Rain; the sound of the water droplets tapping against the bedroom windows was what she woke up to. The young woman blinked the sleep from her eyes and looked across at the heavy grey curtains covering the windows across from her. There was an arm draped around her waist a warm breath of air nipping at her neck every few seconds. Leonardo was pressed up against her back; their legs were tangled underneath the heavy blankets. All he could focus on was the sound of his low breathing and the steady tapping of the rain droplets against the windows.

It was past dawn. She knew that because of the light flitting between the spaces the curtains couldn't cover. Her eyes followed the intruding light rays until she would have to turn her head to see where they stopped. It was awkward; she didn't want to move to risk waking her boyfriend up. The night before was hectic and the two of them didn't fall asleep until the early hours of the morning. Her heart stopped for a moment and her eyes widened in surprise.

She felt like she had a minor heart attack when her brain finally reminded her of what was on today's to-do list. The time was unknown to her but they both had obviously slept in. They were talking about meeting her parents for lunch today. Blindly she reached forward, her hand feeling around the bedside table until her fingers grazed the top of her cell phone. She grabbed it and turned it on to see the time. There were several missed calls from all three of her parents from the past half an hour.

Mar'i sat up jostling her boyfriend lying behind her awake. If it weren't for her panicking she would've stopped to kiss his adorable face good morning - well, good afternoon. The blankets were tossed forwards; she nearly fell out of the bed and onto the floor from moving so fast. Leonardo sat up and rubbed his tired eyes. Once they were open he saw his girlfriend running back and forth from the washroom to the closet. "What on Earth are you doing?" he asked watching her halt her movements when she heard his voice.

The raven-haired woman turned to face the foot of the bed and gave him a sheepish smile while scratching the back of his head. "Remember lunch with my parents?" she asked hoping not to alarm him in any way. It took a moment and she watched as his tired expression quickly morphed into a mixed look of horror and surprise. She looked the same way when she first realized what time it was. "You start getting ready, I'll call them back." She said, hopping towards the washroom while pulling her pants up her legs.

Her cell phone was lying idly on the countertop when she grabbed it. She dialed two different numbers, third time's a charm. "Mar'i, how joyous it is to finally hear from you!" her mama exclaimed from the other end of the phone line. Besides nearly getting her eardrums blown out she was relieved that someone answered. Her mama, her biological mother, was a model like herself. That was how she originally got into the modeling business.

The two of them were more alike than they let on with their unnatural strength, optimistic attitude, and unusual genetic eye discolouration genetics. "Sorry mama, Leo and I slept in and last night was quite hectic. I mean dad probably told you already but I'm really sorry we'll be there soon I promise." She sputtered out while brushing her hair. There was a long pause over the line. In the background, she could hear laughter and the ever so faint melody of her mum's voice. "It is okay, we're all waiting in the backyard. Your father says to hurry up or he'll eat your hamburger." Her mama giggled.

She rolled her eyes. "Tell dad that if he lays a finger on that burger that I'll cut it off."

There was a string of childish laughter that rung in her ears. She must've been on speaker, only her siblings had such obnoxious laughs. "We'll be there soon, okay?" she said putting the hairbrush down and grabbing a nearby hair tie from the counter. Mar'i looked up and into the mirror to see Leonardo standing in the doorway fixing his tie. "See you soon." Her mama replied wistfully before hanging up the phone. As soon as she was able to put her phone down she used both hands to fix her unruly hair.

She kept true to her promise and the couple arrived at her parents' house within the next half an hour. The back gate was left unlocked; she could hear laughter from the backyard. All of her siblings were outside; she was impressed, to say the least. Many of them preferred the indoors. Her Aunt Artemis and Uncle Wally were there with their kids as well. Leonardo pulled back on her hand yanking her back into his chest.

His gaze travelled across the entire backyard from left to right taking in all of the people. Normally he didn't partake in mundane things like this. "I know this isn't like your usual grand balls or fancy parties but they're family and I'm sure if you don't act like a robot you'll be fine." She assured him before leaning forward and kissing his cheek. Just as she pulled away she heard her mama call her name.

All four of her siblings ran over and engulfed Mar'i in one large group hug. "Who's this?" Jaxx asked looking up at her boyfriend who was partially hidden behind her. Mar'i had forgotten that her siblings, let alone Jaxx, had actually met him properly before. Of course, they had heard of him over the phone and seen glimpses of them while they were video chatting but him actually being here in the flesh was new to the four of them.

Charlie stepped up to him, her arms were crossed and her stare looked to be deadly. "You look rich, are you rich?" she asked.

"I am financially well off, yes." He answered awkwardly.

The fifteen-year-old held her hand out to him and tapped her foot against the grass impatiently. Mar'i quickly grabbed the back of her younger sister's shirt and pulled her behind her. "I'm so sorry about that; Charlie doesn't seem to have her way with words yet." Mar'i apologized looking back at her sister with a forced smile. The kids seemed to lose interest once her father announced that lunch was on the picnic table.

They all dispersed and ran towards that old wooden lunch table as if they were cheetahs catching their prey. A hand fell on her shoulder and she has spun around and pulled into a warm and strong hug. "Hey, mama." She greeted hugging the redheaded woman back.

"I heard what happened last night; I am relieved that you are alright."

"Let's just forget about last night, okay? We'll pretend that it was a nightmare."

It was odd for her to request something like this. Mar'i was usually so open about everything, especially things like this. However, this was one of those memories she wished to forget entirely. Last night was a mistake and she shouldn't have tried to reconnect with everyone. The media was rightfully portraying Damian Wayne for what he was. He changed for the worst during the lengthened time apart and that kiss - that kiss was just her trying to get back at her boyfriend.

Lunch became increasingly awkward as soon as the two of them sat down. She looked over her shoulder at all of the kids crowded around the picnic table under the large maple tree at the corner of the backyard. She remembered sitting there often whenever she came home for visits. The population only seemed to increase in the house after she left with her mama to pursue her modeling career after University.

Leonardo was as still as a corpse in the chair next to her. He was stunned into silence by her parent's bombardment of questions. There were so many that even Mar'i didn't know where to start off. "Okay how about we start off with Dad. What's your question?" she asked pointing towards her father who just finished squirting an array of condiments onto his burger. He looked up from the sandwich and smiled fondly at her. "Well, first I just want to say thank you, Leonardo, for getting her out of trouble. That's some lawyer you have." Her father said, she could see the pain in his eyes from saying that.

It took a lot from her father to say something remotely positive towards her boyfriend. He and her mother had something against the Huxley family for years and she could never figure out why. When she brought Toni back with her for summer vacation when she was in her fifth year her parents spoke to her minimally and when they did they sounded as if they were robots. It took a very long time and several summer vacations for them to get comfortable around her.

Mar'i flashed her parents a thankful smile and reached under the table to take a hold of her boyfriend's hand. He gladfully squeezed her hand back once she managed to lace their fingers together. "Yes, my father believes we should have the best of the best, especially for my dearest." Leonardo answered turning his head and kissing her cheek sweetly. Although he didn't say anything she could tell her father was impressed with his answer. Anything that meant she was going to be well taken care of was okay in his book.

The lunch went smoother than planned once they rid of the awkwardness in the air. They finished eating, she was with her mother and Aunt Artemis sipping their lemonades and watching the kids run about. Her father and Uncle Wally were inside packaging the leftovers and cleaning all of the dishes. Leonardo was inside helping the two men; he was trying to get in both of their good books. "Mum I have a question." She announced stopping the two women's conversation.

"Are you going to ask your question, I'm not getting any younger here." Her mother laughed.

"Why do you and Dad hate Leo and Toni's family so much?" she asked.

It was almost as if the planet had stopped rotating when she said that. Mar'i could practically hear the drums of war ringing in her ears. This was an age-old question that she had been dying for an answer for so many years. She was too afraid of their reactions, let alone answers until now. They formally met her boyfriend and everything seemed to have gone well so she thought she would ask. All she wanted was an answer, one simple answer.

Her mother brought the lemonade glass she had been holding to her lips and quickly downed the rest of the sweet and sour drink. Mar'i sat back in her chair and awaited her mother to yell so loud her ears would be ringing for days. Now, Zatanna Zatara-Grayson was not someone who yelled very often. Things such as this were what usually set her off. The young woman was surprised that in this situation it wasn't the case.

Besides the kids, all yelling and laughing a few feet away on the grass the world around them seemed silent. Her mother's face was blank as she set the empty glass down on the arm of her chair and turned to face her. "Does it even matter anymore Mar'i? Anything I - we say isn't going to change your mind." Her mother said her tone scarily flat as she spoke. With that Mar'i watched her mother stand up and walk into the house with her empty glass.

She sat there quietly and stared ahead at her siblings and watched how they laughed with each other. The chair next to her was suddenly occupied and a warm hand came to rest on top of hers. "Your mom and dad love you so much you know?" her Aunt said squeezing her hand. She nodded; of course, she knew how much her parents loved her. They reminded her every single chance they got to tell her. "Did I ever tell you about the time I thought I lost my husband, how it felt?" her aunt asked.

In the past her parents mentioned it and she was brought along to the funeral. However Mar'i never knew the whole entire story. There was something, some secret that her parents, her aunt Roquette, and Artemis knew about. She just knew by the way they acted around each other. Although her aunt Artemis and Roquette hated each other they seemed to have an understanding. It was in their eyes, passed all the hatred there was a feeling. They've experienced the same kind of pain before, the laughs, the happiness, and then with time it all crumbled because one of them got something back they so badly missed while the other was deprived of it.

Love.

The blonde drew in a sharp breath and looked over her shoulder to see her husband in the kitchen window. Mar'i smiled softly at her aunt. None of them were related, biologically, they were her parent's friend since high school. All of them loved Mar'i dearly; after all, she was their aunts and uncles practice kid at times. "They're scared to let you go like this, they were so sad when you decided to travel after graduation," she laughed, "- Dick is so protective and in the past when he was living with Bruce there was some drama that went down with the Huxley's. He never got too into it but we all knew it was bad." She squeezed the young woman's hand.

Travelling was all she ever wished to do when she was younger. Mar'i never knew how her parents felt, she felt like she was tearing herself from the family picture. "Losing Wally was like losing a piece of me I never knew I had. It hurt for so long and when I finally got him back I forgot all about the pain and the loneliness. He was my family you know and without him, I felt like I had nobody." Her aunt sniffed and wiped the stray tears away. Mar'i knew how hard it was for her aunt to talk about this.

"I'm getting off topic here I know but what I'm trying to say is that if you think he's right for you if you think he'll make you happy if you're willing to share a part of yourself with him then go for it. You're young and hell I was young once upon a time but only you know your heart and if you feel he's right for you then go for it."

"Thanks."

"You can do what you want but remember they are your parents."

With that, she thanked her aunt once again and stood up heading towards the house. She stopped at the sliding doors and watched her parents and Leonardo interact. The young woman thought back carefully on her aunt's words. Besides her mother's her aunt Artemis was one of the wisest people she knew. After everything that has happened, she was twenty-six years old, was she ready to accept Leonardo into her life if he were to ask her if she would have him?

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Skycrystal23 ;)