"Kate, Griff!" Mother called.
Griff let got for the first time to hold onto Mother and bury his face into her stomach.
It had to mean nothing. It was important that it meant nothing.
But Mother was on the move and the pair moved in sync, Griff on her feet.
"Would you look at that." Mother said with a hand out. "Kate has friends already! And boys too."
She angled Griff to the side, and made a wonderful show of handing out the deepest bone crushing hugs Kate had ever seen.
"I think we need to talk more inside!"
They were in the kitchen, a large white room with a wide onyx counter. It gained new light and color as Griff's palm turned a section a screen.
"Gam, nei hai li go sai gaai gei noi ga?" Mother said to Liam.
Liam gaped and looked to Kate who threw up her hands.
"I didn't say anything and you're obviously from Mars, like it's really obvious. I don't understand how you guys would think it would be a secret."
"Come on my Kate. Excuse my daughter. I trained her rather aggressively. Her common sense can be considered a product of extreme work." Mother said holding Kate's hand along with Liam's squeezing both.
"You trained your daughter?" Ella asked.
"Yeah, of course. We used to move a lot. And that meant I had to be their teacher. You went to classes only?" Mother asked Ella.
"Yeah." Ella said not sure how an alternative could exist.
Mother grew impossibly sympathetic, putting a hand out with a coo.
Ella blanched.
"It must have been really hard." Mother said with a smile. "You see, with one teacher across the board you gain a level of stability. Instead of a bunch of strange faces telling you they're in charge. And you're always the stranger. And with your body changing because of the different gravities…" Mother deliberately trailed offmoments away from weeping on paying Ella a dollar a day for her starving family.
Ella's face was pretty frozen, her jaw scraping the floor.
Kate blinked, just watching things happen.
"You are so pretty." Mother added which produced a confused blush from the girl.
"Mom, you're embarrassing each of my new friends."
"Fine, fine. I'll just make you guys something quick to eat."
"Thank you Ms. Simone."
"Do you boys and girls have meal plans?"
"Um, no?" Liam said.
"Are you lying to me?" Mother asked, playful, but Mother wasn't blinking.
"We don't do food plans at my house." Said Zach.
"Same." Said Liam.
"I sort of have one. But it's nothing like Kate's."
"Show me your screen. Let me see it. Please?" Mother asked, putting on a cute face, only it wasn't cute.
It made the boys' eyes boggle.
Ella seemed to hesitate before she pulled out a pen which unrolled into a small clear screen that went rigid when it lit up.
She offered it up, but Mother hesitated, putting a defensive hand up.
"Never look through a young woman's phone."
There was something disgusting about her mother's charm. It was mortifying seeing them eating out of her hand.
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Next Up:
Lunch becomes a lab when Mother takes the stage—dissecting diets, dreams, and dangerous truths. Kate's friends came for support. Instead, they got scanned, sized up, and nearly stripped bare by a woman who sees everything. Secrets slip out. Plans get tested. And the line between protection and control blurs. What began as a visit becomes a trial. And Mother isn't just judging Kate's intentions—she's judging their worth. In this house, survival means passing every test.