"Oh God, she's waiting at the door... Hi, mom," Miranda groaned, adding, "Well, welcome to Glimmerbrook Watch, home of the weird and embarrassing."
"It's amazing," Mariah said, looking over the old house.
Having grown up with Tartosan villas, the ramshackle huts of the poor parts of Sulani notwithstanding, Mariah had lived in her fair share of grand old homes. Glimmerbrook Watch, with its red brick and antique glass, was different somehow. It was certainly the kind of home she expected for a coven of witches. At the same time, the sight of Mrs G waiting for them on the doorstep made it welcoming and safe. 
"You made it!" Cassie said as they climbed the steps, "I was starting to worry."
She pulled an embarrassed Miranda into a quick motherly embrace and then, to her shock, swept Mariah into an equally warm hug.
"You're half frozen," she said, giving Mariah a maternal look. "Come inside and get warm. We've got a fire on. Londyn would never forgive me if let your freeze on the doorstep."
"Any problems getting here?" Cassie asked as they settled in by the fire.
"No, the driver knew the way," Miranda smiled. "I had him drop us at Elixirs and we walked the rest of the way. I wanted to give Mariah the whole Glimmerbrook experience."
"No wonder she's frozen," Cassie scolded gently.
"I'm fine," Mariah said, enjoying the cheery warmth of the fire. "It was a nice walk... and your home is lovely."
"It's been in Gwen's family just this side of forever," Cassie said. "I'm still getting used to it myself. Well, now that you've warmed yourself a bit, let's get some food into you both."
-----------------------
Warm and now fed, the dinner dishes mostly cleared, Mariah felt relaxed and comfortable as she listened to Miranda sharing stories of college classes and the dorm-mates (though Mariah noticed she left out most of what happened between Genie and Orange) with her mothers.
"... so, yeah, it's going pretty well," Miranda said at the conclusion of her tale. "At least, we made it through fall term without any alien invasions."
"Oh, they haven't bothered anyone in years," Gwen said.
"Who?" Mariah blinked.
"The aliens," Gwen replied, as if it were the most normal and obvious thing to say.
"Don't" Cassie said warningly to Mariah. "Just don't... no matter what she says, it won't help."
"No, it isn't like that now," Miranda said suddenly, addressing an empty chair. "There are lots of us and anyway, we look out of each other."
"My grandmother," Gwen said, answering Mariah's confused look. "In her day, women students at Britechester was still a new thing. She worries."
"Your grandmother?" Mariah said, looking sideways at the empty chair and releasing that either it wasn't empty or Miranda was on the way to talking to potted plants, like Gwen did. She couldn't decide which idea disturbed her more.
"Yes," Gwen said with a smile. "She was involved in the Suffragette movement as well... very passionate about her causes. It's a real wonder, how much things have changed for women in just the past century. We still have a ways to go but it's nice to see how things get better."
"Well yeah, but we really do have a lot to improve," Mariah said, latching on to a topic she could relate to. "I mean, we've still got a lot to do for more LGBTQ+ representation in the University leadership..."
-----------------------
"Still I can't believe you said that," Miranda laughed.
The dinner table conversion had continued well into the night and finally, recognizing Mariah's visible fatigue, Cassie has sent them all off to their beds.
"Well, I just think your great-grandmother has some outdated ideas about gay rights," Mariah insisted.
"Sweetie, my great-grandmother's been dead for like thirty years," Miranda pointed out, "and she was ancient then. Also, you can't see or hear her."
"Well, that's... yeah," Mariah sighed. "When did my life get this weird?"
"Welcome to Glimmerbrook," Miranda smiled.
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