"Please pass me the salad, Nelson."

"Here you go, Mrs. Morrison." Nelson passed the large wooden bowl to the small blonde woman seated next to him.

"Hold on, Grace. Before we begin eating, we should bless the meal," George Morrison, Steven's father, announced. A small, serene smile was on his lips.

George did not see it, but his wife rolled her eyes at his words. He never ate before a prayer was uttered for the meal, it was an old habit he'd gained as a kid that had yet to die. As this was a Christmas dinner, Grace should have been expecting her husband to repeat that same phrase.

Truth was, there was a lot that the two were not aware of about the other.

He pondered for a bit as he glanced around the table. The large rectangular dining table was filled with all kinds of delicious meals prepared by the Morrison's cook for the special occasion. With twelve people seated around the table, his eyes focused on his son, who was too busy annoying Tasha to notice that everyone had stopped talking.

They were waiting for George to bless the food so they could finally dive into the dinner, but instead, Mr. Morrison just stared at Tasha and Steven who were lost in their world full of innocent touches and hushed whispers.

It took a few seconds for Tasha to finally realize everyone had quieted down and were staring at them. Her eyes quickly landed on her best friend's smirking face, then to Steven's mom's eye roll, and finally to her sister who was laughing silently.

Steven, on the other hand, was still very much unaware of the crowd they had garnered. "Let's go somewhere more private and I can show you how I use my tongu-"

"Steven!" She whisper-yelled, glaring at him with a look that could kill. "Everyone is staring at us."

He turned his head to look around for the first time since he sat down and chuckled. "Have y'all been waiting on us? Damn, my bad. I was a bit distracted."

His mom so badly wanted to say something snarky about how obnoxious Steven was being, with Tasha's chair pulled so close to his and his hand gently rubbing her exposed skin. But when Tasha noticed her eyes on Steven's hand, the young girl wisely decided to quickly push him away.

With a small smile, George Morrison cleared his throat, commanding the attention away from Steven and Tasha.

"Before we eat, I think it is important we thank God for the delicious meal in front of us." He raised his chin to Malik and asked, "Would you be so kind to lead us in this prayer, Malik?"

Caught off guard, the young man almost choked on air. "Me?!"

"Yes, Malik. You." Everyone bur Mrs. Morrison chuckled at Malik's incredulous face.

"Oh... Well, ok, I got you. I got you."

Mr. Morrison nodded. "Great, go ahead, son."

"Alright, y'all. May we all bow our heads in...umm.. m... bow our heads in...umm-"

"Prayer?" Kennedy aided, trying not to laugh at his struggle.

"Yeah, yeah-prayer. Thanks, Kennedy. May we all bow our heads in prayer, please. Quickly y'all, cause a brother is hungry."

Laughing quietly, everyone obliged to Malik's command and bowed their heads.

"Heavenly Father, we thank you," he began, trying to think back at the way he'd heard folks pray in church. "We thank you for this delicious meal in front of us, and we thank you for the ability to eat. God, you know I love food and with your superpowers, I get to enjoy food."

Kennedy raised her head in confusion.

"Superpowers?? Chilee..." She quickly bowed her head again and shut up, realizing the prayer was not done.

Janelle, who was about to burst out laughing, bowed her head and covered her mouth to keep from releasing the laughter she was holding in.

Unbothered by Kennedy's comments, Malik went ahead with his prayer, "We hope and pray this food won't give us food poisoning, Lord. You know you ain't built me to handle all of that, and neither is my toilet."

Now Janelle could not hold it in any longer, and one loud chuckle burst through her barrier, causing Tasha to go into a fit of laughs herself. Although heads were still bowed in prayer, shoulders around the table were shaking in silent laughter.

Ending his prayer, Malik continued, "Once again, thank you, Lord. That even despite the trash ass pray-"

"Whoa, there!" Tasha called out.

Steven couldn't help but laugh and shake his head. "Not during prayer, Malik."

He nodded, understanding his mistake. "Oh, shit fuck I'm sorr-"

"Noo!"

"Bruh..."

"Maliiik!"

He scratched the back of his neck, head still bowed. "Sorry, sorry. I'm sorry, God. The point is, we thank you for everything. In Jesus' name, we pray."

Several people agreed with, "Amen!" Bringing their heads up and diving straight into making their plates.

Kennedy flipped her hair over her shoulders. "Amen! Whew, thank God we made it through that prayer!" She was simply taunting Malik, of course.

He just winked at her, only giving her a flirty look before grabbing some food to add to his empty plate.

There was a moment where no conversation could be heard, only the loud noise of plates and silverware clattering as people assembled their plates.

"So, Tasha," Mr. Morrison began, his usual warm look on his face.

Despite being an older man, in his mid-fifties, Tasha had to admit he was a good looking man. It was evident he took good care of his physique and was naturally endowed with good looks. Steven definitely took from his father.

Tasha chewed before responding, "Yes, sir?" She had to admit he made her a bit nervous.

The first time she met him, she could not even look him in the eyes for too long. Still, his humor and warm personality had calmed her nerves down. He was nothing like his tense and constantly annoyed wife.

"I've told you already, young lady. No need to be so formal with me, you can call me George. Or hell, just go ahead and call be 'pops' or 'dad' cause my son right there was ready to propose yesterday."

Laughter erupted around the room, mixed in with a few, "Facts, " and "Yeah, he is!"

Tasha shook her head, ready to knock some sense into her loud ass friends. But especially ready to get Steven alone so she could slap him a bit for enjoying the moment a bit too much. He literally sat back and casually chewed his food, watching her reaction to what was happening with so much pleasure.

"Anyways, Tasha," Mr. Morrison brought the conversation back to where it started before people started adding in their two cents. "I'm interested to know what you're looking to major in? I know you're a smart kid, so do have something in mind already?"

Sipping a bit of water before answering, she nodded. "Well, I'm not one hundred percent sure, but I'm looking into social work. I would definitely love to get involved in the lives of at-risk youth, especially from marginalized backgrounds."

Mr. Morrison nodded, very impressed with her noble plans. "That's wonderful and very important."

Steven's knuckle went up to her chin and brushed gently, and the proudest look was on his face. He couldn't help but lean closer to her to give her a quick peck very close to her lips. Everything about her was so good to him. In his eyes, she radiated nothing but light.

Eyes around the table simply stared at the two. They were wondering if either of them was going to acknowledge what everyone could clearly notice was going on between them.

Now that was just enough Steven's mom could take. "That's enough fondling and kissing, you two! Stop that mess at the dinner table and certainly not in my home! What is wrong with you two?? This is where we eat, for Christ's sake! And you won't even have the decency to come out officially as a couple or whatever the case may be, yet still act like crazed monkeys in front of all of us. Move away from each other right this second!"

Tasha quickly tried to scoot her chair to the side away from Steven, but he held the chair plastered right next to his. He was glaring at his mother, getting angrier by the second.

George tried to calm his wife before she ruined dinner for everyone except Malik who was scarfing down his food and watching the drama unfold as though it was a big spectacle. Everyone else had stopped eating and was watching the scene before them, already dreading what was gonna happen next.

They hoped at least that Steven would keep his calm and just ignore his mother's stupid ass. But, his instinct to protect Tasha would not let an ounce of disrespect against her stand.

"Grace, not now." Mr. Morrison stated, his voice less lighthearted than it was before.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot I do not get a say as to what happens in my home, anymore!" She huffed and crossed her arms in frustration.

"Oh great, here she goes," Kennedy whispered to herself, already aware of Mrs. Morrison's antics. She'd met her a few times once over at Steven's and every time she'd come across the woman, all she wanted to do was slap her.

Noticing that Steven was fuming silently next to her, Tasha quickly grabbed his hand which was closed in a fist on the table. It probably was not the best move since Steven's mother was already going crazy, but Tasha had to do something, anything, to calm the rage she could feel from her man.

And that was it. He was her man, her boyfriend, and it was also her duty to look after him. She admittedly was not always the most caring girlfriend, but she'd committed to doing better.

Steven's tense body relaxed a bit, the look of fury turned to one that could only be described as adoration as he stared at Tasha's hand holding his tightly in reassurance. Looking up at his girl, her small smile brought him a strange sense of total peace.

The table was still silent. Everyone was just picking at their food, faking as though they were not just paying attention to the contention happening between the two lovebirds and Mrs. Morrison. It was as though they were waiting for something to happening, simultaneously regretting ever agreeing to dinner at Steven's while also enjoying the show.

It was certainly times more entertaining than Christmas dinner at Nelson's would have been. With his dad looking to run for mayor of Crest Bay the coming year, the dinner would have simply been his parents kissing the ass of potential donors.

So, when Steven had proposed for them to have dinner at his house after celebrating Christmas morning with their own families, they'd all agreed, thinking that his mother would be tamed.

Finally done seeing her son so easily be manipulated by Tasha, Grace Morrison harshly pushed her chair back and stood up dramatically. "Since I do not have agency over what happens in my own home, I will be upstairs!"

No one uttered a thing as the woman stomped to her room.

"Well, she gone, y'all!" Kennedy high five Malik and began eating again.

Mr. Morrison couldn't help laughing at Kennedy's words. Of course, he cared deeply for his wife. But over the years, he'd become more aware of the problematic and often racist actions of his wife. He had to admit, she had become a pain in the ass.

"Please, excuse my wife, you guys. You all know how she gets. Especially you, Tasha. Please don't take any of her remarks to heart."

Tasha nodded, smiling at him. "Don't worry, Mr. Morrison. I'm good."

The dinner continued smoothly, with Mr. Morrison bonding with Steven's friends through conversation on the most random things. Until Kennedy brought the conversation to what she thought were more pressing matters.

"Sooo," she started, already alerting Tasha that she was about to ask about something that was none of her business, "are we just gonna ignore the elephant that's just perched up in this room?"

Janelle's goofy self looked around the room in question. "Girl, where? I don't see no elephant, dear."

"Yeah, Kennedy," Tasha eyed her friend with annoyance. "There's no elephant."

"You sure, Tasha? 'Cause you and Steven look pretty cozy with each other and even Mr. Morrison thinks something's up, right?" She turned to look at Mr. Morrison in question.

The man just nodded, trying not to stick his nose in his son's business like Kennedy was so brazenly doing.

"See? Even he knows something's up and has been for some time. We just need y'all to fess up."

Steven was awfully quiet. It was as though he was purposely not talking because it was a question that Tasha had to answer, the secret was hers to reveal.

Tasha sighed, dropping her spoon on her plate and taking a sip of water.

"Why are we friends again, Kennedy?"

"'Cause I keep you looking cool and make you relevant, duh."

"Well, you really have a hard time minding your business."

Kennedy rolled her eyes, knowing too well what Tasha was doing. "Girl, stop beating around the bushes and spill the beans."

"Okay, okay." Tasha sighed once again.

She shared a look with Steven. "Well, I guess since all of y'all are already suspecting something, there's no point in hiding anything."

Kennedy clapped her hands in anticipation.

"It is time you all know that," she took another dramatic pause for effect. "I have finally, after months of begging, agreed to... celebrating my eighteenth birthday in Hawaii like y'all wanted me to do!"

There was only dead silence.

Only Steven chuckled then, and without a second thought, he landed a quick yet intense kiss on Tasha's smirking lips.

"Everyone? Meet my girl. Tasha, these are my nosy ass friends and my surprisingly nosy dad. Welcome to the family, baby."

Kennedy screeched so loudly it almost broke the glasses on the table. "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh! I kneeew it!"

Tasha, who did not have enough time to respond to anything that happened, simply stared. As her friends bombarded them with questions over dinner, she let Steven do the talking.

It was weird. She'd imagined that telling people, letting them into her relationship, would somehow complicate her emotions and leave her feeling annoyed and drained. Yet, she felt the complete opposite.

Now that her friends knew, she almost felt the need to scream from the mountaintops that Steven Morrison was hers.

Was she already falling for Steven?