“George, if you break him,” Sam started to say.
George let go of Lewis and laughed. “I won’t break him,” he said to Sam. “Nice to meet you Lewis.”
“Good to meet you at last. I’ve heard a lot of stories from Sam,” said Lewis.
“And before you two start talking, I’m Angie. The mate of this over sized mountain of flesh,” said Angie.
Lewis turned to see a smile on the face of the smaller woman. He took her hand and kissed the back of it. “So very glad to meet the mate of such a cousin. I hope he is deserving of you. If not, I would gladly make amends,” said Lewis with a wry smile on his face.
“Oh my. One with manners. How did you get so lucky Sam?” Angie teased.
“I’ll blame it on Buster,” said Sam. That made everyone laugh.
Suitcases claimed, they headed for the car. George had borrowed a car from Patrick. There was no way he’d pick up two people in the truck. There were days he swore he barely fit.
“Patrick trusted you with his Subaru?” Sam asked as they arrived at the car.
“Yes, and I’ve promised to be good and not bring it back too dented or broken,” said George with a sigh.
“He nearly violated all the agreements when a truck changed lanes in front of us on the way here,” said Angie.
“I didn’t hit anything, so just relax,” said George as he put the last of the luggage into the back. “Let’s get to Luc’s before dinner is ready. Sandy promised to barbecue.”
*
They talked in general all the way from the airport. George and Angie were anxious to hear Sam and Lewis’ stories, but they didn’t want them to have to repeat things either. George swore he could smell the barbecue a mile out from Luc’s house. A few minutes later they pulled in front of the house. It took George a minute to find a place to park as the street was full on both sides. The smell of barbecued meat wafted across the yard.
“I swear that I’ve been smelling this for the last ten minutes,” said Lewis.
George smiled and nodded. “Sandy is a master with his sauces. You’ll meet him in a few minutes,” George said.
“Are all these cars family?” Lewis asked looking at over fifteen cars parked in front of the house or in the driveway.
“Yes. Just immediate family. If we had the whole pack here, we’d need the local community center and then some,” said George. “I promised Sam that we’d be a more intimate group tonight.”
“You do realize that this is probably more family than I’ve met in the last forty or fifty years,” said Lewis.
“How on earth did you manage that?” asked George as they walked across the street.
“My mum ran away with me. Didn’t let me know what I was until I suddenly shifted as a teen. Rather a shock it was,” said Lewis.
“Geeze!” said Angie.
“Once you’re over the shock, you can tell us all about it,” said George as they walked in the door.
Inside there must have been twenty or more people. Sam was engulfed by another couple and Lewis stood there stunned. He could feel that most of the people in the room were shifters. Probably more than he’d ever seen in one room. A tall dark haired man with an air of authority walked up to him and held out his hand.
“Hello, I’m Luc,” he said.
“Lewis. Lewis Davy. Nice to meet you,” Lewis said. “So this is the Alpha Sam spoke of,” he thought.
“Lewis, Welcome to my home. This is my mate Meg,” Luc said as he started to take Lewis around the room to meet people.
“Hello Lewis. I bet this is all very confusing to you,” said Meg. She had Linsey in her arms while Elliot slept next to her. At two weeks old, the babies had gotten into a routine that let Meg nurse just one at a time.
“Yes Meg, it certainly is confusing. Congratulations on your fine babies,” Lewis said.
“Thank you. You’ll get use to us. I know it took me a while and I’m not a shifter,” Meg said. “You can imagine our surprise to hear about you.”
“Indeed. I was rather shocked myself,” said Lewis.
“They didn’t even tell me until a day after the babies were born. Luc totally forgot for some strange reason,” said Meg with a smile.
Lewis nodded. Then the couple that had greeted Sam walked over.
“Lewis, this is my erstwhile cousin Ginny and her mate Patrick,” said Luc.
“Hi Lewis,” said Ginny as they hugged.
“Hello Lewis, it is amazing how much you look like Buster,” said Patrick.
“That’s what Sam said. Said it had been driving her crazy trying to figure out where she knew me from,” said Lewis. Sam walked up to him gave him a hug and then went to go see the babies.
“We’ll talk later. I have Buster’s diaries and all sorts of stuff you might want to see,” said Ginny.
Luc then walked him around and introduced him to everyone in the room, along with familial information and what each one did for work. They were just heading outside to meet Sandy when he walked into the kitchen to announce that the meat was ready.
“Hey Luc, is this Lewis?” asked Sandy.
“Yes. Lewis, this is Sandy my brother,” said Luc.
“Always good to meet family,” said Sandy extending a sauce sticky hand.
“Yes, Nice to meet you,” said Lewis. “Or should that be nice to meat you?” he laughed as he pulled a sticky hand away from Sandy.
“On this occasion, both,” said Sandy with a grin. “Shall we eat?”
The table groaned with food. Platters were filled with ribs, burgers, pork chops and sausages. Bowls of salad and breads were scattered along the table. Drinks were passed up and down as well as food. Desserts were piled on a separate table, and not a drop of chocolate to be found much to Anna’s amusement. The day after their discussion, Meg had told her mom about her secret chocolate stash when life just demanded chocolate. Conversations were all over the place as Lewis got to know the double handful of cousins.