Daphne and I were sitting in the car outside of her grandparents house, on her Father's side. Daphne's grandmother and grandfather had wanted to meet me after hearing from Chastity, Marcela, and Regina that she asked me out from what Daphne had told me. I was kind of nervous to be honest because I didn't know if they would either like me or hate me. Daphne assured me that they would, but I wasn't really convinced.

"Why are you so quiet?" She asked.

"Because we're meeting your father's parents," I tell her.

"Ah. No wonder you've been silent this entire time," She replied.

"Are you sure they'll like me?" I questioned.

"No," She answered. I looked at her for a split second before concentration on the road. She chuckled then said,

"I'm kidding, Sam. Lighten up."

"Easy for you to say," I mumbled under my breath.

"I'm sorry, Sam, but you need to relax. My grandparents are not evil like certain people in my family," She explained.

"By certain people do you mean your Mother and your Sidney?" I asked.

"You mean the Wicked Bitches of the North?" She asked. I chuckled and shook my head.

"Then yes I am talking about them," She responded with a hint of anger in her voice. I decided to change the subject.

"Okay. Let's go over their name's again," I tell her. She stops thinking about her Mother and Sidney to help me.

"Okay my grandmother's name is Anette Opal Gaines and my grand father's name is Russell Henry Gaines," She informed me.

"Oh okay. Got it," I nodded.

"Also don't stare at my grandfather," She tells me.

"Why?" I asked.

"He has a lazy eye and hates it when people stare," She murmured.

"I'm not going to stare, Daphne. That's rude," I replied.

"I'm just making sure because in the past when my sister's brought someone over to meet them, they would just stand there and stare," She explained.

"Well I'm not going to stare because that is childish and rude," I said.

"But even if you did stare, he'd kill you. Literally," She added finally.

"I'm going to stare," I murmured.

"What?!" She half yelled.

"I'm kidding," I chuckled, "I don't have a death wish."

"For a second there it sounded like you did," She tells me.

"Well I was kidding," I replied.

"Well that wasn't funny," She retorted. She went silent after that and I was, barely, holding back a laugh. She looked out the window with a blank face.

"Are you upset?" I asked breaking the silence. She did not respond to me at all.

"Daphne." No reply.

"Daphne, I'm sorry. It was a bad joke and I was being stupid," I said.

"As long as you know," She grinned broadly.

"You are one sneaky person," I smiled.

"I know," She said.

When we arrived at her grandparents house, I noticed that there were multiple cars in the driveway and parked along the street.

"Oh God," She groaned.

"What?" I asked.

"They invited pretty much all of my family on my dad's side," She answered.

"Is that a bad thing?" I knitted my eyebrows together in confusion.

"Not if you count the fact that they have no filter and they are very loud," She answered.

"Are they nice?" I asked worriedly.

"Yes. They are very nice and friendly too," She replied. I nodded.

"I hope I'm dressed right for this occasion," I said.

"You're wearing jeans, a polo, and shoes that match your polo," She dead panned.

"Oh right," I nodded.

"Yeah," She nods. We both get out of the car and walked towards the front door hand in hand. She rings the doorbell and soon the door opens to reveal a little girl with her hair in two Afro puffs.

"Hey, Skylar," Daphne greeted.

"Hi," She shyly said looking at me.

"Are you going to let us in or are you going to let us get eaten by mosquitoes?" Daphne asked.

"Mommy said to not invite strangers in," She points at me.

"Well this is not a stranger. This is my boyfriend," Daphne said.

"He's still a stranger," the little girl looked at her with pursed lips.

"Skylar, don't make me bring up the dog," Daphne threatened.

"Don't make me bring up your granny panties," Skylar clapped back. I had to hold Daphne back from pouncing on the little girl who had now scampered away.

"Are you calm?" I asked.

"Pssh. Yeah I am," She answered.

"Are you sure? Because you were about to beat the crap out of a child who's probably eight years old," I tell her.

"I'm fine. I'm great," She waved me off. We went inside and she closed and locked the front door of the house. A woman wearing a long dress and a denim with sandals came out from the kitchen.

"Daphne, why are you bullying my child?" She asked with her hands on her hips.

"Ashley, she-"

"This must be Samuel. Oh my gosh. He is so damn handsome just like Chastity and Regina said," She gushed.

"Thank you," I smiled.

"You're welcome, handsome," She winked at me.

"Hey. He's mine, not yours, Ashley," Daphne tells her. Ashley chuckled.

"You better tell our cousin Jourdan that because she'll just eat this one right up," She smirked. Daphne rolls her eyes before she left. I turned to her with a small knowing smile.

"What?" She asked.

"Nothing except, I'm yours?" I looked down at her. She groaned loudly.

"Shut up so we can go meet my dad's side of the family," She replied. I chuckled and followed her towards the back door to the backyard.

"But yes, you are mine," She looked at me over her shoulder. I chuckled again as we headed outside. Daphne leads me towards a table filled with older women who did not look a day over forty.

"Grandma," Daphne said. A woman with chocolate brown skin, short curly brown hair, full lips, and a slender body stood up.

"Daphne," She pulled her into hug, leaving me standing there. They pulled away and she cupped Daphne's face into her hands.

"It's so nice to see you. You look as beautiful as always. Puberty was gracious to you because look at those hips and curves," She complimented.

"Thank you, Grandma," Daphne smiled warmly.

"Oh. I did not see this fine specimen of a man," Her grandmother's eyes landed on me. She moved from Daphne and to me. She engulfed me into a hug. I was surprised by the action. She pulled away and chuckled at my expression.

"Surprised I hugged you instead of shaking your hand? That's some ole' bougie shit her gold digging ass momma does," She tells me. I couldn't help, but to laugh a little.

"Grandma," Daphne said.

"I'm sorry, Daphne. I know you hate it when I say it, but she is," Her grandmother replied.

"Grandma, please don't bring her up," Daphne groaned.

"Fine. I'll stop talking bad about her....." Her grandmother said.

"Thank you," Daphne sighed.

"........on my deathbed," Her grandmother muttered. Daphne gave her a look and she smiles innocently at her.

"Grandma, you are a mess," Daphne shook her head with a small smile.

"Guilty as charged," She sweetly said. Daphne smiled broadly.

"Well we're going to see Grandpa," Daphne informed her.

"Oh alright, sweetie. You two have fun," She replied.

"Yes, ma'am," We answered. We walked in the direction of the table of older men playing Spades.

"Grandpa," Daphne said. A man got up and hugged her with a large smile on his face.

"Doo-loo," He excitedly said. Daphne hugged him back then they pulled away.

"How have you been, doo-loo? You don't visit me or your grandmother anymore," He smiled.

"I'm sorry, Grandpa. I've just been busy," She tells him.

"Shit. Busy my ass. You ain't too busy to visit me or your Grandmother," He said to her.

"I'm sorry, Grandpa. I'll visit you more," She replied.

"You better or else I won't be afraid to break a switch off that tree and swat you with it like I used to," He threatened.

"Yes, sir," She nods. He looks at me.

"Who's this?" He asked in a serious tone.

"This is my boyfriend Samuel. Samuel, this is my Grandpa," She informed.

"Oh. You must be the young man who allowed my grand baby ask you on a date," He said.

"Yes, sir, I am," I replied.

"What was wrong with you that day? Too scared to ask out my granddaughter yourself?" He asked.

"Grandpa," Daphne hissed.

"Hush, child. He still hasn't answered my question," He replied.

"Umm....no, sir. I was actually planning to myself, but she did it herself," I explained.

"Well this is 2016 after all and it's practically normal that a man can get asked out by a woman. Although it is kind of weird in the eyes of an old man, but as long as you respect my granddaughter then I, or my dear departed son, won't kill you in your damn sleep, boy," He tells me.

"Yes, sir. I wouldn't plan on hurting her in any way," I assured him.

"I bet Chad put you through the works," He tells me.

"Actually they just talked. It was Regina, Chastity, and Marcela who threatened his life," Daphne tells him.

"As log as you are happy, doo-loo, then so am I," He said.

"Alright, Grandpa. Thanks," She smiled.

"You're welcome. Now go and introduce him to the rest of the family. I'm discussing grown folks business," He waved us off.

"Cool, Grandpa," She nods. She leads me away from the table and she introduces me to the rest of her relatives.

"Daphne!" Her grandmother called out as we stood there talking to her male cousins around my age.

"I'll be right back. Have fun," She kissed my cheek then looked at them, "Don't you guys start threatening him or else I will bring up elementary, middle, and high school."

"Damn. Why do you and your sisters always gotta say that to us?" Her cousin Darren asked.

"Because y'all always act a damn fool when we bring psomeone new around you," She answered.

"We do not," Her cousin Jessie kissed his teeth.

"Lie again, skid marks," She shot at him. Everyone else, including me, started laughing at him. She smiled at him innocently then walked away.

"You're lucky you didn't end up with Sidney. Cause her man, I mean bitch, is one guy I feel bad for," Tyrone, one of her other cousins, said. We laughed at his statement.

"It's true. The last time I was around them at a cookout, she was ordering him around like a little lap dog. We started doing Sidney's voice just to make him do stuff for us," Her cousin Marcus explained.

"We had to stop once Uncle Russ found out what was going on," Tyrone added.

"Remember when he got so scared just mentioning her name?" Marcus laughed. I laughed too.

"Man, that was so damn funny," Tyrone replied.

"He think he almost shit his pants," Jessie laughed. I was in tears at their jokes. We calmed down after that.

"But seriously, man. You picked a good one. Daphne, even though she wasn't very social in grade school or college, she only had one boyfriend. He treated her as verbally bad as her Mother and Sidney. I was glad when Chad kicked him to the curb for her. We didn't like seeing her like that at all because she's like a sister to us too," Marcus explained.

"He's right, Samuel. Daphne has had to go through years of emotional and verbal abuse from the woman who gave birth to her and the woman who she calls a sister," Jessie added.

"Daphne is the sweetest and most beautiful girl in the world and you are pretty lucky to even have her. Hell. Any other man would be lucky to have her as well," Tyrone said. I chuckled with a smile.

"Yeah. I am pretty lucky." I looked over at Daphne who was dancing on the concrete part of the patio with her cousins as One Dance by Drake played. She smiled over at me and waved. I waved back. She gestured for me to come over, but I shook my head. She continued gesturing for me to come over. I sighed and decided to give up. I walked over there towards her. She smiled up at me. We started dancing together to the song, and we kept it G-Rated.

The rest of the day at the cookout was pretty great. It was filled with laughter, a few adults who shouldn't have been drinking getting drunk, Daphne's older siblings showed to have fun, a few kids showing off to their parents and getting whooped, dancing, and just everyone having a good time. I loved her Father's side of the family. They were very close and had a bond that was strong and unbreakable. Plus Daphne was having a good time not thinking about her horrible Mother or her sister. Today was truly the best day ever for us both. I can tell that her family really loves me.

We were now at her door.

"So did you have fun?" She asked me.

"Yes I did actually. I'm starting to love you Father's side of the family," I smiled.

"Good because they love you too," She smiled back.

"I bet," I nodded.

"My Grandpa, before we left, said that when I visit him and my Grandmother, I should bring you along with me next time," She informed me.

"Oh really?" I asked.

"Uh-huh," She nods.

"Well I'll be looking forward to it," I tell her.

"Good because next Sunday we're going to church with them," She tells me.

"Well I'll definitely go," I said.

"Thank you, Samuel," She repelled.

"You're welcome, Daphne," I murmured. I leaned down and kissed her softly on the lips. I pulled away and looked down at her.

"I have to go," I whispered.

"I don't want you to," She whispered back softly.

"I have to," I smiled. She kissed me again before we pulled away. I waited until she was inside to go back to my car. I felt like I was on cloud nine right now.