Part Eighteen – Guess who's coming to dinner

Leaning out of my kitchen I see New Jersey standing in front of my dining room table, adjusting the forks, knives, and hot pads for the hundredth time before she starts to inspect the wine glasses, again. I shake my head as I call back to her, "NJ, relax."

"How can I? I'm meeting your mother as someone that isn't just a friend this time!" NJ calls back before I hear the glass she was inspecting get put back down and she adds, "And it's her launch day, maybe I should've gotten more than just flowers?"

I sigh and shake my head as I check on the shepherd's pie in the oven as I call back, "I think she'll appreciate the daffodils. I mean they are the national flower of Wales, and well as her favorites."

NJ lets out a huge sigh as she says, "I know that's what you told me, but I don't know, they don't seem that special."

I see that it's time to take the pie out of the oven and put the cheese on top to let that brown up, once that's done and it's back in the oven, I step out into the dining room and see NJ chewing on her right thumb as she looks at the table and adjusts a fork again. I shake my head and slip my arms around her waist and pull her close as I say to her, "Just relax."

She lets out a heavy sigh and leans her head back against my shoulder as she tells me, again, "I can't. She's already seen me climb into bed with you, and Iowa told me that she already had an idea that we were seeing each other before Christmas." She pauses to take a breath before adding, "Plus I have to follow in the foot steppes of Illustrious, Bismarck, and Vittorio Veneto!"

I rub her belly as I say, "You're not following in the footsteps of Bismarck and Vittorio. One was a fling that happened because I was angry and wanted to hurt Illustrious, and the other was a decision I shouldn't have made due to the headspace I was in."

NJ places her hands on mine as she sighs, "I know, I know. But the big one is Illustrious!"

"That was something I don't think anyone was happy with." I say as I think about how I was told who I would be forced to be with before I add, "And I don't mean how things ended, I mean how things started."

I sense NJ stiffen a little as she says, "You've never really talked to me about that, was it bad?"

Letting go of NJ so I can go and get the red wine off of the rack, looking at the label of it as I say to her, "Yeah, it was bad, really bad, Queen Elizabeth used flagship protocols on me, my mother and Illustrious to force everything she wanted."

NJ comes up behind me and slips her arms underneath mine and up to grip my shoulders as she says into my shoulder, "But that's nothing you have to worry about now, no one can use those against you now."

I nod as I say, "I know."

NJ lets go of me and takes a breath like she's about to say something just as I hear my door open and my mother calls out, "Mitchel?"

NJ lets go of me and takes a couple of steps back as she adjusts her top, making sure that it looked presentable. With a smirk and a shake of my head, I moved off to the entrance to greet my mother. I see her shaking off her umbrella by the open door before taking off her long overcoat and heels. When she sees me and smiles extending her arms out for a hug from me and she rubs my back as she says, "Oh I've missed you."

"Happy launch day, Mom." I say to her as I hold her tightly.

She leans out of the hug and smiles at me before looking around and asking, "Well, where is NJ?"

I blink a couple of times and ask, "How?"

"Really Mitchel, if you think I wouldn't already know you're shaking up with her after Christmas." My mother lightly scolds me as she hangs up her coat before adding, "But if you're going to tell us that she's pregnant, could you at least wait for Conqueror to be here?"

My mouth drops open and I hear a glass shatter from the dining room before NJ comes flying around the corner, bright red as she stammers out, "I'm not pregnant!"

My mother laughs and walks over to pull her into a hug as she says to her, "It wouldn't be the worst thing if you were."

I feel a hand clamp down on my shoulder a moment before I hear a welcomed Scottish accent, "Well, little brother, let's get a good look at her then."

Stepping to the side to let Conqueror into my quarters she takes off her coat and stands beside me as she says with a smirk, "She looks better awake at least."

Reaching over I pulled Conqueror into a hug as I say in a whisper, "She looks pretty good sleeping too."

Conqueror laughs and pats my back before asking, "Are you doing okay though? Is she treating you right?"

Leaning out of the hug I nod as I confirm, "Aye and that's for both questions."

Conqueror smiles at me before letting go and walking into my home more as she calls out, "Wales, let the girl breathe a little."

My mother lets go of NJ, who takes the moment to catch her breath before Conqueror pulls her into another hug. I see NJ's cheeks go red before she nods at Conqueror; clearly, something was said that wasn't meant for my ears there. When I lock eyes with NJ she gives me a reassuring smile before Conqueror links arms with her and pulls her towards the dining room, I was about to follow when the timer went from the oven.

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After dinner the four of us sat in the living room, NJ was on the couch beside me while my mother sat in the chair beside me, sipping her wine still while Conqueror was looking at trinkets I had on the wall. My mother reached over and touched my left hand as she said, "It was a lovely meal, Mitchel, thank you for that." She paused and looked to NJ as she added, "And thank you for the daffodils, I'm sure Mitchel told you they're my favorite."

NJ was about to say something when her mobile started to trill and she hung her head before getting up and saying, "Sorry, but that's my alarm telling me it's time to start heading home."

My mother got out of her chair and crossed over the room to hug NJ again as she said to her, "Next time we should book more time, there are a great many things I'd like to talk to you about, young lady." NJ nodded before zipping upstairs to grab her bag that she had left upstairs before going to the door as my mother said to me, "Don't just sit there, go wish her a safe trip home."

When I got to the door I see her putting on her boots, bending at her hips to do it, walking up behind her I wrap my arms around her waist and pull her tight against me. She laughs and stands upright before reaching up to stroke my cheek as she teased out, "Easy there Big Guy, we both know I won't make it home on time if we start this now."

With a sigh, I say to her, "I know, it just seems like we're getting less and less time."

She turns in my arms to face me, letting my hands rest on her stern as she smiles and says, "Nope, we just spend most of that time in bed lately."

Leaning my forehead against hers I whisper to her, "I'll miss you."

With a quick kiss before telling me, "I'll miss you too, but it's only for the weekdays, I'll be back up here next weekend."

"I know." I sigh out.

NJ slips out of my embrace to put on her jacket before stepping out into the rain as she calls out, "I'll call you when I get home!"

"You better!" I call back as she vanishes into the rain and dark.

Standing there with the door open I can't help but feel sad that she's gone already, I feel a hand on my shoulder and I look to my left to see Conqueror standing there as she says to me, "You really like her, it's all over your face."

I nod and slowly shut the door as I admit, "I'm just worried, if I keep going down this path, it's going to cross a point that I don't know how it'd work."

"And what point would that be, Mitchel?" My mother asks from the entrance to the living room, her wine in one hand as she took a sip.

"We're from two different nations, how would anything more," I pause looking for the right word for a moment then add, "permanent, work?"

"Ah." My mother says before crossing over to hug me and pushing my head down to her shoulder and rubbing my head with her free hand as she adds, "That would be tricky."

I feel Conqueror join in from behind me as she says, "I don't pretend to understand your heart, Mitchel, but I do know it's be scarred up a wee bit."

When the embrace ends my mother strokes my cheek and finishes her wine before saying, "I'm going to head up to bed, this wine seems to be getting to me, but I'll be happy to talk about this more in the morning my sweet boy."

"Good night, Mom." I say to her and pull her in for another hug before she heads upstairs.

Once she's gone, I hear noises coming from the kitchen and I go to see Conqueror starting to do dishes and I see a tear in her eye. Tilting my head to the side I ask, "What's wrong, Conqueror?"

She brushes the back of her right hand against her eyes as she says, "Nothing."

"Then why the tears?" I ask as I pick up a dishtowel.

Conqueror heaves a big sigh before admitting, "I'm a little jealous of you, but not at the same time. Does that make any sense?"

Shaking my head I admit, "Not really, no."

Conqueror leans her head against my shoulder as she rinses a plate and hands it to me before saying, "That you've got someone in your life, that seems to really care about you and isn't family."

"Ah," I say with a nod as I dry the dish and put it away before adding, "There's nothing saying you can't, either."

"Oh, I know. But my choices are a bit more complicated than yours." She says to me as she washes another dish.

"How so?" the question just slipped right out without me thinking about it.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see her brow knit together before she says, "I'm lonely with no real options. The options that are there are really complicated."

I slip an arm around her shoulders and rub her left arm as I say, "It can't be that bad."

"It's worse than you think." She says before taking a big sigh and telling me, "If I want to be with a human, the men there are all older and married, but they do have affairs with the kansen on base, it's an open secret it happens."

"Conqueror, that's… that's against the regs for them." I say to her.

"We all know it is, but the people who write the regs are the ones breaking them." She says, biting her lower lip before continuing, "Sometimes they don't ask our consent."

I felt a chill run down my spine as I ask, "Has anyone tried that with you?"

She shakes her head as she says, "I'm not desperate enough to be a mistress and like hell, I'd let anyone try that with me and live after."

With a nod and a soft squeeze, I say to her, "Glad to hear it."

After we finish washing the last dish she heads up to a spare room, leaving me to wonder what to do with this information. Taking out my mobile I send a text to Minotaur asking her to request a meeting with the Minister of Defense at her earliest convince, apparently, I had a few things to talk to her about.

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It surprised me when the office of the MoD got back saying that they could meet with me that week on Friday, apparently, she was going to be flying back from the Azur Lane Atlantic HQ with a stopover in Halifax anyway. I currently sat in my office, feeling nervous as I wasn't entirely sure how to try and talk about these subjects yet, I'm pulled from my thoughts as I hear a knock at my door before Minotaur pops her head in and says to me, "The MoD is here, should I show her in?"

Giving a nod as I stand up as a sign of respect, a moment later a woman in her early forties walks into my office, her blue skirt suit a bright contrast to her lightly tanned skin, her brown hair pulled back into a professional-looking bun. Once she was inside of the door, Minotaur closed the door and the MoD offers me a soft smile as she moves to sit on my couch and say, "So, what is it that you wanted to talk about?"

Looking down and to the side, as I rub the back of my right hand with my left and admit, "There are a couple of things, but I'm not entirely sure how to broach the subjects."

She nods and reaches behind her head to undo the bun as she says to me, "Then let's not talk as the MoD and the head of our kansen fleet, try talking to me like I'm just another human."

With a shake of my head, I admit, "One of the subjects is more personal in nature, but I'm smart enough to know that it would have international repercussions." Pausing and looking up as I add, "Well, both subjects have international repercussions, really."

She adjusts her top and sits more upright as she brings her knees and ankles together before she says to me, "These sound serious."

With a nod as I sit in a chair across from her and rest my elbows on my knees and rest my chin on my thumbs while my fingers arch and I say, "One is more serious than the other, but one is important for long term planning."

Her head tilts to the side before going over to her bag and taking out a datapad as she asks, "Are these military concerns?"

I shake my head a little as I say, "Nothing offensive or defensive related, but in a way, yes."

She puts down her datapad and leans forward a little to place a hand on my knee as she asks, "Then why don't we start with the less pressing of the two subjects."

With a sigh, I sit back and rub my left arm as I say to her, "That also happens to be the hardest one to talk about."

With another warm smile she says, "I'm here to help, we humans in the Monarchy are in partnership with the kansen in the fleet, so if it is affecting you we need to figure out what to do."

I give another nod before taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly and saying, "I'm sure this isn't something that usually comes up, but what are the rules in regards to kansen having an attraction to another kansen in service to another nation?"

She blinks at me a couple of times before leaning back and tilting her head to the side as she asks me, "This is about you and the New Jersey, correct?"

My cheeks got so hot and I nod up and down as I say to her, "Things have been progressing at a comfortable rate, but there is a limit to how far it can go, depending on what the rules are."

The MoD is quiet for a few minutes, even chewing on the end of her right thumb as she thinks about things for a moment before saying to me, "Well, we allow our kansen to live off base and with whoever they wish, but New Jersey isn't one of ours and is in service to the Eagle Union." She looks off to the side before running a hand through her hair and saying to me, "I'll set something up with the SecDev of the EU and see if we can figure something out; if that is something both you and the New Jersey would like us to do."

"I'll talk to NJ later and see if that is something she would like to do." I admit, feeling like a weight had been lifted off of my shoulders.

The MoD turns her attention fully on me and asks, "Now for the other, more pressing issue?"

My lips compress as I think rough out in my head what I'm going to say before I look out the window and say to her, "It has come to my attention of some questionable actions that are going on at the Azur Lane HQ in the Atlantic, actions that make me very angry."

Out of the corner of my eye, I see her stiffen up as she asks carefully, "What kind of actions? And is the source trustworthy?"

"Deplorable actions; reports of extramarital affairs with kansen under their command, as well as some nonconsensual relations between men and kansen, and the source is highly trustworthy." I say, doing my best to protect my sister.

I see her nostrils flare as she snorts, "Those are serious allegations, but I need a name to judge how trustworthy the source is."

"My sister, Conqueror, brought these to my attention last weekend." I say to her as I look at her out of the corner of my eyes.

The MoD shifts around a little as she says, "That would be a very creditable source to be sure."

With a sigh, I say, "I wanted to bring it up with you before I went to my next choice for this as I wanted to avoid creating problems for the government."

"How so?" she asked me as she picked up her datapad again.

"Taking it to His Majesty and my sister Dominion." I answer with a shrug.

She blinks at me a couple of times before running a hand through her hair as she says, "I can see how that would look, especially from a media perspective." Taking a moment to pause as she looked at something on her datapad before telling me, "I'll bring this up with the PM as soon as I get back to Ottawa and see if we can figure something out." She gets off the couch and starts to walk to my office door as she stops and looks at me over her shoulder and says, "As soon as I hear back from you and as soon as I hear back from the SecDev on his schedule I'll let you know the time table for the other thing."

Getting out of my chair I cross the room to open the door for her as I say, "Thank you, I should have something for you by Monday."

She nods and smirks before leaning in to whisper to me, "Or call me with the information tomorrow after you've talked with New Jersey later."

My cheeks get hot again and she winks as she says, "What? You didn't think I'd take notice she's up here almost every weekend? Maybe you should go down there once and a while."

"Yes, Ma'am." I respond, my cheeks still extremely hot as she leaves my office with a laugh.

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A/N: If you haven't seen it, I went back and changed the end of Chapter 10 a bit so that chapter 17 would make more sense. I hope you've been enjoying this ride so far, I know I have!