A/N: I'm slowly but surely trying to work my way toward the actual adventure… Now first this second "meet the parents" scene. This time it's Hope who is meeting his parents. In this we find some surprising new facts about Rueben. Thanks again to "hookedonapirate" for beta reading this…

Enjoy.

Chapter 9: Hope

(Note to chapter: reference to color meaning: /news/turquoise-meaning-symbolism/ )

Hope combed her hands through her hair one last time, looking into the mirror hanging on her closet door. She was dressed in a pair of tight fitted jeans—the nice ones with no wear and tear holes—and a loose, dark blue button-down shirt. Slipping into her flat ballerina shoes, she walked out into their kitchen.

"Hey girl." Rose simpered when she spotted Hope. "Looking pretty today."

"Thanks."

"Soooo, ready to meet his parents?" The grin on Rose's face told Hope she was attempting to rile her a little.

"Yeah, it will be great," Hope tried to convince herself, but inside, she didn't feel confident in how this would go. Sure it had been a success when he met her parents; there were only a few minor embarrassing moments. Her parents seemed to accept Rue as part of her life. He had said a few times this past week how much he'd enjoyed his time with her family.

"Good luck," Rose said with a genuine smile.

There was a knock on their front door, and Hope walked over to let Rueben in. When he smiled, her stomach did a little flip. Stepping closer, she pulled him down for a kiss, both aware they were being watched by Rose. But Hope honestly didn't care. The friends had all seen how much Rose and William got carried away with their own PDA when they were together.

Finally pulling apart, Hope turned to Rose and said, "See you guys later." Then she followed Rueben to his car.

Once on the road, she kept silent for a while, still wondering how this meeting would go; she wanted his parents to like her.

"What's wrong?" Rueben reached over to take her hand in his. She closed her eyes for a second before she turned toward him.

"I just want them to like me." She shrugged and looked down at their clasped hands, letting her thumb caress his skin.

"They will." He squeezed her hand. "I know they will like you."

Hope gave him a small smile; this man made her so happy, and she willed her heart and mind to enjoy this evening.

When Rueben turned down a dirt road, Hope gazed out the window, trying to soak in the scenery. He'd told her his parents lived close to the woods, outside of the city. Trees and grassy areas came into view, and in an enclosure nearby, she spotted some beautiful horses grazing in the late afternoon sun. She turned to Rueben, "You have horses here?"

"Yup." He grinned. "and a few other animals too." He shrugged as he parked the car in front of a beautiful farm house made of rustic timber. Potted plants were scattered around the house and wrap-around porch, some hanging from the beams of the veranda.

"Wow, this place is awesome," Hope said as she climbed out of the car. She twirled around and took it all in.

"It is quite a place my parents have here; they were lucky to find this place when they moved to Royal City." Rueben was beaming as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders, "shall we."

"Hm."

"My father might not be home, I don't see his truck here." Rueben shrugged. "He does have long hours some days."

"Yeah?"

"But he does love his new job." Rueben reassured, walking up the porch steps, his arm still around her shoulders.

Hope looked around as they entered the house, it was rustic and rural but she could tell so much heart and soul went into decorating; all of the elements were coordinated so perfectly.

"Mother?" Rueben shouted through the quiet house.

Hope looked up at him, but he didn't seem worried that no one answered; he just pointed to the back door. They walked through the kitchen; there was a delicious aroma wafting from the oven. Before Hope had a chance to take a peek, Rueben had walked them out into the back garden. It was also filled with so many plants and flowers; some areas looked wild as if they wanted the garden to be more natural than a cultural garden.

"Ah, there she is," Rueben headed toward the tall, slender woman gazing out into the woods behind the house.

Hope looked up at Rueben as he was about to shout out to his mother again, then his eyes squinted as if he were trying to focus on something in the grass further on. "Oh great, Meeko the 3rd is here."

"Huh?" Hope looked around in surprise. Seconds later, a small furry animal, a raccoon, scampered over to Rueben's mother, who crouched down, reaching out her hand to the critter.

"Uhm, yeah—" Rueben's voice trailed off as he rubbed his neck nervously. Hope looked up at him; she'd never seen him this uneasy. Not even on their first date. "About that..."

"About what?" Hope whispered, staring at what his mother was doing.

Was she actually talking to the raccoon? It did seem as if she was, and not in that usual sweet baby/animal voice most people spoke to their pets with. This was an actual conversation.

"I know, Meeko," Rueben's mother said, "I won't have time to come meet your family. Not today." The raccoon chittered something while his mother nodded, tilted her head, then shook her head. "I know they want me to come; it just can't be today." More whimpering and purring came from the animal. "You see, we will have a special guest today. Our son's girlfriend is coming over… mhmm, it is very exciting." The raccoon stood on its hindlegs and waved its tiny paws in the air. "See you soon, Meeko." Rueben's mother turned away from the animal which was now scampering back into the woods.

Rueben was grasping his neck with both hands, looking a little sheepish. When Hope raised an eyebrow, he answered her silent question. "Yeah, my mother speaks with animals."

"Oh!" Hope wasn't sure what she could say as a proper response to that.

"Well, in her tribe, she did have some sort of sharman traits, and she is very much connected to nature," Rueben explained in a hurried voice, biting his lip nervously.

Hope was trying to sort out all this new information. Sure, she'd heard so many obscure and crazy stories of her own parent's past. This was slightly different, but then with what she knew of the Native Americans and their culture they did live in close harmony with nature. Trying to clear her mind, she grabbed Rueben's hand and whispered, "Okay, I want to know more, but let's go meet your mother."

Rueben sighed in relief and walked with Hope toward his mother. When his mother spotted them, her smile broadened as she quickened her pace.

"Rubie, my dear boy, so great to see you." His mother wrapped her arms around Rueben in a warm embrace. She was a tall and slender woman who only stood a few inches shorter than Rueben.

Hope blinked a few times, trying to wrap her head around the nickname his mother had spoken. Rubie. She tried not to chuckle, but when Rueben finally disentangled himself from his mother's embrace, she could see him rolling his eyes in her direction. Don't ask, he mouthed to her. Then he took his mother's hand and said, "Mother, I want you to meet Hope, my girlfriend."

Hope smiled; she really liked the sound of the word girlfriend. It just felt right to have this new relationship with Rueben. She only hoped his parents would like her.

"Hi," Hope said timidly and stepped forward to shake hands with his mother. Pocahontas leaned over and wrapped her arms around Hope.

"Hello, Hope." His mother stepped back, still holding on to her shoulders. "It's so good to finally meet the girl our Rubie speaks so much about."

"Mother!" Rueben whispered. When Pocahontas looked wide-eyed at her son, he grumbled through clenched teeth. "Please leave the nick names out for today, okay!"

Pocahontas waved her hands in the air. "Ah come on, son, you can not tell me Hope doesn't have a nickname for you, too?"

"I call him Rue." Hope quickly explained. She stepped up next to Rueben, gently took his hand and smiled at his mother.

"I like that." Pocahontas nodded. "So, I just need to wrap up a few things in the kitchen. Your father should be home soon, and I'll put him on grill duty. You kids just hang out here in the garden or wherever you want." She waved her hands toward the garden around them.

"We will," Rueben said, tugging Hope along with him.

"If you need any help, Mrs Smith, please let us know." Hope interjected.

"Ah, no need. I got it all under control." She turned to walk away, then added over her shoulder, "And please just call me Pocahontas. No need for the formalities."

"Come," Rueben implored once his mother was walking toward the house, "I want to show you something."

Hope followed him. Biting her lip, she glanced at him and said, "So Rubie?"

"Just forget the name okay." Rueben sighed and rolled his eyes, "My mother is the sweetest, most loving and caring mother you could ask for, but I think she has forgotten how old I am."

"Ah, yeah, I know the feeling." Hope mused, then shrugged. "My mom still calls me Cygnet… you know, it means baby swan in French."

Rueben grinned at this and whispered, "that's quite fitting."

"Yeah, it might be. Dad calls me Butterfly." She rubbed the side of her nose. "We have this thing with him giving me butterfly kisses. Every night, he tucked me into bed, and yeah, whenever I needed some comfort." She could feel Rueben's eyes on her the entire time she spoke. For some reason, it just felt natural to share such personal things with him.

"That's awesome." Rueben pulled her closer, wrapping his arm around her, leading her down a path paved with large natural stone blocks.

Hope looked around in awe, this garden was so magical and natural in how it all came together. They followed the path leading between the house, and what Hope assumed was a barn. "Hmm," she pondered and let him lead the way for a bit longer before she dared to ask something else. "So, what did we witness back there with your mother and that racoon?" She glanced up at him, trying to see what that was all about.

"Uh, yeah." Rueben rubbed his neck nervously with his free hand. "That is… I mean, my mother does have some sharman powers of sorts." He stopped and turned toward her, as if he wanted her to understand something important here.

"Oh, really?" Hope asked, surprised, "You mean, like magic?"

"Yeah, sort of. I mean she communicates with nature, she can feel the wind, earth, water and fire," Rueben said slowly.

"And animals?"

"Yeah, animals can apparently understand her, and she somehow understands what they want to say to her, without them actually speaking to her." Rueben shrugged. "I don't know how it works with the animals."

Hope could see he tried to come up with a good explanation, and it struck her, "And the other things - the elements? How does that work for you?"

His eyes blew wide with astonishment, "What?"

"You know, you just said you don't know about the animals, but do you know about the elements?" She was genuinely curious. "We've spoken about magic before, so I was just wondering why you never said anything?"

"It's not the same as with your magic, you can wield your powers to change the outcome of something." He bit his lip nervously.

"Look, it's okay. I mean, I have no idea what I do half the time I work with my magic." Hope tried to ease his obviously troubled mind.

"Yeah, I'm still not sure how it works for me. It's small things." He swept his hand out toward the bushes they walked next to. "Right now I feel the calmness around us, yet there's this tingling sensation of curiosity simmering in the air." He rubbed his neck and looked down at her.

Hope glanced around and blinked a few times, "Curiosity… over what?"

"I think it might be you."

Hope gaped at him. "What?"

"Yeah, it happens whenever we have guests come over, I feel this shift in the plants and flowers around us." He shrugged and added, "I know it sounds nuts."

"It's not nuts." Hope stopped walking and turned toward him, placing her hand over his heart looking up at him. She could feel his heart hammering under her palm; he was obviously uncomfortable with all of this. "So you don't talk about all of this with anyone?"

"Other than my mother, no. Not even sure my friends know," he chuckled. "They do know my mother speaks with animals. That was a fun afternoon."

Hope laughed with him and nodded. "I would imagine."

Rueben took a deep breath and whispered, "So, you don't think your boyfriend is completely bonkers?"

"Nope, honestly I think it's interesting how you're connected with nature like that. You should definitely tap into it whenever you can. Who knows what you could do with that."

"I haven't been able to wield any action from nature." He shrugged. "Though, the old shaman at my mother's tribe does think I might be able to do more."

"Oh." Hope could feel her heart beating a little faster; all of this was such a surprise, yet it didn't change how she felt about him. She loved him. "Why haven't you tried?"

"Just wanted to lead a normal life with school and football," he explained, placing his hand over hers. He lifted her fingers to his mouth. "And my beautiful girlfriend."

Hope grinned, lifting herself up to claim his lips in a kiss, when she pulled back, she whispered, "I know you will do great things, Rueben."

Rueben nodded his thanks, wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pointed toward the enclosure ahead of them, "Want to meet the horses?"

"Yay!" Hope walked a little faster, ignoring his chuckle. She had always loved horses and went riding whenever she could.

When they reached the enclosure, Hope spotted five horses grazing on the field. A beautiful Palomino horse spotted them first and whinnied before trotting towards them. Hope could see the other horses lift their heads in curiosity, and a few of them joined their friend.

When the golden mare came to them, Hope reached out her hand and gently stroked its muzzle.

"She's pretty," Hope whispered and looked over at Rueben, who was petting an Appaloosa mare.

"Yeah, they are pretty awesome. So, I guess you're comfortable around horses?"

"You're kidding, right? I love riding, my grandparents have a few horses; my brother and I ride whenever we can."

"We could go out together one day?"

"I would love to," Hope leaned over to pet the horse Rueben had petted.

He stepped behind her and trapped her between his body and the fence. He leaned down and nibbled at her neck, moving his warm lips to gently bite down on her earlobe. Hope suddenly forgot all about the horses in front of them. She hummed in appreciation and tilted her head sideways giving him better access to her skin.

Twisting around in his arms, she placed her hands on his waist, feeling the heat of his skin through his shirt. Hope looked up at him with a knowing smirk; they became very close in the past months, and more often than not, they would end up kissing, rather than talking.

Rueben leaned down and kissed her, his hand shifting through her hair and holding her close.

"Hmm, I wish we could keep doing this," he whispered.

"Me too." Hope could feel her pulse quicken as she looked up at him, his chocolate brown eyes shimmering with so much love, it made her heart ache.

Seconds later, she heard a car driving over the gravel of the driveway. Pulling away, they looked toward the house. A pickup truck parked in front of the barn, and a broad-shouldered man hopped out. His blond hair gleamed in the sunlight, and when he closed the door, he waved at them. Had he seen them kissing? Hope really hoped he hadn't seen the passionate embrace they'd engaged in moments before.

Rueben took a deep breath and said, "Come on, let's go say hi." He took her hand and walked with her toward the man, who waited for them at the porch. "Hi father," he greeted with a small wave and tugged Hope closer. "I want you to meet Hope, my girlfriend."

As the tall man's blue eyes scanned over Hope, a small smile played over his lips. He took a step forward and said, "Welcome Hope, it's great to finally meet you. Our son has talked about you a lot these past weeks."

"Oh. All good things, I hope." Hope grinned, stepped forward and greeted Rueben's father, "It's nice to finally meet you too, Mr. Smith."

"By all means, call me John. We're not the formal type out here." He swiped his semi-long locks out of his eyes and grinned. "I should be more intimidated, You're related to my employer."

Hope looked at his attire, which was a mixture of medieval and modern. He was dressed in old, medieval guard gear, save for a modern gun holster and, if she wasn't mistaken, a bluetooth headset wrapped around his ear. She knew her Auntie Gina had incorporated several modern high tech gear into her guard service, it was just strange to see it mixed with the other outfit she had her guards wear.

"Yeah, well Auntie Gina is a nice woman… once you get to know her," Hope winked and heard Rueben chuckling next to her. She smirked at Rueben and asked, "Which reminds me, you haven't met her either, have you?"

"Only briefly, after my father accepted his new position." Rueben grinned.

"Well, you'll meet her at my birthday party in two weeks," she patted his arm reassuringly, "and everyone else from my crazy, messed up family tree."

John Smith roared with laughter as he stepped closer and patted Rueben's shoulder. "You'll do fine son."

"Actually, I meant to ask if you all wanted to come." When she saw John lift his eyebrows in surprise, she explained, "Yeah, I know it's odd, but my mom said I could invite you. It would be an honour to have you." She tried to keep her voice even and calm.

"Oh wow," John dragged his hand over his mouth in surprise.

The door opened and Pocahontas walked out. "Hello, darling." She went to her husband and pecked him on the cheek, "Good to have you home." She glances between him and Hope. "I see you two have met."

"Yes, we have" He wrapped his arm around her waist. The couple was clearly very much in love, "The lovely Miss Hope here just invited us for her birthday in two weeks."

"Oh, did she? We'll be delighted to come," Pocahontas said with a genuine smile. Hope could feel Reuben tense next to her.

"Great, I'll let my grandmother know… she is sort of the party planner for this thing." Hope rolled her eyes. Mary Margareth was known for her organisational skills and proclaimed she would take care of all the party details. Planning had been disastrous until Hope asked for her grandmother's help. Her only stipulation was that she would pick out her own dress. She didn't want another sweet sixteen catastrophe.

Pocahontas turned to her husband and asked, "Would you mind starting up the grill?" She smoothed her hand over the emblem on his chest. "Go get changed and I'll have the meat ready for you."

John nodded and walked inside with his wife, leaving Hope and Rueben alone once again.

"So, should we go inside and help?" Hope asked.

"Sure." Rueben led her inside the house. The aroma from the kitchen made Hope's mouth water.

"Smells delicious in here, mother," Rueben complimented, walking to the oven to take a peek.

"Good." Pocahontas she smiled at Hope. "Hope you don't mind a little ethnic cuisine, do you?"

"Oh no, not at all," Hope assured. "Actually, Rueben took me to a Native American dinner for our first date."

"Really?" His mother's voice was filled with surprise, her eyes beaming at her son.

"Yeah, it was great! Then we went to see this art gallery down the street," Hope explained.

"I know that place. Got some great pieces there," Pocahontas said with a smile. "Nice to see that my son is taking such good care of his girlfriend."

Hope felt a blush creep into her cheeks and smiled sheepishly. "Yeah he is a nice man."

"Mother, can we help you with anything?" Rueben interjected, obviously not enjoying the praise he was getting.

"Sure, set the table." His mother waved a hand toward the dining room.

Once they set the table, Rueben and Hope sat down on the couch. Despite how mindful they were of their closeness, Rueben took her hand in his, letting his fingers draw lazy patterns over her skin.

Suddenly, Hope could feel her magic going crazy again. "Rueben!"

"Hmm?" He rested his head on the back of the couch and tilted his head toward her as she spoke.

"We better not... I mean—" she squeezed her fingers together a few times, "My magic is going nuts."

"Oh, yeah sure. Sorry," He lifted her hand and gave it a gentle kiss—a kiss that didn't exactly help calm her magic down. The smirk on his lips told her he knew what he was doing.

Suddenly her body was tingling, and a shimmering blue glow wrapped around their joined hands. She looked down at the whirling magic, now calm and not as freaked out by how it looked. Yet she glanced toward the doorway to the kitchen, hoping his parents wouldn't walk in. Finding Rueben's eyes again, she saw no fear in them, which made her more at ease. So she tried to focus her powers, trying to harness them in some way.

"Look!" Rueben exclaimed. "It's changing color." She felt him squeeze her hand reassuringly.

Hope inspected the magic pulsing around their joined hands; it was shifting between blue and green turquoise. "Wow, that's new." They sat there for several minutes as Hope let her magic flow between them; it just seemed so natural.

"Oh!" Pocahontas' gasped from the doorway. Hope immediately pulled back, she could still feel the magic shimmering under her skin and rubbed her palms nervously on her thighs.

"Yeah, I have magic," Hope explained, shifting in her seat.

"So I see," Pocahontas replied, and to Hope's relief, the woman was smiling.

"I'm still learning—"

Hope's voice trailed off when John stuck his head inside and announced the meat was done. Everyone gathered around the table after carrying everything from the kitchen.

Finally sitting down, Hope tried to relax as the food was passed around the table. "This all looks so amazing." She beamed at Pocahontas.

"Thank you."

Several minutes into the meal, Pocahontas asked, "So, how long have you known you had magic?"

Smiling meekly at Rueben's mother, Hope told them how she'd discovered her magic, and that she didn't have complete control of it yet. As she spoke, both of his parents asked a few questions along the way while eating their dinner. Soon, Hope felt more at ease talking about her magic with them.

Pocahontas finally said, "We're very familiar with magic in my old tribe, so don't worry Hope, we don't find this strange at all."

"Oh, good." Hope placed the fork on her plate, looked at them and shrugged. "What kind of magic do you practice in your tribe?"

When Rueben took her hand, her magic buzzed at the touch, but she kept it under control. Then he said, "You remember what we talked about earlier, outside?"

Hope looked at Rueben with an understanding smile."Mhmm, that you sort of have this connection to nature, like your mother."

"Yeah, well she does a bit more than me," Rueben said sheepishly, "but the tribe does speak with the old spirits."

"Oh, that's interesting. How is that done?" Hope asked.

"There's this willowtree near the village where the tribe lives that is a sacred place to us." Rueben explained; she could tell he was trying to ease the story along.

"Amazing," Hope commented, keeping her hand firmly in his.

"You should bring her out there some day," Pocahontas suggested with a smile and began gathering the dinner plates.

"Yeah?" Hope looked at Rueben.

"Sure, if you want to. It's a bit of a long drive from here, though," Rueben explained. "It will take two days by car."

"I don't mind. I love a bit of an adventure now and again," Hope said with a smile. "We could go when we both have some vacation time."

"Yeah, it'd be like a road trip," Rueben grinned.

"Hmm, that could be fun." Hope sighed. "If I had my magic sorted out, I'd be able to transport us there."

"But then it wouldn't be a road trip," Rueben pouted with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

Hope laughed at his antics and patted his shoulder reassuringly. "I'll go on a road trip with you."

"Grandma Willow might even give you some suggestions in regards to your magic," Pocahontas explained.

"Grandma Willow?" Hope inquired, not sure what or who she was referring to.

"Yeah, the sacred willow tree we talked about," Rueben explained.

"Oh," Hope looked around the table; everyone here seemed so at ease with magic and talked about speaking with spirits like it was completely normal. It was a relief for her to know that Rueben's parents were so supportive of her magic.

"You'll be able to wield your magic at its fullest, once you're ready," Pocahontas said with a reassuring smile. "My Rubie here—"

Rueben groaned and muttered, "Mother!"

"Rueben took some time before he realized he did have some sort of connection to nature itself." Hope turned her full attention to Pocahontas, who smiled knowingly while she continued. "He is still taking it slow, and I understand his reasons. Magic should never be forced, rather nurtured and grown from the deepest of your very soul."

Hope could feel a shiver run down her spine, her magic buzzing under her skin; her mother had said something similar once she started to practice her magic. Nodding slowly, she said, "I know. Things have changed after I started uh—" she glanced at Rueben, " since I started dating your son." She rubbed the side of her nose nervously.

"Oh, how?" Pocahontas asked curiously, completely forgetting the plates she'd gathered in her hands.

John stood up, gently took them from her and whispered to her, "Let me take these while you talk magic with the young woman here."

Pocahontas smiled her thanks and sat down again.

Hope tried to calm her beating heart and shifted in her seat, seeking out Rueben's hand under the table before speaking, "Well for one thing, it contains colors now, as you saw before dinner."

"Colors are important to any sort of magic," Pocahontas said excitedly. "Your magic was almost turquoise in color, shifting between blue and green—the ocean and the land." She glanced between her son and Hope, nodding.

"Mother?" Rueben's voice sounded strange all of a sudden. Hope looked at him and could see a frown forming between his eyes.

"The color, turquoise, does hold some special symbolisms, like: wisdom, tranquility, protection, good fortune, and hope." She nodded at Hope. "So I imagine that would be why your magic is developing its color like it is."

"Oh, I never thought of that," Hope glanced between Pocahontas and Rueben; it made sense, and yet she was still feeling as lost about her magic as ever. "I'm going to talk with my Aunt Gina about all of this."

Pocahontas nodded in agreement. "I'm no expert in the magic you wield, but I know about the meaning of the colors around us." She swept her hands toward the room around them.

"Thank you for your input on this. I did wonder if the color had any significance." Hope looked down at her hand resting on the table. "I guess it does hold some sort of meaning."

"I believe it does," Pocahontas said, rising from her seat. "I'll just go check on the state of the kitchen and find dessert and coffee. Go sit in the living room and we'll be right out."

Hope didn't even register that Pocahontas walked out; she was too busy looking at her hand, her fingers clenching and unclenching a few times.

"You alright there?" Rueben asked gently, his warm fingers rubbing her hand under the table.

"MhHmm." Hope nodded absentmindedly.

"Don't worry about all of this. You will have your magic sorted out soon enough." He leaned over and kissed her cheek. "I know you will do great things."

Hope gave him a feeble smile, then nodded toward the living room. "Why don't we go in there and wait for your parents?"

They got up, left the dining room and settled down on the living room couch, talking about things other than magic and special colors. When Rueben's parents brought out the cake and coffee, they kept the conversation going, chatting about school, their friends, and Hope's birthday in two weeks. She was enjoying the time she spent with her boyfriend's parents; the lovely, married couple were both down to earth and easy to talk to.

On the drive home, she told Rueben how much fun she'd had tonight, and that she was actually very happy his parents agreed to come to her birthday party.