Archive of Our Own

"I need to warn you," Chad said, as they piled into the car with his parents and older sister, "my extended family is… a bit weird."

"So? So's mine."

Chad's dad muttered, "When people have more money than god, the just call it eccentric."

Ryan bristled as Chad's mom made vaguely scolding sounding noises up in the front seat, and Chad shot Ryan a guilty look. Ryan just shrugged and went back to trying to find the middle seatbelt in the old station wagon -- a car he would have sneered at only months ago. That was just another thing to add to his list of stuff that was different now. He could shrug off mumbled comments, he could sit in the middle seat without complaining, and he was actually excited to spend New Years Eve with Chad and his extended family, instead of watching movies and getting trashed with Sharpay. (She, however, was not exactly thrilled about this.)

"I mean they're really, really… not like other families," Chad warned. "I think you'll like them -- "

"I know he will," Chad's mother put in, with a hint of if he knows what's good for him.

" -- but yeah. Okay. You're warned."

"Oh, you don't need to warn people, sweetie. I swear, I fell in love with Charlie's family on my first New Years with them. Steph, did you prepare anything?"

Chad's older sister rolled her eyes. "No. God, Mom, I'm not doing Cousins Eve. I'm not a kid anymore."

"Chad…"

"No," Chad snorted.

She sighed heavily, and Mr. Danforth shook his head a little as he pulled out of their driveway.

"Okay," Ryan ventured. "I give up. What's a Cousins Eve?"

There was a moment of silence in the ca, while the family members all glanced at one another. Finally, Mr. Danforth just said, "Well, it's an old Danforth family tradition. And it's sort of a rite of passage for outsiders. You'll see."

"Sounds ominous," Ryan said, and slumped against Chad a little. "Are they going to torture me?"

"In a manner of speaking," Chad said, then laughed. "Don't worry about it. It's only painful sometimes."

"Now I'm even more nervous. Chad!"

But Chad just chuckled, leaving Ryan to stew for the whole 45 minute drive out to his grandmother's house.

--

Nana Danforth lived in a large, split-level house with a well-tended lawn. The driveway was already packed with cars, and so were the streets on either side. "How big is your family?"

"Uh… big," Chad said, as his father parked at the end of the block. "And I guess we're late, so there might not be much food left."

"Yeah, right," Steph said, and ducked out of the car. From across the roof, she added, "Everyone brings food. There's never not enough. Trust me, you might be scarred for life, but you will not go home hungry."

"Umm… okay," Ryan said.

"Don't let them scare you," Mrs. Danforth said. "Trust me, Ryan, you're going to have a great time! Come on, now. Honey, did we bring enough cider? I know we should have brought another gallon. Boys, come help carry it."

Steph stuck her tongue out at Chad as he grabbed two enormous jugs of cider. Mrs. Danforth only passed one to Ryan (who probably should have been insulted -- he could haul just as much as Chad, even if his arms and shoulders didn't have quite so much visible muscle, really), and then two more to Chad's father. She balanced a giant tray of… something, Ryan wasn't actually sure, since it was covered in foil, and she had Steph grab a bowl of potato salad, also foil covered.

Since all of their hands were full, it was a good thing someone swung the door open before they even reached it. When Ryan saw the guy who opened it, he was dazed for a moment. The guy was almost identical to Chad -- aged ten years or so. Same bone structure, just a few inches taller, shorter hair but just as curly. And he was freaking gorgeous.

Yeah, Ryan was shallow enough to think that if Chad aged like that, Ryan was going to marry him.

"Hey, come on in," he said. "You must be Ryan. The family can't wait to meet you. Let me grab that." And with that, the cider was gone from Ryan's hand, and he was nudged forward into an enormous living room, teeming with so many people they almost hid a grand piano.

Whoa. Chad's family was big, and this was just his father's side.

"Charlie! Linda! Oh, and this must be Ryan."

"Yeah, and we're here, too," Steph put in. "Didn't just bring the…" She trailed off and coughed guiltily.

"Boyfriend," Chad finished for her. He set his cider aside, wrapped an arm around Ryan, and announced loudly, "Ryan, family; family, this is Ryan. My boyfriend. So."

Ryan blushed, feeling a tiny bit awkward and out of place with everyone staring at him. It was kind of a weird feeling; he was pretty sure he'd never been the only white guy in a crowded room before. But then one of them broke away from the crowd, a little old lady with white hair and a giant smile, and she walked up and kissed Chad on the cheek. Then she leaned over and kissed Ryan on the cheek and said, "Well, it's about time he brought you here to meet us all."

"You must be, uh, Mr. Danforth's mom," he guessed.

"Nana," she supplied. "Yes. Now come in and get comfy. Steph, don't think I don't see you! I want to hear all about college later. Charlie, Chad, what's taking you so long? Get that cider on ice. Scoot!"

Mr. Danforth laughed, sweeping forward with his cider jugs, calling, "Sorry, Ma!" over his shoulder.

Chad followed him, and, not knowing what else to do, Ryan did too. He still kind of felt people staring at him, which was just… weird. He knew he was Chad's first boyfriend, but he also knew Chad had been out to his family for awhile -- way longer than he'd been out to anyone at school except Troy.

"Just… relax," Chad said.

"How are you related to all of these people?"

Chad laughed. "Dude, I have no idea. Nana has, like, six siblings, and they all had a bunch of kids." He shrugged. "It's too bad you never had a chance to meet Grandpa, though, you'd have loved him. He used to play piano -- Nana could tell you all about it, that's how they met."

From seemingly nowhere, Nana appeared and said, "Dale and I met at this tiny dance club in Atlanta. I was sneaking out -- oh, my father would have killed me! But my girlfriend was sneaking out to see her beau, and she talked me into going. And then I saw him there, through all the smoke, and oh, he was so handsome, and so talented. And such a flirt. Just like our Chad, here." She ruffled Chad's hair, and Chad scowled petulantly. "We exchanged letters for a year. I still have them all saved. Oh, my Dale was such a romantic, those letters would make you blush. Well, the next time he was in Atlanta, he proposed, and that was that."

"Wow," Ryan breathed. "That's… that's wonderful. I mean, like something you'd see in a movie."

She laughed. "It's all better in real life, honey. Now make yourself comfortable. Charlie's was the last group to arrive, so we can begin!"

"Oh, great," Steph mumbled.

"Shut up, you love it," Chad said.

"You, too," she shot back.

"Is one of you going to tell me what you're talking about soon?"

Chad laughed and said, "Nope. You'll see. C'mere." He tugged Ryan over to a couch, though there was no room for them to sit on it, since six cousins -- probably cousins, anyway -- were already squished onto it. Instead, they sat on the floor next to it, Chad's arm still around Ryan. It was like some sort of bell had gone off and Ryan hadn't heard it; over the next few minutes, all of the people from all over the house congregated in the living room. Danforths perched on basically every surface, but left a large, empty space around the piano.

"Is everyone here?" Nana asked, standing on tiptoes and looking around the room. If she was doing some sort of headcount, Ryan was impressed at her mental math.

The whole room felt alive, buzzing with energy. Ryan knew Chad was like that, as if he could always only just control his need to be active and moving, always doing something, like bouncing a basketball off his knees or drumming his hands on the table. It seemed like the whole family was just the same, and there were so many of them that even if none of them were talking, it sounded like a dull roar.

"Good!" she declared after a moment. "Well, as the oldest one here, I feel completely comfortable saying we should work youngest to oldest this year. Let's see, the youngest is… Alyssa. Alyssa!"

Ryan looked around in surprise, wondering what the heck Nana was ordering them to do, but a little girl sprang up out of the crowd of people. She couldn't have been older than vie, and she was wearing an adorably froofy party dress with her hair in a bunch of tiny braids. She skipped up to the front of the room, took her place on the piano bench -- her feet didn't reach the floor -- and very carefully pecked out Au Claire de le Lune. It wasn't exactly perfect, but it was pretty good for such a little kid. When she slid back off the bench, everyone in the room applauded.

"Cousins Eve," Chad whispered in Ryan's ear, "is when my insane grandmother makes everyone in the family perform like a group of ridiculous circus people or something. Uh, not to put you on the spot, but they're going to make you do something, too."

"And you didn't warn me?" Ryan hissed back. "This is amazing! I would have prepared! Chad!"

Chad laughed, turning his head so it was all directed into Ryan's shoulder. Ryan bristled again, crossing his arms, because this was awesome, and he wanted to make a good impression. If they were really working from youngest to oldest, he wouldn't have long to figure something out. He didn't have any music, there wasn't enough room to really dance, and most of the songs he knew best were duets. He stressed over it through the next four performances -- a pre-teen girl who was surprisingly good at the violin, a little boy juggling (who promised he wouldn't break anything, not like last year), and another boy, who recited the Gettysburg Address.

Then Nana announced, "Chad?"

"Pass," Chad said.

She put her hand on her hip.

"Pass," Chad repeated.

"Not even any of your basketball tricks?"

Chad started to answer, but another of the cousins yelled, "What, no ballet this year, Chadders?"

"Shut up!" Chad hissed.

A few people laughed, and Ryan turned to Chad. "What?"

"Nothing," Chad said quickly.

"No ballet this year?" Ryan repeated. "Does this mean there was ballet in previous years?"

"No," Chad said.

"Liar!" Steph shrieked. "Oh my god, you liar, you're dating Ryan Evans and you never told him about your ballet thing?"

"You had a ballet thing? Chad!" Ryan shrieked.

Most of the family was laughing already, and one of Chad's… aunts? cousins? Ryan had no idea, swooped in and said, "Oh, Chad was so cute when he used to… here!" She grabbed a framed photo from on top of the piano and passed it to Ryan.

Ryan gaped. It was a group of little kids, maybe seven or eight years old. They were obviously at a dance class, not even a recital, since none of the leotards matched. And right in the middle, grinning from ear to ear, was Chad, wearing a pair of black shorts, a white t-shirt, and what was definitely a pair of black ballet shoes designed to look a lot like sneakers. Ryan recognized them for what they were, though, since he'd had his own set as a kid.

"Oh my god," he said, and looked up at Chad. "Oh my god, how did you never tell me about this? Chad! You did ballet!"

"Uh, and tap," Chad said. "Yeah, for a few years."

"Seven," his mom put in.

"Seven years!"

"Shut up!" Chad said. "It wasn't my fault!"

"Fault?"

Chad sighed heavily and slumped against the side of the couch. "Look, I wasn't a very coordinated kid."

"He was a spaz," Steph put in. "Always breaking stuff."

"Steph," Mrs. Danforth scolded.

"So my pre-K teacher told Mom that dance classes would help, and she stuck me in one when I was too little to object."

"And then he stayed in class until other kids started teasing him," Mrs. Danforth said.

"I stopped," Chad muttered, "because I didn't want to anymore. It had nothing to do with teasing! I just wanted to play ball with the guys."

Ryan smiled and looked at the picture again. The way tiny Chad was grinning, he believed that Chad had loved it -- but he also believed he'd probably caught hell from idiotic pre-teens, if any of his friends found out. That had happened to Ryan, but of course he had Sharpay to shut them all up. Chad didn't.

"I thought you couldn't dance," Ryan said, leaning closer.

"I said I don't dance, not I can't dance," Chad answered defensively.

Ryan laughed, and so did the rest of the family. For a moment, he actually felt like part of the group.

"You won't tell anyone?" Chad mumbled.

"Your dirty secret is safe with me," Ryan promised.

"Great," Chad said, then, to the rest of the family, "I don't perform anymore, but Ryan does. I bet he's itching to go sing something."

"Chad!" Ryan squawked again. "I didn't know -- I didn't prepare anything! If you'd warned me --"

"If he'd warned you, it wouldn't be nearly as much fun," Nana interrupted. "You sing?"

"And he dances," Chad said. "And acts. He's a real triple threat. He applied early decision to Juilliard and everything."

Ryan flushed, but said, "I didn't prepare anything. Uh, I could probably sing, but… my piano playing is a bit rusty."

"You do that too?" Chad muttered.

"Not since I was a kid," Ryan said. He kicked Chad's ankle and added, "And the other boys started teasing me."

"I hate you."

"You really don't."

"No, I don't," Chad laughed. "He sings, dances, acts, plays piano badly, and did I mention he's got one mean fastball?"

"Chad, you don't need to talk him up," one of the older relatives scolded. "He seems nice, we already like him."

Chad laughed again, and Nana dug into one of the shelves and pulled out a thick stack of books. "I promise you, if there's anything you want to sing in any of these, someone here will manage to play it."

"Oh, um, gosh," Ryan said, and accepted them. It was a pretty enormous bunch of books, all collections of sheet music. "I'll find something, but you might have to come back to me."

"No problem," Nana said. "Now. Steph."

"Pass."

"Stephanie…"

"Pass!" she squawked.

"Stephanie Lousia --"

"You let Chad pass," she pouted. "Fine. Chad, stand up."

Chad rolled his eyes but did it, and Stephanie very successfully pulled a quarter out of his ear. It took all of five seconds, and they both sat down again. Ryan missed the next few performances, pouring through the music books, but then he hit one that was nothing but showtunes and focused in on it.

"Why are all the good ballads for women?" he groused, flipping pages. "I'd have brought my own music if you'd --"

"Yeah, yeah," Chad interrupted. "And we'd all also have to sit through you building three sets and changing costumes five times."

"It would be a great show," Ryan snarked back at him, still flipping pages, then, "Ah ha. Got it."

Chad reached for the book, but Ryan yanked it away and stuck out his tongue, scrambled up, and handed it to Nana. She giggled and put it on the piano, and a few cousins looked on to discuss which one of them would actually play it. Ryan grinned a little at the idea that this was a family where they could bicker over who got to play the piano.

"The key okay?" piano cousin asked.

"Well, we'll see," Ryan answered. He couldn't help himself; he posed a little bit, leaning casually against the piano, and pulled his fedora down. He wished he had a chance to warm up, but failing in that, as the music started up, he announced, "Yeah, this is for Mrs. D. And Chad. So there."

Apparently, they both recognized the opening strains, because Mrs. Danforth clapped in delight, and Chad rolled his eyes. Other people must have gotten it, too -- as Ryan started to sing "All I Ask of You" from Phantom, a few people started to laugh. He belted his way through the song, knowing it would be better if he'd had a chance to actually get ready, but everyone applauded politely when he finished anyway.

Well, maybe too enthusiastically for it to just be politeness. Yeah, Ryan could really get to like this family.

--

They had to take a break from Cousins Eve for dinner, since there were so many people to get through that everyone's stomachs were grumbling after a couple of hours. Steph was right, and Ryan kind of couldn't believe how much food there was, but it was all homecooked and delicious. The meal was boisterous, with lots of jostling and reaching across people to grab dishes, and within 30 seconds Ryan realized that no one was kidding and everyone really did expect him to just dive in with the rest of them. It was nothing like any family gathering Ryan had ever experienced -- his extended family just drank cocktails and were catty at each other, seeing who would crack and storm out first -- but it was warm and friendly and it didn't take long for Ryan to just feel like part of the crowd.

After the meal, the performances started again. A group that included Chad's dad sang barbershop quartet style, someone played the accordion, a middle-aged woman played a sonata so beautifully Ryan was positive she had to play professionally, and a husband and wife (Chad's great-aunt and -uncle, Ryan thought) sang a gorgeous duet. Finally, the night ended with yet another cousin on the piano, while Nana herself sang up and freaking belted "Ain't Misbehavin'." Ryan genuinely applauded, amazed at a voice like that coming out of a little old lady, and she smiled.

Chad leaned over and whispered in his ear, "She used to always sing with Grandpa playing piano. I miss him."

Ryan didn't know what to say to that, so he just put an arm around Chad. They leaned close to each other, and Ryan actually really felt like he was a part of Chad's life. Not just as a friend or boyfriend or the guy he liked to hang out with after school, but really here, a part of this. And it felt really, really good.

It had edged closer to midnight, and they broke out champagne (for the adults, and even teens) and ginger ale (for the little kids). They didn't watch the ball drop (which Ryan honestly didn't care about anyway), but they did gather around the piano and sing a bunch of old standards together, which was just… wonderful. Everyone counted down to midnight and cheered, and then had a round of coffee for the family members who would be driving home. Ryan was enough of a night owl that he wasn't particularly tired yet, but he figured it was probably good that Mr. Danforth had some.

As they were finally all packing up to leave around 12:30, Nana walked up to him and passed him the framed photo of Chad. "You seemed really enamored of this, darling, and I have a million copies -- it's so cute, of course I do. Take it."

"Seriously?" he asked. "I mean, uh, wow. Thanks. And thanks for… this was a really cool night. I've never seen a family tradition like this before, it's amazing."

She smiled. "I swear, everyone in this family goes out of their way to marry performers… and even if they won't all admit it, there's not a soul here who doesn't love being the center of attention, too."

"I believe it," Ryan said, glancing over at Chad, who was pulling on his coat.

"Of course we don't force anyone who doesn't want to to perform, but I had a feeling about you."

Ryan flushed. "I had a great time."

"Good. Well, be sure to come back, then. We watch home movies on the Fourth of July -- I'm sure someone will have footage of one of Chad's old recitals."

"Now that, I must see," Ryan said.

"Good." She kissed his cheek. "Happy New Years, then. It's always nice to meet a kindred spirit. Welcome to the family."

Flushed from with happiness, Ryan tucked the photo inside his coat and pulled his fedora low enough to protect the tips of his ears. He and Chad walked out hand in hand, and he was already thinking of what he might perform the next year.