“Why you gotta be so ruuuuude?” Ari sings very loudly and very off-key as she continues to stir the thick chocolate chip cookie dough around in its bowl. She is pretty proud of herself: there is a large pot of homemade soup simmering away on the stove, the fridge is stocked with veggie, fruit and deli platters and a heavy roaster pan is in the oven bubbling away as her spaghetti sauce continues to cook. She’s probably made too much food, but she can’t help herself. Today is the day; JC’s family is arriving and let’s face it she is nervous. Very nervous. He’d been telling her over and over again how much his family was going to love her and that she didn’t have to worry about a thing…but she couldn’t help it. Apparently along with her mother’s eyes she’d inherited her habit of cooking for an army when she was nervous.
What will they think of her? Will they think she isn't good enough for their son/brother? She isn’t the typical type of girl he usually dates…
Ari shakes her head and takes the bowl to the cookie sheets laid out on the counter near the stove. As she starts spooning the mixture onto the pan she tries to relax and figure out what is left for her to do before JC gets home: she has to take some ground beef and chicken out of the freezer to thaw for tomorrow’s BBQ, she has to clean the kitchen and she definitely has to take a shower and make herself look presentable. She had gotten up this morning and simply pulled on a pair of boxers, an old t-shirt of JC’s and pulled her hair up in a messy bun. She wanted to get everything done quickly so that she could relax once they arrived. Quickly she glances at the clock once more and sees that she still has a few hours to go.
Good.
JC had left early that morning in order to go settle a few things at the studio and with Jimmy before he took the weekend off. He’d told her that he’d be back in early afternoon with his parents as they had taken an earlier flight than the rest of the crew. He would take them out to lunch and then come home. He’d made sure to tell her again to stop freaking out and that he didn’t want her to tire herself out by trying to do too much: he’d help her when he got home and since his family was pretty low maintenance they weren’t expecting anything special.
Still, she wants it to be special so…here she is: spooning chocolate chip cookies onto a pan and dancing around his kitchen to loud music. She opens the door to the second wall oven and slides in the three cookie sheets before she shuts it again. She walks back over to the bowl and un-guiltily starts eating the left over crumbs of the cookie dough. A moment later, her loud music cuts off suddenly and she turns to see JC along with his mother and father standing in the kitchen with surprised and amused looks on their faces.
FUCK.
Her eyes widen as she stands there, the dirty wooden spoon she was holding halfway to her mouth frozen in shock as her mind starts to whir.
FUCK.
Her eyes quickly find JC’s which are alive with laughter, his mouth spread in a large smile. He steps forward with a chuckle and with one hand grabs the wooden spoon from her hand while the other reaches forward to wipe something off of her cheek.
“Uh-Hi.” She manages to stutter out.
He is still laughing! Traitor!
“Hi. Ari, these are my parents.” He turns and motions to the couple standing a few feet away that are thankfully not laughing but aren’t looking repulsed either.
Ari takes a deep breath and grabs a hand towel off of the
counter to wipe her hands quickly. Her fingers self consciously push stray hairs behind her ears as she clears her throat nervously.
“Hi. I’m Arianna. I’m really sorry you walked in on…all of this.” She motions to the kitchen and then down over herself indicating her state of dress. She is unable to stop the nervous giggle that comes out of her mouth and she finds herself laughing along with JC and his parents as the ice seems to have been broken. “It’s really nice to meet you Mr. and Mrs. Chasez.” She adds between laughs and shakes their hands.
“We’re really happy to meet you as well, dear.” Answers Mrs. Chasez with a warm smile as she clasps her hand, “This is my husband Roy. Please call me Karen.”
Ari nods and stands there for a moment unsure of what to say, she turns to JC who is leaning against the counter casually, apparently not at all troubled by what has happened. “I thought you were going to be here a little later?” One of her eyebrows raises in question as she surveys his face.
“Yeah, that was the plan. Mom said that she hadn’t really taken to the food on the plane and was feeling a little queasy. So we decided to skip lunch and head over here. I called twice and texted but you were…busy I see.” He chuckles again and shakes his head.
Oh.
Ari glances over at her phone on the edge of the counter and sees that a small light is flashing on the corner of the screen indicating missed calls or messages.
Shit.
“Yeah, I was a little busy. The music was a bit loud…” She answers scratching the back of her head uncomfortably.
“You shouldn’t have gone through all this trouble, Arianna.” Karen smiles as she addresses her.
“Oh, it’s no trouble. I like doing it…I guess it’s the way we show affection in my family, you know making sure everyone is well fed and happy.” She shrugs and moves closer to JC as he reaches over and pulls her against him, placing a soft kiss on her cheek. “Mr. MoneyBags here thought it would just be fine to get some caterers in to take care of everything, but you know; if we can do it ourselves why bother with that?”
“I think that’s great.” Roy says quietly, speaking for the first time. “I think we’re going to have a great weekend.”
*******************************************************
It had been a hectic day JC thinks as he rocks back and forth on a patio glider, he can still hear faint music and bouts of laughter coming from the BBQ area of his yard. It’s pretty dark on the covered patio where he is sitting, only a faint light comes from the kitchen covering him in a dull gray light. He looks down at the sleeping form of his niece Olivia cuddled to his chest; her little body rises and falls slowly to the rhythm of her breathing, her small lips are parted in sleep and a little baby hand grasps his shirt. He smiles and leans down to give her soft hair a kiss. He had offered Heather to take Liv and get her ready for bed when it had gotten late. He never gets too much time with his niece and nephew since they live so far away so he always offers to spend time with them when he can. His family was having such a good time too, so he figured he’d let the adults enjoy themselves a little bit. Ari is getting along great with them and that really warms his heart. He knew they would love her; after all it is hard for anyone not to. She had just walked by a few minutes ago on her way back from the bathroom and had seen him rocking his sleepy niece. She’d seemed uncomfortable for a moment and then had headed back inside with some mumbling he wasn’t able to make out.
Is she freaked out?
With a half shrug he shifts his niece a little and closes his eyes for a moment. He’d always been so focused on work that he’d always pushed back the idea of kids. He always figured he’d have some but never ended up settling down.
What if it’s time?
“Is she sleeping?” A whispered voice breaks him out of his thoughts and he opens his eyes to find his Mom smiling at him.
He nods and smiles back at her, “Yeah, she just fell asleep.” He answers in a hushed voice.
His mother takes a seat in the matching glider next to him and they quietly rock for a few moments. “We really like Ari.” She tells him in the same hushed tone and watches him, “She’s not…like the others.”
JC nods and licks his lower lip, “Yeah. I know. She’s different, but good different I think.”
“You love her very much.” Karen states as she finds her son’s eyes and he nods. “Good.” She nods as well and leans back against the glider.
“I-I actually think it may be time for me to settle down.” He confesses and absently plays with a long strand of Olivia’s dark hair. “I’m starting to think that this might…it might be it, Mom.”
Karen stays quiet for a long while as she rocks back and forth listening to the sounds of the night and the far off strains of music. She has heard him mention very strong feelings for his past girlfriends before; he has always been a very passionate person, even as a kid. He gives his heart fully and expects the same in return. Unfortunately that has back fired so many times for him and he’s grown cynical in the past few years. It's a cynicism that isn’t natural to him, to his personality, to the boy she’d raised.
“Do you think she feels the same way as you do?”
JC stays quiet for a moment and then nods his head, “I think so. I hope so. I would have been certain about 10 minutes ago…” He chuckles softly.
Karen raises an eyebrow, “What do you mean?”
“Well, she walked by here on her way outside and saw me rocking Liv. She went sort of all nervous and uncomfortable. I think it may have freaked her out…”
Karen laughs and shakes her head, “I don’t think it freaked her out in a bad way…maybe she was just taken aback at seeing you like this and…it made her think about what it would be like for you to be rocking your own children. It may have just caught her off guard.”
JC thinks about this for a moment and nods, “Yeah, you’re probably right.”
Both JC and Karen stay there for a few more minutes enjoying each other’s company and the quiet of the patio. Karen is sure that JC is feeling very strongly for Ari, they look at each other with such quiet confidence that she cannot imagine that Ari doesn’t feel as strongly for Josh as he does for her. From the moment she and Roy had walked into the house yesterday and met Ari she knew she was different from the other girls. The other girls that were layered in too much make-up and not enough clothes; the girls that played the perfect girlfriend but always seemed to be missing something in their eyes; the girls who had taken advantage of her son’s caring nature. Ari is not one of those girls and Karen is so glad that Josh has found her.
“You know what Son, you know that your father and I will support you one hundred percent in whatever you decide to do.” Karen stands and reaches down to gently take the sleeping child off of JC’s chest; before she pulls away she kisses his cheek gently, “But if you don’t marry that girl, we’ll disown you.”
Author's Chapter Notes:
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Chapter End Notes:
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Story Tags: phonesex boyfriendjc showersex jc producerjc
