As he was kissing Meg, James had finally realized what she had said to the other girl, that he was her boyfriend. Her boyfriend. Her Boyfriend!! He felt like the whole world was 1000 miles below his feet. He was overcome with such happiness, that he couldn’t describe the feeling. But then reality interrupted.

James immediately thought of his mom, and what her reaction would be, and how disappointed in him she would be. He and Meg walked to their next class, but James suddenly became quiet, which Meg didn’t understand at first. It was only when she remembered what he had told her minutes earlier that she figured it out. She didn’t want to say anything that might upset him more, so she gently caressed his much smaller hand to try and reassure him.

It was English class, and the subject was the usage of language as it related to the works of Shakespeare. And the story being studied was Romeo and Juliet. 

Unknown to the other, both Meg and James immediately thought that the story described their budding relationship. Not quite at the love stage, but with definitely a lot of growing feelings, their obstacle was their families, just as The Bard wrote it. Meg’s family hated Betas, and James’ mom obviously didn’t trust Alphas.

But as the class discussion veered from the topic at hand to something completely different, James looked at Meg, and saw a beautiful, caring, gentle giantess with a heart and soul. She had been nothing but kind and respectful towards him, even though she didn’t have to. She was an Alpha, she could do what she wanted, take what she wanted, behave like she wanted, and there wasn’t a single thing he or any other Beta could do about it. 

But Meg was different. She genuinely cared about people, Alphas and Betas alike. James knew it immediately when she said hi that first day on the bus. Out of all the girls in the world, Meg was the one he felt most comfortable being around. And the fact that she was beautiful had nothing to do with his feelings towards her. With the way he treated her on the bus that morning, she didn’t have to save him from the Alpha girl. She could have the girl teach him a lesson in what it meant to show Alphas respect. But she did, and he was so grateful to her for that. 

James thought about his mom, and her feelings, and decided something. He was going to listen to his parents’ advice and follow his heart and dream big. He was going to take Meg out for that pizza. He would have to hope his mom understood that he really, really liked Meg. But to him, Meg would come first.

Meg looked at James and saw he was preoccupied. She thought that he was very handsome. And that he had such a wonderful personality. And for the first time since she had started growing, he was a Beta not intimidated by her size. He liked her for who she was. 

And although he was a jerk to her that morning, once he explained about the talk with his mom, she understood how conflicted and confused he was about things. The conversation he had with his mom was similar to the resistance she encountered from her parents any time she liked a boy. But if it was a Beta, he stood no chance. 

Whereas her parents went out of their way to treat Betas with contempt and derision and hostility, it seemed to her that James’ mom truly had his best interest at heart. She would ask him if she could meet his parents to let them know that she would never do anything to hurt James, ever. But she didn’t want to overstep any imaginary bounds. Besides, she thought, she was going to have issues with her own parents when they found out. She would have to figure out a way to deal with them.

Once English class was over, James and Meg simultaneously asked each other if they took notes on the class. Then they realized what had just happened, and they both laughed hysterically.  

The rest of the school day went by without incident. Being in every class with Meg made them more enjoyable for James. The only class he hated was Gym, because the Alphas and Betas were separated due to the massive size difference between the two. School officials were terrified that some poor Beta would end up in the hospital by accident if they allowed Alphas and Betas to co-mingle. It was the only time at school that Meg and James were apart, and it secretly killed each inside.

The bus ride home seemed shorter than usual. Meg and James had been discussing the pizza date. Logistics would need to be worked out. James told Meg that he would understand if her parents wanted to meet him first. Meg gave him a smile, but inside thought his idea of gentlemanly behavior was naive, especially since she knew her parents wouldn’t care about him or his family. But she held his hand with surprising gentleness that belied her size. And then the bus stopped at James’ house, and after giving each other a goodbye kiss, he got off.

As he was walking up to the door leading into the kitchen, he noticed that his dad wasn’t home yet. He was a little surprised. Ever since his father started his new job, he had been home by the time James got done school. Maybe there was extra work that needed to be done. It was the only explanation that popped into James’ head.

Entering the house, he saw his mom sitting at the kitchen table, drinking a cup of tea and reading a magazine. She looked up at her son and smiled. James bent down to give her a kiss, and then with all the courage he could muster, sat down at the table and told his mom that he wanted to talk to her. 

His mom was surprised. James usually asked if he could talk to her, now he was saying he wanted to talk to her. But his mom remained silent.

James told his mom that he really liked the girl named Meg. She was a beautiful, gentle, caring soul that put the best interests of people before her own. And he really wanted to date her. James also recounted the incident at school where he was in a dangerous situation with an Alpha girl, only for Meg to come to his aid. And that showed him that she would never do anything to hurt him. And that he was going to take her out on a pizza date, whether she approved or not.

As James was speaking, he didn’t realize that he had tears running down his face. Debbie saw, but said nothing. She just let her son say his peace, and when he was done, she stood up and went to him. 

James didn’t know if she was going to yell or just look at him and walk away. But all his mom did was look at her son, wipe the tears that James suddenly felt, and gave him a hug and told him how much she loved him. And that if he trusted Meg enough, and believed in her character enough to make this decision, then she would trust and believe in Meg too. She gave him her blessing to take Meg out on that pizza date.

James had even more tears flowing down his face when his father walked in, and not knowing what had just happened, ran to his wife and son, and asked if everything was alright.

James and his mom both wiped the tears from their eyes and told Tom everything was wonderful. Tom could see by the look on their faces that they were telling him the truth. And it made him feel great, because he told them that he had news for them.

But first, he asked James to go to his room for five minutes. James objected, but his dad asked him again, saying he needed to talk to his mom in private. James looked disappointed, but did as his father asked. Once he was in his room, Tom took Debbie by the hand and led her to the sofa, where they both sat down.

Debbie asked Tom why he wanted James to leave the room. Tom told her that he didn’t want his experiences with the Alphas in the office to discourage him from being friends with them. He didn’t want James to know what had happened to him.

Tom recounted the incident with the secretary from that morning. He could see Debbie getting really upset. But he took her arm and started caressing it. He told her what Susan had done, how she transferred him to a new department, and about Becky and her job, and how he was being counted on to help her succeed. And how he really looked forward to this new challenge.

Debbie could see the excitement in her husband’s eyes, and how they kept getting wider as he described his new job. He reminded her of James at Christmas, when he would get a present that he absolutely loved. And then she started crying again. She was so happy for her husband. And she gave him a passionate kiss.

Then they called James to the living room and told him about his father’s new job and responsibilities. James was so excited and happy for his father. Then he told his dad about the talk he had with his mom, and Tom was just as happy for James as James was for his father.