Thanksgiving at Cassie's

My family usually takes Thanksgiving seriously. I have a big family here in California so, usually, the others from out of state, they're the ones to fly in to spend the holidays with us. I was expecting Raiden to invite me over to their house for Thanksgiving but he said they're not doing anything on Thanksgiving itself because his parents are busy since the restaurant at the winery is fully booked. But his parents are having a Thanksgiving weekend party at the winery and he wanted to know if I'm free. I told him I will clear my schedule for him. I guess babysitting nieces and nephews will have to wait.

So on Thanksgiving Day, I invited Raiden to spend Thanksgiving with my family at my grandmother's house. I did not expect to be embarrassed to the nines. My grandmother made him sit beside her on the dining table even though the younger ones are supposed to sit together at another table in the patio. I had to find a way to help him escape. I would have never known that Grammy is so good at playing 20 Questions! When they found out they owned one of the biggest wineries in town , they told him he should have brought a whole case with him so that they will like him. "I'll have someone drop some off tomorrow." he said shyly though I protested. I told them to stop harassing my boyfriend and made up a lame excuse that my cousin needs someone to play table tennis with.

Little did I know that dinner was just the start of my path to humiliation. My cousins are now gathered in the living room to watch our horror movie of choice (It has become a tradition that we all put a piece of paper with our horror movie suggestion in a box and we pick one to watch while waiting to hit the stores for black Friday. We had chosen The Boy II but it seemed like they found Raiden and me more interesting. "So, have you kissed?" asked Ally, my thirteen year-old cousin who looked really smitten with Raiden.

"If you ever decide that Cassie's not your type, I'm single." My blond haired, blue-eyed cousin Bella, from LA. This made me hold Raiden's hand tighter. Bella always gets the boy for some reason. I remember spending a summer at her house and this guy I met at the county fair got my number, but after we all hung out at the beach, he started calling her instead of me. Perfect li'l Bella and her cute dainty outfits. My grandmother is always on her case about wearing more clothes.

"Dude, can we take your car for a spin?" David begged. He's into cars and he just got the new Supra thinking he was the coolest guy in the family. Well, technically, he still is. When he saw Raiden's car, he started gushing and asking us to take his pictures with the car. He needed it for his Snaps, he said. Then, Jason started telling them about the times he rode in Raiden's car and they drove with the top down and everyone's looking at them because they look "dope" together.

David won't back down, "Raiden and I are gonna do a coffee run! Who want's coffee? I'lll order through the app and then we'll go pick it up.

Bella interjected, "I'll order it! I have their gold card and I get freebies!" She waved her gold rewards card around. "Let's go Raiden, sweetie."

"Umm, I'll go with Raiden. Just tell us whose name you used for the order. You guys want anything else?" That had calmed the room down a bit. The younger ones wanted McD's, but the parents overheard and started protesting. They were already starting their lecture about how there's so much food and that my Uncle is already brewing coffee. We all groaned, feeling defeated by the grown-ups. They will never understand the pull of capitalism with the younger crowd.

Mid movie, the interest has switched from us to the movie and I relaxed in Raiden's lap. We were on the floor, his back leaning on the couch. My grandma brought out some cookies and popcorn and one of my aunts made some fudge brownies and another one brought out a bag full of chocolates. Probably leftover Halloween candy but nobody complained. During the gory parts, I would place his hand on my eye and peek through them. He would chuckle and pinch my cheek. I have never been happier and everything is as it should be in my world. He even went with us to the mall just to check out some deals. We don't usually buy anything because most of us are broke and the lines are usually so long. We mostly browse, except for Bella and Jake who has extensions of their parents' credit cards. They buy all kinds of ridiculous stuff whenever we go to the mall. The boys wen't to the gaming store and us girls went to the department store. I was trying on dresses when Raiden texted asking where I am. I told him I'm trying on dresses at the department store and waited for his reply but there was none.

I picked out two dresses an old rose and a dark blue one. It was a great deal and with my points, I got both for less than $20! I paid for the dresses and this time, I texted him, "Where are you?"

"Look behind you," was the reply I got. I turned around and there he was holding two big bags from the electronics store and a small unmarked one.

"What did you get?" he asked.

"A couple of dresses. They were pretty and on sale too."

"No shoes?" he added.

"I don't think I need any more shoes. I haven't looked actually because I don't want to be tempted." I confessed.

"I guess this will have to do to match your dress in place of those shoes." He handed me the unmarked bag.

"You need to stop spoiling me with these presents, Raiden," I protested but I took the bag anyway. When I opened it, there was a white and gold box. Inside was a gold herringbone bracelet that has I love you written all around it.

"I love you too, babe. Thank you, it's lovely." I said as I tiptoed and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"Ewww! They kissed!" I saw my 8 year old cousin Clara along with the other cousins, all staring at us.

"It was just a thank you kiss Clara!" She'll be sure to tell everyone that she saw us kissing when we get back to the house.

"Let me put it on you," Raiden got the bracelet from the box and put the bracelet on my wrist.

"Aww, how sweet," exclaimed Ally while Bella snorted.

"I got this for you kiddo!" Raiden said as he handed Jason the two big bags.

"Oh, no, no, no. What is this?" I said as I tried to intercept the bags but Jason was quicker than I am. It was the latest gaming console with accessories and a few games. "Raiden! You need to ask me first before you get anything extravagant for him!"

"How come you're the only one who can get presents from him? He's my friend too!" Jason butted into the conversation.

"Yeah, Cassie, how come you're the only one who's allowed to get presents from him?" Bella added while finding an excuse to drape herself all over Raiden. She looked at him with her blue eyes and batting her long fake lashes, "Did you get me anything, Sweetie?"

Raiden pried her off him politely and said, "Uhh, sorry but I didn't." I can tell he feels awkward around her. Maybe for the fact that she wants to occupy the same space as him while he's in it. She's making me so mad, I mean, can she be a little bit subtler in flirting with him?

"We're gonna go get some pretzels, you guys want some too?" Raiden offered trying to diffuse the tension in the group.

We ended up going to the coffee shop and hung out there for a while until Jason begged us to go home because he wanted to try out his new console. Raiden dropped us off and promised to come over the next day to help Jason set it up. I told him he needed to sleep now because it's too late to play right now.

I saw that my mom's not home yet, she's probably still at Grammy's gossiping with her cousins and siblings. She's probably sleeping over there too.

"Thank you Raiden, and I'm sorry you had to endure all that tonight."

"Endure what? I love your family, they're quirky and fun."

"Well, just don't fall in love with Bella coz you're mine!" I warned him.

"Never. She's not my type and I am all yours." With that he leaned over and gave me a kiss. I can do this all night, kiss him, I mean.