Meeting the parents.

Who: Jessalyn and Madock
When: Evening
Where: Jessalyn's house

He'd thought about texting Jessalyn earlier in the day, but he hadn't. He decided instead to surprise her by just showing up. Maybe she'd want to go for a walk or something. Maybe. So he'd walked over to her place and stood on the doorstep for about two minutes before he even knocked on the door. Hopefully she'd answer and he'd avoid the dad again like he had before. Course he couldn't get that lucky twice could he?

Matthew Lainey had been in the sitting room going over curriculum changes when he heard the steps on the front porch, and then the knock. He waited a moment, to see if maybe Pamela would be answering it, but he could hear her upstairs lecturing Jacob on the disaster state of his room, so he realized it was up to him to send the solicitor away. Sighing, Matthew stood and set his papers down before unlocking the door and opening it. His eyes landed on a boy. A teenage boy. One who looked too old to be friends with fifteen year old Jacob, so that must have meant... he was here for Jessalyn. His baby girl. Matthew tensed, though with a forced smile. Becoming overprotective dad now wouldn't help matters, especially since he trusted Jessalyn's judgment completely.

"Hi, can I help you?"

Shit Madock thought immediately. There was the dad and now he had about two seconds to come up with a non-dumbass sounding greeting and pray to god that he didn't sound like a total goof.

"Hello. Yes, is Jessalyn here?" he questioned. "I'm Madock Barrow, she and I go to school together, Sir and I was wondering if it'd be okay if I said hello to her." Okay. There. That wasn't too bad. Maybe. Maybe not. Madock wasn't really sure. The 'sir' could have been too much.

Matthew cocked a dark eyebrow at the boy, At least he wasn't a bumbling fool like some of the boys Jessalyn had brought around. And he was asking permission to say hello to her... that was... something. "Nice to meet you, Madock. I'm Mr. Lainey, Jess's dad. Uh, she's upstairs sewing... or knitting, or whatever it is she does in her room with all of her machinery and supplies. But yes, I think you could come in and say hello to her." He stepped back to let Madock inside before offering his hand to shake. "It's nice to meet you. You're the boy who took her out this weekend?"

Madock entered the house and reached out and prayed his hand wasn't sweaty as he shook the man's hand. "Yes." he nodded. "I'm sorry I didn't say hello then, Jessalyn was in a hurry and you never keep a lady waiting, right?" He hoped. Maybe you should keep them waiting if their father's were there and you could have met them. Good god what was he doing? He was probably doing something totally wrong, but at least he wasn't glaring at him yet.

Matthew stared for a moment before smiling. "Yes, that's exactly right. I think Pamela would like you." Matthew left Madock to head to the bottom of the stairs. "Pamela!" He called. "Come meet Jessalyn's new friend!" He wasn't trying to embarrass the boy, but he knew if his wife found out Jess's 'boy' friend had been by and she hadn't known? He would hear about it all night. "Have a seat," Matthew said, motioning to the couch. "Would you like a drink?"

Oh god... I have to meet the mom too? Fuck. Please let me not fuck this up. he thought as he smiled and took a seat on the couch. "No, thank you. I'm fine." he said, glancing around the house and trying not to look nervous as hell. He'd met the dad and now he had to meet the mom and he was going to die before he saw Jessalyn again.

It wasn't only Pamela who came down the stairs, but Jacob too. Jessalyn's mother smiled when she caught sight of Madock, though Jacob stayed on the bottom step, scowling at the boy. "Hi, I'm Jessalyn's mom. Nice to finally meet you... she talks about you non-stop," Pamela said, trailing off when she realized she probably shouldn't be saying anything potentially embarrassing to her daughter. Rubbing her protruding stomach, she glanced at Matthew and was relieved to see he wasn't red-faced and scowling. That was a good sign. "Jacob, go get your sister," Pamela said before walking to sit down in the arm chair beside the couch. "She told me you're on the football team?"

"Football?" That caught Matthew's attention and his eyes widened as he studied Madock. Jess was dating a jock? "What position do you play?"

Madock stood when Jessalyn's mother entered the room and smiled back at her, catch that scowl from the boy and wondering why he got it at the same time as not addressing it. He was the one that ended up blushing when he heard Jessalyn talked about him non stop. "Hello." he said with a smile and he nodded when asked if he was on the football team. His attention turned back to Mr. Lainey. "I play running back." he smiled. "You like football?" Football was safe. He could talk about football non-stop. Football was definitely a topic he was more than content to accept.

"Ah, running back... I played tight end in high school," Matthew said with a wistful sigh. "Best days of my life, I have to say! Football and girls...er, well, only one girl." He caught himself and beamed at his wife, who merely rolled her eyes. "But yes, it's safe to say I like football. You should come over and watch a game or two--"

"Dad." Wanting to save Madock from any further embarrassment, Jessalyn came bounding down the stairs, Jacob trailing behind her. She was smiling brightly, pleasantly surprised that Madock had actually come to see her since she had been waiting for his phone call almost all day. "Hi! You're here..." Talking to my parents! "Um... do you want to come upstairs?" She could save him from this at least, even if she would have to keep her door open.

He bit his bottom lip and flushed a little at that question, glancing between her parents. "If that's okay with your mom and dad." he said after a moment. That was a safe response. Better than a quick one and definitely better than the Hell yes, get me out of here that was running through his head. Turning his attention back to her father he smiled. "A game or two would be fun." he beamed. "And you guys are more than welcome to come to the games at school if you want." he offered. "Not that you have to, but if you want." he smiled. God, you're an idiot.

"No, that's fine," Pamela said, shooting her husband a look. And then she smiled at Jess. "Keep your door open?"

Oh my god, mom! "Yes... I know. Come on, Madock." Jessalyn's cheeks flushed and she all but snatched Madock's hand to tug him up from the couch and lead him upstairs. It was like they thought she might do her boyfriend right there in their house while they were downstairs. Yeah, right!

"Nice to have met you, Madock," Matthew called after them, both amused and curious about his daughter's behavior.

Madock was deeply flushing by the time they got to the stairs. "Nice to meet you too." he told them as Jessalyn dragged him up to her room. "Maybe... I should have called." he said when he was in the safety of the bedroom. Even if the door was open.

"I'm so sorry," Jessalyn said, turning to him with an apologetic look. He was obviously embarrassed, which made her feel bad. "I hope that wasn't too terrible. They didn't like... say anything to embarrass you, did they?"

He shook his head and sat himself down on the edge of her bed. "No. They didn't. They're both really nice and I think your brother hates me or something, but nothing embarrassing. I just hope I didn't say anything stupid..."

"Huh? Why would you think my brother hates you? Did he say something?" Jessalyn looked confused for a minute. Usually Jacob didn't say much of anything when her friends - or rather, Ransom - was around. "I'm sure you didn't say anything stupid." Jessalyn walked to where he was sitting and picked up some fabric she had been working with off of her bed to carry it to her small work table in the corner of her room. "I'm sorry... if I had known you were coming, I would have made sure I was downstairs to answer the door before anyone could get to it."

"I dunno. He gave me a dirty look. Maybe I imagined it." he shrugged, giving the girl a little smile. "It wasn't that bad." he told her. "Your dad's nice. Your mom too. And I'm pretty sure if I made an ass of myself they wouldn't have let me come up right?"

"Oh! Well... he doesn't like most of the boys I hang around, except for Ransom..." Jessalyn shrugged, not overly bothered by it, as long as Jacob hadn't said anything mean to Madock. She smiled at him and went over to sit down next to him. "And you're right... they wouldn't have let you up here if they thought you were an ass. I'm glad you came though! I was expecting a phone call, but this is much better."

"Well I was going to call but then I was like... well lemme surprise her instead and I knew if I talked to you, I'd wanna come over, so I saved the whole 'I'm coming over' part and just did it anyways." he smiled. He was glad she was happy that he came over though. That was definitely even more reason to be here.

"Sounds like a logical explanation to me," Jess said before leaning over to kiss him. When she pulled back, she lifted her hand to brush his hair back. "I'm glad you did. And... well, you got the meeting the parents thing out of the way early, so that's good too. How was your day so far?"

He kissed her back and smiled a little when she pulled away, glancing around her long enough to check and make sure there weren't faces peering in the door to catch him doing something he shouldn't be doing in her house. "Okay." he said. "Didn't do much really. What about you? What were you making?"

"Oh!" Jessalyn popped up from the bed and hurried over to her sewing machine. She pulled the blue paisley maxi sundress off of the table to show him. "I've been making some new dresses... it's not done yet... but it's close! Other than that, I haven't done much today." Except she met a new werewolf! That had been interesting. She held the material up and shot him an inquisitive look. "Do you like it?"

He smiled as she got excited and jumped up from the bed to show him what she'd made. He liked the excitement. Liked the smile on her face when she was happy. It was a bit distracting though and he had to have her repeat the question before he could answer it. "It's pretty." he smiled. "But it'll probably look better when you're wearing it."

Jessalyn beamed, pleased that he liked it. "Maybe I'll wear it to school one day this week when I finish it." She set it back down and then looked around her room, wishing now that she had tidied up a bit. Only she hadn't known he was coming over. "So... rather than sit in here and get spied on by my sister and brother, do you want to go for a walk or something? I know it's cold... we could do anything you wanted."

Another smile moved across his face and he nodded. "Yeah. That'd be... fun." he said. "Got my hoodie and you sooo I think I'll be warm enough even if it is a little cold out." he told the girl. Walking definitely sounded better than sitting around hoping he didn't overstep a 'in the parents house' boundary.

"Very true." Jessalyn smiled and went to her closet to pull out one of her own hoodies. She tugged it on over her long sleeved t-shirt and then grabbed her shoes to pull on. After she was ready, she reached out for his hand to lead him out of her room and downstairs. For a moment, she wondered if he had been up all night thinking about their dilemma, but she didn't want to bring it up again and risk ruining whatever time they spent together. "Did you walk over here, or did you drive?"

"I walked." he told her, taking her hand and following her down the stairs. Her hand was warm and he was growing more fond of the way her fingers felt within his. Soft and small. It was nice.

Jessalyn waved to her dad who was still in the sitting room on their way out. Thankfully he didn't try to pull either of them into another conversation. "So I know you said you didn't do anything today but... I refuse to believe you just laid in bed all day, or sat around doing nothing! Unless you were too distracted by thoughts of me to do much else," she teased.

"Well... I talked to my sister late last night or early this morning, however you look at it. After our date. I went to sleep after that. I woke up, showered... hung out with my family for a little bit. Did some homework I'd been putting off. All the while thinking about you." he grinned.

She smiled at that and nodded. "As long as I was lingering in there somewhere." Jessalyn slipped her free hand into her pocket and she found herself walking closely to him to share her body heat. She bit her lip briefly before glancing at him. "Did you tell your sister.... er, about our conversation?"

"Parts of it." she admitted. "I didn't tell her that you were a... well yeah. Didn't think it was my business to really tell. I did talk to her about the other stuff. About the marriage stuff. She's not too happy about being married off either. See she was supposed to get married sooner but we managed to talk my parents into letting her wait til the summer. She's still not wanting to. She's already got a fiance though... She thinks that I could keep pushing mom and dad off. Boys and girls in our family have different standards really. I can just say I don't want to yet and they'll let me push it off, but Breezy... she got lucky because some of the boys agreed that she wasn't ready yet."

Jessalyn listened, her brows furrowed thoughtfully as he spoke. His sister was younger than him, and she already had a fiance? That seemed so wrong! Jessalyn felt as badly for Breezy as she did Madock. "Maybe if you and your sister both talk to your parents, they might relent and break the rules for you... you're both just... too young, I think. I mean, her fiance... how old is he? I wouldn't think they would marry your sister off to someone way older, would they?"

"If they told me I don't remember. My age... her age. Something like that." he shrugged. "And if we brought it up to them... we'd probably just get disowned. It's tradition. It's the way things are." he explained. "Neither one of us want that so... we just deal with it." At least that's what they'd been doing. "I guess it's like... we'd rather be part of the family and go along with the way things are than have to deal with losing the family completely."

"Disowned?" That sounded even worse. "Your parents would really do that to you?" Jessalyn frowned and tried to imagine her mom and dad putting down certain rules and threatening disownment if she didn't follow through. No, she couldn't... they had always only wanted her happiness, regardless of how it came about. She glanced tentatively at him. "So you're... going to just accept it then? Marry someone you don't know, or love, so you won't get disowned?"

"I don't know..." he shrugged. "I guess I'll decide when I get to that point. I just know that either way, whether I get married or not, my parents'll move on eventually. Getting to marry the next kid off wherever the next fiance may be." He frowned and sighed. "Disowned or not, they'll leave eventually. And if I fall in love with someone before they decide to marry me off... well... I can't say now what I'd do."

That made her feel better... like maybe she wouldn't have to worry about some girl showing up out of nowhere and introducing herself as Madock's fiancee. And Jessalyn didn't expect Madock to fall in love with her or anything, but it was still nice to know that he wasn't totally sold on the 'arranged marriage or disownment' hand that was dealt to him. "I think you'll do what you think is the right thing for you," Jessalyn said confidentially. She tightened her fingers around his. "Your sister sounds a lot like you. Head strong and independent."

"Head strong." he nodded. "Stubborn as a mule and fiercely independent. I think we're a lot more alike than we like to admit." he agreed, glad to be on the topic of something other than his impending marriage. "When's your mom having the babies?" he questioned, a bit curious. He couldn't really tell how far along the woman was. She was fairly large in the tummy area, but she was carrying twins so he wasn't sure.

"Then I bet I would like her," Jessalyn said. "Er, I mean not like the way I like you, but you know what I mean!" She smiled brightly at his question, and change of subject. No need to depress herself thinking about Madock and someone else. "Mom's due in March. I think I might have to share my room with Kara once it gets closer... we only have a four bedroom house, and they'll need somewhere to put the babies. They turned the nursery into Kara's room after awhile, since they'd been trying for another baby for awhile and it just wasn't happening. She's having a boy and a girl, so that's nice." And Jessalyn was hoping like mad that one or both were wolves.

"That's cool." he said with a nod. "I share a room with Bruce, Breezy's twin. You're gonna have your own set of boy girl twins." he smiled. "We match, look at that. Now your mom just has to pop a couple more babies out and you'll catch up to me."

"Oh! Wow, you're right... I didn't even think about that," Jessalyn said. She laughed and shrugged. "See? We're so meant to be, even our families are starting to match. I don't know if she'll have anymore after the twins, but you never know! My dad wants to have a big pa... er, family. It's just part of our nature, I guess. I never really saw myself with a big family, but then again, I never really think about stuff after high school too much."

"Do you think you'll maybe want a big family?" he questioned, a bit curious now that the girl had mentioned it. "I mean, you don't have to decide now or anything, but if you were older and stuff, what do you think you'd rather have? A family with one or two kids or one with a bigger brood?"

"Oh..." Jessalyn thought about it for a second before smiling. "Probably a big family... I mean, I've always been of the mind that whatever happens, happens. If I end up with a couple kids? I'll be happy... if I have eight? That's okay too. What about you? Coming from a big family yourself..."

"Probably a big family." he told Jessalyn. "I don't think I'd know what to do with a little family. I'm used to the sounds and the chaos and always having someone around. No privacy usually, but I don't think I'd like it any other way." he admitted. "It gets annoying sometimes to always have someone banging on the bathroom door or waiting for you to finish up something so you can drive them somewhere, but I'm so used to it now.."

"I like the chaos too," she admitted with a grin. "Ransom's family is like that. There's always kids running, or laughing. It's so noisy! My house feels so quiet compared to his. I think my dad's trying to compete with Mr. Weiss or something. He's got a way to go though... I guess my own family will depend on whoever I marry. Now that I'm thinking about it, I think it would be nice to get like, a farmhouse out in the woods or something. A big family and a three bedroom home is just... not much fun."

"Yeah." he smiled. "Have to get a mansion or something. Or build my own house to hold all my kids so no one has to share a room. And there has to be like fifty bathrooms because sharing bathrooms blows."

"That's ambitious!" Jessalyn laughed. "A mansion is too fancy for me... I like cozier houses. But fifty bathrooms... wow. Might as well just line up portajohns in your yard or something. But... you know that's like years away." Only... maybe not for him. Jess fell silent again, finding it strange and a tad bit unsettling to think of Madock getting married and having kids, possibly soon.

"Maybe a little less than fifty bathrooms." he smiled. "And probably not a mansion, but it'd be nice if all the kids had their own room, right? And why are we talking about kids?" he questioned with a little laugh. "How bout we talk about something more important, like you warming me up." he said, slipping his arm around her shoulder.

"You brought it up," Jessalyn pointed out. She slipped her arm around his waist when he pulled her close. "But I don't think kids are going to be an issue for a very long time, for either of us. And I think I can work on warming you up. It would be a lot easier if we were some place more private," she teased, pressing her cheek against his side.

He smirked a little at that remark. "Don't tempt me, girly." he told her, tilting his head and resting it against the top of hers. "And just because I brought it up doesn't mean I remember how." he chuckled.

"True." She couldn't remember how it had been brought up either, only that he had been the one to bring it up. "And I think I would have fun tempting you." Jessalyn smiled, even if he couldn't see it. She liked flirting, and she liked flirting with him more than anyone. "Definitely in a warmer, much more private place."

Madock bit his bottom lip. "Well, eventually we'll have to find a warmer... much more private place then." he said, imagining that whole thing for a moment and then realizing the more he imagined it, the more he wanted it. "Okay... yeah. So, anyways." he smiled.

She wondered if he was blushing, but didn't want to move away from the warmth at his side to check. "Anyways," she said with a nod... she didn't want to flirt too badly if it made him uneasy or something. "So are you up for sitting with me at lunch tomorrow? I mean, if you don't want to, that's okay and everything." She knew it might be embarrassing for him to be around her, once he was back at school and surrounded by his jock friends. But that was totally okay with her! She just didn't want to do anything to make him uncomfortable.

He smiled again and nodded. "No, that'd be nice." he said. "I'll sit with you." Of course he'd want to sit with her. It'd be a step up from listening to the guys at his table talk about how hot their girlfriends were.

"Really?" She blinked up at him in surprise before smiling. "Okay! That would be really nice. Ransom'll want to meet you then, I think. And I think Isabelle, my friend from school, wants to too. She's a cheerleader," Jess explained. "But nothing like Chrissy was. She's super friendly..."

Madock nodded. "Showing me off to all your friends?" he teased with a little smile moving across his face. It was nice that she got excited at the thought of showing him off to her friends. Made him feel more than a little good about himself. If she was that happy with being around him and letting other people know that she was with him.

"Definitely! What's not to show off?" Jessalyn asked with a laugh. "You're like... gorgeous, and nice and... so sweet and funny. I mean, I don't have many friends to show you off too, but the ones I do have are eager to meet you, so... if you don't mind being paraded around for a few minutes."

He blinked a bit at those words. "Gorgeous?" he questioned, arching a brow just slightly. He was okay looking, he was sure, but gorgeous? That wasn't what he'd expected, not at all. "You really think I'm gorgeous?"

"What?" Jessalyn looked up in confusion. "Do I think... yes, of course, I do. I mean... look at you." She grinned. "I'm not the only one who thinks so. I've seen girls at school checking you out. Does that word embarrass you?"

"You have?" he questioned. Maybe he really was more distracted than he thought he was. Girls checked him out? Since when? Maybe the ones who came up to him and then walked away as soon as he opened his mouth and spoke. Yeah, they were probably the ones that thought he was cute until he said something. "No... it doesn't embarrass me, I just never associated myself with that word is all."

"Because you're modest," she pointed out. "Cute guys who are sincere and down to earth don't generally think of themselves that way. But it's just a mixture of everything... the way you look, your personality, your sense of humor... it's all... just really good. It makes you gorgeous." Jessalyn paused. "Have I embarrassed myself enough? I'm starting to sound cheesy."

He smiled and stopped walking for a minute so he could turn to face her. "It's kinda cheesy." he admitted. "But it was also really sweet and I appreciate it. Quite the ego boost, Jessa." he murmured, reaching up to tuck her hair behind her ear. "Thanks."

She smiled, thankful that he wasn't turned off by it. "You're welcome. That's my nickname you know, Jess the Ego Booster. I'm thinking of getting it trademarked." Jessalyn pushed up on her toes to kiss his lips. "Sometimes cheesy works."

He smiled a little against her lips and nodded when she pulled away. "So true." he agreed. "Sometimes cheesy just works."

"Yeah." She smiled and leaned into him again."There's more cheese where that came from... just so you know ahead of time."

Madock grinned again and closed that bit of a gap between them, lightly pressing his lips against hers and pulling her body tighter to him. He could deal with all the craziness that their differences, and even their similarities, would bring them if she was always going to be like this.

Jessalyn was of the same mind... she was willing to put up with the potential obstacles because of how he made her feel. Pretty, and happy and tingly. She didn't want to give that up just yet, so she wasn't going to. Everything else could just... kiss her butt. At least for now.