Meet The Parents

by John O'Connor

URL: http://www.area52hkh.net/asj/john/parents.php
Summary: Janet and Sam are anxiously waiting for Cassie return home from college with a friend

"Janet, calm down. The house is fine."

"I am calm. I just...wanna make a good impression."

"Yeah, well this guy better make a good impression on me or..."

"Sam, just 'cause you were right about Dominic doesn't mean you know all there is to know about men. You're not exactly an expert," Janet said, a smile taking the sting out of her words.

"Look who's talking - Ms. Divorcee 1996..."

"Sam!" Janet glared at her friend and lover.

Sam, a look of personal horror on her face, said, "I'm sorry Janet. I'm so sorry. That was...mean and... God, I'm sorry."

Janet nodded. "We're both on edge. Let's just sit and be quiet for a few minutes."

Sam nodded. Ever since Cassandra started seeing this Ronnie, they'd been worried. It was the first really serious relationship their 'little' girl had been in since she and Dominic broke up on the eve of the Senior Prom.

Now, Cassie was bringing Ronnie home to meet her parents and said parents were edgier than if Apophis was in a parking orbit over the house.

"What do you think he's like?" Sam finally asked.

"Well, I'd guess he's smart and funny. Those seem to be the qualities she always liked in boys before."

"Yeah, except Dominic," Sam ground out the last. She was still angry with the young man after all this time. But then, she had been the one to see him kissing another girl at the mall while he and Cassie were going steady.

"Sam, I don't think we have to worry about that. Cass learns from her mistakes. She's pretty smart, our little girl."

Sam smiled, "Just don't call her that."

"Especially around her beau..." Janet added.

"You know, after the whole Dominic thing, Jack wanted to be here. I had to promise to introduce him to this kid later just to keep him out of this."

"He loves her too, Sam."

"I know. And so does Daniel. And Teal'c. And Hammond. And..."

"Most of the mountain. I know, Sam."

"God, why am I being like this? I'm stating the obvious and acting irrational. And, worse yet, I'm pissing off the woman I love."

Janet smiled and took Sam's hand, "Maybe so, but remember what happens when we make up..."

Sam smiled back, growling lecherously.

"Not now. They'll be here soon."

Janet got up and walked to the front window, opening the drapes again.

"You think we're doing the right thing, letting them sleep in the same room?"

Sam came up and hugged Janet from behind, "Yes. She's over 21. I mean, if your parents were okay with us, and that's a lot different than this, we should be okay with this."

"Are you?"

The simple question stunned Sam. She had no idea what to say. Was she? Or were her suspicions given too free a rein in her mind? She, like Janet, didn't want to think of the little girl they saved on Hanka as an adult in the first place, much less a sexually active adult.

But, the fact of the matter was that she was. Cassie had told them on her last visit home at Christmas that she was no longer a virgin. The two older women cried that night but had to accept it. And, as Janet pointed out, she waited longer than either of her mothers to have sex.

"Sam, are you okay with this?" Janet turned in Sam's arms as she asked the question again.

Sam blinked and looked into the loveliest brown eyes in existence. Finally she said, "I don't know. I guess I have to be though."

"Yeah, I feel that way too, Sweetie. It's hard to accept that she's an adult now."

"How did your mom handle your coming of age and meeting your future ex?"

"Well, the marriage was a mistake from the get-go but, after warning me once, she never said anything negative about it again. Not even an 'I told you so'."

Sam nodded and smiled. She loved Janet's mother almost as much as her own.

"Mom was supportive though. Once I decided I had made the mistake, she was there for me. And once I came to my senses, she was there for me too. Guess I need to remember that, huh?"

"We both do."

They both looked out the window as a car drove by. Their hearts were racing every time they heard an engine. Sam decided this was the most nerve-wracking event she'd ever dealt with.

"I promise you this. If that guy isn't the sweetheart of the world, I'll make his life a living hell."

"Sam! What are you? Robert DeNiro? Wanna get a polygraph machine too?"

"Can I?" Sam laughed.

"We'll see..." Janet responded with her own chuckle.

Sam walked over to the television, picked up the TV Guide on top, glanced at it and threw it back on the set. "What time were they supposed to be here?"

"Soon. Don't worry, I already have the highway patrol number memorized in case they're too late..."

Sam snorted, "Yeah, but seriously, shouldn't they be here by now?"

"Sam, need I remind you that it's a long way from Lincoln?"

Cassie, who was studying engineering at Northwestern University, was driving with Ronnie from Chicago back to Colorado Springs with an overnight stop in Lincoln, Nebraska. They were on Spring Break at the university and Cassandra decided to forego the near-ritualistic trip to Florida to come home and see her mothers. And to bring her current love.

When asked why they were driving, Cassie said she just enjoyed seeing the countryside. The farmlands reminded her of her home planet (on a much larger scale).

"So, how long does it take to get here from Lincoln? I mean, it's Nebraska, for God's sake!"

"Then they go through the Denver area..." Janet reminded her.

Sam nodded and wandered around the front room, picking up the sports section of the paper then tossing it on the coffee table. She did the same with several magazines, tossing them haphazardly on the table without really looking at them.

"Sam, I just straightened up the coffee table."

"Sorry," Sam replied sheepishly as she cleaned up her clutter.

"What if this Ron guy doesn't approve of us?"

Janet shook her head, saying, "Cassie wouldn't give anyone like that the time of day. Much less..." Janet sniffed, her eyes brimming with tears, "Oh Sam, our little girl IS all grown up!"

"Ssh, honey. It's okay. She's still our daughter." Sam held her lover tightly as Janet sniffled.

"Thanks, Sam." Janet kissed her lightly, "I'll be okay. I'm just getting used to the idea that she's an adult."

"Me too. I thought when she went to school, I was ready for it. Guess I wasn't."

"It'll be nice to have her home for a week."

They were on Spring Break at the university and Cassandra decided to forego the near-ritualistic trip to Florida to come home and see her mothers. And to bring her current love.

"Yep," Sam said. "But if Ronnie isn't all he should be, I'll pack him up and ship him back."

Janet rolled her eyes. While neither of them went in for the male role in their relationship, when it came to Cassie, Sam almost invariably took the father position. Undoubtedly because her father was so strong-willed.

"Oh! Oh! Sit down!" Janet exclaimed, flapping her hands. "She's pulling up!"

"Janet?"

"Well, just get away from the window. We can't look anxious!" Janet said in a rush as she pulled Sam towards the entryway.

"So, did you see Ronnie?" Sam asked.

"No, just a shadow. The sun was bouncing off the windshield a little. She has got to wash that car."

"Easy, Janet, she just drove about a thousand miles. Stop jumping around," Sam said, tugging on Janet's arm.

"I'm trying but I wanna meet this special person..."

"Me too."

The front door opened and Cassandra walked in. She set her bag down and grabbed her mothers in a group hug. "I'm so glad to be home. I missed you both."

"We missed you too, kiddo," Sam whispered.

"Love you, baby," Janet said.

The sound of a throat being discretely cleared prompted Cassie to pull back. She stepped back and put her arm around the waist of the newcomer and said, "Sam, Mom, this is Ronnie Stevens."

Both women were struck speechless. Ronnie Stevens was not at all what they had expected.

Ronnie Stevens was a girl.

The silence was deafening.

Not one of the four women standing in the foyer of the Fraiser house uttered a word. The unnerving quiet seemed to last an eternity until...

"Hey? Mom? Sam? Wanna say hello or something?"

"I...I have no..." Janet words stumbled to a halt.

"Holy Hannah!" was all Sam could come up with.

"Oka-ay then. Mom, Sam, this is Veronica Stevens." Cassie turned to her traveling companion and said, "Ronnie, this is my mom, Janet Fraiser. And the tall one with the goofy look on her face is my other mom, Sam Carter." The last was said with a teasing smile on Cassie's face.

Barely daring to look up, Ronnie Stevens muttered, "Pleased to meet you."

Janet snorted and turned into the living room. Sam still stood transfixed for a long moment as Cassie sailed by her.

"Mom? What's the matter?"

"You have to ask?" Janet said, her voice rising with every word.

"Yes. I do."

"Samantha! Get in here now!" Janet called.

Sam blinked and muttered, "Uh, I have to...uh, go in there..." She gestured blankly to the rear then turned away from the newcomer.

"I knew this was a bad idea," Ronnie said to herself.

Ronnie thought it prudent to remain in the foyer. Fortunately there was a decorative bench she could sit on as she listened to the two-way argument in the front room. An argument that quickly escalated into a three-way one. Much as she tried to tune it out, fragments came through.

"Are you out of your mind?"

"...about your future?"

"Is this some kind of joke or..."

"...love her!"

"Sam? Some help here..."

"..any career choice..."

"You should talk! What about the Air Force?"

"Damn it, Cassandra! This isn't what I wanted..."

"...YOU know it's wrong?!? Why?"

"Janet, maybe we should..."

That last was said quietly but the momentary lull made it quite audible to Ronnie. This was going so badly. And her Cassie was in the middle...

Sam walked out, a hard look on her face as she headed for the front door. Without looking at the distraught girl on the bench, she beckoned with her finger, saying, "You. With me."

Ronnie decided to heed the old cliche' about discretion and followed the tall blonde outside and into a late model Volkswagen Passat.

Not a word was said for the fifteen-minute drive. Ronnie wasn't sure whether to be relieved or anxious.

* * *

Sam glanced occasionally at her passenger. The girl was cute she supposed. Shoulder-length, straight brown hair. Large eyes. A slightly Romanesque nose that fit her face perfectly. A slight overbite, the kind most people consider sexy.

'Could be worse. She could be some kinda stereotypical domineering trucker-type,' Sam thought. 'Or Dominic.'

She pulled up to a small, discrete bar west of town in the foothills. She looked directly at the girl and said, "Let's get a drink."

Ronnie nodded but kept quiet.

"Wait. You are twenty-one, right?"

"Uh, twenty-two actually."

"Okay, let's go."

Sam got out of the car and waited by the front door of the tavern for the younger woman. She held the door open and followed Ronnie into the dim interior.

"Beer?" Sam asked.

"Please."

"Glass?" Ronnie shook her head.

"Okay. Get a booth." Sam nodded towards the wall as she headed for the bar.

Ronnie found a booth and sat down. As her eyes adjusted to the lighting, she noticed the place. It was a bar in a western motif. 'Big surprise there,' she thought.

As she looked further, she saw a dance floor, a small stage, and very few people. But it was early.

"So," Sam said as she set a bottle down in front of the girl.

Ronnie looked up and hazarded a smile. "Guess I wasn't what you expected."

As soon as she said it, she wished she could take the words back.

Sam's eyes flashed at her in the dimness. The voice was surprisingly calm though, "No. Not at all. Why didn't she..."

* * *

"...tell us?" Janet asked.

Relieved that the shouting was over and Janet was willing to talk, Cassie smiled sadly and said, "Because I was afraid of how you'd react."

"But bringing a girl here like this wasn't a problem?" The sarcasm was thick in Janet's voice.

"I...I thought if you met her, you'd be okay with it."

"But to just spring it on us like this? And poor Sam. She's still pissed at Dominic. You think this was fair to her?"

Cassie shook her head. "No, I..."

Looking up at her adopted mother, Cassie blinked back tears and had to swallow several times before she could say anything.

"I never expected to fall in love..."

* * *

"...with another girl. It just sort of happened."

Sam nodded as she took a swallow before saying, "I know. It was a surprise to me too. Wait... Cassie told you about Janet and I?"

Ronnie smiled, "Oh yeah. She can't stop talking about you two. She's very lucky to get such great parents, considering her past."

Sam looked up quickly, "Her past?"

"Yeah, her parents being killed in that fire in Toronto and then not knowing where she might end up."

"Oh," Sam replied with a suppressed sigh of relief.

"She said you two were both straight until you found each other. It's kinda the same with us."

Regardless of how angry she was at the trick her daughter had foisted on them, and the anger she felt, Sam also felt herself warming to the girl across the table. She didn't realize her anger was rapidly abating as well.

"How did you two..."

* * *

"...meet? Where?"

"It was at a club in Evanston. Ronnie is the lead singer of a band. She also is pretty good with a guitar. Her younger brother plays the drums and a couple of friends play bass and keyboards.

"Anyway, I went with some friends cuz we heard they were pretty good. At first, I didn't like it. Too pop, ya know? But then, after the second or third break, they started playing more alternative stuff and... Well, you know how I am now that I've outgrown that 'bubble-gum-and-Clearasil' junk."

Janet nodded and smiled at her own phrase coming from her daughter. "Yeah, I was so happy not to hear that boy band cr...stuff anymore."

Smiling, Cassie went on, "Anyway, I went over to talk to the folks in the band during a break and..."

* * *

"...we ended up spending the rest of the evening talking. Well, outside of the last set we played. After the bar closed, we went to an International House Of Pancakes near my place on the North Side...in the city."

"It was always Denny's for me for late night munchies. Unless there was a White Castle nearby," Sam interjected.

"Well, I always liked IHOP and the booths are more comfortable there than at a White Castle - easier to talk. Anyway, we ended up talking until the sun was rising over the towers along the lake. I drove her home and..."

* * *

"...I asked her if she had plans for that night. Figured I'd catch some sleep and we'd go out bar-hopping."

"Cassandra, that's not..."

"Mom, please? You know I don't drink very much. I just like hanging out with my friends and dancing once in a while."

Janet nodded her acceptance.

"I didn't plan on anything. I just thought maybe I had a new friend. But we connected, you know? It was..."

* * *

"...like something very special. I didn't want to admit it but there was something there.

"At IHOP, when she handed me a syrup container, our fingers brushed and I felt a...little shock. I wrote it off to static electricity - it was January after all.

"When Cassie asked me to meet her that night, I agreed. I think, maybe deep inside, I knew what I was getting into but I wouldn't admit it."

"How did you know she felt the same way?" Sam asked, seriously intrigued.

With a disarming smile, Ronnie asked, "How did you?"

"Touche'," Sam replied. "Nerve-wracking, wasn't it?"

"Yeah. I guess it might've been easier if one or both of us had been gay in the first place..."

Sam shook her head, "I don't think so. At least not as much as you think. Not according to Gloria over there."

"Hmm?" Ronnie's eyes followed Sam's to the bar and the young woman behind it. Surprised, Ronnie asked, "She's gay?"

"Yup. This is an...alternative lifestyles joint." Sam saw the brief look in the girl's eye and added, "I was coming here long before I even thought of a girl as desirable. It was just a place I stumbled upon where I could let my hair down."

"So to speak," Ronnie laughed.

Sam's fingers brushed her short bangs as she responded with a wry grin, "Exactly. Actually, Janet says I'm kinda dense about things and this sort of proves it. I had come here about three times before I realized there the girls were always with the girls and the guys were always with the guys."

Ronnie and Sam shared a laugh, both feeling closer to the other as a result.

"So you were telling me about your first date."

"Well, it wasn't a date. Just friends..."

* * *

"...getting together."

"And?" Janet prompted, not sure she wanted an answer.

"We met up, had a couple of drinks then left the rest of the group and walked around campus talking. We ended up at a small coffee shop and sat."

"More talking?"

Cassie grinned, "Yeah. We got to really know each other. It was the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

"'Casablanca'?"

"Yep, we saw it at a revival theatre in Wrigleyville last week.

"Anyway, we felt ourselves becoming very close very fast. But it wasn't scary like with a boy. We just thought we were friends."

"But..."

"Every time we touched or brushed against each other, I felt a tingle. It was pleasant but unnerving. I mean, I was always..."

* * *

"...straight. I never even experimented with kissing my girl friends. Just took my chances with boys."

"Same with me. And Janet," Sam offered.

"Nothing more happened. We just got together a few times a week and talked on the phone a lot more than that. We talked about class, our lives and families. Boys hardly ever came up, though. We really got to know each other. We really became good friends. I don't think there's anyone else who knows as much about me as Cassie does. We became best friends, long before..."

"You became..." As she tried to finish the other's sentence, Sam found she desperately had to clear her throat. She took a swallow of her beer, signaled for another, and cleared her throat again. "Uh, you became..."

"Intimate," Ronnie finished for her.

Another throat-clearing, then Sam nodded. "Uh, yeah. That..."

Ronnie smiled sympathetically, "I'm sorry. I know this is an awful lot to take in. I begged her to talk to you before we met but she insisted that it was okay. And she wanted..."

* * *

"...to tell you face to face. This isn't the kind of thing I thought we could talk about over the phone."

Janet nodded, "I...I guess I understand."

"But after you and Sam came out to Grandma and Granddad, I thought you'd understand."

"Did you purposely lead us on with the ambiguity. I mean, her name is fairly generic."

"No, Mom. Kind of like you and Sam, I always just think of her as Ronnie. I'm the..."

* * *

"...only one who calls me that. My given name is Veronica but I usually go by Ron. Only Mom and Cassie call me Ronnie."

"Janet is just about the only person who uses my full name without getting skinned alive." Sam smiled and added, "I guess I just like how it sounds coming from her."

"Exactly. When anyone else calls me Ronnie, or Veronica, all I can think of are Archie comics."

"There was the character on 'Cheers'..." Sam offered.

Ronnie laughed, "Yeah, a neurotic bar owner."

"So do I call you Ron or Ronnie?"

A relieved smile lit up the younger woman's face, "I prefer Ron but if Ronnie is okay too."

Sam cocked an eyebrow, "So I'm among the privileged few?"

Ronnie smiled then asked, "So, do you prefer Major or Ms. Carter?"

"Please! You're trying to age me too fast. It's Sam. Please call me Sam."

"Thank you."

"So, Ron, what are your career plans?"

"I'm studying architecture. When I was little, we took the walking tour of the Frank Lloyd Wright homes in Oak Park and I decided then and there that I was going to make my mark in that field too."

"So music is a hobby then?"

"Oh yeah. It's a way to get out, make a few bucks, and meet people. But if someone came along with a multi-million dollar contract..."

"You'd think about it."

Ronnie tossed her head back and laughed, "Oh yeah! But, in the meantime, I'm studying design and... Oh, Cassie is a big..."

* * *

"...help her with some of the engineering she needs to know. But she's pretty good at that too."

Cassie's face, which lit up whenever she talked of her Ronnie, became solemn. "Mom? Are you going to be okay with this?"

"I...I don't know. It's too soon to say... I hope so. It'd be hypocritical if I just automatically condemn you for this."

"Mom, she's really the best thing that's happened to me...since you adopted me." Cassie leaned over and hugged Janet, her head resting on the older woman's shoulder. "She's my best friend. We were so close before that when...it happened, it just happened."

"Like Sam and I..."

"Oh Mom, if only we could be half as happy as you are..."

"I hope so too, darling. But, I think you will be." Janet kissed the top of her daughter's head gently.

They sat there quietly, the young adult once again a small, frightened child being held by the woman who had come to love her as if the girl were her own natural daughter.

Looking up finally, Janet said, "It's getting late. Where are they? They should be..."

* * *

"...heading home," Sam suggested.

"Yes. I guess I need to see where I stand..."

Sam reached across the table and patted Ronnie's hand, surprising herself as much as the younger woman. The words that came out amazed the blonde scientist as well. But they were from the heart so she let them go, something Janet had finally been able to get her to do.

"As far as I'm concerned, you're standing okay." Sam smiled. "You aren't quite what we expected but then again, neither was Janet when I told Dad. Or me when she told her parents.

"But, I see you really care for our girl. And from her attitude in our little spat, she really cares for you. C'mon, let's go home."

Ronnie rose and walked with Sam to the bar. She offered to pay but Sam waved her off.

Gloria smirked and said, "Sam, this isn't the best place to bring your new girlfriend."

"Bite me, Glo," Sam laughed. "Actually, this is Ron. She's Cassie new friend."

"Hi, I'm Gloria. Stop in sometime before you leave and the first one's on the house."

Ron nodded and smiled. Maybe she could bring her lady here?

As they pulled out, Ronnie asked, only half-joking, "You think Doctor Fraiser will allow me in the house?"

"I think so. Remember, I have some pull there."

They drove in silence for a mile or so, much more comfortable silence than the trip out of town. Finally, Ronnie said, "This is beautiful country."

Sam nodded, "In the fall, the colors... You should have Cass take you further up the mountains. You grew up in Illinois?"

"Yeah, northern, flat-as-a-pancake Illinois. Lived there..."

* * *

"...all her life. She knows that area so well. And she loves it there. I'm starting to love it too."

Janet, standing at the stove, looked over her shoulder. "You might stay?" she asked in a quiet voice.

"I don't know. Depends on what Ronnie wants to do. And where I can get a job..."

Mother and daughter continued to talk as they finished preparations for dinner. As they spent time together, and Cass told Janet about her love, the older woman felt herself warming even more to the idea.

Sam and Ronnie arrived a few minutes later and Janet took the girl's hands in hers, "I am so sorry. I hope you will forgive me."

Ronnie smiled, "Nothing to forgive. I'm sorry I was such a shock."

"Well, you are welcome here. C'mon, dinner's ready."

As they finished up the last of Lasagna ala Fraiser, Cassie said, "After we eat, I'll help Ronnie get settled in my room."

Janet sputtered but silently counted to ten before saying anything. By then, she realized how foolish it would be to make them sleep in separate rooms. Her mother never did that when she and Sam visited and Janet was damned if she'd be bested by her mother.

* * *

Later that night, Sam cuddled with the love of her life. They were whispering as they both tried to hear anything from across the hall. Not that either would admit to eavesdropping, even unconsciously.

"I like her. I think she and Cass are a cute couple," Sam said, nuzzling Janet's ear.

"You think they'll stay together?"

"Who knows? We barely did and it's a bit easier out there now. Well, outside of the military."

"I just don't want to see her hurt or hindered by this..."

"Jan, they live in Chicago. It's one of the most gay-friendly cities in the country. It'll be fine."

"It might be a phase..."

"Yeah, I thought the same thing about you before..."

Janet turned her head up, kissing the hollow of Sam's neck, "Before what...?"

"Before we made love..."

* * *

"...the first time. And I'm almost as scared now."

"Why hon? Cause it's my old bed in my old room? Cause my moms are asleep across the hall? Or are you getting tired of me?"

"Never, my alien princess."

"Ssh. I told them I didn't tell you."

"Me too. But it's kinda cool having an alien for a lover. A little bonus..."

Giggles followed briefly.

In only a few more minutes, the four women under the Fraiser roof were asleep. Each was cuddled in the arms of the one they loved most in the world.

The End.