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“It’ll be fine.” Liam lifted his head up and met Dan’s eyes, who was leaning towards him from the front seat of the car. He sighed and tried to stop his knee from bouncing. “I know, just kinda nervous. My last family gathering was literally a prayer circle to try to invoke the devil out of the body or something because I came out as trans and bi, so it’s just kinda… muscle memory I guess. Events like this were never really fun for me.”
He almost shuddered thinking about it. Most of his family events in the past were Sundays at church with his cousins and aunt and uncle, and Christmas service with the whole family.
Dan’s brow furrowed. “Well, I promise that Phil’s family will not do… that. They’re great. And we kind of have no choice because Kath keeps pestering us about meeting you.” Phil turned the car down into a friendly looking neighborhood, and Liam started fidgeting with his hands. “Of course, if you get overwhelmed, let one of us know and we can step out for a bit, okay? Don’t be afraid to ask for a break.” Liam nodded.
Asking for help was something he… didn’t really like to do. It was just tricky with the ever looming guilt cloud over his head for doing literally anything wrong ever.
His heart pounded in his ears as the car stopped and they had parked. He was practically glued to his seat, but he unbuckled the seatbelt and stepped out of the car anyway. The friendship bracelet from his best friend, Samantha, peeking out from where his blue hoodie sleeve had slipped down.
Phil ruffled his hair. “Alright, let’s go. My mum’s place is just across the street there.” Liam nodded, chewing on his nail. He already spotted a few cars parked outside, meaning some people had already arrived. It took them just two minutes to get to the house. It felt quite welcoming, the warm colored flowers in the front yard seeming to greet whoever walked by.
He took a deep breath as Phil rang the doorbell. It was opened about twenty seconds later by a woman with a shock of red hair and a large smile. “Hello! I was starting to wonder when you’d arrive. Come on in.” She looked down and met Liam’s nervous eyes. “It’s wonderful to meet you Liam! I’m Cornelia, Phil’s sister in law.” He nodded, looking down. “He’s a bit anxious meeting all these people.” He heard Phil say.
“There’s nothing to be nervous about dear. I was a bit worried about coming here for the first time many years ago, but it went wonderfully.”
Liam followed them into the house, glancing around. There weren’t many people, but yet it looked like an entire football stadium. Meeting people was… not an ideal activity. It was terrifying, like all the air had been sucked out of his lungs. He had always been called the shy kid, which applied to him in a way, but it also didn’t take long for him to talk to someone a hundred miles a minute about things he liked and funny things that had happened to him.
He glanced around the house, wondering if this was really where Phil had grown up. He turned to Dan and whispered “Why does it look haunted?” He chuckled. “I don’t know, kid. It’s kinda always been like this.” Cornelia was now talking to a man and holding a little girl in her lap. Liam assumed the man was Phil’s brother. They definitely looked similar. And the girl seemed to be their daughter, who seemed much more calm than most of the little kids he knew. Not that he knew a ton. She seemed to be around five or six, and was listening intently to what Cornelia had to say. Her hair was tied up in two pigtails and she was wearing a pale yellow dress with blue flowers. Liam wondered if he was supposed to wear something nicer than his hoodie, jeans, and beat up converse. He wore hoodies despite the warm weather a lot. He took them off at home, but in public, he didn’t want people to see his scars and ask questions. Especially not while he met Phil’s family. He didn’t want to be the one who needed a fucking suicide watch or something.
Dan tapped his shoulder with a finger, and Liam snapped his head up, thought bubble bursting. “Kath is over there on the couch, I’m gonna go introduce you to her. Phil’s getting you a sandwich.” Liam nodded. “Turkey and cheese on sourdough bread with the tiniest bit of mayonnaise?” Dan grinned. “You know it.”
Liam followed him over to the couch, almost bumping into someone’s dog on the way there. He gave it a quick pat on the head. The woman sitting there was definitely Phil’s mum, there was no doubt about it. She immediately stood up and gave Dan a hug. “How’s my favorite son in law?” He chuckled. “Nice to see you. I thought I would introduce you to Liam.” Her eyes dropped to where the teenager was standing, fidgeting slightly. “Of course! Hello, it’s so nice to meet you! I’ve been so excited to have another grandchild!” Liam nodded. “It’s nice to meet you too Mrs. Lester.”
“Oh please, call me Grandma. Do you want to go meet Freja?” She pointed over to where Cornelia was sitting with her daughter. Liam nodded. “Sure.”
Freja was a very cute kid, and was over the moon to have a cousin. “I keep asking for a little sister but my parents say no.” She pouted. Liam laughed. “Not unless you want to change diapers or give baths. I was older, and I had to do that for years because I needed to train for being a parent one day or something. My sister was born when I was, like, two, and I was pretty much a full time babysitter.” Freja gasped. “That sounds super hard! That’s so mean! Why would your mama do that?” Liam shrugged. “I’m not sure.” Freja looked like she was contemplating something. “You should babysit me sometime! All my babysitters treat me like a little kid even though I’m almost six!” Liam nodded. “That sounds hard. Five is a big kid age. And six is even bigger!” Liam grinned as she rambled more. This was the first kid he actually got to interact with instead of just taking care of. He felt like a normal kid for once.
Phil brought over his sandwich a few minutes later, and he ate it on the couch while telling Kath about himself. She didn’t even comment when his sleeve slipped down and his scars were visible.
He met some other family members too. Cousins of Phil and their kids. Aunts and uncles. And two of Phil’s cousins brought their dogs, a golden retriever named Lucky and a pitbull named Jake. They ended up staying for a few hours, and by the end Liam was exhausted. He said bye to everyone, and hugged Kath and Freja, who said “You’re my favorite cousin!” to which he didn’t feel like telling her that he was her only cousin. Well, if you didn’t count second cousins. Back in the car, he exhaled and leaned against the seat.
“Did you have a good time?” Phil asked from the driver's seat.
“Yeah.” He replied, smiling to himself. This new family was already shaping up to be pretty good.