She hoped he did not feel like he had to come, that he was forced or obliged. Strange how she actually cared about those things. But she had always put others into consideration, especially when it came to things like this. Though, if she truly did not want him there at all, she would not have asked. Maybe that would be selfish, especially since she knew Henry wanted him there, too, but that was how it was.
Looking down at her food, she toyed with it for a moment before taking another bite, chewing thoughtfully. Though, the act of eating was merely to fill in the space as the other thought things through. She knew that face, he always wore it when he was contemplating something. Respecting his thoughts, she filled her stomach as he filled his mind. Occasionally, her hand would reach out and take her glass of orange juice so she could sip at it, though when he sighed, she quietly set it down and turned her eyes to him once more.
Lips pressed together at his question before she shrugged her shoulders. “It will only be awkward if you make it to be. I mean, you’ve met….,” there was a brief pause, brows pulled together, “my parents… — you should have expected they’d invite you. Especially Mary Margaret, I think they’ve taken a liking to you. Plus, it;s free food, right?” After a moment, she took another bite.
”I mean, you don’t have to.”
When mention was made of the alleged knowledge that Mary Margaret and her fairytale husband had taken a liking to him, Neal arched a single eyebrow upwards in immediate response. Had they, really? He wasn’t sure if he had even given them incentive for it, but if he had, it puzzled him as to what that incentive could be. In any case, it was pleasant news, but he decided not to linger on it, in stead focusing on a lighter tone of conversation as Emma introduced it.
“Free food that I don’t have to steal off the counter for once? Sounds like a blast.”
He produced a chuckle at the notion, though when she placed her next remark, the crooked grin he had been displaying faded from his features. That tone of voice, the way she had phrased her sentence—he knew it all too well. There was no doubt that her request for him to attend their family dinner had been nothing but honest, but that conclusion made him fall silent for another brief moment, before he took a deep breath and pressed his lips together into a hint of a smile that grew slightly larger -and warmer at that- as he spoke to her.
“I know I don’t. But if you—if your family wants me to be there and you don’t reckon it’ll be awkward, I’ll be there. Much better than spendin’ my evening ordering takeout and watching crappy holiday movies ‘cause there’ll be nothing else on tv.”
He paused for a moment, allowing for that signature spark of mischief to return to his eyes and flashing just a touch of a grin before it simmered down into another, slightly crooked smile.
“'Sides—it’ll be good to spend some quality holiday time with Henry.”
And you. But that part he kept to himself; even though she had invited him to family dinner, the fact of the matter remained that it was far too early into their rekindled dynamics for him to be saying stuff like that.