Eri's grandfather Yukito answered the door and invited them in when they arrived. He raised an eyebrow at Eri's guest, but his smile was welcoming, and Eri returned it happily. Takumi released his clingy grip on Eri's hand as he followed her through the door.
Moments later a man clattered down the stairs, scooped Eri up in a hug, and twirled her around. She gasped in surprise and then exclaimed gleefully, "Kyo-jii-san! You're back from France!"
"I am!" he agreed and kissed her before setting her down. Then he demanded, "Now introduce me to this strange man!"
Eri blushed and turned back to Takumi, whose smile was a bit fixed in place. "Ah…" she began as she reached for his hand, and then tugged him closer as she introduced him to her grandfather and her second youngest uncle.
Takumi relaxed a little, but Eri's cheeks were warm. Introducing him to her extended family made things feel more official somehow. But it wasn't too bad, no one had asked any embarrassing questions yet, and everyone was smiling.
A few minutes later Eri's grandmother came out of her workroom and was introduced as well. Then one of her older cousins arrived. She introduced another cousin, her aunt, and her eldest uncle to Takumi as they came in.
She whispered admiringly, "You're doing great."
He grinned at her, hugged her closer, and replied quietly, "Thanks, I keep thinking, 'Wow, so many people', but my family is just as large really."
When her parents arrived, her mother Miyuki rushed through the greetings and then asked the two of them excitedly, "Did you already tell them that you're pregnant?"
Everyone went silent and Eri went scarlet. Takumi slid his arm around her waist and hugged her closer, while her grandfather looked at her father and started to laugh.
Minami told his wife dryly, "I told you he was going to laugh."
His father in law, Yukito, didn't laugh himself sick, as Minami had predicted though. Instead, after a few moments Yukito stopped laughing, grinned at Eri, and asked, "How far along?"
Eri flinched, but gathered her courage and replied hesitantly, "Two weeks."
Her uncle Kyohei immediately glared at Takumi and demanded, "Why weren't you being careful with her!?"
"We were mostly careful," Eri protested. "And why are you blaming Takumi instead of me? It's probably my fault," she confessed unhappily.
"It is not your fault," Takumi insisted quickly. When she looked at him doubtfully he kissed the tip of her nose, and added, "And it's okay if your uncle blames me."
"Good, because I'm blaming you," Kei said as he walked in behind them.
Eri gasped and turned to stare at her youngest uncle. "That's not fair!" she complained.
"Why not? You didn't get pregnant by yourself," he pointed out.
"He didn't get me pregnant by himself either," Eri objected.
Kyohei grinned at Eri and reached out to ruffle her hair. "Alright, my bad, and nevermind who's at fault." He told her cheerfully, "I brought you a postcard from France."
"Brought? Why didn't you just mail it?" she asked curiously.
"I don't think our post offices would handle this kind well," Kyohei explained doubtfully. "But I thought that you and Yuki would love them."
Kyohei dashed energetically up the stairs while the eldest and youngest of the brothers exchanged weary glances and then smiled. He returned within moments to hand Eri two cards. She took them with a questioning expression.
"Since Yuki isn't here, pick the one you want and I'll send her the other one in an envelope," Kyohei instructed.
Eri stared at the elaborately embroidered card in her hand. It was like a paper doll that had been embellished to the max. Metallic embroidery shimmered across the surface, edging flowers and other background elements. The fabric of the dress puffed out from the surface, and the cheerful paper face of the doll reflected her own smile.
"Wow, this is amazing!" she exclaimed, and then lifted the other one and compared them for a few moments. Then she glanced at Takumi and asked, "Do you have any preference?"
Kyohei opened his mouth to object, but Yukito kicked his foot, and shook his head at his son.
Takumi smiled as he shook his own head. "Nope, they're both pretty. But you like the one with the green best don't you? You're going to hang it up at our place?"
Eri nodded, and Takumi's grin widened.
Kyohei said, "Oh."
Kei asked with surprise, "Your place?"
Miyuki told her little brothers proudly, "Takumi-kun already convinced her to look for a place and move in with him!"
Eri's cousin Shuhei looked at his aunt and objected, "Oba-chan! Aren't you supposed to be unhappy about it instead of proud of the guy?"
"Why?" Miyuki asked cheerfully.
Shuhei glanced at the rest of his family with embarrassment and muttered, "I don't know."
Eri said sympathetically, just as her aunt Nana banged in through the door, and headed straight for the bathroom, "It really seems like most mothers would complain doesn't it?"
"If you want a mother to complain about something, just give me a few minutes and I'll complain all you want!" Nana complained before she shut the door behind herself.
Kyohei looked up at his twin, who had followed his wife more sedately into the house, and leapt up to take his youngest niece into his arms as his slightly older brother struggled with her and three bags. "Did you knock her up again already Tori?" he teased.
Torishi flushed as he replied succinctly, "Twins."
Kyohei told him dryly, "Apparently it's going around. Even little Eri-chan is pregnant this spring."
Tori looked past his brother and blinked blankly at Eri. She blushed.
They spent several hours with her family before Takumi took her home again, but the visit was mostly as pleasant as Eri had hoped, and she thought that Takumi kind of liked her noisy family.