As if Lee hadn't had enough stress in her life over the last 6 months, all of a sudden that afternoon the phone had rang and her mother had been on the other end. That in itself had shocked Lee, she never spoke with her mother. Half the time she still pretended that she didn't have a mother.

What was even more surprising was when her mother said that they were in town and wanted to come over for a chat.

At that, Lee had froze, her hand holding the phone up to her ear. Why the hell did her parents want to come see her? The dinner they had had a year and a half earlier (wow, had it really been that long?) hadn't exactly gone the best, why were they wanting a repeat performance?

With Tarin's help, though, arrangements were made. Lee almost gave the address for their old place, not really wanting to see her parents, but after a glare from her husband, Lee corrected herself.

And then things were taken care of, the phone had been hung up, and all that was left was waiting for her parents to show up at their apartment.

Lee managed to sit still on the couch for all of twenty seconds after that phone call before she was up and on her feet again. Into the bedroom she ended up going, and then into the closet, pushing through her clothing trying to see if she had anything better in there than what she was currently wearing.

With Tarin behind her, standing in the doorway, telling her to calm down. He just didn't get it. But then again, how could he, he didn't grow up with them, he'd only met them once, over dinner. He couldn't get it.

As she looked through her closet, Lee kept glancing over her shoulder at Tarin. The biggest problem at the moment was that she wasn't finding anything suitable to change into. At least nothing better than what she was already wearing. The black blouse she was wearing was going to have to be good enough; anything fancier was getting into the territory of when she'd go out for the night with Tarin, and that wasn't necessarily appropriate for meeting with her parents.

Another glance over her shoulder revealed that Tarin wasn't standing there any more. Lee frowned. He had been there, hadn't he? She didn't recall him saying anything about leaving, though. After a moment, Lee decided that he must have just gotten tired of her searching through the closet and went to sit down. It really wasn't all that interesting, after all. Necessary, but not interesting.

Turning back to the clothing, Lee moved back where she had first started; maybe she had missed something, passed by something, that would in fact work.

And then she heard it. The doorbell. Lee's breath caught in her throat, her back straightening, even as she wondered why her parents showing up was even affecting her this much. How had they gotten there so fast?

It was funny how well Lee could dish it out sometimes, and how poorly she took it when it was happening to her. Back at Christmas when she’d presented him with plane tickets to Christmas and declared in no uncertain terms that they were going, she’d been all surety and smiles. Now that it was her parents they were having a sudden visit with, she was completely falling to pieces.

Tarin was slightly worried at first, things were so much better than they had been after the fight at King Pharmaceuticals. The problem was, though, that Tarin still worried that too much stress would cause a relapse. They had their methods though, and at least Lee wasn’t boxing everything in. Instead, she was taking out the stress on her closet. Tarin wanted to explain to Lee that she was going to look beautiful in whatever it was she wore, but she didn’t seem interested in his opinion, even if she kept looking back at him.

After a while, though, Tarin wandered off and towards the kitchen. The button up shirt and jeans he was wearing would be fine for the occasion; her parents were coming for dinner though. Somehow, Tarin figured that Mr. and Mrs. Smith would not be impressed by Chinese delivery. That left only one option. Enchiladas it would be. Tarin set to work.

Sometime later, Tarin wondered if Lee realized just how much she was obsessing over this visit from her parents. It really wasn’t that surprising, he thought as he layered corn tortillas over meat and cheese, liberally soaked in sauce. There would be fresh guacamole too, they’d bought the packaged amazingness at the store that week, as well as chips. It was slightly disappointing that he wasn’t able to pull out the hat or the accent as he’d originally intended for this dinner, but sacrifices had to be made in the presence of in-laws.

The doorbell rang just as he was putting the casserole dish into the oven and setting the timer, and Tarin made his way to the intercom and hit the button, “Hi!” he said cheerily to the doorman’s page, “It’s Mrs. Brook’s parents, would you show them to the elevator and get them to the right floor please?”

That finished, Tarin turned and made his way into the bedroom and wrapping Lee’s hand in his, and her chin between his other thumb and forefinger, “It’s going to be fine.” He said, kissing her softly on the lips, “They were probably just in town and wanted to say hi. The food’s in the oven, we’ll eat, chat, then they’ll leave. Now smile, they’ll be at the door any second.”

Maybe if they didn't answer the buzzer, her parents would just go away. Then she wouldn't have to deal with them, wouldn't have to hear them.

No such luck. Lee heard Tarin's voice as he spoke to the doorman downstairs, instructing him to let her parents up. So much for them just going away. But really, how had they gotten there that fast? Lee hadn't been expecting them to be here already.

Then Tarin was there, standing in the closet with her, a hand wrapping around hers while his other hand turned her head to look at him.

"Why would they want to do that?" Lee asked after the kiss from Tarin, though her voice was only a whisper. "They didn't even want to do that much when I actually lived with them, never mind now that I'm in a different country."

But Tarin was right, her parents were going to be at the door in just a matter of seconds. She couldn't go out there and see them looking like this. She was out of time to actually change by this point, but she could change how she looked and acted. Taking a small step forward, Lee rested her head on Tarin's shoulder, wrapping her free arm around his neck, and stood there taking slow, deep breaths with her eyes closed.

She was doing well, they were doing really well. Other than the fact that both she and Tarin were mutants, she couldn't really see anything that her parents would criticize. At least she couldn't think of anything that they'd actually be finding out about. Like Tarin said, they'd eat, talk, then her parents would leave and go home, and she wouldn't have to deal with them any more.

Lee was feeling quite a bit better by the time there was a knock on the door. Taking one last, deep breath, Lee straightened up. "I guess we can't just pretend that we're not home, can we?" She asked, a slightly disappointed smile on her face as she stepped to make her way out of the walk-in closet and to the front door.

Slightly nervous smile on her face, Lee pulled the door open to see her parents standing in the hallway. She'd only seen them twice since she had turned sixteen, but there was still no mistake as she saw the man and woman standing there.

"Hi," Lee said, the nervous smile growing. They didn't exactly have a lot of company in general, never mind having it be her parents. "Uh, come in?" Lee invited them, stepping back a bit and holding the door open.

Did they even have anything to drink, Lee wondered as they made their way to the living room. Lee couldn't for the life of her remember whether either of her parents ever drank beer. "Have a seat. Can we get you anything to drink?"

Yeah...Lee was at a bit of a loss for what to do...

This was more like it, Tarin thought as Lee’s arms slipped up and around his neck and she pressed up close against him. It was almost subconscious by this point, his arms wrapping around her waist and holding her close, and he breathed in the smell of her hair. Lee asked him why and Tarin wrapped his arms around her a little tighter, “Because, maybe they really want to make things better.” he said simply. He wanted to reassure Lee, but somehow more words seemed like they’d simply make matters worse. So instead, he just stood there, hands rubbing slow circles up and down Lee’s back until the knock at the door came.

Lee pulled away and Tarin chuckled at her dry humor, pushing some of her hair out of her face as she turned to answer the door. As always, at the sound of the knock, Axel had rose from his puppy bed and streaked for the door barking his little heart out. Lee hadn’t even really noticed. Honestly, Tarin wasn’t surprised, the last time she’d been this nervous had to have been their wedding day.

Bending in the entry hall as Lee opened the door, Tarin scooped up the little dog and held him close. The last meeting they’d had with Lee’s parents had been less than sparkling. Tarin couldn’t necessarily blame the Smith’s, though, he couldn’t imagine any parents being thrilled at the prospect of him joining the family.

Lee invited her mother and father inside the apartment and they came. The pleasantries were only slight stiffer than would have been expected and soon enough, everyone was seated in the living room of the apartment. Tarin sat in a chair across from Lee, gently setting Axel down so he could run over and begin diligently sniffing Lee’s mother’s shoe. The silence was strained.

“I know Lee already offered, but are you sure I can’t get you guys anything to drink? What’s got you in New York?”

Was this why Tarin had a tendency to drink Scotch whenever Rupert showed up?

They were inside, they were sitting in the living room, and small talk was ensuing; completely meaningless, empty, small talk. Her parents didn't want anything to drink, but Lee thought she finally understood Tarin's desire to down Scotch when there were weird situations going on, normally involving Rupert.

And then Tarin asked a question that got to the crux of the issue: why were they in New York? Lee was really more interested in why the hell they had wanted to come see her, but this was a good start.

"We came to see you, Emily."

Lee could only stare at her mother in shock. Normally when someone used that name for her, it would be greeted with at least a glare, if not an outright threat of physical violence if it happened again. Lee was simply shocked by what else she heard, though. So shocked that it took a minute before she was actually able to reply.

"What do you mean you came to see me?" Lee asked when she was finally able to find her voice again, a touch of anger appearing as the words came out. "When we lived in the same house, you wanted nothing to do with me. Even when I was staying with Rachael in Toronto, you couldn't be bothered to drive less than two hours for a visit. But now, you'll come all the way down from Barrie just to see me?"

"Well, since you up and married this guy without even telling us, we've got to get to know him somehow," Lee's father said, his tone rather matter of fact.

Tarin nearly closed his eyes and let out a sigh when Lee immediately jumped down her mother’s throat when the woman pointed out that they’d come to New York for the sole purpose of seeing her, their daughter. He held back, though, regardless of the fact that he thought Lee should have been more gracious, she was his wife and he would stand behind her. This was not going to turn into Tarin and Lee’s parents against Lee.

“We’ve been over this Emily.” Her mother said, and Tarin actually winced for the woman. He was getting ready to speak, to inform Lee’s mother that a good place to start on the path of forgiveness was to call her daughter by the correct name when her father spoke.

At the words, Tarin’s head jerked in the direction of the voice. Tarin wasn’t sure if it was being referred to as “this guy” or just the general tone of the man’s voice, but he bristled at the statement, a deep frown marring his features. For the moment, though, Tarin kept his mouth shut. Again, it wasn’t his place to argue with Lee’s parents. It was something he was going to let her deal with in her own way. Besides, no matter how poorly it reflected on Tarin, Lee’s father had a bit of a point.

It felt almost wrong to sit there and say nothing while someone came into his house and said something like Lee’s father just had…but still. Tarin figured he knew Lee better than even her parents knew her, and if that was the case, she’d be letting them know what she thought about that statement in 5….4….3….2….Tarin looked to his wife, “I’ll let you field that one, Lee.”

Lee's eyebrow raised when she heard her mother speak. Her parents seemed to be rather selective with what they actually listened to what she said. For example, almost from the start, her mother seemed to realize how much she cared about Tarin, yet she didn't seem capable of calling her 'Lee'. Something that definitely was not helping her mood.

Tarin's words caused her eyes to shoot her her husband briefly before she started on her parents. He did know her very well, didn't he?

"First off, if you want to talk to me, my name is Lee, not Emily," Lee said, her eyes back on her parents sitting on the couch. "And to be honest, with how you have treated me for most of my life, I didn't think it overly important to talk to you about what I choose to do."

"Em- Lee," apparently the look in Lee's eyes and tone of her voice had convinced her mother to correct herself. "I know we weren't there like we should have been when you were younger, but that doesn't mean we don't want to be involved now.

"I would like to be able to get to know my son-in-law."

Lee blinked as she she listened to her mother. This was definitely not what she had been expecting. "No, you weren't there," Lee said, her voice much softer than it had been before. "Even when you were physically, you weren't actually there for me."

At this point, Lee saw her father turn to look at Tarin rather than her. "So why did you take her off to Las Vegas rather than letting her parents be there for the wedding?"

Other than the obvious point that Lee was continually making that her parents had completely neglected her needs when she’d been younger, the conversation was starting to go quite well. Even if the conversation was slightly strained, it was still conversation. Lee’s mother, in fact, seemed to be making a very good case for reconciliation. Admitting that there had been a problem in the first place was the first step, right? Tarin thought that might have been alcoholics…but neglectful parents were right there in the same boat. He’d been right about the name too, he looked at Lee’s mother, “She doesn’t even let me call her Emily…in fact, I didn’t know that was her name until we ran into Robert one time.”

Lee’s mother had the good grace to smile slightly at Tarin as she nodded and Tarin smiled back. She’d said that she wanted to get to know her son-in-law. Tarin liked the sound of that, it was very normal…very mundane. Maybe he was starting to get old, Tarin mused, as he listened to what Lee was saying. Then her father spoke again.

Tarin had started to relax a little bit, even in spite of Lee’s father’s comment a few minutes before…but the man simply had to go and speak again. Tarin’s eyes narrowed imperceptivity for a moment, then he took a deep breath.

“Well, to be honest. I didn’t take your daughter anywhere. We eloped. We’d gone through a bit of a rough spell, but we ended up going to visit my mother in Texas for Christmas. The time seemed right, and we did it. I took my brother as a witness, Lee called Rachael…which is where I assume you heard the news. As to why you weren’t invited…it was your daughter’s wedding, you should ask her, and not me. Though, my mother wasn’t there either.”

Lee nodded in agreement when Tarin said that she didn't even let him call her Emily. It was true, the only time she could actually recall that he had called her that, they were in Columbia, and she was refusing to let Slate heal her. In the two years they'd known each other, she couldn't think of any other time he'd used the name; except for when he was telling her family not to use it.

She wasn't overly impressed by her father's question, but as Tarin answered, a slight blush crossed her cheeks. That had been a good Christmas, though it probably could have been described more as she had dragged Tarin to Vegas.

"So you eloped, but could wait for Rachael to get there? Why couldn't you have called us, too?"

At least her mother's voice didn't really sound upset, simply confused, curious. "Because it was literally just me, Tarin, Josh, and Rachael," Lee replied. "Josh wouldn't have even been there if we hadn't needed to use his car to drive up there, and we called Rachael while we were driving."

"That doesn't explain why you didn't invite us," Lee's father said.

Lee took a deep breath as she looked at her father. "Then how about this?" Lee asked. "I would have been more than happy to have just gone to the court house in Dallas, just me and Tarin, but he suggested driving up to Vegas. We wanted to get married, so we did. It was for us, no one else, and while it was nice that Rachael and Josh were there, we didn't need them there."

Wow, Tarin thought, Lee’s parents were really upset about this whole thing. It really was kind of strange that they’d be so bent out of shape over missing her wedding when they couldn’t be bothered to find out if she was alive for the duration of the life she’d lived without them after finding out she was a mutant. The fact that they cared now should stand for something though, and Tarin took a deep breath.

Lee’s mom had the wrong idea completely, and Tarin shook his head slowly, “The whole point of eloping was that we weren’t going to have to wait for anyone. Rachael had done us a huge favor at one point and we figured we kind of owed it to her since it wouldn’t have ever happened if she hadn’t intervened in the situation. Josh was the same way. Like I said, my mother wasn’t there either.”

It was still a difficult situation to explain without getting into more details than anyone wanted to hash out this particular night. The only way for it all to make sense would be to explain everything that had happened leading up to Texas. Not only was it a long story, but a particularly painful one in several ways. Tarin couldn’t imagine any father being cool with his daughter marrying a body that had committed three brutal, ritual murders; possessed or not. They’d simply have to settle for what they were getting, or not…it was up to them.

“Really Lee” her mother said with obvious effort, “Las Vegas? Please tell me Elvis didn’t perform the ceremony.” Again, Tarin smiled, not bothering to hide it. T he woman was amusing, there was no harm in getting someone on his side, since Lee’s father seemed almost bound and determined to stay off it.

The phone rang, then, and Tarin rose before Lee could take the chance to run. As he made his way to ringing device and pulled it from the cradle he heard Lee’s father reiterate the fact that nothing had been said about why they hadn’t been invited. It was going to be a long night.

“Hello” he said into the phone.

”Tarin! It’s Rachael…I have to tell you somet…”

“Rach…I know, they’re already here.” Tarin said, cutting his sister-in-law off and chuckling low into the phone.

”Shit…I’m sorry Tarin…somehow I let something slip and they double teamed me and cornered me…I didn’t even realize they’d gotten on a plane until about ten minutes ago.”

“Really, it’s fine. They probably should have known a while ago anyway. This just forced our hand a little. Lee’s doing very well, actually…though I fear for the state of my marriage if I don’t get back out there and help her out.”

”Yeah, good point. Have her call me and tell me how it goes. I’ll be in New York in a couple weeks to meet with some prospective clients and I’d love to hang out.”

“Sounds good Rach, I’ll let her know.”

Tarin hung up the phone and checked the enchiladas which had about ten minutes left before they were everything enchiladas were supposed to be. That was perfect, the conversation would probably be getting really uncomfortable by then.

Back to the living room Tarin went, interrupting whatever conversation had started while he was gone and sitting back down in the seat he’d claimed earlier. “That was Rachael.” He said to Lee, “She’s going to be in town in a couple weeks and wants you to call her so you guys can set something up.” He said, barely able to hold back a smile and wondering if Lee’s parents would figure out that Rachael had actually been calling to warn them.

“In other news, dinner should be ready in about ten minutes. I hope you’re hungry, usually when I make enchiladas we’ve got leftovers for days.”

Lee bristled a bit at her mother's question. Really, did her parents know her at all? "It may have been Vegas, but we did things right," Lee informed them. "Tarin and his brother found this really nice chapel while me and Rach went shopping for a dress. And Tarin looked absolutely amazing in the tux he wore," Lee continued as her eyes drifted to her husband. While she had seen Tarin in a tux on one other occasion before that, it hadn't held a candle to how Tarin had looked on their wedding day, and Lee was sure she'd never forget it for the rest of her life.

And then the phone rang, but before Lee could move, Tarin was already up and heading to answer it. Damn it.

"Why?" Lee asked in return of her father's question. "Which reason do you want? You didn't seem all that impressed about mine and Tarin's relationship when you first met him, so what would have changed? The only reason we waited as long as we did once we decided to get married was because we needed to use Josh's car, and the drive took so long. We didn't even invite his mother because we wanted to get going, and we were staying at her place while we were in Texas."

"And she was alright with not being invited?"

Lee almost, but not quite, rolled her eyes at her father. "Yes, she was alright with it," Lee said, her tone saying it should be obvious. "She was disappointed that she wasn't there, but she was happy for us. She hadn't seen Tarin in 15 years, and she understood."

"But are you sure this is the man you should have married?" her father asked, his voice noticeably quieter than the rest of the rest of the conversation had been.

"Of course I'm sure," Lee replied, not following her father's example. If anything, her voice was slightly louder than it had been previously.

"I hope you're right about that, Em. From what Robert says-"

"What Robert says?" Lee asked. She was definitely not keeping her voice down now, not when Robert was interfering in hers and Tarin's relationship without him even being there. "Robert doesn't know what the hell he's talking about. He made up his mind that he doesn't like Tarin because of a misunderstanding, and now won't listen to anything that tries to convince him that Tarin is actually a decent guy.

"It would be a complete lie if I tried to say that we haven't had some difficult times while we've been together," Lee continued, her voice dropping back down to a more conversational level, a tone of thoughtfulness entering it. "And unfortunately, Robert has seen some of those times. But without them, we wouldn't be as grateful for the good times we get to spend together. I decided a long time before you even met Tarin that I was more than willing to risk the bad in order to be able to spend the good times with him."

Here, Lee took a breath, eyeing her parents as she did. "To be honest, I don't know if there is such a thing as soul mates, but if not, me and Tarin are as close as you can get. We didn't realize what we were missing out on before, but now that we know each other, I don't think we can live without each other."

Lee was just letting that sink in a bit when Tarin came back into the room. Announcing that that had been Rachael on the phone. Lee's eyebrow rose slightly. Thanks for the warning, sis, but a little late on the uptake.

"Yeah, I'll give her a call later tonight," Lee replied, then just stared at her husband when he announced what would be served for dinner in about ten minute's time. She hadn't exactly thought about the whole 'dinner' part of her parents coming over for dinner, but apparently Tarin had. And figured out what they were going to eat.

"You're making enchiladas for dinner?" Lee asked, her voice slightly strained as she continued to stare at her husband.

"Why, what's wrong with enchiladas?"

The conversation had virtually stopped when Tarin walked into the room, which suggested to him that he’d been the topic of conversation. That was fine, though, that had been part of the idea when he’d gone to answer the phone. Strangely enough, though, the air seemed just a little bit less tense than it had when Tarin had left the room. Maybe they’d managed to work something out. Tarin could only hope, he had his mother back. It was only fair that Lee get a chance with hers.

Lee was going to give Rach a call, Tarin was pleased. The more time the sisters spent together, the closer they seemed to get. Tarin wished his brothers lived closer, but a frown crossed his face at that thought. Things with one brother were good, but that night Ash had ended up in the apartment…there were still big problems there.

Tarin announced what was for dinner, and almost wished that he’d had a camera for Lee’s reaction. He couldn’t stop the slow smile that spread across his features as her strained voice echoed the menu for the evening. Lee’s mother asking what was wrong with enchiladas was too much, though, and Tarin burst out laughing. Lee’s mother looked confused, and her father looked slightly taken aback and when Tarin finally managed to pull himself together he took a deep breath and spoke.

“Nothing is wrong with enchiladas. That’s the problem. I usually only cook them on special occasions. I thought tonight was special.”

“They’re that good?” Lee’s mother said, an eyebrow raised as she looked at her daughter.

Tarin grinned and nodded his head, ”Ma’am, you don’t grow up where I did in Texas and not learn a little Tex-mex while you’re at it.” The accent might have come out a little in the last sentence, and Tarin looked over at Lee and winked, then rose, “But, I still need to set the table if we’re going to eat, so I’ll let you guys talk some more.”

Not only was he making the enchiladas when her parents were there for dinner, but he simply smiled at her when she asked about it? Ugh, Lee suddenly realized that this was going to be a much longer night than she had already figured.

And then her mother asked what was wrong with having enchiladas. As if things weren't already going great before that question. How the hell were they supposed to explain-

Why the hell was Tarin laughing? As if it wasn't going to be easy to explain it before, after the way Tarin had started laughing, how were they supposed to explain what was 'wrong' with them having enchiladas now?

All Lee could do was sit and stare at her husband in shock until after he had explained that they tended to eat Mexican on 'special occasions'. Well, that did tend to be true, the problem was what often went along with the dinner for those special occasions.

And then her mother was turning to her, asking if they were really that good. All Lee could do was nod at first, and thankfully Tarin stepped in once again. Unfortunately, he let his accent slip out as he spoke, and Lee shot another look at Tarin. He knew how he reacted to his accent, knew how much she liked it. He just simply wasn't playing fair.

Thankfully, after that little tease, Tarin decided that he needed to go set the table. Good, get him out of the room. That way Lee wouldn't have to think about how he normally spoke with his accent the entire night when he made Mexican. How Tarin would wear his cowboy hat. How he would look at her from under the brim across the table...

"You know," Lee jumped when she heard her mother's voice, pulling her away from her sudden daydreams about her husband. Looking over, she saw that her father wasn't there any more, which confused her until she heard voices coming from the dinning room a moment later. "When Rachael told us how suddenly you had gotten married, I was worried I was going to become a grandmother and hadn't been told."

Lee had been startled by her mother's voice, but that was nothing compared to what she was feeling now, after hearing her mother's entire comment. She was shocked, she was slightly panicked, but not nearly as bad now that she had that vague emptiness she couldn't quite explain because of Alice.

"You thought I was pregnant?" Lee asked, her voice somewhat strangled because of her emotions.

"It had crossed my mind," Lee's mother admitted. "Why else do people get married so suddenly like that?"

"I don't know, because they want to?" Lee asked. It made sense to her. "We had been engaged for about a year at that point, anyway." Well, it had been almost a year since they had first gotten engaged, at any rate.

"Well, if that's not why you got married how you did, when are you thinking of having kids?"

Tarin did laugh out loud at the look that Lee shot him when that little bit of accent managed to slip its way into the conversation. Tarin knew full and well what it did to his wife when those little nuances slipped into his regular speech pattern, and that’s exactly why he was doing it. Maybe it wasn’t nice to let her squirm in front of her parents, but Tarin liked to watch it just a little too much to stop.

When he decided that he needed to set the table, Lee almost looked a little too relieved about the fact that he was leaving so he bent and dropped a kiss on her head, saying, “I’ll be back soon darlin’.” Then it was out to the kitchen. It was only a few moments when he heard footsteps, “It’s fine Lee, I’ve got…” he said before turning and was therefore shocked to be faced with his father-in-law.

“Oh…” Tarin said, “Hi.”

“Hello.” Lee’s father said, reaching out to take the plates from Tarin’s hands. The man stared at the plates and Tarin frowned, following his gaze down and realizing that he wasn’t looking at the plates. He was looking at the tattoos. Tarin looked up, lips pursed together until the other man raised his head and met Tarin’s eyes.

“Robert says you’ve hurt her.” The words hung in the air like…something nasty that hangs in the air. Tarin frowned, and met Dave Smith’s eyes.

“I’ve caused her to be hurt.” Tarin said, it was the most honest he could be without the long, uncomfortable conversation that would accompany a true answer. Tarin looked out towards the living room where Lee and her mother were still talking. “I also tried to convince her that I was bad for her…she tried leaving once…” Tarin shrugged, “It’s like she said, we can’t hack it alone anymore.”

Tarin turned away from Lee’s father and continued pulling silverware out of the drawers in their kitchen, “I’m by no means a perfect man, but we’re happy…and we’re doing okay.” Tarin shrugged, “Our lives are much more complicated than other peoples’, and we get that about each other, and we’re really doing okay.”

Tarin turned again, and Lee’s dad was still standing where he’d been, still holding the plates and frowning. “We weren’t the best parents.” He said, looking more uncomfortable than Tarin had seen him at this point. It wasn’t really surprising, they’d been terrible parents…but Tarin didn’t think it was his place to say so he stayed quiet.

“We really do still care about her though…we just didn’t know what to do…and we did the wrong thing.”

Tarin frowned, this was getting more and more awkward by the moment, but then Lee’s father got to the point, ”She’s taken care of herself all this time…and she’s turned out beautifully. If she’s sure you’re worth it. I can take her word for it.

Honestly, Tarin was stunned. That was not how he’d expected this conversation to go, not at all. It was a pleasant surprise though, and he found himself smiling at the other man. “She really is great…” Tarin said, “And she helped me work things out with my mother. I hope you guys can get to the same point.” Tarin was about to say more, but the timer on the oven started beeping and he set the silverware down to look inside it.

“Yeah, this is all ready…if you’ll take that stuff out to the table, I’ll holler at the girls and we can eat.”

When were they thinking of having kids? Lee tried to swallow the lump that had formed in her throat at her mother's question as her eyes darted in the direction she knew Tarin was in, hidden away in the kitchen and so absolutely no help to her.

"Uh, that's still something we're sort of talking about," Lee said, finally bringing her gaze back around to her mother. "I think Tarin would be thrilled if I were to get pregnant right away, but..."

"But what?" Lee's mother asked, her head cocked to the side slightly as she looked at her daughter. "I was younger than you are when Bobby was born."

Lee just blinked at her mother. She was really curious about when they were going to have kids, wondering why her daughter didn't seem ready yet. Had she really forgotten everything that had happened when she had been a teenager?

"I don't even know if I can," Lee finally managed to say after a minute. "Tarin seems to think there'd be no problems, but I have no idea what my powers might do, and to be perfectly honest, I'm terrified to find out."

"So you're not even going to try?" Lee's mother asked with a slight frown.

"Not in the foreseeable future," Lee replied with a slight shake of her head. "Tarin's more than enough for me, so..." Lee trailed off with a small shrug just as she heard Tarin's voice calling from the kitchen dinning room area, announcing that dinner was ready.

What incredible timing, Lee thought, because after that dream, Lee knew there was that strange emptiness there left by Alice. So Lee stood, and led the way into the dinning room, which was just finished being set up for dinner.

"Mm, that smells amazing, hon," Lee said as she watched Tarin setting the pan of enchiladas down on the table. "Did you need me to grab anything else?"