Ghost Writer and Veteran, Chapter 7

Dear Diary,

…so I'm going to do the thing I did with my last entry. Leading with the big news immediately, because my dramatic and news writing instincts call for it. Without further ado:

My mother came to visit.

I've been regularly talking to my folks over the course of my time on Corneria. My mother, being the eager force of nature that she is, told me she would love to visit while I'm here. I would be all for it in the first place—I miss my parents, and the good time I'm having here can't hold off all homesickness—but my regular dispatches home made my mother rather taken with Fox. I told her I would love for her to come over and meet him. And when I passed this news over to Fox, after we just finished the start of the battle on Venom's surface, he agreed to meet her; he would love to. In fact, why not have dinner, just the three of us, at his place? I agreed, as did mother.

"She's rather exuberant," I said, grinning, after plans were set.

"Oh, I'm sure everything will be fine," he said.

I knew then. Oh, how I knew then this was going to be hilarious.

On the day she flew into the space port, Fox drove me to pick her up. In the waiting area—thankfully, her flight was on time, so we wouldn't be waiting long—he asked if there was anything he should be prepared for.

"Like I said, she's exuberant," I said, smirking.

"Any new information?"

"Nope," I said. "I want it to be funny. You're going in blind."

Her ship came in, and she was easy to pick out of the crowd of new arrivals entering the space port; a tall, blue vixen in a tropical dress waving to us as soon as she spotted me. She made a beeline for us and pulled me into a tight hug.

"There's my writing adventurer!" she said. She pulled back, leaving me to bask in the pride and love in her eyes. "You look like you're doing magnificently, Krystal."

Then I introduced her to Fox. He stepped forward, holding out his paw, smiling and introducing himself in that gentlemanly manner of his. My mother just looked at him. Fox's smile faltered as mother looked him up and down, and it was right when the awkwardness was becoming unbearable—and I know mother did that on purpose—that with a squeal she snatched him into her arms and pulled him into a tight hug. Fox went beet red.

"Krystal, we are keeping him," she said, ignoring Fox's muffled surprise. "We are keeping him, and taking him home."

I started cackling with laughter. Fox's blush got brighter. When she finally let him go, Fox was dazed, until he put on a shy smile.

"Um," he said, "nice to meet you, ma'm."

I think mother took mercy on him, because if she didn't he would've been buried in another hug. "Oh, you are absolutely coming home with us," she said.

"I need to finish the project first, mother," I said. I smiled and rolled my eyes.

The space flight was a long one, and mother was famished. Fox offered to start dinner early, and we agreed. During the drive mother admired the passing scenery just as I did when I arrived, with Fox answering all her questions about this stately looking building or that lovely looking park. If I had had any worries about Fox and mother not getting along, they would've been dispelled right then.

When we pulled into Fox's driveway, mother cooed in delight at Fox's "lovely little farm house," and she was even more delighted when she saw how well-ordered the interior was.

"Well domesticated I see," she said, winking at him.

"Just good habits, ma'm," said Fox.

"Cal me Lapis, dear," she said. "No need to be too formal."

Fox got around to cooking. He'd done most of the meal prep last night, so dinner wouldn't be long. While he cooked mother and I chatted in his living room. She told me how everyone back in Ca Jouja was eager to read the finished product, that all was how I left it back in my home town. Father and Uncle Tanzanite knew I was getting along just fine, and Auntie Garnet, ever the one to look after everyone's well-being, told me to take care of myself, eat right, and pace my work. She was sure, too, that Fox was a delightful subject, and in this she was absolutely right. I told mother what I enjoyed the most about Corneria—the sights, the smells, and people—and she smiled and nodded.

"It's been some time since I visited Corneria City," she said. "But it hasn't changed much. And I knew you would enjoy it."

Just then, the smell of Fox's dinner rolls wafted into the room. Mother sniffed the air, and about fell into a trance.

"He bakes like that?" she said.

I giggled and nodded.

"Now I know we have to kidnap him," she said.

Mother's stream of compliments only continued when dinner was served. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head after practically every bite.

We chatted as we ate, with mother asking plenty of questions. Where did he learn how to cook, how was the memoir coming along, and how was my daughter with the work?

"Krystal is amazing," he said. "It's thanks to her that I feel like I'm doing something important, getting this memoir out."

Now it was my turn to blush. Mother glanced at me, and then looked back at Fox.

"I also heard you two went out to dinner," she said.

Fox nodded. "I figured she told her folks," he said. He blushed. "I wanted to spend some time with her, outside of work. I had a wonderful time."

"So did I," I said.

Mother looked at the two of us, and there was a glint in her eye. She seemed livelier somehow for the rest of dinner.

When we finished eating and helped Fox clean up—we insisted—he drove mother and I back into the city. My apartment is within walking distance of mother's hotel, so he dropped us both off together at the hotel entrance. We both watched him wave goodbye as he drove off, and we waved back.

Mother looked at me, smiling.

"I approve," she said.

"Hmm?" I said, caught off guard.

She just smiled wider.

I blushed. Well…of course she would figure it out. Telepath or not, my mother knows her daughter. I put a paw to my chest.

"When I'm with him," I said, "all feels well."

"He feels the same way," said mother. She winked at me.

When I'm with him, all feels well.

-Krystal