Jesse

It felt like the opening of an old Rom Com movie, walking with his girlfriend and her child to have dinner with his parents. His parents who he had told approximately nothing of Mel since they fell for each other over a month ago now. His parents who could be super intense when they wanted to be.

Jesse felt a bit bad. He'd kind of neglected his folks since their return from Seattle. Sure, he'd seen them heaps, he still technically lived with them after all, but they were like ships in the night. He had a lot on his mind and life was keeping him busy, but they were his Mom and Dad, so there was no real excuse.

He also felt bad for Mel. She had no idea what she was walking into and he worried that her thoughtful and reserved nature would clash with his loud, outspoken parents' particular idiosyncrasies. He was also concerned for his parents, Mel had a very low bullshit tolerance and as she was coming out of her shell, she was getting quite good at articulating it. His mum knew how to push buttons.

As he ran through a million different horrific scenarios in his mind, Mel just bobbed along beside him humming happily. It was kind of strange seeing her so nonplussed, in fact she seemed a little bit excited about the prospect. Weirder still was seeing her in a dress, a knee length, yellow summery looking thing, a far cry from the usual utilitarian vibe she seemed to go for. Baby Fern was as per the norm wrapped up in a front pack on Mels chest. The kid was growing fast, now just about two months old and becoming more and more aware of her surroundings as every day passed and she gained the ability to actually hold her own head up. She was also starting to smile which was exceptionally cute and he felt unreasonably smug about how easily he could elicit one from her.

"So… you seem nervous" Mel commented.

"I don't think you get how intense my folks can be"

"Hmmm. Told them much about me?"

"Not much, just that you're new and you've got a kid"

"Right, so all my most important character traits"

"It's weird talking to them about that sort of stuff okay. Fuck I haven't even told them your name"

Mel let out an uncharacteristically loud laugh, but rapidly clamped down on it. She couldn't stop herself from giggling quietly though.

"Okay, that was creepy"

She shoulder barged him playfully as they reached his home. Jesse let out a loud sigh and opened the front gate.

"Here we go…"

He opened the front door and entered first, taking off his shoes. Mel followed, dropping the little canvas nappy bag that had been slung over her shoulder and kicking off her sandals far from gracefully. She looked around the hall inquisitively, at the art and the photos adorning the walls.

"Is that baby Jesse?" She asked, pointing excitedly at a black and white photo in a small, worn looking wooden picture frame.

"Handsome right?"

"And you said my kid looked like a goblin…"

Jesse led her down the hall and opened the door into the kitchen where his mom was cooking. He tensed and cleared his throat as Mel followed him through. His mom, Robin, was a compact and classically beautiful Korean American woman in her late fifties. She had piercing brown eyes that could cleave someone in two with one derisive look. She wore her thick black hair in a very practical ponytail. Robin turned around, but before he could introduce her, Mel interrupted.

"Evening Mrs. Lim" She beamed.

"Doctor Jackson" His mom replied smiling "This is a surprise"

It didn't look like much of a surprise to Jesse.

"You've met?!"

"Of course we have, there's only two Doctors in town. I think the last time I saw Doctor Jackson was a few months ago though. Smear test wasn't it?" She winked at Mel

"Jesus mom" He objected as Mel snorted loudly.

"You can just call me Mel" She added, choking back laughter.

"And you can just call me Robin. And who's this?" She said looking at the small bundle wriggling Mel's chest"

"This is Fern"

"Isn't she gorgeous! How old now?"

"Nearly two months"

"Hope she's sleeping better than this one did" Robin said gesturing at Jesse "He was a pain in the butt!"

"Really? Would never have guessed" Mel laughed.

"Dinner will be about ten minutes, go sit down. Can Jesse get you anything to drink?"

"I'm good thanks"

They went and sat down in the lounge. Mel tried to avoid looking at him but couldn't contain her giggling. He was starting to find it kind of funny himself.

"Who are you and what have you done with my girlfriend?"

"Oh you have no idea how hard it was to keep a straight face" she said, unclipping the front pack and cradling Fern in her arms.

"Do you know my dad as well?"

"No, no, no. Just your mom"

"I thought you'd be freaking out by now"

"That what you think of me?" she said seriously

"No! It's just… You know what I mean"

"Jesse, I'm joking. I am nervous but I'm trying to make a good impression. Dina's a tough act to follow…"

"It's not a competition"

"Hmmm. Can you help me?" She asked gesturing to one of the straps on her dress. He leant over and unclipped it and she pulled that shoulder of her dress down to feed Fern. "I bet they like her though"

"They'll like you too"

"She's funny, lovely, beautiful…"

"Didn't think she was your type"

"You have no idea" Mel winked at him.

"We're gonna revisit that later" he laughed "but seriously, you're clever, kind and a bit of a babe yourself"

She laughed a particularly loud and fake sounding laugh as Jesse's dad entered the room. Adrian Lim was a wiry, handsome looking man in his early sixties. His hair, only just starting to grey, was close cropped and neatly trimmed. Jesse looked a lot like him.

He took one look at Mel breastfeeding and panickedly averted his gaze. Jesse groaned internally. His dad was kind of old fashioned and a bit of a manly man. He loved his guns and he loved hunting. What he didn't like was anything that went against his surprisingly delicate sensibilities.

"Hey dad. Um. This is Mel" Jesse gestured at Mel and then at the baby "and Fern"

"Good to meet you Mel" he replied, still stoically avoiding eye contact "so you're the doctor Robin was going on about?"

"Lovely to meet you Mr. Lim. Ummm yeah, that's me"

"Go to medical school?"

"I'm twenty two… so no…"

"But you're a Doctor?"

"Dad!" Jesse objected.

"Got Hemorrhoids Mr. Lim?" Mel asked.

"No" He replied defensively.

"Wouldn't be unusual, man of your age… if you did, I could recommend you eat more fibre or I could surgically remove them, a Hemorrhoidectomy, so yeah, I guess I'm a Doctor"

Jesse wanted to just sink into the couch. This was significantly worse than he thought it would be. His dad had ploughed straight into one of the things that Jesse knew pissed Mel off the most and, despite moments ago confessing to being nervous, she'd risen to the challenge. Adrian however just laughed.

"Heard you took Tommy Miller's arm off"

"Yeah and he'd probably be dead if she didn't" Jesse interjected angrily "you're being really rude dad"

"We're just having a conversation. Am I being rude?" Adrian asked Mel innocently.

"Not at all, I can get you a topical cream as well" She replied drily

"If I develop Hemorrhoids, I know where to go"

"Or if you need an arm taken off"

Dinner was hearty. Venison steaks and roasted vegetables, dripping in gravy. Jesse's dad had shot the deer earlier in the week and his mum had butchered it. They were high school sweethearts and had been together going on forty years now. Even the apocalypse couldn't tear them apart. The two of them were kind of a double act as well, Adrian was 'bad cop' and Robin was 'good cop'. Soon the interrogation began.

"So tell us a bit about yourself Mel. You from Seattle originally?" Jesse's dad asked.

"Um no, I was born in Oregon, my parents were from Portland"

"What did your parents do, before the plague?" His mum asked. Jesse groaned internally, he hoped they'd take note of the were and not press too much on that topic.

"They were Doctors, at least they were training to be when it happened, they were first year residents at the same hospital, that's how they met I think. What did you do before it all?"

"Ah, I see, medicine in the blood. I was a kindergarten teacher, looking after little sprouts like yours, older ones though. Adrian had a hardware store. We lived in Cañon city, Colorado. We were lucky to get out…"

"Dad was a doomsday prepper, they had a bunker and everything" Jesse interjected.

"Six months eating canned beans…" his mum sighed.

"Was more than just beans Robin! We had Spam as well!" Adrian added with faux indignation.

"We roamed for a bit, joined a settlement in Colorado for a time, much smaller than here, that's where we had Jesse. Then that all fell to pieces and we ended up here."

"How'd you end up in Seattle?" Jesse's dad now asked.

"My parents moved around as well, they went to Salt Lake city to join a community there that needed Doctors, they died just outside the city, but I got picked up by the people they were meant to meet… That's where I trained… Lived there for eight years until that fell apart and then I ended up in Seattle"

"Sounds like you've had a time…" Robin said with empathetic eyes.

"And then here? How did that happen?" Adrian interrupted "One minute they're all off to Seattle, chasing the bandits that got the other Miller brother, next they come back with you. Never quite understood it"

Mel, who had been doing so well up to this point, seemed unsure as to what to say. Jesse saw a hint of panic on her face as her eyes darted to him.

"We met Mel when we were looking for the people who killed Joel. She was alone. We invited her back to Jackson. It's not some weird conspiracy dad" Jesse answered for her.

"How'd you end up alone?"

"There was a lot of violence, everyone I knew was dead" Mel replied calmly, finding the edge of truth and avoiding the lie.

"Well you're in the right place now" Robin said beaming before shooting her husband a withering look. He pretended not to notice, but Jesse saw from his body language, the way he tensed his shoulders, that he'd taken the hint.

"What do you think of Jackson? He asked, steering the conversation away.

"It's different, but in a good way. I can't imagine any I'd rather be with her" She gestured to the omnipresent infant secured to her chest.

"I'm amazed she's able to sleep through so much" Robin commented, looking intently at the sleeping child

"Yeah… She can sleep pretty much anywhere, anytime, as long as she's on me" Mel laughed "So she kind of ends up in this front pack a lot more than I'd like. It's kind of exhausting, but it works I guess"

"Jesse was a mama's boy as well. They grow out of it though"

"Do they?" Adrian asked with a smirk, making heavy eye contact with Jesse, who pretended not to hear.

"It's good for their confidence. Feeling secure, knowing you're there" Robin went on, ignoring her husband.

"Hmmm I hope so. Guess Jesse didn't turn out too bad…"

"I'll have you know I've turned out perfectly. Physical and mental perfection" Jesse said, with a twinkle in his eye.

"You definitely got the confidence part honey"

"Not always well placed" His dad added.

Mel just smiled, seemingly unsure as to whether to join in his dad's ribbing of Jesse or defend him. She didn't get to do either as Fern woke, looked around bleary eyed, saw she was in a different place to where she fell asleep and immediately started crying at the top of her lungs.

"Dad! You made her cry"

"Shhh. Shhh. It's okay baby girl" Mel whispered softly, getting up from the table and rocking her side to side gently "Sorry" She said with a pained expression.

"You have nothing to apologise for. Would you like Aunty Robin to have a try?"

Mel looked like deer trapped in a spotlight. She was a devoted mother, fiercely protective and always tuned to her daughter's needs. Jesse knew she felt awful handing Fern off to anyone when she was distressed, even him. It was sweet really and was one of the many things that he loved about her.

With great effort, obvious to him but no necessarily his parents, she let her fears and guilt slide off her as she carefully unclipped the front pack and passed the squirming infant to his mom after gently kissing her on the forehead. Robin, clucky as ever, took her and immediately started shushing and rocking. Big brown eyes on an inquisitive little face looked up at her and then focussed on the chequered black and white pattern of Robin's blouse. The visual stimulus of high contrast patterns proved too much of a distraction for little Fern and she stopped crying.

"Typical" Mel said under her breath. Robin just smiled.

"That's always the way"

Jesse, seeing his opportunity to extract Mel from his parents for a quick break, laid his hand on her bare shoulder.

"Come on, I've got something to show you"

Mel clasped her hands in front of her and bit her lip. Handing Fern over to someone new while she was crying was one thing, but leaving her with a stranger, even if it was Jesse's mom was obviously giving her pause. Robin and Mel were similar in a lot of ways, they were both emotionally perceptive and kindhearted, so it was no surprise that she recognized Mel's reticence.

"Back to Mama darling?" She asked the little one, who was too enthralled by her blouse to react.

"No it's okay Mrs. Lim… If that's okay for you?"

"Of course, we'll come and find you if we get cranky again"

Jesse led her back out to the hall.

"You okay?" He whispered.

She just nodded unconvincingly.

"She'll be okay, mom's good with kids"

"Must be, you turned out okay" She said, smiling bravely and grabbing his hand.

"Come on, I want to show you my old room" Jesse pulled her up the stairs.

"Oh, straight to the bedroom, classy"

"Hah! No. Something tells me tonights not the night"

"Perceptive"

"Sorry my dad's a bit of a dick"

"He's not. Dina was right, he's just likes to see people squirm"

"Ah, Dina. It's all starting to make sense"

"Well you didn't really give me much to go on. Hope I didn't squirm too much"

"No, I think he got a little more than he bargained for. Hemorrhoids eh? Going to remember that one" He replied leading her into what was once his room, before his dad and him built the sleepout.

"You didn't think that was too mean?"

"Definitely not, anyway, welcome to my former fortress of solitude"

She looked around, at the small single bed, surrounded by shelves overflowing with comic books and a small desk with piles of paper and stationary.

"I've never seen you draw" She said, picking her way through a pile of drawings.

"Yeah, haven't in a while"

"They're really good, why'd you stop"

"I don't know really, just did. Life changes y'know?"

"Hmmm… Dina!" she exclaimed, pulling out a charcoal portrait of her.

"Uh yeah…"

"This is so cute. You're such a sap" She grinned.

"Not what I wanted to show you" He said, opening a draw in the desk and pulling out something small, wrapped in a lightly oiled cloth and handing it to Mel "This is for you"

She unwrapped it to reveal a folding knife, blade recessed into a rich redwood hilt. She carefully unfolded it revealing a dark grey blade, inlaid with an intricate swirling pattern.

"Dad makes knives. Has for years. It's a useful hobby I guess and he's really good at it. But I made this one… Ummm with his help"

"It's beautiful" She said, balancing it in her hand and peering closely at the etching "What's the pattern?"

"It's the way the blade is forged, lots of different grades of steel layered on top of each other and hammered together. It's called a Damascus blade. Pretty cool huh?"

"I'll try not to stab anyone with it" She said, wrapping him in a hug and then kissing softly on the lips. "Thank you"

They chilled for a while. Mel looked through his drawings and then his extensive and eclectic comic book collection. He'd been finding and trading for them for years, grabbing anything he could. He loved the different styles, the weird and wonderful stories, the escapism. He had his favorites though. He showed her the Miles Morales Spiderman comics, the Watchmen and Ghost in the Shell manga that he'd managed to acquire. There were gaps, but he didn't mind. She seemed a little sad for some reason when she saw the manga, but when he asked she just smiled and told him it just reminded her of an old friend. He quickly moved on to the movie collection, Mel sitting rapt as he pulled out disk after disk, running through his favorites. Always the list maker, she noted them down on a scrap of paper liberated from the old cluttered desk as he determined the proper viewing order.

When they went back downstairs Mel seemed a lot more relaxed, though she did retrieve her now sleeping kid pretty much immediately. Jesse could see that Mel had already made an impression on his mom, they were kindred spirits really and Mel seemed to like her as well. Like his mom, Mel had a sharp tongue when she felt like using it and as much he liked pressing buttons, Adrian seemed to enjoy extracting a sassy response even more.

They had a seemingly endless supply of embarrassing stories about their strong willed, confident boy. From breaking his leg jumping off the porch roof with homemade bat wings, convinced he'd be able to glide like Batman to his experiments with what he thought were magic mushrooms and the ensuing horrific diarrhea, they made him sound like a complete moron.

Despite all that, Jesse found himself enjoying himself. He was relieved that Mel and her parents were getting along after all the awkward scenarios he'd prepared himself for and thankful they hadn't pried any further into her past and her family, but then it was 2038, and everyone in the world must be adept at tiptoeing around each other's respective traumas by now.

Mel was right about Dina. His parents did adore her and always would. Like Mel, she had no family when she arrived in Jackson, so like a stray, the Lim's had adopted her. They had big hearts and seeing his mom with little Fern brought him a little unexpected relief from a burden he didn't really know he was carrying. It had been a couple of weeks since Dina's ultrasound, they were having a little boy. Everything was going well, he was a good size and growing quickly. He was going to be a dad and although they weren't together anymore, Dina was still part of the family. Jesse was learning a lot from Mel and Fern about what being a parent was all about, but he was still strictly an amateaur. His parents were pro's though and they'd be there in a shot if Dina, Ellie or him needed them. He felt a pang of guilt for being embarrassed of them.

"Jesse?"

It was Mel, he'd zoned out. His parents were looking at him knowingly.

"In his own little world" Robin droned.

"Sorry. What's up?"

"It's nearly nine o'clock. Think it's time I head home if that's okay?"

They bid his parents goodnight and Jesse once again walked Mel home, carrying the satchel bearing not one, but two soiled nappies. That kid's metabolism was impressive. It was a warm night and Mel was still pretty chirpy, so once she put Fern down in her bed, building the required barricade of pillows to stop her infant from rolling off the bed, they cuddled up on the couch in her lounge and debriefed.

"Your dad wants me to go back so he can show me all his guns"

"Oh no" he signed

"He seemed excited"

"Are you excited about seeing his guns?"

"I'm not not excited…"

"Well, you must have made a good impression"

"I like them. They're sweet… like you" She rested her head on his chest.

Jesse just smiled and laid a hand on her shoulder.

"You don't have to worry… About us, when the baby comes. We'll be fine"

"Mel, where do you think I'm going?"

She tensed and he realized a little bit of exasperation may have crept into his voice. He signed and squeezed her gently.

"Look… Yeah I'm a little stressed, about being a dad and all that. But it'll be fine"

"It will"

"But I'm not going to ditch you… I love you"

"Oh my darling!" Mel exclaimed dramatically, jerking upright before bursting into laughter.

"What's your problem?" He replied, going red.

"It's just kind of cheesy isn't it? The big scary L word?"

"Ummm is it? I thought it was kind of a big thing"

"Sorry, that wasn't meant to sound mean. I guess for me it's just a word and actions speak louder, which is why I know you do"

Mel was staring right into his soul now, something she was scarily good at. She'd started growing her currently frazzled looking hair out, so there was a bit more of it to frame the smile she was beaming him. She was cute, those big doe eyes, the little beauty spot on her chin and her rosy cheeks.

"Hope you know I love you too"

"Yeah" He smiled back "nice to hear it out loud though"

She leaned in and kissed and he reciprocated, running his hand down her back. She brought her hands behind his head and pressed her forehead into his.

"Um, should we have another go?" Mel whispered.

"And there I was saying tonight probably wasn't the night" he laughed. She just shrugged "only if you want to"

"Yeah… yeah!" she replied, as much to herself as to him, before kissing him as he fumbled with the straps on her dress.

With those undone she leaned back and slipped off her yellow dress as he disrobed in kind. She wrapped her freckled arms around him and pulled herself close. They held each other, skin against skin, feeling each other's warmth until Mel let go and lay back, hips elevated as she clumsily discarded her underwear within the rather compressed confines of the small couch.

She wrapped her legs around his waist, grabbed an arm and with surprising strength pulled him on top of her. Mel laughed as he lost his balance and flopped down on top of her in an ungainly fashion. He recovered quickly, softly kissing her on the lips and then neck as he moved his hand down her body. She bit her lip and flinched as his hand went further down and he hesitated, but she looked at him through soft brown eyes and just smiled.

The positioning was a bit awkward on the little couch, but they made it work. Jesse took it slow and gentle, a little concerned for her wellbeing, it being only a couple of months since she'd given birth. That seemed to suit Mel just fine, but as they eased into it, he found her to be a responsive lover.

It was good for both of them, connecting on yet another level, but he could see in her eyes and in her face afterwards that it had meant so much more to Mel, feeling loved in a way she possibly hadn't until she'd met him. He felt a pang of sadness at that. After everything she had lived through, it was pretty impressive that under her guarded and jaded exterior she was so kindhearted and sweet. She deserved to feel loved.

Her girl woke up shortly after demanding her late night feed, so Mel, always the dutiful mother, complied with her little boss's instructions. Fern was back asleep in about ten minutes. It was nearly midnight, well past all of their bedtimes.

"Stay the night?" she asked him.

"For sure"

"Ummm, since it's a night for firsts… with us?"

Jesse nodded in acquiescence. "Hope I don't snore too loudly"

It was a little cozy, the bed was big enough, but Mel didn't want the bubba in between them lest she got squashed, so she had to retain the mountain of pillows on the right side of the bed. She lay the kid down between her and the pillows, which didn't really leave all that much room for him. Turned out it wasn't his snoring that was the problem as Mel fell asleep quickly lying on her back and began snoring like a hibernating bear. He tried to grin and bear it, hoping she'd stop on her own, but after what felt like an eternity, he gently levered her onto her side. Mercifully this seemed to do the trick, so he moved in close to be the big spoon, preventing from rolling back and drifted off to sleep himself.