Christina sighed nervously as Taylor pulled his car into the driveway of the Hanson house.
"Chris, they'll love you." He said.
"Are you sure?" She asked.
"They already can't wait to meet you. My mom says she feels like she knows you." He said with a grin. He stopped the car and killed the engine.
"I'm still a little nervous."
"Why? You have nothing to be nervous about." he said, patting her knee.
"It's just....what if they don't like me?"
Taylor sighed. "They'll like you. Just be yourself. You have nothing to be nervous about." Taylor said.
"Okay." She said, taking a few deep breaths. This was one of the hardest things for her to do; meet new people. It was Thanksgiving, and Taylor had brought Christina home for the holiday.
"Let's go!" He said. Taylor was anxious to see his family.
They walked up to the front door, and Christina tried to hide behind Taylor as he ran the doorbell.
"Taylor, isn't this your house?" She asked.
"Uh huh." he said with a grin.
"Then why are you ringing the doorbell?" She asked from behind him.
"because they won't know it's me. Quit hiding." He said, pulling her out to stand beside him.
Suddenly the door swung open and a little girl screamed.
"AVERY!" Taylor exclaimed, scooping the girl up in his arms.
"Taylor!" She shrieked, hugging him tightly.
"Taylor!" another girl yelled. Taylor turned around and another teenage girl jumped on him They both had almost white blonde hair, much lighter than Taylor's.
Taylor set the first one down and hugged the second on for a few moments.
"Come on inside." He said, pulling Christina inside.
Christina smiled at the two girls as Taylor pulled her into a TV room, where there were two more boys sat. They both jumped up when they saw Taylor.
"Dude, you're back!" The oldest one said, jumping up. He lunged at Taylor, the younger boy following.
Taylor fell back, and the three of them made quite a pillup. A little girl came squealing out of the kitchen, and threw herself onto the heap of boys.
"Ulgh, guys, Taylor can't breathe." Taylor choked out from the bottom of the heap.
Christina smiled as they all got up off of Taylor, who was brighfaced and gasping for air.
"I'm so glad you're back!" The oldest boy said. "I actually got my driver's license!" He said happily.
"Wow...in how many tries?"
"Four." The large boy answered. Large was an understatement. He was at least six one and weighed well over 200 pounds. He had blonde hair to his shoulders and he was very musceled and brawny. He was overall...large.
"I see." Taylor said, raising his eyebrows.
"We'll have to go driving." He said, smacking him on the shoulder.
"Dont' fall for it." The oldest girl said.
"Okay, okay."
"Taylor!" A shriek was heard from the kitchen. A small woman with long blonde hair came running out and embraced her son. Taylor hugged her and actually picked her up for a few seconds. He set her down, then smiled.
"Hi mom. I missed you." He said, kissing her cheek.
"I missed you so much. You're the only one in this house that eats as much as Zac." She said, her eyes misty.
"yeah yeah." Taylor said with a grin. "Where's dad?"
"He's still at work, but he should be home in an hour or two, he's getting off early. Not every day his son comes home." She said. "Ike is coming too."
"Cool." Taylor said. He glanced over at Christina, who was standing quietly a few feet away.
Everyone's eyes drifted to her. She smiled, not really knowing what to do.
"Everyone, this is Christina. Christina, this is Zac, Avery, Mackie, Zoe, my mom, and jessica." Taylor said proudly.
"Hi." She said, giving a small wave.
Diana smiled and walked over to give her a hug. Christina looked at Taylor, not sure what to do. Diana pulled away and looked at her, and her eyes were still misty.
"Taylor's told me what a great girl you are." She said. "I've been waiting on pins and needles to meet you."
"Well Taylor's told me a lot about all of you, I feel like I know you." Christina said.
"Well I hope you do. Call me Diana, and make youself at home." She said.
"Thank you." Christina said.
"You're welcome. You'll get to meet my husband in a little while." She said.
"Great."
"Your hair is so pretty." Avery said, touching Christina's chocolate colored hair, which was down to the middle of her back.
"Almost like mommie's." Zoe said, touching it herself.
"Thanks." Christina said.
"Taylor, do you wanna take your stuff up to your room? Zac is sleeping with Mackie while you two take your old room." Diana said.
"Okay." Taylor said, grabbing a few of their bags.
"Zac, help them." She said.
Zac grinned and picked up all of their bags, piling them into his big arms. Taylor picked up their sleeping bags, and Christina took their pillows, and Zac led the way to a staircase.
"So you're the famous Christina." Zac said to her on the way up.
"Yeah, that's me." She said with a smiled.
"Tay talks about you all the time on the phone." Zac said with a grin.
"Really? Good stuff I hope." She said.
"Most of the time." He said with a grin.
"Zac, shut up." Taylor said, throwing open the door to his room.
Zac set down their bags once they were in Taylor's old room. "Okay, okay." he said, holding his hands up in mock defense.
Taylor smiled at him and set down their sleepingbags.
Zac grinned back. "Hey I'm just lucky you guys are only here for two nights. I have to share a bed with Mackie, and he kicks the living shit out of me every night. Be greatfull, why don't cha?" Zac said.
"Alright, Alright." Taylor said, patting him on the back. "it's only two nights. Besides, Mackie couldn't kick that hard." He said.
"You'd be surprised." Zac said, walking out the door. Taylor looked at Christina and smiled.
"So what do you think?" He asked.
Christina looked around the room. It was fairly small with two windows, a hardwood floor, and bunk beds in the corner. There was a writing desk up against one wall with a dresser, then a closet on the other wall that had clothes seeping out of it. There were socks, jeans, shirts, cds, and video game controllers strewn about the room.
"Uh, great." She said, smiling at him. She sat down on his bed, carefully pushing a stack of comic books to one side.
Taylor chuckled to himself. "And he said he cleaned."
"Yeah." SHe said, smiling to herself. Oh well, her room wasn't that clean when she was sixteen, either.
"So what do you think of them?" Taylor asked. He sat down beside her on the bed.
Christina looked over at Taylor and smiled. "I think they're great. Your mom seems nice." She said.
"Good. You'll like my dad." Taylor said, putting an arm around her.
"Yeah. I think I like your whole family." She said, smiling at him.
"I knew you would." He said, giving her a nudge. She giggled, and tried to tickle him back. They wrestled on the bed for a few moments before Taylor leaned over and kissed her on the mouth. He pulled away and smiled at her.
"Taylor..." She said with a mock warning voice.
"What?" He asked with an innocent grin.
"Your parents are home." She said.
"Awww...everyone is downstairs." He said, kissing her neck softly.
"Taylor...." She said again.
Suddenly the door flew open and Zac slid back in. "Dinner's ready, Dad's home, and it's a good thing I came up and got you." He said. With that, he slid back out and shut the door.
Christina smiled knowingly at Taylor and he grinned sheepishly.