Howdy, folks! You ready for a new GMD one-shot? Well here it is!

LONDON 1876

"Are you SURE you want to do this, Padraic?" Mary Bentley asked her fiance as he packed his suitcase. "We don't have to do this if you really don't want to."

It was a beautiful October day. The engaged couple were preparing for a train trip from London to Canterbury to visit Mary's mother.

Professor Padraic Ratigan finished setting clothes in his suitcase and closed it. "Of course I want to do this, Mary. We're going to be married, and I want a chance to meet my future mother-in-law."

Mary shrugged. "It's just, as I've told you before, my mother is not the most...tolerant of women. She'll have a real problem with your...background."

"Hey now, what does your mother have against people who are half-Irish?" Ratigan asked jokingly. He chuckled.

Mary was not amused. "You KNOW what I meant, Padraic."

"Yes, yes, I do, it was an attempt at humor." Ratigan sighed and took his fiancee's hands in his. "I've been half-rat my entire life, Mary. I've heard every anti-rat comment ever invented. I'm quite used to being prejudiced against because of how I look. I think I can handle one weekend with your mother...just as long as YOU'RE all right with my background, I'm fine."

Mary smiled and wrapped her arms around Ratigan's waist. "You KNOW that I'm perfectly fine with your background, Padraic. No matter how this weekend with Mother goes, I'm still going to marry you. This is more of an unavoidable meeting of the future in-laws than anything else."

Ratigan smiled down at his fiancee and kissed her. "Well then, we have a train to catch."

The train ride to Canterbury was fairly uneventful. The couple spent most of the time chatting about what they would be getting into and predicting how Mary's mother would react to the fact that her only daughter was getting married to a man who was half-rat.

Finally, they arrived to Canterbury. As soon as they were there, they caught a cab to a large, fancy mansion, where Mary's mother lived. Ratigan fidgeted nervously in his seat as the cab drove. Mary noticed how jittery her fiance was and patted his hand comfortingly. "You'll be fine, darling, just be yourself."

Once the couple got out of the cab, they slowly made their way up to the front door of the mansion. Mary knocked on the door. The two waited for an answer. Finally, a butler answered the door. "Yes?"

"Hello, we're here to see Danielle Bentley. I'm her daughter Mary, and this is my fiance, Padraic Ratigan," Mary introduced them. Ratigan smiled nervously.

"Follow me, please," the butler told them. He led the two into the mansion and into a large living room. "Wait here, please. Mrs. Bentley will be in shortly." He left the room.

Mary sat down on an overstuffed red velvet sofa. Ratigan sat next to her and looked around. The room was very uninviting. The wallpaper was a nauseating shade of yellow, and the carpet was deep red. A black chandelier hung from the ceiling, and the whole room had a musty scent. "It would seem your mother needs to redecorate."

Mary nodded. "I know. But she won't pay for anyone to redecorate. The woman has so much money, yet she refuses to spend any of it. I always said that money is just money, and keeping it around doesn't do anybody any good."

"Ah," was all Ratigan could say. He sat next to Mary quietly, the butterflies that had been in his stomach ever since the start of the train ride now feeling like they were the size of cocker spaniels. He tried to keep telling himself, it's just a mandatory meeting, it's just a mandatory meeting. But still that didn't help calm his nerves.

Suddenly, the door opened. An older woman came into the room. "Mary, my little baby, how are you?" she greeted Mary. So this must be Danielle Bentley, Ratigan thought.

Mary smiled and got up to hug her mother. "Fine, Mother. It's good to see you again. You're looking well."

Danielle laughed as her daughter pulled away from her. Then, she noticed Ratigan sitting on the sofa and screamed. "RAT! There's a RAT on the sofa!" She ran to a nearby closet, pulled out a broom, ran back and started hitting Ratigan with it. "RAT! RAT! RAT!"

"Ow ow ow ow!" Ratigan yelped as the older woman hit him. "Would you PLEASE stop that?"

"No, Mother, no!" Mary tried to intervene.

"Stand back, Mary, I don't want this vile beast touching you!" Danielle told her daughter. She continued to hit Ratigan with the broom as she screamed "RAT! RAT! RAT!"

"Mother, STOP!" Mary demanded, stomping her foot. Danielle ceased what she was doing. "Mother, this is Professor Padraic Ratigan. Remember, the man I wrote to you about? The man I'm going to MARRY?"

"It's very nice to meet you, madam," Ratigan spoke up, standing and bowing, then sitting back down covering his left eye. "Oh God, I think one of those wretched broom straws got into my eye!"

"Oh no, here, darling, let me see." Mary ran to her fiance's side and peered into his eye. "No, no, you're fine."

"You mean to tell me that the man you plan to marry is a RAT?" Danielle shrieked.

"Technically, Mother, Padraic is only HALF rat," Mary corrected her. "To be even more precise, he's half sewer rat."

"A SEWER RAT? REALLY, Mary, you want to marry a SEWER RAT? How could you not TELL me?"

"Mother, Padraic's last name is RATigan," Mary reminded him. "What did you THINK he was going to be?"

"I thought maybe it was just a last name, I didn't think he was going to actually BE a rat!"

"HALF rat," Ratigan reminded her. "Are you SURE I don't have straw in my eye, because it feels like there's something in my eye."

"Oh shut up, you disgusting sewer vermin!" Danielle snapped.

"Mother! Do not talk to my fiance in that manner!" Mary chided her.

"Oh God, you're not SERIOUSLY considering marrying that...THING, are you?" Danielle asked. "This is just a joke, yes?"

"No, Mother, I am going to marry Padraic, FOR REAL!" Mary denied.

Danielle slumped into a nearby armchair. "No, no, no, no! I cannot believe it! My daughter is marrying a sewer rat! Oh, your father would be rolling in his grave if he knew. How could you DO this to me, Mary? Is it my fault? Did I raise you wrong? Are you punishing me for something?"

"No, Mother, I'm marrying Padraic because I love him, and he loves me."

"Don't make me laugh, Mary," Danielle replied. "Rats can't love."

"Excuse me, Mrs. Bentley," Ratigan interjected rather angrily. "If I may just say something, I love your daughter with all my heart, and I would never do anything to hurt her. She means more to me than anything in this world." He looked into Mary's eyes, who smiled back at him and kissed him.

"Oh no, God no, do NOT kiss that sewer slime in this house!" Danielle cried out.

"Padraic is NOT slime!" Mary argued, standing up and facing her mother. "He is a highly respected professor at a small London branch of Oxford University, and he has more manners and class than YOU do, you old bigot!"

"How DARE you speak to me in such a manner?" Danielle frowned. "Very well, seeing as you obviously need some sort of ultimatum in order to change your mind about this marriage, I shall give you an ultimatum; either you can break off the engagement and continue living your life of privilege, or you can continue with a relationship with a worthless sewer rat and I shall be forced to cut you from my will and sever all bonds between us. What do you say to that?"

Mary narrowed her eyes and glared at the older woman. "Go to Hell, Mother." She turned around and walked out the door. Ratigan got up. "It was very nice meeting you, Mrs. Bentley." He followed Mary out the front door and off to the street, where they waited for another cab together.

The train ride back was silent for the most part. Mary was still too angry to speak, so Ratigan spent the time peering out the window. After some time, Mary finally spoke up. "I'm sorry that you had to indure that, Padraic."

"I've indured worse."

"But to be fair, I DID warn you ahead of time that my mother was a horrible bigot," Mary went on.

"Yes you did, and you weren't kidding," Ratigan replied. He rubbed his eye. "Are you absolutely CERTAIN she didn't get a straw in my eye? I could swear I FELT something in it."

Mary laughed. "Yes, Padraic, I'm certain."

Ratigan was silent. "Mary, I cannot tell you how much it means to me that you stood up for me back there. Not many girls I know would abandon a chance to inherit millions just to marry me."

Mary smiled and rested her head on her fiance's chest. "You're all the riches I need, Padraic." She kissed him on the cheek, making him blush.

Mary never spoke to her mother again. That January, she received a letter that she had died of a heart attack and had rewritten her will so that all of her money would go to her if she publically broke off her engagement to Ratigan and denounced him as a wretched sewer rat, else the money would be going to various charities. Mary responded by spitting on the letter and throwing it into the fire, saying "I hope those charities appreciate our donations."

Ratigan and Mary were married that April. They were happy together until death did them part.

Ummm...I'm not sure how to respond to this fanfic. Is it a d'awww? You guys be the judge.

OK, anybody else want to punch old Danielle repeatedly in the face? What a you-know-what! Good thing Mary chose Ratti over her!

To be honest, I'm not even sure why Mary decided to name their daughter Danielle after her mother...my best guess is that it's sort of a final spite against her mother, like she's saying "Hey, we're naming your part-rat granddaughter after you, so take that!" Does it make sense? Probably not, but it's what I'm going with.

Hope you all enjoyed this one-shot! I have several more ideas, and as I've previously said if you want to request one just PM me and I'll work on it.

All my best, DiscordantPrincess.

Oh, and PS, I just tallied up the results of my GMD poll...by a single vote, Team Ratigan wins. Yay, I'm totes Team Ratigan!