Barbara Dunkelman x Reader

In-Laws

Barbara Pov

" Okay, so here's a question that came to me," says Gavin. " And, I promise it isn't a stupid question to put on Google or Gavin. This is an actual question for Barbara." I raise my eyebrows to signal him to continue. He takes a sip from his beers before resuming.

" You had known (y/n) for years, and were childhood friends right?" I nod and confirm for him that it's true. " So, when you started dating, was it weird to meet his family? I mean it can't have been perfectly normal."

" Actually yeah," I tell him. " When I first got with him, I was kinda nervous about meeting his family again, cause like, how do you go from the girl he had sleepovers with to the girl he's in love with?"

" Wait," says Burnie. " You guys had sleepovers? I was never allowed to have multi-gendered sleepovers."

This makes the podcast laugh. " Well, kinda. I'd spend the day at his house, or he'd be at mine. And we'd spend the night. We always had to stay in different rooms though. It worked out, because he had a sister and I had brothers."

" That's lucky," says Michael. " Cause like, can you imagine trying to spend the night at his house, and he has brothers? That would a been kinda awkward." More laughter, and I smile at the memories.

" I could've just stayed with him. We were just friends back then, and I mean come on. We were kids," I point out. " I didn't want his dick in me, I wanted to sit on the floor playing board games, and then throw pieces at him when I lost."

Wait a minute, did you actually throw the pieces at him," asks Burnie when he recovers from a fit of laughter. I nod. " How did he still wanna play board games with you after that? I woulda just made you promise not to throw pieces at me."

I shrug. " Well I mean, it never hurt him. They kinda just bounced off. He threw pieces at me also. And then of course, we just changed the rules whenever it suited our needs."

Gus asks me to name a rule we changed, and I shrug again. " I remember losing a game of Monopoly, or like I was about to lose, and then I just robbed the bank. (Y/n) and I spent an hour arguing about whether I could do that or not."

By this point, we're laughing and crying. " Okay, but my question still stands," Gavin manages to say. " Was it weird for you to meet his family when you were a couple? And was it weird for them?"

I shake my head. " Well okay, his parents yeah that was weird," I admit. " I freely admit that my in-laws aren't exactly my favorite people in the world. They're all good with Sophie, but they give (y/n) a hard time whenever they can. But I will say, my sister in-law, Ally. I love her."

-Flashback ( writing style change)

So, a couple months into dating (y/n), he was like " My sister is in town. She doesn't know we're dating. Do you want to surprise her? I can text her and say that me and my girlfriend wanna see her."

I was nervous, but I knew I had to start meeting his family eventually, and I remembered Ally being just awesome. So, we go to a Starbucks or something. And we're waiting, and then Ally comes in. She sees me, and her eyes get really big. I stand up, and go over to her. But she just goes " Yes!" And pulls me into a really big hug.

When she let go, she looked at me, and was like, " I watch RWBY, and Yangs my favorite. But also, I'm so glad you're with (y/n.) I've wanted you to get with him since you were kids."

And then she turned to (y/n) and was all like, " Bout time you grew a pair and asked her out. I mean, otherwise all that romance advice I gave you woulda been for nothing." She turned back to me and hugged me again.

At that point, she dropped her voice to a whisper and told me, " Thank you. He told me what you did for him with Margaret."

The three of us ended up having coffee, and it was good times all around. And Ally is just the best sister to (y/n) and the best aunt to Sophie.

-Present Day-

" So actually," I continue. " Whenever I hear they're coming to visit, I always look forward to being able to hang out with Ally. Of course, I brace myself for the rest of them."

" What's that mean," asks Burnie. I shrug again and start explaining.

-Flashback ( writing change)-

So when I met his parents when we were a couple, they were kinda like " Oh, that's cool." They didn't really make a big deal of it, which was weird to me. I kinda thought they'd be really happy their son was with someone who'd love and cherish him, especially after Margaret.

It turns out, they don't like me. I mean, they don't hate me. If (y/n) and I were still just friends, they wouldn't care. They just think I'm irresponsible, and that Rooster teeth and voice acting isn't a real job. I think they hoped (y/n) would end up with someone like Margaret.

Not like someone who would beat him. But, she really changed him. Belittled him, insulted him. Made him afraid to talk about his passions. He's told the story I think of how his parents tried their best to get him to shut up whenever he talked about that kinda stuff. So I think they hoped someone like Margaret would filter that out.

That always bothered me by the way. I don't know if you guys notice, but when (y/n) talks about that, he always says stuff like " stop me if this is boring," or maybe like, he'll stop talking and be like " sorry, I just got excited." That's because of his parents telling him they didn't care.

Seriously though, like no parent should do that. It doesn't take much effort to just listen when your child has found something they love and want to talk about it. Or,at the very least don't tell him you don't care to his face, especially if you then listen intently to his siblings interests.

His mom is worse about it than his dad. She actively chides him for that, and his dad just sits there kinda. I feel like he could say something once and awhile to help (y/n) out though, but oh well. And I know they don't watch the podcast, so I don't mind saying any of this.

Anyways, when I learned they didn't like me, I was sad. And also, I was worried that that's the thing that would matter to (y/n.) But, to this day I still remember what he to,d me to ease my worries.

" Barbara Dunkelman," he said. " I love you. To the moon and back. To Grandpas Star plus one. And the hell if I'd walk away from that just because my parents don't like you. I don't care who doesn't like you. I love you."

The whole Grandpas Star thing is from when his grandfather died, all his coworkers pitched into buy him a star. And like, whenever he tells me that, I just melt inside and just start smiling.

-Present Day-

" You know," says Gavin. " I'm so glad that Meg hasn't seen you with (y/n), because I feel like if she did, then that would just be her new baseline for relationships, and there's just no way I could match that."

( short chapter, wanted to show what Barbara thinks of her in-laws, as they make a personal appearance soon. Let me know what you think of Ally, the readers sister and the rest of the family. Also, I get back from England tomorrow, so I can upload more consistently. Thanks for your patience.)