Chapter Text
“How do you feel about spending thanksgiving with me and my family back in Chicago?”
That singular question had taken Ruby months of building up courage to finally spill those 15 words to Nicole on a random Tuesday night, as they lay tangled in the sheets of Nicole’s bed – after a heated evening.
The question had been weighing on Ruby for weeks at that point, and she knew she’d have to take that leap of faith sooner or later. And knowing that Nicole was the most soft and flexible when fucked out of her mind, Ruby decided that some time after Nicole’s fourth orgasm that night was the perfect moment to ask something so… important.
“I- what?” Nicole mumbled, left arm slung over her forehead as she sucked in a deep breath and stared up at the ceiling. Ruby’s unexpected question had her tilting her head to the side – her bewildered dark browns fixating on Ruby’s stunningly dark eyes. “You just quite literally made me see stars, and you’re asking me about my plans for thanksgiving?!”
“Yeah?” Ruby sheepishly said, an apologetic smile curled up on her lips as she rolled to her side to face Nicole. “Shitty timing, I know, but I-I’ve been wanting to ask you for weeks and I wasn’t sure how-“
Nicole’s full lips curled to a smug grin as she eyed Ruby, “so you figured the best time to ask was when you had me naked and thoroughly fucked beneath you?” she teased.
Ruby grinned, “technically, I don’t have you beneath me right now-“ the suggestion stirred up something inside of her, however, and Ruby immediately rolled on top of her – large hands finding Nicole’s waist as she leisurely settled between the blonde’s spread legs.
Nicole’s arms curled around the back of her neck as she gently pulled Ruby in for a deep, slow kiss.
The rare feeling of pure euphoria Ruby felt every time she had Nicole naked and willing beneath her, especially after sex, was something she’d never get used to.
There was something so addicting to indulging herself in Nicole’s borderline filthy slow kisses, that always caused Ruby to get in the mood for another round – regardless of how long they’d already been going at it.
Leisure, relaxed Nicole was an irresistibly erotic creature, and Nicole knew that all too well.
As her arms tightened around Ruby’s neck, her fingernails lightly traced figures on Ruby’s bare back – sending shivers down the redhead’s spine.
“Looks like I’m beneath you now…” Nicole purred against her lips, legs spreading leisurely and sultry flirtatious eyes finding Ruby’s lustful gaze.
“Does that mean you’re saying ‘yes’ to spending thanksgiving with me and my family in Chicago?” Ruby breathed heavily, trying her very best to keep it together until she had a definitive answer to her question.
Nicole’s smug grin turned more genuine, and she gave a short nod as she sweetly purred, “sure, I’ll spend thanksgiving with you and your family-“
Whatever else she wanted to say was lost in Ruby’s kisses, which eventually led to Nicole’s fifth orgasm that night.
“Nicole, we’re already 30 minutes behind on schedule. Please just finish packing, so we can go!” Ruby groaned.
She was settled back on Nicole’s couch, having spent the last hour and a half in that exact spot while she waited for her girlfriend to finish packing for their trip to Chicago. Ruby had offered to help, but been denied access to the bedroom immediately.
Nicole insisted that packing her things was a solo job, and as much as Ruby wanted to respect that wish – she was about to barge into that damn bedroom and slam the suitcase shut so they could leave.
“I’m almost done!!! I’m just looking for this red thong that matches that red bra you love so much!” Nicole called from her bedroom.
Without looking up from her phone, Ruby called back, “pretty sure that’s somewhere at my place.”
“Are you serious!?” Nicole called out, before appearing in the doorway. “I’m guessing there’s no time to stop by your place to pick it up, right?”
“No, there fucking is not,” Ruby snapped at her girlfriend, before glancing at her in the doorway. “Who cares, anyways? No one’s gonna see your lingerie except for me.”
“Exactly! I wanna look good for you…” there was a hint of doubt in Nicole’s voice that Ruby recognized as the start of something bigger. Which was why she immediately threw her phone onto the couch cushion beside her and made her way over to Nicole – who still lingered in the doorway to her bedroom.
Ruby’s hands found her waist as soon as she was close enough, and she pulled Nicole closer before leaning in to place a soft kiss onto her lips. “I don’t care what lingerie you wear, my love… you’re gorgeous regardless. Doesn’t matter if you are wearing a matching set or not.”
Nicole huffed and leaned back with a semi-insulted look on her face, “are you saying you don’t appreciate the effort I put into looking good for you?” she snapped, which Ruby knew to merely be a way of deflecting what she truly worried about.
They’d been dating long enough for Ruby to know exactly when Nicole was lured back into her old, toxic behavioural patterns that were a combined result of her fucked up relationship with her mom, her toxic college experience and the shitshow of boyfriends and friends with benefits who had fucked her over in the past.
“That’s not what I am saying at all, baby,” Ruby sighed, and she leaned in to press a soft kiss to her forehead. “Of course I love it when you wear matching lingerie… but that’s not a prerequisite for me desiring you. You’re always so breathtakingly beautiful and hot to me, no matter what you wear… I just wanted you to know that it’s okay not to have a matching lingerie set for every day we’re in Chicago.”
Realisation gradually seemed to seep into Nicole, whose sharp glare softened to a more understanding little smile. “Oh. Right… I went there again, didn’t I?”
“A little, but I don’t mind. Not as long as you finish packing within the next five minutes,”
Ruby reminded her.
“Right!” Nicole called out, before turning on her feet and rushing back into her bedroom.
Unable to resist the urge to try and see if she could be of any help, Ruby followed her girlfriend into her bedroom and watched how Nicole rummaged through her lingerie drawer – before tossing a couple of flimsy thongs into her suitcase.
A suitcase that… quite honestly, looked like a mess.
“You sure you can get that to zip up?” Ruby questioned from the doorway.
“Oh shut up,” Nicole snapped at her, while hopping up on the suitcase. Ruby watched with an amused grin playing on her lips as Nicole struggled to get the suitcase to zip up – before managing eventually.
Grinning proudly, she dragged the trolley suitcase onto the floor and grinned at Ruby, “told you I’d manage!”
“Oh yeah, you did so great baby,” Ruby sarcastically remarked, before turning on her heels to make her way back into the living room.
Both of them had dropped their cats off at Bridgette’s for the next couple days – since the redhead was more than happy to take care of them, and to grand them the opportunity to bond while Nicole and Ruby were away.
Over the past couple months, they’d put the two cats together a couple times – and they were gradually getting used to each other.
Right now, they were at a stage where they could tolerate being around each other without hissing all of the time… which was a big win in comparison to their first meeting – but this little four day sleep over on neutral ground would be the ultimate test.
And knowing Bridgette, she’d keep them both updated on all things cat related.
“Okay, I’m all set and ready to go!” Nicole exclaimed when finally making her way into the living room with her enormous trolley suitcase in one hand and her travel-sized red velvet shoulder bag in the other – which happened to be stuffed to the brim.
Her little black, Chanel, purse was slung around her shoulder and a long, black, leather coat was resting on the arm that also held her carry-on bag.
Ruby couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight before her, “I know I’ve said this before but… you do know we’ll only be gone for like 4 days?”
“O my god, it’s so painfully obvious you’re butch!” Nicole exclaimed with a roll of her eyes. “I’m going into unknown territory, so I need options on what to wear! Besides, do you not want me to look good?!”
Ruby couldn’t help but grin as she quickly leaned in and pecked her girlfriend’s lips, “you always look good, baby. Especially when you wear nothing at all-“
“Okay, gross, we’ve gotta go, remember?!” Nicole exclaimed, giving a push to Ruby’s shoulder – who wordlessly took Nicole’s suitcase from her hand and took the heavy thing downstairs while Nicole locked up and followed with her carry on and purse on her arm.
The ride to the airport went smoothly and with a little less than 2 hours before departure, they made their way to check-in.
Had Ruby been travelling by herself she’d probably have booked a flight with just carry-on… however, knowing her girlfriend all too well, she’d booked additional luggage with Nicole’s ticket – since she for sure wasn’t going to agree to only bringing a carry-on bag.
And Ruby was not about to fight a war she was bound to lose.
After checking in Nicole’s suitcase and receiving their boarding passes, they made their way to TSA – which, surprisingly, didn’t have that much of a wait. Which was odd, since it was thanksgiving weekend… but perhaps it had to do with the fact that the two of them were travelling to Chicago a day earlier – for the sole purpose of avoiding the airport chaos on the day before thanksgiving.
Well, that and the fact that Ruby’s family typically hosted a family dinner the night before the day before thanksgiving… to reimburse the family spirit and what not.
Once they’d gotten through TSA, they had about half an hour left before boarding started – so naturally Nicole dragged her into one of those duty free perfume shops.
“Every time you pull me into one of these stores, I can tell my creditcard’s getting anxious,” Ruby told her, while following Nicole through the endless aisles of extortionately expensive perfumes.
“Oh hush, I just want to check how much my signature perfume is here,” Nicole informed her, before finally finding what she’d been looking for.
Ruby would recognize the bottle of Nicole’s signature perfume anywhere – having seen it displayed on her bathroom counter for months now.
Though, to be quite honest, she’d probably recognise the scent before she’d recognise the bottle.
Regardless where she caught a whiff of that particular perfume, it never failed to remind her of Nicole. For as long as Ruby had known her, she’d been using that very perfume on the daily.
A perfume from a French brand Ruby couldn’t pronounce, but the scent was a dominant jasmine with a hint of citrus and cedar wood. A scent that lingered in every corner of Ruby’s apartment and more specifically on the pillow that was Nicole’s – whenever she slept over.
According to Nicole, jasmine had become her signature scent somewhere during her junior year of high school – and beside her perfume, she also always used jasmine scented shampoo and conditioner, and even deodorant…
Not that Ruby minded. Quite the opposite, really. Jasmine was tethered to Nicole, and Ruby couldn’t get enough of it.
That was, until she saw the price of the signature perfume that was Nicole’s.
“Jesus fuck, that’s expensive,” Ruby cursed out loud. She’d never been around when Nicole got a refill on her signature perfume – and Ruby was no fool, she knew that shit was expensive – but this… this was insane.
Nicole rolled her eyes and glared back over her shoulder at Ruby, “anything cheaper will fade within an hour. This perfume lasts me at least 8 hours… but I agree, the price makes me nauseous every time I have to buy myself a new bottle. And this one is duty free, so-“
“So, usually it’s even more expensive?” Ruby tried not to sound too disgusted by the outrageous prices these stores had women pay for fucking perfumes. “That’s insane! I mean, 80 dollars for a small bottle is beyond me already-“
“Bottles of this size are usually around 110 dollars-“
“110?!” Ruby hissed, “Jesus, Nicole. Seriously, what the fuck?”
Nicole sighed and put the bottle back on its shelf, “I know, I know. I usually get the size that’s 150 per bottle, but that does last me about half a year so…-“
“That’s still 300 dollars per year,” Ruby huffed, earning her another unappreciative glare from Nicole.
“At least I smell fantastic the entire day, don’t I?” Nicole snapped back at her, while turning on her heels and marching out of the store – Ruby following close behind.
“Yes, yes you do. Look, I didn’t mean to judge. I was just surprised by the prices, that’s all,” Ruby hastily apologized.
Nicole finally stopped in her tracks and turned to face Ruby, her eyes teasing with amusement and her lips grinning slightly, “apology accepted… but you owe me an arrow word booklet for the flight.”
Every single time Ruby learned something new about Nicole, she was struck with a sweet tug at her heartstrings that just made her fall more and more in love with the woman.
Like the newly acquired information that, apparently, Nicole liked solving arrow word puzzles…
“You got yourself a deal,” Ruby agreed, and she took a firm hold of Nicole’s hand while they made their way over to the book store that also happened to sell a whole series of puzzle booklets.
They eventually made it onto the plane without any issues – Ruby allowing Nicole the window seat – and just after take-off, Nicole pulled her new puzzle booklet from her bag, as well as a pen.
“Can I join?” Ruby asked, as she rested a cheek on Nicole’s left shoulder.
“Sure,” Nicole hummed, as she opened the booklet to the first page. “You familiar with the rules?”
Ruby shifted slightly, eyes looking up at Nicole whilst still leaning into her shoulder. God, how did she manage to be so beautiful at every angle? “I mean, you’re supposed to write the right answers in the correct boxes right?”
“Yes, but for every answer you fill out, you get new letters for other answers… and some of these are like those prize puzzle thingies – so you’ll have to figure out what letter fits the squares with a number in them, and those will form a word. And if you send in your answers you can win the most ridiculous prices… like a vacuum or a crockpot or whatever.”
“Hey, crockpots can be very useful!” Ruby chimed up from her shoulder.
Nicole glanced down at her with a sweet grin on her lips, “sure they are, chef… now, you wanna help or not?”
“I didn’t take you for the type to be into puzzles,” Ruby admitted, while focussing on the page Nicole had opened up.
Nicole snorted, “are you kidding? Have you seen how competitive I am?” she exclaimed.
Ruby couldn’t help but grin and she pressed a soft kiss to Nicole’s cheek before settling her cheek back onto Nicole’s shoulder. “Right, I should’ve known…”
They spent the first hour of their flight solving several arrow word puzzles – even solving one that could potentially win them a high-end barbecue. Neither of them had space for such a monstrosity on their balconies, but that didn’t stop Nicole from texting the solution to the number at the bottom of the page.
Their second hour was spent listening to music from their shared playlist, as they looked out the window and occasionally engaged in conversation.
“Can I ask you something?” Ruby softly inquired, just past the second hour of their four-hour flight to Chicago.
“Hmm, anything,” Nicole mumbled, all too relaxed after Ruby spent a good 30 minutes massaging her thighs.
“Are you nervous at all? About meeting my family?”
Nicole stiffened for a split second, then relaxed once more – before glancing back at Ruby – whose head now rested back against her seat instead of on Nicole’s shoulder. “I-“ Nicole snorted sarcastically – in that typical way she always did when she was about to lie about something. “No, of course I’m not nervous!”
Even without the tell, Nicole’s high-pitched denial and the way she nearly shrunk into her seat was a very clear sign that she for sure was nervous.
“You know you don’t have to lie to me, right?” Ruby sweetly said. “I mean, I know that I’d be nervous to meet your parents – let alone the entire family…”
That confession seemed to melt Nicole’s walls a bit, as her expression softened and she shifted in her seat – turning her body towards Ruby. “I keep trying to tell myself that it’s gonna be fine, but I don’t know if it will be… Like I- o my god, you’re gonna think this is so stupid-“ Nicole groaned as she slammed back into her chair and covered her face with both hands.
Ruby couldn’t help but smile at the adorable sight that was an embarrassed Nicole, hiding her face to try and not seem as ashamed as she confessed something she undoubtedly though to be humiliating – while Ruby would probably just consider it rather adorable.
“Hey, tell me,” Ruby hummed, prying Nicole’s hands from her face – so she could take a light hold of her girlfriend’s chin and pull her in for a soft kiss. “I promise you, I won’t think it’s stupid,” she mumbled into the kiss.
Unable to resist, Nicole sighed and deepened the kiss for a moment, before pulling away and resting their foreheads together. “I know you said your nonna is the one to impress, but… I am more nervous about meeting your mom, and wanting to impress her.”
Ruby’s heart tightened with adoration for the sweet confession on Nicole’s end, and she stole another kiss from her girlfriend’s lips. “That’s adorable.”
“I’m serious, Ruby!” Nicole complained, as she pulled away from the kiss – eyes full of worry and slight panic. “What if she doesn’t like me? I don’t have a great track record with in-laws-“
Ruby leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead. “You’ll be just fine, my love. Just be yourself, and I assure you that everyone will adore you as much as I do.”
Nicole nuzzled her nose against Ruby’s cheek for a moment, a sweet grin playing on her lips. “Well, your family adoring me as much as you might be a bit of a problem where your brothers are concerned…”
“Ew, gross. Don’t ever fucking go there again,” Ruby nearly gagged, parting from her intimate embrace with Nicole – who merely chuckled and grinned at her. “Oh and for the record, one of my brothers is gay, so-“
Nicole giggled, “doesn’t mean I can’t charm him.”
“Oh, I am sure he’ll adore you,” Ruby rolled her eyes.
“Everyone does,” Nicole confidently exclaimed as she settled back in her seat. “Okay, so, give me a quick run through of who I’m meeting this weekend.”
Ruby sat back in her seat with a sigh and glanced at Nicole – smug, gorgeous Nicole – seated beside her. “Right, so there’s my nonna, who’s my mom’s mother. Then there’s George and Eleanor, who are my grandparents on my dad’s side. They’ll be there on thanksgiving… just a head’s up, my nonna hates them just about as much as she hates my dad.”
“Why exactly does she hate them?” Nicole asked.
“Well, because they are ‘bland and boring Americans’, according to my nonna,” Ruby told her. “She just thinks my dad is far too dull and boring for my mom and she thinks the same of his parents.”
“Yikes… what does your mom think about that?” Nicole asked in return.
Ruby shrugged, “as far as I can tell, she likes that he’ll do whatever she says. She’s a very demanding, high-maintenance type of woman and she’s got my dad wrapped around her finger, so he’ll do anything for her.”
“Wow, that must be so boring for her,” Nicole chuckled, earning her a curious look on Ruby’s end. “Seriously, like… it’s no fun when your partner just does whatever you want. Like, I want someone who pushes back, who challenges the things I say or demand.”
“So, someone like me?” Ruby purred sweetly, her lips curling up to a sweet grin.
Nicole looked up at her, grinning as well and stealing a quick kiss from her lips, “exactly. Now, continue.”
“Alright, so. We’ve got my dad, Steve, and my mom, Gianna – but most people call her Gigi… don’t call her Gigi before she’s given you explicit permission to do so, however. Many have made that mistake before,” Ruby tells her.
“Right, call your mom Gianna or Mrs. Mansfield until I’m told otherwise. Got it,” Nicole hummed. “Are all of your brothers gonna be there? Including the kids?”
“That’s the plan,” Ruby told her. “So we got my oldest brother, Raphael – or Raph, as we call him – who’s bringing his wife Ava and their two girls, Gracie, who’s 9 and Autumn, who’s 4.”
“Great, I love kids,” Nicole simply exclaimed, earning her another curious look from Ruby.
“I didn’t expect you to be the type to enjoy being around kids…” Ruby couldn’t help but grin.
Nicole met her grin with one of her own, “I mean, I don’t want any kids around when I’m working – just because it’s so fucking annoying to have those idiots running around the restaurant while I’m walking around with hot fucking dishes that could cause those fuckers second degree burns. And of course the parents never fucking keep an eye on their kids. Like, what do you think this is? A fucking zoo? You think you can let your kids run around and we’ll keep an eye on them? Absolutely the fuck not. Like, if ever I drop anything hot on a kid that bumps into me, because their parent isn’t watching them, I ain’t sorry. And I actually like kids, so that says a lot!”
Ruby grinned at the little rant from Nicole, and added, “you just don’t want them around at the restaurant, got it.”
“I mean, it’s fine as long as the parents control them and keep them seated at the table. But the moment those fucking kids start running around and the parents don’t correct them, I am so ready to fight both mom and dad in the parking lot,” Nicole ranted.
“What if it’s a child with two moms or two dads?” Ruby teased.
Nicole glared back at her, “I don’t give a single fuck if that kid had 6 dads, I will fight every single one of them in the parking lot if their fucking kid is running around my section and bumping into me while I’m serving hot dishes.”
“Fuck, you’re so hot when you get all riled up like this,” Ruby groaned, and she leaned in to steal a quick, deep, kiss from Nicole’s lips before pulling away for her own sanity. “Oh, and for the record, my brother’s kids are not that annoying. At least, they weren’t – last time I saw them.”
“When was that?” Nicole asked curiously.
“Christmas two years ago?” Ruby mumbled with a hint of embarrassment to her words, feeling ashamed to admitting it.
“Oh wow, that’s quite a while… they must be thrilled to see you again,” Nicole told her in that sugary sweet tone that she always used to cover up some personal hurt – and Ruby decided not to ask about it – but she kept it locked away for another day.
Ruby nodded, “yeah, they’re… really thrilled to see me, however, they also are very excited to meet you.”
“Hmm, really?” Nicole purred sweetly, clearly glad with the change of subject. “When was the last time you took someone home for something like thanksgiving or Christmas?”
“Uhm… I think that was about four years ago or something?” Ruby nonchalantly told her, but Nicole did some quick math and the look on her face told Ruby that she knew exactly who Ruby had brought with her four years prior.
Nicole shifted in her seat, nestling further into the cushions and eventually looked up at Ruby with a sharp glare that – for some ridiculous reason – sparked with jealousy. “You brought Cheyenne along with you last time, didn’t you?”
There was a bite to Nicole’s words that was just unnecessary. They were talking about something that happened 4 years ago, but somehow – Cheyenne’s name always got Nicole riled up.
“I- yes, I did,” Ruby admitted with a sigh, to which Nicole rolled her eyes. “For what it’s worth, though, my nonna absolutely hated her. Like, when I told her about you, she brought up Cheyenne and how I shouldn’t make that mistake ever again.”
That seemed to melt Nicole’s icy demeanor significantly, and she glanced back at Ruby once more. “I mean, everyone knows I am several steps up from Cheyenne-“
“Oh, of course,” Ruby agreed. “Anyways, besides my oldest brother and his family, there’s also Leo – who I’m sure you’ll love. He’s as gay as they come and apparently, he’s bringing his new boyfriend this year, whom none of us have met before. Hell, I don’t even know his name.”
Nicole softly giggled beside her and shot her a knowing grin, “oh, is it one of those things where he’s head over heels for some guy he met like three weeks ago?”
“Probably,” Ruby rolled her eyes and shot her girlfriend a teasing grin. “You think I am eager to commit? Leo is the king of latching on to something that’s bound to fall apart within two months. If he were a lesbian, he’d be the queen of u-hauling.”
“He sounds like an icon, so be honest,” Nicole chuckled, finding Ruby’s eyes with an amused grin on both their faces. “And Robbie’s gonna be there, right? Is he bringing that new girl he’s dating?”
Ruby rolled her eyes, “o my god, don’t even get me started,” she groaned, before shooting Nicole a knowing, rather judgmental glare. “I’ve only seen photos of the two of them together and I can already tell she’s the type of girl who’s got no hobby’s and no personality.”
Nicole nudged her teasingly, “harsh, she might just be super nice…”
“Oh, I’m sure she will be! Girls like that always are nice and sweet… but that doesn’t make up for them not having a personality,” Ruby huffed with another roll of her eyes. “Honestly, I feel bad for her. Like, I can tell those types of girls have a lot of potential to be their own person, but they just choose to be whatever it is they think men want them to be… and of course my stupid brother falls for those types of women.”
Nicole hummed, “I know exactly what you mean, but let’s not forget the most important thing here. It’s usually because the men in their lives have fucked them over so many times that they’ve kinda lost sight of who they are… trust me, I’ve met my fair share of these types of girls.”
“And here I was, thinking you’d immediately write her off,” Ruby hummed.
Nicole shot her an offended glare, “seriously!? Ruby, I’m a girls girl first and foremost! Not to mention a firm believer in the fact that no woman is bland and without color where personality is concerned! Women are far too wonderful to be labeled as dull or bland, so I like to pull those women out of their comfort zone… just leave Robbie’s new girlfriend to me.”
“And just when I thought I couldn’t be more in love with you…” Ruby hummed, while leaning in and stealing a sweet kiss from Nicole’s lips.
Their plane landed in the late afternoon – about 10 past 5 pm.
Surprisingly, it took a mere 10 minutes for Nicole’s suitcase to appear on the luggage belt, and Ruby didn’t hesitate to take on the task of pulling it from the moving structure.
As they made their way to the exit, fingers intertwined as they held on to each other – Nicole stirring her suitcase in the right direction while Ruby checked her phone for the millionth time.
Her mother had texted her about 20 minutes ago that they were waiting for the two of them by the exit.
Whoever ‘they’ were, Ruby hadn’t a clue. Knowing her family, it could be just her parents or the entire fucking family.
Nicole gave a nervous squeeze to her hand right before they passed through the doors that led them into the arrivals hall – and Ruby pressed a reassuring kiss to her temple before tugging her towards the automatic doors.
The doors opened up to reveal the sight of far more family members than Ruby had initially expected – and she held onto Nicole’s hand just a little tighter as she slowly steered her girlfriend towards the small group of people who looked beyond thrilled to see her.
Said crowd existed of both her parents, her nonna and Leo and his new boyfriend.
Leo was the first to run towards her and pull his younger sister into a tight embrace – ripping her hand from Nicole’s grip in doing so.
“O my god, it’s been way too long Rubes,” Leo gasped as he pulled her closer.
“I know, I know, I know,” Ruby hummed, though she did pull him into her arms just as tightly. “How about I introduce you to my girlfriend?”
“O my god, please!” Leo nearly squealed and he immediately let go of Ruby, to focus all of his attention on the blonde beside his youngest sister. “Oh shit. Ruby, those pictures you sent me did not do her justice. Hi darling, I’m Leo.”
Nicole shot Ruby a curious glare before turning back to Leo with a charming smile on her face, “oh I have heard so much about you, Leo…” she sweetly purred, while shaking his hand. “I’m Nicole.”
“Oh honey, I know,” Leo chimed. “Ruby won’t shut up about you… and I can see why- my love, you are so gorgeous. How’d you end up with someone like Ruby?”
“Okay, that’s enough-“ Ruby told him rather firmly. “Why don’t you introduce us to your new fling?”
Leo gasped, “we are very exclusive, just so you know. Kyle and I are gonna last, I’m sure of it,” he insisted.
Ruby chuckled as they gradually made their way towards the other family members, and nudged his shoulder playfully. “I’ll believe it when I see it.”
Despite her extensive list of people she’d dated and slept with, Nicole was quite unfamiliar with the concept of meeting her in laws. She’d only met her in laws once before, and that was when she was 19 years old and dating an absolute fucking ass.
So this was entirely new to her and absolutely nerve-wrecking. She first was introduced to Leo’s new boyfriend, Kyle – who was as straight passing as she was, which might just be something they could bond over.
Next were Ruby’s parents, who were all too welcoming and polite – and they genuinely seemed to be relieved that their daughter had found someone she wanted to bring home for thanksgiving.
And last, but not least, was the scariest introduction of all.
The infamous nonna.
Ruby pulled her towards the elderly woman after she’d introduced Nicole to her parents.
“Nonna, I’d like you to meet Nicole – my girlfriend,” Ruby told her grandmother, who took her sweet time looking Nicole up and down, without saying a word.
Without any trouble, a charming smile flashed across Nicole’s face as she met the woman’s dark eyes without fear – despite the fierce, judgmental nature of her glare. “It’s an honor to meet you, ma’am. Ruby’s told me plenty of stories about you.”
Nonna glared at Ruby for a moment, then back at Nicole – “what kinds of stories?” she inquired in a distant tone of voice.
“Nonna-“ Ruby started, but Nicole interrupted her by answering nonna’s question.
“I think we’ll be here until tomorrow morning if I have to recall all of them,” Nicole jokingly answered, before looking nonna straight in the eye once more as she gave a more serious answer. “One of my favorites is the one about how your husband forbade you from having a job, after you became a mother, and you went behind his back and got a job anyways. Like, classic girlboss behavior.”
Ruby nervously watched her nonna, unsure if this would score Nicole points with the head of their family or not.
Nonna’s eyes narrowed for a moment, before a grin spread over her features as she said, “finally, a woman who understands!” and she pulled Nicole into a tight embrace.
Nicole hugged the smaller, older woman back and glanced at Ruby over nonna’s shoulder, mouthing “was that good:?”
Ruby merely responded by giving her two thumbs up behind nonna’s back, which – honestly – lacked in expressing how much of a success it was that she managed to convince nonna to embrace her while having just met her.
Ruby just hoped they could keep that positive spirit going over the next couple days…