A Simple Gift

 A holiday dinner turns into an evening of revelations as Anika's parents finally learn the truth of her relationship with an alien Zhore.
“No peeking,” warned Sarzhin as he stood in front of the newly barricaded corner of the greenhouse. Behind him was a wall of dark gray plastic that stretched from floor to ceiling, effectively blocking out any chance I might have had of seeing what lay behind it. Not that I really needed to peek. I had a good idea, considering the time of year and the fact that my parents had actually agreed to come and have Christmas dinner with us.
Actually, by Lathvin IV’s calendar, we were somewhere in early
autumn, but since its ongoing terraforming process had pretty much destroyed any real seasons the planet might have had, we followed Gaia’s calendar. And on Gaia, it was only a few days before Christmas. “I won’t peek,” I said. “I’ve got enough to worry about as it is. Do you have any idea how hard it is to teach a mech to make something that tastes reasonably like turkey when all you’ve got is mushrooms to work with?”
“Don’t forget the soy protein.”