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45.1 - Small Talk
OOC:Co-written by ssa_morgan and i_willpout. Relationship based on role play.
So far, meeting his mom had gone well. Cindy Morgan was as easy going as Derek was. She stood about five foot seven inches in height with smooth ivory skin and a full head of red hair. All three of her children had taken on their father's African American physical traits but that had never once bothered her. They were beautiful children inside and out. She had woken up early to start the large lunch that she had planned for that day. The entire home smelled of food cooking in the kitchen. She hung up the phone after speaking to Sarah and called loudly through the house. "Derek! Sarah's at Desiree's picking her up and will be here soon. She said to give her five to ten minutes."
Derek hurried into the kitchen, pulling a black tee shirt over his head and down over his torso. Lucy was still getting dressed in the bedroom. He leaned over to kiss his mother's cheek. "Morning Momma."
Cindy smiled tilting her cheek into the kiss. "Good morning Derek. It's been too long since I've had a good morning kiss from my baby boy."
"Just cause I'm the youngest don't make me a baby, Mom." He reached over her shoulder to pick one of the dried onions off of the top of the green bean casserole. The act earned a light slap to the back of his hand and he grinned. "Hey!" He popped the stolen onion into his mouth.
"You'll always be the baby no matter how old you are. You're my baby and you're your sister's baby brother." She looked up to her son who towered over her now and had done so for several years. "And keep your hands out of the food."
Derek smirked and looked up when Lucy walked into the room. "Hey, Sweet thing. Barely been up five minutes and I'm already getting in trouble." He leaned back against the counter and held an arm out to her. Lucy grinned and slipped her arm around Derek's waist, letting him wrap his arm around her. She'd been up for a while getting ready. She'd been nervous about meeting Derek's mom but that had gone well. Now she was nervous about meeting his sisters.
"You are trouble, Derek Morgan. But luckily you're our kind of trouble." Cindy glanced back behind her. "Good Morning, Lucy. Did you sleep well?"
"Yup. I can sleep anywhere. I'm easy,"Lucy said with a smile. "Can I help you with anything? I'm actually pretty good in the kitchen."
Cindy turned to open a cabinet and pulled down two over-sized coffee mugs to set down on the counter in front of the coffee pot. "You're a guest, Lucy. There's no reason for you to cook while you're here unless you're just that helpful." She nudged Derek's shoulder. "You be a good host and give the girl some coffee while you're getting it for yourself. I may not have seen you in awhile but I do know you."
"Yes ma'am." Derek pushed away from the counter and got some irish cream creamer from the fridge. He filled both mugs with a little bit and then poured some coffee. "Think Lucy's nervous about meeting Sarah and Desi."
"Oh, don't be. They don't bite." Cindy assured Lucy, setting a lid on the pot of potatoes she had already peeled. "They're just as excited to meet you as I was. And you really haven't disappointed, believe me. I'm so excited that Derek actually brought someone home. You can do no wrong for making him smile the way you do, Sweetheart."
Derek turned back to Lucy with a grin and handed her one of the mugs of coffee. "See? Nothing to worry about."
Lucy stuck her tongue out at Derek and took a sip of her coffee to keep herself from saying something inappropriate to his mom. She really, really, really was trying to watch what she said around her. "Oh it's completely selfish. He's prettier when he smiles," she quipped to Cindy. "And you," she jokingly pointed her finger at Derek. "You aren't supposed to tell people I'm nervous about them." Even if she was.
"Hey! Ouch." Derek poked her back in her shoulder. "Man, I cannot get it right today. See? This is why I steal food before it's ready. If my mouth is full then I'm not talking."
"Hush you." Cindy said.
The doorbell rang and Derek set his coffee mug down to hurry to answer the door. He unlocked and opened the door and two squeals sounded in the apartment as he was attacked by his sisters. He wrapped his arms around both of them and the embrace lasted forever as they all laughed excited to see each other. Desiree set her things down inside the front door. "Have you gotten taller, little brother?"
Sarah stepped back to inspect him. "Mmm hmmm... taller and thinner. Have you been eating?"
"I asked him the same thing!" Cindy called from the kitchen.
"You know when you do all that working out you're supposed to eat too. Can't be all muscle." Sarah instructed only half teasing.
Tilting his head and narrowing his eyes, Derek shook his head. "I am the muscle, haven't you heard? Besides, who's been losing weight here? Look at you, girl."
"I still got curves in all the right places, Baby Brother. So don't you go judging." Sarah cast him a pointed look.
"So where is she?" Desiree asked. "We've been dying to meet her."
That forced a smile back to Derek's lips and he grabbed a hand from each of his sisters and let them back into the kitchen. "Lucy, this is Sarah and Desiree." He nodded to each of the girls as he said their name. "Guys, this is Lucy."
Desiree stepped forward and embraced Lucy. "Hi. We've heard so much about you. You're pretty special to get Derek to bring you home. He's never done that."
Lucy was surprised by the hug but welcomed it and hugged back. From what Derek had told her, she would have gathered that this was Desiree on actions alone. Desiree was never the one she was worried about.
"What are you talking about? He's hardly ever home to bring anyone here." Sarah said matter of fact as she looked Lucy over. When Desiree let go of her she held out a hand in greeting. "I'm the oldest. Desi's the middle kid and Derek's the baby." As if she could feel Derek roll his eyes at the title 'baby', Sarah cast him an amused glance before looking back to Lucy. "So we tend to be a little overprotective of him. Nice to meet you."
Lucy shook Sarah's hand, careful not to squeeze too hard. This was the sister she was worried about. She knew Sarah was the overprotective one that stayed guarded. She was going to be hard to win over. "It's nice to meet ya'll too. I understand the overprotective. I feel the same way about my family. Derek has told me a lot about you. He's crazy about his family." She felt like really she should be saying more or doing more or something but Lucy was well aware the more she talked the more likely she was to say something horrendous. Right now she'd just settle for awkward and quiet.
"He should be crazy about us. Lord knows we coddle him enough." Sarah said.
Cindy opened the oven to peek in at the honey-glazed ham. "Derek deserves coddling. And as I remember it, your father and I coddled all of you pretty well. There were no favorites played in this house."
Sarah burst out laughing as Desiree smirked. "Alright, I'm gonna have to call foul on that one. The baby got coddled more than all of us put together."
"Hey!" Derek laughed as he put his arm around Lucy's waist. He waited until the laughter had subsided and he had everyone's attention before speaking again around a lift of his shoulders. "I can't help it if I'm cuter than all of you put together." That got him a light nudge from Desiree and a semi-light punch in the gut from Sarah. "Mom, they're ganging up on me."
"Girls quit ganging up on your brother." It was a reflex action and Cindy paused to look up at her children who were all suddenly looking at her eyes alight with amusement. "Okay, maybe he did get more coddling."
"Change that did to does." Desiree joked, stepping back to lean against the counter. She looked to Lucy. "Hey, how do you put up with his spoiled self?"
Sarah looked pointedly to Lucy at that with an obvious 'you hurt my little brother, I hurt you' look. "Spoiled or not, he's a good man."
Cindy stood and pulled Derek down low enough to kiss the top of his head. "A lot like his father. In fact, if he weren't so broody I would say exactly like his father." She pointed a finger at Derek's chest. "And that is a compliment, Derek Morgan."
"I know, Momma." Derek nodded.
Lucy caught the look and she got it. She'd given it to people over Jill more than once. She shrugged in response to Desiree's question. "In all fairness, I'm pretty spoiled myself. I was thirteen before I realized that the Narnia books weren't about me," she joked. It was fun and nice to see them all laughing and joking. "Derek and I put up with each other being spoiled, I think." She looked to Sarah and smiled. "He is good. He's absolutely the best guy I've ever dated."
Desiree smiled at Lucy while Sarah gave her a small nod. Lucy had already won over the middle of the Morgan children. The oldest was getting there, but she had always taken a little more work than the other two had at coming around to anything. "So what do you do, Lucy?" Sarah asked. "Derek says you're from Alabama but you live in California."
"I'm a philosophy major at UCLA. I'm considering changing it though. Philosophy was mostly something to study to make my parents happy. They wanted me to pick a major. I kind of want to go personal shopper/organizer. I'm really awesome at organizing and I enjoy it. Shopping is like therapy and shopping for other people is even more fun. You'd be surprised how many people don't have a clue how to shop for themselves or organize their closets or their house or anything. And really, it's a whole lot more applicable to why I picked philosophy anyway. Philosophers don't do much besides sit around and drink coffee. I wanted to do that plus shopping," she rambled, getting a little more comfortable with Derek's family. "I did grow up in Alabama. My parents still live there and I go back a lot but I wanted a change and LA is about as different from Birmingham as you can get. I think I'm the only one there that doesn't want to act or sing or model." And she was ridiculously proud of herself for not mentioning slaying at all.
"You don't look like a typical California girl too. You're so pale." After a glare from Desiree, Sarah shrugged and shook her head. "I didn't mean it in a bad way. I mean who wants to be all leather-y like that?"
"Luckily I got a non-leather-y California girl." Derek grinned at Sarah. "Besides, her heart is more in Alabama than California anyway. And she's a huge Bama football fan. We yell about games together."
Desiree laughed at that. "Oh well that officially makes you his dream girl."
Lucy grinned and shook her head. "Southern Belles don't spoil their skin." She laid the bama accent on extra thick to say the words. "Momma would kill me if I came home with a tan." She sidled up closer to Derek and pressed a kiss to his shoulder. "It doesn't hurt that I can still wear my cheerleading outfit from high school.' As soon as she realized what she'd said she covered her mouth with one hand and mumbled a sorry to Derek.
Sarah put up one hand and shook her head around a grin. "Please, spare us the details."
Derek put his arm around Lucy's shoulders and watched as his sisters laughed at Lucy's last comment. If Lucy had received a laugh from Sarah then she was doing okay, or on the road to okay. Sarah had always been easy to set off and slow to trusting especially where her family was concerned. But so far this had turned out to be a very Merry Christmas.
OOC:Co-written by ssa_morgan and i_willpout. Relationship based on role play.
So far, meeting his mom had gone well. Cindy Morgan was as easy going as Derek was. She stood about five foot seven inches in height with smooth ivory skin and a full head of red hair. All three of her children had taken on their father's African American physical traits but that had never once bothered her. They were beautiful children inside and out. She had woken up early to start the large lunch that she had planned for that day. The entire home smelled of food cooking in the kitchen. She hung up the phone after speaking to Sarah and called loudly through the house. "Derek! Sarah's at Desiree's picking her up and will be here soon. She said to give her five to ten minutes."
Derek hurried into the kitchen, pulling a black tee shirt over his head and down over his torso. Lucy was still getting dressed in the bedroom. He leaned over to kiss his mother's cheek. "Morning Momma."
Cindy smiled tilting her cheek into the kiss. "Good morning Derek. It's been too long since I've had a good morning kiss from my baby boy."
"Just cause I'm the youngest don't make me a baby, Mom." He reached over her shoulder to pick one of the dried onions off of the top of the green bean casserole. The act earned a light slap to the back of his hand and he grinned. "Hey!" He popped the stolen onion into his mouth.
"You'll always be the baby no matter how old you are. You're my baby and you're your sister's baby brother." She looked up to her son who towered over her now and had done so for several years. "And keep your hands out of the food."
Derek smirked and looked up when Lucy walked into the room. "Hey, Sweet thing. Barely been up five minutes and I'm already getting in trouble." He leaned back against the counter and held an arm out to her. Lucy grinned and slipped her arm around Derek's waist, letting him wrap his arm around her. She'd been up for a while getting ready. She'd been nervous about meeting Derek's mom but that had gone well. Now she was nervous about meeting his sisters.
"You are trouble, Derek Morgan. But luckily you're our kind of trouble." Cindy glanced back behind her. "Good Morning, Lucy. Did you sleep well?"
"Yup. I can sleep anywhere. I'm easy,"Lucy said with a smile. "Can I help you with anything? I'm actually pretty good in the kitchen."
Cindy turned to open a cabinet and pulled down two over-sized coffee mugs to set down on the counter in front of the coffee pot. "You're a guest, Lucy. There's no reason for you to cook while you're here unless you're just that helpful." She nudged Derek's shoulder. "You be a good host and give the girl some coffee while you're getting it for yourself. I may not have seen you in awhile but I do know you."
"Yes ma'am." Derek pushed away from the counter and got some irish cream creamer from the fridge. He filled both mugs with a little bit and then poured some coffee. "Think Lucy's nervous about meeting Sarah and Desi."
"Oh, don't be. They don't bite." Cindy assured Lucy, setting a lid on the pot of potatoes she had already peeled. "They're just as excited to meet you as I was. And you really haven't disappointed, believe me. I'm so excited that Derek actually brought someone home. You can do no wrong for making him smile the way you do, Sweetheart."
Derek turned back to Lucy with a grin and handed her one of the mugs of coffee. "See? Nothing to worry about."
Lucy stuck her tongue out at Derek and took a sip of her coffee to keep herself from saying something inappropriate to his mom. She really, really, really was trying to watch what she said around her. "Oh it's completely selfish. He's prettier when he smiles," she quipped to Cindy. "And you," she jokingly pointed her finger at Derek. "You aren't supposed to tell people I'm nervous about them." Even if she was.
"Hey! Ouch." Derek poked her back in her shoulder. "Man, I cannot get it right today. See? This is why I steal food before it's ready. If my mouth is full then I'm not talking."
"Hush you." Cindy said.
The doorbell rang and Derek set his coffee mug down to hurry to answer the door. He unlocked and opened the door and two squeals sounded in the apartment as he was attacked by his sisters. He wrapped his arms around both of them and the embrace lasted forever as they all laughed excited to see each other. Desiree set her things down inside the front door. "Have you gotten taller, little brother?"
Sarah stepped back to inspect him. "Mmm hmmm... taller and thinner. Have you been eating?"
"I asked him the same thing!" Cindy called from the kitchen.
"You know when you do all that working out you're supposed to eat too. Can't be all muscle." Sarah instructed only half teasing.
Tilting his head and narrowing his eyes, Derek shook his head. "I am the muscle, haven't you heard? Besides, who's been losing weight here? Look at you, girl."
"I still got curves in all the right places, Baby Brother. So don't you go judging." Sarah cast him a pointed look.
"So where is she?" Desiree asked. "We've been dying to meet her."
That forced a smile back to Derek's lips and he grabbed a hand from each of his sisters and let them back into the kitchen. "Lucy, this is Sarah and Desiree." He nodded to each of the girls as he said their name. "Guys, this is Lucy."
Desiree stepped forward and embraced Lucy. "Hi. We've heard so much about you. You're pretty special to get Derek to bring you home. He's never done that."
Lucy was surprised by the hug but welcomed it and hugged back. From what Derek had told her, she would have gathered that this was Desiree on actions alone. Desiree was never the one she was worried about.
"What are you talking about? He's hardly ever home to bring anyone here." Sarah said matter of fact as she looked Lucy over. When Desiree let go of her she held out a hand in greeting. "I'm the oldest. Desi's the middle kid and Derek's the baby." As if she could feel Derek roll his eyes at the title 'baby', Sarah cast him an amused glance before looking back to Lucy. "So we tend to be a little overprotective of him. Nice to meet you."
Lucy shook Sarah's hand, careful not to squeeze too hard. This was the sister she was worried about. She knew Sarah was the overprotective one that stayed guarded. She was going to be hard to win over. "It's nice to meet ya'll too. I understand the overprotective. I feel the same way about my family. Derek has told me a lot about you. He's crazy about his family." She felt like really she should be saying more or doing more or something but Lucy was well aware the more she talked the more likely she was to say something horrendous. Right now she'd just settle for awkward and quiet.
"He should be crazy about us. Lord knows we coddle him enough." Sarah said.
Cindy opened the oven to peek in at the honey-glazed ham. "Derek deserves coddling. And as I remember it, your father and I coddled all of you pretty well. There were no favorites played in this house."
Sarah burst out laughing as Desiree smirked. "Alright, I'm gonna have to call foul on that one. The baby got coddled more than all of us put together."
"Hey!" Derek laughed as he put his arm around Lucy's waist. He waited until the laughter had subsided and he had everyone's attention before speaking again around a lift of his shoulders. "I can't help it if I'm cuter than all of you put together." That got him a light nudge from Desiree and a semi-light punch in the gut from Sarah. "Mom, they're ganging up on me."
"Girls quit ganging up on your brother." It was a reflex action and Cindy paused to look up at her children who were all suddenly looking at her eyes alight with amusement. "Okay, maybe he did get more coddling."
"Change that did to does." Desiree joked, stepping back to lean against the counter. She looked to Lucy. "Hey, how do you put up with his spoiled self?"
Sarah looked pointedly to Lucy at that with an obvious 'you hurt my little brother, I hurt you' look. "Spoiled or not, he's a good man."
Cindy stood and pulled Derek down low enough to kiss the top of his head. "A lot like his father. In fact, if he weren't so broody I would say exactly like his father." She pointed a finger at Derek's chest. "And that is a compliment, Derek Morgan."
"I know, Momma." Derek nodded.
Lucy caught the look and she got it. She'd given it to people over Jill more than once. She shrugged in response to Desiree's question. "In all fairness, I'm pretty spoiled myself. I was thirteen before I realized that the Narnia books weren't about me," she joked. It was fun and nice to see them all laughing and joking. "Derek and I put up with each other being spoiled, I think." She looked to Sarah and smiled. "He is good. He's absolutely the best guy I've ever dated."
Desiree smiled at Lucy while Sarah gave her a small nod. Lucy had already won over the middle of the Morgan children. The oldest was getting there, but she had always taken a little more work than the other two had at coming around to anything. "So what do you do, Lucy?" Sarah asked. "Derek says you're from Alabama but you live in California."
"I'm a philosophy major at UCLA. I'm considering changing it though. Philosophy was mostly something to study to make my parents happy. They wanted me to pick a major. I kind of want to go personal shopper/organizer. I'm really awesome at organizing and I enjoy it. Shopping is like therapy and shopping for other people is even more fun. You'd be surprised how many people don't have a clue how to shop for themselves or organize their closets or their house or anything. And really, it's a whole lot more applicable to why I picked philosophy anyway. Philosophers don't do much besides sit around and drink coffee. I wanted to do that plus shopping," she rambled, getting a little more comfortable with Derek's family. "I did grow up in Alabama. My parents still live there and I go back a lot but I wanted a change and LA is about as different from Birmingham as you can get. I think I'm the only one there that doesn't want to act or sing or model." And she was ridiculously proud of herself for not mentioning slaying at all.
"You don't look like a typical California girl too. You're so pale." After a glare from Desiree, Sarah shrugged and shook her head. "I didn't mean it in a bad way. I mean who wants to be all leather-y like that?"
"Luckily I got a non-leather-y California girl." Derek grinned at Sarah. "Besides, her heart is more in Alabama than California anyway. And she's a huge Bama football fan. We yell about games together."
Desiree laughed at that. "Oh well that officially makes you his dream girl."
Lucy grinned and shook her head. "Southern Belles don't spoil their skin." She laid the bama accent on extra thick to say the words. "Momma would kill me if I came home with a tan." She sidled up closer to Derek and pressed a kiss to his shoulder. "It doesn't hurt that I can still wear my cheerleading outfit from high school.' As soon as she realized what she'd said she covered her mouth with one hand and mumbled a sorry to Derek.
Sarah put up one hand and shook her head around a grin. "Please, spare us the details."
Derek put his arm around Lucy's shoulders and watched as his sisters laughed at Lucy's last comment. If Lucy had received a laugh from Sarah then she was doing okay, or on the road to okay. Sarah had always been easy to set off and slow to trusting especially where her family was concerned. But so far this had turned out to be a very Merry Christmas.