Rosalita was impressed and excited by the story of their trip- though it was a heavily modified version that left out quite a bit, framed as a humanitarian trip mostly centered around the idea that they were delivering 'important goods' in an area with virtually no technology...

A somewhat accurate description, at least, even if it did leave off a great deal of what actually happened- especially any mention of violence; neither Oliver nor Polina was ready to explain to her how dangerous their 'jobs' really were.

"Sailing around and helping people sounds really nice- almost like a mini vacation, but while getting paid!" She giggled happily. "You two really should have taken pictures for me, though!"

Before the couple could respond, Rosalita glanced at her watch and bounced to her feet. "Oh, if we hurry we have just enough time to make it to the furniture store!"

"The furniture store?" Oliver asked, reeling from the sudden change in subject.

"Of course!" She answered, smiling brightly as she tugged Jal up to stand beside her. "You're going to turn the spare room into Jal's, right? You can't expect to do that without a proper bed for her, can you?"

"That's true..." Poli nodded slowly. "We were planning to do that tomorrow-" Seeing the disappointed look on her mother's face, Poli didn't hesitate to adjust their plans a bit- not that it was a big change, really, or inconvenient. If anything, getting the bed for Jal right away would simplify things; as it was, Oliver had planned to sleep on the couch, letting the women share the limited space of their bed. "But right now is probably better."

"Yes!" Rosalita and Jal cheered together, making the couple smile- their combined excitement was almost overwhelmingly adorable. Sharing a smile with her granddaughter, Rosalita eagerly headed for the door. "This is going to be so much fun, right Jal?"

"Ah, mom..." Polina said hesitantly while exchanging a glance with Oliver- as much as she wished Oliver could take the lead on the next part, she knew that wouldn't work- not only did he have no idea how to broach the subject, but having him do it could also complicate things worse. What if her mom thought adding Lily to their relationship was his idea? The many ways that could go wrong...

Poli was sure it was better for her to do the talking- she just needed to figure out what to say.

"There's... something else that I wanted to talk to you about..."

"Oh?" Rosalita paused at the door to look back, a mischievous smile on her face. "Does it have anything to do with the very pretty woman that has been peeking out of the kitchen the whole time?"

Poli glanced in that direction just in time to see a head of strawberry blonde hair jerk back in surprise. Smiling awkwardly, Poli just shrugged and raised her voice. "It's ok, Lily. Come say hello."

With slow, hesitant steps, Lily exited the kitchen. Hands nervously smoothing the sundress she wore, she paused just inside the room- but, despite her clear anxiety at the situation, her voice didn't waver. "Hello, ma'am. My name is Lilina ne Strus' bos Silk- though I prefer to be called Lily. Poli has told me quite a lot about you, and it is a pleasure to finally meet you."

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Rosalita's eyes went wide when the woman stepped into the room, having to crane her head back just to meet Lily's eyes- at barely over five feet tall herself, she felt positively dwarfed in comparison.

"Goodness, I wasn't expecting you to be so tall!" Rosalita tittered before a look of embarrassment flashed across her face. "Oh, where are my manners! It's nice to meet you, too! And you have such a lovely- and interesting- name as well! I've never heard anything like it! I don't think I've met anyone with five names before..."

Seeing the warmth in her greeting -and the hint of confusion in the older woman's face- Lily relaxed and happily explained. "It is actually only three names; my people's naming conventions are a bit different from yours, as I've learned. The 'ne' part does not really translate, as it is more to denote that I am formerly a member of the Strus Family, while 'bos' is to mark my betrothal to the Silk Family."

Oliver and Polina groaned in unison, as the conversation had not only gone off the rails, but the pair had been completely blindsided by this revelation. While they had learned a bit about Demon naming conventions- notably how 'vix' denoted someone as being a member of a noble family and in good standing- neither had looked too deeply into the subject... Or really considered that Lily would just lay it all out so plainly.

Though, to be fair to Lily, they had both repeatedly emphasized how kind and understanding Rosalita was...

"Betrothed?" Rosalita asked as she slowly turned an unreadable look at Oliver and Polina- but mainly at her daughter. "There wasn't any mention of a betrothal earlier."

"Ah... Yeah..." Poli winced at the hole she had dug herself. "Well... I wasn't really sure how to explain..."

"Poli, sweetheart." Rosalita said gently. "I'm your mother, and I love you- I will always love you... You really should have just told me you were doing one of those 'unconventional relationships'..."

Seeing the surprised look on her daughter's face, Rosalita couldn't help but chuckle. "Oh, come now Poli, I'm not oblivious! I've heard about things like that, and you're just as nervous and awkward now as when you tried to talk to me about you dating that girl a couple years ago!"

"Plus, it's clear that you and Oliver love each other just as much as always- and you just adopted such an adorable little girl together! There's no way the two of you would be splitting up..."

"So, one of those relationships with multiple people in them just makes sense." Rosalita smirked at her daughter, enjoying the rare opportunity to tease her. "Plus, I may remember overhearing a conversation you had with your ex-girlfriend along these lines; Honestly, Poli, I'm more surprised that Oliver agreed to it. No offense, Oli, but anyone can see that you are just as clueless as you are devoted when it comes to love- it's one of your charms."

"That's... kinda true." Oliver admitted with a shrug, glad that his future mother-in-law didn't seem upset by the whole thing. Seeing Polina looking stunned, he gently nudged her and whispered in her ear. "Just be glad she's taking it well, hon. Honestly, this is going a bit better than we thought it would."

"That's fair, I guess." Poli sighed, shaking her head. "At least we've got it out in the open now- though I'm kinda wishing we had taken more time to prepare for this conversation..."

"Me too." Oliver chuckled softly. "Anyway, we should probably get moving if we want to get Jal a bed tonight, right?"

"Oh, yes! We wouldn't want them to close before we get there!" Rosalita exclaimed, already turning for the door. "That means you too, Lily; if my daughter says you're family, that means you're family. You can tell me about your home and family on the way!"

"How do you think your mom will react to finding out Lily's a princess?" Oliver directed his musing towards Polina with a lowered voice...

"She's a WHAT!?"

...that he didn't expect his mother-in-law would hear.

"Well..." Poli shot him an amused- and sympathetic- look. "Now you get to be the one to explain that."

Oliver sighed; he had done so well with keeping his mouth shut up to that point...

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