Frankie could count on one hand how many times she had seen Shuya Nishijima nervous.

On one finger, actually. The only time she had ever seen him deviate from his usually friendly, laidback demeanor was when they had gotten back together, and he had been the same Shuya ever since. That wasn’t the case for Christmas Eve. When Frankie and Theo met with Shuya outside of the First House early in the afternoon on Christmas Eve, his nerves were written all over his handsome face. It was not an expression Frankie was used to, to say the least; a deep frown of concern crossed her features as they drew nearer to him, catching his attention as they did so.

“Oh, Frankie-chan, Theo-chan, good morning,” he called out, his brilliant smile taking away some of his expression, but not much.

“Good morning…” Frankie responded slowly. “Shuya, are you okay?”

“Am I okay?” Shuya repeated, frowning as well. “Why?”

“You look…uncomfortable,” Frankie explained, and Shuya’s eyebrows rose.

“Are you nervous?” Theo chimed in, her voice teasing. After a moment Shuya laughed a little, reaching up to run his fingers through his hair.

“Wouldn’t you be?” It probably wasn’t the most opportune time to do so, but this was the day when Shuya would meet Frankie and Theo’s mother. Frankie supposed that she could understand why he was nervous; for all he knew, Frankie had told her mother everything that had happened between the two of them, as soon as it happened, and he could be walking into a death trap.

“It’ll be fine,” Theo assured him, with an easygoing wave of her hand. “Our mom likes everybody.”

“Somehow that doesn’t make me feel better.”

They were taking the BART together up north, hence their meeting outside of the First House; they walked together out of AIASF’s campus limits and to the Embarcadero station, starting on the half hour trip to the station in Richmond. Shuya was unaware of what to expect when they exited the station, but both Theo and Frankie were on the lookout for a gold Ford Taurus, with two high school graduate tassels hanging from the rearview mirror. They found it quickly parked just a few yards away on the curb; Frankie noted Shuya’s quiet hesitation and coaxed him forward by pulling on the sleeve of his hoodie; he gave her a sheepish smile and continued along with them.

As they drew nearer to the car the driver’s side door opened to let out a young looking woman almost as short as Frankie and Theo, with Theo’s skin tone and Frankie’s eyes; she was dressed for the day simply in jeans and a cream sweater – she wore her hair in low maintenance braids, pulled back out of her beautiful bare face in a high bun. At the sight of her Frankie’s face broke out into a smile; she released Shuya’s sleeve and hurried over to her with her sister, watching as a smile of her own appeared.

“Hey!” They took the time to exchange hugs and greetings before Shawna Johnson turned her attention to their guest, who stood on the curb still with his hands in his pockets, a small smile on his face as he watched them.

“And who is this new face?” Shawna questioned, placing her hands on her hips as she looked at him.

“Ah, I’m Shuya,” Shuya said with a