Closed Anticipation

[Sia Tofilau]

With the second trimester at school over, Sia had taken advantage of the quick break to drive back home. It was a common enough trip for her, only this time, she was bringing October. Things with them were pretty serious, and while Sia couldn't let her in on the whole big, international secret about magic, she did want October to at least meet her mum and dad. It was a daunting prospect, and while Sia loved her family, in Wellington, Sia had gotten to just be herself for once. Free to see and do whatever she wanted. She wasn't Sia, Sully's big sister with the car, or Sia, Auntie Vi's girl, or even Sia, captain of the girls' high rowing club. She'd been free to be whoever she wanted, and she'd rather found what she really wanted to be right now, beyond a very stressed out uni student, was October Alcott's very serious, real time girlfriend. And serious, real time girlfriends eventually had to introduce their girlfriends to their embarrassing family.

Sia drummed her fingers along the steering wheel, reaching to turn the radio down as the signal fizzled with blown out static. She knew the route from Wellington to Rotorua enough to know they'd pick up another decent station in a bit, and it was mostly just ads for Harvey Norman anyway. "So, you ready?" She asked lightly, glancing away from the motorway to look over at October in the passenger seat, giving her a quick, fond smile.

 

[October Alcott]

As nervous as she was, today felt almost like a test October had been unwittingly studying for her whole life. Excellent grades, perfect manners, impeccable presentation, everything a... in-law might want. She had never gotten so far in a relationship as to actually meet her partner's family before though, and the reality was frankly terrifying. She had never felt the way she felt about Sia before, and it felt as though that was all riding on this. If the people most important to her girlfriend didn't like her.... where did they stand? She needed to get this right, the perfectionism she had worked so hard to overcome filling her head with worries all over again.

And then there was the other side of this. Meeting Sia's family meant... sooner or later, this would have to go the other way, and the more October thought about it, the more that thought filled her with dread. There were so many ways that situation could go wrong... even if Sia was polite enough not to ask about her dad's scars, or wholly accepted any excuse given for them, even if she somehow got through the entire meeting without the faintest inkling that October's family was magic... what would happen when the subject did come up? When they reached a point where there was no longer any denying it... would Sia be angry at October for the years of lying? It was hard to imagine she wouldn't be. But her dads were so undeniably magical it was difficult to imagine the lie carrying on long beyond that meeting regardless. October had to force a smile when Sia asked how she was, nodding too quickly. "Looking forward to it." Even October could hear the tension in her own voice, but she smiled brightly, hoping Sia just... wouldn't ask.

 

[Sia Tofilau]

Sia couldn't hide her grimace at October's tone, turning back to watch the road and giving her head a small shake. "It'll be fine," She said, with a laugh, shaking her head again as if that'd convince herself. "I mean, what do you have to worry about, you're a damn catch." Sia glanced back at October, giving her a tender smile she only ever really directed at October. "I on the other hand am going to spend the whole trip wondering how l fast I can hide any device that holds embarrassing pictures of me," She said, drumming her fingers on the steering wheel in frustration at the mere thought of it. "Maybe I should just start listing dumb stuff I did in high school now so you don't hear it all from Mum first." Sia glanced at October again, giving her a little nudge with her elbow before resting her hand pointedly on the gear shift. "Seriously though, they'll love you. I promise this is just going to be an exercise in reminding everyone I'm not like 14 anymore and they're not allowed to call me "Sisi" anymore."

Sia knew what she was saying was true, though she didn't blame October for being nervous. Still, she couldn't help but feel this was going to be far more excruciating for her than it would for October. She'd spent so much time carving out her own space in Wellington, it was going to be hard to have to share that old, childhood part of herself with October and come out with her ego in tact. She was just grateful that Sully was off at school. Rene would probably behave himself without him around, though Sia had a few pre-ready excuses if Rene let anything slip about Sully or his dumb magic school.

 

[October Alcott]

It was all too clear to October that her forced smile hadn't worked and her face fell, mind scrambling to try and figure out how to... sidestep all this. She laughed softly at Sia's comments about embarrassing photos and stories, trying to calm herself down. Everything would be fine. "I'm just nervous." She said, more gently, hesitating a bit before she went on. "And I keep thinking about you meeting my dads too, which..." October could feel herself tensing again as she spoke, nightmare worst case scenarios running through her mind. Sure, it made no logical sense that her dad would transform mid-dinner and attack Sia, but that didn't mean she couldn't worry about it. "I mean, they're fine, but it's... stressful, you know." She smiled apologetically, hoping to quickly jump past the subject. "Sorry, I'll try to focus on today. What were your parents names again?"

 

[Sia Tofilau]

Sia gave October a sympathetic look when she admitted to being nervous. She didn't blame her, pretty sure they were both going to be nervous this whole trip, but at least October would probably end up being more preoccupied with whatever dumb childhood stuff her parents could dig up and forget about all that. "Hey, one thing at a time then," She said when October brought up her own parents, though she was deathly curious what they were like. October didn't talk about her family much, and Sia didn't think she got the chance to visit them as often as she saw her's either. But if meeting them was on the table, then they couldn't really be on too bad of terms.

"Yeah, I get it. If you need to tap out or anything during the trip we can just volunteer to go on all the grocery runs and stuff. Get out of the house just you and me. Plus Dad'll love you if it means he's not in charge of all the shopping," She said, smiling when October moved on to ask more about Sia's parents. Sia could easily spend the whole trip talking about how to cope with her family if that was what October needed. Though she probably needed to give a heavily edited version to get around Sully's dumb magic stuff. "Dawn and Joe. And my little brother René will be around too, I bet," She said, rolling her eyes fondly at just the anticipation of all René's polite but probing questions.

 

[October Alcott]

October forced herself to relax, nodding in agreement with Sia. It was a relief that she didn't feel any pressure from her girlfriend to set up a meeting with her family, but October knew that day was still going to come one way or another. It was hard to put the worries aside and focus on the moment but she did y at Sia's comment about grocery shopping. "I'll keep that in mind..." She smiled. October nodded as Sia reminded her of her family's names, committing them to memory. The last thing she wanted was to forget someone's name and embarrass herself. "You've got two brothers though, right?" She asked, hoping her memory hadn't failed her.

 

[Sia Tofilau]

Sia hoped she was helping ease October's anxiety, even if it was just a little bit. She knew October liked to be perfect, and in Sia's eyes she mostly succeeded, but knew the strain that had to cause. Sia just hoped she could get October to understand how far from perfect her own family was. If anything, that was possibly the best thing about them. Quickly glancing away from the road, she gave October a reassuring tap on the nose, smiling fondly.

"Ah, yeah. There's Sully as well, he's sixteen and all full of himself," She said, shaking her head and rolling her eyes. "But he'll be off at school and stuff so you don't have to worry." Sia almost felt bad for thinking it, but she was glad Sully was off at his stupid magic school for once. Not having to deal with his gloating or veiled references to magic while she was trying to navigate October through the mess that meeting everyone was going to be was a blessing. Not to mention it would make it a lot easier to gloss over some of the weirder questions that could crop up. The less Sia had to lie to October, the better. "Rene's in his last year of primary and way more manageable. Tragically I think he's passed the 'cute' stage and gone straight into being a grody tween, but we'll deal," She said with another small smile. It was crazy to believe how grown up both her brothers were already, even with how often she visited. Shaking her head again, Sia moved her hand to the radio, fussing with the dial till she found the one signal they could pick up as they continued down the motorway.