"I'm nervous," Lenny stated as Milly lead him up the sidewalk toward a fairly typical suburban home in Lyre.
In many ways, dealing with the medical issues that had related to his condition had been something quite nice. No one had ever shown much interest in him personally before, and now not only was he healthy as an Animalian, but he'd gained someone who could be a real partner in Milly. She helped him with his transition and seemed quite taken with why he chose to be a mouse when he signed on with Project Phoenix. That made Lenny feel happy, especially with the fact after getting his second dose, his heart was seen to be perfectly healthy.
However, there were things that made him nervous to uneasy. One was Milly's age. Yes, she was a legal adult thanks to the effects of the Animalia Virus, but a part of Lenny really worried over whether or not others would see that and treat him as though he were robbing the cradle. The other was the fact that as Milly was only three, there was the potential that her parents might not respond well to him as children would always be seen as children to parents. Thus Milly's parents would attempt block him from Milly for going after their baby girl.
"You don't need to be," Milly spoke, "My parents will like you."
"But parents are always protective," Lenny spoke, "and in a way you'll always be their baby girl, regardless of how old you are. They may not hold me worthy of you."
Milly patted his hand as they walked up to the door and then turned the nob. She had a friendly smile.
"They will like you, Lenny, just be you," Milly smiled and then lead Milly into the house.
Lenny looked around as he came into a small entry way. It had some bright green wallpaper and Lenny was quick to notice family pictures lining the walls. The first showed a young woman with brown hair in a white gown with rather thin looking man with red hair and glasses. The man was in a tux. Next to it was another picture of the same couple, but this time the woman was holding a infant in pink blankets, clearly Milly as a baby. On the other side of the room there was a picture that was newer, now depicting a family of mice Animalians, though with another adult male mouse Animalian with his hands resting on Milly's shoulders.
"That's Mickey," Milly said to him, noticing that Lenny was looking at the photo of her family that was taken shortly after Mickey was uplifted, "essentially a brother."
"Oh..." Lenny said slowly, "He..."
"He's the one who bit me and my parents, thus leading to us becoming Animalians," Milly answered, "we can visit him later. Today is about introducing you to my parents."
Lenny nodded when another woman's voice was heard.
"Milly, is that you?" the voice asked, "You're a bit later than I expected."
That brought Lenny to full alert. That had to be Milly's mother. He was left standing there nervously as another mouse woman came through a nearby door and looked to Milly and Lenny just standing inside the front door. Lenny looked too her and ended up twiddling his thumbs.
"Sorry I'm late, mom," Milly answered, "but Horizon had a Project Phoenix candidate who wanted to be a mouse..."
"Are you sure he's a mouse?" the other mouse woman wondered, "He is awfully big."
"I suffered from gigantism and had a fair number of the health complications caused by the condition," Lenny said slowly and softly, "Project Phoenix seemed like a cure for that... and your daughter was quite generous to help me."
"And you wanted to be a mouse?" the woman asked.
"Yes," Lenny answered, "there is a kindness and gentleness that I'd think goes with them... I mean, no one tells tales of mice assaulting people to eat them."
"Well... I suppose that is true," the woman smiled, "Milly, would you like to introduce us?"
Milly nodded, "Yes... this is Lenny. Lenny, this is my mother, Myrtle... Is dad home?"
"Yes, your father is home, we were just getting ready for dinner," said Myrtle.
"Again... sorry, I'm late," Milly answered.
"Would like to stay for dinner?" Myrtle asked.
"Sure... I mean..." Lenny spoke, "So long as I'm not imposing."
Myrtle actually chuckled sensing a great deal of honest meekness about him, which actually seemed rather cute. That wasn't a bad quality to have, and while Milly bringing home boyfriends came far sooner than she and her husband would have liked, it seemed to Myrtle that Lenny wasn't too bad.
"You aren't imposing," Myrtle smiled "my husband I would love to meet with someone new to Lyre and Animalia. Milly can lead you to the dining room while I get a plate ready for you."
Lenny felt Milly's hands grip his and soon pulled him along. She lead him then to a modest sized dining room that was set for three people. Seated at the head of the table was a male Mouse Animalian with red hair that stood out in contrast to his largely gray fur. Lenny guessed this was Milly's father, and he had clearly bulked up a bit when compared to the photo of him in the entry hallway. He looked up to see Milly leading Lenny in.
"So... you've brought a guest..." Milly's father spoke.
"Yes, dad, this is Lenny, he came in to Project Phoenix and asked to be a mouse," Milly answered, "that's why I was a bit late from my internment shift with Horizon."
"I can see," Milly's father said slowly, "and Lenny... what is it that you do?"
"A lot of times... I've actually worked as a secretary," Lenny spoke, "I was born with gigantism and ultimately was saddled with many of its more negative aspects. That sort of secretarial work was something I could do that didn't put a lot of strain on my heart. It was starting to really get bad recently... and with all the stuff related to healthcare going away... I figured Project Phoenix was a necessity. I'd be healthy and could then go from there to pay off the cost of becoming an Animalian."
"Well certain things can be rough," Milly's father gave a sigh, "but I'm sure that the present problems won't last forever."
"Thank you, sir," Lenny said slowly.
"Call me, David... or Dave," Milly's father gave a small smile with put Lenny at ease.
With that, Lenny took an offered suit and Lenny joined Milly's family for dinner. They talked politely and in a friendly way that went far beyond what he had originally expected. Milly's parents were quite welcoming and friendly. They were fairly protective of Milly, but it wasn't that they took it to point of threatening him. They also talked about upcoming events in the IAC and the Fourth of July, and Lenny was surprised to learn that David was working as a low level administrator for the IAC, at least with regard to the scheduling of events and their where they took place and that Myrtle worked for Lyre's small newspaper. It was interesting, and as Milly had said to him, there was nothing to worry about.