Title: Mother, Mother
By: juneprota
Pairing: Greg/Warrick
Summary: Greg's mother comes into town to spend time with her son and meet the new man in his life.

It matters not how much I call you "Mother, Mother."
You hear me, but you will not listen.
-- Bengali Religious Lyrics

"Yeah, mom." Warrick watched as Greg tried to get off the phone with his mother. "Yeah, we'll all go out to dinner...You'll love him...I better get going...Yeah, I'm excited you're coming...Love you too. Bye." Greg hung up the phone and sat down at the kitchen island across from Warrick. He watched Warrick eat the last bit of his omelet and push his plate away.

"You shouldn't lie to her like that."

Greg rolled his eyes. "Yeah, and what should I tell her? The truth? 'Yeah, mom. I'm dreading your little visit. I don't want you here. My boyfriend doesn't want to meet you. I don't want you to meet my boyfriend. You can do us all a favor by not coming.' Would that be better?"

"I'm sure you could use that expansive vocabulary of yours to come up with something a little less offensive."

Greg sat back in defeat. "Whatever I should have said wouldn't have worked anyway. The woman's a bulldog. I try not to talk about you when she calls, but then she says something or you do something nice, and then it's like word vomit. I can't control it. All of a sudden I'm rambling about how awesome my boyfriend is and how we're going to be together forever and ever and ever. Rick, you know I can't control my mouth. It just has a mind of its own, but it doesn't think. It just--"

"Greg." Warrick tried to interrupt Greg mid-ramble, but Greg didn't hear him. "Babe." He got out of his chair to walk around the island to Greg's side. "Greg!"

Greg's gaze snapped from the counter top to Warrick in surprise. "Do you see what I have to deal with everyday? I can't shut up."

Warrick smiled down at Greg. "Babe, I have to deal with it too." He put his hand on Greg's knee to spin the stool so he could stand between Greg's knees. "I wouldn't worry about it too much though. It's endearing. Keeps me coming back for more."

"Oh, that's what keeps you around? And here I thought it was my many talents in the bedroom. Good to know I can just throw a little word vomit on you and you're good to go."

"Word vomit on me anytime you want, baby." Warrick leaned down to give Greg a kiss that would hopefully lead to a little horizontal time before work, but Greg pulled away only a few seconds into it.

"You should know she's just coming to see if you're good enough for her baby boy."

"Don't worry. I'm good with parents." Warrick resumed the kiss, but Greg pulled away again.

"You should know I'm expecting you to be on your best behavior when she comes."

"Yeah, yeah, of course." Warrick was centimeters away from Greg's lips when they opened again.

"You should know talking about my mother really doesn't put me in the mood."

"Well, we'll just stop talking then."

"Oh, okay. That works."

XXXXXXXXXX

Three days into his mother's little visit and Greg was ready for her to go. The first day was actually fun. They got to catch up. The second day was okay. Greg had to go into work. It's the third day, and Greg's a bit of a mess. He hasn't had any alone time with Warrick in the last week, which was always enough to put him a little on edge. In addition to that, tonight was the big dinner. His mother would meet Warrick. And Greg already knew it wouldn't go well. Over the past few days his mother kept mentioning nice young men in San Gabriel that he should meet. And she refused to call Warrick by his name, instead referring to him as "that man." Greg corrected her every time, but she'd only gotten more stubborn. Greg loved his mother. He really did. She always had the best intention at heart, protecting her son. She just had this habit of taking it to the craziest extreme. Greg wasn't sure he'd even have a boyfriend after this dinner, because Warrick really didn't stand a chance.

Greg and his mother arrived at the restaurant first. They were seated at a table and sipped on waters until Warrick arrived a few minutes later. Greg couldn’t stop the smile from spreading across his face upon seeing Warrick. He hadn’t seen the other man out of work in the last five days. And that was about four days too long.

Warrick answered the smile with one of his own. When he arrived at the table he bent over to kiss Greg hello on the lips. They only parted when Warrick heard someone clearing her throat. Warrick stood upright and held out his hand. "Hello, Mrs. Sanders."

"Mr. Brown." That's how the evening started and it only got worse from there. Thirty minutes into the meal and his mother had criticized everything from Warrick's suit to his choice in colleges. She even touched on Warrick's "frivolous interest in music."

Greg had to defend Warrick on that one. "If his interest in music is frivolous, mine is juvenile."

His mother responded with a simple, "You said it, not me dear."

When she started to bring up the fact that Warrick was raised in a broken home, Greg stopped her with a firm warning. "If you insult his family, mom, you're insulting mine. Grams has been nothing but good to me. I love her as much as Papa."

Greg didn't think this dinner could get any worse than his mom trying to rip on Grams, the most important person in Warrick's life. But then his mother pulled out the big guns and brought up "that young girl he got killed." This is where Greg inherited his big mouth from. Sometimes his mother would just talk without thinking. That could be the only explanation for saying what she said. Because if she were thinking, she would have known that bringing up Holly was going too far.

"No, no, no." Greg pushed his chair away from the table. He was pissed. "Goddamnit, you are not bringing this up. Warrick, we're leaving."

Warrick's words were slow. "Greg, babe, calm down."

Greg felt Warrick rest his hand on his knee in what under normal circumstances would be a comforting, grounding touch, but now only served to piss him off more. How dare his mother insult this man, the most kind, loyal, respectful, understanding, deeply-feeling man he's ever known. "Fuck that. We're leaving. You want to sit here and listen to her talk about something she knows nothing about? She has no right, Rick. No right."

"Greg." Everyone at the table could hear the warning in Warrick's voice. "She's your mother." Warrick and his everlasting respect for family. "Calm down. I don't keep any secrets from you and I won't keep any from your mother. She can ask all she wants." Warrick turned back to Ms. Sanders. "Ma'am, I own up to all my mistakes. If you really want to know all my faults, I'll tell you. But I don't think a nice dinner out is the right time, do you?"

Mrs. Sanders nodded in her seat looking rightfully contrite. "Of course, you're right." Greg wouldn't even look at his mother or Warrick, his eyes on a table at the other side of the restaurant. Warrick could feel the tension radiating off his boyfriend's body. He took the role of mediator. "Um...I think dinner is over?" His voice went up at the end, turning the statement into a question.

He could hear Greg mutter under his breath. "Got that fucking right."

Mrs. Sanders tried reaching for Greg to apologize. "Greg, honey, I didn't mean upset you."

Greg wouldn't look at her. "I'm riding with Rick." He stood up and walked out of the restaurant.

Warrick watched Mrs. Sanders watch Greg's retreating back. He felt bad for her. He knew her heart was in the right place. "He'll come around ma'am. I think I may be in the doghouse too, but you know Greg. He'll forgive us."

"How do you know?"

Warrick didn't have to think about his answer. He said simply and easily, "He loves us." Warrick pulled a few bills from his wallet to cover the bill and pulled his set of keys out his pocket. He took the time to take one key off the ring and handed it to Ms. Sanders. "Here's the key to Greg's car. You can follow us back to his place."

XXXXXXXXXX

When Warrick got into his car, he was surprised to see Greg sitting in the passenger seat with moist eyes. "Hey, it wasn't so bad."

"God, Warrick, I understand if you don't want...if it was too much...what she said was--"

Warrick finally understood what Greg was trying so hard to say, and interrupted him. "Hey, it's going to take a lot more than a crazy mother to keep me away from you. You'd have to...I don't know, like get a sex change or something...and even then..." Warrick's joke had the desired effect when Greg huffed out a laugh.

"And people think I'm the weird one."

"You are." Warrick took Greg's hand in his and got serious for a moment. "When I told you I was in this for the long haul, Greg, I meant it. No matter what life throws at us, you never need to worry about where I stand. It's always by your side. Got me?"

Greg nodded. "Got you."

Warrick let go of Greg's hand to start the car. He checked his rearview mirror to make sure Mrs. Sanders was behind him and started driving.

"I didn't tell her about Holly while we were together, Rick. I told her back when it happened. It was just work news back then."

"I know. I meant what I told your mom though. I'm not trying to keep any secrets. You're free to tell her whatever you want. It wouldn't upset me."

Greg frowned at the mention of talking to his mother. Just because things were okay between him and Rick, didn't mean he had forgiven his mother for what she had done. "We should just go to your place. I don't want to see her."

Warrick shook his head. "Her flight leaves tomorrow morning. You have to be there to see her off."

"She's a grown up. She can get there on her own."

"She's your mother, Greg. You love her. Yeah, she got you a little upset tonight--"

"A little upset? Were we at the same dinner? I love you, Rick. And she knows it. How could she try to hurt you when I love you so much? And how can you be so calm about this? She trashed everything about you, everything I love about you."

"Hey, babe, if it didn't hurt me, then it shouldn't hurt you. Your mom was just looking out for you. I can appreciate that. You know, she kind of reminds me of Brass. When they get in interrogation mode they go for the kill."

"You used to hate Brass."

"And now he's like family. So what does that tell you?"

Greg could feel a small smile coming on. "That you're a masochist?"

XXXXXXXXXX

When Greg and Warrick arrived at the apartment, they left the door open for Mrs. Sanders. She stood nervously near the door, waiting for her son to say something. Greg took Warrick's hand in his. "Warrick and I are going to bed." It looked as if Mrs. Sanders was about to comment, but Greg continued before she could say anything. "I love you. Goodnight. We'll talk tomorrow." Greg pulled Warrick to his bedroom and closed the door behind them.

Warrick wrapped his arms around Greg from behind. "Man, that was just cruel. You know she's going to think we're having sex in here."

"Yeah, like I could even get hard with her in the next room. I just wanted a little time alone with you." Greg turned in Warrick's embrace. "We haven't been alone in a week." He unbuttoned Warrick's jacket and pushed it over his shoulders and down his arms, before working on his tie and shirt. Greg moved away to hang up the items of clothing on a few spare hangers in his closet and stripped out of his own clothes. He left his boxers and undershirt on and threw the rest on the floor. Warrick had already stripped out of his pants and gave them to Greg to hang up.

They crawled into bed. Warrick leaned over to give Greg a goodnight kiss but could see the younger man was still tense. He could even see a little crinkle in his brow. He smoothed it out with his thumb and ran his thumb down Greg's nose. "You're brooding."

Greg smiled half-heartedly up at Warrick. "Isn't that my line?"

"Only because I do all the thinking in this relationship."

Greg laughed out loud. "Is that right, Mr.-lower-IQ-than-me?"

"One lousy point. So what's bothering you Einstein?"

"I don't know." Greg tried getting his thoughts in order. "I can't help but feel she was intentionally trying to sabotoge our relationship." Greg turned on his side so he was facing Warrick. "I told her I loved you. That this was it for me. If it were legal, I probably would have proposed already or something. And she still did this. It's...I don't know if she just didn't believe me or respect it. Maybe she didn't even care. God, if you weren't you, she could have ruined my relationship. And I don't think she cared about that at all."

Warrick pulled his boyfriend closer and pressed a kiss to his forehead. "I can't attest to what she was thinking tonight or how she feels about us, but I know your mom cares about you Greg. All the stories you told me, all the things she's done for you. She loves you. I know she did some damage tonight. She hurt you and you two will have to talk it out. But don't think you ever have to choose. No matter what she says about me, I support your relationship with your mom. You deserve as many people loving you as possible. If me and your mom have any problems we'll duke it out ourselves."

"If it ever came down to it, I have a feeling you'd lose."

"Yeah, you're probably right."

"You know, you're a pretty good boyfriend. What'd I do to deserve you?"

"Oh, I'm with you for a lot of reasons."

"Name a few."

"Oh, someone's fishing."

"Are you biting?"

Warrick rolled over a bit until he was half on top of Greg, before kissing him. He pulled away only to rest his chin on Greg's shoulder and whisper in the younger man's ear. "I'm with you because you...give great blow jobs." Warrick got a soft punch in the side which made him chuckle into Greg's neck. Warrick pulled away a bit so he could be heard. "I'm with you because you make me take myself less seriously. You make me laugh...make me happy. And even when you're being a pain in the ass, I know I can depend on you." Warrick paused and exhaled. "I'm with you because you deserve someone as great as you but you're still with me." Warrick looked at Greg who was totally speechless. "How's that for a romantic declaration?"

Greg rolled his eyes and pushed Warrick off of him. "Way to ruin the moment Mr. Suave."

Warrick relaxed on what had become his side of the bed over the last few months. Greg turned onto his side to look at him. "Don't you want to know how I feel about you?"

Warrick reached out to pull Greg closer. "I already know. You're an open book."

"Yeah? How do I feel about you?"

Warrick's fingers were playing in Greg's hair. "How did that movie go? You think I'm gorgeous, you want to kiss me, you want to hug me, you want to love me, you want to--"

Greg pulled away in exclamation. "You are so gay!"

Warrick looked at him and lifted an eyebrow. "You needed a movie quote to tell you that?"

"Not any quote, a Miss Congeniality quote. That's like the gayest thing I've ever heard you say."

Warrick rolled his eyes. "You're the one that made me watch that stupid movie."

"I didn't tell you to memorize lines. You did that all on your own buddy. I can't wait to tell everyone that King of Cool, Warrick Brown, quoted Miss Congeniality."

"You know no one will believe you right?"

Greg's shoulders slumped a bit. "Oh, you're right." Greg laid back down with his head resting against Warrick's chest. "I'll just keep it to myself then." Greg let out a yawn.

"Tired?" Both of them usually tried to stay on the same sleep schedule as they did while they are working. Right now they'd only be an hour into their shift.

"Haven't been getting a lot of sleep. I think I'm used to you sleeping next to me...or under me...or on top of me...or in--"

"I think I get the point. Well I'm here now."

"Yeah. You should always be here."

"That's the plan." Warrick watched as Greg fell asleep. He followed only a few minutes later. He hadn't been getting much sleep either.

XXXXXXXXXX

Greg could hear an alarm go off on the edge of his consciousness. He snuggled closer to the body beneath him and mumbled into Warrick’s neck "five more minutes." The body beneath him shifted suddenly and Greg fell to the floor. "Ow."

Warrick looked up to see Ms Sanders standing above them, holding a travel alarm clock, with an uncharacteristic smile on her face. “Time to wake up, boys."

XXXXXXXXXX

One short, surprisingly amicable breakfast, and a long car ride later, Greg was saying goodbye to his mother in the airport. "About Warrick, honey--"

Greg interrupted her. "Mom, I need you to know that I'll always care about how you feel, but how you feel doesn't matter anymore. Me and Warrick are going to be me and Warrick for a long time. And I'd like to share that part of my life with you, but if I can't I won't. How you feel isn't going to change how I feel about him."

"I understand that now, Gregory. I was going to say that I think Warrick is a very nice young man. He obviously adores you and he's respectful and...I understand a little more about why you're with him."

"He's perfect."

"Greg, you should know I wasn't trying to sabotoge your relationship. I just...you deserve the best and I wasn't sure Warrick was. And at dinner, I just wasn't thinking. Sometimes my mouth just has a mind of its own. I wasn't intentionally trying to hurt you or Warrick."

Mrs. Sanders gave her son another hug. "I'll call you when I get in, Gregory." She started walking away, but turned back after a few steps. "When you and Warrick finally move in together, you should find a place with thicker walls for more privacy. Oh, and tell Warrick to expect a call too, we've got to duke it out." She laughed when she saw her son's eyes widen. "Kidding, Gregory. I will be calling him though." She continued at Greg's look of confusion. "I think he deserves a personal apology from me, don't you?"

"Um...sure?" Greg wasn't used to his mother apologizing to anyone.

"He deserves that. He's family."

The End