Camilla and her daughter are comic book heroines!

Camilla's favorite event of the year was the Seriously Awesome Expo. Unlike many of the convention attendees who came from all over the country (and even the world!) to see the sights, SAX was just in the Shah family's back yard. On one hand, that mean that Camilla or the attending members of her family didn't need to spend hundreds of dollars on an overpriced hotel room, or to drop tons of money eating in the 'restaurants' scattered about the convention hall. On the other hand, it meant that she needed to grapple with traffic on the morning the convention started if she really wanted to get into the hall early, and Camilla hated arriving late to any sort of event.

Camilla hated being late. Her daughter was of a different mind. It was nearly ten o'clock already, the time that the convention hall formally opened to all attendees, and she hadn't even left the house yet. If it had been her choice, she would have been out the door by eight in the morning at the very latest to beat the traffic and get a good place in line. But the matriarch of the Shah family had been to wait a little longer, because her daughter, Emily Shah, was coming with her for the very first time. She had even agreed to do cosplay, just like her mother! Out of gratitude, Camilla had agreed to push back the departure time to nine o'clock, letting Emily get her beauty sleep and properly prepare for the events of the day.

Well, it was almost ten, and Emily had only emerged from her room once in her small towel to run to the bathroom. That showed she was at least getting ready to leave. Better than nothing, Camilla thought. Emily was always, always late. The high school senior treated every sort of appointment, meeting, or event as if it were a high school party, where it was 'unfashionable' to show up any earlier than an hour later than the actual starting time.

Camilla took a deep breath. She had promised herself that she wouldn't get angry with Emily today. Emily had agreed to come to the convention, and even to cosplay! That showed that she was actually open to sharing things with her 'uncool' mother, even in the case of such an extra-uncool hobby. Did kids even say 'uncool' anymore? Camilla didn't know, but it sounded like the kind of word that would have become outdated. _I will not chastise Emily for anything today,_ Camilla told herself. I will be a cool mom. Emily is a cool kid, and she's being nice for doing this. Her friends have probably already given her a hard time. There was no reason to pile more stress onto the poor girl. Camilla knew how hard senior year of high school could be. She was determined to make this day fun for the both of them!

It was impossible to deny what was getting Camilla so worked up. Under normal circumstances, she would have been much more understanding about her daughter's lateness. She remembered what it was like to be a young woman, with all the world's expectations weighing down upon you. But things hadn't been great between Mr. and Mrs. Shah in recent months. Camilla had been taking care (certainly more care than her husband had!) to hide the details from their children, but Mom and Dad had been fighting a lot lately. The word 'divorce' had even crossed her mind on more than one occasion. Money, work, kids... it was all so much stress for a woman. And that kind of stress in a relationship often meant that things weren't exactly 'flowing' in the bedroom. And things weren't flowing. It had been nearly six months since Camilla and her husband had had sex. In all honesty, Emily was probably 'getting some' more often than her mother, will all those boys she was 'friends' with at school. Camilla had found herself feeling even a little jealous at times.

That didn't mean it wasn't a little irritating that Emily was taking so long. Camilla had been dressed in her costume before her daughter had even gotten out of bed! She was the Black Canary, one of the first super-heroines on the pages of comic books. Camilla had loved Black Canary ever since she was a little girl, and she was glad to be able to take the opportunity to dress up as one of her biggest fictional heroes. She had gone with one of the original costumes-- a tight, long-pants body suit that showed off a tasteful amount of cleavage. She had considered going for the more famous fishnets look, but that had been a little too 'ho-y' for Mrs. Shah's tastes. Although it might have actually earned her some attention from Mister Shah for once, if the things his wife had found on his computer shed any light on his tastes.

After what felt like hours and hours had passed, Camilla heard the door to her daughter's bedroom open. She jumped to her feet, ready for the mother and daughter duo to finally be on their way to the convention. Plus, she was a little excited to see what Emily had chosen for her costume. Her daughter had refused to reveal the details, only saying that it would "Definitely match" her mother's outfit. That sounded a little ominous, but she wouldn't let something like that get in the way of her excitement. She was just proud that her daughter had invested so much time and energy into something that was so 'uncool!'

"I'm ready!" Emily proudly announced as she stood at the top of the stairs.

When Camilla saw what her daughter was wearing, her jaw dropped open.