Chapter 11: Meet the family

JJ answered the door when a knock sounded at fifteen minutes till six. She was smiling, expecting to see Caleb, and was preparing a jibe for him arriving early. She was surprised to see her mom when she opened the door.

"What are you doing here, Mom?" JJ asked.

"I'm here to meet your guy, and to let you know about the change of plans," Collette answered, as she walked past JJ towards the living room.

"He's not my guy, Mom," JJ protested as she closed the door, after checking to ensure Caleb wasn't parked outside. "It's just his way of saying thank you for helping him the other night," she explained again, wondering how she could say that with a straight face.

"Riiight," Collette said back, over her shoulder.

"Mom, your nose is going to grow," Kim called from the other room warningly.

JJ threw her hands in the air in frustration, and followed her mom into the living room.

"Fine," JJ said in frustration. "What's the change in plans?"

"We're having grilled cheese and soup tonight," Collette informed her daughter. "Our Thanksgiving dinner will be tomorrow instead of this evening. Since your young man is single, and obviously didn't get a Thanksgiving Dinner either, he's invited, too."

"Young man? Mom, he's forty-two years old. I'm thirty-six. Remember? He's six years older than I am and neither of us are young any longer," JJ scolded her mother.

"You'll always be my little girl, and any man that takes you on a date is a 'young man' in my book," Collette said calmly, as she sat down and met her daughter's angry gaze.

"Mo-om," JJ whined, embarrassed when she realized how much she sounded like Kim and Blake. "Please don't try to help me. I don't need..."

"JJ, I have a perfectly legitimate reason for being here," Collette interjected. "I'm here to pick up my grandkids and to let you know the change of plans. If you really don't want to invite your young man to dinner tomorrow, that's up to you. However, it is a family function, and I expect you to be there. If your date goes well, I expect you to invite your guy ... what was his name again?"

"Caleb Connor," JJ replied, feeling defeated.

She knew that she couldn't change the course of action that her mother had decided on. It would be easier to change the direction of a landslide, or the wind. Her mom was a force of nature. Sometimes, JJ wondered if she could ever be like her mom. She would have been surprised at how much her children thought she was.

"I'll invite him if it seems appropriate. However, if I decide not to invite..." and she stopped at another knock on the door.

'Please be Caleb. Please be Caleb, ' she thought to herself as she walked hurriedly toward the door. 'A quick introduction and we'll get out of here. Hopefully, he won't run for the hills after meeting my mom and kids.'

JJ stopped as her hand touched the door knob, and reevaluated what she had just thought. She was proud of her kids. She loved and was proud of her parents. Why would she think something like that?

"Because you don't want to scare him away before you get a chance to know him," she muttered to herself, then she opened the door.

Caleb was treated to a vision of loveliness when the door opened. JJ's hair was down, and curled gently on her shoulders. She was wearing an off-white linen dress that seemed to flow around her rather than simply drape her petite frame. The color of the dress emphasized the blonde highlights in her hair. The sight of her took his breath away.

"What are you staring at?" JJ asked uncertainly, brushing at her nose to see if she had something on her face.

"You," Caleb said softly. "You're beautiful."

JJ rolled her eyes and blushed before saying, "Save the smooth talking. You're going to need it. My mom's here to pick up the kids, so you'll have to meet her."

"Are you worried about her or me?" Caleb asked with a grin, as he stepped through the open door.

"I'm not sure," JJ answered honestly. "She can be a real pain in the ... ah ... a real pain. You, on the other hand, scare me."

"Why do I scare you?" Caleb asked confused.

Standing this close, Caleb was getting impressions from JJ, but not clear enough impressions to understand what concerned her. He really wanted to touch her, so he would know what her concerns were. He refrained though, because he wanted to play it straight with her. That meant, not giving himself an unfair advantage over her.

"That is just stupid," Al grumbled. "Can you give me one good reason for not using every tool at your disposal when pursuing a mate?"

"Yes, I can," Caleb thought angrily, trying to keep his expression neutral. "If she ever finds out about you, I don't want her to think I cheated in developing our relationship. Now, shut up."

"Because I just met you," JJ answered, determined to be straight with Caleb. "I don't get wrapped up in guys. Especially not this quickly. It's scary, just ... It's scary."

"JJ, I like you, a lot," Caleb began hesitantly. "That 'like' seems to be growing into something else. Every time I turned around, today, I was thinking of you. That's how I honestly feel, and it's a little scary for me, too. You've read my jacket. I don't have relationships. Yet, I think I want one, now. I don't know how you feel. I will promise not to push you faster ... um ... If a relationship develops between the two of us, it will be on your approval, and at your pace. Okay?"

"Okay," JJ said, before stepping forward and quickly kissing him, before grabbing his hand and leading him towards the living room.

Caleb was on autopilot. The quick, chaste, kiss had immersed his mind in chaotic passion. When JJ grabbed his hand to lead him to the living room, his feet only moved to prevent him from falling on his face. The feelings were muted slightly, through her hand, and still barely manageable.

"Al, you've got to tone it down," Caleb begged in his mind. "I can't function like this, and I've got to meet her mom and kids. Making a good impression on them is nearly as important as making a good impression on JJ. I will not make a good impression if I can't walk and talk."

"Sorry, Caleb," the alien replied, and the bombardment of emotions dimmed perceptively.

"Thanks, Al," Caleb thought to his Companion.

"Caleb, this is my mom, Collette Parker," JJ said, introducing her mom. "Mom, this is Caleb Connor. We're going out to dinner tonight, and maybe to see the Christmas Lights at Papago Park."

"It is nice to meet you, Mrs. Parker," Caleb said, while he thought, "Al, we didn't talk about going to see any Christmas lights. What's that all about?"

"I think she is just looking for a way to extend the evening, Caleb," Al replied. "She just realized what she said, and realized that she hadn't talked to you about it. I think that she's a little worried."

A filtered subset of the torrent of emotions that Caleb sensed, just below the surface of his contact with JJ, rose to the surface, and Caleb understood what Al was saying.

Collette Parker looked like an older version of JJ. A well preserved version. Her hair was the same light brown, but cut shorter than JJ's. Her freckles weren't as pronounced, but were still there. She stood about the same height as JJ, and was a little heavier, but not much. Caleb couldn't help but think about how pleasant it would be to grow old with JJ, if she aged like her mother.

"It's nice to meet you, too, Mr. Connor," Collette said.

Caleb winced and asked, "Please call me Caleb. 'Mr. Connor' makes me think I'm at work and I have another day before I have to dive back into that cesspit."

"Okay, Caleb, but only if you call me Collette," Collette said with a smile. Her smile faded slightly when she continued with, "JJ said you work for the state in the DES department. Is it really that much of a cesspit?"

"No, ma'am. Cesspits are much nicer places to work," Caleb said drily.

"Oh, it couldn't be that bad," Collette said, shocked at his comparison.

"Oh, yes it could," Caleb said. "Think about it for a minute. DES is a department that is supposed to help the weakest, and most vulnerable of our society. Right?" At Collette's nod of agreement, he continued with, "Almost all the funding to help those people comes from the federal government. There are rules attached to that funding, governing how funds are disbursed, and regulated. The state can add rules, but can't do away with any of the Federal Regulations. Those rules are made by some person in an office in Washington DC. They have no idea what challenges Arizona faces when dealing with the most vulnerable in our society. Other states, like Washington, or Florida, or Maine, all have the same set of rules to follow as Arizona, yet each of them have completely different issues to address."

"I guess that would be a problem," Collette said uncertainly.

"Sorry," Caleb said, blushing. "You hit one of my 'hot buttons.' See why I don't like thinking about work? We're not able to help the people that we're supposed to be helping. All our time is spent fighting either bottom feeders trying to scam the system, or politicians that are trying to use that big bucket of money for political gain. To make matters worse, most of those Federal Regulations from DC are made by politicians trying to pad their voting base, which corrupts the system even more."