The Wonder of You
Story by: Phoenix710&Merigirl
Summary: In this chapter, Hunter and Colleen take the Sky Rover, and fly out to Wyoming, to pay a special Christmas visit to Hunter's mother, Starlight. Hunter introduces his mother to his lovely fiancée, and, after they swap stories, they head back to HQ, so that they can have Christmas Dinner, and then open their gifts with the rest of the team.
Disclaimer: Neither Merigirl nor I claim any rights whatsoever to Road Rovers, or any of the characters. Road Rovers, and all associated characters, are registered trademarks of Warner Bros.
Chapter Three: Meeting Starlight
At 11:30am, Hunter and Colleen walked up into the main hallway at Headquarters, and knocked on The Master's office. He said, "Come in." Hunter stepped in, with Colleen close behind him. Hunter said, "Merry Christmas, Master." He smiled, and said, "Well…Merry Christmas to you too, Hunter, and Colleen as well. What can I do for you?" Hunter said, "We'd like permission to take the Sky Rover out for a while, just Colleen and I. You see…we've decided to get married, and Exile's the only other one who knows. I thought I'd take a trip back home to visit my mom, and introduce her to Colleen." The Master said, "That's wonderful, Hunter! You and Colleen were definitely meant to be together. I could see the chemistry between you two from the earliest days of the team. The way you interacted with her at Headquarters, the way you'd most often pair up with her in the vehicles, and especially how both of you have always been fiercely protective of one another. I don't see any reason not to approve your trip. Have fun, and remember…be back by tonight at 6:30pm, since that's when we'll have Christmas Dinner, then open the presents." Hunter and Colleen both replied, "Thank you, Master!" Together, they took off, made a quick lunch to take with them, headed down to the hangar, and boarded the Sky Rover. Hunter fed fuel into the engines, and they were off seconds later.
Ninety minutes later, the Sky Rover made it over Wyoming, and Hunter piloted the jet towards the small farm he'd been born on. He found the same spot he'd landed in almost two years ago, when he'd gone to visit his mom for the first time. Colleen had been heartbroken at the time, thinking that he'd dumped her before she could even express how she felt for him, but now, they were both here to meet the lovely dog that had helped make Hunter the kind, sweet, loving dog that he was. Hunter climbed out first, and Colleen came with him, carrying the picnic basket with their lunches. Hunter had wrapped a roast beef sandwich for himself, and Colleen's lunch was a ham and cheese sandwich. They'd both brought bottles of water to drink, and Hunter had also brought along some roast beef for his mother. He said, "Let's go, my lovely angel. I told my mom all about you last time I saw her, so she should be ready to meet you." Colleen nodded, and together, they headed down the hill, towards the farm. Once they reached the bottom, Hunter spotted his mother as she came towards him and Colleen. She wagged her tail upon seeing Hunter again, but backed off a bit at the sight of Colleen, not quite sure who she was yet. Hunter said, "Mom, it's okay…this is Colleen, the lovely lady I told you about last time. Her and I are getting married soon, and I just wanted to bring her out here to meet you, and so that we could spend Christmas together…Oh, we also brought lunch. Colleen, this is my mom, Starlight." Colleen extended her hand outward, and Starlight sniffed her for a few seconds, before finally licking her hand, and barking happily. Colleen said, "Oh Huntie…she likes me! Your mum truly is a wonderful lady, and I can see where you got all of the things that make you the dog I love more than anything else in this world." Hunter said, "Well…your mom sure did a great job with you too, Colleen. You're everything I could ever have hoped for, both as my teammate, second-in-command, my best friend, and now, my fiancée. You're strong, cheerful, beautiful, loyal, brave, kind, and, above all else, you're always there for me, or the rest of the team, whenever we either need a quick joke to boost morale, a hard kick or punch to plow the road, or a wound cleaned up." Colleen replied, "Huntie, you're always there too, doing your part. Coming up with a quick plan in any situation, helping to keep morale up, and being the best leader, and the best friend, that any of us could ever ask for, and I'm proud to know that soon, you'll be my husband." The three of them sat down, and Hunter pulled the roast beef out of the basket, and fed it to his mother. He then poured some of the water from his bottle into her dish, and she gladly drank some of it, then barked in gratitude. She barked again, and Hunter translated for Colleen. Hunter said, "She wants to know when it was that you first realized that you loved me?" Colleen said, "Well…there were actually three. The first one was on our second mission, and we had to stop this lunatic named Storm, from using a stolen Navy satellite to blast the USA into ashpiles. Number two, was after he risked it all to save me from being cursed forever as a werewolf. He got the cure to me just in the nick of time, before the sun rose, since it'd been almost three days since I'd been infected. If he'd been even a minute later, I'd still be a werewolf, causing terror over in London, or somewhere else. Number three, was when Huntie came streakin' in at the last second, before our main enemy, Parvo, would've dunked me, and the others on the team, into lava. Huntie unleashed the crop dustin' smoke, and used that cover to free us, then we sent Parvo and his creepy assistant, Groomer, runnin' for the hills. Right after that, I was sure that Huntie was the only one I'd ever want to be with." Starlight barked happily, and Hunter said, "My mom says that she can't wait to call you her daughter, Colleen. This is great! All my dreams are coming true…I'm engaged to the most beautiful dog in the world, and my mother already thinks of her as her daughter!" Hunter pulled Starlight and Colleen into a hug, then said, "How about I set up this camera I brought, to snap a family photo of us?" Colleen replied, "Huntie…what a lovely idea!" Starlight wagged her tail, and barked out, "I'd be honored." With that said, Hunter prepped the camera, then dashed over to where Colleen was waiting with Starlight. He put one arm around Colleen's shoulders, and the other one on his mother's back. Colleen had one hand on top of Starlight's head, and the other one on Hunter's shoulder. The camera went off, and Hunter checked the image. He then showed it to Colleen, and she said, "Oh Huntie…it's lovely! I'm gonna put this in a frame, and put it in my room back home…and, of course, our room when we get married." Hunter smiled and kissed Colleen, long and deep. When they finally pulled apart for air, Hunter and Colleen, along with Starlight, went back and chatted with one another for a few more hours, until Hunter checked his watch. It read 4:00pm. Hunter said, "Colleen, we'd better head back, so we're not late for dinner, and the presents." Colleen nodded, and said, "Right. It was lovely meeting you, Starlight, and thank you for accepting me into the family. We'll see you at the wedding, in a couple months!" Hunter hugged his mom, and then he and Colleen headed back to the Sky Rover, and took off, headed for home. Starlight watched until the Sky Rover was out of sight, then went back onto the porch. She barked out, "That's my boy…and my new daughter!"