Washington DC
1997
It's been a couple months since Monica started high school. Despite initial grievances and difficulties, the young girl has adjusted quite nicely to her new private school.
She found a close group of friends to hang out with and confide in. She just aced her first test and was building a good rapport with her teachers. And the other kids in school aren't as cold to her anymore. At the very least, they grew to tolerate the "commoner".
All things considered, Monica was doing as well as she can be with her new surroundings.
What had Maria and Carol concerned this week, however, was a simpler, if potentially life-changing, matter.
It was 3:30 pm on a Wednesday in the Ramvers household. Monica had just got out of school and was currently out with her friends to hang out in the arcade or perhaps the mall this time. Her absence gave her parents a good enough window of time to calm their nerves.
To prepare both Carol and Maria before letting their daughter know about the love they have for one another.
To that end, Maria and Carol were currently watching TV in the living room. Carol was laying about on the couch watching an X-Files rerun with a bag of popcorn on her lap, and Maria was sitting right next to her girlfriend with her head on her shoulder.
On the TV, the female lead of the show, Scully, has just forced an alien bounty hunter, who was currently disguised as the show's male lead, to the wall. The alien then smacked Scully to the other side of the room with his superhuman strength before holding her up by the neck with one hand.
As the shapeshifter began interrogating Scully for information, Carol turned to her girlfriend and commented, "I would've just shot him then and there. I mean, she knows that he's a fake so why play around?"
"Aren't you best friends with a Skrull?", Maria remarked.
"Not all shapeshifters are Skrulls," Carol explained, "And not all shapeshifters are good people. Take the Dire Wraiths, for instance."
"Dire Wraiths?", Maria said as she looked at her girlfriend with an eyebrow raised, "You're making that up. An alien species with a name that metal couldn't possibly exist!"
"But it's true!", Carol objected playfully, "I have the burn marks to prove it. The damn Wraiths have powerful space magic. They had this fire spell that would've burnt me to a crisp if it wasn't for my powers."
A smile crept up Maria's face. "I sense a story behind that."
Carol munched on a handful of popcorn and continued, "A few months back, Talos sent me to investigate some disappearances in one of the newer colonies. That's where I found a coven of Dire Wraiths who were disguising themselves as colonists to kidnap children and use them as blood sacrifices to summon a demon."
"A demon?"
"Swear to god, that's what happened. Of course, I stopped them, but let me tell you, if you think trying to spot a shapeshifter is hard, try finding a shapeshifter in a planet full of other shapeshifters. That was the hardest part of that mission."
Maria hummed amused, "I can see how trippy that could get."
"Of course, I wouldn't have been able to find the Dire Wraiths if it wasn't for Rom."
"Who?"
"Rom, he's a Spaceknight. Basically a cyborg warrior from the planet Galador."
Maria chuckled dismissively. "Dire Wraiths? Demon summoning? Cyborg knights from outer space? Now I know you must be making this up."
"Yes, because shapeshifting Martians, blue space fascists, and human/Kree hybrids with superpowers are way more believable," Carol snarked.
Maria shrugged. "Okay, okay. You have a point there."
"Thank you."
Maria then picked up the remote and turned off the TV. She turned to Carol and asked, "So how did this D&D session play out? Maybe we can pitch it to the Syfy network, make bank, and retire in a mansion in Hollywood."
"Oooh, I think Fury and Talos would cry if they lost their two biggest assets like that," Carol teased back before explaining, "Okay, let's see. The madness truly began a day after I arrived. What looked to be a small meteor crashed into the countryside, so I took a look out of curiosity. It was actually Rom on his mission to stop the Dire Wraiths from conquering the universe only I didn't know that at first. When I first met him, I thought he was disintegrating two innocent colonists. We fought for a bit, but then his girlfriend showed up and explained the situation to me..."
"... and then we sent the space witch to Hell, I cut off the demon's head with Rom's girlfriend's sword, and we resurrected the baby that the Dire Wraiths sacrificed with the power of love or some crap like that. Long story short, never trust mimes. Chances are they are agents of Hell hidden in plain sight."
Maria, enthralled by the tale of fantastic adventure and heroism that her girlfriend had just spun, looked at her perplexed as she said, "Seriously? That's what you got out of all that?"
Carol shrugged. "If you were there, it would be obvious. If we had only suspected that mime sooner, Terminator wouldn't had to give up his life to save the baby..."
"No offense to space Schwarzenegger's big sacrifice, but I think you're just projecting. I mean, you hated mimes for as long as I've known you. When we went to that circus in Vegas, you punched a mime unconscious just for waving at you."
"They are a menace to all mankind! They live only spread fear and lies!"
"Whatever you say, ace," Maria teased affectionately before grabbing a handful of popcorn and laying down on Carol's lap. She smiled up at her as she munched on the popcorn. She said, "Our lives have become weird, hasn't it Carol?"
She smiled back. "Yeah. I'm basically female Luke Skywalker now, and you're a respected pilot for the most important spy agency on Earth. Not too shabby for a couple of Air Force graduates who 'wouldn't go anywhere in life'."
"I'm just glad we got to prove the doubters wrong," Maria said with the utmost sincerity, "And I'm glad we got to do that together. Well, when it counted."
"I'm glad too," Carol said before putting on her serious face, "You know, we don't have to tell Monica about us today. We have all the time in the world to loop her in."
"I know," Maria said before lifting her head up to place a quick kiss on Carol's lips. Caressing her cheek lovingly, Maria said, "But I never liked having to hide what we have together. I understand why, of course. If people knew, it would make our lives... difficult, especially for Monica. That being said, I really don't like keeping this from our daughter. She deserves to know that she has two mothers who would love her no matter what, and... I just don't want Monica to be another person we have to hide from. I know it's selfish..."
Carol interrupted Maria with brief peck on her lips. "It's not selfish, Maria. I get it. I don't want to hide from Monica, either. But... I don't know."
Carol looked away. Maria could sense the insecurity coming off her girlfriend, so she sat back up and leaned next to her intimately. "I'm guessing you have more problems with coming out to Monica than I do."
Carol sighed. "I... never had the best luck with people knowing about my sexuality. When Joseph found out, he hit me, and he always reminded how wrong it was to like girls the way I do. He outed the girl I kissed to the town. Avril was disowned by her parents and had to move away to New York. And when the Kree found out, I had to spend an entire month in a 'reeducation camp'," Carol tightened her fists and shuddered when she thought about the torture she went through there, "Bad things happen when people find out my secret. I... can't help but worry if it would be the same when we tell Monica about us."
Maria looked at her girlfriend with pity and told her, "Oh Carol... I'm sorry. I didn't know how bad things got for you. My parents helped me come to terms with my sexuality early. It wasn't always easy, but I never had to go through what you did. Did you at least have someone on your corner?"
"Just ma, my brothers... and you," Carol said looking at Maria with a smile.
Maria blushed. "Listen, when I said that I want to come out to Monica, I didn't think about what you are feeling. If this makes you uncomfortable, we can put this off for as long as you like."
Carol then moved her hand to clasped Maria's. "Nah, it's okay. I know these feelings are just paranoia. I should trust Monica to be open-minded and understanding like we raised her. Besides, unlike those other times, I have you. As long as you're with me, I know that we can weather whatever comes our way. And I have faith that Monica feels the same way, and I know she can handle it."
Mari smiled as wide as she could as she gripped Carol's hand even tighter. "Whatever comes our way, let's face them together."
A warm feeling burned inside Carol's heart as she moved in to kiss her beloved. Once they separated, Carol responded, "Together."
It was then that the two heard the locks of their front door being undone before an audible creak sounded out. Monica is now home.
Carol let go of Maria as she told her, "It's time."
Maria nodded back as she followed Carol to the front door. There, they saw Monica removing her shoes and placing them inside the designated shoe closet. She shut the door to the closet before turning around to see her parents approaching her.
With a surprised look, Monica awkwardly said, "Hey."
"Hey," Carol said back just as awkwardly. Clearing her throat, she told her shakily, "Listen, Monica. We need to talk to you about something. Something important."
Monica sighed. "I have something I have to say too."
Maria raised her brow. "You do?"
Monica shifted around nervously. "I mean, you can talk first. What I have to say can wait. I'm sure whatever you want to talk is more important."
Maria looked at Carol wanting to follow her lead on the matter. Carol said, "Nonsense Monica. Whatever you have to say will always be important to us. You can go first."
Monica flashed a weak smile. "Thanks Auntie Carol. Um... maybe we should sit down for this."
Monica led Carol and Maria to the living room. The adults took their seat on the couch while Monica sat across from them on the coffee table.
Monica took a deep breath, worrying her parents slightly. "Mom, Auntie Carol... what I'm about to say might be... difficult to hear. Maybe it will affect how you see me. Maybe not. I don't know. But you guys deserve to know the truth."
Maria moved her hand to hold Monica's. "Whatever you have to say, know that we'll love you no matter what."
Carol chimed in, "We'll always have your back, Lieutenant Trouble."
Monica blushed. "Thanks...", she then took a deep breath and steeled herself, "A month ago, I met this girl. She just moved here from New York. She was rich and spoiled rotten, but she was also very sweet and her sense of style is amazing! We got along almost immediately and she's been hanging out with us ever since."
Carol's face lit up amused. "That's great! It's always good to see you making new friends."
Maria looked at her more confused. "Why is this the first time I'm hearing about her? Baby, you never kept these things from me."
Monica resumed her nervous shifting. "That's because... I was going to say that it's because she was very busy between school and her part-time gig as a stage magician, but... that wouldn't be the entire truth."
"What do you mean?", Carol asked.
Monica stopped shaking as she looked up to her parents and said to them with steely resolve, "Wait here, please."
Carol and Maria stared at Monica in confusion as they watched her walk out of the living room and approach the front door.
She opened the door and called to someone outside. "You can come in now."
A few seconds later, another girl came inside the house wearing the same uniform as Monica. The other teen was white with slightly tanned skin. She had a long and luscious mane of neatly kept hair on her head, which was dyed a brilliant shade of purple. Her eyes were bright violet and radiated a stunning level of confidence out of them, which was further drawn out by the artistically done make-up on her face. For a 16 year old, this new girl was pinnacle of class and beauty for her age.
However, the girl whined, "Finally! The damp outdoors was not doing any favors to my eye shadow, and I think my blush was starting to melt away. Monica, my dear, how does my hair look? Does it still have the right amount curve?"
Monica smiled warmly at her friend. "You look fine. As always."
The girl smiled back. "You... also look fine. In your own way."
Monica rolled her eyes. "Alright, Miss New York, come along."
The teen looked at her a little apprehensively. "Are sure you wanna go through with this?"
Monica looked into her eyes with the utmost sincerity. "I've never been more sure of anything else in my life."
The girl nodded as she followed Monica back to the living room. She sat next to Monica on the coffee table as she rejoined her parents.
Monica said, "Mom, Auntie Carol... this is Zatanna Zatara."
"Zee for short," Zatanna said with a charming smile and a wink.
"And...", Monica then moved her hand to hold Zatanna's, who was clasping it tightly, "She's my girlfriend."
Zatanna was lost in Monica's eyes for a moment before noticing the stunned reactions from both Carol and Maria. With a nervous laugh, she muttered, "Surprise?"
The four were caught in an uncomfortable silence for more than one moment.
Monica nearly choked from the tension as she looked down nervously and said, "Are you... are you guys mad at me?"
Carol moved closer to Monica. She smiled, showing the immense amount of pride she had in her eyes before moving in to wrap her stepdaughter in a big hug. "I could never get mad at you for being brave enough to discover yourself. You never have to afraid of being yourself around us. I promise."
"So... you're okay with me being... that I'm dating another girl?", Monica said almost not believing what she heard.
Carol pulled away from her and said, "Of course, I am. After all, I feel the same way for your mother."
Out of all the scenarios Monica thought about in her head, this revelation wasn't in any one of them. Not even when she dreamed about this encounter last night. She stuttered, "Come... come again?"
Zee chuckled in amusement. "I think your folks just came out of the closet in front of us."
Maria explained, "That was what we wanted to tell you. Your Auntie Carol and I have been together for a long time. We got together while I was pregnant with you in fact."
"So you guys are basically married?", Monica asked.
Carol gave Maria a goofy grin as she said, "It feels like that, yeah. I would've married her by now if it wasn't for... well, a lot of things."
"Not that it matters," Maria chimed in, "We love each other. Sure, I would've loved a wedding, but as long as we have each other..."
"So wait, if you and Auntie Carol are practically married, does that make her my second mom?"
Maria smirked. "That's what I've been telling Carol ever since we started dating."
Carol coughed nervously. "But you don't have to see it that way if you don't want to. I can still just be your Auntie..."
It was Maria's turn to hug Carol as she wrapped her arms around her sides in a warm embrace. "I've always thought of you like that... Mom."
Carol blushed as hard as inhumanly possible as her heart skipped a beat at the moment. She felt her eyes beginning to water as she hugged Monica back. "We really did get the best kid."
"And I got the best moms," Monica said as warmly.
Zatanna walked over and sat next to Maria as she smiled at the sight of her girlfriend being this happy. She said to Maria, "Ain't that sweet."
"Yeah... if you'll excuse me," Maria then moved in to hug the two people she loved more than anything else in the world.
The entire scene of the family hugging it out was as sweet as candy. From a distance, Zatanna could see how much the three loved each other. They may not be a conventional family, but the bond the three share with each other is strong and real. In the end, that's all that mattered.
Unfortunately, this had the side-effect of putting the newcomer in an awkward position as the third (or fourth?) wheel.
"I was hoping to hold my girlfriend after the whole 'heartwarming acceptance' conversation," Zatanna spoke up.
Carol looked at her and said, "Then come on in, Zee. We got room."
Zatanna smiled as she and Monica gazed lovingly at each other. "Alright, but watch the hair, okay?", she said before joining the group hug.
The four hugged for another minute before finally separating.
"That was nice," Carol hummed casually.
"So what do we do now?", Monica asked.
"Movie night?", Maria suggested.
Zatanna jumped out of her seat enthusiastically. "That's a wonderful idea! We can have popcorn and watch a delightful arthouse movie! Now all we need is some atmosphere. I'm thinking we dim the lights, set up the doilies over the coffee table, maybe some glitter for the decorations?"
Carol spoke up, "I appreciate the enthusiasm, Zee, but we're short on most of those things. We only have romantic comedies and action movies from the 80s, and our lights only have one mode. Sorry."
Zatanna shrugged. "Leave that part to me, Ms. Danvers."
A wand then suddenly materialized in Zatanna's fingers in a wave of sparks. She waved the wand in the air and chanted, "Ytrap thgin, eivom thgin! Nommus a thgin rednu eht srats!"
Suddenly, the entire living room transformed. The previously simple lights now had a brightness adjustment setting and was now cinematically dim. There were fancy doilies on the coffee table, which held a big bucket of popcorn and three cups of soda. There were glittery stars all over the shadows on the ceiling to simulate a starry night, and the TV was starting to play the DVD previews of a movie called, The Double Life of Veronique.
Zatanna, who now suddenly had a magician's top hat over her head, took a bow. "Thank you. Thank you. I'll be here all week!"
Maria and Carol looked around her new surroundings in amazement while Monica watched them with an amused smile on her face.
Maria said, "What just happened?"
Monica told her, "I forgot to mention that my girl knows how to do magic. Like real magic! She's a witch is what I'm saying."
Zatanna narrowed her eyes on Monica and said, "I prefer Mistress of Magic, my dear."
"Right. Sorry...", Monica said with an embarrassed blush.
While Maria was processing this sudden rush of information, Carol chuckled and said, "Neat! When you graduate, you should call a friend of mine in SHIELD, Nick Fury. He's looking for people like you, and I'll be willing to give you a recommendation."
"I appreciate the offer, Ms. Danvers, but I'm an artiste. Not a soldier," Zatanna answered before taking a seat next to her girlfriend, "Besides, I don't think I could ever top your record of 'most spaceships destroyed', and I don't like playing second best."
Carol looked at her stepdaughter and whispered to her, "She knows?"
"Don't worry Mom," Monica said as she held Zatanna's hand, "She's cool."
Zatanna moved in to kiss Monica on the cheek. "You know it."
Monica chuckled as Carol grinned amusingly. As the previews came to an end and the opening credits of the movie started, Maria finished processing the weirdness that she had just witnessed from the past couple of minutes.
She looked over to Carol and said, "Our lives have become very weird."
Carol smiled at her. "But that's just the way we like it, right?"
Maria smiled back and held her hand, "Right."
And... done!
I hope you liked how this fic turned out. I originally wanted this fic to end with Monica just saying "I know" when her parents said that they were in a relationship to humorous but also heartwarming effect. Instead, I thought this becoming a double coming out encounter with both Monica and her parents coming out to each other would be a better story. It helps make sure this fic is not just a copy of WhiteravenGreywolf's "If I stay" series as she did something similar to my original idea. That and it gave me the opportunity to incorporate one of my favorite superheroines, Zatanna, in this universe. I did say that I'll be incorporating some non-Marvel elements in this series after all.
Special Note- I based Zatanna's teenage personality and look off of the cartoon, DC Superhero Girls, which I am enjoying. I loved Zee's depiction in that show so I'm using it here. Don't worry though. When she reaches adulthood, she'll be more mature and act more like her comics self.
Before we leave, I want to clarify Monica and Zatanna's sexualities in this universe. Here, Zatanna is a lesbian although she thought she was bisexual until young adulthood. In the future, Zee would have relationships with both John Constantine (which ended bitterly) and Dick Grayson (which ended more amicably). By the time she broke up with Dick, Zatanna realized her female relationships tended to last longer and be more meaningful than her male relationships, so it was then that she realized that she was lesbian and not bisexual.
Monica, on the other hand, is bisexual but she thought she was lesbian during this time of her life. However, she would come to realize her true sexuality a bit sooner than Zatanna when she... you know what. I'll keep that close to my chest for now. That might be a story for another day or at least plot beat. Maybe.
Also, Rom is an actual canon character in Marvel Comics. Well, he was actually a character from a toy line who was incorporated into the Marvel Universe through his own licensed comic in the 80s. If you want to know more, watch Linkara's "Rom the Spaceknight" retrospective on YouTube. It's amazing how much a licensed character (ie a character from another company that Marvel published comics for) affected the Marvel Universe as much as he did. It's sad that we'll probably never see Rom again in a Marvel product due to rights issues, but thankfully I don't have such restrictions. He might properly show up in this series if I find the right opportunity.
That's all for now, folks. Thanks for the read and all the support I've been getting for this series. Have a nice day!