You'll be fine

Jenny stepped out of the bus first and spotted her family. She stuck out her hand and called out to them. As she waved at them, Jason got off as well and his eyes landed on the group of people, some of which were familiar to Jason and some of them weren't. His eyes grew as he saw large number of people that were facing them. Were they all Jenny's family members?! Still a bit shocked he followed Jenny, who was holding his hand as she was pulling him along. She was walking in the direction of that group and he was just behind her, lost in thought. When they reached the group, Jenny let go of his hand and gave each person the customary three kisses and a hug. After her greeting, she would push him forward and introduced Jason right after. Jason greeted them as he shook their hands absentmindedly and didn't really pay attention when their names were told. The people who had seen him before would give him an occasional hug, pat on the shoulders or the three kisses as well. Jenny's mom was of course one of the people who gave him a hug and who pulled his thoughts back to the present for a moment. She could see the worry in his eyes and said, "Don't worry, you'll be fine."

Though Jason didn't understand her words, he could sense the comfort in her voice and smiled a bit. It seemed he had given his thoughts away. In his mind he was wondering things like 'How are all these people going to fit into that small house of Jenny's mother?' and 'How am I ever going to find the energy to interact and get to know each and every one of them?'. Jason's life till now had been filled with very few people that he had bothered to get to know. He had a few close friends who he occasionally spent time with outside of school, he didn't interact with his family and before Jenny came into his life, his home life had been quiet as well. Jenny had brought a wind of change and a lot of lively energy with her. Now that her family became involved as well, there came a certain pressure.

Though he like that his life had gained a bit of colour and wasn't as quiet anymore, it was a big change and he needed time to get used to it. Sometimes it was all a bit too much for him and he would look forward to a quiet day with just him and Jenny or some gaming with his friends. A day like this was draining enough from the sheer number of people and became more so by how outgoing and energetic her family was. The fact that he couldn't be his relatively cold self and had to be on his best behaviour at all times during this day. The fact that he had to interact with them and show interest in them, even when he didn't feel like it anymore. And finally, the fact that this was the first time he would be spending a full day with her family, as all the previous visits were for a few hours and he had the first option of leaving after just two-three hours. And this first time was when he would be meeting all of them at once. These were all facts that made a day like this even more exhausting than it would already have been. As he braced himself for what was to come, he put on a brave smile and squeezed Jenny's hand who had returned to his side after greeting everyone. She looked up at his face sideways and saw the slight worry in his face. She put on a gentle smile on her face and gave him a slight squeeze back to let him know it was going to be okay.

They headed to the ticket counter and her uncle who had organized this day stood by the gate and counted them each in as he handed the person by the gate his tickets. With two people at a time they headed inside and side by side they walked the grounds. Everyone was chatting happily, taking pictures, laughing, and forming different groups every so often. Each trying to steal Jason away from Jenny to get to know him, each waiting patiently for their turn. Jenny laughed and waved at Jason when he looked at her with 'Help!' written all over his face, as he was being pulled left and right by her family members. Once she or her mother felt like he had been teased enough or he was looking like he needed a break, they would go and save him. Jason had sighed more than once today, but he had to admit that despite how exhausting it might be, he was also enjoying himself quite a lot today. Her family members were funny and kind people, making him understand where Jenny got her silly antics from. If her own mother and brothers weren't enough, her many uncles and aunts certainly were.

After walking around for almost three hours, Jason finally got some longer term peace as Jenny took him away to a little hammock spot, hidden among the many flowers, where they laid down to enjoy the sun that had broken through the clouds for some time now and basked in its warmth. As they were swaying side to side, Jason finally felt relaxed. This was what he had needed to regain some of the energy he had lost in the past few hours. He closed his eyes and so had Jenny, who was lying in his arms and they enjoyed the moment for a good twenty minutes till one of her smaller cousins came and startled them. "What are you guys doing?". Jenny shot wide awake. Feeling caught and shot up, shaking the hammock. Now Jason was awoken as well, by Jenny's sudden move. "Uh, nothing. Just taking a nap." She replied with an awkward smile. "Why? Are they looking for us?" "Yeah, we are heading to the castle and after that we are heading to aunties place to start preparing for dinner." "I see. You go on ahead and tell them we are coming." Jenny sighed as she saw her cousin run away and their brief moment of peace had come to an end. She patted Jason on his thigh and said, "Let's go Mr. Charmer, it's time for you to steal a few more hearts". Jason chuckled and reluctantly got up as well, before they walked back to join the others.