "You're not going to steal my books, are you?" Michael turned his head to glare at me, and I shrugged apologetically. Is it my fault that some of the guys that hung out at my house didn't like my sister's constant reading any more than I do?

"I'm not going to steal your books. Why would I? I love to read too, you know." He pretended to go deep into thought for a few moments (or at least, I think he was pretending…) then suggested, "I'll tell you what. If you come with me to wash up and go eat dinner, I'll tell you a bedtime story tonight."

Sara laid her book down on the bed and edged a little bit closer to Michael, but still didn't look quite convinced. "What story?" she asked. "Not one I've heard before. I've heard a lot of stories."

Michael grinned. "Don't worry, I don't think you've ever heard this one before… Have you ever heard about a lady named Kerowyn? She fought with a sword, and had beautiful red-blonde hair."

Sara shook her head, letting Michael know that no, she hadn't ever head of the woman. Her eyes and face were practically glowing with excitement and happiness. "Would you tell me about her?" she begged, standing up on her bed.

Michael nodded, and she held her arms out to him to be picked up. He hefted her onto his shoulders, then turned to me. "Okay, let's go to the bathroom. She'll wash up now, and we can go eat. Right, Sara?"

"Yup!"

* * *

"Oh, Michael! You've got Sara down, and without any crying or screaming! How wonderful!" Mom exclaimed when we walked into the dining room. Sara was still on Michael's shoulders. "You know, I don't think I've ever seen my little baby take to anyone quite so quickly before." She smiled broadly, looking at Michael and Sara.

Michael blushed at the compliment. I blushed because that statement would be true even if I was the mentioned 'baby'. I was just glad that Michael hadn't seen me blush like that. Forget that, I was glad that Mom hadn't seen me blush! Yeah, that wouldn't have been suspicious in the least!

"Thanks, Mrs. Brown," he said quietly, smiling at her. She got all happy looking, and walked back into the kitchen exclaiming to herself over "What a charming young man his friend is, so polite, and handsome too!" Michael went from pink to bright red, a fact which made me chuckle.

Esther and Jason were already at their seats at the table. Dad wasn't in the room yet, but a sound upstairs let me know that he would be down any moment now. We only had six chairs at the table; there was room for more, but we would have to get something for Michael to sit on.

"Hey, Jason!" I said, looking at my kid brother. He glared up at me. "Go make yourself useful and get my friend here a chair." He looked like he was about to argue, but then stopped and quickly moved to do as I ordered. At first I thought it was my death-glare, but then, seeing the smile on Michael's face, I wasn't so sure anymore. I know that I definitely wouldn't have been able to resist that face, and Mom, Dad, and Sara hadn't been able to either, so…

Jason came back in record time, wheeling a computer desk chair from the downstairs study in front of him. Michael smiled and gently placed Sara on the floor; she walked over to her own chair and sat down like a good little girl.

"Thank you, Jason," Michael said, looking at my little brother with a grin as he sat down. Jason grinned and nodded, then went back to his place, but didn't sit down.

Just then, my mother swept out of the kitchen, carrying a large pot of steaming beef and vegetable soup. "Okay, dears… Time to--Fred! Get downstairs right now, you're going to make the soup cold if we have to wait on you any longer!" she said, shouting at the end. Her demand was answered by the sound of my dad running downstairs.

"I'm sorry, dear! I was finishing up a rough draft… Nevermind." He shook his head, then took on a more charming tone of voice. "That soup smells wonderful, Virginia." He quickly moved to his seat at the head of the table and sat down; Jason and I followed his example.

Mom placed the soup on the table, then sat down at her own chair. "Now, we'll all serve ourselves. Guests first," she looked at Michael, "then one of you get some for Sara. Come along, I want Davis to properly introduce his new friend as soon as possible."

Everyone lunged for the food at once, but Mom hit away over-eager hands with her own spoon, glaring at everyone. Apparently changing her mind about the 'everyone serves themselves' thing, she gave Michael spoon after spoon of soup, so much that he could barely put his bowl down without spilling some onto the clean white tablecloth. Then she halfway filled Sara's soup mug.

Giving us all another warning glare for good measure, Mom put the serving spoon back into the pot and sat back, waiting for us to all serve ourselves and start eating before taking her own portion.

"Now that everyone has something to eat, why don't you tell us who your friend is, Davis dear?" she suggested, calmly taking a sip of her steaming broth.

I smiled and nodded. "Mom, Dad, brats, this is my friend, Michael Saint. Michael, these are my parents, Virginia and Fred, my little brother, Jason, and my little sisters, Esther and Sara." Everyone but Esther had already met him, but I knew that my parents were sticklers for making things like this 'official.'

"Nice to meet you all. Thank you very much for opening your house to me and having me over on such short notice, without having even truly met me before," Michael said, blushing as he smiled shyly.

It took me a very long time to get used to Michael's speech patterns. They were completely different from anything I'd ever heard before; it's like they just don't fit in with the time period we lived in.

"Well, I can assure you, dear, it's an absolute pleasure to meet a friend of my son's who is so well mannered and obviously… I guess that I could say… knowledgeable? I'm certainly not going to object to such a… change in pace, as the case may be." I wasn't really sure what she was talking about; in fact, I think that Michael, and maybe dad, were the only ones at the table besides her that did.

My father nodded. "I have to agree this time. You are a lot more polite than most of Davis' other friends, so I'd like to think that we're all willing to give you a try." He grinned, and Michael returned the expression.

Jason and Esther didn't say anything, though Jason still had that big grin on his face. Esther, however, was looking shyly at Michael out of the corners of her eyes, looking like there was something she wanted to say, but was too scared or nervous, or maybe just too shy, to do so.

Dinner went really well after that. Jason chatted a little with Michael about video games, Mom about books, Dad about some weird computer program-or maybe it was programming-Esther stared at him without saying anything, and Sara reminded him quietly of his promise to her from earlier. I still don't know how, but Michael managed to know enough about the interests of all the others to satisfy them, which he did easily. Like, scary-easy.

All in all, the whole meal made me pretty happy, my family just as much so, and Michael… Well, he looked like the cat that got the cream and the cat-food, which made him pretty damn happy looking.