You seat yourself and dig in

Before you know it the conversation is flowing as freely as the orange juice. A little too freely for you, in fact: it isnt long before your mom decides to push the conversation beyond the safe, comfortable realm of small talk.

"So. How would you two describe your relationship?" she asks, looking between you and Harley with a twinkle in her eye, "Is she your girlfriend?"

She pauses to shoot Harley a mock-apologetic look:

"Do you consider him your boyfriend?"

"Hey!"

Your outburst is largely ignored, save for the rumbling chuckle that emnates from your dad's side of the table.

"Something like that." you finally reply, piling some more scrambled eggs on your plate.

"...Yeah. It's complicated." Harley agrees, "We'll get back to you on that, maybe?"

You can feel her expectant eyes on you. Still, you don't hesitate to change the subject:

"She's a mental copy of our class TA."

"Oh yeah?" prompts your dad, "Is that even legal?"

You shrug. Your mom looks a little concerned at that, but says nothing more on the topic.

Instead, her mothering instincts kick in.

"Thank you for putting up with my son. I was starting to think he'd be..."

She pauses, giving you that look she always gives you before she's about to be 'a little mean'.

"...Well, alone forever!" she finally exclaims, sparing no fucks for your wounded pride. "Are you comfortable down there? Is he making you sleep on the floor like a dog or anything?"

Harley giggles, bringing a smile to everyone's face yet again.

"No, no... He's fine." she answers, dismissing the issue with a wave of her hand. "We're fine. If you ever hear me scream really loud, though, you know what to do!"

"...Call a technician?" your dad quips.

"Reggie!" hisses your mom, aghast.

"THIS is why - among many, MANY other things, THIS..."

You and Harley spend the rest of the meal in a state of amused silence while your parents snipe at eachother. Eventually your mom gets sick of it and leaves the table, busying herself with the dishes... And you're surprised to see Harley rise to assist her, oblivious to the eyes that may or may not be tracking her naked curves every step of the way.