The warmth of the sun beamed at the vibrant colored vehicle as the rays that were not shielded by its structure passed through its windows and kissed the skin of its occupants.

Erika moved as she covered herself with her top and slowly got dressed. The android next to her appeared to be asleep and how he lied on the car seat it covered his LED, and from where Erika sat up he looked like any other human being. She smiled and continued to get dressed. After a few more moments passed Connor shot open his eyes and looked up at the woman he found to be beautiful.

"I thought androids don't sleep?", Erika chimed and gave him a pursed smile as she held in a laugh.

"We don't...but my mechanics allow me to go into a sleep mode", he explained as he sat up as well and fixed his top to appear professional. The young woman was stuck in a trance as she gazed at him--the high from their night was still in her system.

Although the moment soon came to an end as the buzzing of a cellular device shook the whole car--Erika reacted by grabbing the device. There on the screen was a long list of notifications from her mother and Hank; they were worried about her.

"We should head back", she sighed and looked at Connor who nodded in agreement. He did research on family situations similar to this. The detective android looked up articles about adopted children and even nonacademic films that had scenarios like the one Erika was in. All of this lead to him agreeing with Erika's statement.

"I believe that would be most ideal", Connor nodded and fixed the driver's seat so that it was suitable for driving. Erika smiled and took the wheel, causing Connor to sit in the passenger's seat.

The android admired the change from the luscious evergreens to the concrete jungle he had come to know as Detroit. With Erika on the wheel, he had another view to admire, her driving was tenser than Hank, but she was relaxed at the same time. She preferred to have the seat up a bit more and the wheel up all the way to give her legs some room. She followed all the traffic signs and obeyed the speed limits. This was Connor's observation of the woman and it was beautiful to admire, at least to him.

As they neared the cafe Erika sighed and turned off the engine and headed on up after locking the vehicle. The young woman walked up the steps and to her apartment door and saw Hank and her mother holding hands and with worry written all over their faces. She dared to not enter, but a sudden pull made her do so. Erika took in a deep breath and pushed aside the negative thoughts she had on the situation and focused on the positive ones. She took a step and gently knocked on the wooden frame of the door with the back of her hand.

*knock knock*

The two older adults looked up from their worried position and with one glance of the young woman, wide smiles replaced the downward frowns.

"Hey", Erika spoke sheepishly in a low tone. She moved into the apartment fully and looked off to the side then right back at the older couple.

"I'm...I'm sorry for overreacting", she started, but her mother shook her head in disagreement.

"We thought you would be able to handle the truth now that you're older, but I guess revealing the truth is a surprise in itself", Natalie spoke rather wisely. She eyed her daughter to see if she understood before she continued, "and we should have expected you to react the way you did...and if you need more time to accept it, then we can wait"

Natalie let out a huff, it was like a weight was relieved from her shoulders, then as done by habit, she placed her hand on top of Hank's as she spoke the word "we". Erika's mother then looked to the side and to resolve the tension in the room as she gestured to the kitchen countertop.

"I made breakfast", she smiled and looked at Erika with hope twinkling in her eyes. The young woman nodded in appreciated but vocalized her own plans--she was not quite ready, it just felt too odd for her at the moment.

"Mom", Erika uttered after a moment of hesitation, "I was thinking of having breakfast with Connor at the diner"

With understanding eyes, Natalie nodded at her daughter's direction and made her grip stern on Hank's to let the woman go. Hank reluctantly nodded as well and went off to grab himself a cup of coffee.

"I'm just going to get changed...being out in the woods can do things to your hygiene", Erika explained and went off into her bedroom to be greeted by Rizo. She smiled and pet her furry companion and proceeded to get dressed.

While time passed slowly Natalie made frequent glances towards Connor's direction. Her motherly instincts kicked in as her thoughts drifted to what may have occurred while her daughter was out for the night with the handsome android detective. She looked at Hank if he caught along the lines of her thoughts--unfortunately, he did not. The older woman took a deep breath and faced the android.

"Connor, did anything happen? I did look up a few things on the internet last night...while you went to help her...and she wasn't planning on doing anything drastic...was she?", Natalie asked with a worried face.

"I can assure you that nothing like that happened, Natalie", Connor answered and looked to the side to see that Erika has finished getting dressed and wore a rather casual outfit with a pop of yellow as her top. He smiled at her, stood up, and went to her side.

"We'll be heading out now", Erika spoke as she went to grab her keys. Her mother nodded and let the two head on out. Hank joined her side as they watch the two exit the apartment and drive off in Erika's vehicle.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Another chapter! Sorry, it has definitely been a while. Hope this chapter was enough to fill the void! Also, I made a new cover, I've been liking the one I had recently, but I wanted to make one that fit the story. So it was influenced by vintage romance novel illustrations, but with a modern take on it!

↓ Here is the new cover ↓