Xaviers!

"Zat... is looking razer far ahead Madam. Basil and I have on less zan a handful of dates. It is a little early for you to... worry."

"Basil... is not playing wiz me. He has gone zrough great pains to make zis clear to me." Colette spoke slowly but politely as she handled the sprouts. "I do not see why I could not remain a part of his life in ze future, if zat is what he wishes."

Colette furrowed her brow. "I... I am afraid I do not understand. What responsibility is it zat Basil must uphold?"

Colette listened with a stupefied expression on her face. She knew that grandmothers were obsessed with getting grandchildren and great-grandchildren, but this was a bit more extreme than she had ever experienced.

"But... I could simply convert.My fazer did zis when marrying my mozer. Not zat zey were married in a church...."

Colette thought about this for a moment before she shrugged her shoulders. "Oh, well if zere would be no benefit for me to convert to Judaism, zen I suppose zat Basil would have to convert to Roman Catholicism instead. We will just have to wait and see what ze future holds."

Colette began bending the asparagus shoots until the woody parts snapped off, humming sweetly as she did so.

Esther scoffed. "Yes, I suppose we will at that."

---

Esther worked in relative silence for some time, the only further comments she made to Colette were all polite instructions on how she could further help with the meal.

When it seemed they were just about done with prep work, the door opened and a familiar voice called out.

" Mom! I'm here!" The patterned click of high heels made it's way towards the kitchen, and the glamorous woman who birthed her invisible boyfriend was now staring at Colette. After a moment's recognition, she smirked.

"Wow, what has it been? Two, three months?

Not a record, but I'm surprised you've lasted this long. Hell, I'm surprised you've lasted this long in the kitchen with my mother. I run screaming after a night in this kitchen."

Colette flashed Basil's mother a pink-toothed smile, putting her customer service practice to good use.

"Hello Madam! Oh, you do your mozer a disservice by saying such zings. We have been having a lovely time togezer, have we not?"

"Well, a nice meal makes ozers happy, so I enjoy doing my part to make zem happy."

Colette's pink eyes sparkled at the mention of sweets. "Ooh, are zey suf... sufgeen..." Colette scrunched up her face a bit in her attempts to pronounce the word "sufganiyot", which she managed with some terrible butchering due to her accent. The girl had been doing her homework it seemed.

"Oh, I will not tell zem if you do not." Colette was content to keep the treats a secret, placing her knife in the sink as she was told before claiming her reward, popping the pastry into her mouth and closing her eyes with a satisfied look on her face. Sweets were a good way of keeping the girl quiet, at least for a moment.

"Mmm, formidable." She said softly, before letting herself be brought back to the world around her. "I had been hoping to try and make zese myself during my visit. Perhaps if we do undertake size endeavour we will use butter instead of margarine?"

Of course it wasn't until she'd made the suggestion that Colette realized that it could be interpreted as a criticism of a grandmother's cooking in her own kitchen.

"Of course, I will tell zem at once. Please, pardon me." Colette carefully folded a tea towel and gently placed it on the counter before she retrieved her long gloves, carrying them out of the kitchen as she made her way toward the backyard. Between there and the kitchen she had to stop and steady herself. She wasn't stupid, she'd caught every little hint, every little insult or insinuation directed at her. And it had been so difficult to pretend not to notice, not to say anything in return. Colette loved spending time in a kitchen but here it was like being in a pit surrounded by vipers who when not hissing at her would strike at each other.

Her shoulders relaxed, the girl effortlessly slipping her hands back into the gloves, the fingers filling up like she were inflating them. Now that she was properly dressed again she made her way into the backyard in search of Basil and his grandfather.

Colette would find Basil and Amit having a grand old time, chuckling about something between themselves. Unfortunately whatever it was they were talking about was hidden to Colette, as they seemed to be talking in something akin to German mixed with a bunch of other sounds that might as well have been Shari's home world language for all the good it did Colette to listen to it.

Basil was at the top of a ladder, with Amit holding a bucket under him. Both men were wearing coveralls to keep their nice things clean, and it was probably the most pedestrian Colette had ever and potentially will ever see Basil in his life. They didn't seem to notice her approach as they chattered away.

Colette watched the two of them for a moment. It really was a sight to behold, Basil being dressed... well, like a mechanic or something. Certainly not a trade she'd peg him for. Men with his means wound up being executives or managing banks, or if they really enjoyed being hands-on in their work they crewed sailboats for a living. So of course it looked a little ridiculous to her, though she kept that to herself.

"Baseel, Monsieur Ahmeet. Madame Stolarz wishes you to come inside and clean up before we eat."

"Ah! Food! Excellent! " Amit proclaimed in English. "We can do the rest of this tomorrow Krolik."

Basil didn't seemed thrilled with that concept but none the less he jumped down from the ladder, turning to look at Colette with muck on his face.

"Alright then." Basil smiled at Colette as Amit went ahead of them.

"Everything going alright so far?" He asked, knowing Colette was worried about her mutation upsetting people.

"Oh yes, everyzing is... progressing. I even found somezing zat your mozer and grandmozer agree upon. It is zat zey do not care for my presence here."

Amit didn't seem to be paying attention. Key word being seem.

"Awww, lookit that. Bringing the family together already." He joked in his sardonic fashion.

"She's just testing you love. Stay resilient."

"Well, I did not cry. Is zat ze test?" Colette asked. "Because I do not know if I will pass if zis continues."

"Do you want to go?" Basil asked in a concerned tone. "We can go."

Colette took a deep breath, despite not needing to.

"No. I can do zis. If I want you to be a part of my life and myself a part of yours, zen I must learn to deal wiz and accept what zat entails."

"Okay. Let's go back in then."

Basil would follow her in, and disappear to get washed up. He would leave her to her own devices in the living room, hoping to give her more time to decompress before going back into the fray.

When he returned, he was wearing a Yarmulke that almost matched the one that had been on his grandfather all day.

"Ready?"

In the living room Colette did what most people do when left alone in the living room of a home they've never been in before. She slowly made her way around the perimeter, taking the time to examine the photographs and bobbles on the tables and mantle. She tried to guess the significance and context of seemingly unimportant objects, whether they were just decoration or if they were mementos and if so what memories they might connote. She carefully placed a framed photograph back upon a small side table once Basil had joined her again and smiled at him.

"Oh, you look so handsome." She cooed, stepping toward him and reaching her slender hands up to delicately reposition his little hat. She half-suspected he would have a sense of Deja vu when he entered the dining room as she believed that his grandmother would probably say and do as she just had.

There were tons of pictures of a younger Basil in the living room, as well as other children. One photo had no less that 15 younger people in it, Basil included, indicating the other siblings not Jessica got pretty busy.

There was a single photo of Jessica and a young man in shades, a hat, and designer stubble that wasn't in any of the other photographs.

"How can you tell love?" Asked the currently invisible man.

"Ze same way I could tell zat it was not on straight. Because I know you. And when I close my eyes, I can see your face plain as day." Colette stood on her toes to give Basil's cheek a light peck.

"Zough on occasions like zis I wish you were a telepaz instead." She quipped.

"Well, you could just say what you're thinking. " He observed playfully, then added on a more serious note-

"Sam and Dr. Terrance think I am, but I don't know why.

Do they make them in a non-mind reading variety?"

"Oh, I do not zink zat would be a good idea. It is bad enough zat I do not know many of ze... customs of ze household. It would be best not to make my ignorance more obvious zan it already is."

She thought about Basil's question for a moment. "Well, zere are empazs, but zat has to do wiz feelings. Some sort of mental illusionist makes some sense... when playing a card trick, why pick zeir card when you can just make zem zink you picked their card?" She tapped her chin lightly in thought. "Zough perhaps we are all a little telepazic. I have heard stories about people just having a feeling zat somezing was wrong, and finding out zat someone else was in jeopardy."

"I doubt that is what they mean." Basil observes.

Before there is more thought on the subject, they were called after by Esther. Basil took Colette's hand and lead her into the kitchen where the rest of the family had been waiting on them, a menorah set out in the dining room table unlit, to be placed in the window.

Upon entering the dining room, Basil's chatter fell silent and Colette would immediately fell the reverence in the room for what was about to follow.

His grandfather now moving to start lighting, the others start some sort of song that she cannot understand, but Colette would be vaguely familiar with this part of everything from Basil's revealed memories.

As bubbly and chatty as Colette could be even she knew when to be silent. And that was what she was hoping would get her through the night; if she didn't speak unless spoken to there was less chance of her messing up what was obviously a very important night for a very traditional family. So she sat and kept her head down, unable to remember the words but at least able to mutter the tune.

Colette's presence was mostly ignored without her active involvement, but no one seemed to be acting like she was unwelcome right at the moment.

Colette could tell Basil was 'going through the motions', though his lack of comfort seemed obvious only to her.

Once the Menorah was lit and in the window, Amit exclaimed -

"Let's eat!" Clapping his hands together and rubbing them greedily.

Dinner turned out to be brisket and oven roasted vegetables and probably nothing that would either offend nor excite Colette in the fashion that it wasn't carb or sugar based.

The two older women didn't exactly load their plates, though Esther fussed about it when Basil likewise didn't put much on his own plate and he ended up with more on there than what Colette would normally see him eat.

Once everyone was served, they ate in silence for several moments, until Amit looked up and noticed the awkwardness. He cleared his throat and took a sip of his drink, then spoke.

"Madam Rosenhof, tell us. What are your interests besides confections?"

Colette may have been a sugar fiend but that didn't mean she didn't appreciate more savory or traditional fare. She was actually a little worried she'd taken too much compared to everyone else, though seeing Basil being forced an extra serving helped to drive away that feeling. Her complexion was that opaque bubblegum colour that Basil was well used to by now but was new for the rest of the family.

"Hmm? Well, I enjoy cooking in general. I used to prepare meals for my parents, since I had ze time and zey were boz working. Zere is somezing very... comforting and satisfying about cooking for ozers, no? Ozer zan zis? Nozing too interesting I am afraid. Reading and watching movies mostly. Did you know zat many libraries allow you to stream movies from your home as long as you have a library card? It is quite convenient."

She got a few odd looks from the women when her body colour changed, but no one said anything.

Amit had never really cooked, and the one responsible for that task in the house didn't respond. He wasn't sure how to reply until he heard the word 'library'.

"Ah! That must be how you met our krolik, yes? The library that he works at."

"Actually we first met each ozer in ze campus pub not long after I first arrived upon ze campus. But ze library is where we continued to bump into each ozer most often. Until we began seeing each ozer on purpose, zat is."

Colette hesitated for a moment. She was compelled to describe what a gentleman Basil had been when they first met, or how seriously he took his studies, but she didn't want to embarrass him. She she took the opportunity to shift the conversation elsewhere, if just for a moment.

"And you, monsieur Ah-meet, where did you and madame Esther first meet?"

Colette could picture the scene in her mind, one that brought a smile to her face.

"Zat is so sweet."