ic The Family You Choose

[Gizmo]

Thursday, November 28th

"How's the oven looking, Vince, dear?" Gina Espadas called as she pushed her wheel chair into the front room of her family's home, lap piled with brown and orange seasonal decorations which she began placing about the shelves and cabinets.

In the adjoining kitchen one of the most advanced human-designed artificial intelligences on the planet native to that era interpreted data from a webcam jury-rigged to a computer monitor yellowing slightly with age to gauge the temperature inside the closed oven opposite it with precision worthy of laboratory testing. To an outside observer, however, an enthusiastic man wearing a cameo pattern apron over a bright green suit appeared on the monitor, raised a comically long telescope to his eye and snapped a salute as he shouted back, "Operation Bird is the Word proceeding full steam ahead, General Ma'am sir!"

"Sure, you she trusts with the turkey," Erik Espadas sighed with exaggerated ire as he methodically worked his knife up and down on the cutting board, rapidly turned fresh vegetables into piles of thin slices. Sweet and hot peppers alike joined a bowl of other ingredients as the chef briefly looked over his shoulder to grin at the monitor.

"To be fair, Jack-O," Vince countered, pulling a firefighter's helmet and an extinguisher out of virtual space, "you've set a lot more things on fire than I have."

 

"Don't set things on fire, please," came an earnest requests for waist height as the precocious Yolanda set out plates and cutlery at the table with deliberate precision. The stout eight year old scampered back to the counter to retrieve another stack of dishware, moving with the care of someone entrusted with a precious cargo indeed.

"Careful, Yoyo, don't carry too many at once," Ellie cautioned as she returned from retrieving the last of the folding chairs from the attic, one tucked under each arm. Pulling them open, she set them down in front of the place settings before inhaling through her nose. "Mm. Alright, that does smell pretty fantastic."

Her mother finished arranging a trio of small gourds on the end table next to the couch in the front room and rolled over to the window to peer outside. "Well it had better! Everyone should be arriving soon."

[Fox]

"This is very nice, for a company car."

"Mostly for impressing 'important' people," Mara dryly admitted, turning the rather nice vehicle onto the Espadas' road. It was new, at least, if not strictly top-of-the-line. "The car, I mean. Makes some egotistical people from client companies feel better if HAX representatives show up in car that is nice, but not nicer than their own. Or so I am told. Seems to work."

Josephine Janvier stifled a laugh behind one hand at the young woman's bluntness. "Yes, well, I suppose it would, no? And you wish to impress your girlfriend's family too?"

Mara was quiet as she parked, biting her lip for a moment and keeping a hand on the wheel even after the engine had died. "I...want you to impress her family," she said. "It's...important. Somehow."

"Well, then," came the reply, but not from inside the car - Josephine opened the driver-side door and offered her daughter a hand. If Mara hadn't helped save her life herself, she'd have thought the woman was a ghost sometimes. "I shall have to do my utmost to charm them all. I have not had to win over a police officer in what feels like years," she added, a twinkle in her eye that Mara wasn't entirely sure she liked as they rung the doorbell. "It will be like old times."

[Ecalsneerg]

"So, remember, Mara's my boss now, so you need to be a little more composed than usual... Kenzie... KENZIE!" Liz turned her eyes from the road momentarily to look at Chris. He was fumbling with the collar of a pale green shirt with evidently too much starch in the collar.

 

"Now I'm not the one losing my temper," he grumbled. "Just my airflow. How come you got to drive, anyway? It's my car."

 

"Mine, actually, and I'll get away with it because you haven't got the same weird love affair with the car," said Liz brusquely as they pulled into the Espadas' street. "And watch the casserole." She pulled in behind the HAX company car. 

 

Chris slid out of the car, carefully balancing a covered dish in one hand while trying not to trip in those horrible sensible shoes. What was wrong with his old sneakers? The smell gave character. 

 

Liz swept past him as he struggled to close the car's door, moving swiftly in a knee-length black dress. "Hi, Mara! I see our timing's good... oh, hi," she said, noticing Josephine. "I don't think we've met. I'm Liz, this is Chris. Nice to meet you."

[April]

The door to the Espadas home was opened by a taller than average woman with dark copper-hued skin, golden eyes and a mane of white hair that would brush the floor were it not for the slight curl at the tip.  There was a smile on the woman's face, and a child between the ages of one and two on her hip (absently gnawing on a decorative gourd), as she greeted the arrivals.

 

"Ah, Mara, Chris, I'm pleased you could make it," Minerva Espadas said, her melodic contralto laced with warmth.  Stepping back and slightly to the side she gestured with her free hand.  "Please, enter and be welcome.  Is there is anything I could get you or your guests to make you comfortable?"

[Gizmo]

"Come on, come on!" Gina ushered insistently before the arrivals had had time to accept Min's invitation, wheeling over from the window. "Chris, Erik's in the kitchen, just bring that on over to him. It looks delicious, dear. Ellie, don't leave tu novia standing on the porch with pie in her hands, nena!" With one hand the strong-jawed matron directed the uncomfortable looking young man further into the house while the other rested on her hip in an impatient gesture.

"Literally right behind you, mama," her daughter sighed good-naturedly, relieving Mara of the desert and giving her a quick peck on the cheek. "Dulces de mi dulzura, hmm?" Ellie added in a lower tone, though not low enough that she didn't glance over to her girlfriend's mother reflexively and cough in embarrassment.

Snorting, Gina continued, "You must be Josephine. Dios, I was ready for you looking younger, but I think I'm still a little jealous. It's nice to finally meet you."

[Ecalsneerg]

Chris bustled into the hallway as Gina ushered everyone in. "Hi, thanks for having us over," he smiled, nodding to everyone as he quickly swept past the assemblance of guests towards the kitchen. 

 

He placed the dish down on one of the few empty spaces he could find on the counter. "Fearless leader. Disc drive." He turned and looked solemnly at Yolanda. "Tell me they've not set anything on fire yet." He sniffed at the air. Man, did he love the smell of food. He could almost hear his stomach rumbling. Or possibly did actually hear it.

 

Meanwhile, Liz stood awkwardly in the front room. She knew Mara, obviously, and had met Ellie before, but she'd never met the two older women. "Uh... hi," she said, hesitantly. "Thank you for inviting me. You have a lovely home."

[Fox]

Mara made a pleased noise and snuck a quick return peck before Ellie escaped with the pies, though after following Ellie's gaze toward her mother she ducked her head and blushed. "Siempre," she assured her girlfriend, pulling a lock of hair back behind one ear. "Let me know if you want help? Sounds like kitchen might be full already. Or, um, if you need anything?" she added, turning to Min. "Anything I can do to help; don't think mom'll need anything right now."

Josephine raised an eyebrow in amusement at the daughters' embarrassment before turning back to their host and Liz; her smile was practiced and gracious but seemed no less genuine or warm for it. "And you must be Gina," she said in lightly-accented English. "I would share my beauty tips, but they come with a very heavy cost, no? I think I may have as much to be jealous of you over than you have of me. And you are...Liz, perhaps?" she added, regarding the young woman with an oddly calculating gaze. "I am sorry that we have not yet before now. I have not yet found a way to show up at my daughter's business without it being terribly awkward."

[April]

Eden stopped tugging on her mother's hair--a length of it somehow always ended up in her tiny fist--to flash a wide smile at Mara and then immediately bury her head into her Min's shoulder. "Aw, why so shy now little one?" the dryad asked her daughter. "We all know you enjoy seeing your Aunt Mara."

Looking up from Eden to smile at the inventor, Min gave a small shrug. "Unlike her father, I think Eden gets a little shy when she has a large audience," she said with a grin. "Perhaps you can see if the table has been set, or take over the decorating from Gina? There shouldn't be much left, Eden was helping."

It'd also free up Gina so she and Mara's mother could talk, but the dryad didn't mention that.

[Gizmo]

"Disc drive indeed!" Vince huffed, straightening the lapels of his neon green jacket where they stuck out from behind his simulated apron. "That's just hurtful. You know perfectly well I'm cloud based these days! Now step out, come back in and call me Airhead this time."

"Only things they meant to set on fire, I think," Yolanda told Chris seriously as she laid out the last of the cutlery on the table then stepped back to examine her work. Frowning slightly, the young girl knelt on top of a wooden, high backed chair to reach across and nudge an errant fork into alignment. "Is Liz here too?"

Finishing up with a delicate bit of chopping, Erik finally set down his knife and picked up a dishtowel to dry his hands as he turned around from the counter. "Right on time, Goggles. Here, put that next to the potatoes. Heh, I didn't think you even owned a dress shirt, man." The older acrobat was wearing a collared shirt himself in a dark royal blue but with the top buttons undone and the sleeves rolled up past the elbows the effect was somewhat diminished.

[Gizmo]

"She'll grow out of that soon enough," Gina predicted with a doting look at her granddaughter before returning her attention to their guests. "And of course, Liz! I'm glad we finally twisted Chris' arm enough to get him to bring you along."

"You'd think he was embarrassed of us or something," Ellie suggested dryly, glancing toward the kitchen. "Well, of mi hermano at least, but that's perfectly understandable."

Snorting, Gina shook her head. "Honestly, I was beginning to worry you were made up, dear. You do prefer Liz, sí? With all the codenames and the nicknames I hardly know who I'm being introduced to anymore."

"I think Yoyo's got the place-settings under control," her daughter added as last minute preparations were discussed, wrapping an arm around Mara's waist without thinking about it. "She was pretty excited to hear who was coming. Pretty much everybody at HAX is her hero, really. Would anyone like something to drink?"

[Ecalsneerg]

"Disc drive indeed!" Vince huffed, straightening the lapels of his neon green jacket where they stuck out from behind his simulated apron. "That's just hurtful. You know perfectly well I'm cloud based these days! Now step out, come back in and call me Airhead this time."

"Only things they meant to set on fire, I think," Yolanda told Chris seriously as she laid out the last of the cutlery on the table then stepped back to examine her work. Frowning slightly, the young girl knelt on top of a wooden, high backed chair to reach across and nudge an errant fork into alignment. "Is Liz here too?"

Finishing up with a delicate bit of chopping, Erik finally set down his knife and picked up a dishtowel to dry his hands as he turned around from the counter. "Right on time, Goggles. Here, put that next to the potatoes. Heh, I didn't think you even owned a dress shirt, man." The older acrobat was wearing a collared shirt himself in a dark royal blue but with the top buttons undone and the sleeves rolled up past the elbows the effect was somewhat diminished.

 

"I own many shirts!" proclaimed Chris. "Just... you know the thing when you rip off your shirt dramatically revealing your costume? Well, there's so many buttons and not enough hours and it's just quite sad really."

 

He turned to Yolanda. "And yes, Liz is here. She's talking to people and she's real and Erik, you are a cruel man who won't een back me up when you know she is."

 

 

"She'll grow out of that soon enough," Gina predicted with a doting look at her granddaughter before returning her attention to their guests. "And of course, Liz! I'm glad we finally twisted Chris' arm enough to get him to bring you along."

"You'd think he was embarrassed of us or something," Ellie suggested dryly, glancing toward the kitchen. "Well, of mi hermano at least, but that's perfectly understandable."

Snorting, Gina shook her head. "Honestly, I was beginning to worry you were made up, dear. You do prefer Liz, sí? With all the codenames and the nicknames I hardly know who I'm being introduced to anymore."

"I think Yoyo's got the place-settings under control," her daughter added as last minute preparations were discussed, wrapping an arm around Mara's waist without thinking about it. "She was pretty excited to hear who was coming. Pretty much everybody at HAX is her hero, really. Would anyone like something to drink?"

"Um, Liz is fine, Mrs Espadas," said Liz. "I learned that underwear goes on under your clothing. And I don't think he's embarassed? Or with a particular sense of shame really." 

 

She turned to Ellie. "Wine'd be nice if you have any, thanks. Ellie, right? We haven't really met, but the boss lady speaks very highly of you." She smiled at Mara. While she wasn't hugely comfortable with all the unfamiliar people, she did like working for Mara, who was much more of an engineer pretending to be a boss than a boss pretending to be an engineer.

[Fox]

"Promise I don't pay employees to say that. But yes, I do," Mara admitted matter-of-factly, with only slightest trace of embarrassment. She wrapped an arm around Ellie's waist in return, giving her girlfriend a quick bump with her hip. "If she doesn't want to get complimented so much, needs to be less great. If possible. Ability to be less great unobserved by science - theoretical only."

"Ah, love," Josephine sighed - a bit dramatically, really, but with some genuine motherly approval. She'd been hoping Willow's helpful suggestions might leave her with a chance to speak to Gina, but surely there would be time for that later.... "They are adorable, no? Alas, I am unlikely to see grandchildren, but I suppose one makes do. And I can always admire the children of others," she added brightly, smiling at Eden. "Little Mara was very shy, too, when she was so young - a crowd can be overwhelming when you are small."

[April]

"They are at that," the golden eyed woman agreed as, with a level of subtlety born out of countless millennia of practice, she maneuvered Josephine further into the Espada home separating her from the other guests and leading her into the orbit of Gina. The three women were afforded a modicum of privacy, such as the full house could provide, and anyone poking their head in would be met with a small shake of the head from the ancient guardian.

"Mother of my husband," Min said with a smile at Gina, "I would count myself fortunate if Eden grew to be as her father or aunt."

[Gizmo]

"Wait, you're supposed to have a costume on underneath before you rip off your shirt?" Erik exclaimed with exaggerated surprise, slapping his forehead with the hand not holding a kitchen knife. "Boy do me and my sculpted pecs feel embarrassed."
 
Yolanda looked between Chris and the fencer, sticking out her tongue in an expression of severe disapproval. "You guys are gross," she decreed, brow furrowed and tone sober.

With a grin, Erik ruffled the girl's hair, knocking a few strands loose from the braid Ellie had helped her pull it back in. "Yup. You still love us, though."

"I'm gonna go talk with the girls," she sighed, not quite hiding a small smile as she scampered out of the kitchen and into the front room.

Chuckling, Erik went back to work finishing off the meal's preparations. "Oh, hey, little late to be asking but does Liz have any, y'know, food deals? Allergies, vegetarian, whatever?"

[Gizmo]

"Oh, you can call me Gina, dear," the elder Espadas woman told Liz with an airy wave of her hand before Min maneuvered her over to the side of the large room with a couch and armchair. "Heaven knows you kids make me feel old enough as it is."

"I think it's being old that does that, mama," Ellie quipped lightly, a line which her mother didn't dignify with a response. "And I should hope so," she continued, turning back to Chris' girlfriend, noticeably more self-assured without Josephine watching her. "Some of it's probably even true."

As she spoke, something at about waist height barreled into her leg and latched on. Half hidden behind Ellie and Mara, Yolanda looked up at Liz earnestly. "Hello."

 

- - - - -

 

Rolling her chair to rest in a conveniently empty spot between the furniture, Gina gave Min a wry look and reached over to take her granddaughter for a while. "I'd say you could call me Gina, too, Minerva, if I though it would make a difference." The remark was coloured with amusement, having gotten used to the dryad's mannerisms. Her mother-in-law supposed she was even beginning to find them endearing in their own way. "I suspect Eden is going to grow to be like herself and nobody much else," she predicted with a laugh while Eden looked blinking at Josephine as if trying to decide if she recognized her or not.

[Ecalsneerg]

"Wait, you're supposed to have a costume on underneath before you rip off your shirt?" Erik exclaimed with exaggerated surprise, slapping his forehead with the hand not holding a kitchen knife. "Boy do me and my sculpted pecs feel embarrassed."

 

Yolanda looked between Chris and the fencer, sticking out her tongue in an expression of severe disapproval. "You guys are gross," she decreed, brow furrowed and tone sober.

With a grin, Erik ruffled the girl's hair, knocking a few strands loose from the braid Ellie had helped her pull it back in. "Yup. You still love us, though."

"I'm gonna go talk with the girls," she sighed, not quite hiding a small smile as she scampered out of the kitchen and into the front room.

Chuckling, Erik went back to work finishing off the meal's preparations. "Oh, hey, little late to be asking but does Liz have any, y'know, food deals? Allergies, vegetarian, whatever?"

 

"We had that intervention about you walking around shirtless, sword boy." grumbled Chris. He pointed at Yolanda as she left the room. "There are young and impressionable minds looking up to us. And even they cringe."

 

He leaned back into a chair and stretched his legs out, folding his hands behind his head. "And nah, no allergies. She claims to have a deep allergy to olives, but it transpires that was just being fussy and not liking the color green."

[Ecalsneerg]

"Uh, sure, Gina," said Liz. "And you still look plenty young," she continued, lowering her voice and leaning in conspiratorially. 

 

"I'm sure most of it is true, Ellie," she said to Mara's girlfriend. "I mean, it's not like she's one to waste words." She grinned broadly, hoping Mara's fondness for brevity was fair game. She wasn't especially good at the 'being pleasant' thing. Especially given most of her and Kenzie's interaction was tinged with jovial adversarial sniping.

 

She felt a tugging at her leg, and glanced down. "Hey, Short Stuff. How's it going? The boys being weird in the kitchen?" 

[Fox]

"They're boys," Mara wryly observed, though she couldn't quite disguise her smile as she looked down at Yolanda. "Fairly sure they're always weird. Part of being a boy, maybe - testosterone poisoning. Tragic. Science will cure it one day."

"And it's all true," she insisted, holding a finger up for emphasis. "Especially the stuff that isn't. And relax - social situation. Not your boss here. Won't fire you for good or bad jokes at my expense ....probably," she added, dropping the finger as a grin tugged at one corner of her mouth. "Maybe. Seventy, eighty percent sure. Statistically unlikely to impact next performance review."

[Gizmo]

"Aw, don't be like that," Erik laughed as he moved a few bowls and dishes used in the making of dinner to the sink. "One of these days we'll graduate you to a pair of big boy pecs and you'll finally understand."

Vince made a scoffing sound from the monitor, his head now comically out of scale with the torso of bulging muscle below it. "Ha, all this posing and posturing," he said in a very thick and very fake Eastern European accent, "but how much RAM are you puny meaty men running, huh?"

 

-----

"Don't tease her, corazon," Ellie chided Mara as she reached down to place a hand on the reticent Yolanda's back. "I'll get all jealous and catty. Was there something you wanted to ask Liz, Yoyo?"

The young girl made a bit of a face, torn between being pleased at her official inclusion in the conversation and annoyance at having her well-concealed motives revealed. "Did you really build Chris's big flying ball all by yourself?"

[April]

Min chuckled.

 

"I am old and set in my ways, Gina," the dryad--who looked like she was no older than twenty five---said smiling, laughter suffusing her melodic voice.  "I fear you will have to suffer my small eccentricities on occasion."  Her smile turned a little crooked and her eyes became impish.

 

"Considering Erik and Eliza, I think you can handle a little eccentricity."  The white haired woman teased before she bent down to kiss Gina lightly on the cheek.  "And that is not a condemnation, mother of my husband.  You have raised a fine son and daughter and I hope I can live up to the standard you have set."

[Fox]

Josephine laughed, folding her hands in front of her and quirking an eyebrow at her daughter's girlfriend's brother's wife. "I am, perhaps, not the best one to ask," she admitted, her pleasant French accent colored by her amusement, "But you do not look a day over twenty-four. That is very early to be set in one's ways, no?"

"Always hard to tell," Mara piped up, continuing her efforts to (mostly) keep an ear on as many conversations as she could. "In this city, anyway. Too many people who cheat."

She laughed again, shrugging and making a gesture of exaggerated, resigned helplessness. "That is very true, I suppose; I admit that I have met some very...unique people. Still, do not be too afraid to change, no? You are never too old to learn and adapt."

[Gizmo]

Gina accepted the puckish gesture of affection with good humour, chuckling briefly. "I didn't fall for a French swordsman with no past because I frown on eccentricities, nuera," she assured Min. Strange a pair as they might have been, it was in moments of whimsy and jocularity she could best understand why her son was so taken with the dryad. "Though, much as I find I enjoy listing things one cannot be too old for these days, I do think some allowances might be made after a millennium or two, particularly if you're willing to flatter me now and then."

[Ecalsneerg]

"Aw, don't be like that," Erik laughed as he moved a few bowls and dishes used in the making of dinner to the sink. "One of these days we'll graduate you to a pair of big boy pecs and you'll finally understand."

Vince made a scoffing sound from the monitor, his head now comically out of scale with the torso of bulging muscle below it. "Ha, all this posing and posturing," he said in a very thick and very fake Eastern European accent, "but how much RAM are you puny meaty men running, huh?"

"Erik," said Chris, solemnly, putting a hand on Erik's shoulder. "I know. I know about you wearing tight shirts so you can keep inserts in place." He took a step back, flexing both his arms. "Man, I scale buildings using just my fingertips. I could bench you with one arm." He thumped his chest manfully. "Some of us don't need to make weightless weapons."

 

Chris turned to look quizzically. "I'd figure as much as we like. We can just walk to the store and buy it when we want to, instead of having to go online shopping then make googley eyes at passers-by."

---------------------------------

"And it's all true," she insisted, holding a finger up for emphasis. "Especially the stuff that isn't. And relax - social situation. Not your boss here. Won't fire you for good or bad jokes at my expense ....probably," she added, dropping the finger as a grin tugged at one corner of her mouth. "Maybe. Seventy, eighty percent sure. Statistically unlikely to impact next performance review."

"Oh, I assure you, boss," smiled Liz. "No bad jokes. I will make only the funniest jokes at your expense."

 

"Don't tease her, corazon," Ellie chided Mara as she reached down to place a hand on the reticent Yolanda's back. "I'll get all jealous and catty. Was there something you wanted to ask Liz, Yoyo?"

The young girl made a bit of a face, torn between being pleased at her official inclusion in the conversation and annoyance at having her well-concealed motives revealed. "Did you really build Chris's big flying ball all by yourself?"

"Well..." hummed Liz. It was probably best not to mention the considerable aid contributed to the effort by the funds of 'grand larceny' and 'petty theft'. "I did most of the work myself. He's sort of made in-flight adjustments over the years. I'm not the one who put a kitchenette under the main reactor. Or blocked a cooling duct to install a hammock and a TV. But the rest of it was mine. He's got a bit... possessive, so I don't do much beyond keep her flying."

[Fox]

"That is...not safe," Mara observed with a grimace. She squeezed Ellie's waist a little bit at the jealousy comment - unnecessarily, in all likelihood, but she never wanted any doubt that Ellie always came first. "Food near reactors, no. Blocked cooling ducts, extra no. Blocked cooling ducts in system involving reactor? Double-extra-super-no. Does he glow in the dark?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. It was hard to tell if she was joking. "Plus, you know, difficult to keep it flying if it melts down, explodes."

[Gizmo]

"As someone who's had to occasionally keep Chris' insides from being outsides," Ellie noted with a look that mixed dry humour and genuine concern, "I'm not entirely sure he's not radioactive. I mean, the boy's electrolyte levels alone... I, um, you two make sure to take reasonable precautions when you're servicing the engines, yeah?" She hoped she wasn't skirting the line past friendly concern into inappropriate nosiness, surreptitious phrasing for Yolanda's benefit aside.

 

"She means kissing and stuff," the youngster in question clarified immediately in perfect deadpan, "but that's boring. I want to know how you get your ideas for building stuff. Chris' ship thing is really weird but I like it."