Disclaimer: I don't own Harvest Moon.
All Grown Up
"Okay, everybody! Food's ready!"
Cue slightly mad scrambling to table by husband and teenage daughter, and giggling from the older female as she placed three plates of spaghetti and a jug of grape juice down in front of them.
"Vaughn, you should really take the hat off at the table," Chelsea chided, pointing her fork at him.
Vaughn put one hand up to it, an almost scared look in his eyes. His wife snorted, Rose shaking her head at her parent's behaviour. They always had silly little tiffs over her dad's hat, with her mother usually having to let her side go.
"You'd sleep in that thing if I let you, huh?" Sighing, the brunette turned to her daughter. "What've you been up to today, honey?"
Rose's cheeks turned pink, and she glanced away pointedly under her mother's gaze. "Oh, um, y'know…stuff."
"Eh?" Chelsea grinned slyly, blue orbs alight with curiosity. "Stuff, hm? What kind of stuff?"
"Just stuff! Nothing important!" Rose insisted wildly, stabbing her fork into her food and taking a huge bite. "This is great, mama! You're such an excellent cook! You could rival Pierre!"
Recognising that the teen was attempting to distract her, the farmer turned her attention back to her husband, still grinning. "I told you she'd inherit my skills!"
"You think being bad at lying is a skill?" Vaughn asked, bemused. "I still remember that time you tried to steal my hat…"
"Oh, shush you." Sticking out her tongue, Chelsea returned to teasing Rose. "So c'mon, tell me what you've been doing!"
"It isn't important, ma."
"Yes it is. It's written all over you!"
"Mom, seriously, there's n-nothing to tell!"
"Please Rose," the brunette whined, inwardly cheering when it appeared the younger female was going to give up.
Dropping her cutlery, Rose brought an arm up to her mouth. "It's embarrassing!"
"So?" Her mother was studying her carefully. "We're your parents. No matter what it is, we won't stop loving you. You'll always be our baby, inside and out."
Giving a tentative glance up, Rose met Chelsea's smiling face and Vaughn's raised eyebrows, and exhaled, moving her arm so her speech was clear. Her cheeks reddened.
"Thanks mama, papa. Sorry for forgetting that." Breathing out once more, she gave her own little smile. "I…um…I had my first k-kiss today."
Chelsea's face froze, eye flitting to her husband. He was sitting calmly, though his hands were tightening into fists.
"Who with?" How could he keep his fury under reign like that?
"H-huh?"
"Who with?" The silver haired male repeated, ignoring his wife's heated whisper of, "Vaughn, quit it!"
"Oh, um…It was w-with…Ross," she admitted quietly, brown hair falling forwards to hide flushed cheeks.
It took two seconds for this information to sink into Vaughn's mind, and two more seconds for Chelsea to restrain him.
"Chels, let go."
"Hell no!"
"Chels, let me go, dammit!"
"What, and watch you kill an innocent boy? Vaughnie, darling, I refuse to see you get your sorry ass thrown into prison."
"I just want to talk to him."
"With fists involved, right?"
"Maybe."
"Violence is not the answer! And besides, Denny and Lanna are our friends. Murdering their teenage son is not nice, nor is it proper." She stopped, glaring at him. "What the hell is it with guys and the need to punch the 'punk'" - Chelsea pulled a face, her tone mocking -"who stole their sister's slash daughter's first kiss?"
"Daddy." Rose spoke up, causing Vaughn to stop struggling against his 'bonds'. "I know you're worried, and annoyed, and maybe even in shock, but trust me when I tell you that you don't need to be.
"Ross is a really great guy - you should know that already, after all, I've been friends with him since birth, practically. Isn't it natural for girl and boy best friends to progress to something…bigger?" Her eyes widened meaningfully, her mother taking over.
"Once upon a time, I had a best guy friend," Chelsea mused aloud, arms loosening around the male's frame. "He was difficult work - surly, quiet. He still is," she laughed. "He was pretty handsome too. Before I knew it, I'd fallen for him…I didn't know what to do. I though being in a relationship would kill the friendship I'd worked so hard for. Turns out I didn't have to over think it…Remember Vaughn?" She moved to stand next to her daughter.
Rose smiled serenely. "You and mama went down this road too, so I guess you could say it's in my blood. It's early days - very early days - but…I'd really like this to work out. So please, papa…I'm sure I can do it, but I want you to be happy for me."
He looked at her. She had Chelsea's hair, petite frame and terrible knack for being unable to lie, but she also possessed his slanting purple eyes, and his stubborn streak. He sighed, giving in.
"Just…be careful, alright?" Vaughn finally said gruffly, almost falling off his chair when the girl launched herself at him.
"I will, I promise," she breathed. "And thank you."
Later, when Rose had fallen asleep, Chelsea was curled up next to Vaughn on the sofa, watching-but-not-watching some late night TV show.
"You did good earlier. I'm proud," she whispered, an element of teasing present in her voice. "She was really happy."
"Hmph."
"I was being serious though…It reminds me of a certain brunette and a certain grumpy cowboy." Giggling quietly, Chelsea continued. "It sure was awful not knowing what to do. Good thing you took charge, or I'd probably still be wondering today."
"Wouldn't allow it," the male mumbled into her hair, glad she couldn't see his pink cheeks.
"Yeah…Before you gave up, you reminded me of Mark when I told him we'd kissed. Your expressions matched and everything," she informed him, twisting in his embrace. "He made such a commotion that Vanessa had to come and see if everything was okay."
"Never knew Mark had it in him."
"I knew you did. I was dreading this day…" The brunette tutted. "Rose is a good girl. She really looks up to you. So…don't do anything dumb…Or I will kill you," Chelsea finished elegantly.
Vaughn rolled his eyes, but mentally noted to leave Rose to it. After all, Chelsea could get scary, and in his line of work, he couldn't really afford to lose some limbs.
.
.
.
Or his life.
End
Third fic in three days annnnnd…There's still more to come. That's what the holidays do to you, folks. Sorry about that!
I don't believe you can get a TV in IoH, but for the sake of, let's pretend. ^_^''
Please review! (And expect three, possibly four more HM fics. Tee-hee.)