Chapter 134 - Ocean – Christmas Day Part 2

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Ocean

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I had never expected to get the gifts that I had this morning. Especially the one from Makai's parents. Who would have thought that they would get us a condo that was near UCLA? And really, who would have thought that they were eagerly waiting for news from someone that was able to tell them that we were both accepted there? They had been a little sneaky about this whole thing, and it could be counted as wrong, but I wasn't at all upset about it. I was actually super happy to be loved by his family like this.

Now that the gift exchange was done and over with, though, it was time for us to head over to my parents' house. This was the part of the day that I wasn't exactly sure I was looking forward to. In truth, it was my fault that I was starting to dread it. I was the one that stupidly asked Makai's parents to come to dinner with us. That had all been my fault.

I didn't have much choice though. I had to deal with it and just hope that our dads and my siblings didn't cause us too many problems. Oh God, what were my brother and sisters going to say when they found out that I was living with Makai? Yeah, I just have a feeling that today was going to be completely mortifying.

The four of us were going to be driving over to my parents' house together because there was no need to take more than one car. But that also meant that I couldn't escape the house without either Mr. or Mrs. Rivers. That was a little frightening as well.

After we loaded the gifts for my family into the trunk, we rode over in Mr. Shore's Cadillac SUV while I felt my heart thumping nonstop in my throat as I tried not to panic about the coming horrors.

'Just get a grip, Ocean. You brought this on yourself.' I was yelling the words inside my head trying to calm down and reprimand myself at the same time. 'Just take a deep breath and don't let them get to you. Stay strong.'

Finally, we pulled up to the street and I saw my brother's car in the driveway. Great, they did get here before us. If we were here first, then I could have tried to convince them that I wasn't living with Makai. Now though, they would know for sure.

Makai took my hand the moment we were out of the car and squeezed it tightly. I could tell that he was trying to comfort me. I could tell by the look in his eyes that he would protect me if the others got out of hand. He was the best boyfriend ever.

Well, he was my only boyfriend ever but still. He was the best regardless even if he was going to be the only one that I ever had. I was smart enough to recognize him for what he was.

Feeling a little calmer now that he was holding my hand, I led the way into the house. It was do or die time and I was ready to face the music.

"Mom, Dad, we're here." I could already hear the sound of footsteps coming toward the door. Too many sets. And it didn't sound like Mom's at all.

"Ocean!" Grantham was the first to get to me and he slung his arm around my shoulders, standing on the opposite of me than Makai. "It's so good of you to visit after moving away so abruptly like that."

"Kai!" Deliah went to stand on the other side of my boyfriend and slid her arm around his waist since she was too short to put it around his shoulders. "Thank you for bringing my brother back home. We missed him since he doesn't live at home anymore."

"Merry Christmas! Come, come with us and have a seat. Catch up on old times with us now that you no longer live with the family." Julie grabbed my hand that was still being held by Makai, so essentially, she took both of our hands. With our hands in her two she pulled us and the three of them led us to our doom. They were also acting like I had run away from home and hadn't been back for years. What the hell was the matter with them?

"W..w..w..wait! D..d..don't y..you w..w..want t..t..to m..meet Ma..Ma..Makai's parents?"

"Awe, look, he called him Mama."

"I..I..I did not!" I snapped at Grantham and the stupid joke that he had made.

"Come now, children, leave your brother alone." Mom came to my rescue before my siblings had managed to plop me onto the couch. "Hello Kai. Merry Christmas. And to you two as well. How have you been, Analise? Still busy at work. And Reef, Phineas is in the other room. I think he has been waiting for you."

"Sweet." Mr. Rivers hurried into the next room over where Mom had indicated that my dad was. That was Dad's office that he used for when he was at home. In truth, it was his and Mom's office and they both used it when they needed to work from home.

"We've been fine, Steph. Just truly busy with everything that has been on our plates lately. We didn't get back until last night. Thank you for having us."

"Oh, think nothing of it. The boys were going to spend the day together anyway, this just makes things easier for everyone involved."

"Mom?" Grantham was sounding confused as he looked between our mom and Makai's mom. "When did you get to know Kai's parents so well?"

"Oh, didn't I tell you? We got to spend a good amount of time with Kai's parents back at the beginning of last month. Now, let go of your brother. Deliah, let go of Kai. Let them sit and relax."

"Oh come on, Mom, that's no fun!" Grantham pouted, but he did as he was told to do.

"I think there are some introductions that are in order now. Analise, these are the rest of my children. Julie is the next youngest after Ocean, she is in university right now. Then we have Deliah, they both go to USC, and Deliah is working on her graduate degree. And the oldest is Grantham, he is an IT Engineer. And this here is his wife Rachel, she is a graphic designer. They met in university and are expecting their first child next month."

"It's so lovely to meet you all." Mrs. Rivers smiled at them all. "I am Analise Rivers, Kai's mom. That man that ran off already is my husband Reef, and we own and run our own software development company. We specialize in computer games and video games, but there is a lot more to it than just that."

"It's nice to meet you." Rachel was the first to welcome them among the sibling faction.

"Thank you for coming, and Merry Christmas." Julie was next.

"I am glad you could join us." Deliah smiled at her.

"Cool, I love that you and your husband work together. I can imagine that will happen to my baby brother here. He's already dressing like his boyfriend so it's a logical step for them." Grantham laughed as he spoke.

"Hey, he dressed like me. I was wearing this first." I protested the accusations from him.

"Semantics. You're both dressed alike, and I think that it's adorable." My brother grinned at me then and I just wanted to smack him.

"Don't let it bother you, Ocean. He's probably just jealous he couldn't pull off the dress that Rachel is wearing. He couldn't match his wife for the holiday." Makai pulled me close to his side and Grantham's face dropped at his words. Everyone else, however, were laughing their asses off.

"Hahaha! That was an epic burn. Thank you, Kai. Thank you for putting my brother in his place." Deliah was barely able to speak with how hard she was laughing but she got it out eventually.

"Oh this shit is going to be fun, I think you're a worthy opponent." My brother eyed my boyfriend with a wicked glint sparkling in his dark blue eyes. He may look a lot like my really nice and usually sweet mom, but he had my dad's wicked eyes and was even more savage than them both when he truly wanted to be.

"I look forward to that." Makai didn't back down at all, even in the face of my brother's clear declaration of word war. That's fine, I knew that Makai could handle it. He would be able to go toe to toe with Grantham and I would be right there with him as he did.

"Sounds like a party in here." Dad walked into the room with Mr. Rivers right behind him.

"What's with all the laughter?" The two of them were grinning like they had already cooked up the perfect plot for today. I was starting to worry even more now. With both of our dads and my brother being evil at the same time I wasn't sure if Makai would survive. I was certain that I wouldn't.

'I hope you're ready to avenge my death, Makai, because I have a feeling that my heart will suddenly give out from the impending mortification..' I prayed a little in my head to my boyfriend even though I knew that he wasn't able to hear it.