"Your parents do seem... typical," Kenya commented as she followed Ben into the dinning area in the Twist home.
"Typical?" Ben asked.
"With regard to this meeting... yes, typical," Kenya answered, "wanting to see if I'm respectful to you... wanting to see what my intentions are... and so on. My dad read the riot act to a guy I went out with casually in high school. He wasn't controlling or mean or anything like that... but like any good parent, he didn't want anything bad to happen to his child... So he he read a casual date the riot act. Your moms are very much like that."
Kenya calmly moved to an open seat at the dinner table and carefully sat down. She watched as Ben moved to the kitchen area and was preparing to serve things for dinner that night.
"They might not be quite as vigorous in their defense of you as my dad was of me... but they do have the fairly typical parental nature to make sure their child is okay," Kenya finished.
"Well... they've been my parents for as long as I can remember," Ben commented.
"It's not a bad thing, I assure you," Kenya answered, "While I didn't see a lot of it while I was in New York, but I could see plenty of issues where families just didn't really care because they were desperate for money just to cover their expenses... or the parents didn't care one way or the other because they didn't want the child. Now... not every parent was like that, but those that were made things pretty obvious that everyone wasn't in a happy family. Your memories are a sign that you've had a good family and that you were raised well."
"So... it's a good thing?" Ben asked.
Kenya nodded, "Yes."
Ben smiled at that, and began to bring plates of food from the kitchen to the dinner table. He'd placed one plate in front of Kenya when Samantha and Frances came into the room. The looked calmly to where Kenya was seated and the remaining seats that were open at the table. Both adult werecats moved around Ben, which actually lead to a bit of dodging on Ben's and Samantha's part as his parents moved to come in and sit down. Samantha sat down to Kenya's right while Frances moved to sit down next to her wife and across from Kenya. Both of them gave a polite smile to the young werepanther, even if she was easily their son's senior. Not knowing what decision Samantha and Frances had reached, Kenya gave a nervous smile back. No one touched their food while Ben continued to serve dinner and placing a tub of margarine on the table for the biscuits with.
"This smells good," Kenya said to Ben when he finally came to sit down at his place at the table next to Kenya, who was to his right, and Frances, who was to his left.
"Thanks you," Ben answered, "It's nothing fancy, but..."
"Oh... I don't mind," Kenya answered, "I really haven't mastered anything fancy, either."
Ben smiled at that and the four began to quietly eat. Things went quietly for a little while, as Ben looked between his mothers and Kenya. He knew they had to have been discussing if they would give their consent to his dating Kenya. It was also something that he really hoped they'd say yes to. There was bond with Kenya that he'd never felt before. Sure he'd been sexually active with other females in the pack that weren't married, but that very casual and among werewolves really only amounted to pack bonding. With Kenya, there seemed to be a bit more than that, and that was even with the fact that the the two of them hadn't had sex. He also didn't want to get into the whole business of going about things behind his mothers' backs.
There were a few occasional questions on how everyone's day had been and what frustrations were there. Samantha and Frances revealed what they could, and largely said that the day had been productive. Kenya was fairly calm and quiet on how her day had gone. Nothing big, at least as far as she saw it, had gone on in her classes, and the most important part of her day had been visiting with the college's legal office, and the Twists knew about that already. As they got down to the last of what was on their plates, the topic of Frances and Samantha's decision came up again.
"Mmmmm," Kenya said slowly, "That was wonderful. Thank you, for such a lovely dinner."
"I can't take all the credit," Ben said weakly, as he noticed her eyes on him, "I did have some help."
"All we did was help," Frances answered, "Ben did most of the work, and really all we did was made Ben's workload easier."
"It was still good," Kenya stood firm behind her compliment. "And it was nice to meet the both of you."
"It was nice to meet you, too," Frances replied.
"And we wouldn't be opposed to having you visit," Samantha added.
Kenya began to smile, though Ben beat her to the punch.
"So... it's a yes?" Ben interrupted.
"Yes," Samantha said slowly, "It's a "yes." Now... I do wish there wasn't such an age difference between the two of you..."
Samantha paused to look directly to Kenya and continued, "but you do seem to have a good head on your shoulders and you have been most polite in your visit here. And for that reason... Frances and I agree to give you consent to date our son. However, you must remember that he is still a minor and our son. We will have certain rules that you will have obey on any date with him."
Kenya nodded.
"One, you do not go off the pill until after Ben turns eighteen," Samantha held up one finger as she began to count the conditions that she and Frances agreed on, "Two, you don't use him for your own gain. If you go out to eat and he pays for dinner or the movie, that's fine. But if you need a new shirt or new shoes... do not use our son to get those things. Three, if things turn out that you do not wish to stay in Moon Lake before Ben turns eighteen, you must either tactfully call off any and all arrangements or promise us that you will remain loyal to him in a long distance relationship until he is old enough to join you if he so chooses."
"Understood," Kenya answered.
"And be good to him," Frances finished, "we may only be Ben's adoptive parents... but we love him very much."
"I will," Kenya promised.
Ben was left with a very happy smile.