Author's Note: I decided to go with Peter's parents for a start, simply because they're not in the show which made it easier for me to create my own images of them.

I have a busy couple of days ahead of me so I really wanted to get this chapter out before that, therefore I apologize if it seems rushed and also for any potential mistakes.

MEETING THE GRANDPARENTS

Neal quickly noticed that something was different this morning.
The adults would normally happily talk about their day or something they read in the newspaper but today they were both quiet.
They kept looking at each other, having one of their silent conversations that Neal could never understand, and the once in a while glancing over at him.
He started to get nervous and he mentally went through everything that he'd done the past couple of days, trying to figure out if he had done something wrong.
Finally Peter decided to break the uncomfortable silence by clearing his throat and Neal froze.
He slowly looked up at the agent and relaxed as he realized that Peter didn't look disappointed, which he usually did if Neal had done something wrong.
Peter seemed to hesitate a little, glancing back at his wife who nodded encouragingly at him, before he finally decided to spit it out.

"My parents are coming to town this weekend. They're really excited to meet you."

Neal hadn't even thought about the fact that Peter and Elizabeth had parents and the adults hadn't even mentioned them before.
When he didn't answer Peter seemed to get even more nervous.

"They're your grandparents...you know what grandparents are right?"

Elizabeth chuckled, amused over his nervousness, while Neal nodded.
He knew what grandparents were even if he didn't have too much of an experience with them.
He knew that his mother's parents had passed away long before he was even born, he could remember his mommy speaking very fondly of them and telling him stories about their lives.
Neal didn't know anything about James' father but he did have vague memories of James' mother from when he was really young.
He couldn't remember much about her except that she'd had dark hair with grey stripes in it, that she had a pale face that never wore a smile and that she was angry all the time.
He didn't know who she had been angry at, if it had been him, James or if she had simply been mad at the world, but he did remember being terrified of her.
Every time she came to their apartment, he had hid somewhere while James and his mother had been yelling at each other.
She had visited them once in a while for the first years of his life but then suddenly, just a short while before his dad had left, she had just stopped showing up and Neal had no idea if she had passed away or if she just didn't want to see them any longer.
He really hoped that Peter's parents wouldn't be angry like her.

"Are you okay with meeting them, Neal?"
Peter asked and when Neal eventually nodded, he seemed to finally relax.

Once he arrived at school, he immediately told Sara about the upcoming visit with his new grandparents.
"What are your grandparents like?"
"Daddy's parents are the best! They always give me candy or toys and they always wanna play with me and my grandpa is really funny!"
"What about your mommy's parents?"

Sara's smile disappeared and was replaced with a frown as she proceeded to tell him about her other grandparents.
Her mother's parents were no fun at all, they never had any gifts not even for birthdays or Christmas, and they seemed to always be in a bad mood, always scolding Sara for being too loud or too energetic.
Neal really hoped that Peter's parents would be like Sara's father's parents and not like her mother's because they sounded no fun at all.
Sara convinced him that Peter's parents were probably the fun kind and they spent the rest of the day discussing what they would be like.
Neal stayed realistic and imagined that they would be kind and fun just like Peter while Sara imagined that his grandfather was a secret spy and his grandmother was a mad scientist that had created Peter in a lab.
Over the next few days his excitement just grew and grew and he just couldn't wait for Saturday to arrive but then eventually Friday evening came along and just like a rollercoaster, his excitement dropped.
He was in his bed, the adults had just said good night and left, when it happened.
It had been one thing to wait for the visit while imagining what they were like but tomorrow he would actually have to meet them and there were a big chance that they were nothing at all like his mental picture of them.
He had just assumed that they would be just as fun and kind as Peter because they were his parents but Sara's mom was the complete opposite of her parents.
What if Peter's parents would be like them?
Boring and always complaining about Neal being too much.
Or worse what if they would be angry all the time and scare him just like James' mother?
What if they would be really nice people but they wouldn't like him?
His mental pictures of them were distorted and they turned into mean, angry people who didn't like him at all.
It felt like an eternity passed before his exhausted body finally won over his anxious mind.

The morning came way too soon and Neal did not want to even get up, he wanted to just stay in bed for the rest of the day but of course Peter wouldn't let him.
After refusing to get up, Peter had lifted him out of bed.

"Now we have to get you dressed."

He said but Neal crossed his arms, stomped his foot and protested loudly.
If he was acting up then maybe they would cancel the visit just like that one time that he acted up and Elizabeth had threatened to cancel the play-date with Sara if he didn't behave.
Peter tried his best to get Neal dressed but the boy made it impossible for him.
The agent was getting really frustrated which made Neal feel bad, he had notice that the visit had already been stressing Peter out.

"Damn it, Neal!"

Peter swore and threw the shirt on the floor in frustration as Neal yet again refused to get out of his pyjamas.
Even if he had long since stopped flinching every time Peter was irritated or got too close, knowing that the man would never hurt him, he still felt his heart speed up every time there was any anger directed towards him, especially when it was adults.
The agent closed his eyes and took a couple of deep breaths, calming himself down.

"Why are you being so difficult this morning? I thought you were excited to meet my parents?"

He asked in a calm tone.
Neal bit his lip while looking down on his socks to avoid eye contact.

"I'm scared."

He admitted and Peter's expression softened.

"What are you scared of, buddy?"
"I'm scared that they're going to be really boring or mean. James mommy was always angry and mean."

Peter put a finger under his chin and gently forced his head up so that their eyes would meet.

"My parents are good people, I promise you that. If they hadn't been I wouldn't have let them see you even if they are family."

Neal felt a little calmed by that but is other fear still remained.

"What if they don't like me?"

He asked and Peter smiled.
"Neal, I've told them all about you and they have wanted to meet you in person for a really long time now. They already love you, kid."

Even if Peter's words had helped him calm down and had helped him to both get dressed and go downstairs to eat breakfast, the fear still returned as soon as he was alone.
Elizabeth had gone upstairs to fix the new bedroom, it had previously been a small room used for storage but after Neal took over their old guest room it had been turned into a new guest room.
Peter had gone upstairs to change his shirt after he had accidentally spilled coffee all over himself, something that had caused both Neal and Elizabeth to giggle.
He looked over at the backdoor, maybe if he was real quiet then he could sneak out and hide in the backyard and hide until Peter's parents had left or until he felt ready to meet them.
He carefully crossed the room, mindful of every floorboard, and he was just reaching out for the door handle when he heard footsteps behind him.

"Not so fast, kiddo."

Peter said and Neal had to give up his plan.

"It's going to be okay."

Peter promised him again but the fear still remained.
The doorbell rung and Neal immediately got up from the couch but not to answer it, instead he ran over to Elizabeth who was in the kitchen and hid behind her, something that caused her to laugh.
Peter went to open the door while Satchmo was already by the door, waiting and barking impatiently.
Neal could hear them talking, at least they didn't sound angry.
He could hear Peter asking them to sit down on the couch before he came into the kitchen.
With a little coaxing the agent managed to get Neal to leave Elizabeth and follow him out to the living room.

"You can stay close to me all the time."

Peter said as he grabbed his hand and led him out in the living room.
On the couch were Peter's parents and their faces lit up when they saw him.
Peter's mother was petite, she was probably a lot shorter than Elizabeth, and she had long brown hair that had been put in a tight bun.
Her face was round and her chin a little pointy but he could see the similarities with Peter, they had the same eyes.
Her thin lips had been coated with a dark lipstick and unlike James' mother she looked like she always smiled.
His father was even more similar to Peter except his eyes were smaller, his face was rounder and he had a stubble, where the hair had started to grey.
Peter's mother suddenly looked like she was going to cry and Neal got worried that something was wrong.
Peter sat down on one of the armchairs and Neal got up in his lap, his eyes going between the people on the couch and his hands.

"He's a little shy."

Peter said and they both nodded.
His mother's eyes seemed to be glued on Neal and he started to feel uncomfortable.

"You're even cuter in real life than in the pictures."

She commented and Neal could feel his cheeks flush.
Elizabeth finally came into the room and Peter's mother stopped staring at him.
Elizabeth put down a tray with a plate of cookies, four cookies and a glass of juice on it.
While they ate the cookies, the adults were talking about their lives.
Peter and Elizabeth talked about their jobs while Peter's parents updated them on how things were going at home, gossiping about some neighbour and talked about how their dog had recently been at the vet after a fight with a cat.
Neal thought they had completely forgotten about him until Peter's mother suddenly let out an excited noise and looked at him.

"I have a surprise for you, sweetie."

She said and reached for her purse, she dug around in it for a couple of seconds before she found what she was looking for.
An envelope was pulled out and she held it up for him to see.
It was a regular white envelope and she had written his name on it with big, blue letters.
Neal looked back at Peter who smiled and lifted him off his lap before giving him a gentle push.

"Go on."

He prompted and Neal slowly walked the steps between the armchair and the couch and took the envelope from her.

"Open it."

He got the envelope open and pulled out five tickets.
Neal had no trouble reading the words on the tickets, he would recognize the title "The lion king" anywhere.

"I heard that The lion king is your favourite movie so I thought we would go to the cinema and watch the remake."

Neal looked at the tickets before looking at Peter and Elizabeth in disbelief.
For weeks he had asked them to go see the movie but they had always said no.

"What do you say?"

Elizabeth prompted and Neal looked back at Peter's mother.

"Thank you."

He said and before he knew what he was doing he had thrown his arms around her in a hug.

"Thank you!"
He repeated.

It wasn't until they were in the line for popcorn that Neal learned that Peter's mother was a huge fan of The lion king too.

"Who's your favourite?"
"Simba."
"Mine too!"

Both of them had watched the movie so many times that hey had memorized it and they ended up in a long discussion about what the best parts of the movie were while the rest of them stood by their side with amused smiles.
Once inside the movie theatre, Neal insisted that he would sit next to Peter's mother so that they could whisper to each other during the movie.
He ended up between Elizabeth and Peter's mother while Peter and his father sat on the other side of his grandmother.
The movie ended up being great, even if it couldn't beat the original, with some new scenes and new jokes.
When they were walking out of the cinema, they immediately started a discussion again, comparing the original and the new movie.

After watching the movie, they went to a diner where they had some food and then they went back home where both Neal and Peter's mother insisted that they would watch the original Lion King.
The others protested but they won in the end and they ended up watching the movie.
As it was time for bed, Neal asked his new grandmother if she could read him his Lion King book and Peter groaned.

"Aren't you tired of The lion king by now?"

He asked but both of them gave him an "are you kidding" look before they went upstairs.
Peter's dad followed them and sat down with his wife by Neal's bed.
He was apparently really good at doing voices, so while his grandmother narrated the story, her husband did all of the dialogue.
Neal laughed at his spot-on impression of Pumbaa and once they were done, he insisted that they would read it again but they unfortunately thought that once was enough.
Once they had left, Peter and Elizabeth came into the room and said good night before they left him alone.
Yet again he had a hard time falling asleep but this time it was because he was filled to the brink with happiness and excitement for tomorrow.

Despite his troubles falling asleep, he woke up early and got up, ready to start the day but was disappointed when he realized that he was the only one awake.
He thought about what to do and came up with the idea to make his new grandparents breakfast.
Neal thought about doing it on his own but since he didn't know how to make coffee he decided to wake someone up.
After some debating he decided to wake Elizabeth since Peter could be a little grumpy in the mornings.
He sneaked into the room, shushing the dog who had gotten up to greet him, and then he walked over to Elizabeth and carefully shook her awake.
She groaned and looked over at the alarm clock.

"Neal it's still early, go back to bed."
"I wanna make breakfast for grandma and grandpa."

He said and Elizabeth looked like she was thinking about it.

"Please mommy."

Neal said, hoping that him calling her mommy would make her say yes and he was right.
She quietly got out of bed and together they walked downstairs to make some breakfast.
Neal decided that they would make some pancakes and with Elizabeth's instructions he made the batter all on his own, something he was incredibly proud over.
By the time they heard footsteps coming down the stairs, the house was filled with a lovely smell of pancakes and coffee.
Neal ran over to the stairs where Peter's parents were, both of them still looking tired.
He quickly grabbed each of their hands and even if the elderly couple looked surprised they didn't protest.
Neal led them to the kitchen table where Elizabeth had just put down the plate of pancakes.

"We made you breakfast! I made the pancakes all on my own!"

He said and the couple smiled at him.

"Thank you, sweetie."

Peter's mother said before she let go of his hand to get some coffee to wake her up.

"You're really talented. Maybe you should become a chef someday."

Peter's dad praised and Neal's smile grew.

"Why don't you go and wake up your dad?"

Neal nodded before letting go of his hand and running upstairs, pretending not to hear Elizabeth telling him to not run.
Peter was still asleep when Neal got into the room and he threw himself on the bed and shook the man, a little more rough than he had with Elizabeth.
Peter groaned but opened his eyes.

"Pancakes?"

Was the first thing he asked as the smell reached him.

"I made them all on my own!"

He said before gently pushing Peter.

"Get up and eat so that I can play with grandma and grandpa!"

Peter smiled and reached out to ruffle his hair.

"I told you everything would be fine, didn't I?"

Neal nodded, feeling stupid for even being scared in the first place.
Peter yawned and closed his eyes again, something that caused Neal to groan.
The longer Peter took, the longer it would take for them to finish breakfast and the longer it would take before he could play with his grandparents.
They were going home this afternoon so he had very limited time with them.

"Get up, old man!"

Neal ordered and Peter opened his eyes and gave him an offended look.

"I'm not old."

He answered and when Neal insisted that he was, he sat up so that he could tickle Neal until the he gave up and admitted that Peter wasn't old.
After the tickling had stopped, the two of them walked downstairs, ready for another fun day with Neal's new grandparents.