Work Text:
The datapad clattered to the floor as Jo buried her face in her hands. It got Dorothy’s attention from where she was going over a mission report before turning it in. She extended two tentacles, wrapping them around Jo and squeezing tight. A third gently wiped away a tear. “What is it? Did something happen to Sam or Dean?”
Jo shook her head. It was a perfectly reasonable guess, her brothers were both spacers like her, but this wasn’t that. This was even more unexpected. “I got a letter from my mom.”
“Holy shit.” Dorothy set down her datapad and came over to give Jo her full attention, hovering gently in front of her. “How are you feeling?”
“I’m… I’m good, actually,” Jo said. “For now. I haven’t had the chance to read it. I should be scared, but whatever’s in there, my mom. Reached out. That’s huge, you know?”
“I know.” Dorothy held her tighter, using a hand to stroke her hair while a tentacle retrieved the datapad. “Maybe it’s good news. You should read it. I won’t read over your shoulder, but I can stay here and hold you while you read if you’d like.”
“I would like.” Jo took the datapad and navigated her way back to the message. Any doubt that it wasn’t actually her mother, just someone hacking her account to try to get her attention, disappeared as soon as she read the first sentence. No nonsense, no sentimental bullshit, just an acknowledgement that she’d fucked up royally and owed Jo an apology. The rest of the paragraph was that apology, including specifics of realizing that while a mother’s job was to protect her child, once that child became an adult, it needed to change focus to be more about support than shelter. Pushing Jo away just meant she wouldn’t have her mother to turn to if she needed help.
“Mom gets it.” Jo turned her head, leaning against Dorothy’s shoulder. “She’s sorry for pushing me away and wants to reestablish contact.”
“That’s great! Anything else?”
“Oh, a lot,” Jo admitted. There was quite a bit left in the letter, but she needed a minute to process the apology before it got ruined by Ellen’s admitting that the only reason she’s reaching out is because John died or something like that. She should still read the rest of the letter.
John was fine, but he’d had another blowout fight with Sam and Dean. That tracked. Listening to them argue, Ellen had realized that the points Sam and Dean were making about their need to be out in space, doing what they could to hold back the invasion from the alien empire determined to conquer their free world and other free worlds in the region like Dorothy’s, also applied to Jo. She agreed with a lot of what Sam and Dean were saying, and had to confront why it was different when it was Jo. She still didn’t like it, but Jo was too much like her father to ever accept being held back no matter how valid Ellen’s fears were. After all, she’d agreed with a lot of John’s points as well.
“What I’m saying here is I still don’t like it, but when you left, I was sure you’d be dead by now,” Jo read to Dorothy. “You’re not. You’re alive, and I’ve read the reports about your ship. You’re doing a damn good job out there. I’m proud of you, honey, and next time you have time for shore leave, I’d like you to come home so I can tell you this in person.”
Dorothy extended a tentacle for her datapad. “Do you want to go? Ship’s headed for repair dock next week and we’ll have a whole month.”
“We were going to go visit your family,” Jo protested, but her voice shook and she stared at the letter in her lap.
Dorothy rolled her eyes fondly and pulled Jo into a kiss. “You’ve met my family. They know about your situation. If I tell them that your mom reached out and you have a chance to reconcile, you know they’ll be pissed if we come anyway just because you feel some kind of obligation.”
They really would. One thing that was the same about their cultures: family was taken very seriously. Dorothy was probably a little insulted that Jo would even consider skipping this opportunity. Her family wasn’t Jo’s family yet. “I want to go, but that doesn’t mean you have to,” Jo made herself say. “I know you were looking forward to seeing your family, and to you, that is more important.”
Dorothy’s tentacles tensed a little around Jo. “Are you just being polite and recognizing the importance of my family to me, or do you actually prefer I not come? I know your mom might be a little unwelcoming of our relationship.”
Jo let out a slight giggle. Ellen hadn’t taken it well when Jo came out as queer, and that was before Jo had realized she was just fine with non-human intelligences, too. “Actually, that would be a good reason for you to come. If introducing you is just going to end up with us not speaking to each other again, best to do it now before we’re ripping open a partially healed wound, right?” Dorothy nodded. “I want you with me, for moral support and to introduce yourself as my partner. I would understand if you felt you should go see your family instead.”
Dorothy blinked her eyes in a way that Jo had come to understand as shaking her head. “We haven’t really talked about this, but the only reason I haven’t started the conversation about formalizing our relationship is because my family wouldn’t accept it without your family’s blessing. If that meant we never formalized, or at least not until we learned that Ellen was dead and your brothers were the closest family you had, then I’m fine with that. In order to get your mother’s blessing, we’ll have to introduce me to her, and like you said. Better to do it now and know than try to wait.”
“Good. If you’ll get word to your family, I’ll let Mom know I’m coming with a partner I want to introduce. That way she’ll at least have some idea, since there’s not a lot of humans on this ship.” Jo sent the message and leaned against Dorothy.