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Jamie was squeezing the edges of the dish filled with roasted potatoes as the car moved closer and closer to their destination. They were going to Roy’s annual family reunion, which would also be the first time Jamie would be meeting everyone for the first time, other than Roy’s sister and Phoebe. He was nervous about meeting Roy’s parents and extended family. Jamie didn’t have a lot of family growing up. It was just him and his mum after his grandma died when he was young. But, Roy’s family was huge, not that Jamie had any proof other than his word. Their mum has three siblings, two brothers and a sister, while his dad has six, two sisters and four brothers. Then, all of them got married and had children, so he has a shit ton of cousins. Roy doesn’t talk about them all that much, just casual comments of him saying he’s never been close with them. Jamie will occasionally catch him texting one of his cousins, but his sister is the only family member that he’s actively close with.
When Jamie asked Ruth what to expect, she gave him nothing to go off, and she must have told Phoebe to keep her mouth shut too, because when he asked her, she smiled and said nothing as she gave him a zip lip motion. But, if Jamie has anything to go off, it’s Roy, which causes him to spiral quite a bit into nervousness.
If Jamie is a lot like his mum, then maybe Roy is a lot like his mum too. He imagines her cussing at every chance, a filled-up swear jar in their kitchen that Phoebe insisted on putting there, and someone who might not like Jamie when they first meet, which is scary. Jamie wants Roy’s family to like him, and he’s usually good with other people’s mums, but if Roy takes after his mum, what if she starts out hating him? She wouldn’t be good at hiding it, because Roy is pretty shit at hiding his emotions, so then everyone would know she doesn’t like Jamie, and then no one would like Jamie, because a mum’s approval is everything. Jamie would never date someone his mum didn’t approve of. So, if Roy’s mum hates him, Roy would have to break up with him.
So, he tried to think about Roy’s dad instead. What if Roy is more like his dad instead? Maybe his dad is the brooding type, one who doesn’t talk all that much unless he thinks his opinion needs to be heard. He could end up saying something about Jamie’s football skills because Roy had mentioned how his dad coached his football team when he was a child. Their season has been going okay for the most part, but it’s an adjustment without Ted, so it’s not their best one. He could tell Jamie he needs to work on, and Roy’s a stern coach, and if he takes after his dad, he could get teamed up at dinner while trying to eat his roast.
He spirals for a bit about it, only a week since that’s about as much warning as Roy had given him before telling him they were going to an annual family reunion they had. He had avoided any question Jamie had asked leading up to the day, just telling Jamie they needed to bring a side dish, which Jamie had agonized over.
“Potatoes are good, right? Everyone likes potatoes. I got Simon to send me a recipe, I’ll just make potatoes,” Jamie had said in the grocery store when putting potatoes into the cart. Roy had hummed, and Jamie whipped his head around to look at him.
“Are potatoes not good? Does your family hate potatoes or something?” Roy had rolled his eyes and kept pushing the cart past the produce so Jamie couldn’t keep changing his mind about putting them in the cart and then taking them out.
“Roy, I can make something else!” Yet, he had kept pushing the cart, and now Jamie was in the car with a dish of potatoes, which he was still freaking out about. The dish is hot on his thighs, so he’s able to focus on that as he tries to calm his nerves as they keep getting closer to the destination.
He doesn’t know why he’s so nervous. He’s never been nervous to meet someone’s family. When he met Keeley’s, it was barely anything. When he’s met any of the team’s family, he just put on his charm and did his thing. That was it. He’s never been stressed about it ever. He has never agonized over it like he is right now.
Okay, he’s lying to himself, he knows why. He knows it’s probably because he doesn’t know what he’ll do if Roy’s family doesn’t like him. With Keeley, he always kind of knew they weren’t going to last. He didn’t have to impress them when he felt so temporary in Keeley’s life. But, Roy is different. He doesn’t see himself ever leaving Roy’s life. Roy is it for him, and he can’t imagine not having him because his family disapproves.
“Are you breathing over there?” Roy asks breaking Jamie out of his thoughts. He flinches slightly at the sudden noise and then turns to glare at Roy.
“I’m breathing just fine, thank you,” Jamie snarls, but takes a deep breath because he was not breathing at all. He turns to glare out the window as they get closer to the destination and ignores Roy’s gaze on him.
There are cars up and down the street, and Jamie’s eyes widen the further they get down the street trying to find a spot to park. It’s daunting being able to visualize just how many people Jamie is going to have to meet. Roy parks in the first spot he sees, and is getting out of the car before Jamie even has time to ask him one more time if this is going to be bad. He doesn’t even know Roy’s parents’ names, he has no idea what they look like, he’s going to look like a fool in there.
“We couldn’t have had a dinner with your parents first?” Jamie mutters as he gets out of the passenger side. He catches up to Roy quickly and feels his nerves getting worse as they walk closer to the house. He feels Roy put a hand on his lower back, and immediately eases into it. The comfort is small, but it’s like Roy knew exactly what he needed, and the thought creeps into his mind that this could be gone if Roy’s family hates him. They’re at the door sooner than Jamie would like, and Roy doesn’t even bother knocking, just walks right in. Jamie follows behind him begging himself to put one foot in front of the other and not turn around to run right back out the door.
The noise is immediate. Multiple laughs are filling up the home, children screaming, and Jamie can even hear a timer going off in the kitchen. It takes a few turns to get to everyone, but Jamie feels the air change when they walk in. He’s trying to keep the smile on his face as he looks around at everyone looking at them.
“Holy shit, Roy is here!” Someone is yelling, and the tension is broken as cheers fill the room. Jamie is confused as he takes everyone in, with their brightly covered outfits and smiles on their faces. They’re all coming up to Roy, pulling him into hugs that he doesn’t want, with beaming smiles on their faces as Roy glares at them. Jamie stays back as he waits for a moment to introduce himself, but it’s made for him when some woman comes up to him and grabs the potatoes from him, puts them on the counter, and pulls him into a hug.
“Oh, you must be Jamie! Roy talks about you so much, it’s so nice to finally meet you,” She hugs him tightly, and he hugs back confusedly. She pulls back and puts her hands on his cheeks and squeezes as she squeals excitedly. Roy must see the confusion on his face because he feels him come up next to him and pull him away from the hands.
“Mum, stop that!” He’s glaring, and Roy’s mom isn’t even phased by it. She brushes him off and immediately pulls Jamie back into another hug.
“I can’t help it, I’m so excited to finally meet the boy you’ve been talking all about!” She’s smiling, and Jamie finally feels himself relax.
“Thank you for inviting me, Mrs. Kent,” Jamie finally gets out, and she’s shaking her head immediately. “You do not have to call me that! Beatrice is just fine,” Before Jamie can react, she keeps talking, “It is our pleasure to have you! Roy said you’re on a strict meal plan, so we made you some food you can eat. Here, let me show you.” She’s pulling Jamie towards the table full of food, and he shoots Roy a smile over his shoulder to let him know he’s fine.
“So, we made you some boiled chicken, there’s broccoli, and then some brown rice. Marie, Roy’s aunt, also made a very lovely salad! And,” She looks around over her shoulder like she’s making sure no one hears, “We made you some jammy dodgers. I know they’re not on your meal plan, but Roy mentioned you love them, and you can have cheat days, right? We don’t have to tell Roy.”
Jamie smiles and his shoulders loosen as he shakes his head. This is not how he expected to meet Roy’s mum, and he’s still feeling just a bit of whiplash from how different it is from his worst-case scenarios.
“I certainly won’t tell Roy if you don’t,” Jamie finally says after a moment, and she pulls him into another hug. He’s been here barely three minutes, and he already has three hugs under his belt.
“Oh, Stanley, this is Jamie!” Jamie is pulled back and turns around to see a man smiling brightly at him. Before Jamie even knows it, he’s getting pulled into another hug. He sees Roy lurking in the back as he watches the exchange, and Jamie winks at him in acknowledgment. He sees him slightly roll his eyes but doesn’t get to see anything else as he pulls back from the hug.
“Roy has said a lot about you,” Jamie tries to hide his confused look this time, but he must not hide it enough from Roy, because he’s stepping forward from where he was lingering, and pulls Jamie towards him.
“This is my dad,” Roy introduces, if that’s what you can call it.
“It’s really nice to meet you,” he feels a pinch on his side as Roy acknowledges him putting on his charm. Jamie ignores it and continues smiling at Roy’s parents.
Roy’s parents. Roy’s mum, who is dressed in a bright pink shirt, white pants, and gold shoes. Roy’s dad who’s wearing bright blue, khakis, and the most classic dad shoes Jamie has ever seen. It’s an incredible contrast between Roy who is dressed completely in black, as usual. It’s not what Jamie expected at all and it’s hard to hide all the emotions he’s feeling right now.
All Jamie had thought about about was how alike Roy would be compared to his parents, but at this moment all Jamie wants to ask Roy is, ‘What happened to you?’ Roy is the complete opposite of the two people standing in front of him right now.
“We have been begging for Roy to introduce us to you! We’re so excited to have you here,” Roy’s dad says as he claps Roy on the shoulder. “Roy never comes to these things, and no one believed us when we said he was coming this year with you! As you could tell, everyone was shocked when he walked into the room.” Well, Jamie didn’t know that. He turns to smile up at Roy who’s glaring at his dad.
“Everyone is so excited to meet you, Jamie.” His mum says as she leans into her husband’s side. He turns back to smile at her and nods his head. His cheeks are hurting from the constant smile that’s been plastered on him since he walked in. He didn’t think he’d be doing this much smiling today, maybe he should have checked that there wasn’t anything in his teeth. “C’mon, let’s go introduce you to everyone!” She grabs his hand and pulls him over to the living room.
“Mum!” He hears Roy yelling, and they both ignore him as she enters the living room where everyone is. Jamie lets her introduce him to everyone in the room. He meets Roy’s aunts, Roy’s uncles, and a couple of his cousins, and everyone is more different than Roy.
Jamie doesn’t think he’s seen a single one of them wearing any piece of black. They’re all wearing the brightest versions of purple, yellow, pink, and blue. He doesn’t think he’s seen any of them without a smile on their face, except for Roy who’s migrated into the living room and is sitting on the couch watching everyone swoon over meeting Jamie.
“So, what do you do, Jamie?” One of Roy’s aunts asks, and it shocks him to his core. He looks at Roy who doesn’t look surprised at the question. He catches the eye roll Roy does as he leans further into the couch.
“Uh, I’m a striker for AFC Richmond,” Jamie answers which causes everyone to go, “Oh!”
“Of course, football! Is that how you and Roy met? Truth be told, we aren’t very big fans,” She laughs a bit as she whispers the last part like it’s supposed to be some sort of secret.
“That’s not true! We are very big fans of Phoebe’s team," one of Roy’s uncles interjects.
“Yeah, we met when we were both playing there, but Roy hated me,” Jamie explains, which causes everyone to let out exaggerated gasps. He turns to look at Roy who’s not doing a good job of hiding the displeasure on his face.
“How could anyone hate you? He better not have been mean to you,” Another one of Roy’s aunts says who is sitting next to him on the couch.
“Oi, I wasn’t mean to him,” which has Jamie rolling his eyes, but he doesn’t particularly want to say he was also a dick towards Roy, so he tries to move it past that.
“He treats me very well now,” Jamie says, which then has all the women cooing at him. He turns to look back at Roy who’s already looking at him, and it’s the first time he’s let his unhappiness fade from his face. He’s got the slightest smile showing on his face, and Jamie can see his eyebrows are relaxed as he looks at him.
“Gross, look at how in love Roy is with him,” One of the cousins says, breaking Jamie out of his stare. He blushes lightly as he turns back to look at all the aunts and Roy’s mum, who are all looking at them. He feels an arm wrap around him, and sees Roy’s mum once again pulling him into her. The rest of the room starts to get up to go get food now that everything is set up, but Jamie lingers back as Roy’s mum still has her arm wrapped around him. One of Roy’s cousins pulls him off the couch, and it’s just them in the room, and suddenly Jamie feels nervous again.
“He never comes to these things. I think he just wanted an excuse to show you off,” She states, and Jamie feels his face get hot. “I have never seen Roy so happy,” Beatrice smiles. She lets them start walking to the table of food, and Jamie is trying to think of a reply, but he doesn’t know how to say how much he appreciates her saying that.
“I’ve never been so happy either,” is what he lands on as he finds Roy in line holding two plates that Jamie knows one is for him. Beatrice lets Jamie go, and he easily slots himself in line with Roy.
“This is yours,” Roy states as he puts a couple of potatoes on Jamie’s plate. Jamie looks around at the people filling up the room and tries not to think of the double meaning. He just lets Roy fill up his plate and laughs when Beatrice sneaks a jammy dodger into his hand that Roy pretends not to see.
Dinner is full of questions about how long they’ve been together, what their first date was like, and funny stories of Roy growing up. He also tries to learn all of the cousin’s names, but he jokes that it’s going to take him a couple of visits to remember all of them. Jamie feels at ease as the day goes on and on, and he doesn’t know why he was so nervous in the first place. He puts his leg around Roy’s underneath the table and feels Roy’s hand squeeze his knee and lay there keeping him in place.
“Oh, Jamie! When you come for Christmas, we’ll make sure to bring photos of Roy when he was a kid,” the topic comes up when they’re talking about recreating some old pictures this holiday season. Jamie lets himself bask in the statement of, ‘when you come for Christmas’ like it’s a given that he’s going to be here for it.
“No.” Roy sternly says, but his mum pays no mind to it as she pulls out her reading classes, “I’m going to put a reminder in my phone. I’ll pick out the best ones,” She smiles at them as she leans forward to squeeze Roy’s cheek. He lets her do it, but Jamie can feel his hand switch on his knee like he wants to push it away.
“He’s only coming to Christmas if he makes these potatoes again,” a cousin says from down the table. He’s glad he didn’t talk himself out of making them.
“Wait, Jamie, did you happen to be on Lust Conquers all?” Roy’s cousin, Jenny, asks from down the table. Jamie cringes at the question but nods his head. “That is not my finest moment, but yes I was.”
“You know, Roy loves that show. Did you watch his season?” She smiles at him like she knows exactly what she’s doing. Jamie lets the embarrassment fade from him, knowing she wasn’t trying to embarrass him, but is trying to embarrass Roy. He puts his hand up on the table, places his chin in his palm, and blinks up at Roy.
“Oh, did you watch my season, Roy?” he’s smiling cheekily at him, and he gets the answer he was expecting, a stern, “No.”, but his eyebrow twitches just a bit.
“He totally did!” Jenny bursts out laughing at Jamie’s confirmation, “His eyebrow twitched, that’s how you know he’s lying.” Roy scowls at him but doesn’t try to deny it any further. The conversation flows so easily that Jamie feels like he belongs here with them.
He looks over at Roy during a lull in conversation, and Roy is once again already looking at him like he was on the couch. Jamie squeezes the hand that’s atop his knee and mouths an ‘I love you’ towards him. Roy turns his hand over so he can squeeze his hand back. He quickly brings them up to his lips and presses a quick kiss against Jamie’s knuckles before they go back to talking to everyone.
-
The rest of the day goes better than Jamie could have ever imagined. He’s hugging everyone before he leaves as Roy tries to usher them along. All of them make sure to get Jamie’s number with promises to send him the pictures they took today and the recipe for the salad that he enjoyed. Roy is holding all of the leftovers they’ve packed up for them, and he’s rolling his eyes as everyone keeps fawning over Jamie.
“Make sure you let us know when you get home! It was so great meeting you, Jamie! Roy, you take care of him,” Beatrice and Stanley follow them out of the house. He waves at them one more time as they make the journey to their car. When they’re out of sight, Jamie finally lets his thoughts come out to Roy.
“Are we sure that was your family? Were you adopted or something, Roy?” Jamie teases as he gets into the car after he puts the leftovers into the backseat.
“Ha, ha. You’re the first one to make that fucking joke,” Roy deadpans as he starts his car, but makes no move to leave the spot they’re in.
“Roy, they are fucking awesome. I was stressing for weeks that they’d hate me, but I came out the favorite!” Jamie leans over into Roy’s space as he puts his hand around his neck to make sure he looks at him while he says it. “Thank you for bringing me,” Jamie leans up to press his lips against Roy’s, something he’s been dying to do all day. He’s been bubbling with happiness and love the whole time and has been wanting to express it to Roy in the best way he knows possible, but he wasn’t going to show PDA the first time meeting the family. He feels Roy relax into him and also put his hand on his neck to hold him in place. Jamie lets their lips slide against each other for a few seconds before pulling back just in case one of Roy’s family members walks to their car and catches them.
“I love you,” Roy presses another kiss to his forehead before both of them settle back into their seats. “I did bring you to this to show you off. I fucking hate coming to these things.”