"It's great to be back," Beth happily as she moved another forkful of Christmas ham into her mouth where her eyes remained focused on Eliza who sat to her immediate right.
Her father, Brock was across from her, with Killer to her left, and her mother was sitting across from Eliza and they were all enjoying a good Christmas dinner of ham. Beth's parents had their wine, macaroni and cheese, and some squash as a side dish while Beth, Eliza, and Killer were largely content to have ham. It was all good and sat well as Beth and Eliza could see the snow falling outside through a large window that was behind her parents. It seemed to sit well with much of the general Christmas spirit that was quite enjoyable for everyone. Beth was home on Christmas break and Eliza had some time off with WSA also having its Christmas break.
"It's great that you got relatively good grades and didn't get in trouble at college," Brock answered back calmly, coming back to a subject that the family had gone over since she got back for Christmas break.
Beth rolled her eyes at that, it seemed like an old joke. She knew her past reputation for being gruff and tough was something that many in high school had shied away from, and her time trying to hide the fact that she was a lesbian didn't help in that regard, but after the Animalia Ambassadoria crew set her up with Eliza and things seemed to even out, many other things began to improve. Beth privately attributed that the stress relief, even if the joke remained the same.
"I'd think you're giving her a little too much of a hard time," Eliza commented, "Beth is very smart... and outside of what can often be a pretty competitive environment that a high school can be... she can do well. College students generally tend to be more mature than high school students."
"A hard time is good every once and awhile," Brock answered with a smile to which Beth's mother sighed and tapped Brock's hand with her own hand.
"We shouldn't be teasing each other at Christmas," Beth's mother chided her husband and then looked over to her daughter, "and we are proud of you, dear."
Beth smiled at that. She did feel proud with her grades. Many of them were pretty generalized, though she did have a class or two that would work toward an education major, partially in admiration for many of the things Eliza went through. During the previous year, while her contact with her bond-mate was limited at WSA, for obvious legal issues that related to Eliza's position as principal, she did hear about some of the various sorts of adventures and mishaps that related to keeping WSA's high school running smoothly and dealing with the associated disciplinary issues. Beth didn't hear about everything in full detail, but she could not help but respect Eliza for putting up with the things she did, and that hadn't changed with her fall semester at UNLV, as she and Eliza did try to stay in touch as much as they could.
And that had even inspired Beth to take some steps that could in a way follow in a career in education. She wasn't fully sure on where that would lead exactly, as WSA was a new school and while their staff had expanded a bit when WSA and the Lyre School District were fully integrated in August, it wasn't likely they would need new full time staff when Beth graduated from college. It was possible that Animalia could expand over the coming time period that might mean hiring new teachers, but that would be dependent on Animalia not having some steep population drops in the coming years. For the moment, that was something more in the future.
"So... how was your Christmas morning, Eliza?" Beth's mother asked trying to shift some of the conversation, "You could have joined us if you wanted to."
"It went well," Eliza answered, "though... I had promised to spend Christmas morning with Misty and her mate..."
"Didn't you say they have kittens now?" Beth wondered.
"They do, and they are adorable," Eliza smiled, and privately glad for the interruption as one of the gifts she'd gotten was some negligée from Beth. Eliza looked forward to modelling it for Beth at some time when they could spend the night, but didn't want to get into that at the moment with her future in-laws.
"So... they'll be your nieces and nephews?" Killer wondered.
"I suppose," Eliza nodded, "and I gave them some special ornaments made of soft cotton with "Kitten's First Christmas" stitched onto the cloth ornament." Eliza paused for a moment, "though they had more fun batting the ornaments around than anything else. But it was fun to see them happy, and I was glad to see that Misty was happy."
Beth shared a smile with Eliza. She'd actually forgotten the name of Eliza's cat, but she was glad to hear that things were going well for Eliza's former pet. It was something that formed sorts of situations where Animalia did truly represent some of the best things that were often part of society on the whole and how they integrated into society. And Beth knew that with Eliza's own advanced age when she became an Animalian had meant that much of her biological family had died of old age. In that, the fact that Misty and Eliza had been able to have a bond, even if it wasn't a romantic one was good. It gave Eliza a family again, just as thanks to Travis and Sarah, Beth and Eliza had their own happy futures together.
"That's good then," Brock smiled, "I'm sure she'll have lots of happy memories... first birthdays, when they get their first teeth, when the start school..." Brock paused and then smiled to Beth, "Seeing their baby girl grow up and mature and become the sort of person we'd always hoped she'd be... Animalian or not."
"Thanks, dad," Beth answered.
"Things have remained good for you, I hope?" Eliza wondered.
"Yeah... though things have slowed down a bit once we got to the end of September," Killer commented.
"Mostly as the start of school and the end of summer lead to the draw down in the tourists coming into Lyre/Animalia going down," Brock agreed, "That's really how its been since Animalia started. A lot of people come in to be converted… and some decide to stay in Lyre or Animalia and others come in for some of the summer events and tourist type things... among other things."
"Though as UFC continues to gain more success... and their matches spread out over the year, you might see more of that sort of thing coming in, which would mean more people coming in and more business," Killer mused, "and might actually do more to help Animalia with the present administration..."
"Let's not talk about him on Christmas," Eliza sighed, still frustrated by the State Department official who felt he needed to be Elly's shadow at WSA during the school year.
Beth's mother agreed, "Yes, it is supposed to be a happy time... and for the most part around here, anyway, there is reason to think of it as good."
Killer slowly nodded. The holiday had been good. He'd gotten Beth a wall calendar that was made to support the various professional wrestling and MMA organizations that he knew Beth to be a fan of, and she did seem to like it, along with the DVDs that covered the last matches of the recent UFC-A inaugural tournament that Eliza gave her bond mate and the family was together for Christmas, something that he greatly enjoyed. The present gathering for dinner, at a fine wooden table with some red and green paper wreaths hung from hooks mounted in the ceiling and with the multi colored glow of the Jonson family Christmas tree in the background.
Beth also nodded at that. She'd liked her gifts and was glad that her parents and Killer enjoyed the gifts she'd been able to get them, some of which came with some help from Eliza. Her best gift was that Eliza had come for Christmas dinner and was enjoying it with her family there as well. The one thing that was missing, was an answer to a question that had often related to when Eliza came to visit, and it particularly related to Eliza and her mother. Beth knew they were planning something, but she hadn't been able to get her mother to say anything nor had she been able to get her mother to say anything nor coax anything out of Eliza either.
"There is one thing that I've not yet received," Beth commented as she glanced between her mother and Eliza.
"What is that, dear?" her mother answered.
"What secret you and Eliza have been planning!" Beth stated, "It's gone on since Eliza and I... well... started dating. When ever she'd come by to pick me up for a date and I was finishing homework or something else... I'd return to overhear some whispers. I thought I heard wedding said once... but I'm not sure."
"And you will learn," her mother promised, "but right now... that's a surprise."
"And hopefully a pleasant surprise," Eliza assured her bond mate, "Everything has been scheduled to make you happy..."
"I'm sure... but now... I wanna know!" Beth practically barked with her tail wagging... "if it's a wedding proposal... I'm legally old enough to do it now and we've all gotten along."
"You might just have to wait a bit, dear," her mother answered, "things aren't ready, yet."
"Come on... Dad do you know?" Beth turned to her father who was in the midst of chewing on his dinner and his eyes widened as all eyes turned to him.
"Um... I really can't say what your mother and bond mate have planned," Brock said slowly. While he wasn't necessarily one hundred percent comfortable with the fact that his only girl was gay, he did love her and wasn't going to throw her out because of who she was, and to a certain extent he endorsed Eliza's WWE fandom. In this, one part of him was more than willing to tell Beth if it meant she'd be happy and happy with someone she loved. Seeing Beth with Eliza had seen improvements in Beth that he couldn't help but be proud in. However, he'd also been married long enough to know not to get into his own wife's proverbial dog-house, so he chose to try and avoid the question. "Though... it might be best to save marriage for after you graduate college. Less hassle and you'll be able to settle in together."
"And things will surely fly quickly," Eliza commented, "Some times it seems like only yesterday that Animalia was founded."
Beth sighed and nodded, though that didn't necessarily mean her curiosity at what was being planned was still there. She was sure it would be a pleasant surprise, as she loved Eliza and Eliza loved her back, and her mother had been more open to accepting Beth's sexuality. That was something even more eager find out what the plan was. Though, for the moment, she'd let that be.