Remus was ecstatic at the news, and had demanded that they call her immediately. Roman ended up doing the talking, and after a bit of discussion, they agreed to meet just outside the library that afternoon. Now that they were there, though, Virgil noticed that Roman was looking pretty jittery.
"I really should not have let you get coffee," he sighed, taking the now-empty cup out of Roman's hands. "It's just making you even more nervous."
"I don't know what to say," Roman said, hopping from one foot to another. "What if nothing gets said? What if it's the most awkward thing in existence? I shouldn't have agreed to this, maybe we should just go home---"
Remus grabbed him by the jacket sleeve. "We are staying. Stop being such a wuss."
"I am not being a wuss!" Roman exclaimed.
"Yes, you are."
"Look, if she's lying, I'll tell you and we can leave, all right?" Janus said, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "And if she isn't, I'll let you know and you can have a nice bonding moment. Easy."
"It's not easy---"
"Well, let's just pretend that it is for a second, all right?"
Virgil cast a longing glance at the doors of the library, itching to rush in and browse. They were supposed to go there today, so Virgil could make a list of more books that he wanted to check out back home---or, well, back in Toronto---but they had to postpone it to make room for this.
"What time did she say, again?" he asked. "Noonish, right?"
Janus checked his phone. "Correct, and it is now..." He squinted. "Twelve-oh-five."
Roman's eyes widened. "Oh god, she's late. Of course she's late. Maybe she forgot, and we should just leave, right? We should just---"
"Shut up." Remus pressed a water bottle into Roman's hands. "Drink."
Roman sheepishly opened the water bottle and took a few sips.
Virgil nudged Remus. "You're a lot more calm about this than I expected."
"I'm channelling all of my freak-out energy into making sure that Roman doesn't freak out," he said in an undertone. "I'm just as nervous as he is."
"Gotcha."
Janus snapped his fingers. "I see her."
"What? Where?" Roman started looking around wildly.
"She's across the street... and she noticed us... and she is running into traffic," Janus noted. "Ah, good, she didn't get hit."
Virgil finally noticed the woman in a chic black winter coat running towards them. Aside from the curly hair, she didn't look that much like either of the twins, but Virgil recognized her from the picture that Roman had showed him.
"Mom," Roman whispered.
Remus waved his hand around. "MOM! WE'RE HERE!"
The minute she reached them, she wrapped the twins into a big hug. "Ti chiedo perdono," she murmured. "I'm so sorry, boys."
Roman hesitated, then returned the hug, blinking back visible tears. Remus just looked vaguely stunned.
"Nice to see you again, Fran," Janus said, giving her a smile. "You're looking very well."
"Oh, Janus!" Francesca exclaimed, breaking away. "I didn't know that you were going to come!" She gave him a quick hug. "I'm so sorry about Isabelle."
Janus smirked. "Sorry for trying to set me up with her, or sorry about her in general?"
Fran let out a little laugh. "I will admit, my sister doesn't know how to raise a child without teaching it that the world revolves around them. But yes, I am sorry for thinking that you'd be interested in her, too." She looked Janus up and down. "Come to think of it, I have no clue why I didn't catch on sooner."
"Eh, not your fault that your gaydar doesn't work," he assured her. "Besides, me and Remus are both actors."
"But you love my son." It wasn't a question, just a statement of fact.
Janus paused, then nodded with a little smile. "I do. Very much."
"Well, you seem to make Remus quite happy," Francesca said quietly, patting him on the shoulder. "And that's all that matters. I should've seen that sooner."
Virgil did a little awkward wave. "Um. Hi."
Fran gasped and gave Virgil the most bone-crushing hug he'd ever gotten in his life. It was nice to know, at least, where Roman and Remus got that gene from, but on the other hand, the hug instantly contradicted almost everything he'd been told about her.
"You must be Virgil!" she said, beaming. "It's so nice to finally meet you! I've heard so much about you!"
"You... you too," Virgil managed.
Francesca sighed. "God, the minute I heard that Roman was going to be staying with you over the summer, I should've suspected that something was going on between the two of you. Though, given the way he talked about you when you first met, I probably never would've guessed."
"Oh?" Virgil raised an eyebrow. "Roman, how exactly did you talk about me when we first met?"
Roman turned bright red. "It's---it's not important."
"I believe it was something along the lines of 'the epitome of angsty teen and the most disagreeable person I've ever met,'" Francesca answered, giving Roman a grin. "My, oh, my, how that changed around, didn't it?"
"Mom, do you want to hear more about Janus and Remus?" Roman said loudly. "Because they've got a lot of great stories---"
"Oh, yes, of course, you can tell me all about them at lunch," she told him. "Unless you've eaten already?"
Remus blinked. "No, but---you're taking us to lunch?"
"Yes, of course I am! You don't have to worry about paying, it's all on my tab." Francesca waved. "Taxi!"
..............
"Could you maybe have saved your ability to inhale food for a later date, Virgil?" Roman asked in an undertone.
Virgil swallowed a bite of his food. "I'm going to have to ask you to kindly shut it, sweetie pie."
"When have you ever called me---"
"So!" Francesca beamed. "How did the two of you get together?"
Roman paused, a little grin on his face. "Well, I had intended on sweeping Virgil off of his feet during the Winter Ball last year, complete with a bouquet of purple flowers and getting his favorite song to play over the speakers---"
"Hey, woah, woah, woah, how come I never got that bouquet?" Virgil protested, lifting his head.
"I kind of forgot about it," Roman admitted.
"It's fine, I forgive you."
Francesca cleared her throat. "So, I'm guessing that it didn't happen?"
Virgil shook his head. "Five minutes into the first dance, I asked Roman whether or not he liked me, we awkwardly confessed, and we somehow became boyfriends through that confession. I still don't know how that worked, if I'm being honest."
"Hey, every love confession's a little bit awkward," Remus said, shrugging. "Mine was."
"It was endearing, and that's what matters," Janus told him, giving his hand a squeeze.
"Actually, Remus, I wanted to ask you something," Francesca interjected, sitting forward. "I did some more research on the LGBTQ community while you two where gone, but I still don't quite understand the other thing you mentioned you were... 'grey-aro?' Could you explain for me?"
Remus's eyes widened in awe. "You---you want me to explain?"
"Absolutely."
He flapped his hands excitedly. "Okay, okay, lemme just figure out how---"
As Remus started to launch into a detailed explanation of the aro/ace umbrella, Virgil leaned over to Janus. "How we looking?"
Janus shrugged. "The only time she's lied so far was when she was telling the taxi driver that she didn't have enough money to give him a bigger tip. This isn't a trick."
"You're positive on this?"
"Believe me, I'm as surprised as you are, but if either parent was going to want to change for the twins, it'd be Fran."
Virgil looked back over at Remus and Francesca, the latter of which was listening intently to his little mini-lecture. "Can't say I'm not happy for them."
"I'm beyond happy for them," Janus murmured, smiling. "It's about time they had their mother's support."
"And if all else fails, they've got my mom and yours." Virgil took another bite of food. "Hey, Roman, what'd you think my favorite song was?"
Roman furrowed his brow in thought. "'Welcome To The Black Parade.' My Chemical Romance."
Virgil threw a fry at him.
"What? It's understandable!"
"Just because I like the emo style doesn't mean that that's my favorite song, Princey."
"Well, good, because my second choice was 'River,'" Roman told him. "And the dance committee actually agreed to that."
Virgil shook his head. "Still not my favorite."
"What is your favorite, then?" he asked.
"It's by the Foo Fighters," Virgil said vaguely. "You'll have to guess." He gave him a curious look. "Hey, speaking of which, what's your favorite song?"
"Oh, definitely 'I Choose You' by Sara Barielles. It's gorgeous."
"Gods, you two are coming up on your first anniversary and you still don't know each other's favorite song?" Janus marveled. "You're pathetic, the both of you."
"Uh, we were a little busy getting the hang of the whole 'relationship' thing," Virgil reminded him. "And learning each other's favorite foods. And video games. And books. And TV shows."
"Also dealing with you getting yourself kidnapped," Roman added, pointing his fork at him.
Janus gave him a fake smile. "Aw, thanks so much for reminding me of that experience."
"Sorry."
Remus looked back over at them. "Oh---what were we talking about?"
"Songs," Virgil answered.
Francesca set her mug of coffee down. "So... what are you planning on doing for the holidays?"
"Well, since Logan and Patton decided to stay at the Academy, we were going to invite them over for Christmas Eve and just have friend time until New Year's," Roman said. "We've got a few days before that, though."
"And before you ask, we'd rather not have to interact with your husband," Janus added.
"That's... that's not what I'm asking." She smoothed down her hair---unsuccessfully. "I know that Xavier still needs some time. And if you do decide to come this weekend, I'll make sure that you won't have to talk with him. You don't need to talk to anyone you don't like, just your cousins... well, bar Isabelle."
Janus shrugged. "I did always like Bianca and Vanessa."
"And I miss Nina," Roman murmured.
"You miss her boyfriend," Remus corrected.
Roman turned bright red. "Wh---I'm dating someone! Shut up! And Jose is straight!"
"Hey, straight or no, that guy's smoking hot."
"I think Nina and Jose are actually engaged now," Francesca said.
Virgil rested a hand on Roman's shoulder. "I think we should go. Just for one night."
"And if you say no, I'm disowning you as my brother," Remus added, giving Roman a cheerful smile. "No pressure."
Roman paused, then sighed. "All right. We can go."
"Yay!" Remus gave him a hug.