Relatives didn't start flooding the house until close to five in the afternoon. This was nothing out of the ordinary, as most of the family weren't exactly the "early bird gets the worm" type. Ben's father had once said to him: "If you're on time, you're early. If you're late, people will forgive you."
Ben's older sister Kristin and her husband Jeff McLaughlin arrived about two hours after Ben. Audrey, Makayla, Emma, and Caitlin all became ecstatic the instant their three cousins ran through the door. Audrey and Savannah gave each other large hugs while Tyler and Avery both began tickling the twins, who both burst into hysterical laughter. There never came a visit where Tyler and Avery didn't greet their cousins with tickles.
Kristin walked up to Ben and gave him an obviously fake confused look.
"Do I know you?" she asked.
"I'm a serial killer," Ben replied with the most serious and straight face he could possibly give. "I kill brown-haired women in red dresses."
Kristin looked down at her red dress. "It's scarlet, actually."
"Curses, foiled again," Ben replied with his straight face.
Kristin chuckled and gave Ben a hug. "I've missed you, bro."
"It's sure been a while," Ben replied, hugging and patting his sister on the back. "If only I had enough money to bother y'all every single day."
Before Kristen could respond, she was surrounded by Ben's four girls and squeezed tightly. Kristin laughed and put her arms around the girls.
"Aunt Krissy!" the girls all shouted as they squeezed Kristin.
Kristin continued to laugh. "Hi girls!"
"Now you know what I deal with every flipping day," Ben said to Kristin with a grin.
Ben's younger brother Jason showed up about thirty minutes after Kristin. His eight-year-old son Charlie walked alongside him with his eyes glued to his handheld video game. By his smell, it was clear that Jason had not washed his clothes in over a month and had probably not taken a shower for several days. His breath was also tainted with the smell of tobacco. He held a can of Rockstar in his hand.
The very first thing Jason said to Ben was: "Did you get a haircut?"
Ben got a confused look. "Umm...no. Not anytime recently."
"Oh. I don't know. Your hair looks a lot shorter since I've last seen you."
"Well, I don't think I've seen you for about a year. So maybe my hair was longer at the time?"
"Whatever. Nice shirt by the way. You look like your on your way to the Prince's wedding. You mind if I come? I've always loved Purple Rain."
"Ummm...what?"
"You know, Prince...Purple Rain. You know, the singer. Not the actual Prince. I was making a jok-aw, never mind, it's a joke that requires you to think. And not everyone can think."
"Ummm...how've you been, bro?"
"Crappy. I was on the phone with Charlie's mom for several hours yesterday. I came so close to busting a hole in my ceiling. She almost wouldn't let me see him at all for Thanksgiving. Thank freaking God, or else I probably would be busting holes in stupid bi-"
Ben immediately placed his hand on Jason's mouth.
"Not around the kids," Ben said with a very stern tone of voice.
Jason pulled Ben's arm away.
"Sorry," Jason said, drinking from his Rockstar. "I'm really pissed right now. Life just totally sucks."
Ben shrugged.
"I heard you got custody of your girls," Jason said. "I never got to tell you congrats."
"Yeah," Ben replied. "Can we please not talk about that right here?"
"You should feel really lucky. If only the stupid court would give me custody of Charlie, but noooooo. Apparently I'm such a terrible person that I'm not allowed to raise my own kid. Like I said, the world freaking sucks."
Ben looked over at Charlie, who was still lost in his video game. Ben held his hand out.
"Hey Charlie," Ben said.
Charlie kept his eyes glued to his video game.
"Charlie?" Ben asked a little louder.
Charlie slowly held up his head.
"Hey Ben," he said. He then immediately went back to his game.
"How are you?" Ben asked.
Charlie's eyes didn't leave his game. "I'm okay."
"How's school?"
"It's okay."
"Whatchu' playing?"
"A game."
"What kind of game?"
"Pokemon."
"Ooh, that sounds awesome. What else do you like to play?"
"A lot of things."
Before Ben could say anything else, Charlie turned and walked to the living room. He sat down on the couch and continued to play his game. He more than likely would stay in that same spot for the rest of the visit.
A few seconds later, Audrey, Makayla, Emma, and Caitlin all surrounded Jason and squeezed him in the exact same way as they had to Kristin a while ago. Ben smiled.
"Uncle Jason!" the girls all shouted.
"Whoa, careful girls!" Jason shouted with a laugh. "Don't make me spill my drink! How are my pretty little angels? Ooh, those are some pretty looking dresses!"
Jason's fiance April, who he had just gotten engaged to three months earlier, also arrived at the party. Though, like Charlie, she hardly spoke to anybody. She instead just stayed close to Jason and threw in a sarcastic or slightly rude response to his comments every so often. When Susan first told Ben the news about the engagement, she remarked that the marriage wouldn't last five years. Ben doubted that the two would even make it to the wedding.
The remainder of the guests that arrived were a few cousins, aunts, and uncles of Ben. About five more children also arrived. Much like every family get together, the children all played with each other in the back room while Charlie stayed on the couch playing his video game. Although Ben wanted to stay happy when spending time with family, he couldn't help but get an upset feeling in his stomach whenever he saw Charlie sitting by himself.
But Ben would always instantly calm down as one of his daughters (or more than one) randomly ran up to him to give him a hug.
Unfortunately, Charlie sitting alone wasn't the only thing that kept Ben from feeling happy. Ben couldn't help but groan as one certain relative entered the house.
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