Chapter 13 – Meeting the Parents

The next day Gail rushed to Traci's desk. "Hi, I need a huge favour."

The dark skinned woman looked up in wonder. "And what would that be?"

"I'm meeting Holly's parents next weekend… officially… and I need you to help me to run every possible scenario and create some suitable responses so I won't mess this up. Please!" she implied in despair.

The detective leant into her chair and grinned. "And what would I get out of this?"

"You already have my brother," she said matter-of-factly. Traci arched her eyebrows. "Or we can take Leo while you two are doing whatever you want."

The detective grinned and took mercy of her friend. "Meet me at The Penny tonight and we will think of something."

"Great!" smiled the blonde and ran away to join her training officer.

For the whole week the constable was bugging her friend with more parents meeting situation, taking notes and learning answers by heart. Traci insisted that first and foremost the young woman should be herself, but if Gail was herself she would throw snarky comments which would not be understood and most likely misinterpreted.

The day arrived and Gail was pale and sweaty… well, sweaty mostly. It was nothing when she could call sick and avoid the interaction. She threw her bag on the back of Holly's car and secured the box with cake in it.

"That will do."

"That won't," said Priscilla with her own baggage. "I need to place Mira's kennel here."

The blonde looked from one woman to another. "Damn. Sometimes I forget you two are related."

"Depends on the point of view. But yea, I am coming with you. Happy not to get rid of me?" she smiled teasing.

"Thrilled," said the younger officer sarcastically rolling her eyes. "Can't we let her run along the car?" she asked the driver.

"On board girls," called the scientist with her lopsided grin.

They shut the small wolf in the kennel in the trunk and set off the way. Gail listened to every story the two friends shared very carefully to make a better picture of her girlfriend's family, however it did not help much with her nerves, she was getting edgy by every minute as they were approaching the big city.

They reached the driveway and noticed a pair of older people standing in the door waiting for their children. The woman seemed just like Gail remembered her the first time, she had short highlighted hair, square white glasses only this time she was dressed casually in jeans and a red blouse. Her husband was only slightly taller, his grey hair was sparse and he also possessed a pair of glasses in his case of a half-moon shape.

Priscilla jumped out of the car and ran to hugged them while Holly patiently took things out first.

Once the young wolf was out, it sniffed the neighbour keeping close to its mistress who took it in her hands and went to the married couple. "One of the two newest members in our family," she proclaimed. "Mum, Dad, this is Miracle. Mira meet my parents."

If Gail was not so scared she would find it funny, but her body was tensed nervously at that time. She had a lot of work not to turn over the cake in her clumsy shaking hands.

"And who is the second member?" asked Mr Stewart.

"That is up to Holly."

"A baby?" asked the mother with hope in her light brown eyes.

"Not for some time, Mum," said the pathologist and dragged two of their bags in. "Hi Mum, hi Dad," she kissed them in greetings.

The blonde helped with the baggage to the main door but did not dare to enter. She did everything she could to prolong the introduction. When she got to the door with another load she came face to face with Holly's mother.

"Doctor Stewart," she greeted and offered a nervous smile.

"Hey, you are the officer from the conference," exclaimed the older woman and offered her hand to shake. "How are you doing, Constable?"

"Good, thank you." Her two friends went pass her with the last of their things. Gail looked back to the jeep but there was no escape in a form of helping with baggage. The time had arrived once her girlfriend locked the car.

"Are there some more troubles?" asked the paediatrician.

Gail looked up again a little surprised. "Excuse me?"

"That you had to accompany my daughters all the way here from Toronto."

"Oh no. No troubles at all," she offered a smile alas the big gulp in her throat did not want to disappear.

"Oh, good. So it was a friendly help. I am happy Holly has a friend like you." She offered her hand to shake again. "Thank you, Constable. Enjoy your time in Montreal." And she closed the door, talking to her daughter. "So honey, who is the other new member –"

The blond woman stood there frozen on the spot looking at the closed entrance. What had just happened? Oh yeah, Holly's mother shut the door in front of her. Did she ruin anything before she was able to say something properly? Maybe the Stewarts had some superpower of recognising the type of person at the first sight?

"MUM," she heard Holly yelled. The door opened again. "I am sorry," the brunette told her partner with a mix expression of amusement and shock. The brunette looked back at her mother. "Gail is my partner… as in girlfriend term."

The older woman's eyes went wide like plates looking from one to another. "Oh my… you should have said so before."

"I did, you didn't listen."

"I am sorry, Constable," the mother took Gail's arm and pulled the stunned young woman inside. "Don't stay there. Come in." She linked their arms together and led her to the lounge room. "I swear Holly did not say it was you. She used to talk about a police officer, but never really said a name."

To be truth the parents meeting was not as bad as Gail had expected. They were both open‑minded, good hearted and weird just like their daughter. There were so many similarities that the young police worker had to smile. She was pleasantly surprised by how easy it was to talk to them and laughed sincerely. She held back any snarks she had but soon she found out she could let some of them out. Their dry humour was her cup of tea, especially when Mr Stewart talked about some of his cases he judged. His wife was softer as she worked with children all day nevertheless some parents could be pain in the eye as well and her stories were no less amusingly-bizarre.

So far the officer did not have the chance to meet Holly's sister and her family, who were supposed to arrive during late afternoon. Therefore Gail took the liberty to browse the home a bit. It was a two-storeyed house with a big garden behind. The furniture was mostly in classic wooden style and the kitchen was combined with cherry wood and wheat coloured furniture. What captured the blonde's attention were the family pictures. They were none of those fake positioned like her parents had, no, nothing like that. These photos were more natural, most of them looked like snapshots of the family life when people were deep in their action and someone called 'cheers' at the last minute. The constable climbed up the stairs where bedrooms were placed and in the small hallway she saw a big family framed picture. The parents were sitting on chairs looking at each other with pride and love. Behind them there was a line with Holly in the middle, smiling her typical lopsided grin watching her parents. On her right could be seen Priscilla looking up at a man who had his hands on her waist and could be her male clone. Except he was tall with hazel eyes and slightly longer nose, nevertheless they both shared the same wavy brown hair, oval face and mischief expression. On the other side there was a golden blond woman about Holly's size with a small boy and a man. Gail squinted at this trio. The lady reminded Mr Stewart and was totally opposite to her sister. The officer looked back at Holly and noticed she was a beautiful mix of her parents. Dark eyes and hair she inherited after her father yet her facial structure was more similar to the mother. The sister on the other hand had her mother's light brown eyes and her father's nose and cheekbones. The police worker looked back at the boy, about three years old but who he reminded was a mystery. His father was tall, chubby man with bright blue eyes hidden behind round glasses and patches if grey hair in his black hair. The boy was dark eyed with bleach-like blond hair. Gail tried to define at least some facial resemblance but could not find one.

"Why are you hypnotizing my nephew," came a voice behind her.

The younger woman jumped in surprise and tuned around. "I am getting to know your family."

"Alright," smile the doctor and hugged her from behind. "Let me introduce you. From the left there is Matthew and Priscilla, you can tell the resemblance they are siblings, then me, my parents, Meredith with little Tom and Thomas."

"Nice to meet you," remarked Gail sarcastically. "Priscilla mentioned that your dad took custody of her when she was seventeen, but no one mentioned what had happened to her brother."

"Their family came from the UK when Priscilla was eleven and Matt seventeen. A year later their parents died in a plane crash from Vancouver. Matt was a college student in Ottawa living form his scholarship and could not take care of his sister, so she was sent into foster care. Long story short, me and Priscilla became friends and after some issue with law and former foster parents, Dad took her under his wings with some deal between the two of them. Matt called every week and visited once a month, you can say he genuinely loves his sister and is really sorry he could not take care of her when she needed it."

"And now he tries to overcompensate it," remarked a newcomer. The couple took around to notice the woman they had been talking about, carrying her bag and kennel with the young wolf behind her. She put her things in one of the bedrooms.

Gail gave her attention back to the picture in front of her again squinting at the boy. "I need a lesson from genetics," she said. "Why is the boy so different from his parents… well, from his father to be specific?"

"In the genetic lines it happens that the child resembles grandparents or even an aunt or uncle more than its parents."

"Except in this case, the uncle is the actual biological father," barked the wavy haired woman joining them in the hallway.

The younger officer raised her eyebrows turning to her girlfriend. "It's the truth," Holly confirmed with tilted head. "One night stand with a random man led to pregnancy with a cousin, so Meredith married the first man who had a good job and took interest in her. It's a family secret. Thomas has doubts but never cared enough to find the truth. He raises Tom and is his real father."

"It is admirable," said Gail.

"From Thomas, yes," snorted the older officer. "Sometimes I wonder if he is so stupid or so generous. I hate to admit it but he is a good man."

The doorbell rang and Priscilla rolled her eyes. "If you excuse us we are going to blow off some steam before the charade begins." She took the lead and descended the stairs most likely out to walk the wolf-cub.

"That was mean," commented Gail.

"She and my sister had a really bad break up. I guess that's the reason Priscilla hates the hypocrisy so much. And that is why she likes you."

"Nah, she pisses me off every time she can."

"Did you hear what she had said to my parents before she introduced Miracle?" Gail looked confused and pensive. "Think honey, you have a really good memory," smiled the doctor.

"Something about two new members in the family?"

Holly nodded. "'Two new members in the family'. One was Mira and the other one…" she raised her eyebrows looking meaningfully at the other woman.

"Me?"

"Yes."

"So she considers me as a member of the family? That is deep."

"Also it means if you break my heart she will tear you apart and bury you in a really deep hole in a really deep forest." The blonde gulped heavily. The scientist pecked her lips lightly. "Relax, I am not joking."

"Holly!" she yelped punching her shoulder. "That is not funny. I know myself, I will break your heart. Whenever there is something heavy to solve I rather run away than deal with the problem and there is no relationship without problems. I will come back to you, I am sure I will because I love you but also I will break your heart by my stupid behaviour and –" she was kissed. Holly hugged her tight, one hand in the blond mane keeping the head on its place while pushing her tongue to the entrance. Once the young police officer got over the surprise she matched the action.

"Hey lovebirds!" called a female voice from downstairs. "Stop doing whatever you're doing and get presentable. We have a child in the house."

"Yes, Mum," replied Holly and the couple started giggling. "Come on, it's time to meet the rest of the Stewart gang." The brunette dragged her down and introduced her to her sister and nephew.

They sat at a table, eating dinner and chatting. Gail used this moment to watch the family interact. First interesting thing was their seating order. They had a big round table in the dining area of the kitchen and the parents set between their children and not side by side. Mrs Stewart sat between her daughters and they all were talking about work obviously, because the constable heard 'pathogens' several times. Well that was it when three doctors were put together –pathologist, paediatrician and psychiatrist. On her left side there was a chat she could understand better about criminals, laws and rights. She watched as Mr Stewart ruffled Priscilla's hair and they laughed at some joke.

"And what about your new ward?" asked the judge.

"She is insane, Dad."

"So you like her already."

"Well, she notices details, she is a fast thinker and always eager to complete the mission even though she looks like nothing really matters. But what really pissed me off is her incapability to look around and not just hypnotizing the ground like it could have all the answers," she gave a side look to her trainee.

"Well, there are not many things that can fly, so ground is a logical step," Gail defended herself.

"And yet many times the trees hold special evidence."

"But humans often commit crimes on the ground," remarked the older man.

"Thank you, Mr Stewart," smiled the blond police worker broadly.

"So, did I get it right that Gail here is your ward?" assumed the judge.

"Yes."

"What led you to this part of policing?"

"Actually, after a case when…" Gail noticed the wide eyes and slightly shaking head from her working partner. It seemed that the elder pair had no idea what happened to their daughter. "… when my colleagues lost a mentally ill man and we were supposed to find him."

The phone rang and the older man excused himself. The blond officer used this moment to turn to her trainer. "How come they don't know?"

"Some things are better the parents don't know. They would freak out. Thank heavens Holly turned out alright, so there is no need for them knowing."

The judge came back with the receiver in his hand. "Sweetie, it's Matty," he said to his wife who took the phone call and left the dining room.

"At least my brother called," commented Priscilla.

"He also sent a beautiful necklace as a present. He has some meeting in London." He turned to his youngest daughter. "That leaves Thomas. Where did you say he is now?"

"I am here!" called the little boy proudly, bouncing on the chair.

"He has a business trip to the States," responded Meredith.

"Yea, shagging his secretary, huh?" snapped the training police worker.

"Priscilla," warned the father. Gail pretended not to take interest so she was staring at her plate, playing with the fork.

"We have an open relationship," continued the golden blond woman. "I don't mind as long as he comes back home."

"It is just a way how to call cheating and make it official."

"Some people do understand that. Thomas is a guy with an actual work if you know what it means," said the psychiatrist. "He supports his family and son, he is home on time and not sniffing around like a damn dog all day and night."

"I am a tracker too," peeped out the younger constable.

"Really Holly?" Meredith looked at her sister. "I thought you are a cat person."

"I would consider myself as a pet caretaker. And since Gail is the cat, it all works for me," replied the pathologist and went to the kitchen to help her mother who was now mixing something in a bowl.

"You younger generation and your metaphors," sighed the elder man and went to the kitchen as well.

"Mum, I want dog," whined the boy. "Ov'r there dog," he pointed to Miracle who lied in the hallway on a pad, dozing off.

"Keep on dreaming, kid," uttered the oldest daughter and stood up.

"Ov'r-there dog," demanded Tom.

"Okay honey, we will get you a dog, I promise, now behave yourself," scolded him his mother.

"Poor doggie, I really hope you mean one of stuffed animals, which are not stuffed for long. Can you imagine how messy it would get if he eviscerates a living creature," Priscilla rolled her eyes.

"You are the one having experience with that. Running in the woods, hunting poor animals which can't defend themselves…"

"You have no idea about wild life."

"No, I prefer home and family life." The wavy haired woman snorted and left to the back garden. "How can you spend all day with her?" It was a question for Gail.

The police woman shrugged. "I got used to her. She is a good trainer… and friend," somehow she had a need to point that out.

"Good my a…," she let it trail of realising she had her son there. "She is a filthy dog, I mean literally. The only thing she is good at is…" the woman waved her hands in front of them looking for suitable word, "intercourse. Especially now when she became this howling beast humping everyone's leg, but other than that she is a loser."

"I would appreciate if you watched your mouth. You are talking about my superior whom I kinda like. What is your lasting problem with her anyway? You broke it off ages ago," wondered the constable.

"Oh no, she broke it off. She couldn't bear a few affairs. I mean, it's 21st century, everyone cheats," she said nonchalantly.

If she could, Gail would get paler. She felt sick. She was unfaithful once and felt pangs of conscience for months. This woman in front of her talked about cheating as something on daily basis.

"I don't," noted Holly who was coming back to the table with three glasses of wine. She handed one to her sister and the other to her girlfriend kissing her lips quickly, sitting by her side. The blonde repaid the smile and looked out of the large French door. She patted the scientist's leg and went out.

"Are you alright?" she asked her working partner.

"Sometimes I wish I could be deaf, that's all," replied Priscilla sighing heavily.

"You still won't get rid of me, I know ASL."

"You are kidding," her eyes widened at the confession.

Gail signed 'I am not lying' and offered a broad smile.

"Impressive. I have no idea if you have just insulted me, but still impressive."

The blonde laughed. "I am not supposed to insult my training officer. That would be messy. We have whatever we have between us, some kind of like-hate relationship, but you are not just my TO, you are my friend. I have your back no matter what, even if you have fleas and howl at the moon."

Priscilla looked up at her with visible hurt in her eyes. Maybe it was not the best analogy in that moment, but fortunately she was intelligent enough without the need of Gail to clarify the meaning. "You know I loved her. I really loved her and now I cannot believe it. She used to be full of joy, kindness and fun, but now there is nothing else than bitterness."

"We all had our better and worse relationships."

"Thanks for standing up for me."

"You heard that too?" The older officer nodded. "Damn, now I won't hear the end of it." And she did it, she cracked a smile on her trainer's face. "Come on, there is a party tonight, let's get you drunk since I can't drink too much."

"Why?"

"Really?" the blonde looked like her friend had two heads. "I am at my almost-in-laws', I can't afford to get drunk in front of them. I do a stupid thing and immediately end somewhere far away from my girl. That is not gonna happen."

The brunette chuckled. "Holly is right. You are insane."

They gathered back around the table, enjoying the birthday celebration, joking around and laughing. The tense atmosphere loosened up after a few more drinks.

"Gail, the cake is amazing," praised the sweet Mrs Stewart. "Where did you get it?"

"Oh you know, police connection," she smiled mysteriously.

"Come on, do tell, so we know where to stop by when we are in Toronto," begged the elder doctor.

"We had a man at the station who had been arrested for a disturbance with his neighbour. He tried to bribe us with his pastries and it almost worked. So, now he has very faithful customers from 15th division. I'll take you to him myself," she winked at her girl and grinned at the older couple. "He has the best doughnuts."

"You have never taken me there," complained Priscilla.

"I didn't have a reason."

"I am your training officer, it's like a law to buy them off with coffee, sweets, lunch, whatever."

"I tried that once and my uniform was soaked by the said coffee." Gail also shared a few other stories of her rookie times. They were laughing and just enjoying the good time.

It was getting late, Meredith went to put her son to bed and Holly tagged her girlfriend outside to a big apple tree.

"This might look really cheesy but I have always wished to do it," she said. The blonde looked at her quizzically. The doctor pointed up to a tree house and a wide grin spread on her lips. "Please?"

Like a cat Gail climbed up without much problem and looked down. "Come on, dreamy nerd." Meantime she looked around. It was not a very big hut, could be for an adult and two kids. Nevertheless it seemed comfortable with a thick carpet on the floor.

The other woman shook her head and followed. She tore two apples and offered one to her companion. "And it will get cheesier," the scientist pulled out her cell phone and plugged ear-plugs, offering one to the blonde. "I always wanted to share these little things with a special one," she confessed bashfully.

The officer took the ear-plug and kissed her lips, laying her down on the warm floor. They snuggled close, listening to music and relaxing on the tree. Gail could hear voices outside but did not pay attention until she heard Holly's name.

"She is my sister and you protect her. Whatever happened between us I will never forget this."

"She is my best friend, I would do anything for her without a second thought."

"But you never let anyone get close enough to her. Especially after Lesley died. So what is so special about this cop you took under your wings? Except the look."

"Nothing. She is rude, mean, sarcastic and she is a blue collar."

"Practically someone like you. Except she is completely straight."

"She has a good heart. Even spaghetti can bend if you boil them up. The way she broke all her believes and inner rules just to stay by Holly's side when she needed her the most… no one has ever done that. Not even those who proclaimed their supposedly deep love. Actions speak for themselves, words are just a waste of breath."

"I really loved you, Priscilla. I wish you could forgive me one stupid mistake."

"One?! You must be joking. You yourself told me you had been with men since the time I left for the mission."

"I was depressed so I used to go out for a couple of drinks. When I was drunk, sex just happened, no big deal."

"Except the sex was with someone who was not your girlfriend. I stated many times that being faithful is on the top of my list, no open relationship shit for me. But you just had to jump on men, so it 'just happened' that one of them was your cousin whom you used to despise. And he made you pregnant."

"I was wasted. I made a mistake."

"The mistake was you getting drunk with Erica. But you got drunk on your own will, nobody forced you. Also you slept with Geoffrey on your own will. Face your demons yourself, I have no role in this. Not since you willingly offered your body to someone else.
"And stop using alcohol as an excuse that is the lowest anyone can say. You are adult, you should know your limits and when you cross them it's your own doing. There is no one else to blame but yourself."

Gail looked at her girlfriend who had a smile placed on her lips deeply in her own world. Maybe the officer should not eavesdrop but she had a first-hand look at her own previous self. And her colleague was right, alcohol was never a good excuse even though everyone used it quite often. Blame the alcohol! Really?!

She started to understand Priscilla's action a little bit more. If the blonde recalled what she had learnt about her scientist's past and relationship experience, both women were being tricked and experimented on by straight girls, while believing the relationship meant more, potential-marriage more. Actually it was very similar to what Gail went through as well. She loved Nick and she had believed they were engaged, ready to marry until the moment he took off.

The constable traced her finger along the Holly's jawline. I'll be damn if I ever hurt you like that. She leaned over and kissed the smiling lips, slowly pouring into it every emotion she had for this special doctor.

Suddenly there was a noise of something big falling on the roof of the tree house and down to the ground. The two lovers sat up immediately looking frightened and confused when a shriek echoed around. They climbed down the tree and landed on the ground next to a dead body.

thank you for your time and reading!