Many hands make light work
When Jenny and Jason returned to the group, they were welcomed warmly once more. As her family contained plenty of nosy people and they had been gone for long enough for them to start speculating, more than one of her family members asked them where they had been. Avoiding a direct answer, they headed to the front and lead the way for the others. By the time they got to the castle all their attention was diverted to what they saw instead. Nearing the end of their trip and heading towards the exit, Jason's earlier questions popped back into his head. Mainly the one about how they were all to fit inside that standard size living room.
By now the distance between them and the others was large enough for him to speak freely, but he was rather safe than sorry. Before you know it, he might offend someone and he wouldn't be able to live it down. So, he glanced backwards before he turned to sideways to Jenny. As they were walking Jason asked quietly, "Jen, how are all of these people going to fit inside your mother's house?" Jenny chuckled as she saw his look of worry and turned around to face him. As she walked backwards, with her hands behind her back, she replied. "Don't worry. Look at this lovely weather we are having." Jenny said as she raised her arms over her head and spun around. "Those who can't fit inside the house, can sit outside in the yard. We can get some chairs and the lawn furniture from the shed and we should be fine. Not everyone needs an actual seat, they can sit on the floor as well. All you need is a throw pillow and voila!"
Jason was surprised by her response. In his circle it was unthinkable to have someone sit on the floor, so that hadn't been an option in his mind. But they were right. What did it matter if you couldn't sit on a chair or on the couch? As long as there was something soft under your butt and you were having fun, other things shouldn't matter. Good food made up for a lot as well and that was something Jenny's family was sure to provide. After another hour or two they had seen all that the castle had to offer and were ready to go home. Everyone was quite hungry by now and didn't feel like walking any further. Luckily they had taken the size of their family into account and had arranged multiple cars, so that the people that had come to today's event with public transportation, could get a ride with one of the others to Mary's house for dinner. That way everyone would arrive at the same time and everyone could help set up or help prepare dinner.
Lucky for them, Mary had done a lot of the preparation before she left for their get together today, so it wouldn't take long for dinner to be served once they had gone back. Once everyone had boarded a car of choice, they were ready to leave. In just thirty minutes all cars had arrived back at Mary's house, the first arriving almost ten minutes before the last cars. Traffic lights, different driving styles and the effects of the traffic around hem, had caused differences in their travel time, but all in all they got there fast enough to all help get things done. While the younger children played on the playground out front, the guys were tasked with the setting up of the chairs and seats, as well as putting together the lawn furniture, while the women entered the kitchen to prepare the food. Many hands make light work, was proven here as they were done with everything in just half an hour.
Each person grabbed a plate from the large stack at the corner of the table and like a buffet, they walked past the different platters and bowls to scoop a bit of the different dishes on their plate. After that they looked for a spot to sit and started enjoying their hard-earned meal. As Jason looked around the crowded room, he could see how the older members of the family had been given the best seats. The older you were the better the seat you were given. Mary was seated at the head of the table as she was the hostess and had done the most work for today. Jenny and Jason were sitting on the floor with the younger members of the family. On each side of them, one of her brothers were seated, keeping their eye on Jason. Just as they had done over the years with each other, the brothers were taking turns messing with him by making him feel uncomfortable. Asking questions that appeared to have no good answer. At least not with the eyes of her family on them.
They were all laughing and having fun and slowly the sky started turning red. One by one her family members were taking their leave. Now that things had quieted down a bit and all eyes were no longer focused on him; Jason took the chance to get some fresh air. The others that had been sitting outside had all turned inside when the weather had started turning a bit colder, but Jason needed some time to himself, so he welcomed the chilly night air. He took a seat on one of the benches with a soft cushion cover and took a deep breath.
When Jenny returned from the bathroom, she noticed Jason was no longer in his spot and turned to her mother, who gestured he was outside. She headed to the back door and saw him sitting on the bench with his back to her. She could see his exhaustion without even seeing his face and felt that he had earned this break. So, she decided to join Jason outside instead of calling him back in. Once she stepped out, she felt the breeze that had been a much-needed source of cool before, but had turned into a chilling wind now. However, she had come prepared.