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It was a welcome relief when the knock came on the door at around eleven on Thanksgiving morning.
“Thank God you’re here,” I sighed as I let Kyler in.
“It’s that bad?” she asked.
“What do you think the chances are of us successfully sneaking out of here and having our own private Thanksgiving?” I chuckled weakly.
“Today? Not great. But tomorrow? Excellent,” she said, smiling at me. “My mom’s working. Again. A bunch of nurses are out sick, so it’s critical staffing pay. She couldn’t turn that down. We’ll have the house to ourselves until at least nine.”
“I’ll never pass up alone time with you,” I told her, giving her a kiss. “I’ll bring the movies and popcorn.”
“Sounds good,” she chuckled. “I’m so far behind on Marvel movies, it’s kind of sad. I haven’t even seenAnt Manyet.”
“Okay, that needs to change. Marvel marathon it is,” I decided. “Anyway, come save me from the painful awkwardness.”
“Is it really that bad?”
“Notbad. Just awkward. I don’t think Hillary knows what to do with a family who’s accepting her exactly as she is.”
“That’s actually kind of heartbreaking. I’ll never understand how parents can be that cold toward their own flesh and blood. Despite my mom being…well, my mom.”
“I know. I could never imagine kicking my own kid out because of who they love,” I agreed. “I don’t get your mom either, but that’s a whole other conversation. Anyway, come on in. Did you have breakfast?”
She nodded. “Mom made a huge breakfast this morning, since that was our Thanksgiving together.”
Izzie’s face lit up as soon as Kyler and I walked into the living room. And Sergio hopped up from his pillow on the floor to greet her.
“Hey, Serge,” Kyler chuckled, scratching him behind his ears and bending down to hug him. “It’s good to see you too, buddy.”
“Hey, Ky,” Izzie said, getting up and giving Kyler a hug.
“Hey, Izzie,” she said, then pulled out of the hug and looked at my dad. “Hi, Gary.” Then she turned to Hillary. “You must be Hillary.”
“Hill, this is Ian’s girlfriend, Kyler,” Izzie explained. “Her mom’s an ER nurse and had to work the night shift tonight, so she came to hang out with us.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Kyler,” she said quietly.
“It’s really nice to meet you too. And you can call me Ky.”
“Do I hear who I think I hear out here?” Maya called.
“If the person you think you hear is Kyler,” my dad said.
Maya walked into the room holding her hands away from her body, like she was trying to avoid touching anything. But she still insisted on doing that chef hug thing where she didn’t actually use her hands.
“I’m so glad you could come today, Kyler. Our first dinner with the whole family.”
I couldn’t help smiling at Maya calling Kyler a part of our family. Maybe it was way too soon to be thinking this way – it had, after all, only been a couple of months since we’d started dating – but it was the truth. Kyler was family to me, and I was glad to see that my family felt the same way.
“Aww. Thanks, Maya. Do you need any help in the kitchen? I help my mom a lot, so I’m not completely useless,” she offered.
“No. You hang out with Gary and the kids. I’m almost done with the prep work anyway. Then I’ll come out here and visit too.”
“Come sit down, baby,” I said, sinking down onto the couch.
Instead of sitting down next to me, Kyler sat on my lap and curled up against me. Ever since the Max incident at school, it seemed to be her favorite place to sit. Not that I was complaining.
