7073/Meet the Parents

Meet the Parents
Date of Scene:	25 July 2021
Location:	Noah and Rachel Dietrich's House
Synopsis:	Lydia takes Mystique home to meet the parents. What could possibly go wrong?
Cast of Characters:	Lydia Dietrich, Raven Darkholme

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Lydia Dietrich has posed:
This is it. This is the time when Lydia is finally going to yank that bandaid off and tell her parents that she's gay. And that she joined the Brotherhood. And maybe explain why she created the golem. Yeah, this is going to be a fun visit. Still, she's not going to be doing this alone. She's got her girlfriend with her, in the guise of Ayaan.

"It's going to be all right. Everything is going to be all right." This is said more to herself than anybody else trying to reassure herself that things will be, in fact, all right. She's been standing at the front door mumbling this to herself for the past couple of minutes, putting off knocking on the door.

The house itself is an understated affair with its brick edifice and colonial feel. It's tucked near Fort Hamilton High School with easy access to nearby parks. It's got a homey feel to it, not as ostentatious as one might expect from a family of considerable wealth.

Lydia heaves a sigh and then looks up to her girlfriend. "Ready?" she asks, and then knocks on the door.

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Choosing the face she would be for Lydia's parents had been the easy part, Ayaan Nnadi. It was one of her favorites actually because of the simplicity of the persona created. Twenty-four years old, college graduate in computer programming, wealthy South African who became an American citizen. It was a breath of fresh air, something new and not a risk to anyone for being a person.

Choosing what to wear had been an ordeal. Staying true to the persona in her heard, Ayaan wore a pair of tight fitting black jeans, a snug purple tank top with a black leather vest that had been brocade with a series of Zulu tribal patterns in blue, red and gold thread. Instead of her usual knee boots, she wore a pair of ankle boots. At the end of each tiny braid she has placed a black metal bead, which makes her jingle a little as she walks.

Instead of her motorcycle, Ayaan took one of the many vehicles stashed all over the place that belong to various persona's and faces she owns, a simple two door Chevy Coupe in white. This is the vehicle shepicked Lydia up in and drove to the parents house with.

At the front door, while Lydia psychs herself up, Ayaan lays her hand on the woman's shoulder.

"Of course it will be alright," she offers. "The important thing here is that your parents love you, they may rant and rave, but in the end, they love you."

At the 'are you ready' she nods, "Let's do this, and I'm right here for you all the way."

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
There's a moment of silence after the knock, before the sound of footsteps can be heard coming closer until they stop. That's when Lydia's parents open the door.

At the front is Lydia's mother, Rachel. It's easy to see where Lydia got her hair from, as the same mop of brown curls adorns her head, though it's smattered with grey throughout. She's dressed nicely, in a blue blouse and black pants, and has an inordinate amount of jewelry adoring her fingers and neck. "Lydia! Sweetie! So good of you to finally visit your mother after all this time!"

Lydia's dad looks like the poster child for anti-Semitic stereotypes. His head is bald at the pate, and is ringed by black, curly hair. He has a hawkish nose, and his eyes are a bit small, giving them a somewhat beady appearance to them. Coupled that with his thin frame, all he'd need is to be lording over a bag of gold at Gringotts to complete the stereotype. However, despite all this, he has a very charming and charismatic air about him, and a gentle smile comes easily when when he sees his daughter and her companion. "So this is the 'friend' you mentioned?" he asks giving Lydia a knowing wink.

Lydia steps in and first thing she does is hug her mother, missing her dad's playful wink. "Yes, this is Aya, the woman I told you about." She looks behind her and gives Aya a worried smile, and steps inside to let her parents get a good look at her.

"My goodness," her mother says, once she gets a look at her, putting her hand to her chest. "I didn't realize that she would be so bl-" "So tall!" interrupts Noah, gently pushing his wife aside. "Come in, come in," he says ushering the pair into the house proper. "Good timing too. Rachel was just about to put the finishing touches on dinner."

Raven Darkholme has posed:
The smile is plastered on Aya's face the minute she hears someone on the other side of the door so that when it opens, that is what they are greeted by, a very dark skinned woman offering a bright smile.

Aya doesn't miss the wink, which to her is clear indication that dad already knows, he's just been playing the game for Lydia's sake. That's a good thing if it's true.

Waiting for Lydia to step inside, she follows and offers her hand to the father first to shake, with a polite, "Afternoon Mr. Dietrich." complete with a hint of the South African accent. She offers her hand to the mother only after Lydia has finished hugging her. "Mrs. Dietrich, it's nice to meet you both."

Yes, Ayaan was extremely black, and the almost wording from Rachel makes her smile twerk slightly. She wanted to laugh, but she stopped herself.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
"Well," Rachel says, taking the hand offered to her and giving it a firm shake. "It's good for Lydia to be bringing her friends around for dinner again," She says leading them through the foyer and into an extravagant dining room. "You haven't done that since... when..." she looks pensive. "Just around the time you started high school. Besides, you're hardly ever around anymore. Especially with that dreadful Brotherhood business and that golem." She stops, and turns around facing Lydia with a look that would make the strongest man wither. "Really. What on earth were you thinking? Rabbi O'Toole was having a conniption fit when he heard about it."

Lydia sheepishly follows her mother, and kind of closes in on herself trying to make herself look smaller as her mother goes on. "Yeah..." she says, looking abashed. "He called me on the night the news aired. We had... a long talk about it."

"Well you should do more than talk about it," Rachel huffs. "You should go out there and turn that thing off as soon as you can. It's nothing but trouble."

"But mom!" Lydia pleads. "It's saved /lives!/ That's what it's there for!"

Meanwhile, Noah puts a friendly arm around Aya, and leads her to the dining room table. "So," he says conversationally, as if the berating Lydia is getting just isn't happening. "Tell me about yourself. Where are you from?"

Raven Darkholme has posed:
At first it is difficult for Aya to keep herself in check, listening to Rachel go on and on and on about things she has no idea about, but it never shows, not on her face or in her eyes. Even as Noah puts his arm around her shoulders, her normal reaction would be an elbow to the gut, then flip the man over for touching her, but none of that shows nor does she do it.

"I was born in South Africa," she offers first to the father. "My parents sent me to the US for school, so I carried on into college and have a masters in computer programming. I also got my citizenship, so I have dual nationality."

Not a single thing she says sounds practiced or like some sort of script, it sounds and feels natural. "My father is still in South Africa, trying to work for a better world for the people, my mother past away two years ago."

Every word of this Lydia has already heard, but it was a script at the time, now as Aya says it to Noah, she sounds just like the person she, there is no line between them.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
"Well," Rachel says with a huff. "And what about that Brotherhood watch that was mentioned. You're much too good for that."

"Mom," Lydia says, sounding kind of desperate, "It's community action! You know I can help people with my powers! It'd be wrong if I didn't!"

"You know what else could have helped people?" Rachel says with a glower as she moves into the kitchen. "IF you went to medical school like I told you to. You have so much potential that you're just wasting!"

"I'm going to go sit down now," Lydia says hoping to end the conversation. "Just... please. Not in front of company." With that she takes her place at the dinner table.

Noah nods sagely, "I /knew/ I detected a hint of an accent on you. Dual citizenship? Well, good for you! Welcome to America. Here. You can sit right beside Lydia. I'll go help with getting dinner."

When both parents are finally gone, Lydia lets out a little groan. "I gew up with this," she says as if that explains everything.

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Being sat by Lydia, Aya blinks a few times, and turns to see how far away the parents actually went. Leaning in to Lydia she says very quietly, "I think your father knows." Then she sits back up.

Her voice remains quiet, but not quite as much as the whisper, "I shouldn't say any of the things I'm thinking right now, but I will say this... it's a miracle you're at all sane. I get the over protective Jewish mother thing, but daam.. ng, that's over the top."

Taking one of Lydia's hand, she risks a quick kiss to the back of it then settles into just holding it. "I don't want to make it worse with her, so I'm not saying anything, alright?"

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
"/Thank you./" She says, her voice quiet so she can only be heard by Aya. "I told you that they were ... a lot." She takes a deep centering breath before she realizes something else her partner said. "Wait. Really? You think he-"

She never gets a chance to finish the sentence as Noah and Rachel bustle in with steaming bowls of food. "Here you go, Lydia dear," she says, setting down a large bowl with a ladle. "it's your favorite, bigos. Just like your grandmother makes it."

Lydia's eyes go wide in delight when the bowl is set down. "Mom, you didn't have to-" "Nonsense, dear." she says. "I only have one daughter and she brought a special friend over so of /course/ I had to." She places her hands on her hips and gives her a smile. "I know I can give you a hard time, but that's only because I love you. Now. Where's Noah ... ah! There he is."

Noah comes out with a plate of what looks like cabbage rolls, which he sets down on the table. "There," he says. "Golabki. Your /other/ favorite." He turns to Aya and explains, "These are basically minced lamb, rice, mushrooms and onions wrapped in cabbage and then baked. That over there," he says pointing at the large bowl, "Is a stew made from beef, kraut, honey, mushrooms and tomatoes. Real hearty stuff. Good to keep you warm in harsh Polish winters."

"Now," he says, taking his seat at the head of the table, while his wife sits next to him, opposite that of Lydia and Aya. "You said that you had some things that you needed to tell us."

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Aya turns slightly as she hears the parents approaching, that smile back in place. She continues to hold Lydia's hand until the woman herself takes it away, if that's never then she keeps right on holding it. This was all a lot to take in. She has never done the 'meet the parents' and Lydia's mother was A LOT. She hoped and prayed, and she's not religious, but she prayed she was presenting herself in a way that would be acceptable and believable at the same time. She wanted this to work.

"Oh wow, those smell fantastic!" She offers excitedly as the food arrives, and that wasn't acting, it smells good. "Not a single thing there I won't eat, but I'm not particular really."

Now she falls quiet, ignoring the food to look at Lydia. There was a point to this visit, and apparently Noah was getting right to it, even though she was pretty certain he already knew at least part of it.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
All eyes are on Lydia now, and she has to fight the urge to shrink away from all this attention. She never let go of Aya's hand and now she's clutching it for dear life. Here it is. The moment she's been dreading for all her adult life. She's about to come out to her parents.

"Mom. Dad. I'm..." She swallows and takes a breath, "I'm a lesbian and Aya is my girlfriend."

Silence.

"WHAT?" comes Rachel's reaction at the same time as Noah looks smug and says, "I know." To which Rachel wheels about and gives Noah an accusatory glare. "You /knew/?"

"Of course I knew," he says, still somewhat smug. "Look, Lydia's never had any interest in boys, and she stopped bringing her friends here since middle school."

"What about all those boys she went out with?"

"Rachel. Sweetie. You arranged each and every one of those. Didn't you notice that she didn't want to go on any of them? I love you, dear, but sometimes you can be dense when it comes to our daughter."

Rachel scowls, flabbergasted that her husband would say that to her. "So if you knew, why didn't you tell me?"

Noah lets out a heavy sigh. "It's not my place to tell. Come on," he urges gently, "Lydia obviously was worried about what we'd think." He turns to Lydia, "Lydia, honey. Thank you for telling us. You have a beautiful girlfriend, and I hope you two are happy together."

"But what about my grandchildren?" Rachel wails.

"Stop that," Noah says sternly. "They can adopt."

Meanwhile Lydia is watching this back and forth with her mouth wide open. Her father knew all along? But... she looks over at her partner with a kind of pleading look.

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Ha! Aya was right, then again it didn't take much deduction to figure it out. The man wink at her, he knew that moment why they were there and who she was.

Looking back and forth between the parents as they talks, Aya slowly lifts Lydia's hand up and kisses the back of it again, right there, in front of the parents. She decided that was a far better move than leaning over and kissing her, so she went with the less in your face approach.

"Well, I can't say for certain where our future lies," she finally says to the parents. "But I can tell you both that I care very deeply for your daughter, and will do everything I can to make her happy. If we end up together permanently," she won't say married, that will freak mom out. "Who says there can't be children? We might even let you pick the donor."

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
The chaste kiss to the back of the hand is enough to grab Rachel's attention. She just /goggles/ at them. "Rachel, dear. You're staring," Noah says, placing a hand on his wife's shoulder. "Let's have some dinner and then we can get to know Aya a little bit better."

It looks like as if Rachel is about to say something when Noah starts ladling stew into her bowl. She looks down at her bowl, looks over at Noah, and then sighs, relenting. "So how did you to meet," she asks in a kind of sing song voice.

Noah passes the ladle over to Lydia who beings to scoop stew into her and Aya's bowl. "We met on campus at NYU," she says. She reaches out and takes one of the golabki and bites into it, closing her eyes and savoring the taste. "I was in the library, and she sat down at a nearby table and I just couldn't keep my eyes off of her. I mean /look/ at her. She's gorgeous." She shakes her head. "I didn't get the nerve to get up and talk to her though. But I kept seeing her on campus."

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Phew, okay, that derailed the mother and she ignored the comment about choosing a donor. This might actually work out in the end, just get through dinner and see what happens.

Aya offers her bowl up to accept a scoop of the stew, then she also takes a cabbage roll and tries it. "Oh wow," she manages before chewing and swallowing the little bite. "That is... I need to learn how to make these."

The stew needs a little cool so she adds on to what Lydia says, "I thought Lydia was a mouse at first, sitting there in the library, but I did catch her looking my way. I waited to see if she would say something, but when she didn't, I made it my mission to find her again so /I/ could say something." She glances over to Lydia and smiles, "We started hanging out between classes, even had a couple of classes together, sort of worked into a friendship first."

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
"That must be that gaydar thing I keep hearing about," Rachel says, taking a spoonful of stew and blowing on it. Noah just pinches his nose in exasperation. She turns to him and asks, "Well how else are they supposed to know who they can date?"

"Mom, it doesn't work like that," Lydia says. "There isn't anything like gaydar. God I wish there was, it'd make life /so/ much simpler. But it's more a matter of, 'Hey this girl is cute and I kind of want to kiss her. I wonder if she'll hang out with me,' and then it's a lot of subtle guessing, 'is she flirting with me or not?' and then eventually one of you just breaks down and asks if you're gay."

"Sounds complicated," Rachel replies.

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Aya lifts her shoulders in a slight shrug, "It's no more complicated than looking at a guy. You don't know if he's into you or not, or if he's gay. You could flat out ask him out, and in the end that's what happens with us. You sort of feel out the situation, then do what I did which is asked Lydia to dinner."

She finally takes a spoonful of the stew, blows on it a little and tries it. Yeah, she could live here for this food, but not with that mother.

"Dating is dating, no matter the gender," she continues once she's swallowed. "If you ask out a straight girl, so what? She says no, you move on. Some are more hesitant," she nudges Lydia lightly. "And then there's lesbian's like me who just go for it and deal with whatever happens, whether they agree or freak out. Add to that being a mutant and well, it can be quite entertaining to see where things go."

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
"A mutant?" asks Rachel. "Lydia. Why couldn't you go and date a nice /normal/ girl?" Noah looks at his wife, aghast. "Rach-" he never gets to finish that, as Lydia leaps to her feet.

"What mom. What is not /normal/ about her?" She asks, her eyes blazing in anger. The mists that surround her roils with her violent emotion. "Does that make /me/ not normal too?"

"Now, honey I-"

"Or is it because she's /black/? I know how much you look down on them."

"I never-"

"I swear," Lydia says, nearly shaking, "I spend all my life doing whatever it is that makes you happy, but whenever I do something to make /me/ happy you shit all over it! You remember dance class?"

"You loved dance class!"

"I /hated/ it. I faked a sprained ankle just so you wouldn't send me back because I knew if I told you I didn't like it you wouldn't listen to me! You know what? I'm /glad/ that I'm a mutant. For once it was something about me that you couldn't control. Not that it didn't stop you from /trying/."

"But I only wanted what's best for you!"

"NO, mother. You only want what's best for /you/. You didn't care about me, or about how I felt. I kept telling you that I was /okay/ with being a mutant and you didn't have to try to cure me, or whatever, but you were just thinking about how you'd look to your high society friends! 'Oh, look at the Dietrichs, poor things they have a mutie daughter'" she says in a mock aristocratic voice.

"I /love/ Aya, Mother. I love what I'm doing for Bushwick. I love that I'm making a change for the better. Hell! I love writing, not that you never noticed! I'm a published author! Did you even read any of the books I sent you?"

"What, that trash?"

"TRASH?!?" Lydia is livid at this point. "That /trash/ is my /life/. I got an /English/ degree so I could write that /trash/. You don't know me, mother. You never did!"

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Well that went to hell quicker than she thought it would, but Aya wasn't sorry for it. It was all things Lydia needed to say to her mother a long time ago, finally coming out. Perhaps far more harsher than Lydia wanted, but it was coming out and that was a good thing.

When Lydia goes to her feet, Aya stands as well, slipping her arm around Lydia to offer the only support she can. She wants to say things, ooooh yes, there are so many choice things she wants to say but she is biting her tongue and letting Lydia vent it out. Her eyes fall on Noah during this, wondering for a moment if he expected this to happen eventually or not, but then she looks back to Lydia... eyes widen, jaw drops slightly.

Lydia said love.... that she loved Aya and thus Raven, and Mystique and any other face she might wear. Was that real? Was it just to torment her mother? No, Lydia wouldn't do that, not even in anger. In anger, or drunkeness, she would always announce her real feelings because the filter went away. Okay, that was a wonderful punch in the gut, and something she would have to address right after this.

"Whoa, hey, Lydia's a fantastic writer," she starts out, finally having reached blood in biting her tongue. "Did you know that novels like she writes sells better than most science fiction and fantasy combined? That women all over the world read romance novels above everything else out there? Check women on a plane sometimes and you'll see romance novels in their hands as they fly around the world."

She was just warming up really, a breath and she continues, "As for Bushwick and mutants, we're here to stay Rachel. There's no shame in what we are, no reason to hide away or act like we're monsters. Just because you can't /see/ my mutation, doesn't mean you can assume I'm a normal person... and yes, I'm African American, my skin is blacker than night and I'm damn proud to be an African American Mutant. Your daughter is /the/ best thing to happen to me in my life, hands down, no questions asked. I love her," yep... that was true, so she said it. "And nothing you say or bitch about or /want/ for your daughter is going to change that. That means you have left with two options, so brace yourself. Love your daughter for who and what she is, what she does and who she loves, or turn your back on her, because this tirade, guilt tripping, you don't live up to my lofty standards is damaging your relationship with her, and I wouldn't be at all surprised if she walked out that door and didn't come back."

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
"Why!" Rachel gasps. "How DARE you!" That's directed at Aya. Being talked back at from her daughter is one thing. But from a person she just met today?

"Oh she /dares/, mom!" Lydia interrupts. "That's one of the things that I like about her is how much she /dares./ And she's right. Either you accept me for who I am or you'll never see me again!"

With that she turns and starts storming out of the house, dragging Aya along behind her by the hand. The last thing they hear as they walk out is her mother sobbing, and the soft sounds of her father consoling her.

When the door finally shuts, Lydia leans back on it, and lets out a long drawn out breath, still clutching onto Aya's hand like her life depends on it. She centers herself and looks up at her partner, eyes wet with the tears that she's been holding back. "Well." she concludes. "That went better than expected. All the bowls are still intact."

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Aya offers a slight wave to Noah as she is lead from the room. He at least seemed to get it, so she wanted to offer some sort of good-bye to him. There wasn't time for words, just the wave and then they were outside.

The minute they are on the porch she takes a deep, slow breath, giving Lydia that moment to gather herself. Reaching up she wipes away one of the tears tenderly, then caresses Lydia's cheek lightly.

"You did good," she offers quietly. "I should have kept my mouth shut, I know I should have but... I couldn't." She steps closer and wraps her arms around Lydia, placing a soft kiss on her cheek.

"Just be glad I didn't do what I was thinking of going, that might have given them both a heart attack right then and there, but you did good Lydia. You're mother is an adult, she will adjust and learn. You okay?"

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia wraps her arms around Aya's waist, and leans up to give her a soft kiss on the lips. "I... thank you," she says. "You were fine. It's just... that was a long time coming. I was hoping to get that done /after/ dinner because despite all her flaws, mom is a really good cook."

She sighs and rests a cheek on her chest. "I'll be okay," she admits. "But I think all I want to do is go home with you, curl up in bed and cry for a bit. Hopefully dad can talk her down from disowning me and we can try to talk to her again in another month or so."

She reluctantly lets go, and starts heading towards the car. "I should have had you meet my grandmother first. She's a sweet old thing who dotes on me. Doesn't speak a lick of English. You speak any Polish?"

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Slipping her arm around Lydia's waste, Aya walks to the car and even opens the door for Lydia. Chivalry is not dead, it just has breasts now. "I speak Polish," she replies, stealing a quick, light kiss before stepping back.

"We'll go home, you can eat some dutch chocolate ice cream, curl up in bed and we'll put a movie on in the background while I snuggle you, and you can cry as much as you need to."