Three Months Later…
"This is your captain speaking; we are about twenty minutes to land, please sit down and fasten your seatbelts, and turn off any and all electronic devices until we hit the ground, thank you and have a nice day."
Sarah shut down her laptop and stared out the window. The airplane was just dipping below the clouds, and the familiar landscape of California started to roll into vision.
"Are we there?" Came a small voice from the window seat next to Sarah.
Sarah had brought Jade McCloud along on the trip. Fox McCloud, had entrusted Sarah with his daughter, and for the last three years Sarah had raised Jade as one of her own. So far, so good, but it was murder getting Jade on the plane without anyone realizing that Jade had fox ears, a foot-and-a-half long tail, and fur, and things would get ugly eventually when she gets old enough to go to school, but for now, everything would be okay.
"Yes. Do you remember Eric?" Sarah said, speaking slowly. Jade was so far proving to be a language prodigy, but it was still very easy to talk to fast or using too big words for her comprehension.
Jade frowned, brow furrowed in concentration. "No…"
Sarah was sure Eric remembered Jade. Eric had saved Jade from abduction from an assassin during their last journey to Jade's home dimension. The only motive the assassin apparently had was it was Jade and he came from a planet with a reputation for producing villainous sorts, but that alone would not be enough for a dangerous mission into the capital of the solar system.
"Anyway, you'll meet him soon when we land. He and his parents are meeting us and then they'll take us to their house."
After a short while, the airplane touched down. The captain's voice came through the speakers reminding them to enjoy their stay in California, and then Sarah took her carry-on luggage in one hand and Jade's hand in the other.
Right around then, Sarah had a really horrible thought… "Did Eric tell his family about this?" Either way, she was about to find out…
Sarah out of the plane and into the airport, standing on her tip toes, trying to get a glimpse of Eric.
"Do you see him?" Jade asked.
"Not yet… oh wait, there he is!" She replied, spotting Eric coming out of the food court.
Eric was either a young adult or an old teenager, depending on where you draw the line. He may have been abnormally tall for his age three years ago, standing at six feet, but, now seventeen, his age caught up with his size. He had always been a little scrawny, but their adventure put some bulk on his bones. It looked like Eric had been doing the very minimum to keep previously-mentioned bulk.
He caught Sarah's eye. He started on his way, and then a crowd of people cleared and he saw Jade. Sarah almost laughed, as he saw Eric's facial features go from happy, to confused, to analyzing, to realization, to confused again, then angry. He quickened his pace.
"Now, he may seem a little… cranky, but he's a good guy. Just don't repeat anything he says."
"Excuse me for being blunt, but why the FUCK did you bring Jade?"
"Calm down, Eric… People are staring!"
Eric took a few deep breaths. "Okay. Why did you bring Jade along? I mean, she's got really freaking bright-white fur. Fox ears. And a tail. And albeit the tail being damned cool looking, there's no way you're going to be able to just sneak Jade into a family reunion containing a bunch of my mom and dad's family, and NOT expect them to realize, that, hey, maybe she ain't from around here?"
"You know, maybe now would be a good time to let them know about what had happened. I don't want to sit in secluded security anymore, Eric, I want to be able to show Jade to the world and say, 'Hey, there's a place out there beyond what we as fallible human beings know."
Eric shook his head in disgust. "Sarah, Sarah, Sarah. Every time we decide to try and expand, we end up killing what we expand to. Humans en masse can only cause horrible, horrible problems for Lylat, and any other galaxies, or dimensions, or whatever the hell else the places might be called. Trust me on this one."
"Maybe not. The scary thing is, one of us is right. Maybe we should let your parents see Jade."
"Sarah, be reasonable. I never even so much as gave them Murasma's blade. What makes you think they'll handle seeing a real, live, fur? Look, we'll finish this up in the car, before someone sees through Jade's coat."
"I have to go to the bathroom…" Jade squeaked.
"Aw, god dammit… Fine! Go to the fucking bathroom! Sarah, look after her, will you? I'll be out here, keeping watch…" Eric grumbled.
Sarah took Jade into the restroom. It was the type with the T-junction, which then leads to the restrooms with no doors. Eric stood outside, his back to a wall, staring at the floor and muttering profanities, when a woman started walking towards the restroom Eric was standing by.
"Uh, I'm sorry miss, but you can't go in there right now. Some kid puked, a couple of people are cleaning up right now, and it's really a mess…" Eric said, thinking fast.
The woman had shoulder length blond hair that liked covering her eyes. She wore a red female business suit and had blue eyes to contrast. She stood tall on her high-heels, almost as tall as Eric, and had an arrogant pose to her stance.
"So?" She asked.
"It's really bad… I think somebody broke out in that one, uh, rash that's going around? The one that creates spots on your ass? That's bad…"
"Listen, kid. Let me through, and I'll make my own judgment on just how bad the situation is. I'm in a hurry, I'm trying to get to a friend's family reunion, and you're not going to keep me waiting…" She suddenly turned sweet, cooing, "Will you?"
She was leaning close to him now. Eric backed up out of his self-preservation instinct. He saw Sarah and Jade (in her coat) step from around the corner. Eric blurted, "Oh, looks like they got stuff done… and stuff… I won't keep you waiting furthur, ma'am, thank you for your time…" and with that, he took Sarah's hand and hurried the two away from the restroom, with Blondie looking at them in confusion.
"Took your sweet time, didn't you?" Eric scoffed.
"Well, come on… give her a break, okay?"
"Sure, sure. Let's go home, so I can wonder what the hell I'm going to do with Jade for two days."
"She's my responsibility, Eric, I'll look after her…" Sarah responded. "Don't lose sleep over it." Eric did not bother to reply.
The trip home was uneventful. Eric and Sarah barely spoke. Sarah seemed to have realized that bringing Jade would've brought complications with Eric's family. Eric's forehead was scrunched-up in thought, as if he couldn't possibly imagine a way out of the predicament that he found himself in.
The car drive home was uneventful. Eric let his anger subside enough to make small talk with Sarah, about things that have changed in the last three years and where they are now. It continued that way until ten minutes before Eric's house, when Eric said, "Okay. So what exactly are we going to do with Jade?"
"Well, we could just show her to your parents…" Sarah said sheepishly.
Eric sighed. He couldn't think of very much else that could be done. How do you hide a fur for a weekend? A three year old, no less, with an unending curiosity to go places? He deliberated for eight minutes, before finally mumbling, "So be it."
A few minutes later, Eric pulled the car up to his house, feelings of dread that could practically be felt by sitting next to him filling him up. Sarah, by contrast, was almost smiling, as to which Eric promptly chewed her out for lack of seriousness.
This is gonna SUCK! Eric thought, after he complained to Sarah to wipe the grin off her face.
Well, I hope this works out all right… Sarah wished.
Eric turned the doorknob and let him and Sarah in. "Hey, Mom? Dad? Uncle Phil? Sarah and I are home!"
"Eric?" Marie Shroud's voice came from upstairs. "You're here? Excellent. Most of the rest of the family is in the backyard. Sarah, are you comfortable? Do you want anything do drink? Do make yourself at home, and don't hesitate to help yourself to anything in the fridge…"
Jeez, mom, when you get done offering Sarah about fifty or sixty different things, she's got something to tell you… Eric thought to James, who promptly told him to hush.
"It's okay, Mrs. Shroud," Sarah said.
"Well, doesn't she have manners?" Marie commented. Eric was kneading his brow with his hands. God, it's like SMS… Soccer Mom Syndrome. Only cure: painful interruption!
"MOM! Relax… Sarah's a grown woman, she can take care of herself!" He added silently, for Christ's sake.
"I see…" Marie added, wry grin creeping over her face. "Have you developed a taste in older women?" She teased.
Eric lost his temper. "GRRRRAAAGH!" He shouted. He gave another feral growl. "Mom! Just… Ugh. Just, ugh. I'll be in the backyard…" And with that, he put the two bags Sarah brought by the foot of the stairs and walked from the hallway.
"I wouldn't worry about him too much, Sarah. He's been moody all week, but he won't tell me why…" Marie said. Sarah nodded knowledge. "Hey, who'd you bring, Sarah?" asked the middle-aged woman. "Eric only told me he was bringing one mouth to feed, even thought this one's perfectly okay…" She added, grinning slightly. "Why don't you let the darling take their coat off? It's warm out here in Las Angeles!"
"Well…" Sarah asked. This was the hard part. The part where you drop the bomb on them… Need to make it gentle…
"Do you believe in life beyond our Earth?"
"… What, dear?" Marie said, question taking her by surprise.
"Do you?"
"I don't buy much into the theory. A lawyer can't deal very much into shaky theories, only hard ones and the cold facts." She admitted. "Steve's into it a bit, though, and Eric spent a good part of the last three years trying to devise and submit a theory acknowledging and proving the existence of 'alternate dimensions.' Ordinarily, I would have thought it was childish speculation, but the research he's done would pass in a court of law, it's so sound. He still feels it's missing something, though…"
So Eric HAD been trying to explain a little bit of this to his parents. Wonder if this would just bowl them over…
"Well… what would you do if I had proof he's right?"
Marie faltered. Despite a kindhearted attitude outside of the courtroom, she was no fool. Her eyes fell on Jade. "Is that…"
Sarah took Jade's coat off. There, in full glory, was the two and a half-foot, bluish-white cub, with ears, fur, and a tail.
Before Marie could say something, Eric came in around the corner, eyes confused and with a familiar, "I saw what I'm not sure I should have saw…" look.
"The blond woman from the airport is here…"
