"God," she said quietly in his ear. "God, I hope so. I really don't want to lose him." (Whatever I do, it probably won't happen for a while. I don't want to make any decisions just yet.)
They stood there in the hallway for a moment before she pulled away, exhaling slightly. "Okay," she said quietly. She cleared her throat and took his hand again. "We have that meeting this evening, right?"
"Yeah. With Mrs. Irvine, and then we're free from work to visit your family." He drew circles on the side of her hand with his thumb. "I'm thinking this meeting will be easier than the last."
She laughed, although it still sounded tight with worry. "Yeah, well," she said, shrugging. "I think almost anything would be easier than that last meeting."
He used his free hand to brush her cheek gently, looking at her sympathetically. "Yeah, I suppose you're right." He sighed. "Do you want to go get something to eat?"
She leaned into his hand instinctually, and gave him a small smile. "Yeah, that sounds good. Let's go."
The dining hall was fairly empty, what with all of the scientists still in the lab. Poppy sat down in their usual spot and folded her hands in front of her. She was still preoccupied with Phos, as made evident by her shaking leg, but she tried to change the subject. "So, about tomorrow," she said, rubbing her temple to try and get rid of the headache that was slowly growing. "My dad messaged me this morning. It looks like all my siblings can make it, and Clara and Ed are both going to bring the spouses. Clara's also going to bring Bee, her daughter. Short for Beatrice. She's 5."
He raised an eyebrow. "5? I'm terrible with children, I'll tell you this now," he said, looking down at the table. "At least everyone can come."
"I'm sure you're lovely with kids," she said reassuringly, a small grin on her face. "Besides, you'll like Bee. She's pretty shy, but she's very... intuitive. She has a very good judge of character, I think. But I might be the slightest bit biased."
"Biased? Biased of what? I would not be as confident of you knew how bad I am with them," he admitted, looking up at her.
She reached across the table to take his hand. "I'm biased into thinking that my niece is pretty wonderful," she said. "And don't worry about the whole 'you-not-being-good-with-kids' thing. Unless you count Em, that's just one child in a gathering full of adults, and she's a delightful one. You'll be alright."
"Hm. If you say so, then I'll believe you." He paused, squeezing her hand in thought. "I'm pretty excited to meet your family. They seem like wonderful people."
A smile spread across her face, and she ducked her head. "I'm glad to hear that," she said. "I'm actually really excited for you to meet them too." She paused and then raised an eyebrow as if a new idea had occurred to her. "Are you nervous at all?"
"Oh, yes. Definitely. If I don't make a good first impression then I'm basically screwed," he said in all seriousness.
She stared at him for a moment, surprised, before bursting into laughter. "Francis, two things. One, my family will adore you just as much as I do. Two, even if my family did end up loathing you, our relationship is decided between us and only us, and their opinion, although important to me, does not change that." She paused for a second before continuing. "Although, if you wanted, I could give you a quick description of each of them. Just so you'd know what to expect."
"I would appreciate that, and find it helpful," he said, leaning forward. "I know a bit about your father, and that your sister paints."
"Right. Well, one thing you should know is that growing up, my parents really prioritized arts and sciences." She shrugged with a half smile on her face. "They were kinda hippies. Anyway, each of us had extracurriculars that we're still invested in, for the most part. Ask them about any of it, and they should be happy. Clara is a dancer. She's calm and level-headed and quiet, and she was always the natural leader. She studied anatomy and physiology. Ed does multiple things, but he really excels in photography. He's extremely loyal, and he defends things that he's passionate about fiercely, even if it makes him look like a dork. He actually was the only one who didn't really stick to a science, although he really got into geology for a while. Then there's me. I took music, and I focused on biochemistry. George is our only sibling who did track and soccer and stuff. He's really charismatic, and a little mischevious, and he also studied physics. And then there's Em. You're right; Emma paints a lot and draws constantly. She.. well, you heard her on the phone. She's pretty excitable, and she's really enthusiastic. She's the only one who's studying botany. Papa's really happy about that."
He tilted his head, taking in her words, nodding occasionally. "I see. I'll have to try to remember these things. It would be totally different if it were my parents that we were visiting."
