#audburn

It was extremely unpleasant. Ethan definitely went into their first meeting extremely nervous but was confident that he’d win her parents over. Because nothing is/was more important to Ethan than Gen. 

The first time Ethan met her parents was extremely brief. It was in the middle of the hospital shut down and they had come down for the day and Ethan only met them quickly. It was very, “Ethan, these are my parents. Parents, this is my kind of boyfriend, Ethan.” 

The second time he met G’s parents was when the hospital was closed for Bloom’s renovations. Again, they came down for the day to see Gen and Ethan met them later that night for dinner. Her dad was very cold from the start, her mom was incredibly pleasant and a fan of Ethan. 

Gen doesn’t know this, but while her and her mother were away from the table, Robert told Ethan that he didn’t think he was good enough for Gen and that if he was smart he’d let her go and let her find someone better suited for her. (He almost took his advice, but didn’t.) 

He met her brother and sister in law a few weeks after that (and her grandparents via face time a little after) and the sting of her fathers' disapproval started to hurt less because everyone else adored he and Gen together and they got along well. (His friendship with Henry quickly started after their frist meeting) 

By the time Ethan and Gen are super super serious, and she’s living with him and he’s thinking about proposing, he no longer put much power or thought to Robert’s “hatred” for him. Mostly because G, Henry and Natalie all insisted that it had nothing to do with Ethan and everything to do with Robert’s insecurity. 

So when he makes the decision to propose and ask for her parents blessing, Ethan is fully ready for Marie to give it but for Robert to not. And regardless of what either said, Ethan was/is going to propose. 

He talks to them while he and Gen are in Portland for the weekend, first with the both of them and then just he and robert talk. And that’s when Robert apologizes for being so cold and unsupportive. He basically tells Ethan that he realized how wrong he was and that he can’t think of anyone better to marry Genevieve. Ethan thanks him for apologizing, but also understands why he was so hesitant and protective of Gen. 

some auburns i never posted here i think