Tag list: @rosecat5 @athenaricham-loves-orcs @pandainfinitely @rivalriotrenegade @rouge-fire175 @happymoonangel @the-witchs-posts
You don't know why but it's time. There's just something gnawing in your brain that Ronnie needs to meet them. Now that you two are officially dating. Because if they don't approve of him you're going to cut your own heart out. And you'll never be happy again.
Anxiety ridden. Biting the bullet, you give them a call. And it's picked up on the first ring.
"Y/N! I hope you're not calling to cancel tomorrow." Immediately the motherly scolding begins, somehow she knows something is going on.
"Actually quite the opposite."
"What's wrong?" Worry fills her voice.
"I was hoping I could bring someone with me. There's someone I'd like you to meet." Biting your lip, you know she's going to say yes. But you don't want to risk the chance that the answer will be no.
"Of course dear. You can bring whoever you need to." You can hear the relief in her voice.
"Thanks. I'll see you tomorrow."
One phone call down, now the other. But there's no telling what he's up to today so quick text will do.
Ronnie, would you like to have lunch with me tomorrow? They're some people I want you to meet.
God. Why is this so hard to ask? You've rewritten the question three times. Nervously you push send. It's not like you're inviting him to have lunch with your parents and meet them for the first time. No it's just Tog and Dura. The ones who have looked after you and babied you since you moved here.
Damn it. They are your parents. As much as you hate saying it out loud to anyone. They are. Besides Charlie and Olivia already call them that.
Great! Meet at my place at 11am.
Breathing a sigh of relief. Now here's to hoping everything goes well.
These people must be important to you. You have refused to say anything else about this lunch or even acknowledge that it's happening. He's got to step it up today, he definitely needs to look like a regular person.
The importance of this lunch is killing you. You already sorta know how Tog feels about this but Dura will likely kill Ronnie if she disapproves.
"Where is that dress?" Grumbling while sorting through the closet. You know that dress Dura bought you is in here and for extra bonus points you have got to wear it. Ronnie will be here any minute and you're still in your underwear. Not that he wouldn't mind but now is not the time.
"Ah ha!" Finding the dress, somehow you tucked it into a garment bag and shoved it all the way in the back of the closet.
Slipping the dress on you barely have enough time to finish getting dressed when there is a knock on the door.
Opening the door you can't believe it's him. He's in crisp new jeans and a button up shirt. There's no way he can clean up this good.
"H-hi." Stumbling over your words you have to force yourself to focus.
Damn she's gorgeous. Hair and makeup done. Smelling like blackberries again. The soft blue dress has matching beading around the neckline and belt. He's never seen you in a dress before. He'll never say it out loud but you usually dress like you're homeless or just rolled out of bed. You oddly feel like home.
"You didn't say what to wear. Hope I chose right." Shrugging you see his ears twitching awkwardly.
"Yes." Actually you couldn't care less about what he wore. They'll find out he's part of the Fogteeth sooner or later.
"We are meeting some important people of mine for lunch. Just let me get my purse." Staying positive is the only way to make it through the day.
Important people? Worried who's so important that you won't say who it is? He picked up on the fake smile just now. You now have him worried about this meeting.
He's been driving for about twenty minutes towards the outskirts of the city with you giving directions. The neighborhood seems decent enough. A bunch of smaller homes and it seems strangely quiet for the most part.
"This one here. With the iron fence." Quickly pointing at the house a few yards down.
He pulls into a blacktop driveway beside a white brick bungalow. Getting out of the truck he's hit with a variety of strong smells. Vegetables and flowers but the most noticeable one is Orc.
Making your way around the truck, you grab his hand firmly and lead the way.
"Are you feeling okay? You keep biting your lips." Asking he knows the answer. You're not and it's worrisome. Nervousness and fear keep wafting off of you, getting stronger with every step.
"Just a little nervous." Shrugging you try not to give away how terrified you actually are.
"Well, you're the first person I've brought home." Fidgeting you quickly push the doorbell.
“Brought home?” Confused, he couldn't have heard you right.
The door swings open before you can answer him. An old orc woman answers. Excitement covers her face.
"Y/N! My darling daughter, it's so good to see you." She's loud and excited. He's never smelt such happiness from an orc about a human.
"You saw me a few days ago." Smiling, you give her a quick hug.
"So? If I had it my way you wouldn't be able to leave the house." Teasing she pinches your cheeks.
"Mam!" Embarrassed, you shoo her hand away.
"Oh hush. I don't want any sass from you. Your sister has enough of it. Now who is this?"
"Mam this is Ronnie. He's the one I talked to you about. Ronnie, this is my mother Dura." You calmly gesture between the two.
It doesn't go unnoticed that you introduced her as your mother and the happy gasp that came from her. She knows you're not very public with telling people who they are.
"Come in! Come in! Lunch is almost ready. Your father is setting the table now." Grinning Dura nods inside.
Holding Ronnie's hand tightly you head to the dining room. Pausing slightly you see him finish setting the table.
"Pap this is Ronnie. Ronnie, this is my father Tog."
He instantly recognizes the old orc you call father. He was working that day, he caused a scene.
He's stunned. The ones you call mother and father are orcs. In a moment time feels frozen but moving at hyper speed. The realization hits him hard. You have brought him to meet your parents. That's a serious commitment step especially in Orc culture. You're basically presenting him to the chieftain; the leader; your father that he is your chosen mate.
"Y/N, come help." Dura asks from the kitchen.
"Coming!" Giving Ronnie a smile you quickly pat his arm before disappearing into the next room.
"When we are together as a family for meals. We speak in our mother tongue. It helps keep the language alive." Tog explains in Bodzvokhan, with a stern face gesturing for Ronnie to take a seat.
"It’s so that we don't forget how to speak it." You lean over to whisper as you put some food on the table.
"Charlie speaks it too?" Surprised that thought never occurred to him.
"Yeah and so does Olivia but she's still learning." Trying not to smile at Ronnie's confused face you sit down beside him.
"How did you two meet?" Dura questions, passing bowls of food around. Not giving Ronnie a chance to process anything.
"Ah um at a Fogteeth block party." You don't necessarily know how to explain it.
"Y/N! Since when do you party?" Shocked, Dura's disbelief is evident.
"Because your daughter signed me up for a fight club. So they all know me now." Huffy you make it known what her sassy daughter has been up to.
"Y/N! What have I said about fighting?" Frowning, Dura tsk's you.
"To knock them out in one punch." You pretend to punch someone.
"Dura's father was a boxer. That's how we met. I worked as an errand boy when I was a child at the gym where her father trained." Tog interjects.
Now it clicks in his mind about why you can fight. My God you're from a family of Orc boxers.
"Could be worse, you forget that Charlie and Olivia met at a strip club." Sighing the way you and Ronnie met wasn't entirely a bad way, just very unconventional.
"Why do I believe that?" Ronnie laughs.
“They were both waitresses. Cause Charlie can't dance and Olivia is accident prone.”
The rest of the lunch visit goes well. No red flags popped up. And watching Ronnie interact with them is nice. It's not often you or Charlie bring someone here. Only after two years of dating was Olivia introduced and Ryan was only after graduation.
Gathering the leftovers for Charlie and Olivia. You see Pap and Ronnie walk outside.
"Yes Mam?" Turning you see how worried she is.
"Are you sure? This will affect your reputation." Dura nods at him.
"As long as you're sure. I worry about you the most." Sighing she knows that once you've decided something, that's all that matters.
Cupping your face with both hands, she gives you a soft forehead kiss.
Waiting on the porch Tog finds now is the time to personally talk to Ronnie
Outside he can feel and smell the anger and suspicion from Tog. The air seems to be electrified.
"I say this once. Harm Y/N in any way and you will not get off so easily as before. I am from the old country. I know how to get things done."
Astonished he never thought he would be threatened like this. But it doesn't come as a complete surprise since he has been a jerk before because of stupidity.
"I don't plan on that happening again."
“Good. She's the most stubborn and sensitive of two. As you are well aware by now.”
Back at your apartment you quickly set the food on the counter and properly face Ronnie. You could tell he was thinking about stuff from how silent in the truck he was.
"Sorry I sprung this on you like this. I didn't know exactly how to say ‘come meet my parents who happen to be Orcs’.” Apologizing, you don't want him to be mad about today.
"Daughter?" Questioning he tugs on the shirt of your dress.
"Yeah. Basically adopted us. Me first, then when I said I had a sister they were ecstatic."
"They're never letting you go." He gently grabs your hand intertwining the fingers.
"Good cause I'm not letting them go." Smiling, you know it's the truth. If anything were to happen to them. You'd probably go crazy. "The first few years I lived here were harsh. I survived on my savings and their generosity. At one point I was living with them. After scrimping and saving. I had enough money to buy a decent house or a really good apartment. But then Pap lost his job at the factory. So in secret I bought that house for them. With the money I had left over, my sister moved in with me into an apartment."
Besides the fact that you were only eighteen when you moved here with everything you owned stuffed into your car. Thinking you were a badass with no definite plan. You skipped graduation as payback for your parents kicking you out on your eighteenth birthday and living with a friend for the last four months. That they took pity on your stupid self. Working two jobs and going to school full time. You had lost all control of time and self preservation. They made it their mission to make sure someone was taking care of you since you dropped the ball on it. Before deciding that it would be best if you were to move in, to pool resources. And them giving you courage to fully do what you want with support.
"What do their children think of this?"
"Their son Mek died as a child and never had any more." Shaking your head sadly. "Charlie and I joke that Mek is our guardian angel."
Smelling the sadness he changes the topic.
"So how is it with work then?" That's always been a question burning in his head. He's never heard of an orc to have an actual decent job.
"Manny is my full time assistant. Pap works as my part time assistant."
"How do you have orcs as assistants?" There's no way you have that many Orcs actually working with you.
"The loophole is that I'm allowed to have two assistants of my choosing. They have to pass a background check and be personally trained by me." Giggling you boop his nose at your secret.
"Damn. That's a good loophole."
"Manny already knows us, he used to work at the same factory. So why not? I choose my father and a family friend that acts like my big brother." You start to fidget with his buttons.
"You've never said your parents are orcs. Why?" Taking a risk, the question makes you ooze out sadness and loneliness.
"Granted they've probably already had their share of hate. It throws everyone off at first but they taught me how real parents should act. I love them so much I just want to freeze time and wrap them up in bubble wrap." Sighing there's just an unexplainable love for Dura and Tog. "I don't want anything to happen to them. And just shouting to the world that my parents are Orcs will cause unnecessary hate."
Pausing he lets everything sink in. Everything he knows and what he found out today. “Sprinkles, you are the most complicated person I have ever met. With an immensely kind heart."
"Thanks." A defeated chuckle escapes. "Besides, you have no idea how restricted and complicated the adoption process is. But to adopt from another race is nearly impossible. The only successful cases were those involving half breeds but then they were only allowed to be adopted by whatever races they were a part of."
"When I was nineteen I wanted them to adopt me. So I went and got the paperwork and researched everything. But I wasn't able to do anything about it, besides this country doesn't recognize adult adoption as being legal."
"That's bullshit!" Scoffing that's ridiculous.
