Mom was taken aback.
"You're the guardian." She said, which was now stating the obvious. That's when Serco powered down, showing her the form she'd grown used to. "Shion is the guardian?!" Mom looked at me when she asked this question but I couldn't meet her eyes, I felt bad for hiding it from her for so long.
"I am… I'm sorry for hiding it from you… I'm just … it is frowned upon to get familiar with too many humans… It… makes it look as if I'm playing favorites." Serco explained. " and... I'm revealing myself to you because I am; Akina is my favorite human in this city and… it's time I showed her that I'm serious about her." This seemed like a lot for my mom to take in at once, she planted herself in a nearby rocking chair, with a frozen expression. She didn't blink for several moments. We waited a few minutes for her to collect her thoughts, then finally, she pointed at me and said
"So…you've been dating the Guardian?" I nodded "And… you've been dating my daughter?" She added, moving her finger to Serco. He laughed.
"That has been established," Serco responded. Mom put her hand down then asked,
"And what do you need from me?"
"I want to allow Akina to meet my family, I need your approval... of course." After Serco clarified this, mom pointed to herself and mouthed the word "Me?" He nodded and gave her a smile, seeming amused with her behavior.
"I don't think I could possibly say no…" She answered quietly, with her head hung.
"You can… you're her mother…" Serco corrected. He's always been this way, I think about how he was when he told me that I didn't need to apologize to him. He said HE was wrong and that he did need to say sorry because he was rude to me. And now, despite what he wants, he's acknowledging my mother's authority in this situation over his authority as a Guardian.
"...Can I think about it?... I'll have an answer by tomorrow, I promise." My mom answered. Serco sighed but only said,
"Take all the time you need…" After that statement, he gently grabbed my hand and pulled my fingers up to his lips to kiss them. This instantly set my heart aflame. He then looked directly into my eyes and added "I will… give you two time to talk." Afterward, he vanished. Mom sat staring at me and I continued to avoid eye contact because I really don't know how to speak to her right now…
"You… kept a pretty big secret from me." She began,
"I'm so sorry! I didn't want to, I mean I did want to spend time with him but his identity wasn't my secret to tell and I didn't want to burn bridges with him by telling his business, but yes." I blurted my words out quickly. Once I finished my little rant I sat on the floor and hugged my knees.
"Did he… propose as you predicted?" I felt blood rushing to my face.
"I should not have said that! I was being dramatic… I'm sorry." Mom kept her eyes on me quietly for about 3 seconds before laughing and saying,
"Infaniyans do marry quickly, you might actually be right." Her comment was a critical hit to my heart. "They can read people and each other so well… that they get to know their lovers deeply much quicker than most humans." The seriousness of her voice calmed me.
"So… you don't think I'm crazy?" I inquired,
"Do you think you're crazy?" Her question caught me off guard and I did not know how to answer… "I…" Mom cleared her throat and then continued by saying, "I know he would not have revealed himself to me… or offered to introduce you to his parents if he was just fooling around with you. You're a human… it's … not unheard of but it's… not… normal at all for an Infaniyan to show off their homo sapien lover." She then smiled widely "So, how did you seduce him?"
"I didn't!" I stated defensively.
"It's okay, you can tell me," She assured, with a wink.
"Mom?! Are you okay?!" I shouted out, embarrassed. Mom sat down beside me and sighed.
"I'm ... kind of jealous... before I met your father, I had a little crush on the guardian too." After she admitted this I felt a slight twinge of disgust.
"I don't know if I feel comfortable hearing this story." Regardless of my statement, she continued
"I used to watch him in awe. The gratitude I felt for him protecting me...all of us, it transformed into deep affection. I can understand why you like him, is all I'm saying." Once it was my turn to speak I said,
"No, you don't... I felt grateful for him protecting the town but... it was impossible for me to feel anything more than that until I met him. I like him because he pushes me to speak up for myself, I like him because when he looks at me I feel like the most important thing in the world and NOTHING has ever made me feel like that before. I like how he's not afraid to show how he feels, unlike me, he doesn't care if his feelings make someone else mad. I love him because of who he is, not because of his job." My mom stared at me silently before saying,
"I feel like I just got chastised by my own kid." She commented I started to apologize but then she hugged and pat my head. "You can go see his family... I know you'll be safe with our Guardian." I hugged her back, I'm so happy "Wait... are you two.... getting it on in my house!?" I gasped and squeezed her tighter,
"No Mom! Let's not talk for a while, please!" My face felt hot and rushing out that sentence was all I could do before the dirty thoughts caused my brain to shut down.