Disclaimer: I don't own anything affiliated with "That's So Raven."

Chapter 6

Victor and Tanya arrived home a little after five with a substantially large amount of groceries. Each parent carried a big stack in their hands, their faces covered by brown paper.

"Raven! Cory!" Tanya called, staggering into the kitchen with the bags. "Come help us!"

"Mom, I'm right here." Raven said, grabbing a teetering bag before it fell to the floor.

"Oh, thank yo--" Tanya said, but then caught sight of Chelsea standing behind Raven.

"Hi...Mrs. Baxter." Chelsea said uncomfortably.

Suddenly, Victor entered, his eyes also blocked by big bags. "A little help here!"

Chelsea ran forward and grabbed two of the bags and set them down on the counter. When Victor saw who helped him, he stopped moving.

"Hi." Chelsea said again, looking at Raven.

"Okay." Raven said, putting her bag on the counter. "Cory is upstairs in his room, playing a video game, so he's not going to help. And Chels and I were just finishing homework. So, is this going to continue to be an awkward moment, or do you need help with the groceries?"

Victor looked at Tanya and then at the table. It was covered in open notebooks and empty cans of soda. "Sorry." He mumbled, setting his bags down as well. "There's some more in the car."

"Okay then." Raven said. "Come on Chels, let's go get them."

"All right." Chelsea nodded, looking at both Tanya and Victor before leaving the room.

"Well, that went over smoothly." Tanya said, beginning to unpack the bags.

"It just took me by surprise."

"It took us by surprise Victor. But that can't happen. Before, we didn't mind if Chelsea was over."

"That was before we found out she was dating our daughter."

"They were just doing homework. They're smart girls. They weren't doing anything...with Cory in the house."

"I don't know if I can get used to this."

"We will Victor. We will." Tanya patted her husband on the back, rubbing it a little to comfort him. Victor took a deep breath and began to help with the bags.

Raven took the last bag out of the car and shut the trunk. Chelsea stood there with bags in each arm, worry plastered all over her face.

"It's okay Chelsea. We just caught them off guard."

"It was weird in there Rae. It never, ever used to be like that."

"Yeah well, before, our parents thought we were just best friends. It's gonna be weird."

"I don't like it. I don't like the way Mr. and Mrs. B look at me. It makes me feel bad."

"I'm sorry." Raven said, wanting to hug Chelsea very badly. "I'm sure when we go to your house, your parents will look at me just like that."

"Oh, that's makes me feel so much better."

Raven laughed a little and then sighed. "It'll get better Chels. I promise. This is just the beginning. Once they get used to it, things will turn back to normal."

"I hope so." Chelsea sighed as they went inside the house.

Once all of the food was unpacked and put away, Chelsea began to gather her books. "I'm gonna get going."

Raven looked at Tanya and Victor, her eyes widening as she quickly moved her head toward Chelsea. Tanya took the hint.

"Oh! Um...Chelsea, w-would you like to stay for dinner?"

Chelsea looked at Tanya and then Raven, smiling. "No thanks. I'm just gonna go."

Chelsea thought she saw Victor heave a sigh of relief, but she wasn't sure.

"I'll walk you out." Raven said, glaring at her parents.

Chelsea nodded. "Bye."

"Bye Chelsea. Thanks for your help." Tanya said as nicely as she could. Victor just nodded.

Once in the living room, Raven growled. "Oh, I can't believe them!"

"I thought you said that it was normal for them to feel this way."

"Yeah, but they don't have to be rude about it. I'm sorry for that back there. Are you okay?"

"Don't worry about it." Chelsea said, stepping up the small stairway to the door and turning. "I guess I can see where they're coming from."

Raven nodded, understanding. "I'll call you later, okay?"

"Yeah." Chelsea said, giving Raven a quick kiss on the lips.

"Bye." Raven said as she let Chelsea out.

She turned in a huff, stomping toward the kitchen. Victor and Tanya were sitting at the table.

"What was that?"

"We're sorry sweetie. We didn't mean to--" Tanya began, but Raven cut her off.

"Yeah well, Chelsea feels horrible now, thanks a lot."

"We said we were sorry." Victor stated firmly. "It's not easy for us Raven."

"I know. I know." Raven said, shuffling over to the table and sitting down by her mother. "But what do you want? Are you going to forbid Chelsea from ever coming over here? Huh? Or are you going to do what you said and accept it?"

Tanya sighed heavily and Victor rubbed his eyes with the palm of his hands. Raven crossed her arms and slouched back in the chair. She didn't know what she would do if they said they were having second thoughts about the whole thing.

Finally, Tanya answered. "We're going to...try to act more regular around Chelsea. Okay? That's all we can promise right now."

"That's a start Mom. A good start." Raven said, grabbing her mother's hand. Then, she looked at Victor. "Dad?"

"I'm working on it sweetie, okay?"

"Okay." There were a few moments of silence. "So, would it be too soon if I asked if I could go out with Chelsea on Saturday?"

Victor looked like his heart dropped into his stomach. Tanya swallowed the lump in her throat. Raven was being fair, as much as it was killing them. If it were a boy, a five day warning would have been more than enough time for them to cope. This shouldn't be any different, but it really, really was.

"We'll...think about it." Tanya managed to say and Raven nodded.

"All right." Raven said, standing up and gathering her books. "I'll be up in my room. Call me when dinner's ready."

"Okay." Tanya said as Raven left the room.

Raven shook her head as she traveled up to her room. Maybe Chelsea was right in not wanting to tell them. Raven thought it would make things easier. It seemed to do the exact opposite, as with most things in her life. She only hoped that it would all work out as time went by.