going circles

In the corner of his eyes, he had spotted the sales clerk eyeing them (not in a judge-y way, but in a way that said ‘aw, customers’), so Hunter kissed Sofia one last time before whispering. “We gotta escape the sales lady.” Then he took her hand and began  walking, “Maybe we should check out the baby bottles or are you planning on having our baby breastfed?” He looked over her and smiled. “We hadn’t talked about that yet, huh?”

It made her feel so vulnerable, feeling the way she did even with the little reassurances she’d picked up on. Maybe she would ask him what he saw in the future for them. Yet, Sofia was too nervous. Even with the anxiety of meeting his family totally gone, she was still keeping something from him. That was getting harder and harder to hide. From the way she’d turned down the wine which had received many jokes in return to the silence that fell as they left the table, her hand clinging to his like if he let go she might slip away. Her thoughts were so stuck on the secret that she didn’t understand who he meant, just going along with it and fixing her dress.

“Just let me show you.” He then took step by step gingerly. He was somehow worried that she would notice the shift of mood in him. He just hadn’t talked about them as much to anybody, not even to his brother, it was such a sensitive topic for him to tackle about, but he intended to let Sofia be introduced to his family, and family was still family even if they were six feet under them already, especially that without them he wouldn’t be there. He had turned to the left hallway, a place he hadn’t went to for a long time since every picture frame he passed by reminded him of how much loss he had. Now it wasn’t as painful as before, nonetheless still painful. It was almost bearable. 

Then he stopped on his tracks and he turned to face the wall where the huge picture frame was hanged on, it featured an eight year old version of him with his mother, father, and his younger brother, they all looked so formal. He couldn’t even remember as much, but they were all smiling. His father seemed so happy with the way his eyes crinkled, they were blue, piercing blue. Then his mother looked so perfect, she didn’t even look like a mother of two, she was looking at his father in this loving way, like he was her universe. It made him wonder if it would be so disgustingly sweet to look at them still so in love if they were still with them. Probably. Meanwhile, he was looking straight into the camera, an awkward smile on his face, his hair was pushed back with the help of a hair gel, some of it though, were left curling on the sides; he was holding Ben’s little hand. “That’s me.” He pointed out, he was trying to start slow, but she probably had figured it out. “And Ben...” Then the next words had gotten caught up in his throat. 

Love wasn’t a word Sofia threw around (except for when she spoke about food or songs she liked.) It meant a lot to her, ingrained as this thing beyond her grasp until now as she felt Hunter tense beside her. She’d told herself a number of times that she was falling for Hunter, but to her that was very different than how she felt now. They may sound the same, yet in her head she felt that it was so much stronger. Falling in love with Hunter Stein. It sat so well in her thoughts that her stomach fluttered. “Honestly, I feel very lucky that no one snatched him up before now. He’s pretty great.” Aunt Tina made Sofia crack a grin, “Childbearing hips too, as my mom says.” It felt lighthearted. What she was saying was actually almost too real for Sofia. It made her wonder if she really could be a good mother, since that was happening right now inside of her.

The tenseness left her once she finally got to meet the man she had admired without even having met him before. He seemed like the pinnacle of everything and somehow Sofi felt more calmed than intimidated as they approached. “Yes, Happy Birthday,” she chimed, along with Hunter. It was so grounding and sweet to hear that someone spoke of you to people who mattered in their lives. The way she looked at Hunter as he blushed made how it made her feel very obvious, to not only Hunter, but everyone who still had eyes on them. Wrapping her arms carefully around him, she couldn’t help but grin like an idiot. “Thank you so much. That really means a lot,” she spoke kindly as she pulled back, taking Hunter’s hand almost immediately as they continued their conversation. 

Just as things were getting interested, Sofia felt a small tug on her coat. Looking down, she saw Katelyn who so clearly wanted to steal her away from the way she tugged her hand. Her childish voice made her smile, pulling Hunters hand to her lips to press a kiss before she let go. “Is there somewhere I can put my coat before I overheat hanging out with this little angel?” she laughed. Feeling herself being dragged a little while she tried to escape from her winter jacket and reveal the dress she’d searched for just for this night. Once it was off, she was away. Missing having Hunter by her side but having a stupid amount of fun with this little girl she was so fond of. Sof couldn’t help but think that her thoughts were being brought on much faster than she’d thought. Whitney had once told Sofia that she couldn’t stay with anyone that she couldn’t see a future with and now she understood it. Hunter was someone that, even if it was early on, she could see that with. She could picture growing old and watching each other as they did. Sofi, who typically thought of aging as a bad thing, never thought wrinkles and greying hair sounded more appealing.

It maybe be crazy to think that way, especially that their relationship hadn’t lasted for a month yet. It seemed fast paced, but if there was one thing Hunter was quite sure of, it was what he felt for her, although he wasn’t quite sure of what it was exactly. He felt it in every part of him, how strong the feeling was; he realized that as time passed by and as they moved forward, it grew stronger and stronger that it made him fear of the what ifs that may suddenly enter their relationship without their permission. The what ifs, the inevitable, oh the inevitable what ifs; they all scared the living crap out of him---to consider they were unfathomable---that he wished, hoped, and prayed that he would have all the courage to stay away from those (the negative possibilities). Then again things were out of his control, he hadn’t had any idea what may come tomorrow and so on, all he could do was hold on to this for as long as it may last and cherish everything that was still there. He just had to have a good grip on everything, like with the way he gripped Sofia’s coat in his hand.

She might had moved away from his side, and he had hung the coat on a rack, but her scent lingered on. And the smile she brought to his lips remained where it was supposed to be. Although he was dragged by some, half of his attention still belonged to Sofia, he couldn’t help it, no matter how much he put effort on concentrating on whatever conversation he was currently having with somebody it still wouldn’t be enough, since he still caved in to the urge of looking at the wonder that he now call his girlfriend. She was way more distracting than usual especially with Katelyn by her side. His thoughts keep on straying to the future: would she be as good as with her children, and would her children be his as well? His heart ached, it ached for the idea of them lasting longer. He was so distracted by these thoughts that he kept on getting teased by anybody he was having conversation with. And all of the teasing actually got him tongue-tied and how he just wanted to wipe off those knowing looks they had on their faces when they do. It was as if they know something he didn’t, and it was as if they were right with their presumptions, then in a snap, it had gotten into Hunter.

 Possibly they were right, possibly, and if they were; he shouldn’t. It was too early. And if they were, and if he felt it, he couldn’t say it to her, not ever, not until it was actually a logical time to profess. He couldn’t afford to scare her. He may had started caring for her way before, he may had noticed her before she even actually noticed him, he may had thought he had liked every idea of her; but he was still knowing her, everything about her, it was too early for anything. The last thing he wanted was to burden her of knowing when it wasn’t still mutual. And Hunter couldn’t afford being assumptive when it came to these things. His family were not really helping with that, they made him hope so much, since they really liked her, they probably even liked her way more than they liked him. Yet another reason for his smile to get wider.

At some point he thought that his jaw and cheeks were going to get the rest they deserved since it just hurt smiling for so long, but then dinner came and he was reunited with her and that smile just came back in an instant. His heart beat started moving faster and he felt so intoxicated of her, all she really had to do was be beside him. He would never get over this kind of high, the Sofia Amin high. He was addicted to it. “Uh---” He started, but he was a little distracted and he couldn’t form coherent words, he was being such a fool. “Yeah...thanks. And you’re important to me, you deserve to meet the people who are equally important in my life.” He was so consumed in the little bubble that they were in that he stole a chaste kiss from her lips, he interlaced their hands together and put his attention to the rest of the occupants of the whole table. Different conversations went on the whole dinner, and unfortunately he hadn’t dodged talks like ‘are you finally going to give gramps’ a great granddaughter?’ or ‘she really has good genes ’ and some of those were accompanied with eyebrow wiggling. He bet even if the wine wasn’t getting into their heads, they would still embarrass him. He’d jump to saying, “Don’t scare her, it’ll come.” And acted cool and collected, although it was pretty obvious he was panicking in the inside. He just really didn’t want to scare her off with things like that.

“We’re here!” Keira mused excitedly as she moved to greet everybody with hugs. There were about seven people in the room (not including them). His gramps, his two uncles and their wives, then his two aunts, the other one widowed, the other divorced; his cousins and Ben were probably inside the rec. room, no matter how old they get it was still their favorite place to be. Now that Keira was done with her greetings and was beside her father, everybody’s eyes shifted on him and Sofia and little Katelyn who was still holding Sofi’s hands. He had taken in a deep breath and put his hand on the small of Sofi’s back, as they all witnessed that little gesture, a smile was put upon their faces, especially with his aunts. They all looked at him expectantly, and he felt like he was on stage. It was such a pressure, especially when they weren’t saying anything, he had caught his Aunt Gemma’s eyes though, urging him to go on. At least he felt the support.

It made him smile, “Everybody, this is Sofia—” He shifted his gaze from them to her, and suddenly his eyes were full of adoration and love. “—Sofia, this is, well, everybody.” He tore his gaze away from her, there was a hint of reluctance in there. He just wanted to look at her the whole time. He was about to introduce them one by one, but his Uncle Dorian just had to make a hilarious comment.

“We were starting to worry you weren’t serious about anybody, Gav.” His uncle said with a chuckle and god how Hunter cringed as they used their nickname for him. Way before, his heart always hurt whenever he heard them used that. They all called his father ‘Vin’ short for Gavin, and he was named after his father, hence the nickname 'Gav’. The nickname was just one of the things that reminded him of his father, Hunter had gone numb at that point now that it didn’t hurt as much hearing it. Anyhow he still had laughed at the statement.

“I am, and here she is.” He looked at her once again and he couldn’t help himself, he just had to kiss her on the temple before he introduced them to her. He started with Uncle Dorian, since he was the first one to speak, he made a joke about how Sofia shouldn’t be fooled with the heartbreaker rockstar look Hunter—or Gav, he used the nickname still—had since he was just a true loser in the inside, and that acquired a nudge from his wife, Aunt Lila. She was sweet and warm, even silent, the total opposite of his uncle, she moved closer to them to give Sofia a welcoming hug. It kind of looked cute since Sofia was way taller than his aunt Lila. Then they moved on to his Aunt Jane, the widowed one, she looked so caring and gentle, a genuine smile plastered on her face and it was as if she was looking at one of her own daughters as she looked at Sofia. She told Sofia how beautiful she was and that how lucky Hunter must be to have her, before letting them go, she gave a hug to Sofia then pinched Hunter’s cheek as if he was still the little boy she took care of at some days. Then there was his Aunt Gemma, who gave Sofia a hug before anything else, and said, “hun, if he’s going to mess up and make you cry out of sadness, tell me, and I’m going to whoop his ass” she had that same humor his Uncle Dorian had, maybe a little intense than he was. She left a punch on Hunter’s stomach and he just laughed and made his pecs move in a dance saying, “You can’t touch this, Gem.”

Now Hunter took a deep breath as he turned towards the direction of his Uncle Gustav, the twin brother of his father, the father of Keira, the grandfather of Katelyn, the man who tried his best to be a father to Hunter; and his teen-angst bullshit self hated this man because in every aspect of it, he reminded Hunter of his father. Hunter could easily be seen as this man’s son in all honesty, just with the way Hunter looked like the man, for pete’s sake they were almost the same height, but Gustav was taller than an inch. “Son,” He began with that paternal smile on his face and it was messing up with Hunter’s emotion. This all felt like he was introducing Sofia to his actual father. It was so surreal.

“Pops,” Hunter smiled, he actually called his Uncle that, he couldn’t remember why but he did. “This is Sofia…”

“The woman you love?” He said all in a joking manner, but it made Hunter froze that he didn’t respond after that. Gustav took the matters in his hand and smiled warmly at Sofia. “I’m really glad to meet you, we were excited about this, especially when you’re the first ever girl this bastard bring here.” He said, putting his hand behind Hunter’s neck, all smiling. He then introduced his wife to her, Aunt Tina, she smiled at Sofia and started talking about how Katelyn already seemed too attached to her, telling that Sofia, by the looks of it, were great with kids that she said, “Gotta keep her, son.” To Hunter.

And now, this was it, he was finally going to introduce Sofia to his gramps. For somebody who was as old as his gramps, he seemed fit and healthy, still standing tall and having those muscles on him. After all their family was quite athletic. “Happy Birthday, Gramps.” Hunter started.

“Thank you, still got another year to live.” He smiled and his aging eyes shifted to Sofia, “Hunter can never stop talking about you.”

“I do not!” Hunter blushed, feeling like a kid at that moment.

He focused his eyes on Katelyn again, there was confusion in her eyes for a moment, but then she suddenly looked like she had gotten it all figured out. “You’re both, Sofi-ah.” Katelyn giggled and hid her face on Hunter’s shoulder, seeming like it was where she wanted to be the rest of her life. Hunter then started to continue to walk towards the door of the house, “C’mon,” he said to the two girls. “It’s getting chilly here.”

Keira then lead the way and as she did, Hunter reached out for Sofia’s hand. He then moved and kissed her on the temple, “You’re doing really great, baby, you’ll strut this whole thing.” He whispered encouragingly and when he looked ahead, he saw Keira smiling at them as she opened the door. He held it open for them and got inside himself, he then crouched and put Katelyn down. He then watched as his niece giggled and ran towards Sofia to take her hand. And all he could really do was was watch them with so much adoration in his eyes.

I’m pregnant, Hunter – Hunter, I’m pregnant – It’s yours – I’m having your baby, what do you think we should do?

This dinner was going to be the start of something. Of something wonderful or the start of the end. She hoped with all her heart for the former. The horn made her jump, so on edge about this night that she was easily startled by it. She leant herself forward and smiled over at the stranger, glad to put a windblown face to a name. The whole thing unfolded so fast that Sofia couldn’t really react, giving a limp wave as the sped off. “One down,” she parrotted, squeezing his hand and laughing along with him. His laugh had become her favorite sound; when it was true, it sounded more beautiful than any song or sound. When she eyed the gate with the car they’d just seen, her heart began to pound so hard that she thought it might jump from her ribcage and roll all the way back to her apartment - it was terrifying. His admission both helped to ease her and frighten her. They were in the same situation.

“Honestly, I’m more worried of them embarrassing me to you.” He cracked a grin and kissed her on the forehead. And then he began to wonder what if his father was here, what if his mother was here; he hadn’t remembered much of them anymore, but he was very sure his mother would love Sofia. In the first place they all said Hunter’s got his mother’s heart. His mother gave him his gentle side, something no one ever expected of him. He was thanking her for that, without it Sofia probably wouldn’t even think of liking him. No one can consider liking a monster that really doesn’t have a gentle side.

Taking her hand, he took her hand and sighed in that contended way. They could do this, he knew of it. “It’s time.” He said and then he locked the car and started making his way towards the door of the house, dragging Sofia with him. As they passed by the fountain placed in front of the house, he had stopped as he saw a little girl running her way towards him. Katelyn. He loved this girl so much. He let go of Sofia’s hand and crouched down and welcomed his niece in his arms, then engulfed her in a hug. “Katie,” He smiled and then looked up at Sofia.

“Hunty!” The little girl exclaimed as she pulled out of the hug. “I miss you so much. Where were you?” She pouted and that made him laugh.

He scooped her up in his arm and stood up, he then took Sofia’s hand. “I missed you too. I was busy, but I’m here now.” He then looked at the side as he heard the clicking of heels. It was Keira, Katelyn’s mom. She was approaching them.

“Looks like all my advice to Hunter worked, huh?” The petite girl asked, her eyes on Sofia. “I’m Keira, Hunter’s sister...” She joked, “I’m kidding, we’re just cousins. We’re always mistaken as siblings though. Anyway, I’m so happy to finally meet you!” Ah, Keira was always so enthusiastic and a hugger, so it wasn’t much of a surprise as he saw her gave Sofia a hug.

And he just stood there watching them, all of his worries washing away. This was going to go so smoothly. “Who’s the pretty lady, Hunty?” He heard his niece whisper and that definitely made him smile again.

“Oh, the pretty lady, that’s my girlfriend, Sofia.” He said loud enough for the two other girls to hear. “Do you want me to introduce you to her?” He asked and Katelyn nodded shyly. He looked at Sofia, then his gaze momentarily met Keira’s before he put his attention to the child in his arm. “Well, Katelyn, this is Sofia; Sofia, this is Katelyn---the infamous Katelyn.” 

Sofia’s brow furrowed as he spoke about what had happened. Even though she didn’t particularly like hearing him talk about being with another girl, her heart hurt for him. Sofia was so torn about whether Hunters Gramps would like her. She kept hoping they’d be friends, but Hunter saying that he might not’ve liked someone else made her second guess herself. Suddenly it sprung back to her, Hunter’s grandfather would be the great-grandfather to this child just at its beginnings. Ben would be it’s uncle. His family would be it’s family. What would she do if they didn’t like her? The family to this maybe child hating her. “So, we’re both having a bit of a first right now?” The idea eased her, 

Often, Sofia forgot that Hunter had liked her before all of this. Never did she really think about people liking her. It didn’t seem realistic. Yet, he was sitting right there, the realest thing. She supposed there was a security in that. He had feelings for her, he liked her and hopefully that meant she wasn’t falling for someone who wasn’t doing the same thing. “Hunter, that’s so sweet,” she cooed, laughing just a little. “I just have to be myself right and just hope that I will get chummy with Gramps,” Sofi reassured herself, somewhat hesitantly as she looked down at her dress and wondered if it was a little too booby? Had they gotten bigger? She was sure it was just her mind playing tricks on her, surely that wouldn’t be happening yet. “I just like you so much, Hunt. I want this to go well,” she admitted, clenching her jaw.

He was fine with this though, he was more than fine with what he was feeling for this girl this time. She was feeling something for him and that was enough, it was a spark that was enough to keep him going. He just wanted to hold onto this. He wanted to tell her that but he couldn’t find the right words, so instead of saying anything he just took the hand that was on his thigh and interlaced it with his hands. It was symbolic, right? He then dragged it closer to his lips and left a soft kiss on it. “You’re going to be fine.” He murmured against her lips and focused his eyes on the road. As they were getting closer to his gramps’s place, the fewer cars that were there on the road, so he had sped up a bit. And then a car were on the other side and was honking.

He didn’t want to bother, but it kept on honking so he looked at the side and was so surprised to see Keira rolling down the window. He almost laughed, he rolled down his own window.

“Hey loser,” his cousin said and then gasped as if she just saw someone really important. “Oh my god, Hunter---”

“I’m fucking driving, K, and you have your kid with you.” He said, looking back at the road.

“Please, I’m not driving, but is that Sof---” She got interrupted by something inside of her own car.

Hunter just laughed, “Focus on your baby, Keira!”

“Katelyn, behave.” He could hear his cousin say although the wind was roaring in his ears. “Hunter!” He turned around to look at her again. “Say hi to your girlfriend, for me, will you?” She smiled and then waved at Sofia, assuming the other girl would see. “Bye!”

Then he watched the other’s car zoom forward, ahead of them. He rolled back his window and glanced at Sofia. “So, that’s one down.” He laughed and slowered down as they had neared the gate. Keira’s car was in front of them, entering through the gate and that was when nerves hit him. “Fuck, I’m suddenly nervous.” He laughed off and hit the gas slowly as they finally entered the place. He looked at the bunch of cars parked in front of the mansion and he found a nice spot, and parked there. He let the engine die out and he looked at his girlfriend, once again. “You ready?” He asked her with a small on his lips.

Hunter was good at this, calming her. A true smile on her lips as she watched him walk around his car then she got in. This car was becoming something of a familiar place. Although hers was in the same parking garage and really not that for from his, she liked driving with him in his car. It felt so nice, hand on his thigh and nice music just quiet enough to talk over. But Sofia wasn’t talking. Concentrating on her breathing as her gaze moved from his face on the road, to her flat stomach, to the city moving past outside the window. No matter how hard she tried, she kept making excuses to reassure herself that now wasn’t the time. Would there ever be a right time to tell him? As she looked at him, her emotions got caught at the back of her throat. So much she wanted to say, but she couldn’t. “I’m shaking,” she covered her ready to speak lips with that, despite him probably being aware with the way her hands shifted on his leg. “I’ve-” She sighed, changing what she was about to say as she started, “I’ve never met someones family before.”

This is Sofia. My girlfriend. Hey, uh, this is---

His thoughts were interrupted as he finally heard her voice, he glanced at her and then put his attention back on the road. “Really?” He asked her with a smile on his face. So this was her first. It explained the anxiousness from her. Anyhow he felt special that his family was the first family she’d meet, maybe there were the times she had met Whit’s mother or something, but still, he thought that this was special. He promised himself that it would be great for her, he wanted her to enjoy her time with his family especially now that he had known of that. “I hope this one will be great for you. The first time I met someone’s family, it was shit.” He said and then he wondered if that was a good idea, so he added. “The dinner wasn’t shit or anything, it was actually good. It’s just that I hated her family’s behavior, subtle and all but I saw through their bullshit; they were the worst family one could ever meet. I was being a good guy, really, they found out about something---well, since I told her about it, it was big deal to me and she told her parents and they made her break-up with me.” He laughed a bit as he recalled his first girlfriend, “Good thing she did though, Gramps would probably hate her anyway.” He glanced at her for a moment. “You know, I didn’t...” He cleared his throat, “I didn’t really bring someone to meet them before, like the idea just didn’t come to me.” He looked at the road, and then turned into a certain direction. “I mean Gramps basically know the idea of you because Ben kept on bringing up how I’m like a middle school kid who has a crush on someone way before we even happened. So I said to myself, hey if I actually manage to get this girl, I’ll bring her home to like maybe show her off to my cousins, and make her meet gramps so they’ll get chummy.” He said, trying to make a joke out of the truth.

It was ironic, the pregnant pause she left with her silence. Ironic too was the fact she was sweating, clammy hands avoiding contact as she got to her feet when he kissed her. Could she stand to lose this before it’s time? She saw them as so full of potential to be something extraordinary. Her heart pounded when she finally gave him a smile. “Yeah,” she let out a stressed sigh and shook her out when she reached for her bag, “let’s go.” Sofi’s hand reached for his, pulling him towards her almost clumsily and kissing him full on the mouth with enough passion that she could feel a shiver down her spine, free hand finding the back of his hair. “What if they don’t?” She started distracting herself again with questions about the night, they were true concerns and somehow meant more than one thing, but still a distraction. Indeed, what if they didn’t like her? What then? What if her relationship with Hunter was fine once she told him but his family resented it. It was so obvious how much they mean to him. “Will I be on the next train to ex-land?” Her tone was playful, despite her hand shaking as she held his and moved towards the door.

He sighed and said: “Not on my account.”

He reached for the door knob and twisted it to opened the door, he let her out first before he had gotten out himself and locked the door. He looked at her again and thought about the reassuring things that he could say to her. And he began to wonder how his family would even hate Sofia, he literally couldn’t think of one reason why they would hate her. Perhaps he was being biased because he was totally head over heels for this woman. “Stop worrying, Gramps is totally so excited to meet you. Ben is very fond of you. Seriously, if my grandpa and my brother are excited to have you with us then the rest definitely are excited as well.” He said, trying his best to reassure her. He then kissed her on her temple before he made his way down the stairs; the faster they leave and get there, the faster Sofia’s anxiety over meeting his family would go away. At least that was what Hunter thought.

Passing by a neighbor of theirs that Hunter always played Basketball with, he smiled and then rolled his eyes as he caught the teasing look on the other guy’s look. He shook his head and moved closer to Sofia. Once they were out of the apartment complex, he lead her to where he had parked his car and opened the door for her. He looked at her and then wrapped his arms around her waist, “You’re going to be fine, okay?” He said and then he slightly squeezed her butt, before he went to the other side of the car and entered it. He glanced at her before he started the car.

“Sofia, you’re pregnant.”

The lifting of the weight was only momentary, a split second later what he had just said clicked. “I’m what? But, I’m on the pill and we-” Halfway through her words Sofia put her fingers to her mouth, releasing the saying they’d always been safe wasn’t true. At least for one night. How had this happened? What was she going to say? She lingered on that as the doctor explained her options. It sounded like a funny word. Options. There was life growing inside of her that she hadn’t known about and he was explaining things as if was easy. Abortion was a dirty word in her family, but Sofia herself wasn’t sure this was completely her decision. There was no questioning who the father was, it was whether or not Hunter would react horribly. 

She left the office with her hand on her stomach and a mind full of questions, but it hadn’t sunk in. What could she say to him? She couldn’t say anything. Not yet anyway, not until it stopped feeling like a shock and she could process. Sofia walked up the stairs as if her life hadn’t just changed, feeling so terribly about the way she’d been acting now even if she wasn’t sure about what was going to happen. Three weeks pregnant sounded so insignificant and so significant all at once.  

This was the night she met the family, that was wearing on her nerves enough that she could blank this out for now. Greeted by a kiss, she looked him up and down with a grin as if nothing was wrong. ‘The doctors? It was fine. Told me I’m surprising healthy for someone who eats as much processed foods as I do,” she laughed, sitting on his bed and looking down at her phone. “No, we still have enough time for you to primp, princess,” she teased, glad she’d gotten ready before; having too now would’ve ended in tears. “Do you think they’ll like me?” There was more behind that question, they had to like her and she would try her hardest to make a good impression. Hoping he’d put her acting strange down to nerves, she picked at the hem of her dress. 

So he gave her a reassuring nod and answered, “I think?” He smiled. “I know they would.” After all Sofia was that kind of girl you’d immediately want to bring to your family, Sofia was that kind of girl you’d be proud of, Sofia was that kind of girl his family would like---no, Sofia was that kind of girl his family would love. Although he can be a shitty person, he didn’t have shitty taste with choosing the people he should surround himself with. Looking at Sofia, the blonde beauty, in front of him made him quite confident with that fact; and well she made him think of how much of a lucky asshole he was to even have her in his life, really have her in it.

“I’d be quick.” He told her before he kicked his closet door open and had gotten inside it. He wasn’t really kidding when he said he would be quick. He was only really planning on changing his shirt. His jeans was fine, and his shoes were as well, and it was his family they didn’t really bother about how he looked. He grabbed his body spray and sprayed it all over himself before he grabbed a shirt. As he wore it he made his way out of the closet, he looked at Sofia and buttoned his shirt. “Are you nervous?” He couldn’t help but ask.

Meeting the family of the person you’re in a relationship with was a huge deal, so he couldn’t blame her if she was indeed nervous. In fact the idea of him meeting Sofia’s family actually made him want to shit his pants. He really liked her, and he would really like it if her family liked him as well, approved of him. Hunter only had three girlfriends all throughout his life time and one of them was Sofia. His first girlfriend, the moment she had brought Hunter to a family gathering for him to meet them, it was a disaster; they were those kinds that wanted to associate themselves with rich people, and Hunter really hated that, if they hadn’t heard of his family name they would have pushed their daughter away from him. After a couple of months she had broken up with him, only because she found out he was suffering from depression and anxiety disorder, she told her parents about it and they immediately demanded of her to break things with him.

Because of that occurrence, Hunter’s confidence in terms of meeting his girlfriend’s family was pretty low. He knew how bad it was to get so nervous about it, and he really didn’t want Sofia to fret that once he had grabbed his phone, keys, and wallet he moved closer to her. He held her by the waist and kissed her on the forehead, “I promise you, they won’t even make you sweat.” He looked at her, his adoration over her showing in his eyes. “So, let’s go?”