Xene stormed through the kitchen, where her husband was just putting the finishing touches on dinner.

“Fodis, tell our daughter to take her…her…pet and go.”

“What?” Fodis said, as his wife looked at him in fury.

“She…she brought a…a human,” Xene spat. “That’s her boyfriend. What a sick joke.”

“It…it might not be a joke,” Fodis said, quietly.

“That’s what I’m afraid of,” Xene fairly shouted. “Now, let her know that she is not to bring that…thing into our house. And that no daughter of mine is going to….”

“Xee….”

“Don’t ‘Xee’ me. Get that creature out of my house.”

Fodis sighed. “You do realize your daughter’s working on making ‘creatures’ like him full citizens of the Empire, right?”

“Foolish nonsense.”

“And if they succeed?”

“Then I’ll treat them politely in public, no matter how ridiculous it is. But I am not going to have my daughter dating one.”

“I’m not thrilled about it either, Xee, but…well, you’d be the first person to say that etiquette dictates….”

“Fine. Fine! Have dinner with the beast. I’m not going to,” Xene said, heading out the back of the kitchen and toward their room.

Two seconds later, Fodis’s daughter came into the kitchen.

“Hi, dad,” Inna said, eyes ablaze. “Go ahead and serve the appetizer for you, Ammer, and Day. I’ve set up a table for Ammer.”

“Inna….”

His daughter stared at him with a ferocious look she’d inherited from Xene. “Dad, if you hope to see me ever again, you’ll serve Ammer, and you’ll be polite to him, at the very least.”

“And what about you?”

“I’m gonna have a talk with mother,” Inna said, following after Xene, steam pouring from her ears.

* * *

“Welcome,” their host said, guiding them back to a private room. “Your server will be with you shortly; my name is Jody, we’re glad to have you today.”

The host handed out water and menus, which boasted an extremely eclectic mix of Archavian and Terrestrial fare, and placed menus at two empty spaces as well. The table itself was set oddly, with one end up against the wall, but nobody commented on it; all figured it was some kind of Archavian custom.

The host started to leave, only to stop. “Well! Ted, Tigoni, good to see you again!”

“Hi Jody,” Ted said, before turning to his family. “Hi everyone! Have a good trip?”

Dora was out of her seat already, intent on hugging her baby boy, a hug Ted returned warmly. “Hello, mamá.”

“And who’s your friend?” Miguel asked with a grin.

“Everyone? This is Tig Belfsec. Tig – that’s my mother, father, my brother Mike, and his wife, Imani.”

Tig – or at least, her holographic avatar – waved shyly. “Hi,” she said. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you,” Juan said, shaking her hand. “Ted, is this the girl from Titan Station that you mentioned?”

Ted smiled. “Yup. Tig and I have been dating for a while now, and….”

“Well! Some manners you have,” Dora said, shaking her head, as she warmly embraced Tigoni. “I would have worn a nicer dress had you told me you were bringing your girlfriend, Teodoro Guillermo Martínez Iñíguez. Ay, I raised him better than this. Chiquita, sit down! I’m Dora, Ted’s mom.”

“It’s really nice to meet you, Doctor….”

“Dora.”

“Dora,” Tig said, with a smile. “And I’m sorry, this all came together pretty quickly. Not easy getting a day pass for both of us, at least one that syncs up.”

“So you work on Titan Station too?” Imani asked.

“I do. We met there.”

The waitress arrived, and Ted did a quick count. “We’re not quite ready, but – can you bring 4 blue-band Hustains, a red-band for Tig, and – Imani, I’m sorry, but alcohol’s probably a bad idea for my nephew.”

“Unfortunately,” Imani chuckled. “What do you recommend, Ted?”

“Mosaberry juice is excellent. I think you’d like it,” Ted said.

“Great,” Imani said. “I’ll have that.”

“So you’re a pilot too?” Juan asked.

“Well, a pilot, a comms officer, a bit of whatever’s needed on any given day. Station hasn’t ever been this busy, I don’t think.”

“Ted’s said it was a starport even before the Lem got there.” Miguel said.

“It was, and a busy one. Now, with Earth added in, it’s hopping all the time.”

The waitress returned, and set six glasses around the table, careful to make sure the one with the red brim ended up in front of Tigoni.

“So,” Miguel said. “What’s this? Titan whiskey?”

Ted grinned. “Something Tig introduced me to,” he said. Raising his glass, he said “To family!”

The group echoed him, and drank; Ted set his glass down, and watched the reactions. His mother made a bit of a face, his father looked contemplative, and Mike – Mike looked transfixed.

“You introduced Ted to this?” he asked after a long while.

“I did.”

“Well. Dear, you are welcome in our family. And if my brother doesn’t marry you someday, he’s a fool.”

Tig laughed warmly. “Well, thank you, Miguel. You know, that is almost exactly what Ted said you would say.”

Ted smiled, and exhaled. Okay. So far, so good.

* * *

Xene started to close the door to her room, only to have it forced open by her daughter. The two women had nearly identical expressions on their faces – expressions of anger, bitterness, and humiliation.

They stared for a long moment, before Xene finally said, “I thought I raised you better.”

Inna let go of a hollow, bitter laugh. “You did, mother,” she said. “You did raise me better. Which is why I’m not the gorram racist you are.”

Xene slapped Inna at that, but her daughter barely blinked. Xene glowered. “How dare you? I am your mother. You will treat me with respect.”

“I respect you as my mother,” Inna said. “And I always will. But I will treat you with the respect you show the man I love.”

“The man…he’s a human, Inna!”

“What?” Inna asked, sarcastically. “Why…why didn’t anyone tell me? I assumed he was just a really short Archavian!”

“Oh, shut up,” Xene said, turning. “I want him out of my house.”

“Gladly,” Inna said. “Just understand that if we leave without you coming to dinner and treating him like the sentient creature he is that you will never see me again. Never.”

Xene laughed.

“You think this is funny?” Inna shouted.

“Yes,” Xene said. “Yes, I do. I think it’s hilarious. You bring home a gorram shaar and tell me you love him.”

“He’s a person.”

“He’s a human,” Xene growled. “What’s the difference?”

It was Inna’s turn to slap Xene.

She did not take it with the same equanimity as her daughter.

“After…after all I’ve done…how…how dare….”

“I am going,” Inna said, trying to hold her voice steady, though it still quaked, “to have dinner with my boyfriend, my father, and my sister. You are welcome to join us. If you choose not to…I will always love you, mother. But I will never forgive you.”

Inna spun on her heel, much as her mother had done not ten minutes before, and began to leave.

“Inna…wait.”

Inna looked over her shoulder. Her mother straightened her jewelry.

“I will not have you storm out in a huff, full of righteous indignation. No, I will have dinner with your…your…with Mr. Smit. I will even behave as if he’s a Titan, not a…thing. But get this straight: I will never find him acceptable.”

“Well,” Inna said, “You are welcome to join us. But I can’t imagine he’ll find you acceptable either. I certainly don’t.”

* * *

The conversation had managed to flow fairly well, and both Ted and Tig were surprised that they’d made it through the appetizers without a certain topic being broached.

They’d planned and rehearsed this; they’d both agreed it was best for Tig to meet them at human scale. They also agreed they would not hide that she was a Titan – indeed, Ted was insistent. Once they asked where she was from, she’d tell them she was from Grelau, in the Core, and that she was a Titan.

But they’d gotten off on a tangent about Imani’s pregnancy, and that had spurred Dora to ask pointedly if Tig wanted kids someday, which she’d answered with an emphatic yes. This had led to Dora telling the story about how she used to force Ted and Miguel to hug for ten minutes as a punishment for fighting – which both brothers agreed was at once very cruel and incredibly effective.

Ted looked at Tig and squeezed her hand; she looked a bit nervous. They both knew that they were going to have to seize the initiative on their own, and soon. They didn’t want anyone thinking they were trying to hide this.

Finally, Miguel gave them an opening.

“You know, what I find remarkable is the sophistication of the Titan holograms,” he said. “There was a Titan greeter at the information desk. Nice guy. Said you’d given him some of my salsa.”

“Was it Jorram? He’s good people. He was actually the guy who found the Sally Ride after we first landed.”

“Yeah, I think so. I mean…that’s remarkable. I know we’re all different sizes, but if we can at least feel like we’re the same size…well, that gives us something to work with.”

“No question,” Ted said, nodding. “You know, the last reception we had on Titan Station during First Contact, they set up holoemitters around the station, let us interact with each other on an equal footing.”

“No kidding,” Miguel said. “You guys still use them?”

Tig fought back a smirk, because oh yes, she and Ted made very good use of the holosuites. But this was not the time or place. “We do,” she said. “They’re very helpful.”

“Must be nice to look the Titans in the eye.”

“It’s nice to look the humans in the eye, too,” Tig said, flatly.

There was a brief pause. Imani gasped as she put it together.

“There is something we’ve been meaning to mention,” Ted said, finally. “We were….”

“I’m a Titan,” Tig said, cutting Ted’s explanation short.

* * *

While Inna was negotiating a settlement with Xene, Ammer was in the middle of perhaps the most awkward dinner he’d ever endured. Even more awkward than the one where an Insectoid diplomat had asked Loona if he was an appetizer.

For one thing, it was hard to talk when one’s girlfriend and her mother were in a shouting argument four rooms away. Add in that they were sister and mother and daughter and wife to his two other dinner companions, and things were very quiet indeed.

“This is excellent tromalak, Mr. Lektas,” Ammer finally forced himself to say.

“Uh…thank you, Mr. Smit,” Fortis said. He was no more in the mood to talk than Ammer; indeed, he was a good deal more reticent. He really had no strong feelings about humans either way (though he really didn’t want one dating his daughter), but that wasn’t what worried him. No, what worried him was that nothing he could say would possibly avoid angering either his wife or daughter. And while he was smart enough to err on the side of angering his daughter…he didn’t really relish the possibility.

“So, Ammer,” Danae said, after another long pause, “where did you and Inna meet?”

Ammer gave a slight smile to Day; Inna had already told her the story, which Danae had absorbed while staring in disbelief at Ammer. He knew she was a bit disconcerted by him, but he was appreciative that she was at least making an effort.

“Well, we both worked on Rep. Armac’s staff – she was deputy policy director, I was….”

“Wait,” Fortis said. “You, um…you worked for Rep. Armac? As in…you were employed?”

“Still do,” Ammer said. “Was majordomo when Inna and I were both working for her, I got promoted not long after she took over as policy director for the Tarsuss Committee.”

“Got promoted…to what?” Fortis asked.

“Chief of staff. I’ve had that gig for about three months.”

“Inna said she was working with a human, but I didn’t…it does figure it’s Armac, though. I know my daughter thinks she’s amazing, but I’ve always been more of a supporter of Zeramblin’s policies.”

“Rep. Zeramblin is a good man,” Ammer said, calmly. “I’ve been very impressed with him. Don’t agree with him on everything, of course, and neither does my boss. But I have tremendous respect for him.”

Fortis simply stared for a moment. “You’ve met the Floor Leader?”

“Several times. He’s been talking a lot with my boss – Rep. Armac has a lot of input into how to proceed with Earth.”

Fortis didn’t even really know what to say. “So he…he actually…does he treat you….”

“The Floor Leader,” Ammer said, evenly, “has always treated me as he would treat any other Representative’s Chief of Staff. That is to say, he’ll occasionally yell at me, complain about what my boss is doing, and swear at me for a solid five minutes if I don’t pass him along to Rep. Armac immediately, but he’ll also thank me for my time and make sure he’s got dinner for me if his staff and mine are meeting about something. Heck, about nine of us had dinner with him last week.”

Fortis was completely at a loss. He was rather shocked that Zeramblin would treat a human like any other staffer, but…if true, he wondered if he was being rude not to. If the Floor Leader could do it….

Just then, Inna and Xene entered the room. “Sorry, everyone,” Xene said. “I felt briefly ill. My apologies.”

Ammer fastened on a plastic smile to match Xene’s; this was goatshit, and no question about it, but then, he’d been through enough negotiations with lying bastards. The best thing to do, always, was to kill them with kindness.

“Not at all, Ms. Lektas. I certainly hope you’re okay; if not, Inna and I would be happy to come back another time, I’m sure.”

Xene paused just a second, and Inna said, “I think you’re okay, aren’t you, mother?”

“Yes, Inna, just a bit dizzy. I didn’t eat much today. You know how it is when you’re busy.”

“I do indeed,” Ammer said. “I’m not surprised; I’m sure the Komatala Act has been giving you a lot of extra work.”

That drew Xene up short; she was a very successful transactional attorney, a partner for fifteen years at her firm. The recently-passed Komatala Act had indeed been impacting her firm – the new regulations on mergers and acquisitions had given them a lot of new business.

It was a minor piece of legislation, though, one very few people would have heard of, even in the legislature. Had Smit not been an animal, she might have been impressed.

As it was, she kept her best negotiating smile on, and said, “Well, I see your friend follows the legislature, Inna.”

“He’s Rep. Armac’s chief of staff,” Fortis said, as he served appetizers to Inna and Xene.

Inna caught Ammer’s eye, and gave him a smile and a wink.

“Interesting,” Xene said. “I didn’t think humans were allowed to work. It was thought to be beyond their capacity.”

Inna turned to her mother, and flashed her a warning glare, but Ammer just chuckled.

“Well, some people do think that, but fortunately for me, Rep. Armac has enough experience with humans to know that we’re fully capable of doing anything a Titan can. Mentally, that is.”

“Yeah, we’ll probably beat you in a weightlifting contest,” Danae chuckled. She had to admit, she could see why Inna was attracted to him; her sister had always valued a quick wit in her partners.

“No doubt,” Ammer said with a grin. “And I’m sure you all respect Rep. Armac’s opinion; she was smart enough to hire your daughter, after all.”

Xene said nothing, and turned to Inna with a saccharine smile. “So is Rep. Armac his owner?”

“She was until very recently,” Ammer said with a smile at Inna. “At least technically. But that’ll change sooner than later.”

“It seems odd that someone who was owned could work,” Fortis observed

“Yes, well, it seems odd that someone can be owned, period,” Ammer replied, his smile never wavering. “But one can’t simply ignore the system if one wishes to effect change; one has to engage with it as it is.”

“You said Rep. Armac used to own you,” Fortis said. “Who owns you now?”

“I do,” Inna said, with a grin.

* * *

There was dead silence for a while, and when Dora was the one to break it, Ted felt sure that they’d made an awful mistake.

“Why didn’t you tell us right away?”

Tig swallowed, and looked down. “Because…I don’t want you to think of me as…as a Titan. As some giant creature who’s…who’s frightening, or intimidating. I mean, I’m a Titan, but…it’s not what’s important. Not to me. And I don’t want you to think I think of you as anything other than the wonderful people responsible for Ted being Ted. I…your son accepted me for who I was, right away, better than I could ever have hoped.”

“Well, to be fair, you’d just saved my life,” Ted said, pointedly. “And…my love, you always treated me like your equal, even when I was the size of your finger. Which…I mean, really, I still am.”

Tig looked at him, and smiled wistfully. “And you are still as adorable as you were when we met. No matter what size you seem to be.” Tig turned back to Ted’s family. “I love your son, your brother, very much. And I didn’t want you to be…I dunno…scared, or intimidated. Because I owe you so very much.”

“So where are you right now? I mean, really?” Juan asked.

“Right through that wall,” Ted pointed to where the table abutted it. “Sitting in a room laid out exactly like this.”

“So…you have us projected in there the same size as you?” Miguel asked.

“I do. On this side of the wall, all of you are Titan-sized. It’s an illusion, but an incredibly convincing one.”

“It is,” Dora said. She looked at the wall carefully; she saw the seams. Looking behind her, she saw a small table abutting the opposite wall. Both rooms set the same. Designed so Titans and humans could eat together — holograms or no. Nodding, she turned to Tigoni. “So if you drop that wall, right there….”

“The simulation turns off, and you see me at full-sized. But we don’t have to,” Tig said, quietly. “You won’t see me like that very much. Santa Fe isn’t designed for giants. When we come and visit, I’ll stay here and send a holoemitter, and interact with you through that avatar. If you don’t want to see me that way….”

“Chiquita, stand up,” Dora said.

“Mamá? What are you doing?” Ted asked, with not a little concern.

“Wasn’t talking to you, Teodoro. Tigoni, please.”

Tig stood up, and Dora joined her – and pulled her into a tight hug.

“When you drop the wall, as you will in just a moment, I won’t be able to do this,” Dora said. “So I want to do this now. You love my son, and he loves you, and that is all that matters to me, and to us. It was wonderful of you to meet us as we are. But chiquita, you do not have to hide who you are from us. Not ever.”

Tig hugged Dora tight. “Thank you,” she said, blinking back tears.

Dora looked back at her husband and son and daughter-in-law. “Well? What are you waiting for? Hug the girl!” she commanded.

The Martinez family took turns giving Tigoni hugs and joking about the fact that they’d all look a lot shorter in a minute; as they did, Ted sat back in his chair with a smile that spanned his face. He had hoped his family would take it in stride. They had done better.

“Well,” Tig said, with a watery smile, “I should…I should probably call the staff to change the settings.”

“Sure, but…before that…I have a question to ask,” Ted said.

She turned back to him and grinned; she had a good feeling she knew what was coming. She had already had her turn, and it was already decided — really, it had been decided from the first moment they saw each other. But they’d promised, their first night together, that they’d each get a chance, and she was truly happy to have Ted choose right now for his.

As for Ted’s family…well, Dora gasped, and started to cry tears of joy.

“Mamá…I haven’t even asked her anything.”

“I know! So ask her!”

Ted got down on a knee, and held Tig’s hand, and smiled up at her; he was used to it.

“Tig…from first sight, from first touch, I have loved you. For the last two years, I have loved you. And for as long as I will live, I will love you. I want to spend forever with you. Tigoni Belfsec, will you please marry me?”

Tig grinned, grabbed him under his arms, guided him to a standing position, and kissed him, as passionately as she reasonably could in front of his – and her – family. “Of course I will,” she said. “Of course I will.”

The Martínez family burst into applause, but it was not particularly long-lived, as Dora cut through — there was important business to attend to.

“Now,” Dora said, “you say you want children. I don’t mind if you adopt, that’s fine, but still, that one girl, Sorcha…she is half-human, half-Titan, yes?”

Ted laughed. “Yes, mamá, we’ve already worked it out. We’ll have children, too. But not for a while. You need time to spoil my nephew first.”

“Damn right,” Miguel said.

The waitress entered the room in response to the call button Tig had pressed. “May I help you?”

“Yes,” Tig said, wiping tears away. She would have to propose to Ted again soon. Proposals were fun. She had no idea why couples limited themselves to just one. “Um…we’re going to drop the holos offline and open the wall. And….”

“…we’re going to need champagne. Four blue-bands, one red, and a non-alcoholic, blue,” Ted said.

“Very good,” the waitress said, gathering Tig’s plate and moving it across the room. In moments, her place was set.

“Well. I’ll see you all in a moment,” she said, quietly. “End program.”

With that, Tig flickered out of existence, and the wall began to drop.

The Martinez clan turned in unison, and Ted’s heart leapt, as it always did. For though she had left his sight barely a second ago…he was going to get to see her again.

He was wondered if that would ever change, if he’d ever get used to seeing her return. He hoped not. It was too much fun.

The wall slid into the floor, and Ted’s fiancée was sitting behind it, tall as the Statue of Liberty.

Dora walked forward a bit unsteadily, but she managed it. They were standing on Tig’s small table; she was enormous. Dora felt the fear welling up inside of her as she craned her neck up, up, and further up, to look into the monumental face of her future daughter-in-law.

It would be easy to let that terror overwhelm her, especially as that vast distance was less than half of the length of Tigoni. But despite all the alarm bells ringing in her head, Dora Iñíguez forced herself to smile. “Chiquita,” she said, “you were right to say hello at our size.”

“Thanks. And if you want….”

She shook her head, anticipating Tig’s question, though Ted could see she was fighting her nerves. Ted was proud of his mother. She was determined to get through them, he knew, because she would not allow her own fears to stop her from loving him or his soon-to-be wife.

“Chiquita…you know, that means ‘little girl,'” Dora giggled, nervously, “don’t even think about it. And please, call me ‘mamá.'”

“And don’t be fooled,” Imani said with a laugh. “That isn’t a request.”

“No it isn’t, chula. Now…it sounds like you were on the station during first contact too. You met Ted then?”

“Yes, Dor…I mean, mamá,” Tig said with a smile, as the Martínez family sat back down. “I have to say, running into your son was one of the most remarkable things that’s ever happened to me….”