Disclaimer: Inception does not belong to me.
"You're not serious?" Kyle turned his attention from the zombie flick that was droning on the TV, and to Adam. "Introduce her? To your Mom? Are you crazy?"
"Yes, yes, yes, and no," Adam said, slightly irritably. He turned his focus back to the TV. "Its pretty simple - I like Ariadne, and think she and Mom should meet."
"But, dude, your Mom is so over-protective," Kyle insisted. "You know what will happen - it'll be 'My son has cancer, are you looking after him?'" He faltered as Adam turned to him, raising an eyebrow. "OK, maybe not like that. But she gave Rachel a hard time, remember?"
"Yeah, but Rachel turned out to be-" Adam stopped, blinking. He didn't want to be reminded of the pain of his ex-girlfriend. "She didn't trust her."
Kyle shrugged. "I didn't, either. But Ariadne-" he looked at Adam. "She's not Rachel. She might find your Mom..."
"What?" Adam asked, reaching for the hash pipe.
"Over bearing," Kyle finished.
Adam bit his lip. "I'll talk to her first," he said, taking a drag.
Ariadne swallowed as she knocked on the door of the one storey house. She'd told the rest of the team she was leaving to see Adam, and they'd accepted it without a murmur. It surprised how quickly he'd become part of their lives - for a group who were always trying to keep their work secret, the arrival of this stranger had been quickly accepted. The rest of the team seemed overly eager to accommodate him, happy to let him into what had previously been a secret little world.
She waited for the door to open. When he did, she smiled. "Hi!"
"Hi yourself," he responded, opening it wider to let her in. She noticed that he was holding her more tightly than usual. "You ok?"
"Mmm," he mumbled, burying his face in her hair. "Yes."
Ariadne waited for him to disentangle himself, and they moved to the couch. He looked at her. "Coffee? Tea? Water?"
"Oh, I'm fine," she said quickly, settling herself. "You?"
"Oh, well," he paused. "Ariadne..."
"Yes?"
"Would you-" he looked at her, slightly troubled. She felt a slight flutter of panic that she tried to repress. "Would you- be prepared to meet my Mom?"
She blinked. "Your Mom?" A surge of relief coursed through her. "Of course!" She smiled and took his hand. "When?"
Adam looked uncomfortable. "Next couple of days?"
She nodded. "Yes. But-" she looked at him, trying to read his eyes. "Why do you want me to meet her now?"
He got up, and began pacing the floor. "Ari, I don't know if I have much time left, and I would like you to..." his voice trailed off, and he looked completely lost. Getting up, she moved towards him, and hugged him.
"Of course I'll do it," she whispered. He sighed. "Thank you."
"You OK?"
Ariadne looked up. Arthur, a slightly concerned expression on his face, was standing at her desk. She nodded. "Oh, I'm fine."
He narrowed his eyes, recognising her tone of voice. "You're sure?"
"Yes," she said quietly. Arthur turned, and walked off. Ariadne looked down at her drafts, trying to conceal the tumult she felt inside.
"Meeting his mother," she whispered. "It feels so-"
"So what?"
She blinked. Arthur was back at her desk - clearly, he'd heard her.
"Nothing," she said, hastily. "Except Adam wants me to meet his Mom, so I said yes."
Arthur raised an eyebrow. "His mother?"
"Well, I think he wants to make sure she approves," Ariadne said quickly. "Approves of us, I mean."
Arthur nodded. "I see." She looked at his face, but it was inscrutable. "Well, hope it goes ok."
She smiled. "Of course it will".
Adam swallowed, nervously. He'd arranged for his mother to come over, alone, that afternoon. He wasn't sure Ariadne could handle that his father was slowly falling further into Alzheimers. He turned to her, and smiled, nervously.
"Hope this will be ok," he said, and she touched his cheek. "I'm sure it will be."
At the knock on the door, he opened it. "Mom, hi, this is-"
"Adam!" a tall, attractive woman stated, practically pushing her way inside. "You look so ill! You are not taking proper care of yourself!"
Ariadne, looking at the uncomfortable expression on his face, suddenly realised that this was not going to be easy.
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