CHAPTER 8: FAMILY
THE next morning, we met Ike's family at the airport, all 8 of them as the flight arrived to surprisingly little hubub, even though a few people came over to Isaac as he stood there and asked him for autographs. He was patient until the plane was late. "Where are they?" he asked, and just as he did so, a little blond girl came running over to him with all her might screaming "Ikey, I MISSED YOU SO MUCH!" and he picked her up and swung her around as he introduced me to his little sister Jessica. The next person out of the plane was Isaac's little brother, Taylor, equally as tall as Ike, but not quite as slender, and his hair was a good shade lighter than Isaac's. a bit more towards the actual color of sunlight, I thought. A beautiful boy indeed, and I could see the family resemblance in all three of them.
Next off the plane came his parents, Walker and Diana, with baby Zoe in mom's arms as dad held the hands of two other equally beautiful blonde children, Mackenzie and Avery, another brother and sister. They all saw Isaac, and the children let go of their father's hand and ran for dear life towards him. I could tell that he loved his family so VERY much, and it only served to endear him to me all the more as I watched the obvious affection he had for them as he hugged them all so warmly, as if they would all vanish if he let them go. I very briefly interrupted him to ask where the other brother was, and no sooner had I opened my mouth to utter the words, than Zac appeared, clomping big footed over to the now small crowd of people gathered around us. He pulled Isaac from the rest of the family, picked him up off his feet, literally, and said in the loudest most boisterous voice I'd ever heard on a 13 year old "How's my bro, my bestest bud, besides old Tayto head here? How's being a Beantownie been lately? Are you eating them Boston Baked Beans lately ol pal of mine? Do you have gas yet?" as he shook his big brother up and down like an extremely large mixed drink and Isaac laughed the heartiest I'd ever heard him laugh before or since. It was clear that Zac Hanson was NOT a wallflower, and I knew right then and there that he was going to be the life ot THIS little party, to be sure.
When he finally put Ike down, I was then brought into this intimate gathering. Isaac took my hand, and brought me into the circle of people saying "Everybody, this is Jenna. She's a very special lady and I want you all to know that she is now, and officially, a permanent part of my life. She's my girlfriend and I'm pretty proud of that fact, and I want you all to be too." He looked at me, and his face was positively glowing as he made his announcement, and it showed in he way he held my hand as well, that he meant it. This was for REAL, and for keeps, and as his family hugged me for the first time, I felt like I had belonged here always, with this man, and with these people.
We all piled into the rented van and drove back to my house. When his parents saw my house, they just fell in love with the place, top to bottom. I was proud of it too, and it showed in the way I made an effort to keep the 19th century farmhouse intact, even though I lived in the city. Walker commented about the large fireplace being the perfect country in the city and Diana admired the hearth oven in the ktchen fireplace.
Taylor, Zac, and Isaac brought in all the luggage and got everyone into their bedrooms as the children broke out the large box of toys I had put in the living room just for them. I went to cook supper in the kitchen and Isaac walked in and wrapped his arms around me, and gave me a knockout of a kiss just as Taylor decided to do a little bit of a peeping Tom act with Zac. "OOOHHHHHH, they're kissing! We're gonna tell!" and we both chased them around the house like little kids , even inciting Jessica to yell at us! "Now, now children" she said in her most grown up voice, "I'm gonna tell the nice lady.....no I can't tell the nice lady! You're her!" and as I nearly missed being knocked over by Zac, I grabbed her and got her into the big chase too.
After we all settled down to eat a late supper, the little ones were tired from the trip, and all the hubub that had gone on in the house upon their arrival, Me, Walker, and Diana carried up the children to the bedrooms. I read to Jessica, while Walker read to Mackie in his room, and Diana rocked the baby to sleep in the old rocking chair that had once belonged to my grandmother that I had placed in the room where the baby would sleep.
As we walked down the stairs, Diana caught up to me and took me to the sunporch saying to Walker, "Just a little girl talk before bed, we'll be right back." We sat down for what I was sure was to be a letdown for me. Instead, she sat down in a comfy chair and looked me in the eye and said "You are a good person, and I know you'll be good for Isaac. It's obvious that he loves you very much, and I am behind him one hundred percent on this. You make him feel at home when he's here without us, and it shows, so thank you for making my son happy Jenna. I just thought you'd like to hear it coming from me. I DO have a favor to ask though. If you find that you don't really want to be in this for the long term, would you please, as a favor to me, spare him his heart?" and she patted my arm to let me know that she was merely protecting her son, and that she was just looking out for his best interests.
She need not have worried though, because the time to question myself or my feelings had long passed, and in my heart, I knew the answer to the question she'd posed already. I loved this man more passionately than I had ever loved anyone before or since, and ALWAYS would I feel this way, just because he is who he is, flaws and all, just as surely as the sun, ALWAYS would I love Clarke Isaac Hanson, and to this very day, I still do......
THE END