The sound of someone bumping into the coffee table for the third time alerts Aubrey to the fact that, despite telling her otherwise, Stacie is panicking a little bit.

"Stace?" Aubrey calls out, "everything okay?" She waits for an answer, calmly reaching out for the outfit she had chosen in advance.

"Uh…yeah! Yes! Everything is great!"

Aubrey smiles fondly, biting her lip as she zips up her skirt before walking out to the living room to see Stacie's face buried in one of her aeronautics and space engineering books.

"A little light reading to calm the nerves love?"

Stacie's head lifts, "What? No. What nerves? I'm not nervous. Are you nervous? Because I'm certainly not nervous. I'm too awesome to be nervous."

Aubrey raises an eyebrow and takes a seat on the arm of the sofa, "Sure, okay. You're not nervous. You just said the word eighty billion times, but you're not nervous."

Groaning, Stacie drops the book beside her and reaches out for Aubrey who smoothly slides onto her lap, loosely draping her arms around Stacie's neck.

"I can't help it," Stacie murmurs, "I'm meeting your parents. Your parents. And we're going to be staying with them for a week! That's a big deal."

Smiling softly at Stacie, Aubrey plays with the tiny hairs at the back of her neck as she says, "It's not that big a deal. I mean, they're not-"

Stacie's eyes are wide as she interrupts, "You're the one that has told me all about how much they've nagged, commented about, and criticized every single one of your boyfriends and girlfriends that they've met! Both of your parents! You're the one that's told me about them!"

Aubrey bites her lip, "Well okay yes…but it'll be alright Stacie, you'll wow them."

"Oh, is that so? And how am I going to do that?"

Aubrey brushes her nose against Stacie's and softly says, "By being your wonderful, charming self. My parents are going to love you. They've been dying to meet you."

Stacie hums softly as she absentmindedly rubs her thumbs against Aubrey's waist, "Yeah…alright okay, yes."

Aubrey kisses her softly before sliding off of Stacie's lap and gently pulls her up, "Alright then, come on hot shot, let's go finish getting ready. Being late would definitely not earn you any brownie points."

She can't help but laugh at the look Stacie throws her way.

"Aubrey! My baby! Look at you! It's been far too long!"

Stacie watches as Aubrey's mother, Lisa, comes darting out of the house, arms outstretched and ready to pull Aubrey into a hug before even being within any sort of real proximity to do so.

Aubrey's ready for the hug, her own arms open wide having dropped the bag she'd been carrying, and is smiling when they finally meet in the middle of the drive, "Hi mom. This-" and that's as far as she gets before Lisa steps out of the hug and turns towards Stacie.

"This must be Stacie. My goodness just look at you! Come in, come in! We've been expecting you."

Stacie's words, "Hi Mrs. Posen," are drowned out in the midst of the whirlwind hellos, and she catches Aubrey's eye as the both of them are whisked away into the house.

Aubrey just grins at her as if to say 'Moms. What're you gonna do, ya know?'

Once inside, just barely past the foyer, a voice belonging to Aubrey's father, David, calls out, "Lightning bug? Is that you?"

Stacie watches as Aubrey's face lights up in a grin, and her back straightens up, "Yes sir." Mr. Posen walks out of the living room then and Aubrey asks, "How're you dad?" as she wraps her arms around her father's neck as he hugs her tight.

He's a pretty tall man, and Aubrey's feet don't touch the ground at all as he straightens, lifting her up as he hugs her.

"I'm good sweetheart, how are you?" he says as he kisses her forehead.

Once he sets Aubrey down, Stacie swallows and reaches out her hand, "Mr. Posen, it's nice to meet you sir."

Aubrey smiles as she introduces her, "Dad, this is Stacie, my girlfriend."

"Mr. Posen and sir? I like this one already." He throws a little grin at Aubrey as he shakes Stacie's hand.

When Stacie meets his gaze, she sees that his eyes are kind yet slightly guarded and Stacie believes in her heart of hearts that he'll be watching her like a hawk the entire duration of their stay. Catching Aubrey's eyes once again, and not for the last time either she's sure, Stacie sees that Aubrey is also thinking about just how closely her father is going to be watching her too.

To Aubrey's surprise, they've actually managed to make it to the end of their week-long visit and as of yet neither of her parents have started in on the time-honored tradition of scaring her love interests (something they would usually have done at every given opportunity), to which she is immensely grateful.

Instead both of them have gotten warmer, more open and friendlier as the days have gone on. Even her father, who has always upped the intimidation tactic whenever she brought home someone she really liked was thawed enough to just be his regular self.

"Well you see sir, that's what I've always told 'brey, but she refuses to accept the facts," Stacie says, a grin on her face, casually playing with Aubrey's fingers, which is something that neither parent miss.

Aubrey rolls her eyes good naturedly, "Only because you and my father refuse to see that the Packers have the ability to be on-field successes and actually win the NFC conference championship!"

"Babe, having an excellent off season doesn't mean much," Stacie says.

Mr. Posen grins, "Exactly. Come on lightning bug, the Seahawks are where it's at! The Packers need to be much better on defense, and alright I'll give them this, their best offensive player is still in the game, but this season is absolutely going to be all Seahawks all the way."

This of course sets Stacie off and both of them are once again gushing over their favorite team.

Aubrey bites her lip and smiles as she watches them.

She'd never tell but she'd been secretly worried about this meeting, more than Stacie would ever know, because it's true, her parents did always nag her prior love interests to the point where they hated ever being asked to do anything that involved her family. And she desperately didn't want that to be the case this time too because Stacie mean everything to her and there definitely wasn't ever going to be another contender.

Aubrey gently squeezes Stacie's hand as she gets up to go to the kitchen to make herself another cup of cocoa.

She smiles as her mother steps up beside her at the stove having decided to have some more hot cocoa too.

"You know, I really like Stacie," Lisa says gently, pouring in a little more milk to the saucepan.

Aubrey braces herself for what comes next, thinking that she must have jinxed it, but Lisa just turns away from the stove and pulls out some biscuits and mini marshmallows from the pantry.

"You do?" Aubrey asks, still braced, stirring the mixture, trying to keep an eye on it as well as on her mother as she waits for the answer.

Lisa looks at her, "Watch the milk honey."

Aubrey quickly pulls the saucepan off the heat just before the milk bubbles over and grins sheepishly at her mother who smiles at her and rolls her eyes before softening, "I do like her. She's just as wonderful as you've described. Actually, I don't know that you've done her justice."

Aubrey can't hide her surprise, or her rising excitement either because this has never happened before. With a smile forming on her face, her eyes alight with joy she says, "she really is wonderful, isn't she?"

Lisa pours out the milk into the mugs and she locks eyes with Aubrey as she says, "She is. And you better be treating her well."

Laughing lightly, Aubrey nods and says, "Of course I am," but whatever else she was going to say dies down when her mother fixes her with one of her looks.

"I mean it Aubrey. She's the best thing that's ever happened to you, both your father and I can see it, and neither one of us will take it if you don't treat her right, or if you let her go. She's a keeper 'brey. I mean it, and those don't come by lightly."

Aubrey's smile softens and she takes her mother's hand and squeezes gently, "You think so?"

Lisa nods, "I know so sweetheart. She's the one if there ever was one. I can see it. Your father can see it. So just let the record show that we're both going to be making sure you treat her right."

With that Lisa picks up the refilled mugs of cocoa and heads back to the living room, "Just load the saucepan into the sink and come on out here, it seems they've moved on to movies, and you and I both know that your father's taste in movies leaves much to be desired."

David's impassioned cry, "The Dirty Dozen is a classic!" makes Aubrey laugh, and she quickly makes it to the living room in time to see him roll his eyes at her mother who is primly taking her seat next to him.

"Don't look at me Mr. Posen, my dad's got the same favorite as you." Stacie says with a grin when David looks at her for support.

"So then I take it, from your response, you don't agree with us." David says, his eyebrow raised but a smile on his face just the same.

"I can't say that I do no, sorry sir."

Aubrey giggles and leans against her as she says, "Stacie's favorite movie is Breakfast at Tiffany's."

"Aubrey!" Stacie's eyes are wide but she can't help laughing as she calls her name, "That's not-I want to impress your dad!"

Aubrey bites her lip and grins. She catches her father's eye and her own eyes twinkle mercilessly as she says, "Oh don't you worry, his favorite is Roman Holiday no matter what he says about The Dirty Dozen."

"Aubrey!" David cries out, but it's drowned out by Lisa's laugh as she high fives Aubrey over the coffee table.

David rolls his eyes at his wife and daughter and says two words with a shrug, "Audrey Hepburn."

Stacie grins wider, "My second favorite Hepburn movie is My Fair Lady."

Lisa and Aubrey both stop giggling and look at Stacie then. Aubrey leans into her and smiles as she says, "That's my mother and I's favorite Hepburn movie."

"Oh? I mean I knew it was yours, I didn't realize it was your mother's too." Stacie says, grinning at Lisa.

David catches Aubrey's eyes and smiles at her warmly. He throws her a little wink and looks pointedly at her hand which is enclosed in Stacie's.

Aubrey can't help the blush on her face, but she also doesn't remove her hand from Stacie's like she might have done if it had been anyone else. Instead she gently squeezes and rubs her thumb against the back of Stacie's hand and grins back at her dad.

"Alright kiddo, you good to go?" David asks once the trunk is loaded up with their suitcases.

Aubrey grins and rolls her eyes at the term of endearment, only pretending to hate it really, and nods, "Yes sir. Just our goodbyes are in order."

David smiles down at her warmly and places his hands on her shoulders as he says, "You've got yourself a good woman lightning bug."

Aubrey glances behind him towards the front porch where her mother is saying goodbye to Stacie, and she smiles as she looks up at him, "I know."

"You're going to treat her well." It's not a question, and Aubrey knows it.

She smiles and nods her head seriously, "Yes sir, dad. I'm treating her well, and I'm going to continue to do so."

David nods, "Good. I like this one Aubrey. She's smart. Very smart. And she's good for you." He gently squeezes her shoulders and teases, "I can't remember you being so good at relaxing before."

Aubrey laughs lightly, knowing they both know how true that statement is, "She's amazing, I know. I'm glad you see it too."

David pulls Aubrey in for a hug and kisses the top of her head, "You just be sure you take care of her too 'brey. I want to be able to see you both for holidays and visits. This was fun."

Aubrey giggles into his chest and nods as she hugs him back tightly, "Yes dad. I'm going to miss you."

David grins as he steps back from the hug and pinches her cheek gently, "Sure you say that now, and then a few hours from now it's 'dad who?'"

"We're good to go babe?" Stacie asks then, and Aubrey grins at her and nods.

David chuckles, "Not even five minutes."

Aubrey clears her throat, her cheeks enflamed, "Sorry dad. I will miss you though. I always miss you and mom."

Lisa steps up beside David now, an arm going around his waist, "We'll miss you too sweetheart. Both of you."

Aubrey grins and kisses her parents' cheeks goodbye before turning and walking towards the driver's side of the car.

Getting into the car and starting it, she swears she hears her mother yell out, "Be good to her 'brey!" but she can't say for certain. Except, glancing at the huge grin on Stacie's face once she's pulled out of the driveway, perhaps it really did happen.

Lacing their fingers together Stacie says through a small grin, "So, I thought you said they nag?"

Aubrey laughs lightly, "Oh they do, but apparently, they've taken to nagging me instead."

Stacie squeezes her hand, "About what?"

Aubrey squeezes back, "All good things Stace. They really like you. They want to make sure I'm treating you right, because you're a keeper."

Stacie can't help the grin that spreads across her face, the tips of her ears going red, "Yeah?"

Aubrey quickly glances at her before looking back at the road, "Yeah baby, you've absolutely blown them away. They're taking your side on all things from now on, I'm calling it now."

Stacie's laugh makes Aubrey's heart swell, "That's great. I was so worried they'd hate me, or well not hate me, but find something they didn't like about me."

Shaking her head, Aubrey tugs on her hand gently, "No way. They loved you, just like I knew they would."

Stacie bites her lips and grins as she leans over the center console, "So about this treating me right business…"

Aubrey gulps, and her grip on the steering wheel tightens, knowing right then that she's in for quite a drive back.