The Variations by Jones M (christmas read aloud txt) 📖

him, helping him deliver their bags onto the freshly-mowed grass.

After they had gotten their stuff out in the open, the sound of a door opening was heard. It didn't take long for someone to appear in their view. 

"Chris! My son!" a blonde woman greeted Chris by embracing him in a hug and raining kisses down his face.

"Mom!" he complained as a blush appeared on his face. Kate found herself smiling at the scene.

Chris' mother looked like a slightly older version of himself, but more feminine. The woman had his oval face structure, but she had rosy skin.  

She soon turned to face Marie. The smile that was on her face turned immediately into a frown.

"Oh. And who are you?"

Marie was surprised by the change of expressions. She looked serious, and her aura had a threatening feel to it.

"Mom, cut it out. That's Kate," Chris answered. The serious expression turned into a look of shock.

"Wait. Kate? Is it another Kate or the Kate?" the woman asked.

"Mom, she's--"

"Hello," Marie went to greet the woman herself. "I'm Kate, a friend of your son."

The woman stared at the hand Kate was offering. It went on like that, and Kate was feeling a bit awkward. Much to her surprise, the woman went and embraced her in a hug.

"Welcome!" she said, squeezing her tight. Kate eyed Chris, noticing how he was silently chuckling.

"Is this all the stuff you've brought?" she asked, motioning towards Chris and Kate's luggage.

"Yes, Mom," Chris said. "But it's okay. We'll get it inside--"

"Nonsense!" she cut him off, grabbing the bags that were on the ground. "No guests of mine will carry their luggage into my house."

"No, let us carry them ourselves," Kate interjected. The woman stopped and turned to face her. Then she broke into a smile.

'Okay?' Kate thought.

"No worries. I can handle this."

"Mom," Chris groaned again in protest, but his mother did not listen as she grabbed a bag on each hand.

"Wait. What about the car?" Kate wondered, pointing at the vehicle that was still running.

"Oh, we'll sort it out later," the woman said in between pants as she walked into the house.

Kate still felt bad for letting her carry their luggage. But she was quite stubborn as proved by Chris continuing to offer his help.

"Mom, let me help!" he yelled at his mother.

Either way, Kate was glad about the warm welcome. She soon followed the two inside the house.

 

Chapter 19

"They're here!" Chris' mother announced once the three were past the door. Kate barely had enough time to look around when the sound of footsteps was heard heading towards them.

"Bro!" a girl with straight, blonde hair yelled as she crashed into Chris' form. 

"Hey, little sis!" he greeted back, embracing her in a hug and raising her off the floor. From what Kate could see, the girl was close to being the same height as her mother. The difference between them, apart from their looks, was that she was a bit thin. 

Once Chris' sister had settled, she turned to look at Marie.

"Who is she?" she asked in confusion.

"I'm--"

"She's Kate, dear," their mother interjected. The confused look evaporated from the girl's face before a look of excitement took over.

"Oh! You are much prettier than I imagined," she commented.

"Thank you," Kate was hesitant on her reply.

"I kind of get why Chris brought you here. He must like your big--"

"Violet!" Chris' mother chastised, mortified.

"What? I was going to say 'head'. Although ass can work, too."

Kate found herself blushing, momentarily not knowing what to say.

"Your sister is quite..." she trailed off as she turned to Chris, not knowing how to explain what she thought about her without offending anyone.

"Open?" he filled in for her, earning a nod. "Yeah, she's always like that. She has the ability to ruin the best-laid plans. Like last Christmas, she told one of my younger cousins the presents they were getting."

"Is my brother home?" another female voice shouted. Kate turned, noticing a girl with black hair make her appearance in the hall.

She had the same facial structure as her mother, and she had her skin. However, they did not look alike.

Perhaps she took after the father.

"Ana," Chris stated with a grin, embracing her sister in a hug. The sister smiled, but then she also noticed Kate.

Her eyelids narrowed.

"Did you bring another one of your--"

"No!" Chris interjected with wide eyes. "Ana, she's Kate."

Ana turned to look excitedly at Marie. "Oh. You are much prettier than I imagined."

"That's what I said!" Violet commented, earning an eye-roll from her brother.

"Children, I'm sure our guests are tired from their journey. Give them time to get freshened up, and then we can continue talking afterward."

"Sure."

"Fine."

"I can lead you to my room," Chris' mother told Kate. "Chris, you can use your father's. I'm not yet done preparing the guest rooms."

After grasping her two bags, Chris' mother grabbed Marie's wrist. Kate tensed, but then she noticed Chris giving her a reassuring look.

"You'll be fine," he mouthed before he walked away from view with his sisters.

"So, how do you know my son?" Chris' mother questioned as they walked up a flight of stairs.

"We study the same course," Marie answered.

"Oh? I didn't know that. Why didn't he tell me that such a pretty girl like you are in the same class as him?"

Kate blushed for a moment, but when it dawned it wasn't a rhetorical question, she wondered how she would reply.

"Um, we didn't usually talk to each other."

"Really? What changed that?"

"Oh, we got assigned to do a project for the semester," Marie replied. "I believe that if it weren't for that, we wouldn't be talking right now."

"Well, thank goodness you got grouped with him," Chris' mother replied just as they passed by another door in a hallway they had reached.

"You can put your bags here for now," the woman informed Kate, opening the door to a bedroom that had blue walls. There was a large, sliding window, and it showed the view of the lawn and the road they had used to come to Chris' place.

Kate maneuvered past the large, Victorian bed as she made her way toward her bags. A lingering flower scent met her senses, and it made the room have a certain homey touch to it.

"The shower is right through that door," Chris' mother continued informing her, motioning towards a white door on the side.

"Thank you," Kate replied. The woman smiled before leaving the room.

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Kate took her time in the shower. All the while, she was wondering how she would approach Chris' family. So far, she had already met his mother and his sisters. It puzzled her that they had looked down on her before Chris had told them who she was. 

Apparently, his family didn't take well to the people he brought. If there were more family members she would have to meet, how would she react to them? More importantly, how would they view her?

After wearing a casual but formal choice of clothing, Marie left the room and entered the hallway. She remembered the way she came, and so she went down the stairs and into the dining room.

"I hope you found the shower relaxing," Chris' mother greeted her with a smile.

"It was wonderful, thank you," Kate replied before furrowing her eyebrows. "Where's Chris?"

"I'm here!" he yelled, forcing the people in the room to turn towards the direction of his voice. Chris appeared, having worn a brown checkered T-shirt that was loose around him.

"Chris, why are you wearing that shirt?" his mother asked him with a frown. "It's going to get cold soon. You should try putting on larger clothes."

"Mom, I'm fine this way," he replied with a roll of his eyes. Kate smiled at the action.

"Does he always wear such clothes?" his mother asked Marie who nodded earnestly. Chris gave her an unamused look.

"Go put on something else."

"Mom--"

"Would you rather I force you out of that?"

Chris' cheeks turned a bright pink. Kate almost laughed at him had she not bit her tongue.

"Fine, I'll go change," Chris grumbled before leaving the room. Once he was out of earshot, Kate felt free to laugh.

"That boy of mine can be a handful at times," the mother said, making Kate laugh more.

"I've never seen him act like that," Marie confessed.

"When you are in the presence of family, you tend to show your true colors. Well, enough about us."

Chris' mother turned to face Marie.

"I want to know more about you."

Kate's heart dropped.

"Me?" she asked, earning a nod as a reply. "I'm no one."

"Please," Chris' mother stated with a grin. "You are the famous Kate that we keep hearing about."

"Wait. Famous?"

"Isn't it obvious by now? Every time we talk on the phone, my son keeps mentioning you. Whether it's about calling you or going to see you... He always does it. Sometimes he does it without even realizing it. And the way he speaks about you..."

Kate's heart clenched with an emotion she couldn't make out. She couldn't believe Chris talked about her to his parents. She had not even talked about him to her own parents! Surprisingly, instead of feeling crowded, she felt okay with it.

"So I want to know more about the girl my son keeps talking about," Chris' mother gushed, making Kate blush in nervousness.

"Well, Mrs. Robins--"

"Please, call me Florence."

"Okay. Florence," Chris' mother smiled at that, "I don't know if you'll like much about me."

Florence frowned.

"To be honest, I've known your son since I was in high school," she sighed. "I wasn't that much of a... Great person."

"I know," Chris' mother commented, surprising Kate. "He told me you weren't a smart person. He also told me about your involvement with Darcy."

Marie winced, looking anywhere but at Florence.

"It's okay. My son got over it, and I got over it too."

"I'm sor--"

"It's okay. According to what I remember, you too had been affected. I will be honest: I was angry with you kids at that time. I mean, bullying someone so much that they retaliated by wanting to kill you?"

Kate winced again. It was bad hearing it from her parents, and it was still bad to relive it through Chris' mother.

"Anyway, that was in the past. I know you have learned from it."

Kate nodded. Florence's serious expression changed when she smiled.

"You could imagine my surprise when Chris told me you had enrolled at Charles Darwin University, more so when he told me you are doing the same course as him. How did it all come to that?"

"I didn't expect Chris to be studying there as well. It's just that after what happened in high school... The incident made me realize things I didn't like about myself," Marie confessed. "I knew I acted like a dumb girl that anyone could have easily taken advantage of. I was seen as an airhead. No one took me seriously, and I was the laughing stock of the class."

Kate revealed a sad smile. "It made me feel awful. I didn't even want to go back to school. And so, I had to make changes for myself."

Florence nodded in understanding.

"Sometimes, I even wonder if Chris still sees me as that person I used to be."

"He doesn't," Florence was quick to reply.

"Thank you for confirming it," Marie replied in gladness. "Now I know."

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Kate spent the next hours that followed thinking that she had been too open too soon with Chris' mother. But she later became fine with it. It