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Meeting the family shouldn't be this scary.
Not when Ravi knows the Grant family.
He's met Athena, he knew Bobby, and he knows Harry.
And yet, as Ravi stands outside the Grant house, his hand is shaking as he raises it up to knock on the door.
Maybe it wouldn't have been so bad if they hadn't kept their relationship a secret while May went back to school.
But they did that.
Because they wanted this chance to be theirs. They didn't want anyone else involved.
Not with this.
Not when it was so new.
But now, they have everyone involved.
They haven't been actively hiding their relationship for the last year, and now…
Now, Ravi has to meet the parents.
May had met his parents two days ago, and they fell in love with her as quickly as he had.
She's already involved in their family group chat and everything.
This though…
Meeting Athena Grant…
That's scary as shit.
But Ravi knocks on the door, and waits, patiently, bouquet of sunflowers in his hand because May picked them out from the three bouquets he was trying to decide from.
She said Athena would like them.
But he's not entirely sure he believes her because she's been teasing him for the last two days about how nervous he is about this.
"Ravi, you are right on time. May is pulling dessert out of the oven now, and Harry just finished setting the table. Come on in," Athena's got a soft smile on her face, like she's happy.
"Oh, um, I'm glad I'm on time. These are for you, by the way," Ravi knows he's about to ramble, and he attempts to cut himself off with a sheepish chuckle as she takes the flowers with a surprised look on her face. It doesn't work. "Sorry, I didn't know what your favorite flower was, or if you had one, but I wanted to bring something."
"Oh, no, Ravi, it's okay," Athena's voice is gentle as her brows furrow while she gestures him inside. He comes in and quietly shuts the door behind him, smile feeling awkward as it curves his lips. "I love flowers, I'm just usually bad at keeping them alive. So, if May sends you a picture next week of them dead, don't be upset, okay? And sunflowers are a great choice. I don't really have a favorite, but I have been stopping and staring at sunflowers a lot this week."
"Ravi, is that you in there making my mom speak a paragraph?" yells May with amusement in her voice.
"Yeah, it is," calls Ravi with a snort as he follows Athena to the dining room. May had already made it plain that taking his shoes off was not necessary unless he wanted to because Athena doesn't have a preference. "How'd the pie turn out, Doll?"
"Pretty well, I think, Honey. I had to call Buck cause I couldn't decide if my pleats were done as well as I'd wanted them to be," replies May as she turns to him and presses a quick kiss to his cheek, letting him return it. "How was work?"
"It was fine," says Ravi softly as he watches her adjust the pie three times before nodding like everything was perfect. "We had a couple of tough calls, but you know how those went, I'm sure."
"Even if Harry hadn't filled us in when he got here, I would know anyway. I was there for two of them," replies May with a sad smile that Ravi understands a little too well. "If you wanna talk about it, you know I'm always here."
"The same goes for you, Doll," Ravi's voice stays soft as he steps forward and hugs her, humming as she melts into his hold. "Always. Except for right now because I can feel the eyes staring at the back of my head. I'm going to assume Harry because I can see your mom smiling."
"Definitely Harry, but he'll get over himself," snorts May as she slowly steps out of the hug and moves towards her chair. "Let's eat."
Ravi settles into the chair next to her, their fingers intertwining when she grabs it. They end up resting on May's thigh, and he can't help but smile about it as he dips her plate before dipping his own.
The conversations that happen mostly focus on Harry, May and Athena. Ravi doesn't mind though because he's learning.
Their dynamics are interesting.
The way Athena is overly protective of Harry but less of May.
The way Harry and May are overly protective of each other but prefer to disclose it in teasing than hard conversations. Questioning each other's choices in quietly amused jabs that have their mom rolling her eyes.
The way May watches her mom like a hawk, eyeing her like she's seeing something that Athena is trying to hide.
The way Athena keeps glancing at him, lips curving into a smirk that says she sees what's happening and intends to tug him into the conversation eventually.
May just squeezes his hand, beams when laughter escapes him, and continues on, letting him just be rather than bringing him in before he's ready.
It goes quiet when May is passing out pieces of her apple pie.
Until she plops a small piece on his plate and goes to pass a bigger one to Harry.
"So, Ravi, how long have you liked my daughter?"
Athena drops the question just before she eats the bite of pie on her spoon, face perfectly put together. It's like she doesn't think the question is a big deal, despite it being a very big deal.
She knows what she's doing though as their eyes meet, he can see it, a gleam in her eye.
"Longer than she knows," replies Ravi quietly as he holds Athena's gaze. "Bobby told you."
"He did," Her voice is soft, gentle with the grief that dances through the room at the mention of Bobby. The man that touched every single one of them differently, but with an impact that will outlast everything else. "He would be very happy about this development, and I can see why."
"Wait, how long have you liked me, Ravi?" asks May as she turns to him, brows hiked high on her face with her surprise.
"For more than two years," murmurs Ravi softly as he looks at her because he's never going to lie to her, not even when she might want him to. "I can't give you a specific day, but it's been there for a while, May. How could it not be?"
May's face softens, lips curving, brows settling, eyes slowly opening off a blink, and she replies, "God, I like you so much."
Ravi leans over and kisses her temple, gently whispering, "I like you so much too. Now, enjoy your pie."
"You just don't want me to coo at you in front of my brother," huffs May teasingly as she turns back to her pie.
"No, I don't want you to coo at me in front of your mother," snorts Ravi as he gives her hand a squeeze. "I've heard enough from Harry. I'm no longer concerned about him and his teasing."
"Group chat," says Harry as he finally pipes up, his pie absolutely demolished.
"You wanna go there, Probie?" asks Ravi as he tips his head to the side, brow arching. "Cause I could talk about Ari—"
"Okay, no group chat. Got it," Harry's quick to interrupt him, and Ravi chuckles in his victory. "You're evil."
"No, I know how to use secrets," replies Ravi as he finally takes a bite of his pie. "Mm, Doll, this is really good."
"Yes! I'm so glad you liked it," cheers May brightly before she takes a bite of her own. "Best family dinner in a while."
"Definitely," says Harry with relief in his voice.
"Oh, don't worry, neither of us have forgotten that there's someone in your life that your'e hiding now," May says it with glee as Athena hums with a pointed look at Harry.
"This is your fault, Panikkar," grumbles Harry as he leans back and crosses his arms over his chest.
"You threatened the group chat," replies Ravi with a shrug.
"Is there something important about the group chat?" asks Athena curiously as she looks between Ravi and Harry.
"Anything sent in the group chat is fair game to be used as teasing fodder," says May with an amused tone as she leans her head on Ravi's shoulder. "Ravi has been teased for three weeks now because Harry keeps using the group chat against him."
"But Harry screwed himself the other day, and I had a peaceful time in the station today because I wasn't the center of attention," adds Ravi as he lets his head rest on May's, his thumb brushing over her fingers gently. "So, if he wants to avoid having that at home, he'll shove it because Hen is already going to bring it up tomorrow after she talks to you, Athena. She threatened to call, and Hen doesn't walk back on threats. But she won't drop it in the group chat."
"This is rude," huffs Harry as he shakes his head.
"This is karma," replies Ravi with a grin.
"Looks like Hen is who I should ask about this special person then so May and I can figure out who you're hiding from us," Athena has a half-smirk curving her lips as she brings her glass of wine up to her lips.
"No, not a chance. You stay away from Hen," Harry's panicking as he turns to his mom in horror.
"Thank you for coming," whispers May as she tips her head back to look at him.
"Always," replies Ravi softly as she reaches up, asking for a kiss that he gives easily.
Meeting the parents is always scary, but Ravi can't deny that this was pretty fun too.