Your first birthday party since meeting Davina was approaching fast. Too fast, in your opinion. It was in about twenty minutes. Every year, you had a nice birthday party with your family and a few friends, and this year, you'd be bringing your girlfriend, Davina.

Aside from your birthday, this was also a significant occasion because Davina would be meeting your parents for the first time. And by god, you had put your family through the ringer to prepare for it. You'd educated them on which words were inappropriate to say, which questions they should not ask under any circumstances, and generally beaten them over the head with the fact that Davina was a normal person just like them.

Still, you worried. You really wanted Davina to like your family. Heck, you could see yourself maybe settling down with Davina one day. It was of the utmost importance that your family liked her and treated her well.

As she got ready, you could see a slight tremble in Davina's hands, and a little fleck of worry in her eyes. You smiled to yourself and helped her with the necklace she was struggling with and kissed her cheek.

"Everything will be fine. Promise. They're gonna love you." She turned to you and offered her own tense smile.

"I know. Still, I worry. Can't always be carefree."

─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───

You'd arrived at the restaurant and made introductions without fuss. Made it to the table and ordered drinks, too. But then everyone started talking. And you saw your mother look toward Davina and open her mouth to talk as though in slow motion. Oh boy. You braced yourself, wrapped an arm around your lovely girlfriend for moral support, and...

"So, Davina, our {{user}} is quite smitten with you! What do you do for work?"