Really Strange Stuff

=::= Serenity's PoV =::=

"Hi mom, hi dad!" I called out as soon as I spotted them. "It's great to see you!"

I couldn't help smiling as they emerged through the Arrivals gate. My ears were standing up tall, but my tail was twitchy. I was a little nervous after all, considering this was the first time I'd seen them in person since long before my magical plushie powered transition.

On the other hand they knew what to expect. They'd both been watching our streams, including the one in October when it happened, and I'd spoken to both of them several times on the phone over the last couple months. Still, both mom and dad slowed to a stop as they stared at me in surprise.

My mom recovered first. Her eyes were wide but so was her smile as she greeted me, "Oh mija look at you! You're so tall and beautiful!"

I felt my cheeks heat up a little, but my tail stood up along with my ears as I smiled back at her. "Thanks mom."

"I still can't entirely believe it," dad admitted a moment later. "You look wonderful Serenity. Amazing even. But those ears and the tail... It's hard to believe they're real. It's hard to believe I've got a daughter, and she's part cat."

"Thanks dad," I grimaced, while my tail ended up back down by my ankles again.

My dad was pretty good on the phone and in his emails, but accepting that I was trans and that I'd become a real live catgirl was something he'd had to work at. He was definitely trying though, and I appreciated it.

"Why don't we head out to the car?" I suggested. "Are you two hungry, would you like to eat right now? Or if you're tired I can take you straight to the hotel."

It was only about six in the evening but I knew they would have had a long day, dealing with airports and security and the actual flight. Plus there was a two hour time difference, and while that meant it felt earlier to them I knew jet lag was a thing no matter which way you went.

As we all started moving out towards the parking garage my dad responded, "Your mother and I were hoping we could come and see the house. And we'd both love to meet your friends. You and Callie have been together for how long, and we've never even spoken, let alone met her."

That made me blush a bit as I felt like I had to clarify, "Callie and I have been best friends since before I left home, and roommates since I came to Chicago. But we've only been 'together' for a couple months now."

Dad made a sort of embarrassed coughing sound, "I was referring to you and her being best friends, and working together all this time."

"Oh. Sorry," I mumbled as my cheeks warmed up again. "Of course we can go by the house. You'll be seeing Callie and Bailey tomorrow night at dinner though, right?"

Tomorrow was Thursday February twenty-third, and it was my twenty-seventh birthday. That's why my folks had flown out here today, and they'd already promised to take my girlfriends and I out somewhere nice to celebrate.

Mom responded, "Of course mija, but a noisy restaurant isn't a great place for us to meet your girlfriends for the first time. And we'd like to see your home as well!"

"Ok mom. We'll swing by the house then," I agreed.

By that point we were at Callie's car, so dad and I loaded the luggage into the trunk. Then he settled into the passenger seat while mom got into the back behind him. I slipped in behind the wheel, but before I got us started I sent a quick text to my girlfriends. I let them know that my folks wanted to meet them and see the house, so I'd be bringing them straight there from the airport rather than dropping them off at their hotel.

Then as we got moving I asked, "What about dinner? Do you want to get something on the way? Or we could have something delivered to the house?"

"How about we wait until we're at your place hon?" dad suggested. "We can figure something out after we've met your friends."

After that we spent the rest of the drive talking about all sorts of things, like how was their flight and how the weather in L.A. compared to winter in Chicago. We also talked a bit about both mom's and dad's work, and the fact that this was their first real vacation in a couple years.

That lasted for most of the drive, and soon enough I was pulling into the driveway at the little house my girlfriends and I rented.

"This is the place," I said as the three of us emerged from the car. We left the luggage in the trunk for now, since I'd be taking my folks to their hotel at some point.

"I know it's not much," I added on the way up to the front door, "But we're comfortable here. And we've got a nice studio set-up in the basement. Although it's a bit of a mess right now."

When I let my folks inside we found my girlfriends were right there waiting to meet them. So with my ears up but my tail down low I began the introductions as soon as we'd closed the door.

"Mom, dad, this is my girlfriend, long-time best friend, and RSS co-host, Callie Wilson," I said as I gestured towards the cute petite calico catgirl. Her ears were both perked up, while her tail stood up behind her.

Then I motioned towards the attractive redheaded foxgirl who's tail was swishing slowly back and forth as I continued, "And this is our girlfriend and RSS director and editor, Bailey Hoffman."

Finally I turned towards my folks and said, "Bailey, Callie, this is my dad Raymond and my mom Maricela."

"Hey Mr. and Mrs. Varela," Callie responded with a wide friendly smile. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you both."

Bailey added with a polite smile, "Hello Raymond, Maricela, it's wonderful to meet you."

My dad smiled back as he reached out to shake hands with Callie first, then Bailey. As he did so he said, "Please girls, call my Ray. And it's great to meet you both too. We've heard so much about you, and of course the wife and I have been watching Really Strange Stuff since Serenity and Callie got started."

"Hello Bailey and hello Callie," mom spoke up next. She gave both my girlfriends a quick hug as she added, "You two can call me Mari if you like."

With introductions out of the way the five of us ended up moving into the living-room so we could all get comfortable, after I grabbed drinks for everyone. Then my folks and my girlfriends and I spent the next hour or so just talking and catching up. Callie and Bailey started getting to know my mom and dad, and my parents learned a bit more about my girlfriends.

Eventually the subject of dinner came up, when my dad finally decided he was hungry. That led to a brief debate about going out or ordering in, but that was easily settled when mom pointed out that all five of us would be going out to a fancy restaurant tomorrow night. So we opted to get something delivered, and since we were all in the mood for something simple I suggested Portillo's. They did hot sandwiches, burgers, and hot dogs, and it was all really good.

After we placed the order Bailey asked my parents, "I understand you'll be in Chicago for a full week, is that right? Do you have any plans for sight-seeing while you're here? I know there's less going on while we're in the middle of winter, but there's still plenty of things to do around the city."

"We know what the plans are for tomorrow night," Callie commented with a grin, while her tail flicked around behind her. She slipped an arm around my waist and gave me a side-hug as she continued, "Celebrating this beautiful catgirl's twenty-seventh birthday!"

I felt my cheeks heating up, while Bailey and my parents all smiled.

Mom replied, "We have some activities planned out for the next few days, then we'll see what comes up."

"We'll probably take it easy tomorrow morning," dad chimed in. "Maybe sleep in, get a late breakfast or lunch at the hotel? Then we're hoping to spend the afternoon with Serenity. And the evening too of course, we've already booked reservations at a place called The Capital Grille. According to the reviews it seems like a pretty decent spot."

I reminded my girlfriends, "Like I said last week, I'll be taking some time off to be with my parents. So tomorrow afternoon, and all day Friday. That's when we'll be touring downtown, I'm going to take them to see the Willis Tower? We'll go up to the Skydeck and if the weather's as good as they're saying then we should get some pretty good views from up there."

"Oh nice," Bailey responded with a smile. "I haven't been to the Sears Tower since before they changed the name."

Callie asked, "What about Saturday?"

"Don't worry, I'll be hard at work here with you two," I replied. "Mom and dad already know we'll be busy that day."

The fourth episode of our series on the Council would be posting Saturday evening, and as usual the three of us would be busy talking it up on social media and drumming up hype and all that stuff.

"Do you have anything planned for Saturday?" my cute foxgirl girlfriend asked my parents.

Mom nodded, "We're going to visit the Navy Pier. They have some art shows going on that I'd like to see, including a Black Live Studio that sounds really interesting."

"There's also the International Carnivale going on there," dad added. "So I'm sure Mari and I will find lots of things to keep us busy."

I smiled, "And I'll be with mom and dad again on Sunday. We have plans for the afternoon and evening."

"I just hope you're not going to embarrass me too much?" I asked my dad in a teasing tone. "You didn't bring your Kings jersey, did you?"

A wide smile settled on his face, while my mom grimaced. And both Callie and Bailey looked a little confused.

So I explained, "Dad is big L.A. Kings hockey fan. And it just so happens the Kings will be here on Sunday, so I got us tickets."

"Of course I brought my jersey!" my dad finally responded. "I have to support the Kings! Not that they'll need any help crushing your team. What were they called again?"

I shook my head, "They're not my team dad. You know I've never been interested in hockey."

Bailey grimaced, "I'm not much of a hockey fan either, but my dad's a bit of a Blackhawks fan."

"Then please pass on my condolences to your father," dad joked.

That got a smile out of the cute foxgirl, while I just rolled my eyes and flicked my ears. Then mom used that as a segue to ask my girlfriends how things were with their families, since they'd both changed like me.

Callie explained that things were pretty good, and ended up telling mom and dad about our trip to Arkansas at the end of December. I'd already told them a bit about it on the phone, but my folks were both interested to hear about the petite calico's family. So she told them how her parents accepted how she'd changed, and how supportive her sister was. And she explained how things were a bit tense with her brother at first, but even he was cool with everything in the end.

Then Bailey told my parents about how accepting and supportive her family had been, not just towards her but also for Callie and me. She was just starting to tell mom and dad about her twin foxgirl cousins when the food arrived.

The meal was delicious as always, and we all talked a bit more about my parents' plans for next week while we ate. Then after dinner I offered to take mom and dad to their hotel so they could get settled in, but they both wanted a proper tour of the house first.

There wasn't much to see but I showed my folks around. There was a small backyard that was alright when the weather was nicer, and there were only two bedrooms but the main one was a good size. My cheeks warmed up a bit when mom asked how we managed three people and two bedrooms.

She knew Bailey and Callie and I were a polycule, but I still felt awkward as I explained to my parents how my girlfriends and I had sort of fluid sleeping arrangements. All three of us had clothes in both bedrooms nowadays, and who slept with whom on any given night depended on how we all felt and what sort of mood we were all in.

The tour finished up in our basement studio, and as I led them down the stairs I apologized "Sorry about the mess. We've got something special planned for our March live stream, but it means we're investing in some new equipment, and doing a bit of redecorating."

The most obvious change was we'd moved the sofa from its usual spot. Now it was at a bit of an angle, and there was an obvious space to one side where more seating would be added. The other area that was clearly a work in progress was Bailey's desk, and our camera set-up. There were a couple new flat-screen monitors sitting on the floor next to the cute foxgirl's desk, still in their packaging. And we had two more sturdy tripods standing next to the original, although neither of them had anything on them yet.

"What's going over here?" dad asked as he looked at the empty space next to the sofa. "Another couch? Are you bringing in more talent?"

"Or is Bailey finally going to join you and Callie full-time in front of the cameras?" he added with a smile.

I grinned but shook my head, "Much as we'd like that, it's not going to happen. It was hard enough convincing her to let us add the foxcam on her desk."

Mom spoke up next, and she actually guessed right. "You're going to start having guests on the show? If you're going to be doing live interviews I hope you girls will be careful. That Council business sounds dangerous."

"Don't worry mom, we'll be careful," I promised.

"Who's your first guest?" dad asked. "Someone we've already seen?"

My tail swished around while my ears flicked again and I grimaced, "Sorry dad I can't say. All I can tell you is it's going to be a heck of a show. Callie and Bailey and I are all super excited though. The March stream may just be our biggest show ever."

"Whatever it is must be something special," mom commented. "I can tell how excited you are from your ears and tail, mija."

Dad smiled, "Now I'm looking forward to it as well!"