The Cousins

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I said I would never write this yet here I am. I don't even know why I say anything anymore! πŸ€¦πŸ½β€β™€οΈ

A photo from The Office is referenced in the middle of the chapter, I put the photo at the bottom so you know what they're talking about. Enjoy!

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Kennedy pushed the door open and entered the coffee shop, Harrison right behind her. As the warmth and the bittersweet scent wrapped her up, she scanned the crowded tables. Cheery holiday music played over the speakers, even though it was still November. She spotted the group in the back and carved her way there. She plopped into the only empty seat while Harrison snagged a free chair.

"Sorry I'm late," Kennedy said.

Elle passed Kennedy a cup of hot chocolate and a cookie on a napkin. Kennedy took the cup while Harrison stole the cookie.

"All right," Micah said. "Let's get this Keller Cousin, plus Harrison, meeting going."

Kennedy leaned back in her chair, embraced by the familiarity of her cousins. Even though they were towards the back of the coffee shop, she knew they were garnering looks. She didn't blame other people, they were an interesting group.

Brock and Ashley's kids: Elle and Theo were named after their grandparents. They were classically good-looking with blonde hair, blue eyes, and the slightest of tan skin from their father.

They took their role as Irish twins to the level of being real twins. When Elle wanted to be a cheerleader, Theo joined her. Together, at sixteen and fifteen, they pulled off stunts that shocked Kennedy.

Clint and Eva's kids: Micah, Haven, and Timothy were striking in looks and demeanor. Dark complexions, strong cheekbones, and intense eyes. They all carried themselves with a poise and confidence that Kennedy, at fifteen, admired and envied.

Micah was a born leader, at seventeen he was student body President and everyone expected him to be a real president one day. Haven was junior class president and debate champion at sixteen. Timothy was the quietest of the three at fifteen, but a genius when it came to chess.

James and Ali's kid: Zoya was a paradox. Sweet looking with a cherubic face, satin brown skin, and honey-colored eyes but spicy with a sass that reveled everyone else's. She could outargue anyone all while smiling like she was your best friend.

Kennedy loved all of them to death.

"It's time that we put an end," Micah said. "To the stupid Christmas cards."

The group all cheered in unison, Kennedy one of the loudest. Each year they were all forced into uniform or matching outfits and posed together. When she was younger, Kennedy didn't care. Now she was fifteen, she could not let this go on. It was plain embarrassing.

"How are we going to stop it?" Elle asked.

"Grandpa Keller lives for the cards and we all know it," Theo said, running his hands through his blonde hair.

At a table over a few girls were trying to watch him without being noticed. But Kennedy knew Theo was aware. His father was Uncle Brock after all. He knew his strengths and played them up.

Aware of Theo's subtle preening, Micah smacked his arm.

"Theo, focus," he said. "Besides you have a girlfriend."

Theo tried to look innocent but none of the cousins believed his act.

"I know grandpa loves them," Haven said. "But we're older now. We can't be taking stupid pictures. I love you all but this could be used as blackmail for me later on."

"What are you talking about later on?" Zoya asked. "I'm using them right now. By the way, you still owe me twenty bucks."

Haven rolled her eyes.

"We could boycott," Timothy said, in his quiet, even voice.

Despite being one of the youngest, Timothy's quiet manner made others pay attention. Kennedy knew he definitely got that trait from his father, Uncle Clint.

"Have you ever seen Grandpa and Grandma Keller disappointed?" Kennedy asked.

"No, but I'm sure you have," Zoya teased.

Kennedy punched her shoulder. "I haven't but I'm imagining it would be the most depressing sight ever. Also, we're all visiting them this year, you want to deal with talks about why we didn't take the photo?"

Elle sighed and Micah crossed his arms nodding.

"She has a point. But the matching outfits, I can't do anymore. I'm a senior, it's embarrassing."

"And I thought my parents were annoying for wanting to send out a candid photo of us all," Harrison said. "At least we've never done matching outfits."

"Consider yourself lucky," Theo said.

Kennedy glanced at Harrison but knew he didn't. The way he always asked to come with her to cousin meetings and gatherings she knew he loved the feel of a big family. Even if it wasn't his. She understood. Having cousins made being an only child easier. She'd never asked her parents why they didn't have more. Something about the subject felt tabooed.

"You could be a Keller one day," Theo said, looking at Kennedy.

She blushed and shot him a glare which he returned with a wicked grin.

"If we got rid of the matching outfits," Haven said, coming to Kennedy's rescue. "Would that make it better?"

"Matching onesies," Zoya said.

The whole table erupted in shouts of never and gagging sounds.

"Don't you dare suggest such a thing," Elle said. "I will die first."

She covered her face and shuddered. Harrison covered his mouth in an attempt to keep his laughter hidden. But from the way his chair was shaking it wasn't working.

"We need to keep this meeting on track," Micah said, shooting Zoya a sharp glare. She shrugged and sipped her drink. "Nixing the outfits is a step in the right direction. Even though I want to forgo the photo completely, we can't. For the sake of the grandparents. Now we need to decide the next best option."

The group fell silent, all of them trying to figure out how they could do something that wouldn't humiliate them.

"We need to decide fast," Timothy said. "We only have an hour before we're supposed to meet up at the photo studio."

This brought a round of groans. Theo plunked his head down on the table in despair. Kennedy knew the feeling, her parents seemed more chill than other parents but they still made her do this. The one time they should be chill and they weren't.

"No matching outfits but no boycotting, a new plan," Micah said, meditatively.

"Wait! Was that what we've been thinking about?" Zoya said, feigning shock. "Here I was thinking about that cutie across the way."

She waved at a guy on the other side of the room and smiled. Kennedy saw the guy flush and duck his head.

"Not worth it," she said. "If you managed to have that strong of a reaction to him now when he talks to you he'll melt into a puddle of goo."

Zoya flashed a teasing smile, making her look impish. "That's the power of my charm."

"Your charm is perfume," Theo said. "Suffocating in high doses."

Everyone laughed and Zoya merely shrugged a shoulder, not at all peeved.

"I have an idea," Timothy said. The table quieted. "What if we recreated an image from a tv show. Like The Office. We all pick a character, dress like them, and take their pose. We could do the one with the chessboard."

Timothy pulled out his phone and showed them the picture. The cousins all made eye contact with each other, silently asking how they each felt about the idea.

"I'm in," Haven said. "I call being Pam!"

"I'm Erin!" Zoya said.

Elle laughed, "I'm definitely Angela!"

"If Timothy is Dwight then I'll be Andy," Kennedy said.

Timothy grinned. "I do have a sword we can use."

"I'm totally Jim," Theo said. He smiled at Haven. "That means we'll be paired up."

She reached across the table and they high-fived.

"Then I'm Darryl," Micah said. "I have my homecoming King crown I can use."

They all beamed at each other, excited that they were going to do the Christmas photo their way. Kennedy looked at Harrison and saw he was smiling but it didn't reach his eyes.

"Is it weird if we add Harrison to the mix?" Kennedy asked.

Again the cousins all exchanged looks then Micah shrugged.

"We can make him Kevin," he said.

"I'm fine with that," Harrison said, practically bouncing in his seat.

"Okay," Haven said. "Everyone go home, find an outfit that fits your character as best as you can. Call if you need options. And we'll meet up at the photo studio together. If we all walk in together then we'll present a united front and our parents hopefully won't be able to change it."

"And team cousin break!" Theo shouted.

Laughing, the cousins all dispersed.

Forty-five minutes later, Kennedy climbed off the metro with Harrison. They raced up the stairs, their costumes making them all the more excited to see everyone else again. Harrison had stolen one of his dad's suits. He'd managed to stuff a pillow under his shirt to make him look more like Kevin.

Outside the photo studio, they found everyone waiting. Kennedy blinked at Timothy's Dwight outfit. It was spot on.

"How did you manage that?" she asked.

Timothy tweaked his oversized glasses up and down. "I went as Dwight this Halloween. It's what gave me the idea."

"It's great."

"Are we ready to face the storm?" Micah called out to everyone.

Zoya twirled once. "Yes, because I look cute so who could say no to me!"

"I look cuter than you," Theo said, tugging at the collar of his button-down shirt.

"You're all pretty, let's go," Micah said.

As one, they marched into the photo studio like they were marching into battle. With all of their parents waiting for them inside, it felt a little like they were facing war. At their dramatic entrance, they took in their clothes.

"Where are you matching sweaters?" Ashley asked.

Kennedy looked to her parents, noticing how her mother threw her husband a knowing look.

"Mom," Elle said, striding forward and looking nothing like her cheerleader self in a gray skirt and cardigan. "We are going to take this photo our way or no way at all."

The cousins all stood behind Elle, soldiers at arms. Only Harrison remained at the back.Β 

Eight sets of parental eyes swept over them.

"Recreating The Office photo?" James asked.

"How'd you know?" Timothy said.

"The crown Micah is wearing and the sword you're holding were a giveaway."

"Yes," Micah said, touching his crown. "We want to recreate it."

The parents all shared looks, which Kennedy realized looked exactly like when she shared looks with her cousins. At least she knew it was a family trait to silently communicate.

Carter was the first to break the silence with a bright laugh.

"Only took you all three years longer than I thought it would. And the outfits we picked out only got worse by the year."

The cousins all stared dumbstruck at her.

"You mean you expected us to revolt?" Kennedy asked.

Brock barked out a laugh. "Yeah, long ago. Can't imagine what took you so long."

The parents all laughed and the cousins all turned inward. They locked eyes, again speaking without words.

"We all loathe our parents right now," Micah said.

"Agreed!" they said as one.

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Hey Puma!

You are required to tell me how much you enjoyed this because I caved and wrote what you wanted. πŸ’¬πŸ’­πŸ—―

Honestly it took me over a year to figure out how to write the cousins because there were so many of them. But I woke up this morning and I've been in a lot of pain lately and I needed something fun to wrote to take me out of myself.

And without knowing why or how the cousins all of a sudden appeared and I got this! Who knew! They were waiting for their moment to shine.

Now who is your favorite cousin:

Elle

Theo

Micah

Haven

Timothy

Zoya

I love them all, they surprised me with how amusing they all were but each had traits of their parents. It was fun!

I hope you enjoyed it!

Vote, comment, follow!

Here's the photo they wanted to recreate!

Also I had to share this because it's the best title to a reading list with just my books on it that I've ever seen!

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