"In any case, we got invited and it'd be rude not to attend. You said it yourself, we've got nothing to do for the holidays" Your dad spoke, somewhat changing the topic but not completely taking the focus off you and by the slight smirk in his face, you knew he was having some fun.

"I still want to think that she was just being polite and that we shouldn't literally take her word for it. I mean what the hell kind of family would be so open to invite a bunch of strangers for dinner? A big one at that" You said. Missing out a chance to be with Jen was a painful cost to pay, but avoiding the massive potential for embarrassment from having your whole family in there was well worth it.

"I mean that's pretty much the point, Americans are usually pretty friendly like that. For that matter, it's not even too different from our own Mexican hospitality" Your mom replied.

"Besides, 'bunch of strangers' is a bit of a stretch, I know they know you plenty and wanting to know the family of the potential groom's is the right approach" Ariadne teased, once again showing you her smug smirk.

"Goddammit Ariadne, it's not like that" You sighed "Look, Jen is just one of my friends just like Lillian. It's not like I have a bunch of girls all lined up for me, I'm not a guy like Jim to have that sort of game" You groaned and rubbed your temples, Ariadne looked like she wasn't gonna let go of her teasing anytime soon, she got you good and she knew it. The worst part is that you probably couldn't complain because as far as sisters go, you knew she was among the nicest one could possibly have.

"I dunno about that, I've been hearing from a couple of birdies that you do" Your mom giggled.

"Can we please let this go? If you all keep joking around with this you're gonna make things awkward forever with her and her family" You said with a defeated sigh, feeling that you would have a very hard time arguing your way out of this one with both your sister and mom tag teaming against you. Besides, you weren't a very good liar and they were onto actual truth so you knew it would be an unwinnable uphill battle in the long run.

"Thanksgiving meals seem massive for not as many people as our family gatherings. I wonder... maybe we should offer to help them prepare the food?" Your mom then said and you could feel the blood in your veins cooling in real time.

"Are you sure it's not because you want to slip in some of your own dishes?" Your dad teased her "Or because you don't trust gringo food?"

"Ya nos exhibiste*" Your mom rolled her eyes and made a fake put but was laughing. _{[Note: that phrase literally meant "You exposed us already" and it's taken from a comedy show, it's kind of a meme used when someone gives away one's intent]} 

"I mean, is it not just turkey, mashed potatoes and what, cranberries? Where's the sauce, the chili, the beans?"

"I'm not sure it'd be Thanksgiving anymore if you make all food Mexican" Ariadne interjected, she looked amused at the thought though.

"She kinda has a point though. Besides, it wouldn't be too bad to spice things up. Plus, if we're going to visit we should bring gifts" Your dad said.

"Well, Jen's gift is covered already as long as we bring Blaise" Ariadne snickered.

"I really feel like I shouldn't go if you're gonna keep at this" You huffed and rolled your eyes. You could make up some excuse for not going to her Thanksgiving but you were somewhat afraid that Ariadne could seriously harm your standing with her and make any chances of asking her out go out the window.

"Hmm. I'm not sure if I wanna give my baby boy away like that" Your mom said with a slight smirk but she also looked like she was somewhat serious. It was hard to explain but there was that "protective mama" tone to her voice.

"Didn't you get to talk to her for a bit the other day? I thought she got your approval" Ariadne then asked while giving you a smug smirk.

"Wait what? W-W-When?!" These news completely threw you off. It was one thing to have Jen and Lillian come over and have minimal small talk with your parents but them actually having a conversation without you present? You cloud almost feel your blood pressure increase as you wondered just how many things could have possibly gone wrong.

"You didn't have to give that away yet" Your mom chuckled, finding your reactions beyond adorable "You know... you never told me too much about her, so I naturally had some questions"

"I'm gonna regret asking but what sort of questions?" You said.

"Nothing out of this world. I mean, is there anything wrong about getting to know my son's friends?" Your mom said but she still had that playful smile "I learned some interesting things..."

At this point, you gulped. Could Jen have said anything that could compromise you? You kept on having a gut feeling that she accidentally might but if anyone asked you, you wouldn't be able to tell exactly what.

"You told me she's from Norway but you never mentioned that she lived in Mexico" Your mom was now looking you in the eyes with a sort of 'I got you' look, not the kind that meant actually being in trouble but more like she realized you were embarrassed about some things.

"But she was so polite and she even spoke pretty much perfect Spanish! That was such a nice surprise! But it wasn't just that, she clearly knows our culture"

"And now she wants to meet her family" Your dad spoke "It was just perfect that she invited us for the Thanksgiving thing... but now that you mention it, if they're Norwegian does that mean their version will be different? Maybe it's gonna be more fish than turkey"

"Oh god, not fish" You shook your head.

"I still don't get why you hate fish that much" Ariadne mused.

"Grandma Regina made me eat a lot of fish when I was little, like 2 or 3 times a freaking week... I wouldn't have minded if I wasn't kinda forced to, now I can't eat fish without hearing her ordering me" You sighed.

"Look, I know my mom can be... a bit of a handful sometimes but she means well. And hey, she did the fish thing with me too, and for many more years!" Your dad said.

"You're leaving out the tiny little crucial detail that she did it because fish and the iodine in it are good for the brain" Your mom said.

"She told me herself and I dunno why you two keep complaining, it worked! You're way smart, you work on some sci-fi tech business and assemble literal robots and big machines!" She said looking at your dad "And you! You know quite a lot about many things and at least you can do fractions. My brain dies trying to do any more than the simplest of math" Your mom laughed a little but she was nonetheless serious.

"She got us" Your dad said but you were thinking the exact same thing.

"Back to the main topic: We're going to Jen's Thanksgiving but I'm going to ask her if they'd like us to help prepare the food" You heard your mom say.

"You got her number?!" You gulped and felt the temperature rise, sweating a little from the nervousness. Ariadne caressed your hair to help you feel better and to be fair, it was working. Maybe a little too well because you closed your eyes and lost yourself to the nice feeling just as your mom had a quite the vivid-sounding conversation with her and in Spanish too.

One of the reasons why you'd never told your mom was that you knew she would've loved it and she would've made Jen speak it whenever she was in your house, which is a problem because she had a cute accent you'd never heard before but you struggled way too much to keep a straight face. It even led to some awkward moments early on when you had to pretend that you weren't too good at it when she wanted to practice it not to let it get rusty. Eventually Lillian caught on and she's almost always distracted her from bring up the topic again since then.

By the time you snapped back to reality, your mom's call was over but the look in her face was rather cryptic. A few tense, silent seconds passed until she decided to speak again but what did she say...?