"Hey mom." Polina smiled warmly at her mother as she opened the front door- though the excitable woman barely gave her the chance to speak.

"My baby girl!" Rosalita exclaimed, throwing her arms around her daughter and hugging her tightly. Leaning back after a moment, she held her at arms length, looking her over from head to toe. "I'm so happy that you're back safe! Do you know how much you worried me?"

Rosalita tsked softly, shaking her head. "A month! One whole month; you didn't call or text- almost like you forgot your poor mother!" Shaking her head sadly, she was quick to engulf Polina with another hug. "I know you said it would be fine, but a mother worries!"

Off to the side, Oliver struggled to maintain a straight face; the way his future mother-in-law ran roughshod over a conversation was kinda cute, and definitely amusing- until her attention was turned on him.

Before he even realized it, he was pulled into a hug of his own.

"Oliver!" Rosalita cheered as she squeezed him tightly- though that didn't stop her from chastising him as well. "You could have reminded her to call me- or called me yourself! You're family, and I missed you!"

Feeling the warmth of a mother's love, Oliver's breath hitched in his throat for a moment. "I missed you too, mom. I'm sorry we didn't call, but we were way out of cell signal the entire trip."

"Oh, goodness! That must have been some trip!" Was Rosalita's chipper response. "You'll have to tell me all about it! Well, what you can, I suppose. I'm sure that big company you work for probably has some things they want to keep quiet- all those big companies do, right?"

"We'll tell you what we can, mom." Polina assured her. "Come sit, mom." Settling herself onto the love seat with Oliver, her hands clasped nervously in front of her as her mom sat on the couch.

It was just the three of them in the room- Jal and Lily were waiting in the kitchen to be called, as they wanted a moment to prep her mother for such a major change. Seconds passed, and Poli's nerves rose another notch as she struggled with what exactly to say.

"Before we get into the story too much..." She began awkwardly, nervously twisting the engagement ring on her finger. "There's something- I mean, Oliver and I... We have a surprise for you..."

Rosalita looked on with interest as her daughter speak, a touch of curiosity in her eyes. But, as Polina stumbled over her words, ideas raced through her mind at what the surprise could be...

Eyes going wide, Rosalita's hand flew to cover her mouth as she gasped in shock. "Oh. OH!" Leaning forward- and practically vibrating in place from excitement- she gasped out with joy. "You're pregnant!? Oh my god! How far along? Do you know yet if it's a boy or girl?"

Polina instantly turned bright red, blushing from embarrassment at the miscommunication- looking back at how she started her explanation, she could see how her mother would jump to that conclusion... And she had no idea how to correct it.

"Mom." Oliver said suddenly, holding up a hand to stop the excitable woman. Seeing he had her attention, a wry chuckle escaped him- he knew that, the second he drew her attention, and with how flummoxed Poli was, it was now on him to fix the spiraling conversation... Hopefully before it got more awkward.

"Poli isn't pregnant, mom." He said softly. Seeing his mother-in-law's crestfallen look, he quickly pushed forward- he was certain the excitement would return quickly, but he was starting to second guess there approach. "I mean, that's kinda close, but not exactly it..."

Seeing her look of confusion, he knew he wasn't making it any better. Making a quick decision, he stood up. "We're not doing a good job with trying to explain this. Just... give me a sec, and I'll bring out the surprise."

Walking quickly to the kitchen doorway, Oliver smiled brightly at the nervous looking Jal before waving for him to join them. With small, hesitant steps and a hopeful smile, the girl exited the kitchen to stand next to the couch.

Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

"Mom, this is Jal." Oliver said softly, his hand resting on the girl's shoulder. "Jal, say hi to your grandma."

"Hi, grandma." Jal said- in clear, but hesitant, English.

"Grandma?" Rosalita said softly, eyes widening with shock as she stared at the young girl. The moment stretched out before, with a surprisingly loud squeal of excitement, Rosalita practically leapt off the couch to sweep the girl up in her arms.

"Goodness, a grand baby!" She crooned, twisting n place as she enthusiastically hugged Jal- which the girl eagerly returned, eyes alight with joy. "I have a beautiful grand baby!"

Leaning back from the embrace, happy tears glimmered in Rosalita's eyes as she took a good look at her first grandchild- it didn't matter to her that the girl was adopted, all that mattered was that she had a granddaughter to dote on and spoil!

"Look at you! You're absolutely precious!" She sighed happily, her hand gently brushing at Jal's curly hair. "You're name is Jal? That's a lovely name!"

"Yes, grandma." Jal said softly, leaning in to the gentle affection- her parents had said that grandma would be excited to meet her. Still she had worried... but reality was exactly as they had said.

"Oh, you sweet girl. Come sit with grandma?" Rosalita asked, her heart positively soaring at meeting her new granddaughter. When Jal nodded in agreement, she quickly settled them on the couch.

Holding Jal's hand gently, she turned to smile radiantly at her daughter and future son-in-law. "This... This is the best surprise ever!" Despite taking a deep breath to try to calm herself, she was practically bouncing in place with joy. "I have so many questions! How did this happen? And how old are you, Jal? When-"

"Slow down, mom." Oliver chuckled as he held up a hand to stop the onslaught. "I know you're curious, and we'll try to answer everything we can..."

"The first thing you need to know, though, is that Jal is still learning English- so don't be surprised if she doesn't understand something you say or a question you ask-"

"Oh, that's ok sweetheart!" Rosalita cut in, turning to look at Jal. "Why, when I was your age, we had just come to America, too, so I know what you're going through- trying to adjust to a new place and learn the language... It can be tough, but grandma is here to help if you need me!"

For a moment, Jal simply blinked at her- while she knew the words, her new grandmother spoke so quickly it took her a moment to truly understand. As she processed the words, a bright smile grew on her face. "Ok, grandma... but... umm..."

"It's ok, sweetheart, just say whatever you want to say; grandma will understand."

Jal's eyes darted from her new grandma to her parents and back with a touch of uncertainty- she really wanted her grandma to like her, and didn't want to upset her... but...

"You talk... really fast..."

Chuckling softly, Rosalita was quick to offer a reassuring hug- and reign in her excitable rambling. With slow, deliberate words, she spoke again. "Of course, dear. I'm sorry, I should have thought of that- I promise I'll do better from now on."

Poli smiled softly at the heartwarming sight- she knew her mom would be just as welcoming as she was excited, but actually seeing it in person was so much more than she had thought it would be. Clearing her throat, she jumped back into the conversation. "It's a pretty complicated story, with some parts we can't talk about- and some of it... isn't good..."

She sighed, shaking her head. "The short version is... Jal was an orphan, and in a bad spot. She had to work for her food... and the only work available to her was with some bad people."

"Oliver and I... Well, we got her out of there before anything bad could happen to her. When we told her we would help her find a good home, she just kinda... asked... to be adopted by us."

"We had to take some time to think about it..." Oliver added softly. "But... we were taking care of her the whole time, and..." Shrugging his shoulders awkwardly, he just waved at the current situation.

"You got attached, and started caring about her." Rosalita finished for him, eyes filled with love and pride- her daughter had picked a good man, she was sure of it.

"Yeah, we did." Poli agreed instantly as she took in Jal's happy smile, and she felt a moment of relief- the conversation had been easier than she expected...

Of course, she knew that it wasn't really over; her mom would certainly want to hear all about their trip...

And... she still hadn't figured out how to explain Lily- something she knew they would have to do, considering the Demon princess was living with them, and there was no way Rosalita wouldn't be coming around regularly to see her granddaughter...

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.