A/N: It's been too long since I updated this one but since it's my birthday I figured I'd take a break from writing papers and do this instead. Enjoy!

Chapter Eleven

"Do you think she'll like me?" Bo asked as they walked down the hall toward Elizabeth Lewis' room.

Lauren thought it was adorable. They had spent the previous day at the hospital and when visiting hours were over they drove back to Lauren's childhood home. She had offered to cook her father dinner and figured it was a chance for Bo to see where she grew up. It was something she had asked about as soon as they had reached the city limits.

One thing that she had been surprised about was her father's attitude toward her. Now that her mother was awake he had asked her about college a couple times, how her apartment was and if she was keeping up with the maintenance on her car. He never did it in a condescending fashion either and started asking Bo all sorts of questions.

He had never taken that much of an interest in Lauren's personal life before and it shocked her, even though it was a welcome surprise. It was the first time her parents had ever started to quiz a girlfriend about their intentions toward their daughter.

"My dad likes you and I would imagine he would be a harder sell."

Bo stopped in the middle of the hall and grabbed Lauren's hand so she stopped, too. "What do you mean 'I imagine'? What happened the last time you had someone meet your parents?"

"You're the first, Bo."

"Not even in high school?"

Lauren shrugged. "I kind of dated but my parents never showed any interest in meeting any," she said. "It's kind of a small school and I had a girlfriend that went to another school nearby but they were still getting used to their gay daughter so I didn't push." She looked Bo over and noticed she was a little pale now. "You okay?"

"I've never experienced the whole parent interrogation thing," she admitted. "Kyle's parents knew me and there wasn't anyone else."

"Then you'll be fine," Lauren said and pulled Bo down the hall and to her mother's room. "I've already talked you up a little. Don't worry."

Bo didn't say anything else and Lauren didn't think there was anything else she could do to make her feel less anxious about the situation. She couldn't tell her it would be fine or tell her what kinds of questions she would get asked, though her father had already asked plenty. All of them were small questions though, about her job and where she lived since she wasn't going to college. It felt like the big questions were going to come from her mother.

When they entered the room Lauren saw that the TV was on and her mother was watching some sort of court show. She had never known her mother to watch anything like that but then again, she was normally working. Lauren figured she was probably starting to get a little stir crazy since she always wanted to be doing something. Sitting still wasn't something she ever mastered and Lauren took after her.

"Hi, Mom," Lauren said as she walked in, pulling Bo in behind her.

"Hi, honey," she greeted as she put the TV on mute and turned to look at the pair. "The shows they have on during the day are simply ridiculous. Why would I let some woman berate me on TV just to get a couple hundred dollars from someone who'll probably never pay it?"

"Everyone wants to be famous," Lauren said by way of an explanation. "Mom, this is Bo Dennis. Bo, this is my mother, Elizabeth Lewis."

"Nice to meet you, Mrs. Lewis."

"It's nice to finally meet someone who makes Lauren happy," she said. "Is Bo short for something?"

"Ysabeau but the only person who calls me that is my grandpa."

"It's a beautiful name." Her mother turned more to them as they sat down in two chairs that were sitting by the bed. "I wished we could have met under better circumstances."

"Me, too, Mrs. Lewis."

"Please, call me Elizabeth," she said. "John has told me a little about you but I like to hear things for myself. Tell me about yourself and how you met Lauren."

Bo looked to Lauren, who only smiled and nodded, before turning to Lauren's mother. "I'm sure Lauren's dad told you I don't go to college. I'm a personal assistant for a financial planner and I live in an apartment not too far away with my best friend, Kenzi. My grandfather owns a bar, the Dal, and I help there when he needs it. That was my first job."

"And how did you and Lauren meet? I know my daughter enough to know she doesn't get out much when she's focused on a class."

Bo laughed quietly. "I know that now. Kenzi and I crash college parties every once and a while and Lauren's friends happened to drag her to one. I was drawn to her the moment I saw her and I haven't been to one of those parties since. There wasn't a need to."

Lauren watched her mother nod, as if processing the information. She really hoped she didn't ask for more details because she wasn't sure if Bo would mention they hooked up that night and that it was supposed to be a one-night stand. Thankfully, she moved past that.

"And what about your family?"

"It's just me and my grandpa, Trick. Well, Fitzpatrick but no one calls him that. My mom died when I was young and my dad's not in the picture."

Lauren kept looking at her mother and she knew that Jack had told her about his little search into Bo's background. They had talked about it the night before and she had had to assure her girlfriend that her parents wouldn't care about what happened with Bo's dad. What they really cared about seemed to be how she was with their daughter.

"Bo, Jack said some things to me yesterday about your father and that you were trying to hide things from us."

Bo's body immediately went stiff and Lauren placed a hand on her back in an attempt to get her to relax. "Mom, Bo doesn't have a relationship with her father and none of that matters to me. I don't care if he has money or if I meet him. He's not part of Bo's life."

"Honey, let Bo speak."

"He's not part of my life," Bo said quietly, looking toward the ground before looking back at Lauren's mother. "He stopped when he dropped me off at my grandfather's after my mom died. Buying expensive gifts doesn't make you a father."

"No, it doesn't," she agreed and reached out to take Bo's hand. "I'm sorry about your mother. My own died only a couple of months after I got married and we were married young. It hurts when you have a problem only your mother can help with and she's not there." When Bo only nodded silently she continued. "You know, this is new territory for us. After Lauren came out to us we didn't know how to react to everything. John had always been prepared to interrogate any boys that came over."

"Mom!"

"Honey, you knew we were uncomfortable at first." She smiled at both of them. "We had assumed that's why you never talked about dating or girls or really anything. For a second John thought that was part of the reason you decided to leave."

"It wasn't."

"I know that now, Lauren," she said. "we both do. And we're happy that you've found someone that will put up with your one track mind when it comes to being a doctor."

"I will," Bo put in. "We've been working on a system so that Lauren takes breaks."

"Ah, I see you've picked a good one," her mother said. "Does this mean you're going to stay for a few days?"

Lauren looked at Bo, who only gave her a shrug. "Well, I'm on break but Bo has a job and she's been missing work. I don't know how many days we can stay here."

"When do you get out of the hospital?" Bo asked. "Maybe we can stay a couple more days and then head back. My grandfather's been trying to put together a dinner with me and Lauren. He hasn't really met her yet either."

"My doctor hasn't said yet," she said, a slight frown on her face. "Even though I can still talk someone's ear off like nobody's business I'm having some movement issues. They might have me stay a few days."

"What movement issues?" Lauren asked the moment her mother stopped talking. In her nervousness of having her mother meet Bo she had forgotten to find out exactly what was happening medically with her. "Have you lost feeling anywhere?"

"Honey, stop worrying. The doctor said that I might need some physical therapy to teach my brain some things again," her mother said, smiling as she did. "I'll be fine. Besides, I worry about what your father is doing to the house right now. He fixes things that don't need fixing when he's nervous."

Lauren nodded though she made a note to ask the doctor later about what her mother needed to do to fully recover. She reached out and held her hand, the relief of finally having her family meet someone she was dating washing over her. Even though she wasn't expecting the worst, the thought it might happen terrified her.

"Well, if you're not released by the time we have to leave, maybe you and Mr. Lewis can visit Lauren. If she's busy with the lab or classes, I can show you around. I'm sure after my grandfather falls for Lauren he'll want to meet you."

She smiled. "I would love that and we are due for a visit, aren't we, Lauren?"

"Sure, Mom."

It turned out that Lauren's mother didn't get released by the time they had to drive home and Bo was a little sad about that. She would have loved to see both parents interacting with Lauren in their family home. She didn't have much experience with that and it would have been fun to see her girlfriend in that environment.

Lauren's brother hadn't given her much trouble after she'd met her mother, making her wonder if Elizabeth Lewis had said something to him. Bo figured he would still make snide comments on her family or her true intentions with Lauren but there had been none. There had only been silence as his girlfriend talked to them at the hospital or at dinner the night before they had had to leave to go home.

Even though it was a few days before Christmas and her boss was going out of town with his family until after the holiday, Bo still had to go into the office and get caught up. There were files to organized and research to be completed on her boss' meetings when he got back. He was a master at knowing exactly what needed to be done in order for his clients to be able to retire as early as possible but he was terrible at personal details.

She knew that Lauren wanted to get back to work, too, even if she wouldn't admit it. Her girlfriend had brought a couple books with her and admitted to Bo that she was studying for when she was back at college in January. She also said that she wanted to get in a couple shifts at the lab in order to earn a little extra money.

The drive was long but it still felt shorter than the drive to Lauren's hometown. Bo knew that was mostly due to nervousness and the fear that she would be meeting her girlfriend's family at a funeral instead of a happier occasion. Thankfully, that hadn't been the case but Bo knew that it could have easily been different.

Maybe that was why she had called Trick when Lauren was packing up her things in order to schedule a dinner for him to officially meet Lauren. She didn't want to waste any more time, especially since she could see herself with Lauren for the rest of her life. She did love her after all.

"So, are you going to go into the lab tomorrow?" Bo asked as they hit the city limits.

Lauren nodded. "I called and they have a backlog of results that I can enter. I was only one of two that volunteered to work during break and then I had to go home. There's plenty for me to do."

"But you're only working in the afternoon, right?"

"Yeah," Lauren said as she nodded again. "The building doesn't stay open after five during the break." She turned her head and raised an eyebrow at Bo, who tried not to look nervous. "Why?"

Bo let out a breath in an attempt to calm her nerves, not necessarily fearing that Lauren would say no but that she would panic about the meeting. She knew Lauren enough to know that she needed a plan and a day's noticed might not give her the time she needed to prepare.

"I called Trick when you were packing this morning and we set up a dinner for tomorrow night. I'd love to introduce him to my amazing girlfriend."

Lauren didn't speak for a second and Bo thought maybe she had sprung this on her too soon. In her mind though, Trick was harmless and he only wanted to see her happy. She had talked to him about Lauren already and what her intentions were toward her. She had told her that she loved her and that was the main reason he wanted to meet her. It was something he hadn't heard from her in a very long time.

"Uh, Lauren?"

"Sorry, just thinking."

Bo looked over at her as they neared her apartment. Kenzi had been driving Lauren's car to and from work so Lauren needed to pick up her car in order to go home and her best friend offered to order some food, too, before she left. Looking at Lauren now though, she thought dinner might not happen. "Do you not want to have dinner with Trick? 'Cause I figured that it was time, especially since I've met your family and Trick is the only family I have."

There was a small nod but Lauren didn't respond right away, which only caused nerves to creep into Bo's mind. She feared that maybe everything was starting to become a little too real a little too quickly for the other woman and that they might need to take a step back. After all, Bo meeting her parents was really a fluke that wouldn't have happen if her mother hadn't had a stroke.

They didn't talk the rest of the way to the apartment building and that made Bo nervous. She knew from experience that when Lauren stayed inside her own head she thought too much and that caused problems.

"Lauren, you have to tell me what you're thinking," Bo said as they got out of the car. "You make me nervous when I think too much."

"How do you know that I'm thinking too much?"

Bo opened the front door for Lauren then followed her inside. "Because you don't say anything then you get this look on your face like you have to solve the world's problems in the next five minutes or you've failed in some way." She let out a breath and smiled at her. "It's just dinner with my grandfather. He's harmless and he just wants to meet the woman who's been making me smile. That's all."

Lauren stopped when they reached to the front door of the apartment. The look on her face told Bo that she wasn't about to tell her she wouldn't go to dinner. What it did tell her was that she was starting to freak out. "What if he doesn't like me? What if he doesn't think I'm good enough? What if . . ."

"Lauren," Bo said quickly in order to stop her, "he is going to love you."

"You don't know that."

"Oh, he will," Kenzi said as the door quickly opened. She looked at both of them with an annoyed expression and waved them into the apartment. "It's very hard to hear your conversation from the other side of the door."

Bo laughed and walked in with Lauren, barely having time to set her bags down before getting a hug from her best friend. "Hello to you, too, Kenz."

"Hey, it's been super boring without you here," she said as she squeezed Bo hard before releasing her. She moved over to Lauren to give her a hug, too. "Same goes for you."

"Uh, thanks, Kenzi," Lauren said awkwardly and Bo couldn't keep the smile off her face as she watched Lauren attempt to find the right place to put her hands.

"Cool that your mom's okay and don't worry, I took good care of your car while you were gone. Only drove it to and from work." She smiled as she turned to look at Bo. "Hale drove me everywhere else."

Bo grinned as she shared a look with her best friend. "Did you finally go on a date?"

Kenzi tried to play it cool for a few seconds before jumping up and down excitedly. "Hells, yes! He took me out to a great restaurant then we went for a walk in the park a few blocks away." Her smile was so wide Bo thought she might hurt herself. "He is an amazing kisser!"

Bo put an arm around Lauren's waist as they laughed, happy for Kenzi new romantic life. "That's great, Kenz. When's the next date?"

"Well, he has to go on a trip to his parent's vacation house for Christmas but he'll be back in plenty of time for New Year's." She started to walk around excitedly. "We need to start making plans!"

"Calm down, we have plenty of time." Bo turned her head to Lauren. "Do you have to go right away or can you stay?"

The apologetic smile was all Bo needed to see to know that Lauren wouldn't be staying. "I really should get back to my apartment and unpack my bags. I wanted to get a little reading done and then prepare for the lab tomorrow."

Bo tried not to let the disappointment show but she knew that she wasn't very successful. Even though she knew that Lauren needed time to be on her own and do things in a certain order, it still hurt to be away from her. "Okay . . . do you want some company later?"

Lauren smiled the smile that melted Bo every time and made her want to coax her into the bedroom. Her girlfriend could be so sexy without even trying and it drove Bo wild. "You have to work in the morning. Why don't I meet you here after work so we can meet your grandfather for dinner?"

"So you'll go then?"

They shared a kiss that made Bo weak at the knees before Lauren pulled away. "I'll try not to be nervous."

"You will be amazing." Bo continued to smile as they parted. "Everything will go fine."

All Lauren could think about all day was the dinner Bo scheduled and it was slowly driving her crazy.

She knew that staying with Bo the previous night would have calmed her nerves a small amount but she hadn't been to her apartment in days. She needed to do simple things like laundry and some cleaning that she had neglected in her rush to see her mother. Those things, simple tasks that she did like clockwork, should have calmed her but they failed. She was much too on edge.

When she woke up after a restless night of sleep she texted Bo in order to find out if she needed to bring anything. The noncommittal answer of "if you want to" was not what she was looking for and she almost called Bo to tell her so. The problem was her girlfriend probably had a busy day playing catchup at the office and Lauren didn't want to snap at her. Bo had missed work to be with her after all and Lauren only loved her more for it. She couldn't be mad after that.

Since she only planned on going to the research lab in the afternoon, making the day more about organizing the backlog so she could catch up faster, she had the morning to bake something. It was bad manners to show up for dinner empty handed and she couldn't exactly bring a bottle of wine when the host owned a bar. Instead, Lauren pestered Bo until she told her that Trick liked pies so she spent the morning making an apple pie.

After an afternoon at the lab and a quick trip home to change and grab the pie, Lauren found herself waiting to be buzzed in to Bo's apartment building. She looked over the building and thought about the fact that Bo owned it. It was strange that Bo never acted like she had money or that she could have easily had a different life than the one she chose. It made her think about if she would have taken the same path.

The buzzing of the door snapped her out of the thought and she walked into the building and to Bo's apartment. The door was open when she got there and her girlfriend was standing in the doorway, a smile on her face as she looked her over.

"Hey, beautiful."

"Hi," Lauren answered quietly. "I baked."

Bo's smile morphed into a grin. "I see that."

She pulled her inside and shut the door behind them. They didn't stop until they entered the kitchen and Bo gently took the pie from her and set it on the counter before wrapping her arms around Lauren and giving her a gentle kiss. Lauren returned it easily and they stayed in the position for a minute, kissing softly, until they mutually pulled away.

"You're nervous, aren't you?"

Lauren nodded. "So much. I've never done the whole 'dinner with the family' either, you know."

"Trick isn't going to grill you about your intentions or anything," Bo assured her. "He'll probably ask you about your classes then give me a little lecture about how I should really be going, too, which I will ignore, and then we'll move on to lighter topics. He loves talking about mythology so if you get on that topic he'll talk your ear off."

"I think I can do that." Lauren smiled, trying to shake off her nerves. "When do we have to be there?"

Bo looked at the clock on the wall then back at her. "Probably now. I'm not sure what he'll making but he doesn't cook for others much anymore so it'll probably be something elaborate. All he asked me was if you were allergic to anything."

"I'm not so that's good."

Bo laughed. "Let's go."

Something felt off about the night and Bo couldn't quite place a finger on it. It wasn't that she was nervous about Trick meeting and actually talking with Lauren for the first time. No, it had nothing to do with that. She knew once they starting talking and got hooked on a topic all she would have to do was watch while they bonded.

It was something else entirely and it ate at her as she drove them to Trick's apartment above the bar. She thought that maybe something happened to her grandfather but they had just talked before Lauren got there. Bo wanted to warn him to be nice because Lauren was nervous and the last she wanted was to scare her off before Christmas. It would be the first time she spent the holiday with someone besides Kenzi or Trick and she wanted it to be perfect.

Bo smiled as the plans for the day filled her mind. Kenzi had bought a tree and decorated while they were with Lauren's family so the apartment had the holiday spirit and she had already bought all the presents. She even planned what they would eat.

"Bo, we're here," Lauren said and Bo realized that they had been parked for a minute. "Don't tell me you're nervous, too, because I don't think I can take that."

"No, I'm not nervous," Bo said, "because I know he's going to love you." She leaned over and lightly kissed her. "You're very lovable."

Lauren laughed and they parted to get out of the car. Bo guided her up the stairs as Lauren held the pie and once they got to the front door, she knocked gently. It only took a few seconds for Trick to answer and Bo raised an eyebrow at his expression. He looked as nervous as Lauren.

"Trick, you look like you ruined dinner," Bo joked. "Where are we getting takeout from?"

"Bo, keep an open mind about tonight."

"What does that mean?" Bo asked Trick let her and Lauren inside. She gave Lauren a reassuring smile before looking into the apartment but then her smile disappeared.

Martin Dennis stood in the middle of the living room, looking as business-like as ever in his neatly pressed suit. "Hello, Ysabeau."

A/N: I thought since Bo met Lauren's family it was time that there was a little drama on Bo's side. More to come and please let me know what you think by reviewing or on twitter: hayley128. Thanks! :)