Barbara Dunkelman x Reader

In-Law Drama

-Your Pov-

You sit with your friends on the podcast, and give a small smile. Today, they're all talking about their stories with meeting their significant others parents, and introducing them to their own parents. The stories range from funny, to emotional, to heartwarming. It makes you happy to listen to them, and hear the stories of all your friends. However, it also makes you sad. Your fractured relationship with your parents was always something that set you apart from the rest of the Roosterteeth cast. On top of that, they all have touching stories to listen to. But, when your parents met Barbara, it had been nothing like that.

Barbara reaches over, and sees the expression in her face. Her eyes widen, and she gives a small 'oh.' She gives your hand a squeeze, and pulls you into a hug. " We can ask Burnie to change the subject if you want," she whispers into your ear. " We don't have to talk about your parents." Holding the hug for a little bit, she lets go of you.

Burnie turns to you when he sees this, and gives you a sympathetic look. " Yeah, we can skip over what it was like for you," he says, knowing the situation with your parents. " I mean, we can talk about anything else."

You smile, and reach for your wife's hand. She grabbed yours, and you looked at her lovingly. After a minute, you turned back to Burnie. " Thank you. But, I need to start being able to talk about my relationship with them. We can talk about this." He nods, and then turns to Gavin and Meg to ask them about their story.

When he finishes, then Burnie turns back to you. " Okay," he says. " Now, if you ever get uncomfortable, then just let me know, and we can stop. So, Barbara, what was it like when had (y/n) meet your parents?"

" Uh, it wasn't too bad," she says. " They had known (y/n) for years, and I think they knew even back when we were kids that I had a crush on him. I mean, they would tease me for years about having a crush on him. They used to refer to him as 'Barbara's boyfriend,' so I think when we were actually dating, money actually traded hands from bets. Both of my brothers jokingly threatened him, but the entire family was beyond thrilled to see (y/n) come home when I brought my boyfriend for dinner."

Burnie smiles. " Well, that's good." He turns to you. " Now, feel free to stop if you ever need to. But, what was it like for her to meet your parents?"

-Flashback your pov-

I had put off introducing my parents to Barbara for as long as I could. I knew exactly how that one would go, but I knew I would have to do it at some point. So, I eventually called them up, and then told them that they could meet my girlfriend. I didn't tell them it was Barbara, because I knew how that one would go, and I wanted to put that off as long as possible. She had already met Ally by this point, so she was just meeting my mom and dad when they were in town. She wasn't exactly thrilled about it either, but she was more optimistic than me. Barb figured they would see me happy, and then it would be okay. And, I'll always love her for wanting to believe the best in anybody. But, from living with them, I knew this. If my parents saw me happy, they did the best they could to make sure that didn't last.

We met for coffee or something, and Barbara kept squeezing my hand to assure me it was fine. I was starting to believe her, and then my parents walked in. They sat down, and turned to Barbara. I still remember exactly what my mom said, and then how angry it made me. " Oh, hello Barbara. It's good to see you again. But, we're hear to meet his girlfriend, so you need to leave."

To her credit, Barbara was very cool about it. She was about to say something about how she was my girlfriend, and play it for laughs. But, I was angry, so I turned to my mom. " Actually mom. I'm dating Barbara. She's my girlfriend."

I was praying for my mom to apologize for her mistake, and we could maybe just have a normal coffee. I was hoping that for once, my mom would say something admitting she was wrong. But then, she just took a sip from her coffee. " Oh," was all she said, and it wasn't like she was saying it because she was wrong. She sounded so disappointed.

And Barbara was squeezing my arm, and she wanted me to calm down, I can tell. She was giving me this look that was basically saying, " She's still your mother." But, I had said that to myself for the better part of 25 years, and I was done using that as an excuse for her.

" What do you mean 'oh,'" I asked, and then my mom's eyes widened, like she was so annoyed by the idea I would stand up for myself, for my girlfriend. " Barbara and I have been friends since we were kids, and she's who I want to spend the rest of my life with."

I said this, and people in the cafe were staring. But, then my mom actually stood up, and did her world famous 'mom knows best card.' " Oh honey. I know you and Barbara are friends, but what happened to Margaret? She was a wonderful lady with a degree, and a great job."

By this point, I was fuming. I got up, and slammed my hands on the table. " Barbara has a degree, and a great job also. She has a Bachelor in Commerce for marketing, and she works at Roosterteeth. Oh, and Margaret used to beat the shit out of me. You know who got me out of that? Barbara."

Most moms would apologize, or something and realize that I loved Barbara. They would sit down, and try to make it right. But, then my mom got even angrier with me. " It's great that you care for each other. But, don't you think it's time for you to find someone more mature? It's great if you're friends with her to talk about Naru-whatever, but you need to find someone serious."

By this point, I was done. " It's not ' Naru-whatever.' It's 'Naruto.' And maybe, just maybe if you gave it a chance, then you would realize I could never be more serious about a girl than I am for Barbara."

" Are you mad at me because I never listened to you whenever you talked about your anime," my mom asked angrily, like always missing the point, and trying to make it sound like it was my fault. That was the last straw for me, the last time I actively tried to fix my relationship with my mother.

" No, mom. That is only part of the reason I'm angry with you. I'm angry because you never cared about what I was interested in, not even enough to act like you did. It wouldn't have killed you to act like you cared. I'm angry because you managed to feel like crap my entire childhood. I'm angry because no matter what I did, it was always a little less impressive than what Ally did. I'm angry that you didn't want to talk to me about the things I liked, so I thought you wanted to talk about the things I didn't like. And, I'm angry that that wasn't you wanted either. I'm angry I didn't know how to talk to my own mother. I'm angry that I had to move heaven and earth to get your attention, or something I wanted. I'm angry because everytime you did a favor for me, like taking me to see a movie, you acted like it was literally the death of you. I'm angry that you never talked to me, unless you were angry at me for something. I'm angry that dad would sit in the corner, always making an excuse for what you did or said. I'm angry that whenever you apologized to me, it was always set up in a way to make me feel like crap for whatever way you hurt me that time. I'm angry that you always found some way to poke fun at my friends, and that I spent my entire childhood feeling bad for the things I liked because of whatever you or dad would say when it came up. So, you don't get to say anything about Barbara! Because she loved me and supported me when you didn't."

I finished that, and some people in the cafe were actually clapping and cheering. Barbara stood up, and held my hand, and gave a squeeze. There was a tension in the room which you could cut with a knife. But, eventually my mother left without saying anything. I scoffed, and then sat back down.

-Present Day your pov-

" Damn," says Burnie. " I'm so sorry. I didn't realize how bad it was between you and your parents." You shrug, and then take a sip of beer.

" Family is what you make of it. I have my sister, Ally. And my brothers and sisters of the Roosterteeth studio." This is met with cheers and clapping. " And, my mom is hardly the most important girl in my life. I have my daughter Sophie, and my wife Barbara."

Barbara kisses you on the cheek, which makes Burnie laugh and put up his hands. " Okay. That's all the p.d.a we can take. You guys already have one make-out session on a podcast. So, I speak for all of us, when I say....get a room," he says, a mix of joking and serious. At this, you and Barbara stand up, before leaving to do just that.