Martha finished her errands in a rather timely manner, as she didn't have that many errands to run. After her stop at the thrift store, which she classified as a complete success for getting what would be needed to complete Eric's costume, she'd stopped at the market to pick up a few things to replace what she, Nate, and William had been eating in recent days to fuel their new metabolisms. That had been handled well with some eggs, chicken, macaroni, and she caught some cereal on sale. She got that back to the house in plenty of time to put the groceries away and setting what she'd gotten for Eric's costume aside. By the time she got that done, she checked a wall clock to see that it was just after three thirty and the High School was close to its day ending and William had likely had his last class of the day.
"Might as well go..." Martha mused to herself. She knew that William had said "sixish" when she'd called him at lunch, but his class schedule didn't go that late in the day. In fact his lass class of the day ended roughly around the same time that the public schools let out. That was fairly typical as most college courses, it was rare that they had courses that went at night, and they usually weren't English courses.
With that, she went out again, knowing that Eric and Nate had keys, she locked the front door, and left for the college. A part of her was even curious to see the college directly. She'd seen pictures of the campus along with the campus's map online, but had never actually been there. Seeing the college would be interesting. She rode along and and eventually came to the college and found herself greatly impressed. There was a main hall that was largely brick and stone and clearly built during the late 1800s, and was probably one of the first buildings built for the college, and as she drove past it, she decided to simply tour the campus to see what was there. There were three dormitory buildings that looked like rather standard brick seven story buildings, but many of the buildings for various departments looked rather interesting and the college's art building actually looked rather modern with its angles and larger glass or glass-like surfaces.
As she toured the campus, she also came across something that raised her interest, so much so that she pulled into its parking lot to get a better look. The building was largely brick and looked like it had been built in the 1980s, but its architecture was not what drew her attention. It was a brass plaque next to the front doors. It read as sort of science/technology museum, which she figured might be something Eric would be interested in.
"That actually might be nice for a family outing... something to go to sometime," Martha mused to herself, "Nate can get an early look at the college... if Moon Lake is where he wants to go for college... and Eric can get a look a the museum."
Martha further checked the museum's hours on the sign and made a mental note for any sort of future plans that related to seeing the museum. They had no weekend hours, but they were open during the summer and were open until six PM. She then drove back around to park in the parking lot near the English department building and made her way inside. There were actually a few students on their way out as she entered. Martha carefully approached one calmly.
"Excuse me," Martha said to the student, a young woman, "could you tell me where Mr. Anderson's room is?"
The student nodded, "Up on the second floor... Room number two-three-eight. Stairs are down that hall and to the left."
"Thank you," Martha thanked the student and continued on her way.
She walked quietly and made her way up the stairs, and actually took a look at some of the posters hung up in the hallways. They all looked like many of the same posters she remembered seeing when she went through college. Things for campus events, plays, study group meetings, deals for pizza, and so on. It was all fairly common stuff that would be expected at a college and none of them had anything to do with Moon Lake's were population. Of course, William had also made mention after his transformation that while many of his students weres, there were also substantially large numbers of normals that were there as well. And her entrance had even confirmed that, as the student she'd talked with was a normal.
She quietly walked along until she got to her husband's classroom. The door was presently open and she could hear some shuffling of papers coming from inside it. She entered the doorway to find William arranging some things on a desk-counter area at the front of the classroom with the student seats arranged in raised tiers and with desks in front of the seats as well. She leaned calmly against the open doorway and waited for a few moments.
"Knock, knock, handsome," Martha purred to him, "are you free?"
William stopped and glanced toward the doorway, only to find his wife there with a smile on her face.
"You're early," William stated.
"I got my errands done and had nothing else to do," Martha replied as she walked in and approached him, "So... with it being after your last classes of the day... I figured I'd drop by. You are pleased to see me, aren't you?"
William smiled and turned to her. They came together and shared a brief hug. He let his hands rest on the back of her waist as he held her to him and drew her into a kiss that was supposed to be brief, but grew longer and more passionate the longer it lasted. It was only when he felt a certain stirring in his pants that he ended the kiss.
"I'm always pleased to see the sexiest kitty in Moon Lake," William smiled to her, "and I'm not too far away from being done."
"So... how was your day?" Martha asked, her heart beating firmly after the kiss. It was passionate and she loved it. She loved that William's attraction to her had grown and that her own status as a werecat meant that she could keep up with his passion, but she knew that there were likely security cameras, and while having sex was perfectly legal with her husband... it probably wouldn't be in good taste to do so in his classroom and with the door open.
"Class wise... the day was pretty good," William answered, "we'll have to catch up for what we missed on Monday... but we're making good progress in terms of catching up. Everything should be back on track pretty soon."
Martha nodded. Teachers, regardless of the level they taught at, had plans for year to meet either their standards or the complete issue that their classes taught. Normally, classes fell behind due to weather issues. She couldn't count the number of snow days that had interrupted her school years while teaching in Minnesota. She wondered if Moon Lake would have similar winters, given how warm things had been so far. Though, William's case was a bit different than what normally interrupted class schedules since he'd had to go for Yvette Smith's hearing on Monday.
"That sounds good," Martha replied as William finished shuffling his papers, mostly a collection of talking points for his Thursday classes that he wanted ready for the next day.
"Yeah," William spoke slowly, "although there was something that didn't have as much good fortune with it..."
This made Martha pause. She'd entered in a fairly playful mood, and a part of her was quite open to the idea of putting him on his table/counter area and making love to him after their kiss, but there was something in that that had a tone of worry and nervousness about it. At one time, she might have had some worry over his fidelity, but since becoming a werefox, when any such moment or issue that had either been potential stress factors or reminders of his infidelity... he had displayed how firm his bond was. He continually proved just how much he truly loved her, and the passion he'd put into that kiss was enough to further prove that. However, there was something in what William said that indicated a potential problem.
"What is it?" Martha asked, wondering what this issue could be.
"Well... do you remember the call Samantha got during our party for Nate?" William asked.
Martha nodded. The call that had reported that Yvette had clawed someone else, this time a fellow college student. Martha had even met the second victim at Awareness. She seemed a bit shy and timid away from her mate, but had been fairly friendly.
"Well... she's getting married soon... and she has invited us," William began.
"That was nice... but how is that trouble?" Martha wondered.
"The wedding isn't," William answered, "the problem is her parents. From what she told me... they're very strict and have had their own ideas on what she should be. Perhaps not bad parents in the sense that they didn't love her or wanted her in a bad place... but controlling and unable to see the possibility that she could make good choices on her own."
Martha's eyes widened as William continued.
"They've wanted her to marry some guy named Dieter Wilhelm and have been VERY insistent on it," William continued, "and from what she told me... they didn't respond well to the announcement that she was engaged."
Martha stood there in surprise. Her parents might have had issues with homosexuality, which had helped fuel her repressing her bisexual side, but they had still been happy for her when she told them that William had proposed. And while they hadn't been very supportive of him after the incident with the University of Minnesota coed had gone public, they did accept Martha's insistence that they could work things out. Though her father had also made a clear threat at that point that if Martha and William divorced for any reason, William would be shot dead if he even so much as drove by their home, but that was a protective parent issue. They had never demanded who she should marry.
"And from the way she talked... I'm certain that they would give her grief even if Yvette Smith hadn't clawed her," William said slowly, "yet... at the same time... she wanted a family. She wants her parents to love and accept her choices in life. She's afraid she'll be rejected simply for what's happened to her and that she'd be alone with only her mate..."
"Not that that is entirely a bad thing," Martha commented. She wanted to sound rational, but to a small degree, she couldn't. As William explained, her playful mood or any desire for sex was gone. All she wanted to do was hold her sons to her and tell them that they were loved and that she would never force them into anything they wouldn't want.
"True... but she does deserve a family," William answered, "and as she talked... my heart sort of bled for her..."
Martha looked to him as he reached out and took her hands in his.
"So... I made her an offer," William said slowly, "that if her parents reject her... that WE would take her on as a surrogate daughter. Give her advice, comfort, friendship, protection, and even parental love. The things we've given Nate and Eric over the years."
"We can't adopt a college student... she'd already be a legal adult," Martha pointed out, "she could go on her own..."
"I know... and it wouldn't be adoption in the sense that she'd move in with us and so on... but we could still be there for her," William squeezed her hands, "let her know that she is loved and will have someone she can see as family for her... parents that will love and support her... that won't make her do things she doesn't want to do because they think she can't make choices for herself."
Martha sensed this was William's concerns and even protective nature as a parent. It was something that he'd always been firm with and was now driving him to protect someone who wasn't getting that protection.
"If they reject her..." Martha said slowly and hugged her husband, "OUR door will always be open."