missmara13

Part of the Berkeley!Verse, where Ryan meets Isabella Montenegro at Berkeley (while she kicks the ass off a frat boy who'd groped her) and they fall in love.

This universe was created last year for 24 Gifts of 2008, and can be acccessed by clicking on either the link above, or the tag for Berkeley!Verse.

In my mind, Isabella is played by Kristin Kreuk.

Meeting The Family

Ryan hadn't wanted to tell the Cohens that he was seeing someone new and had been for a while. It wasn't that he was ashamed of Isabella, it was actually the exact opposite, he was completely in love with her and didn't want to share her with anyone else, even his family. Especially when Sandy and Kirsten were determined to pretend nothing was wrong until after the holidays. But he still invited her to Chrismukkah dinner, glad for the reprieve from the tensions when he saw her blazer pull up out front. He opened the door and jogged down to the street to meet her, pulling her into his arms. "Save me," he whispered in her ear, deliberately being over dramatic.

Isabella pulled back, smiling and cupping his cheek as she stretched up to kiss him. "Do I look okay?" she asked, gesturing at her jeans and oversized blue sweater.

"You look gorgeous," Ryan replied. "Come on, save me from the tension," he said, taking her hand to lead her inside. "Everybody? This is Isabella Montenegro. Isa, this is my family. Kirsten and Sophie Rose on the couch, Sandy straightening the presents, Seth is messing with the fire which isn't a good idea since last time he almost lit his sleeve on fire..."

"It was one time!" Seth protested.

"Can we go one holiday season without a disaster?" Summer piped up from the chair she was sitting in. "Hi, I'm Summer," she introduced herself, shaking Isabella's hand.

"It's nice to meet all of you," Isabella said. "Thank you for inviting me to dinner."

"Your family doesn't mind parting with you for a little while?" Kirsten asked.

"My family is so big, I don't anyone will notice," Isabella said with a warm smile. "But I just told them that my boyfriend needed to borrow me for a few hours to get the whole introducing me to his family thing out of the way, and after I promised to bring him to the Vineyard for New Years, they got over it."

"What, I have to face the five big brothers?" Ryan asked, feigning fear.

"You should really worry about impressing my mother and aunts, they are far more frightening."

"If you're any indication, I'm sure they are," Ryan said, smiling.

"I thought Ryan said you were Italian," Seth said, frowning. "You look..."

"My biological mother was Chinese, biological father was white. My adoptive parents are Italian descent," Isabella explained. "But I was adopted when I was just a week old, so... I consider myself Italian."

"Ryan said you go to Berkeley, too. What's your major?" Summer asked.

"History," Isabella said. "Where we all come from fascinates me."

"Isa has this dream of restoring old houses and hotels to their former glory," Ryan said, smiling as he kept a hand on the small of her back. "Or mixing the old with the new to make something unique."

"I keep trying to convince Ryan to promise to let me hire him to..." Isabella began.

"Let me get my degree in Architecture first, Isa," Ryan interrupted, ducking his head.

"I think someone is ready for her nap," Kirsten said, shifting Sophie Rose so she could get up.

"I'll take her," Ryan said, moving over to carefully take his little sister, holding her close to his chest and smiling as she rested her head on his shoulder with a soft sigh. "Wanna help?" he asked Isabella.

"Of course," Isabella replied, following Ryan out of the room and up the stairs. Once they were in Sophie Rose's nursery, she turned to him. "Now, why, exactly, did you cut me off before?"

"They don't exactly know about the painting thing," Ryan said quietly as he get Sophie Rose settled in her crib. "Drawing is Seth's thing, I don't wanna take it from him."

"But you are amazingly talented..."

"I don't wanna take this from Seth," Ryan repeated. "I'm fine being known as the Architect of the family."

Isabella leaned forward and gave him a soft kiss. "I love you, you know."

"I love you, too," Ryan replied.

"I won't say anything."

"Thank you.”

The End