Last time: Oppie met Kait's parents.
Now: Oppie tries to impress the parents.
Chapter 11- Approval
"And then your father fell off the board, into the water, and nearly gave me a heart attack as he decided to play dead on the beach," Halla said, finishing her story of Taren's attempts at riding the waves on the ocean here and failing miserably at it. "Thankfully, my years of medical expertise told me he was fine and just being a jerk."
Taren smiled at that. "It's just a little fun is all," he said simply as they walked back up the steps of the porch that lead back to the house. "Surely, you've pulled pranks like that before on your own family, right Oppie?" He asked over his shoulder.
Oppie thought for a second as his chuckle died down, "oh, yes every now and then. Mostly on Sasha, my little sister." Wherever Sasha was back at Haven, he could just feel her suddenly looking up and glaring in his general direction even if they were thousands of light years away.
"See he gets it," Taren said smiling at his wife, who just smacked his arm as she opened the door to lead them back into the house.
"You've mentioned her and Viran, was it? You've mentioned them before as your little siblings. How much younger are they than you, especially if they are old enough to be married?" Halla asked as they entered the house.
"They're about the same age as each other, maybe a few months apart, they're about five years younger than me. Or four, I suppose, depending on how you look at it." Oppie answered.
"Ah I pictured them a lot younger for some reason," Halla said, nodding. "And they have been married for a while?"
"Yeah, about four years." Oppie said, "they have a daughter, my niece, Lana, who is almost two." He said.
That made Halla turn to face him as they walked into the living room. "They have a daughter? Oh please tell me if you have pictures!" She asked excitedly. "I've always wanted grandkids. And I love kids so much from my time as a doctor and a nurse. They were always the best little patients."
"I do, actually." Oppie said, reaching for the datapad he kept in the thigh pocket of his pants. He pulled up a picture he had taken several weeks ago with the entire family in the frame. They had been trying to get a family portrait, finally, with everyone present, so Sasha was proudly holding Lana with a big smile on her face and Viran was next to her with a cocky grin. He remembered Kyr had just said something to try to get Cien to laugh, so they caught a freeze frame of Cien glancing up at him crossly, while her then smaller baby bump was evident under her blouse, and Kyr looked into the camera with an innocent smirk from next to her in his full armor, since he had accomplished his goal of getting Cien to look crossly at him during the photo. Oppie was behind all of them trying to be seen in the small crowd. They'd retaken the shot after admonishing Kyr, but Oppie had kept this one as his favorite. He handed the pad over to Halla so she could see.
"That's Sasha, Viran and Lana. That's my twin brother Kyr, and his wife Cien." Oppie said, pointing them out.
Halla and Taren looked over the photo. Halla smiled at it. "Oh she is adorable," she gushed.
Taren looked at Oppie. "Your twin brother is a Mandalorian?"
"Yes," Oppie said, "I am too, Sasha and Viran got adopted into the family so all of us are, I guess. Kyr and Cien are the only ones with armor though."
"Huh interesting," Taren said. "Well I like the color of his armor."
"Yeah." Oppie remembered and pulled his heart piece out from under his shirt. "It's this, it's a special alloy Kyr prefers." He said, pulling the necklace from over his head and handing it to Taren to inspect.
Taren looked it over and his eyebrows shot up. "This is beskar. It's lighter than I thought. But that's very nice," he said as he handed it back to him.
"It is." Oppie said, looping it back over his head and tucking it back under his shirt.
"His wife Cien has very pretty armor as well, her's is kind of a very silvery gold color that really catches the light." Kait observed.
"That sounds very pretty," Halla commented as she looked up from the photo. "But it looks like she is pregnant here. Is she expecting?"
"Yes, twins." Oppie said.
"Twins? Oh congrats," Halla said, handing back the datapad. "You are going to be a busy uncle with three kids running around." She laughed lightly.
"Yes." Oppie said, nodding, "I'll have many cookies to make." He nodded solemnly.
"Wait, you bake?" Halla asked. "Do you cook too?" She asked almost not believing what she was hearing.
"Yep." Kait cut in before he could respond, "this last week when we were visiting his family, Op cooked the entire time. He's a really good cook." She said with a smirk at him, as he bashfully looked away.
"Is that so?" Halla asked, impressed. "Well, do you want to help me with getting dinner prepared?"
"Absolutely." Oppie said.
"Excellent," Halla beamed. "Let's go get started." She said as she headed for the kitchen.
Oppie went off to follow her into the kitchen. Taren watched them go for a second before heading over and taking a seat in the recliner in the living room.
Kait went and settled into a chair she remembered fondly as she relaxed in the room after their long walk along the beach. "This place is great, and being right off the ocean like this is incredible."
"It is. It really is," Taren agreed as he reclined back. "I admit I do miss our home back on Nivon and having the forests so close that we used to go hiking and camping in. I haven't found a good place around here to do that yet. But when I do, we should go on another camping trip just like the good old days."
"I'd love that." Kait said, "I think you'd really like Op's family's home." She thought aloud. "It's a really nice sort of mountain lodge with a lot of the same sorts of forests like what we'd go camping in. Lots of snow, to."
Taren perked up at that. "Really? That sounds amazing. I'd love to see it if they're willing to let us visit," he said, smirking at that.
"I'm sure they would. They were very welcoming to me when I met them before and then this last week when we were there." Kait said, rocking back in the chair a bit like she used to do when she was little.
"Well they look like a nice little family in that photo," Taren said gazing out the window. "Though it seems like they have all been through a lot in their time. I can just kind of tell from looking at the photo and from what Oppie has said."
"Yeah, they have." Kait said. "I think Op's only scratched the surface of it when he's talked about it with me, I get the impression there's more to it, and just more than what he's had a chance to talk to me about. A lot of it is based on them being Jedi and stuff, and I'm still trying to understand what that means if I'm being honest."
"I'm sure you'll understand it all someday," Taren said, looking at her. "Don't feel like you need to learn everything now about the person you are with. I mean I'm still learning new things about your mother even these days. But they will tell you when they are ready."
"Yeah." She said. "The odd thing is, they had such weird lives growing up that the stuff they have questions about are just basic, normal things. I was sitting around the fire just last night with them, and Sasha and Cien seemed perplexed by what it was like to have parents like you and mom." She said with a slightly bemused smirk. "It's been… interesting getting to know Op and his family."
"If they were Jedi, at least according to what little I know about them, they never knew their families," Taren said, scratching his beard. "Or lived normal lives. And I'm pretty sure Mandalorians are the opposite of normal, but I know they have families too. So you'll just have to teach them to be normal and they'll teach you more than I ever could." He said, smirking at that.
She nodded with a slight smile, that her dad was already seeing her with them in the long run. This was definitely going a lot better than last time she had brought someone to meet them. "Yeah, they live in this beautiful winter wonderland and I had to teach them about sledding, of all things, a couple of days ago, so I'm working on it." She said with a smile. "Op never got a chance to meet his family, apparently. His dad died when he was very little, and his mom and older sister died many years ago, while they were still on the run. His entire family was killed, apparently, by the Empire somehow before he met them aside from his brother Kyr and his two cousins, which I've met and are a lot of fun. Sasha, I think, mentioned that they had looked for her family up on Naboo, I don't know about Viran. Cien, I actually don't have any idea what her background is. They've formed a pretty strong bond because of all of that, and everything they shared. But they were really good about welcoming me into that, even before Op and I became official. Or were even together, for that matter."
Taren smirked at that. "Sounds like my relationship with my friends back at the precinct. We barely knew each other, but we made this bond that brought us closer. Almost like brothers in a way. So I get it. And I'm glad they have welcomed you like that. You were always really good at making friends," he said simply. "But just promise me to be careful. In case things don't work out between you and Oppie, I don't want to see you get your heart broken again. Okay?"
"Yeah, I know." She said, remembering that hard lesson from so long ago. "But… this feels different." She said, "I know anyone would say something like that, but…" She paused. "I didn't want to worry mom with it, but some of these assignments have been pretty rough, especially the one on Caranas. The marshal that I was working under framed me for being a mole, and tried to escalate that to the point where I almost got shot," she admitted. "Op and Viran figured that out in time to save me, from taking the fall for that and also getting shot. Then later Op saved my life when we were in the middle of their main manufacturing facility and they did a self destruct. I'd inhaled some refrigerant so I was in really bad shape, I couldn't get out of the facility in time, and he got me someplace safe and stayed with me when he didn't have to. After I told him to go. He almost died because of that, too." She paused. "I'm being careful, but… this feels like something very real here, dad. Way more real than I ever thought something could be."
Taren sat in silence for a long time as that all settled in. "I'm glad to hear you are okay and not hurt. I admit, it does worry me too that you are out there doing this kind of work. But I mean it when I say that you can handle yourself." He paused. "However, it is relieving to hear that Oppie was there for you for stuff like that. That's more than I can say about that other guy you used to date," he said coldly at the old memory. He cleared his throat as he continued. "He is quite an interesting guy. I would like to get to know him more while you both are here. But call it Dad's intuition, but he seems like a great guy." He looked at her and smiled. "I'm happy for you, Kaity. You've found yourself quite a knight in shining armor." He said genuinely.
"Thanks dad." She said with a smile. "I can't even remember that other guy's name, Vic?" She paused, thinking, "no, Vek. You were definitely right about him. It means a lot that you don't feel the same about Op."
"Of course," he chuckled. "I have had years of experience to be able to tell when someone is a bad person and that guy was nothing but bad news. But I don't see that in Op. He's a very good man."
"He is." She agreed.
Taren smiled at that.
At that moment, Halla popped her head into the room, grinning. "Kaity, you better marry this man. He is a fantastic cook! And finding a man who can cook is a rarity."
"Mom!" Kait said in surprise.
"So where did you learn to cook?" Halla asked, smiling at Oppie as she put together the sauce for the pasta they were going to have.
They had just walked into the kitchen after the walk on the beach, leaving Kait in the living room with her dad, and Oppie was standing in front of the cutting board dicing the onions as she had asked. "Self taught, really, I suppose." He said, "I always found it really relaxing to cook once we started having the opportunity."
"Self taught? Very interesting," Halla said, glancing at him. "My mother and grandmother taught me to cook. And I have passed on what I know to Kait so she could cook on her own. Has she made you anything yet?"
"No, this last week was really the first time we've been anywhere with a kitchen. The embassies had a cafeteria type setup, and then the hotels and inns we were at didn't have anything for cooking." He said, "did you want this garlic diced finely or kind of rough?" He asked.
"Oh, um," she thought for a moment, "diced should work perfectly for this recipe." She then returned on topic. "And she is a good cook. She usually helps me with meals when she visits. So you may get a chance while you are here to try it."
"That would be great, I had no idea she cooked." He said, "I think the idea that I could came as a surprise to her." He said as he smashed the cloves with the flat of the blade and started dicing them finely.
"If I had to take a guess I think that is because her father is great with cooking over an open flame, but the finer points of cooking, not so much," she explained with a chuckle. Her smile faltered for a second. "And her brother burnt everything he touched. I remember he actually burnt water when I was first teaching him. She is probably just used to the men in her life either not being able to cook or cooking very little."
Oppie smirked slightly. "My brother Kyr is a terror in the kitchen. He can cook a few good things, but he made us sick several years ago when he made chili when Sasha and Viran became knights. He sort of made up for it a few weeks ago when he finally cooked again and it was good. But it was food over an open fire as well."
"Ah then he and Taren would get along well," Halla chuckled at that. "So are you the only chef in your family or did you teach Sasha and Viran?" She asked as she added some spices to the sauce.
"Sasha and Viran have definitely picked it up. When they got old enough, even though we were on the run we would live in separate apartments in the same building, and we'd still keep to these family dinners that were sort of like a pot luck between us."
"That's sweet," she said, glancing at him. "I think family dinners are important even if no one talks. It allows for a chance to catch up on the day or week or to just talk. And when the kids grow up and move out or someone in the family passes away too soon, it becomes a rare thing to have the older you get. Or more important to those that remain. Never take that for granted."
"I agree." He said, "we still actually sit down for family dinners still, whenever we can, usually every night." He scooped the garlic and the onions into a bowl and handed it to her so she could add them to the sauce base.
"Good," Halla said, nodding as she took the bowl and dumped them in before stirring it for a moment. "So with you being Jedi and Mandalorians and Marshals, I assume you all travel the galaxy and do what Kaity does?" She asked changing the subject as she started pulling out pasta from one of the cabinets.
"Yeah, Kyr used to do some private contracting as a Mandalorian years ago. When we came back we sort of got into that and started doing independent work helping negotiate things, or helping with simple law enforcement type stuff." He said, "so we had a nice family operation where we would go help people out, and we'd just go with whoever wanted to go, or had skills that were applicable to the job. I've been all over the galaxy, as a Padawan, during the Clone Wars, and then afterwards."
"So do you all go as a family or just a few of you go? And if you go off and do all of this, does your niece go with?" Halla asked as she started boiling the water. She then glanced at him. "Here, can you season and cook the meat that will go into the sauce? The package is in the fridge."
"Sure, do you have a saute pan?" He asked, looking around.
"Yes," she said as she opened a cabinet next to the oven and produced a saucepan. She set it down on the stove top on the next available burner. "Here you go."
"Thanks" He said, going to the cold box and taking the ground meat out and putting it in the pan. "Usually Viran or Sasha might stay home with her, if one or the other needs to go. She's not quite big enough to travel, yet. Our cousins, Kitsu and Illara watched Lana last time when we all went out to Caranas." He said, using a spatula to start breaking the meat apart as it started sizzling. "We also have some family friends, Sasha and Cien's midwife and her wife, who love watching Lana. Then there's RV, a droid we found when we finally went back to my family's main home on Mandalore, and has apparently been a caretaker going back several generations." He started looking through the spice rack for what to season the meat with.
"Wow, sounds like she has quite the babysitting crew on hand," Halla said, glancing at him with her eyebrows raised. "I'm glad to hear that." There was a brief silence. "So is the work you all do dangerous? I know Kait tries to put my mind at ease that her work isn't dangerous, but her father was in the same line of work and there were a few close calls." She then went quiet. "And when her brother arrived at the hospital…" she trailed off. "Sorry. I may have been a nurse for many years, but the last thing you want to see as a parent in my field is your own child coming in in critical condition. So that's why I will always worry about Kaity in this line of work."
"No, I completely understand." Oppie said absently as he sprinkled some dried herbs into the meat and took that as a chance to gather his thoughts. "The work that we do, there's always that bit of danger. That's why whenever my family has gone out we've gone out with at least one or the other of us so there's always someone there. We, personally, have faced some pretty bad stuff, so we know what is out there, as Kait does. But most of the job is, really, just sitting at a desk and trying to solve a puzzle, or going out to a site after it's been secured and investigating that. That's the part Kait and I both enjoy about the job. The rest of it, the more dangerous part, it's not been anything where we haven't had plenty of back-up, and nothing we couldn't handle. And Kait is very capable of handling herself, she was there next to us Jedi, able to deal with it." He said, hoping it was the right thing to say. "And I won't let anything ever happen to Kait." He promised, more quietly but with all possible weight of meaning behind it.
Halla sighed in what sounded like relief. "Thank you Oppie. You need to know how grateful I feel knowing that she has someone to protect her like that," she said in a heartfelt voice. "Jedi or not. But that does make it better. So please take care of my baby girl and if something does ever happen to either of you, please contact us. Okay?"
"I will." He promised, as he checked the meat. "I think this might be ready." He suggested, as it was starting to get browned.
"Thank you," she said, then looked down at the meat. "Okay. Let me grab a fork and see if it needs a little more time." She went over to a nearby drawer and pulled out a fork. She then turned back to the stove and stabbed it into a small piece of meat. She then brought it to her lips and immediately her eyes widened at the flavor. "Oh my. What did you add to this? This is fantastic."
"Just what you had here, basil, oregano, garlic, onion, ground chaffa and some red pepper flakes." He said.
"Wow! I normally just add a little bit of garlic and chaffa. I never considered adding the rest," Halla said, head over heels. "I need to go tell the others. This is amazing." She said as she headed over for the archway that led to the living room and Oppie looked on in surprise. "Kaity, you better marry this man. He is a fantastic cook! And finding a man who can cook is a rarity." She called into the living room.
Oppie shrank in on himself from the compliment. And also from the suggestion of marriage, at least this early in their relationship.
"Mom!" He heard Kait exclaim in surprise.
Halla chuckled as she came back into the kitchen. She saw Oppie's expression and smiled. "Sorry about that. But you should know the truth of how good your cooking is."
"Thanks." He said, and was curious what her reaction might have been to something far more complicated than just seasoned ground meat.
"Alright, let's add the meat to the sauce and then we should be ready to dish up," Halla said as she returned to the stove top and stirred the noodles.
The surf swept up the sand, and the sun disappeared under the horizon in a spectacular display. Kait was sitting with her arms around her legs, looking out at the ocean spreading before her, every ripple for the seemingly endless kilometers stretching before her catching the glint of the sunset. For all the times she'd wished to see an ocean, and for the times she thought she might not, she sighed with a small smile.
"After dinner lemonade, madam?" Oppie asked, settling into the sand next to her.
"Thanks." She said, taking the glass with a smile. He was in a comfortable tunic and pants which, oddly, matched her blouse and skirt. They had changed into more appropriate attire for the beach when the two of them and her parents had gone for another walk along the surf after dinner. He'd gone with them inside to go get a drink after she had decided to stay out here and enjoy the sunset.
"So is it everything you were hoping it would be?" He asked, looking out across the same vista.
"The ocean?" She asked, glancing at him.
Oppie glanced at her. "No, the lemonade." He teased.
"Don't be mean." Kait replied playfully.
"Sorry, it runs in the family." Oppie said apologetically.
Kait laughed as she took a sip of her mom's lemonade. "It's beautiful." She said, looking out across the sunset. "Growing up on Nivon the best I ever saw was a lake up in the mountains, we never went to that huge shallow sea that was in the southern hemisphere." She was silent for a moment. "I'd still like to go visit that one beach you described, though."
"Which beach?" He asked, looking over at her.
"In that computer room, you were telling me about that beach your family went to." She said looking over at him.
"Oh, I..." He paused, "I'm surprised you remembered that. You seemed pretty out of it then."
"I remember enough." She said with a slight smile, looking out across the ocean again.
He still looked over at her, and then back out across the water. "I'm sure we'll go there sometime soon."
"Maybe just the two of us?" She asked with a smirk, still looking out at the sunset.
"Quite possibly." Oppie replied.
She gave him a sidelong glance but didn't say anything more. She was fairly sure her parents were probably watching which was why Op had sat down next to her but left a small amount of respectful space between them. She scooted over and closed the distance, leaning against him and his shoulder. "So what do you think?" She asked.
"Of?" He asked.
"My parents. The first real parents you've met." She said in a slightly teasing tone.
"They seem nice." Oppie said after a moment.
She waited a while for him to continue. "And?" She asked.
"I dunno, they're different than I expected." He admitted.
"What? How are they different?" She asked bemused.
"I dunno." He repeated. "I've faced down armies, both Separatists and Sith. I've fought Sith Lords across two different planes of existence. I've been held captive by the cartel, and we faced off against those Jedi killing Deathtroopers. I have to admit I don't think I've ever been as scared of anyone as I have your dad." He said quietly. "Your mom seems really nice though."
Kait fully laughed at that. "My dad scares you?" She teased in between laughs.
"Yes." Oppie said sharply, but with a tone belying bemusement. "He wants to take me shooting the day after tomorrow. I don't quite know if he meant 'with' me or 'at' me."
"Well you'll have your sabers to protect you." Kait said, still chuckling.
"I guess." Oppie said distantly.
"Well mom likes you." Kait noted. "After all, she said we should get married, that seems like a good sign."
Oppie coughed. "Yeah, I guess." He said in rueful agreement.
"I think dad likes you, for what it's worth." She said with a smile. "He called you a 'knight in shining armor'." She said, teasing him.
Oppie was quiet for a second as she leaned her head against his shoulder. "Well, I'm a knight, but I don't have any armor." He noted. "Why did he think I have armor? Is it because I'm Mandalorian?" He asked
She leaned away from him for a second and gave him a confused look. "It's a saying." She said flatly.
"Oh." Oppie said, in understanding, and she couldn't quite tell if he was serious about not knowing about that.
"Op, you're weird." She said, leaning against his shoulder again, the sun had disappeared under the distant horizon and the stars were just coming out.
"I can get armor, if that would help. I think Kyr and Cien know someone." Oppie said, now his tone fully betraying that he was just teasing her now.
"Oh, you should." Kait said in agreement. "I think you'd look quite dashing."
"If I get copper armor just like Kyrs then you guys wouldn't be able to tell us apart." He mused.
"Yes we could." Kait said.
"How do you know I'm not Kyr?" Oppie said, looking down at her.
"Because he wouldn't be scared of my dad, and he'd be excited to go shooting. I know his type." She said with amusement.
"Oh." Oppie said. "I thought it would be because of his gray."
"No that could be dyed one way or the other. I wouldn't trust that." Kait said matter of factly.
"I'm glad they seem to like me." Oppie said after a moment, as the last streamers of the sun disappeared and there was the soft orange glow that suffused the horizon.
"Me too." Kait said with a smile as she snuggled closer. "I guess we'll find out the day after tomorrow what my dad really thinks of you, though."
He leaned his head down against hers as she rested her head on his shoulder. The surf was slowly waving back and forth, up and down the beach with the soft noise of the ocean against sand, and stars overhead were showing in full force.
"You don't think he'd shoot me, do you?" Oppie softly asked after a while.
"No." Kait replied quietly. "Mom likes you too much, and he's afraid of her."
"I'll try to stay in her good graces then." Oppie said through a smirk. "It seems tenuous but balanced. Maybe I'll last long enough for your dad to begrudgingly like me."
"Well don't worry, I'll let your family know what happened if things go wrong between you and him." Kait said with a smirk.
"Thanks." Oppie said.
"No problem." Kait replied.
They sat quietly for a moment, enjoying the ocean and each other being so close. "But seriously though, do you think he's going to shoot me?" He asked in a more serious tone.
Taren watched from the bay window as Kaity and Oppie sat together on the beach. Halla approached behind him and wrapped her arms around him.
"Stop spying on her," Halla scolded him with a smirk.
"I'm just making sure that she is okay," Taren said, glancing over his shoulder at his wife.
"She's a grown woman with a Jedi for a boyfriend. She will be okay," Halla said, meeting his gaze. "Besides, they are right outside. If there was danger, we would hear them." She then tugged his arm. "Come on, away from the window."
Taren sighed. "Fine. I'll leave them be."
"Good," Halla said as she smiled at him and led him to the living room.
Review!
