Lisa and Ty went to the kitchen. Ty began setting the dining room table. "Will Dustin be home for dinner?" he asked June.
"I don't think so, honey. Just us four,"June replied. "There's plenty, though, so if he does come home he can join us." Ty set four places.
"Whatever you're baking smells great, June. Is there anything I can help with?" Lisa asked.
"Yes, you can check on the garlic bread in the toaster oven, and take it to the table if it is ready," June replied. "Thank you!" Lisa did that, while June took the main entre from the oven to the table, and Ty took the salad. Lisa got out the salad dressings.
"Dinner is ready, Mark," June called, and Mark soon joined them in the dining room. June dished up lasagna for each of them, and they passed the garlic bread and salad.
"I've never had homemade lasagna before," Lisa said. "It's wonderful." Ty and Mark nodded in agreement.
"Thank you, dear," June said with a smile. "It's fairly easy to make, though it takes a bit of time. I use store-bought sauce, though I add a few things."
As they ate, Ty wondered how things were going with Lisa's parents. "Thank you both for talking to Maria and Diego," he told his parents. "I'm still concerned, UT I appreciate your help."
"I do too," said Lisa. "I think my dad can soothe Maria's concerns, but it should help that you've been open with them about your experiences."
"Well, I didn't tell Diego absolutely everything," Mark said. "But I wasn't trying to conceal anything that would be important to them."
"I understand," said Lisa. "I'm sure you did a great job of explaining."
"Are you planning to stay with us tonight?" June asked her.
"I think I'd better go home after dinner tonight," Lisa said. "I hate to eat and run, but I think I should be there to talk with my parents."
"I'll walk you home," said Ty.
"Actually," Mark said, "though I know you might prefer to walk, I told Diego that I would drive you tonight. I hope that's OK."
"Yes, that's fine," Lisa said.
Ty and Lisa cleared the table and washed the dishes. When they were done, they were surprised to see that June and Mark had dressed up a bit, and were waiting for them. Maybe they had some evening plans after dropping Lisa off. "I don't want to rush you," Mark said, "but we're ready whenever you are."
"Thank you," Lisa said. "No time like the present, I suppose." Like Ty, she was a little bit nervous. The four of them got in Mark's car, and soon reached Lisa's house.
Ty was surprised that his parents got out and walked to the door with them. Lisa opened the door, and called, "Mom, Dad, I'm home."
Diego came to the door, hugged Lisa, and said, " Thank you for bringing Lisa home. Do you have time to come in for a few minutes?"
"Yes, we'd like that," June replied, and they entered. They joined Maria in the living room.
Maria stood, and after thanking them for bringing Lisa home, hugged June. "I'm glad to see all of you. Please, have a seat."
After they were seated, Diego said, "I suppose it will not surprise any of you to know that Maria was very concerned after Ty's demonstration this morning."
Maria said, "I know that Ty is a considerate and responsible young man, but his demonstration worried me. A lot. To be completely honest, at first I really wanted Lisa not to see Ty again, and was on the verge of demanding that.
"However, a phone converation with June, and discussion with Diego, has convinced me that I was wrong."
Diego said, "And I had a very enlightening conversation with Mark, which really helped me to better understand the situation. So Maria and I have a proposal."
Maria said, "Ty, assuming that you and Lisa still want it..."
Lisa interjected, "I do!"
Maria continued, "I don't oppose your continuing to see each other. But we do want to ask a few thinks of you."
Diego said, "Ty, we're very protective of Lisa. Perhaps we're even overly protective at times. This may be one of those times. I'm sure you remember our private conversation, when you first came to out house."
"Yes sir," Ty said.
Diego's voice softened. "Ty, we're still all friends here. You don't have to call me 'sir'. My point is that in that conversation, which I know was uncomfortable, we established some ground rules, which I hope you have not found too onerous. Now that we've seen some of your abilities, even though we don't fully understand them, we want to add a few more rules. Now, we have no way to enforce any rules, so we're just asking for your word that you agree to them.
"First and foremost, you will never use your powers in a way that hurts Lisa."
"Oh, of course I won't!" said Ty, emphatically. "I would never hurt her! She means the world to me!"
Diego continued, "Secondly, you WILL use your any and all means at your disposal, including your special abilities, to protect Lisa, if she is ever in danger."
"You don't even have to ask!" Ty said.
Diego said, "Third, you won't use your power to make changes to our house, without permission."
Lisa suddenly looked uncomfortable. She looked to Ty. "Um," said Ty. "Before you continue, I have to make a confession."
Diego looked surprised. "You already told us about the doorway between your bedrooms, and we all saw the doorway between our living rooms this morning. We're not upset with you about those."
"No, not those," Ty said. "I did make another change to your house, and it's still present."
Diego looked to Maria. She said, "That's OK, Ty. We won't hold it against you. Just explain it to us, please."
Ty said, "You know how I made your living room bigger temporarily this morning, to accomodate the doorway? But from the outside of the living room, the house was unchanged. Well, I also did that to Lisa's bedroom, not just to add the doorway to mine. I added an entire en suite bathroom off of Lisa's bedroom, and it's still there. I apologize for doing that without permission, and I'll remove it right now."
"Hold on," Maria said, and looked to Diego. "Are you OK with that?"
Diego said, "I'd like to see it, but obviously this is something Ty did for Lisa's benefit. If you're OK with it, so am I."
Maria said to Ty and Lisa, "As long as Diego looks it over, and finds it satisfactory, you can keep it."
"Thank you!" Lisa said.
Diego said, "Where was I? Oh, right. Fourth, like the rule about no excessive display of affection in our sight. We don't want to see you using your powers in the house, without permission. What you do in the bedroom behind a closed door is your business."
"I get it," Lisa said, laughing. "Keep the magic in the bedroom!" Ty couldn't help but laugh a bit, and he noticed June trying not to smile.
"Lisa!" said Maria, disapprovingly. "We're serious here!"
"Sorry, Mom," Lisa apologized.
Diego said to Ty, "I hope you don't think we're being unreasonable, but I'm afraid that these rules are non-negotiable. I'd like your word that you will abode by them."
Ty stood, and approached Diego. He said, "I think your rules are fair and reasonable, and I will gladly honor them." He held out his right hand, and he and Diego shook on it.
Diego said, "Thank you, Ty. You have set Maria's mind and mine at ease."
Maria said, "Yes, thank you, Ty." After a moment, she continued. "Now I don't want you to think this is only about restricting you. Diego and I have talked this over, and if you and Lisa want it, and your parents agree to it, we want to do something for the two of you." She looked to Diego.
Diego said, "As Maria said, if you two want it, and June and Mark agree, then with one condition we want to give you permission to make another alteration to our house. We are willing to give you permission to set up the doorway between your bedrooms, and keep it. And, we're willing to let you come to our house whenever you and Lisa want, without requiring advance permission from Maria and me. The condition is that you both must continue to do well in school."
"Wow, Maria, Diego, that's very generous of you!" Ty looked to his parents, who looked to each other.
June nodded to Mark, and he said, "June and I also agree to this, with the same condition. Lisa is welcome in our house without advance permission from June and me."
Lisa said, "Mom, Dad, June, Mark, this is wonderful! I can't thank you all enough!"
Diego said to Ty, "Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to have a look at the bathroom you made for Lisa, and if you don't mind, see you create the doorway."
Ty said to Lisa, "Lead the way!"
Lisa, Diego, June, Mark, and Ty headed upstairs to Lisa's bedroom. Maria said, "I hope you won't mind if I don't join you."
Lisa showed them to the bathroom. They all looked around, with Diego making a particularly thorough inspection. "Ty, I'm quite impressed. The craftsmanship is first rate. I fully approve."
"Nothing but the best for Lisa!" Ty said. "And if I'm going to use magic to create something, I'm not going to settle for anything less. Now, I think you wanted to see the doorway." They stepped out of the bathroom. Ty was glad he'd cleaned up his own bedroom after the fun Lisa and he had earlier that day. "Before, to test the doorway concept, I temporarily replaced our closet doors. But for adding a more permanent new door, Lisa, do you have a preference for where you'd like it to be?"
Lisa looked around her room, and said, "Not especially, but I suppose that putting it next to the bathroom door would be as good as any."
Ty said, "Your wish is my command." He waved his arm, and as everyone watched, the room grew, leaving a blank stretch of wall next to the bathroom door. Then a closed door appeared. "If you'd please do the honors," he said.
Lisa opened the door and stepped through into Ty's bedroom. She reached out her arm, beckoning everyone else to join her.
After they marveled over it for a bit, they returned to Lisa's bedroom, and then downstairs to rejoin Maria. Lisa hugged Maria and June. Both Ty and Mark shook hands with Diego.
Maria said, "I have just one other thing." Everyone was surprised, even Diego. They all looked to Maria.
Maria looked to Lisa. "I'm sorry I was short with you about your hair color. While I like your natural hair color, I respect your judgement regarding your personal appearance. I hope you won't decide to get a mohawk and a nose ring, but you don't need my approval to make the appearance changes you like, including hair color."
Lisa said, "Thank you, mom!" She hugged Maria.
June said, "Now, if you will please excuse us, I think Mark and I will drive home. Ty, you can obviously stay here if you prefer."
Ty said, "Thank you, but I'd actually like to ride back with you, if you don't mind." He hugged Lisa, and briefly kissed her. "Love you! See you again soon!"
Lisa replied, "Love you too!"
Maria showed Ty, June, and Mark out the front door.
Lisa asked to be excused, and went back to her room. Maria and Diego sat. "That went well," Diego said.
"Yes," agreed Maria. "Though perhaps we should have asked Mark and June in advance about the doorway."
"Based on how they reacted to the other doorway this morning, and my conversation with Mark, I was pretty confident that they'd approve," Diego said. "And I really wanted Ty to know that this wasn't just about restrictions. Thank you for agreeing to it."
"As long as it doesn't cause problems, I'm not opposed to Ty using his powers, especially for Lisa's benefit," Maria explained. "I just find it too disconcerting to actually see it. Maybe I'll get over that eventually."
"Well, that might be nice, but I think we've reached a good compromise, so don't worry about it." Diego kissed Maria.