~Chapter 4~
"Guy's, it's seven o'clock so everyone should be here in about half an hour or so. I'm getting so excited!" Ali said smiling.
"I know, me too! It's going to be great!" Macey said smiling also.
"What time did you tell Ben to come Ali?" Alex asked looking at her.
"At around seven thirty." Ali said.
"You getting excited for him to come?" Jayne asked giving a little smile.
"Yeah, kind of. I want him to meet my family and friends and see what he thinks of them." Ali said matter of factly. For half an hour they ran around the house making sure it was ready when Jayne said,
"Hey, there's some guy coming to the door! Do you guy's know who it is?" They all came up to the window and Ali said,
"It's Ben!"
"That's Ben?" Alex asked looking at him, "He's not that bad looking!"
"Oh, shush! He's coming!" Ali said going to the door. She opened the door and they heard her welcoming him,
"Hey Ben! I'm glad your here!" She said moving out of the way to let him him, "Come on in!"
"Oh, thanks." Ben said smiling and walking in. Ali closed the door.
"Here, I'll hang up your coat." She said grabbing his coat and hanging it in the closet, "Come in the living room, I want you to meet my sisters."
"Sure." Ben said walking to the living room. Once they came in, Macey got up from the couch and smiled, Jayne quickly stopped looking out the window and came beside Macey and Alex sat up from the chair and stood beside Macey and Jayne.
"Ben, these are my sisters. This is Macey." She said pointing at her.
"Hi, Ben. Nice to meet you." Macey said giving a huge smile.
"Hi." Ben said smiling also.
"Beside Macey, is Jayne." Ali said looking at Jayne.
"Hi." Jayne said quietly giving a little smile.
Ben smiled and nodded.
"And then here's Alex. The oldest of the sisters." Ali said smiling and looking at Alex.
"Hi, Ben. Glad that you could come." Alex said smiling and waving her hand.
"Thank you. And thank you for inviting me." He said looking at all the sisters.
"Come and sit down." Ali said motioning toward the furniture.
"Sure." Ben said walking toward the couch and sitting down.
"Everybody should be here soon." Ali said sitting on the opposite side of the couch. Macey, Jayne and Alex sat down also.
"So, what do you guy's all do?" Ben asked looking at whoever would talk first.
"I'm a ministries worker with kids and also part time job at Jysk." Alex said.
"Oh, neat. And how do you like that?" He asked looking interested.
"Well, I enjoy working with kids a lot but I'm more aiming for Youth. I'm still waiting till they have an open job for that. And well, Jysk is just Jysk I guess, I just have to work there to get some more money."
"Youth? That's really interesting. How long have you been waiting for this job?" Ben asked.
"Um...I've been waiting for a little while, but I think that I'll be getting it pretty soon. At least I hope so." Alex said giving a little smile.
"You know, I might know some place that might take you for working with Youth." Ben said trying to remember.
"Really? What it's called?" Alex asked sounding interested.
"I can't remember, actually. It totally just slipped my mind. But when I do remember I'll let you know." Ben said.
"That would be great!" Alex said smiling.
"Yeah, sorry that I don't remember what it's called but I'm sure that I will remember sooner or later." Ben said giving a little laugh.
"Oh, that's alright." Alex said. They were silent for a few moments and Ben continued talking,
"What do you do Macey?"
Macey quickly looked up at Ben and said,
"I go to the School of Arts here and a part time job at Swiss Chalet as a waitress."
"What are you wanting to become at School of Arts?" Ben asked.
"An actress but also something to do with music too because I love working with music." Macey said.
"That's great! All of you guy's are trying to achieve great ambitions!" Ben said looking at the girls, "Do you enjoy working at Swiss Chalet?"
"It actually isn't that bad. I enjoy it a lot. I get lot's of money from the tips so it's pretty sweet." Macey said smiling.
"Yeah, that would be very nice." Ben said laughing. He looked over at Jayne and saw her reading a book.
"What do you do, Jayne?" He asked. Jayne looked up and didn't know what to say but quickly answered,
"I...um...go to the Veterinarian College."
"Oh? So you want to be a Veterinarian?" Ben asked.
"Yeah..." Jayne said feeling a little awkward.
"You enjoy working with animals?" Ben asked.
"Yes, I enjoy it alot." Jayne said putting her bookmark in her book and setting it on her lap.
"What book are you reading?" Ben asked looking at the book.
"Oh, uh...a Jane Austen book." Jayne said looking down at the book.
"Jane Austen?" Ben asked, "I think I've heard of her before."
"Yeah, I love her. She's my favorite author. I'm a romance freak I guess you can say..." Jayne said giving a little smile.
"Are you?" Ben asked giving a little smile, "I'm not a great fan of them, but some of them can be okay."
"Yeah, I pretty much only read romance novels. My favorite are the one's that are set back in the 17 and 1800's." Jayne said feeling a little more comfortable.
"Interesting..." Ben said, "Do you write yourself at all?" Jayne sat there for a few seconds,
"Well...I kind of write stories, but I'm not very good at it." She said giving a little laugh, "I just read a lot."
"And she means a lot!" Macey said giving a laugh, "She pretty much reads 24/7."
Ben gave a laugh and said "I like reading too, but I don't read very much. I never really have the time to. Do all of you guy's read?"
"Well, Alex and I read, but Macey never reads. She's not a reading person." Ali said looking at Macey.
"Yeah, she never reads. Even though we always try to get her to read the books we read." Alex said laughing. Macey gave a little laugh and nodded,
"Yeah, I don't like reading." Ben laughed and nodded. They sat there for a few seconds when they saw a car pulling up to the side of the house.
"Oh, I think everybody is starting to come now." Ali said getting up. Everybody else stood up and tried to see who was coming to the door.
"Who is it?" Macey asked.
"I think it's the Andrew's." Ali said, "But they have another guy with them that I don't know."
"He's kind of cute." Jayne whispered in Macey's ear. Macey gave a little laugh and said,
"Yeah, he's not that bad." Ali quickly got up from the window and went to the door and welcomed them in.
"Hey, guy's! Come in!" She said giving a smile. They all filed in and hung up their coats. Ali motioned them in the living room and they all sat down in a vacant spot.
"I hope that you don't mind, but I brought a friend of mine." Charlie Andrew's said motioning toward the guy, "His name is Landan."
"Oh, no. That's fine. The more the better." Ali said smiling and shaking hands with Landan, "My name is Ali." Landan smiled and said,
"Nice to meet you."
"These are my sisters, Macey, Alex and Jayne." Ali said motioning toward the girls. They all smiled and said hello. Landan smiled back and looked over the girls. Jayne noticed that when he looked at Alex, he took a second glance; she gave a little smile.
"So, how are things with you guy's?" Mrs. Andrews asked.
"Oh, fine." Ali said smiling, "We've been pretty busy with work and school."
"Oh, yeah. And how is school going with you two girls?" Mrs. Andrews asked looking at Macey and Jayne.
"It's been really good. We have a production coming on again, so I'm really excited for that." Macey said smiling.
"Oh, are you?" Mrs. Andrews asked, "Well, I better make sure that I get the tickets for it. And what about you, Jayne?"
"Oh, school's fine." Jayne said quietly and shyly.
"That's good." Mrs. Andrews said.
"Where's everybody else?" Mr. Andrews said finally speaking up.
"They should be here soon." Alex said. Jayne looked at Landan and saw him staring at Alex.
"Good." Mr. Andrews said and stopped talking. Everybody was silent and it was a little awkward when finally they saw more people coming up to the house. Everybody walked in on their free will and started crowding into the house. Alex, Ali, Macey and Jayne were all kept busy trying to entertain their guests when Macey noticed that her brother Bryan and sister-in-law Larissa were here. Macey quickly ran to Alex, Ali and Jayne and told them. They all smiled and waited till they got in side before seeing them. Once they got inside Macey ran to Bryan and Larissa and tackled them.
"Whoa!" Bryan said smiling trying to regain his balance. He hugged back and then Macey ran to Larissa and gave her a huge hug.
"I'm so glad you guy's are here." Macey said laughing.
"Yeah, same here Mace." Bryan said smiling and giving her another quick hug. Ali, Alex and Jayne came up also and gave them huge hugs.
"So, how is my brother and sister-in-law doing?" Alex asked smiling.
"Good, just tired from travelling!" Larissa said.
"I bet!" Ali said.
"Are mom and dad here yet?" Bryan asked looking around.
"No, but you should know by now that their always late." Jayne said giving a smile and giving him a little shove.
"Yeah, I guess you're right." He said giving a laugh. After they were done talking they all headed into the living room and mingled with everyone else. Jayne looked at the clock and it was 10 o'clock. She got up from her seat and went to Macey in the kitchen.
"Where are mom and dad? They are taking forever." She said.
"Yeah, I dunno. But they are taking forever." Macey said. They headed into the living room and sat down and waited. Bryan, Larissa, Alex, and Ali came up to Jayne and Macey and sat down near them.
"Still not here yet?" Bryan asked looking out the window.
Macey shook her head, "Nope."
"They sure are taking a long time." Larissa said.
"You guys should be used to this already. They always take forever." Ali said.
"Yeah, but they should know by now that we hate it." Alex said giving a laugh.
"It's dad. He never knows." Macey said giving a laugh also. They sat there for a few moments when they heard the doorbell. Ali got up and headed to the door. She opened it and saw her dad standing there smiling with his arms wide open.
"We're here!" Ali ran into his arms and sqeezed him. By now Bryan, Larissa, Jayne, Macey, and Alex were there waiting. After they were done hugging their parents, they all headed into the living room and everybody else came up and said hello. When everyone was done they all sat down wherever they could and talked some more.
"So, how is everybody?" Their dad, James, asked smiling. Everybody answered and Ali asked,
"How was your trip?"
"It was good." He said, "Sorry that we got here so late. I'm sure that your mom is probably still mad at me."
"No, I'm not." Leslie said giving a smile and giving him a little push with her hand. Jayne gave a little smile and asked,
"How are the animals?"
"Oh, their good. Still the same." She said giving a laugh.
"That's good." Jayne said.
"How is school and work going for you guy's?" James asked.
"It's going good for me." Ali said, "Oh, and that reminds me. I want you guy's to meet someone." She got up and headed out of the room. After a few moments she came back with Ben.
"This is Ben, mom and dad. I work with him." She said smiling, "And Ben, this is my parents." Ben walked over and shook hands with them.
"Nice to meet you." Ben said smiling.
"It's nice to meet you too." James said smiling, "So, you're a lawyer right?"
"Yes." Ben said.
"How is that for you?" He asked.
"Good. I enjoy it very much." Ben said looking at James and Leslie, "And what do you guy's do?"
"My wife and I are pastors." He said.
"Oh, are you?" He asked, "That's very interesting. How long have you been doing that for?"
"Oh, for about 30 yrs." He said.
"Oh, very nice." He said.
"Yes, but it can be challenging at times." He said. They were silent for a few moments when James turns to everyone and asks,
"So, what about you guy's?" Everyone started talking again and were having a great time and started talking with their guests again also. Jayne sat by Larissa and whispered,
"I think that guy over there with the shaggy blond hair likes Alex." Larissa looked up and said,
"Why?"
"He's been looking at her for the whole night." She said giving a little giggle.
"He has?!" Larissa asked giving a quiet squeal.
"Yup. I think he's the perfect guy for her." Jayne said.
"He looks like he could be." Larissa said, "What's his name?"
"Landan." Jayne asked looking at her, "Do you think we should we tell her?"
"No, let's wait and see if he'll talk to her." Larissa said sitting back. Jayne did the same and they pretended they were talking but were still secretly looking at Landan and waiting for him to get up and start talking to Alex. Just when they were about to give up they saw him get up and start heading toward Alex. They both looked at each other and smiled. They sat back and watched.
