The Switch Up

15

November 24, 2016, A.K.A Thanksgiving

Today was the day. The day that Harry and I were going to meet each other's family which put a lot of pressure on both of us. Did I mention that extended family was going to be involved?

We had decided that we would go to Harry's Thanksgiving at around lunch time and mine at dinner since that's the way our families had planned their holiday. Harry had told me that he didn't use to celebrate the holiday but once they moved over to the States they celebrated along with everyone else.

"Just be yourself I know they will love you!" Harry advises as we stand at their front door. Butterflies are flapping all around inside my stomach looking at the house that looked like it came straight out of the "Better Homes and Gardens" magazine.

"Wait... I'm not ready yet!" I reach for Harry's hand to stall him from opening the front door. I was so nervous to meet the people who meant so much to Harry. I had no idea what their expectations were of me and it drove me a little crazy. I didn't like the unknown and to be blunt it was stressing me out more than I should.

"Madeline you are going to do great just don't think about it too much," Harry tells me as I gulp down the fear and nod my head to his piece of advice. I flip my curled hair away from my face and close my eyes to feel Harry's hand embrace mine.

"You are right everything is going to be fine, I'm just overthinking it," I mumble opening my eyes to see Harry had opened the door to a house of two kids running about and adults conversing in the living room.

Their attention switches from the group to Harry and I as we make an entrance into the beautiful home. The wood floors are glossy and reflective as I take in my surroundings of the expensively decorated home.

"Hazzy!" A little blonde boy cries racing over to Harry and reaching his arms up for Harry to grab. The little boy couldn't be more than 4 years old as he gives Harry a toothy grin when he is settled in Harry's arms. He has huge brown eyes and naturally rosy cheeks against his paler skin.

"How has my little buddy been?" Harry asks the little blonde boy who hugs him with complete adoration. I had no clue Harry was an uncle but seeing him around kids was making my heart burst inside my chest. I think it may have been the cutest thing I have ever seen.

"Good!" The little boy beams at Harry who then looks over at me then back at the nameless little boy.

"That's good, Jacob, I want you to meet my friend!" Harry began to introduce me to the boy they called Jacob. His big brown eyes looked over at me with curiosity and then back at Harry's familiar face. "This is my friend Madeline."

"Hi!" I wave to him with a smile and see Jacob return the gesture. "I love your sweater, is blue your favorite color?" I ask Jacob who seems to be the chatty type.

"Yeah, but sometimes my favorite color is green too... and red..." Jacob responds in a little British accent that my heart melts over. Little kids with accents get me every time.

"Jacob, why don't you go play with Rosie?" A woman with platinum blonde shoulder length hair calls to the little boy when Harry sets him down. Harry grabs my hand again and walks me over to the living room where I see the white state of the art kitchen a couple feet away. This house was immaculate!

"It's been awhile Haz, where have you been these days?" The woman stood up to reveal a beautifully tailored black dress. A skinny white belt hugged around her torso and in this moment I realized I needed to hit the gym ASAP!

"Work!" Harry responds and then looks over at me with a grin on his face. "Madeline, this is Gemma my older sister." I am greeted with a kind face and a shake of the hand.

"It's nice to meet you!" Gemma says just as another man about Harry's height joins Gemma at her side. He has a sharp jawline and nice angular features, he reminds me of your typical Hollister model. "This is my husband Nick and you already met Jacob."

"He's such a cute kid!" I compliment seeing him and a little waddling baby in the corner of the room laughing at each other as Jacob pulls different silly faces.

"He is the living embodiment of his father! If you have ever seen Dennis the Menace then that's Jacob in a nutshell." Gemma looks over at Jacob and the baby I was assuming they called Rosie. "And then that is Rosie she 1 years old and always keeping us on our toes now that she can walk."

"You have a beautiful family, Harry never really talks about you guys so it's cool to finally meet you all." I gush as Gemma thanks me and goes on to banter with Harry about how his family is never a topic of conversation with any girl he dated. Now meeting them, however, I wondered why that was.

Harry also introduced me to his mother and father who were very kind and hospitable. Anne slaved away in the kitchen making up her feast as we all talked on the couch. Everything was smooth sailing so far and I told myself I wasn't going to jinx it.

"So how did you two meet since Harry didn't inform us about anything but that you were gorgeous and really fun to be with." Harry's dad asks as I am settled on the couch next to Harry. Our hands our intertwined in his lap as I chuckle and look over at Harry who is blushing at what is father had said about me.

"Well, I met Harry at Lachlan and my first day he showed me around the office and then I realized that we sat next to each other so we became pretty close. He is always leaning over to tell me knock knock jokes and random jokes in general." I earn laughs from everyone in the living room and feel really good about myself.

"Harry is the king of bad jokes but I am sure you already knew that." Gemma agrees as we both laugh and get Harry to quickly defend his bad jokes.

"You are just jealous you two aren't half the comedian I am, " Harry tells Gemma and I who are laughing and having a good time. I enjoy talking with Gemma, she is hilarious and so cool. She was so cool in my eyes and I was starting to become a little jealous of her. Not only was she the definition of beauty but she also had a perfect personality and not to mention a model for a husband.

Anne calls us all over to dinner once she has everything ready to eat. The thick aroma of turkey and mashed potatoes is making my mouth water when we get up and take a seat at the dining room table. The silverware is nicely set but I get a little nervous when I see all the different sized spoons and forks... This is where I begin to internally sweat.

"So Madeline tell me a little bit about yourself since I missed the conversation in the living room, what kind of family do you come from?" Anne asks settling down into her seat and unfolding napkin onto her lap. I follow suit and glance over at Gemma and her husband who are squaring their kids away.

"Both my parents are Purto Rican, umm my mother is actually a family attorney as well which kinda pushed me to want to do law." I began trying really hard to explain my family in a professional manner when normally I would explain them to be loud, obnoxious, and lovers of soccer.

"You see!" Harry's dad interrupted pointing a finger at me while he looked at Harry. "It isn't crazy to follow in a parent's footsteps." I saw Harry's jaw clench as soon as his father brought up this point and in a way, I kinda regret wording what I said. It was obvious that this was a touchy subject by the way Harry reacted to what his father had responded to me with.

"You know, Harry is an amazing lawyer. He so detail oriented and always knows how to solve any problem. I get a little jealous sometimes when I can't solve my own problems like him." I say to his father getting Harry to unclench his jaw and begin to loosen up a bit. Harry was a little tense from his father's comments and I was forming assumptions in my head about why he didn't talk about his family much to me.

"Haz has always been good at problem-solving and just even advice in general. I used to ask him for advice all the time growing up because he always knows what to say. Hell, I still call him up and ask him for his help!" Gemma forks her food and brings it to her mouth as I glance over at Harry to see him lightening up little by little.

The dinner goes on and I begin to follow the way Gemma uses her various forks and spoons and realized that you work you way in. I sooner or later get the hang of things and check on myself t make sure my elbows aren't touching the table. I wanted to come off as well mannered and polite because I needed to impress his family, that was important to me.

I actually really like Harry's family and find them to be really good people. I was expecting snobby rich people but Anne was beyond hospitable and Gemma was warm and welcoming. Now was the part when Harry would face my parents head on. I don't know if Harry could be as nervous as me however about him meeting my family. They were loud and outspoken at times which built on my ever growing anxiety.

"We better head out we have Madeline's Thanksgiving now," Harry told me as I rubbed my stomach that felt like a food baby was growing inside of me. My stomach was bulging and making my floral halter top dress feel a whole lot tighter. It felt like I was being squeezed by one of those Boa Constrictors.

"Well it was nice meeting you Madeline, I hope you stick around for awhile," Gemma told me giving me a warm goodbye hug. She smelt of an expensive perfume I could only think was Chanel number 5. Again Gemma is now and forever my girl crush! Is that weird?

"I plan on sticking around as long as Harry will let me." I smile pulling away and hugging Anne and Dez. Harry grabs my hand after a final goodbye and walks me to his car where we are then off to my house.

"You killed it in there!" Harry complimented and I did a few fake bows to response.

"What can I say, I'm a born performer!"

+

"Okay just a little disclaimer, my family is the definition of insane and I know that sounds like an exaggeration but it isn't," I tell Harry as we walk up to my house that I can already hear kids screaming and adults laughing. My extended family was here which was even a bigger concern to me since my Abuela didn't have a filter.

Most of Harry's extended family on both sides lived back in Europe which meant that I didn't get to meet them. Harry was getting the lovely privilege of meeting both sides of my extended family which was making me feel uneasy, to say the least.

"I am sure they are great," Harry tells me clasping his hand around mine. I had noticed Harry loved to hold hands and be touching and it made me smile every time. Feeling his ring clad fingers intertwined with mine made my heart beat just a little bit faster.

"Just don't take everything they say seriously and I think you will be fine." I open the door and there to greet the both of us is my grandmother's arms. Embracing me she squeezes me maybe a little too tight as I greet her back.

"Abuela, this is my boyfriend Harry." I introduce the two and she engulfs him in a hug to which he laughs and indulges. By this time Harry and I are being swarmed with all types of questions and compliments. However, Tara wasn't too impressed by either of us.

Tara was my cousin on my mother's side that was always trying to compete with me. As kids, she was always trying to one up me in all aspects of life and for awhile I played her game. I tried so hard to be better than Tara but every time she sabotaged me. High school was even worse when boys came into play, she was the gorgeous dancer who had life handed to her while I sat back and watched her get everything she wanted but didn't deserve.

"Madeline!" She plasters a fake smile on her lips and takes me into a hug. I instantly feel the need to wipe myself clean of her but refrain as I put on a similar fake smile.

"Tara! It's been so long." I tell her gritting my teeth as I say this. Harry comes up behind me and lays a hand on my shoulder to which I can't wait to push this in her face.

"Too long from what it looks like, who is your little boy toy?" She points out Harry and bites her bottom lip seductively at him. In my head, I am ready to square up but on the outside, I stay as calm as possible.

"Harry, this is my cousin Tara." Her name on my tongue is bitter as I still pretend to be civil with her. Damn, I hated this b***h with the way she was scanning Harry up and down, I knew she was having s*x with him in her mind and it was driving me insane.

"It's nice to meet you, Tara!" Harry shakes her hand politely and I see her loving every minute of it. She probably thought their hands made babies or some stupid s**t like that because she is so extra.

She flips her long black straightened hair and addresses Harry as if I wasn't even there, "You know Harry I would love to hear more about you, is that a British accent I hear?" She protrudes her lips to convey she had larger lips when she really doesn't at all. Her brown eyes are undressing Harry and I am ripping off her v****a in my head.

"Cash me outside how bout dat? " I give her a side smile and pull Harry into me. I take his face and smash a kiss onto his lips and quickly pull away to spot Tara's jaw had dropped. I loop my arm around Harry's and head over to the kitchen where my momma and papa are.

"She seems nice.." Harry trails and I shake my head at the mere fact of him thinking she was nice. She wasn't nice and never has been.

"She's a privileged b***h is what she is." I spit and see Harry stop in his tracks to give me a little smirk. His dimples are peeking as he looks at me with an arched brow.

"What?" I ask him seeing his smile growing wider and wider.

"You are jealous." He tells me and a shake my head in denial.

"Jealous of Tara? Pffft! Yeah right!" I scoff folding my arms and see Harry come with his arms open. He engulfs me in a hug and rubs my back softly.

"I think it's cute." He whispers to me in my ear only loud enough for me to hear.

I navigate through multiple people and find my mother and father busily scooping, stirring, and glazing all types of things. I grab the attention of my mother and see her eyes immediately reel to Harry.

"Damn baby you know how to pick em!" My mother said hugging Harry and introducing herself. Lingering a little longer than necessary she keeps her cheek rested on his shoulder.

"Momma!" I alert her getting Harry to laugh when she finally pulls away.

"Can I just say, you are a beautiful man. Madeline is so blessed!" She placed the two palms of her hands together as if she were praying. I am colored over with a red shade from what my mother has just said. I want to blast off and that's not an exaggeration.

Dinner rolls around and we are all seated once again. I feel a little suffocated with all these people here but try to enjoy it anyways since this is the one time of the year that I got to see everyone. The only person I never liked seeing was Tara because of my obvious reasons.

"Madeline, how did you happen to score a man like Harry here? You were never really the dating type in high school." Tara challenges me and I bite my tongue at her sassy expression. I was getting saltier and saltier the longer I stared at her.

"What can I say I guess I just glowed up," I answer scooping a spoonful of peas into my mouth. I grit my teeth as I chew and listen to her continue.

"Oh honey, you look the same as you did in high school! Nothing has changed with you." Tara pestered causing me to drop my spoon and give her an arched brow. I laugh sarcastically and give her a glare. I feel Harry's hand grasp around my hand to try and calm me down but I push it away and tilt my head.

"You are right Tara... You are right I am the same but at least I'm not the same old little girl who not only gets everything handed to her and clamors for men's attention because Daddy wasn't around!" I spat seeing Tara stand up from her chair with a red face, steam coming from her ears like some cartoon.

"Madeline!" My father calls to me and I send him a death glare. I was going to settle this one and for all.

"I would rather be that then a lonely loser who couldn't get a guy no matter how hard she tried! Not even the mathletes would touch you and they were all gross!" Tara shoots which fuels my anger even more.

"You know Tara, you are one of those girls that peaked in high school and someday you are going to wake up still living in mommy and daddy's house still f*****g with the same guys, wondering what the hell happened!" I scream and see her visibly shrink before she scoffs and walks out of the door.

"What the hell was that Madeline?" My father asks as I look over at him. He is just as angry as I had been just a few seconds ago.

"Papa she-"

"I don't want to hear a weak excuse you need to apologize." My father orders and I look down at Harry who is looking down at his hands obviously feeling awkward.

"I think it would be better if Harry and I left actually," I tell my father grabbing Harry's hand and storming away towards the front door. I slam the door shut and Harry and I look at each other.

"I am sorry about that I just got so mad... I don't know what came over me." I tell him honestly huffing out a breath and then tried to decompress.

"Remind me to never get on your bad side you are brutal!" Harry laughs causing me to blush at his comment. Now thinking about it I had maybe gone a little too far, I had literally obliterated Tara with that last argument.

"Once a savage always a savage," I tell him and let him lay his arm around my shoulder. We walk side by side while I lean into his chest and take a little walk to calm me down. I had reached a high level of rage and needed some fresh air to clear my head.

I enjoy as we stroll down the neighborhood sidewalks just chatting away at how the day had started and ended. My mood does a complete flip around within the next few minutes until I feel like my normal self again.