She makes herself comfortable on the couch with a cup of coffee in hand while I sit in one of the plush chairs. Setting my wine down on a little round table next to the chair, I thank her for having me as a guest.
"You are more than welcome. I have been wanting to meet you for a while now."
I am flustered by her words, especially after the conversation I just had with his three cousins. "A while?" I ask.
"Yeah, ever since he first called me to tell me about you, I've been wanting us to meet."
Not wanting to sound like I'm snooping, I just let her comments be. "Well, I'm glad we got to meet. Ryan's been a good friend to me. I feel like I'm imposing a bit, but he insisted that I come."
"You're not imposing at all! When you have as many people over here as we do, adding one more to the mix is nothing," she says with a giggle. "Ryan tells me you have a fairly small family."
"Yeah, it's just me and my parents." Although I say this, I'm not so sure that's even true after last night. I kind of feel like Jase is my only family now, and at the same time, I wonder how much longer I will have him. He and Mark are very serious, and I have no clue what will happen after we all graduate this year.
"I hope you don't mind, but Ryan has told me a little bit about your family dynamics. I just wanted you to know that Ryan and I have a close relationship and he talks openly with me."
"I don't mind. I figured the two of you had a tight bond. You guys are lucky. I never had that with my parents." I take a sip of my wine when I start to feel the lump in my throat return. I have always wished for that type of closeness with my parents, but it never came. And now we couldn't be any more divided.
"So, Ryan tells me that you're studying ballet at school. It sounds like such fun, to have the opportunity to turn a passion into a career."
I can't contain my smile when I respond, "I can't imagine doing anything else with my life. I've taken ballet since I was a little girl, so when I graduated high school, there was no doubt what I wanted to do next."
"That's great to have that desire and focus. Not a lot of kids your age do."
Donna and I talk and get to know each other. She wants to know me better, and I find her to be warm and very easy to talk to. We are deep in conversation when we hear Ryan yell from across the house, "Mom! You're slacking in the kitchen! I think the ham is done!"
Donna and I look at each other and laugh.
"Can I help you in the kitchen?" I ask.
"I have it covered. You go and enjoy yourself."
"Really, I'd like to help."
Donna looks at me, and I can see in her eyes that she probably understands why. Taking my hand, she says, "I'd love that."
Before we ate dinner, Ryan finally let the kids open their gifts. He wasn't kidding when he said he had a lot. He clearly spoils his nieces and nephews rotten, and it was fun for me to sit back and watch him. He's just so relaxed with them. Ryan sat on the floor with Zachary, his nine-month-old nephew, in his lap and helped him tear off all the giftwrap, and then laughed in amusement when all Zachary wanted to do was play with the paper, waving it around in his hands.
Dinner wasn't like any Christmas dinner I have ever had. The kids ate at the bar and breakfast table, with Jenna sitting next to Zachary who's in a high chair. And everyone else spread out between the formal dining room and the living room. We couldn't all sit together with there being eighteen of us. The evening was casual with loud conversation and lots of laughter. Ryan's family made me feel as if I'd known them all forever. I really get along well with Tori and Jenna. Katie has been upstairs with her sick daughter most of the day, so I haven't had much time to get to visit with her.
After a while, the commotion and noise start to overwhelm me. Needing to take a little breather, I offer to take Katie a plate of food since she missed dinner. Walking upstairs, I quietly knock on the door to Ryan's room. I crack the door open and Katie is lying in bed next to Madison.
"I brought you some dinner," I whisper.
Katie gets out of the bed, and I hand her the plate.
"Thank you so much, Candace. That's really sweet."
Looking over at her daughter, I ask, "How's she feeling?"
"She doesn't have a fever, just an upset tummy mostly. I can't get her to go to sleep though."
"Well, I have no experience with kids, but do you mind if I try?"
"God, pleeease," she chuckles. "She has books in her bag by the bed if you want to try reading to her."
"Thanks. Why don't you go downstairs and eat? I'll stay with her."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, go," I say with a smile.
"Okay. Thank you."
Walking over to the bed, I sit down and Madison rolls over with a tiny groan.
I tell her that I'm a friend of her Uncle Ryan's, and she immediately starts babbling about him and asking me questions. When she begins to slow down, I reach over to her bag and take out two books. They're both ballerina princess books.
"You like ballerinas?" I ask.
"Mmm hmm, I wanna be one. Mommy says when I turn four that I can go to dance class."
"I think you'll make a beautiful ballerina." She smiles up at me and I say, "Do you know that I'm a ballerina?"
"A real one or pretend?"
"A real one."