"I just have one very important question." Ren said, looking around the living room table, with everyone having a tense look.

"Yes Ren?" Mrs. Rose asked.

"Is there stacking?" Ren asked.

"Of course" Scarlet responded.

"Good, here's a +2 card, making you draw six Lily." Ren stated with a smile.

"Oh no..."Lily said sadly.

While waiting for Scarlet's dad to come home, Mrs. Rose, Scarlet, Lily, and Ren all decided to play a game of Uno together. After all, there's nothing like a classic card game to pass the time.

"When is your dad going to be home?" Lily asked Scarlet as she placed a card down.

"He said in about fifteen minutes or so. Scarlet answered.

Ren placed his cards down, sat up, and said "Well, I'll start dinner in the meantime; you guys can keep playing."

Mrs. Rose got up with him and said "I'll help you with that."

"Oh, thank you." Ren responded. "What are you two going to do?" Ren asked Lily and Scarlet.

"We'll go up to my room and relax a bit." Scarlet said.

"Alright, everything should be ready in about half an hour." Ren said.

"Thanks Ren!" Scarlet and Lily spoke as they walked up the steps.

Ren and Mrs. Rose started to make the food in the kitchen. Ren cut and seasoned the meat while Mrs. Rose prepared homemade tortillas and cut up some vegetables.

"Thank you for this, Ren; doing all this means a lot to me." Mrs. Rose said.

"It's no problem, Mrs. Rose; you and your family have been great to me. Even if this is just a small way to say thank you, it's still some way I can pay you back." Ren explained.

"Oh, you don't need to pay us back; you're great to have around, even if Robert thinks otherwise, but that's just him being overprotective." Mrs. Rose said.

"Still, it's something at least." Ren said.

"Listen, Ren..." Mrs. Rose said before she stopped cutting the vegetables and looked at Ren in the eyes. "Please protect my daughter..." she pleaded.

"Of course Mrs. Rose; she's one of my closest friends." Ren said before Mrs. Rose interrupted. 

"I mean, protect her every day you can up there; I won't be there to just talk with her often, only on those special call days you guys on the ships have. I'll be powerless to really help her during her time on the ship. That's why I'm asking you to be that person who can help her and stay by her side. Help her no matter what. You even have my blessing to be her boyfriend if you want to-" Mrs. Rose said before Ren nearly choked on hearing those words.

"I promise I'll always be there by her side, but that boyfriend part..." Ren tried to say something before Mrs. Rose interrupted him yet again.

"I'm not saying you have to, but I wouldn't mind if you became my son-in-law, my husband may disagree, but I support you two!" Mrs. Rose said.

Ren didn't know what to say to that. While Scarlet is very beautiful, he had never really considered pursuing her in that way. He had always focused on getting recruited and heading out on a ship, but now that his goals had been realized, could he become more interested in romance?

While those thoughts swam around in his head, Ren kept cooking until he heard a voice coming from the living room.

"Rose? What smells so good in there?"

That voice was Scarlet's dad and Rose's husband, Robert Lister. Despite having known Ren for years, he had never liked him...like at all. Despite doing nothing to the man personally, for some reason Robert never liked Ren, even though they had things in common.

"Hey honey, we were just making dinner." Rose said from the kitchen.

"We?" Robert asked.

Robert walked into the kitchen and saw Ren there, cutting up steak.

"Ren..."

"Good evening, Mr. Lister." Ren said, waving at him.

Robert grunted and walked back to the living room, saying nothing to Ren.

"Damn, about to get shipped off, and I don't even get a 'Hey Ren'." Ren said under his breath.

"He doesn't hate you, Ren; he just has some conflicted feelings about you." Rose said.

"What does that mean?" Ren asked.

"You'll have to find out yourself." Rose said, pointing at the living room, hinting to Ren to go talk to him.

Ren sighed to himself and washed his hands in the sink before drying them off and heading to the living room.

As soon as he walked inside, Robert looked at him as he was putting his boots back on.

"Ren...." Robert said, looking at Ren. "Follow me for a second."

Ren was taken aback by what Robert said.

"Alright..." Ren responded.

He and Robert walked to the house's backyard, where Mrs. Rose was staring at them through the kitchen window above the sink.

Robert walked over to his vegetable garden and handed Ren a pair of gloves.

"Since you're here, you may as well help out; besides, we need to talk about something." Robert said.

Oh, uh, sure" Ren responded.

He was confused. Robert never allowed anyone but himself to mess with his plants. Nobody knew why he took his vegetables so seriously, but no one bugged him about it; after all, let the man enjoy his hobbies.

"So when do you guys ship out?" Robert asked Ren, who had just finished putting on the gloves and picking a tomato plant.

"Tomorrow at noon is our head count, supposed to launch around two in the afternoon." Ren answered.

"Do you know how long until you guys come back to Earth?" Robert asked.

Ren was confused by his questioning.

"We come back in about 5 to 6 months, depending on operation status, but it's mandatory for a ship's crew to rotate back home between two and three times a year, sometimes more in certain situations." Ren explained.

"What kind of certain situations?" Robert asked.

Ren sighed because he knew he wouldn't like Ren's answer.

Ren got the courage and said "If we rotate home off schedule, it means something bad happened, such as absolute mission failure events or personal or medical trauma."

Robert sighed. He knew more than likely what the answer would be but needed to update what he knew since he hadn't served in a long time.

"Ren, do you know why I'm so serious about this garden?" Robert asked.

"Honestly, no, sir." Ren responded.

"It gives me peace; honestly, I couldn't care less about growing fruits and vegetables myself, but the quiet and the focus give me peace. I still remember when I served—the gunfire, the screams, the pure unknown—I remember all of it, and now my daughter and Lily, who is like a daughter to me, may experience the same thing..." Robert said while getting emotional, he didn't share it too much, but his face and eyes started to drift into darkness. "The last thing I want is for them to see the true horrors of war, but I know I can't stop that from happening. So Ren..."

"Yes, sir?" Ren asked.

"I don't like you at all, but I know you care for Scarlet and Lily, which I can respect. So if you can help it, don't let war change them like it did me." Robert said, with his memories coming to him.

Ren looked at Robert with even more respect and said "Sir, while I may or may not be able to stop them from witnessing the horrors of war, I will give you the same promise I gave Mrs. Rose: I will always stand by Scarlet's and Lily's side. They mean the world to me; I will do everything I can for them."

Ren had just earned a few more respect points in Robert's eyes.

"Good, now get back to picking tomatoes." Robert said this with a slight smile on his face.

"Alright." Ren responded.

After a few minutes, a call came from the house.

"Ren! The foods are about ready for you to start cooking." Mrs. Rose yelled out.

"Alright, I'll start in a second. I'm just going to wash my hands first." Ren said.

Ren walked into the downstairs bathroom to wash his hands as Robert walked into the house and talked to Rose.

"You're sure about this?" Rose asked.

"Yes, while I may not like him, I can trust him with their lives up there." Robert said.

"I'm happy you came around on him." Rose said with a smile.

Robert just grunted as he went upstairs to change into his more relaxed outfit.

*Meanwhile upstairs as Ren was cooking*

"So Scarlet, you know, did you submit that room change request?" Lily asked Scarlet.

Scarlet quickly blushed and looked at Lily.

"No...." she said, kind of embarrassed.

"Really now? Are you finally going to try and make your move?" Lily asked.

"I...don't know yet why emotions are so complicated." Scarlet asked.

"You're anxious about it, aren't you?" Lily asked.

Scarlet took a deep breath and spoke, "I just don't know if he'd be interested in me; I mean, he hasn't ever tried to go out with someone. Even at prom, he only danced with us, and it wasn't exactly romantically."

"Just let it happen naturally, Scarlet; if it's meant to be, then it's meant to be; if it's not, then that's that. Just don't force anything." Lily said.

Scarlet considered what Lily said and then said "You're right, Lily; thank you for the advice!"

Lily smiled and said "No problem, Scarlet."

It was then that a voice spoke from downstairs.

"Girls, dinner is ready!" Rose yelled out.

"Alright Mom!" Scarlet yelled back "We should head down, Lily."

Lily smiled and said "Following you."

But as Scarlet disappeared from her sight, Lily had one thought on her mind.

"Maybe I need to take my own advice with Ren...."

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