Caleb was in the living room watching celebrity news, a recent pastime of his, when Ash came down. He turned his attention to her arrival and took in her outfit.

"Where are you going?"

"If you must know, Father, I have a date."

"A date?" He sat up, playing along. "With whom?"

"With a girl, Father dear," Ash responded in the same unnaturally high pitch.

He sniffed the air suspiciously, no doubt perceiving her perfume.

"And who is this girl?"

"The most beautiful bitch in all the lands," Ash said, staring at the ceiling with a dreamy expression. Then taking on a serious tone she said, "Someone quite special."

"Oh she must be. She's got you smelling like a girl without being forced or reminded to."

"That's enough of that from you," Ash said, moving to whack the back of his head, "My natural drip is eternal."

He ducked but not fast enough. That didn't stop him from exploding with laughter.

"That's called perspiration, you troglodyte."

"I would tackle you right here, right now, but you're not worth ruining my outfit."

"Agreed. Let's not." Caleb nodded.

He truly did not want a fight because like most things she did, Ash did not fight like a girl.

"Well young lady, tomorrow is a school day so I expect you to be back home and in bed by ten. Oh and use protection—wait a minute." He paused to ponder on his last words and laughed awkwardly. "Right."

A buzz from Ash's pocket drew her attention to her phone.

Hailey was calling.

She received the call and took the phone to her ear.

"Hey, Hailey. What's up? I'm not late, am I?"

"No, no. I..." She sneezed loudly and Ash had to put a little distance between her ear and the phone. "I'm not feeling too good. I think I caught something. I have to cancel. I'm sorry."

"Oh."

"I don't want you to catch whatever this is and well I don't want you to see me like this. I really am sorry."

"No, no it's okay. We can do this another time. Just get better soon, yeah?"

She ended the call and allowed herself to let out the frustrated sigh she had been holding back.

"She cancelled?"

"She's not feeling well," Ash said. She did not bother to hide that she was crestfallen. She did not hide anything from Caleb.

He got to his feet and hugged her from behind.

"You know what will cheer you up? Chicken soup. What do you say?"

"Yeah, sure." Then an idea struck her and she spun to look at him with raised brows.

He caught the look and understood at once. They had an almost telepathic connection.

"It wouldn't be forward, would it?" she asked.

"A little, but go for it." He smiled.

"How long...?"

"It's already on the stove."

"You're the best."

He smirked. "Don't I know it?"

*****

After she had called Ash to cancel, Hailey had called Cait who happened to live on the block to ask if she would come over for yet another Spiderman marathon—the Toby McGuire one because Cait considered anything beyond that trash.

"I really wish I could, Munchkin," she had said, "but Mom's in a mood tonight."

"It's fine." She blew her nose pitifully. "More popcorn for me."

"I'll try and sneak out after dark. I'll call you if I can."

As much as the idea was tempting, Hailey did not want Cait getting grounded.

"No. Don't get in trouble because of me. I'll see you tomorrow."

And a half hour after that, she was still tucked in bed watching funny cat videos on YouTube with a contrasting sad face considering that the videos were indeed funny.

Soon enough her mom called her down to help her set the table for dinner.

Dad was away on business and Derek was spending the night at his friend's so it was just the two of them at home. Hailey didn't mind. It gave them time to catch up.

Just as she was done setting the table, the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it," Hailey said.

She trudged to the door and opened it...and suddenly found herself painfully self-aware—from her puffy cheeks and slightly swollen nose to her bird's nest of a hair to her oversize T-shirt and jammy pants and cute people flip-flops—because standing before her in a simple yet stunning black sundress with a buttoned down jacket and sandals was...

"Ash?"

"In the flesh," Ash said with her signature smile, her eyes lighting up in amusement. She raised a hamper basket and grinned. "I brought chicken soup, and you look beautiful."

Hailey laughed, getting over the initial shock but not enough to get past the obvious question, "What are you doing here?"

"Well I was definitely not in the neighborhood. I—"

"Hailey, who is it?" Mom asked.

Before she could answer, her mother was right beside her.

In that split second before any word was spoken, Hailey realized that she did not know how to handle the situation. She'd never brought a girl home to meet her mother before—Cait didn't count—and she wasn't even sure if Ash wanted to be introduced as her girlfriend.

"Oh hello," her mother said, flashing a careful smile.

It was quite lucky that Ash was not as tongue-tied as she was.

"Mrs Summers, I presume," Ash said, flashing that smile again, "I'm Ash. Hailey's friend."

"Oh. I don't think I've heard of you before." A harmless observation but it made Hailey wince. Her mother could be brutally direct while meaning well. Luckily again, Ash was not fazed.

"We only started hanging out recently and to be fair Hailey has not told me about you either." She gave her what Hailey could only classify as a polite yet flirtatious once-over. "Clearly she should have."

Her mom was clearly entranced by Ash's charm. The woman was blushing just a hint. If Hailey didn't know better, she'd say Ash was flirting with her mother.

"Well I heard Hailey was under the weather so I brought chicken soup. I hope I'm not intruding."

"No no. In fact we were just about to have dinner, the two of us, why don't you join us?"

Ash looked hesitant for a second and in that second she looked at Hailey's mom differently, then she nodded.

"I'd be honored, Mrs Summers."

"Please, call me Sharon." She did not just say that! "Come in, come in."

She retreated into the house giving them a moment alone.

"Are you hitting on my Mom?" Hailey asked, amused. She moved aside to let Ash in and closed the door behind her.

"What?" Ash shrugged casually. "I see where you got your looks from."

If Hailey had not been occupied stifling her blush she might have remembered to warn Ash against taking off her jacket but by the time she looked up, Ash's jacket was on the coat rack and her bare tattooed arms were on full display and though Ash did not notice it, her mother's gaze lingered on the ink marks. She did not seem pleased.

*****

Dinner started in silence but it didn't take long as Hailey knew it wouldn't for her mother to switch to interrogating mode. She had seen this mode the few times Derek had brought home girls her mother did not approve of.

"So Ash, you're not from around here, are you?"

Ash, calm, cool and collected as ever smiled before answering, "No. I grew up back in Spain but I was little when we moved here. I still have an accent because my Mom made sure we spoke in Spanish frequently. It was our thing."

A wave of sadness flashed past Hailey's face too quick for her mother to register. It returned for an extended stay when her mom went on to ask,

"And what does your mother do?"

"She used to play soccer," Ash said, straight-faced.

Hailey's mother stopped eating completely, surprised by the response.

"She was really really good at it," Ash explained.

"And what does she do now?"

"She uh...she passed away. Over the holidays. She was ill."

"Oh my... I'm so—"

"Please. Don't. It's okay, really. You didn't know."

Hailey wasn't quite as forgiving. She flashed her mother the daughterly stink eye to which the woman replied with an embarrassed shrug.

"Enough about me," Ash said, "when did you guys move out here?"

"Actually that's a really funny story..."

And that was how her mother moved past the tattoos. Feeling guilty for unwittingly bringing up such a topic, she became open just enough for Ash to win her over once again and soon enough they were having fun, talking and laughing over dinner. Somehow Ash knew all the right things to say; she complimented her chinaware, commented appreciatively on the cooking, complimented the furnishings. It didn't take long for the remainder of the tension in the air to shrivel up and die and soon her mother was even sharing a few illusion-shattering tales from her high school years, most of which were funny, cringe-worthy and downright embarrassing.

By the end of the night she seemed to realize how much she'd misjudged based on stereotype. The fact that she did most of the talking—as she usually did when she was comfortable with someone—was enough proof, but she confirmed it when she said,

"I placed you wrong with the tattoos. I was ready to assume you were a no-good hooligan with no plans for her life. I'm sorry."

Hailey cringed but Ash took it pretty well.

"It's okay. I get that a lot. Back home tattoos are much more commonplace but to be honest it was mostly just a rebellious phase of my life—at least the more obscene ones are—but I'm actually proud of it."

And just as Hailey thought the dust had finally settled and the night was rounding up to be a success, her mother asked,

"So when did you two start dating?"

Hailey nearly choked as she spat back the water she had taken a sip of. Ash just sat there with an impressed look as if her mother's detective skills interested her more than the fact that she had discovered that they were dating.

"How did you...?"

"Hailey, I'm your mother. Give me some credit."

"We made it official yesterday."

Her mother nodded, smiling to herself.

"That explains someone's mood yesterday."

"Mom!" Hailey groaned, her cheeks heating up without delay.

"It was mutual," Ash admitted, looking pointedly at Hailey. The sheer intensity of it froze her solid but something about the look she gave made her want to melt into a puddle in her seat. "I'm the lucky one here. She's amazing. And I guess I have you to thank for that."

"You're not wrong there," Mom said.

Ash glanced at her watch and sighed. "I'm afraid I have to leave now." She rose from the table. "Mrs Summers—Sharon, thank you for the lovely meal."

"Thank you for having dinner with us."

"The pleasure—" She rubbed her belly fondly. "—was mine."

While Hailey saw her to the door, her mother started clearing the dishes, giving them a little privacy.

"Thank you for this," Hailey said. "Honestly."

"Like I said, it was my pleasure." She slipped into her jacket.

"I guess I still owe you a date."

"I dunno. Today was better than any date I could have planned."

"You don't mean that."

"I kid you not. Your mom is amazing. You got some good genes in you." She leaned in and kissed her. Nothing too intimate but enough to remind her that she could turn her legs to putty with a simple touch of lips.

"See you around, freckles."

When she got out to the street there was a sports car waiting for her. She assumed it was Caleb but she could not tell for sure, the car was different.

Hailey waited till the car was out of sight before she closed the door...and turned to find her mother watching her with a grin like a Cheshire cat.

"How long have you been standing there?"

"Long enough."

"Figures." She sighed. "So...do you like her?" Suddenly realizing how much her mother's next words mattered to her, Hailey could not look her in the eyes.

"I do." She pulled her closer to her and tilted her head up to look at her. "And even if I didn't, she likes you. To see you happy, that would be enough for me."