Ten minutes later and Jon was successfully using the cover of the new arrivals filtering in and greeting everyone to avoid being alone with Karyn who kept glaring daggers at him. He hadn't intended for her to get caught in his fantasy, but at this point everything was already in motion, so she'd just have to deal with it. He was genuinely hopeful she'd end up enjoying it, but even if she didn't, he wasn't going to let that stop him. He'd dreamt of something like this, getting to truly be someone else for years, and the stone was going to finally let that come true.
Gary, Karl and his dad, Roger, were talking over a couple of beers in the lounge, having been banished from the task of watching the roast when his mom, Linda, decided she couldn't trust her husband not to get distracted. Back in the kitchen, Emma had set up to help her sister with the food preparations, while Vicky hung out on the back porch, scrolling through her phone, seemingly not that bothered to not be included. Mikey and Tanner had dashed upstairs to grab some sort of game from Mikey's room, and Zoe was following Ashlyn around like a little duckling. Jon was in the lounge as well, and Karyn was walking up to clearly have a word with him, when he was once again saved by the bell.
Jon all but dashed for the door, and swung it open to reveal two people, Shivani Sainte-Clair and her daughter Lillian. Jon had to stop himself from blushing like he always did when he saw Shivani, who was a rather attractive woman; Vicky had a similar effect, but he felt less embarrassed about that since he wasn't blood related to his uncle's new trophy wife. Shivani on the other hand, was his mom and Aunt Emma's significantly younger half-sister, sharing the same father, Jon's recently deceased grandfather who gave him the stone, but not the same mother. Jon's maternal grandmother had passed away many many years ago and his grandpa's late in life fling with an Indian woman had resulted in Shivani, around 28 years ago.
Perhaps as a result of that, and Shivani's mother, an archeologist who met grandpa Hiram at a conference, having primary custody, there'd always been a divide between Shivani and the rest of the family. Emma and Linda weren't cold to their surprise sister per-se, but they hadn't exactly connected much with her either. It had honestly been a surprise when Shivani had moved to Lakeview, where most of the family lived, a few years ago and even then that was only because of her husband getting a lucrative job offer at a law office downtown, willing to put him on track towards partnership. Jon had only met her a handful of times, and thought, with Hiram having passed, it was unlikely she would have come to this reunion if his wish hadn't compelled it.
"Good morning, Jon, it's nice to see you," Shivani, who wore a loose satiny sky blue button up, a slightly darker blue blazer and matching high waisted fitted pants, casually having by far the most fashionable outfit of anyone there, said while hoisting three year old Lillian, wearing a little polka dot dress, up into her arms. "Could you point us towards the bathroom? I think someone might need a potty visit before we eat." Lillian smiled and waved at Jon, but didn't say anything, seemingly a little shy.
Jon gave her directions and then couldn't help himself taking a glance at her pert ass as she walked into the house. Shivani wasn't as curvy or well endowed as Vicky, but she was undeniably lovely in her own right and her face was gorgeous. Combined with her stylish nature, Jon sometimes wondered if a bit of jealousy wasn't at the root of his aunt and mom's cool disposition towards his youngest aunt.
He went to close the door; no one else would be coming in with Shivani and Lillian since Shivani's husband, Jon's uncle Edward, had died in a hit and run two years ago, making her a widow. It had been a real tragedy, leaving Shivani to raise their daughter alone, even if she'd received a very generous life insurance payout, according to the family gossip. Not that she really needed it. Shivani was actually a semi-well known and quite successful artist, with pieces that could go for six figures and were exhibited at quite a few museums. She wasn't famous to the general public, but as far as Jon knew, she was actually fairly prominent in the art world.
Just as the door was about to close, a foot stuck into it and Jon opened it back up to find his Aunt Traci, his dad's sister, barrelling in. Traci swept him into a hug, squishing him a bit, "Hiya Jon! It's sooo good to see you. Ooh, by the way, this is my boyfriend Enrico and my friend Wendy. They didn't have anything going on today, so I told them to come with! Hope your mom doesn't mind!" Traci, a short tanned brunette woman with a short bob, wearing a spaghetti strap yellow sundress and wedge heel sandals, said hurriedly as she rushed by him, followed by a dark haired, possibly italian man in a fitted white tee and slacks, and a woman with dyed neon green hair dressed similarly to Traci herself.
Jon spun on his heels as the whirlwind passed him by. Aunt Traci was always a handful, a bit of a wild child, though, as his mom was fond of point out, the routine was wearing a bit thin as Traci neared closer to 40 than 30. Jon knew it was the result of his wish for some people to bring guests, but realized his mom was going to be severely annoyed to have two unannounced guests throwing off her seating chart. Although, pretty soon chaos was going to unfold, and that chart was going to likely fly out the window anyway.
He checked his watch and took a breath, there were only a few more people left to arrive. Jon felt his insides flip over a little as his excitement built. It was all about to go down.
Shivani's appearance:
