Hi everyone!
So, it's still Christmas around here and, well I had this idea for a while now and decided to give it a go. It's not going to be long though, just a couple of chapters, three maybe. I wanted to examine a possible scenario about this kind of meeting so.. Here you go :)
This first chapter however is very, very light, just a small introduction, but there's going to be some private interraction between Diane and Piper, don't worry :D
It's rated T. For now. Because well... you know me, and I may or may not be unable to resist a "sex in parent's house while trying to be quiet" idea, lol :P
Anyway, despite the fact that the writers in season 3 have tried to feed us that nonsense about Diane living in a trailer park (because - among other things - seriously?)when I suspect that Alex would have done anything for her mom, including giving her a proper home, I have decided to base this on that ideal scenario. Hope you don't mind.
So here you go :)
As always I apologize for eventual grammar errors, english is not my first language.
Disclaimer: I don't own Orange Is The New Black.
Enjoy
When Alex first asked you if you were willing to "go visit home" around holiday's time, you knew exactly what she meant.
The fact that she wanted to introduce you, officially, to her mother was heavily implied in the small, almost imperceptible twitch of nervousness that you have noticed in her usually confident expression and heard in the distinctive stuttery way she proposed you that idea, trying to make it sound so suspiciously, uncharacteristically causual.
That unsaid detail was the real juice of the invitation itself. One that got you so unexpectedly giddy that all you could do was grin at her in front of the foreign but extremely endearing signs of contained nervousness that have appeared on your lover's gorgeous features.
Now however, as you walk down the snowed path to the front door of the nice double storey, soberly Christmas-decored house with Alex right beside you, it's your turn to experience that sense of nervousness and anxiety in your stomach, feeling your hands shake and sweat, and not because of the bakery box you are trying to keep carefully balanced in your gloved hands. The tension in your shoulders isn't brought by the blow of cool air that makes you stiffen, and, as you finally come to a stop right in front of the entrance and feel a light comforting weight resting on your arm, despite the gentleness in it, it still startles you a little as you get pulled back from your moment of sudden apprehension only to realize that Alex has - unsurprisingly - noticed that tension, too.
"You okay, Pipes?"
Even as you swallow down the lump of anxiety that has risen in your throat, you can't help but smile a little at her. She is looking at you with a mix of concern and reassurance, a knowing softness into those beautiful emerald eyes, and a tentative encouraging smile tugging at the corner of those rosy lips. A smile that makes you momentarly forget about the turmoil that you are experiencing and earns a small one from you too, which only widens when you are once again distracted by how impossibly cute Alex looks with her dark beanie. Snow settling gently there as it falls. A silly detail, but that manages somehow to bring up that shade of softness that lives in her but that is not usually displayed outside from your most tender and intimate moments.
"Yeah, I just..." You pause, releasing a calming breath and watching it dissolve in front of you into the cold evening air. "I guess I'm just a bit nervous, that's all."
This time Alex smirks at you, still tenderly however as she rubs your arm and gives a little squeeze of comfort.
"Don't be," She tells you, dismissing your concerns, "It's just my mother, and you are going to find out that she is not exactly the conventional kind mother." She concludes with a soft chuckle, throwing you a playful wink.
Just my mother, she says, as if it were nothing, but the immediate reminder of the "unconventional" part has you slightly less agitated now, but not enough to take away the remnants of your sudden doubts about all of this ordeal.
Apparently, Alex notices it too, and as soon as she sees you shift your gaze downward and bite your bottom lip in mild contemplation, she doesn't hesitate to take a step closer, prompting you to look up at her with the softest "hey,"
"We don't have to do this, Pipes." She continues once she is sure that she has your attention. "If you are not ready, or you feel uncomfortable... I understand." She tell you seriously yet incredibly softly and oh so reassuringly that just hearing her voice is already doing some trick to magically untangle the tight knot stuck at the pit of your stomach.
She says it so calmly as if you weren't standing right on the porch of her mother's house with the two bottles of italian wine that you have bought for the evening and a bakery box containing the best cheesecake black forest of all the State.
As if your lover isn't currently holding the gym bag containing the few things necessary that you have packed when she told you that you were going to spend the night here.
As if you could simply say "no" to her right now after the heartwarming invitation that has made you grin excitedly from ear to ear when she first asked you to meet her mom and just bail, turn to hail a cab. Here.
In the desert suburbs' streets of Newark.
During a freaking snowfall.
Hell no.
Between the insane holidays' rush that seems to have affected the entire city, and the added expected traffic for the troubling weather, coming here has been a challenge already. And it's certainly not like you don't want to be here, because it's not that, but yeah, after a few more moments of adjusting nervously the box resting carefully in your hands and letting out a few puffs of air, grateful for the refreshing chill offered by the cold night, you look up at your patiently waiting lover and just like that, with a simple look, you find the last drop of determination that steels you nerves in the tentative adoring smile that is tugging lightly on her lips.
"I wanna do it, Al." You tell her, straightnening your back a little and offering her a convincing smile.
"You sure?"
Still, she keeps asking you, seeking for a minimal trace of reluctance or doubt or discomfort, but you know that there is none of those emotions on your face and on the smile that starts spreading further on your face, and the fact that she looks truly willing to cancel the long planned evening with her mother just so that you don't have to feel nervous, upon melting your heart right there on the spot despite the polar cold surrounding you, it also gives you that last boost of courage that you needed.
You don't offer a verbal answer. Instead, as that sudden rush of confidence takes over, you lean in to kiss her, softly, but quickly, taking her by surprise, pleased when you notice that she still has to register the gentle touch against her lips when you pull back only to step right in front of the door and knock with decision.
There, you think as you adjust the box in your hands once again and turn to grin at Alex, who looks still a little taken aback, an eyebrow arched in surprise, and a smirk of undeniable amusement slowly curling her lips.
"Bold, Chapman." She teases you, althought it sounds pretty much like a compliment actually. And before you can come up with a retort, the front door swings suddenly open, revealing a middle aged woman with silver hair and a smile that brightens the entire neighborhood upon seeing you two.
It's the first thing that strikes you.
That smile.
So, so similar to one that you love so much.
That alone, is already contagious.
"Alex! Oh sweetheart you made it," And even that excitement has a certain effect on you, "I was afraid you weren't going to come."
"Hi mom." Alex greets her mother with a genuine smile of her own, wincing a little when she is pulled over the threshold and into a tight bear hug, greeted by a heartwarming "hi baby."
When she pulls back her gaze fixes immediately with yours, the bright smile still there, becoming just a little wider as she addresses you. "Oh and you... you must be Piper right? Alex told me so much about you dear."
That information certainly catches you by surprise. "Did she now?" You ask with a tilt of your head, turning to glance in amusement at Alex, who - of course - is looking anywhere but at you, pretending to look busy as she sets the overnight bag down and shrugs off her coat. "It's very nice to meet you Miss Va-"
"Stop right there hon." Alex's mom cuts your introduction off with a warning. So sternly that you freeze right there, wide eyed, wondering what you must have done to upset the older woman already. But before you can come up with anything she continues with a new contrasting, kind, welcoming smile. "Call me Diane, or you are not allowed a step further inside the house." She threatens you playfully.
The nervous laugh that leaves your lips is loaded with relief. "Alright, Diane it is then."
"That's better. Now come in, come in. Make yourself comfortable girls." She lets you inside and closes the door behind you. "Here, let me help you first." At her suggestion, you carefully hand over the bakery box, for which - as Alex had already warned you - she thanks you, but also scolds you for bringing something despite the heavy reassurance that it wasn't necessary.
"We also brought wine mom, but I know you won't protest about that." Alex teases as she follows her mother into the kitchen with said bottles, giving you another smirk and an unspoken "I'll be right back" as you start taking off your coat.
"Don't expect anything too fancy for dinner to accompany it, though." Alex's mom warns, but at that comment, as you catch the first notes of cooking, you can't actually help but notice that the smell of food in the house is nothing less than mouth watering, making you think that she is just being incredibly modest.
You take the occasion to give a first look around you, taking in the simple but nice decor surrounding you and in the moderate Christmas decorations that you find in the living room.
It's a very lovely house, and you are so taken by your curious observation that the last thing that you expect though as set down your coat and melt - almost moan out loud actually - at the sight of the lit fire place in the vast but cozy living room and the already prepared table loaded with some delicious looking dishes on the opposite side, is the sudden feeling of something tugging at the material of your jeans.
You almost lose your balance and let out a short squeal when you look down and see a ball of thick black fur playing with the hem of your jeans.
At first you are incredibly confused and more than a bit startled, but then...
"Oh my God!"
"Pipes?" Alex's voice reaches you from a distance, but the concern in there goes unanswered as a grin splits immediately your face.
"Hey there cutie!"
The puppy looks up at you with warm big brown curious eyes, and before you know it, you are already kneeling to pet it, pleased to notice that it seems pretty excited instead of cautious when it first sees your hand, accepting the caress greedly, and offering no trace of resistance when you tentatively try to pick it up in your arms, simply unable to resist the urge once you have discovered the impossible softness of its coat.
You don't even register the approaching steps actually, until they stop with a falter right behind you and you hear Alex's exclamation of surprise from above.
"Oh Jesus... Mom, when did you get a dog, exactly?"
You get up in time to see the entertaining look of bewilderment on your lover's face as her gaze fixes on the fluffy creature you are carefully holding.
"Oh, right. A couple of weeks ago," Diane's voice approaches you in the living room until she comes into view. A huge grin on her face that matches your own when she spots you with her apparently new baby craddled in your arms. "Isn't he adorable? He's a bernese."
"A what?" Alex seems to be the only one who has still to recover from this last discovery about her mom's new companion.
"A bernese mountain dog." Diane specifies, "It might be hard for you to understand this Alex, but it can get pretty lonely in here. I don't have many friends. You never visit. And Banjo is just the kind of wonderful presence that I need to have around, the perfect companion for a lady of my age."
"Wait, you called him Banjo?"
It's the sight of Alex's look of horror, almost outrage, that makes you snicker, more than hearing the indeed arguable name chosen for a puppy actually.
"Yeah, why not?" Her mother asks, a deep frown marking her features. "What's wrong with it?"
"Well, everything." Alex chuckles, clearly amused by her mother's honest confusion on the matter. "You should have called him Bear or something considering that he is practically going to become one in a few months." After a quick examination to his already comically huge paws compared to the rest of his still tiny but furry body Alex adds a mumbled "Godzilla would have been appropriate, too" but there is a barely contained smirk on her face when she hears him whine softly, sounding almost ashamed by the comment of his size, and proceeds to scratch him gently behind his ears as in reassurance, a gesture that obviously pleases him a lot, and that makes him immediately start to wail his tail with joy in your arms.
"He's so cute!" You can't help but repeat with a particularly high pitch in your voice and the permanent grin on your face in front of such scene.
"Yeah, and he's gonna probably weight more than you do in a couple of years." Alex warns you through a light chuckle.
"Don't listen to her," You tell conspiratorially to the ball of fur in your arms, covering one of his ears for good measure, "She is just jealous because you'll get all the attentions from her mama now."
"That's right, I haven't even started with his training, and yet he is already much more obedient than you were when you were little, Alex. Isn't that right Banjo?"
Much to yours and Alex's amusement and surprise, the puppy in your arms lets out a tiny bark of approval in response that leaves you both gaping lightly.
"Good boy!" The proud praise from Diane however makes you laugh out loud.
Alex scoffs in exasperation, barely believing that she's being compared to a dog. It's actually such an endearing look on her that you have to fight the grin on your face from spreading further, especially when the inevitable image of a tiny, trouble-making Alex pops in your mind.
"And I know he's gonna become big Allie," Her mother continues, stating the obvious as she adds a plate full of roasted potatoes on the table, "but there is a lot of space in the backyard for him to play. And I'm already bringing him along for walks everyday. He loves playing in the snow by the way."
"Fine!" Alex throws her hands up in surrender, "Just making sure you know how many attention a dog this big is going to require, but it seems you have already everything under control." Then her voice softens as does the smile on her lips. "I'm happy you got someone here, he certainly seems a funny fellow."
"Well, thank you honey. And now that I have your approval," She continues with a lightly teasing tone, "Do you want to discuss anything else or would you prefer to eat instead? I don't wanna appear like a bad host and keep your girlfriend waiting."
You don't know what it is. If it is the wink that Diane throws playfully at you, or the fact that she has just openly called you as Alex's "girlfriend". All you know is that you can feel your entire face heat up a little and that warmth spreading further down into your chest when you glance at Alex and see her giving you an uncharacteristically but absolutely adorable, rare shy smile.
"Alright," Alex says at last after a minute, "Let's eat then. I'm starving."
"Good. Go wash your hands first." Diane reminds you, just like a mother would do with her children before leading you to the bathroom.
Reluctantly, you place Banjo down, but when you return not even a minute later, taking a seat on the table and watching Alex take one right across from you, the small drop of disappointment that you feel at the idea of not having her at your side is easily washed away and replaced by a surge of warmth and comfort when you feel your lover's feet seeking yours under the table.
A silent "I'm here" a searching "you still okay about this, Pipes?" in those bright, softly smiling, very reassuring emerald eyes that you can only answer with a secure nod and a full sincere smile. The nervousness of just a few minutes ago, is nowhere in sight.
"So Piper," Diane brings you back from the silent conversation with Alex who tilts her head down and bites her lip to contain a smirk. Your attention shifting to the curious, slightly amused smile on her mom's face that makes you think she must have noticed the brief exchange as she hands you a plate with a little of everything, "Alex didn't go into many details about it and I was hoping to have your version too. So..." She drags the word suggestively, glancing between you and her daughter with a hint of very familiar sparkling mischief and unmistakable, barely veiled joy that makes you flush lightly even before she finishes asking the question. "Tell me... how did you meet?"
There, like I said just a very light short intro. More interraction and much deeper emotions for these characters to come... If you are interested, of course :)