[Lots of people]

[starchilde_lost]

[Dated March 31st, 2012]

She wanted this to go smoothly. She wanted this to go smoothly so badly, it was almost making her nauseous as she finished setting the table and setting out the last of the food. Some of it she'd made, some of it she'd bribed members of the kitchen crew to make for her, but all of it was hopefully something someone would like. And hopefully none of it would end up on someone's face.

Because she really didn't know.

She'd never really done anything like this before. Sure, there were family-style dinners at the mansion and with her grandparents while she was with them, but nothing like that existed here. She had no idea how this group of people that meant so much to her would get along with each other. She knew they'd all try, for her sake, and bless them for it, but she had a habit of making friends and family out of very opinionated and stubborn people and once the wine and beers were opened, who knew what would happen.

So she just said a prayer and hoped for the best as she got up to fiddle with her hair again.

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Comments

[starchilde_lost]

During the meal, she kept herself busy, trying to keep conversation going with everyone, making sure plates and glasses stayed full, steering the conversation away from topics she thought would get awkward fast. Sometimes she was successful, other times less so. By the time the meal was actually done and she was starting to clear the plates she let herself relax a little and unwind. Or maybe it was the glasses of wine she'd had. She hadn't counted and she'd needed the relaxation.

Regardless she was feeling pretty accomplished as she let the others mingle as she piled a few more plates into her hut's small sink.

[leftwithmybones]

McCoy's been to a few awkward dinners in his life that would best this by far, which is why the tension he might've held is non-existent. Nothing that happens tonight could hold a candle on the dinners he used to have with his former in-laws, Jocelyn, Clay, and Joanna. This is child's play, compared to that. He's put on a nice blue sweater and pair of khakis and even brought a sweet-yam-mash with him, enjoying a glass of wine slowly as he settles in for the long haul of a gathering like this.

He's not an idiot, after all. He knows this is a marathon, not a sprint.

[likesthestooges]

Aidan knew that part of the reason for the family dinner was so that he could meet all the people important to Rachel. Most of them he'd met here and there in other capacities but tonight it was about meeting them as a part of Rachel's life.

The dinner itself was great and after a bit of clean up he headed outside to give everyone space in Rachel's hut. Taking a sip of his beer he couldn't help but stare around at the island and wonder just how his life had come to this. It was a surprise, a good surprise, but still something he wouldn't have ever expected.

[chasedthestars]

He isn't nervous. Not yet proven to be a man in possession of nerves, Jim swans into the little gathering, doing his best to ignore both Bones' dish of sweet yams lest he eat it all, and the fact that Bones is wearing khakis - khakis - lest he do something equally untoward.

He's happy enough to eat his fill - and maybe a little more of his share where the yams are concerned - to pretend to be a man who enjoys wine, and definitely chokes down his fair share there, rosy cheeked and grinning pleasantly by the time dessert rolls around.

Even now, he's not entirely sure what today's about, but it feels like something he'd have done at home with his crew, and that's enough to keep Jim content in his chair, passing the occasional appraising glance at those khakis.