Chapter 47: Getting to Know the Ellis Family

After leaving Lilly and her family behind Joshua made his way home to check in on his own family. When he finally made it home the first person to greet him was his mother with a relieved expression, followed up by his sister who had an excited smile and dragged him inside so they could talk about all the things he had been up to. That night he spent a lot of time just talking with his family about different things. He discussed medicine and how different things in that field would change going forward with his mother sense she was going to be getting her license soon. He spent time talking about his dungeon run with his little sister who was jealous of all the cool things he had gotten up to so early in his adventuring. On the other hand he didn't really get to talk much with his father because like usual his father decided their fist would do most of the talking.

He didn't really get to talk about the upcoming meeting until the next morning over breakfast where everyone set down together in a normal family manner. "So the meeting is this afternoon, I'm guessing all of you are going to be there?" Joshua asked as he took a bite out of a bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich that his mother had put together.

"That's the plan." His father responded as he sipped at his coffee and looked over some news via a system web page. "I'll be going because of the gym joining the new support guild your friends have created while your mother is going to be head of the new health and medical field that the guild will be sponsoring going forward."

"It's good to plan ahead for these type of things. A lot of people have been studying all the changes to health and safety now that the world has become like this. The only problem is at this point there isn't any full blown health facility up and running. Everyone just relies on healers and potions which can only go so far." Joshua's mother said with a bit of a frown.

"True, things will only get worse when bosses get harder and use more long term damaging abilities. I've already run into a boss that used a curse like spell that weakened and poisoned the body. It wasn't something that most healers could deal with quickly." Joshua mumbled before looking over to his mother. "Soon I'm sure they will be certain diseases that healers can't do anything about at the time and not having medical facilities up and running by then could cost a lot of lives."

"Yep, that's why we're going to get the process started soon, and get ahead of the curve." His mother said with a small smile.

"Well then what about you Amy? Are you going as well?" Joshua asked.

"Of course my guild is a big part of it, besides I'd like to be able to help Naomi out with her new guild as much as possible." She responded excitedly after gulping down a large mouth full of food.

"Well I guess we'll all be there then. I plan on bringing my new partner and her family along as well if she can convince her parents to join Nathan's guild, but I'll have to go buy there after breakfast to see if they're willing to go along with it." Joshua said as he finished his meal.

"How come you didn't talk with them about it yesterday when you went to drop her off?" Joshua's dad looked at him a bit confused. "You've never been the type to put stuff off like that."

"Well I would have but her father was glaring at me like I was trying to kidnap Lilly from him or something." Joshua replied a bit awkwardly getting a small laugh from his mother and sister.

"Hmm, he is a good man then. I would do the same thing if some overgrown brat tried to take away Amy." Joshua dad replied almost making Joshua spit out his coffee.

"Really dad?"

"Of course. Any snot nose kids comes around here trying to mess with Amy and the first thing he'll get from me is a fist to the face. Besides if a man can't at least beat me in a spar then he's not worthy of my little Amy." His father stubbornly replied getting a chuckle from Amy and a sigh from his wife.

"What if it's a girl that comes after Amy, last I saw Naomi had been getting pretty close to her." Joshua teased as he looked over to his little sister.

"Hey, we're just friends besides I'm not really interested in a relationship right now. There's too much other stuff going on." Amy pouted.

"Don't matter if it's a boy or a girl to me I'm still going to beat them up. With all this super power crap going around gender equality has reached a whole new level in my eyes. No reason a woman can't be tough." Joshua's dad said getting snorts from the rest of his family.

"If that's the case then how do you feel about me going out with someone?" Joshua asked genuinely curious.

"Hmm, it'd be about damn time I guess. I'd cheer you on and wouldn't be surprised if you came back with more than one girl." Was his father's response which got a glare from his wife and a confused look from his two kids. "What? The ratio of men to women has changed ever since so many men died in the first phase. I think it's actually getting closer to two to one now even though it should start going back to normal over several years."

"Don't listen to him and just take your time finding the right one." Joshua's mother said after slapping his dad over the back of his head. "Otherwise you will end up with a fool like your dad." Amy and Joshua both laughed at her comments before the group turned to other topics over the end of the meal. Soon they were all getting ready for the day and Joshua headed out to go visit Lilly's family once again. This time he got a message from her not to soon after he had finished eating with his family telling him that her family was ready to discuss things with him about the meeting later on today.

It didn't take long for him to make his way over there since he already knew the location and could easily travel their through the system. Soon he was once again standing outside a familiar white door that had the Ellis family name by the side of it. He took a deep breath before knocking on the door. This time around he didn't have to wait for too long as footsteps approached from the other side and immediately opened the door without all the hassle he had experienced last night. On the other side stood Lilly's mother who was wearing an apron over some light blue pajamas that looked a bit childish in his opinion, but for some reason seemed to fit her.

"Oh, hello there Joshua we were expecting you to come by. Lilly told us all about things regarding you two last night. Come on in, the rest of the family is in the dining area eating breakfast." She said with a bright smile before stepping aside and allowing Joshua to walk inside. He had to bend his head a bit to get under the door, but the inside was more than spacious enough for him to rise back up to his full height.

"Thanks mam." Joshua replied with a calm smile as he tried to put up as non-threatening a presence as possible. Growing up, several people were afraid of him when they first met do to his size and his natural demeanor from being a fighter, but Lilly's mother didn't seemed worried by it at all and simply smiled back at him before pushing him along after locking the door.

"Oh none of that mam, stuff, I'm not that old…at least not anymore." She replied with a giggle. "You can call me Lauren and I'm incredibly thankful for you looking out for my daughter. I know she's been having a hard time of it as of late and having you along has brightened up her mood greatly. I haven't seen her this happy in a couple of years now."

"Really? She seemed fairly cheerful when we first met." Joshua asked a little surprised.

"Of course! I know my own daughter better than anyone else, even if my husband likes to think otherwise. She may act all cheery, but I can tell when she's truly happy and last night was the happiest I've seen her outside of when she's playing with her little brother. Now go on in and see the rest of the family I'm sure they're waiting for you."

Joshua nodded at her words and headed into the dining room. It wasn't too hard to figure his way around since the house was similar to the one his family previously had before they moved to a better place. When he arrived he was met with three different people with clearly different feelings on seeing him come into the room. Lilly had a bright smile as she waived happily for Joshua to come over. There was a little boy that looked around eight or nine years old that was sitting next to her that looked a bit nervous upon seeing him but still curious as well. The last person glared at him once again, but at least this time around he didn't seem to be on the verge of yelling at him like before. The man let out a sigh before waiving at Joshua to come over and take a seat.

"I'm glad you came Joshua, how was your family? Was everyone doing well?" Lilly asked concerned. She knew that Joshua's little sister was an explorer like them and was worried that something might have gone wrong, but was relieved when Joshua seemed to be fine.

"Everyone was just fine, they've all been staying around to go to the meeting later today. Thanks for the concern though." Joshua replied before he heard a grunt from the man sitting across from them. "Um, sorry about that sir. Why don't I introduce myself first. I'm Joshua James Jr." He said before sticking his hand out for a handshake. The man stared at it for a moment before his wife came in the room and nudged him in the back causing him to let out a held breathe and reach out to shake Joshua's offered hand.

"I'm Bryce Ellis, thank you for taking care of my daughter. I'm sorry about the rude welcoming from me, but when you become a father you'll understand how I'm feeling right now." The man said with a bit of a forced smile sense his wife's smile seemed like the type that promised pain if he didn't get his act together. How could a women so small and happy looking wearing childish pajamas give off such a heavy feeling of killing intent.

"It's alright, I've got a little sister of my own and my father and I are the same way. Just this morning he was talking about not letting her date anyone unless they could beat him in a spar." Joshua said getting an actual chuckle and smile out of the man.

"Well then as long as you don't get my daughter hurt than I guess we will be alright. Thanks for taking care of her, she's clearly happier exploring with you than she's ever been before on her own or with others. I wish I could do more to help out, but…." The man said with a frown.

"I understand your situation, Lilly told me all about it and that's why I wanted you and your wife to come along with us to this meeting. Although people won't need veterinarians right away, in the future with the upcoming pet system it's going to be something that will become incredibly important and profitable. I'm sure at the moment there aren't many people training in the field, but if we can get you two ahead of the curve then not only will it be great for the alliance it would also give you guys something to do to support your family." Joshua said getting a nod from the man.

"Lilly did explain it to us, and I agree…I would like to come along with you too this meeting. Lauren's going to be taking Trevor to school, but afterwards we are free for the rest of the day." Bryce said as his son, Trevor, huffed a little bit at the fact that he had to go to school. The kid looked like a much smaller version of Bryce only with slightly lighter brown hair.

"I want to go with you guys." The little kid pouted, but Lilly patted his head a bit before getting up and pulling him out of his seat.

"Not this time little guy, you've got school to go to. You need to go there and learn as much as you can so that when you grow up you can become whatever you want." Lilly replied with a cheery smile.

"Fine." Trevor pouted, but followed her a long to go get ready for school. Lauren went with them and helped out leaving Joshua alone with Bryce.

"You don't have to worry about Lilly and I being in a relationship right now. We just met and I hope to become good friends with her, but I don't think there is anything romantic there as of yet." Joshua explained.

"Fine, but keep taking care of her for me will you. We've been worried about her and she rarely talks about what happens when she's exploring." Bryce said finally smiling at Joshua. For the next few minutes Joshua talked to him about the things they had done while exploring and the two men finally started to lose the tension that had been between them since yesterday.