DJ || think of me fondly

[James Barker]

James had called his parents the morning after to explain his situation to them. Now, like any family, they were worried about him, told him to be careful and such. They had also asked him to come home for the weekend after his classes friday so they could see him. The attack really made everyone involved realize how fleeting life could be, and how important it was to make the most of the time you had.

Now, he really didn't want to go alone so naturally he asked DJ to come with him. His family already knew quite a bit about her, and it had been three months more or less. It made sense to bring her home to meet them. She'd agreed to come, and he wasn't sure how she'd managed to get past her dad, but he decided that was up to her since it was her dad. But he really did have to know where his daughter was, given the whole being attacked by a mass murderer thing. At least Mr Trighton trusted him now, more or less.

James was dressed simply, just jeans and a sweater and he was outside DJ's apartment in his blue pick up truck, waiting for her. They had about a hour and half drive north ahead of them. He really couldn't wait for her to meet his family. he was pretty sure that she would like them. His brothers were visiting too, so it would be everyone. He honked the horn once, figuring she should be down soon. He still had a bandage over his stitches, naturally. But he hated the reminder.

[DJ Trighton]

Hospitals made DJ nervous, and she was more than a little stir-crazy when she got home. She still had her stitches, and the wounds on her stomach were still heavily wrapped in gauze. She probably looked like she'd gained about twenty pounds. Still, she was glad to be home, and she was equally as glad to be getting out of the house. When James had first suggested that she go with him to meet his parents, she'd been extremely nervous. She wasn't sure she really wanted to cross the bridge of meeting the family when she was sporting a rather beefy bandage. But he was going, and the last thing she wanted was to be away from him, so she'd agreed.

It had taken her four hours to get ready. She'd gotten out of the bed, showered, and redone her hair at least three times. It had taken her a full hour to choose an outfit that was loose enough to mask the appearance of the bandages on her stomach, and another half hour to satisfy herself with her makeup. She'd only barely managed to get ready when she heard James' horn honk. She hurried down to meet him.

It took her a little longer than she would have liked to climb into the truck. You don't realize how much you use the muscles in your stomach until they're injured. Once she was settled, she leaned over and placed a kiss on James' cheek. "Do I get to sit in the middle?" she asked. She wasn't sure if there was a seat belt in the middle of the bench seat, but she was willing to risk it to be closer to James.

[James Barker]

Jamessmiled as she climbed in and kissed her lips quickly after she pecked his cheek. "Yup, there's only an across the lap seat-belt there though." He was glad that she had decided to come with him. He knew it was slightly awkward, but it had brought them closer together and it had been 3 months. And his family knew it, and they'd been asking to meet her for a while. that's just the kind of family he had.

The ride went smoothly. He liked having her so close to him, and he would have put an arm around her if his arm didn't hurt. They listened to the radio mostly and James had a habit of singing along. He was no super star, but her ears wouldn't bleed. They also chatted of course, but there didn't seem to be too much to say.

As he got closer he decided he better talk about his family. "Everyone's excited to meet you, I already told them about you before. And don't worry okay, they'll love you." James said turning to give her a smile. "Really, they will."And then they rounded the corner and he pulled up in front of his house. James couldn't help but smile. Home. He hopped out and let her wiggle past the steering wheel to join him.
james took her by the hand and brought her up to the door, but the door flew open before they got there. His older brothers were standing.

"Hey squirt, welcome home," said Peter with his usual broad smile. The twenty three year old gave James' shoulder a light punch with his slim fist. He was about the same height as his younger brother.

"Nuka! you made it back in one piece. I don't believe it." said Logan, the oldest of the three. He was taller and more built than the other two.

James laughed and shook his head. "Don't call me that." And he squeezed DJ's hand lightly and pushed his way past his brothers and into the house. "Not much, but its home." He said to her. The rooms had wood floors and the walls were painted in shades of sand. Wooden furniture, paintings and photographs. The kitchen was visible through an open door, red tile being the theme there. "And these are my brothers, Peter and Logan." he said, motioning over his shoulder with his head.

[DJ Trighton]

She hadn't been sure what to expect, but James had assured her time and time again that his family would love her, and DJ was sure anyone who was related to James had to be incredible. If they were half as decent as he was, she'd love them, too. So she stood with him, hand in hand, her eyes shifting around the room nervously. His brothers seemed good-natured enough, but it wasn't exactly in her nature to open up so easily. She clung to his hand and chewed her lower lip, trying to decide if she should speak or not. The boys seemed to be happy without her input, though, so she let them go.

Her father's house was a good bit larger than James', but his felt more like a home. She curiously looked into every room she could see, delighted by the warm feeling of the place. Grinning, she nodded when he introduced her to his brothers. "Why did he call you Nuka?" she asked, her grip on his hand growing a little tighter. Her voice was soft and a little shaky. It wasn't like she thought anyone was going to hurt her or anything. She'd just never done the whole meeting the parents thing. And, quite frankly, she was already entertaining the idea of these people as inlaws, and it was a little intimidating.

[James Barker]

James smiled and held her hand reassuringly. There was nothing for her to be nervous about, but was used to this by now. She was sort of shy, and slow to open up. He remembered when they met, flirting had been like pulling teeth, but more fun, obviously. And she could handle his family, he knew it, she'd just need some time. James just hoped his brothers didn't give her a hard time.

"Nuka is my middle name, it means 'youngest child'," James explained. "My parents do not get points for creativity." He laughed lightly with a shake of his head. He flashed her a smile before leading her into the kitchen. His brothers could follow if they wanted to bother them, they already knew her dad. His parents were at the kitchen table sipping coffee. Both looked up with at their entrance and his mother jumped up and hugged James tightly.

"Oh I'm so glad you're alright hun." She said with a smile. Her long dark hair was down, and wavy, with the exception of two small braid she'd simply clipped up to keep the front most pieces of hair out of her face. "And you must be Danielle, we've heard so much about you."His mother hugged her too before suddenly realizing that maybe it was too much, and so she stepped away from the girl with a small smile.

By this time his father was standing beside his wife, one hand on her shoulder. He was smiling too, but he was obviously a little more shy of the two. "Nice to meet you," He nodded to DJ. "You can just call me Oliver, and this is Johanna." he said.


ooc- this is a terrible post, im sorry ><

[DJ Trighton]

By the time they wandered into the kitchen, DJ was starting to feel as though she had her wits about her. Parents were usually easier to deal with than siblings. Besides, she sort of felt at home in the kitchen, and his kitchen was more welcoming than most, what with the red tiles and all.

A small smile crossed her lips when James’ mother jumped up to hug him. She liked to think that her own mother would have been so excited to see her, but, of course, she had no way of knowing that. In a way, she was obscenely jealous that James had a mother to talk to. When the woman wrapped her in a hug, DJ winced. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to be hugged. On the contrary, she loved hugs. It was just a little tough to receive a hug when you’d been filleted. ”It’s nice to meet you,” DJ greeted the woman, a deep blush creeping into her cheeks. It embarrassed her that she was hurting in front of people she’d just met.

His father appeared to be just the sort of person DJ was, actually. He was willing to introduce himself, but he wasn’t nearly as lavish with his showing of affection. She grinned at him. ”I guess you already know that I’m Danielle… But no one really calls me that… Well, except James… and I guess now you… You have a lovely home.” She was strict with her manners, and always made sure to cover her bases. She didn’t want to offend anyone.

[/blockquote]

[James Barker]

The Barker's smiled kindly. "Thank you," said Johanna who looked slightly embarrassed, probably because she only just realized what the girl had been through a day or so before. "And we can call you something different if you'd prefer."She continued at the comment she made about being called Danielle.

James could see that his parents wanted to ask them more about what happened, asked DJ bout herself and properly welcome her to the family, but his parents could see she was shy. They weren't the kind to pry if they knew you weren't up to talking.

James decided to take the reins. "I'm gonna show her around." He said with a little smile, leading DJ by the hand into the living room by way of the dining room. On the bookshelf and mantel there were family photos and James pulled down one that showed him and his brothers as kids on the reservation. He passed it to DJ and chuckled softly at the memory. "That's where I'm from originally." He realized, someday, he'd like to take her there.


ooc- sucks sorry >< we need a set plan here i think

[DJ Trighton]

It wasn't that she really minded having someone call her by her full name. Actually, she was getting quite used to it. It just felt a little more special when James was the only one that ever uttered her entire name. "No, really. It's okay," she assured them. "I mean... I like my name." She shrugged, and her eyes focused on her shoes. This was not the sort of thing DJ was especially good at. She always seemed to make a fool out of herself when she was dealing with people that made her nervous, and her boyfriend's parents certainly qualified as people that made her nervous.

She was all too glad to have an excuse to leave. Fingers laced with James', she headed out of the kitchen and into the first room he led her to. Her eyes swept around the dining room, taking note of the way each place setting was laid out on the table. It seemed a little more formal than she'd expected from James' parents, but she'd only just met them. Besides, they might have been trying to impress her or something. Not that it took much at all to impress her. She was sure to have loved them no matter what.

The picture in James' hands caught her eye, and she smiled softly. Generally, DJ spend more time in the city than she did around anything remotely like a reservation. It was interesting, and she couldn't help but wonder what it had been like. Actually, she kind of wanted to visit it. To see where he had come from. The things that had contributed to the man he'd become. "It looks amazing," she breathed. A tiny smile was fixed on her lips.

A moment later, she heard a bit of rowdy hooting and hollering behind them. It could really only be attributed to James' brothers, and DJ was almost afraid to look to see what they were fussing about.

[James Barker]

James smiled a little. It was amazing, open sky and fields. He'd never really been a city person. He liked running around in the woods and fixing trucks on dirt roads. The sunshine and the nature was just what he knew and frankly, he figured he would go back like Logan did. Peter was staying in NYC, and that made sense them both really. Peter being a photographer and Logan just became a cop, which wasn't hard down south where there was little to do anyway.

That's when he heard his brothers making a fuss and he looked up. Of course they did..... There were bunches of mistletoe over ever area with photos, because they knew she'd show him something. The two older boys had started to chant kiss, James laughed and looked at Danielle. Now they didn't have to, but why not? he liked kissing her and maybe his brothers would get off his back, so he cupped her face lightly. "Do you mind, might make them stop... plus I love your lips." He smiled.

[DJ Trighton]

Danielle's sister would never have made a fuss like this. Not about something like mistletoe, anyway. Actually, as far as DJ knew, they'd never had mistletoe in their house. Sure, she knew what it was and the traditions that went with it. Those traditions had never impacted her life before, though. She chewed her lower lip, and DJ's cheeks turned a deep shade of pink. Obviously they were expected to kiss, and she had never been a fan of public displays of affection. James, on the other hand, seemed to be alright with it, and, really, why wouldn't he be? It was his family, after all. He was a lot more comfortable with them than DJ was.

Nervously, DJ wove the fingers of her other hand with his and nodded her head lightly. She'd let him kiss her if for no other reason than to make his brothers shut up about it. Hopefully they wouldn't make too much of a fuss if she just did what they seemed to be demanding.

[/color][/size]

[James Barker]

James made it quick because he knew his brothers would make a big deal no matter what, and he hated putting DJ on the spot, but this didn't bother him. He had no problem with PDA, especially because home wasn't really public by his standards. But he knew how she felt about the whole thing so he tried to make it a quick peck.

That didn't stop his brothers from hooting again though. And his mother's voice rang out loudly over them, "Logan and Peter, stop heckling them!"And James chuckled, blushing very slightly.

ooc--omg so short, dunno what else to say so thats it i guess ><