Jen Decker woke with her alarm and gave a soft yawn as she stretched in her bed. As she turned off her alarm, she could hear the soft sound of crickets in the grass outside. It wasn't something that she couldn't hear elsewhere, but with her bedroom window open, the scent of the forest that surrounded Moon Lake also entered the room. With that she took a deep breath and gave a contented sigh. The sound of crickets might something that could be heard anywhere in America, there was something about the mixed scents of the forest around Moon Lake that couldn't be found anywhere else. Thanks to weres bringing the seeds of trees from all over America made the local forest carry the scents of spruce and pine, fir and sequoia, oak, birch, cottonwood, aspen, and even some fruit trees in places. It lead to a scent that was unique to Moon Lake, and as she breathed in that scent, Jen could feel that she was home.
"You'll like it here, Tad," Jen said to her bedroom window, mostly to voice her own contentment.
From there, she moved to a small walk in closet and prepared to get herself dressed. She pulled her nightgown up, a light green nightie made of satin that Jeff had gotten her for her birthday a few years into their marriage, though she had always figured that it was intended to be more of a gift for him... but she still loved him for it... and now with Jeff gone forever, Jen wore it as a reminder of the wonderful man she had married. She hung it on a pair of hooks on the back of the closet door. She then turned to dresser in the closet to pull out a pair of panties and a bra that would fit her. Once she had her underwear on, she made her way into the closet, and collected a pair of jeans and a shirt to wear for the day.
Once dressed she left her bedroom and walked past Tad's bedroom door. As she did so, she knocked on the door as part of the morning check.
"Come on, Tad! Morning and a new day!" Jen called through his son's door, "time to get up and get ready. You don't want to be late for school, do you?"
"I'm up! I'm up!" came her son's reply through the door.
"Okay then," Jen spoke again, "make sure your ready. They told me that your classes would start at eight and it might do good to be there a bit early to complete your registration."
With that, Jen then went on her way and went downstairs and on her way to the kitchen. She entered it and was pulling out some boxes of cereal or pop tarts for Tad to choose from for breakfast. She had been able to keep some food and bring it with her and Tad when they left Virginia for Moon Lake, but all of that food had been food that could easily be preserved. A lot of it was good and was enjoyable, but it would mean that she would need to do some shopping for foods that couldn't be easily preserved. Things like eggs, milk, fresh vegetables, potatoes, and even some fresh fruits and meats were things they would need, as they wouldn't necessarily keep on a cross the country move.
"Of course... food won't be the only thing," Jen thought to herself as she noticed her cellphone, sitting on top of a television that sat on their kitchen counter and angled to be watched from a small table nearby where she and Tad had eaten dinner the night before. A light was on on the phone and that was an indicator that she had gotten a text message.
She picked up the phone and picked it up and found that she had gotten a text message from Samantha. She quickly began to set things up look at the text message. She hadn't completely lost touch with Samantha or Frances during her time away from Moon Lake. She knew that the two of them had married, that Samantha was now the Town Chancellor, Frances had a private psychiatrist office/clinic that she ran, and that somewhere along the way the two of them had adopted a son. Her family had been part of a different werecat pride from Samantha and Frances, but she had still been friends with them and in many ways hoped to catch up more with them, see what life was like and what she had missed. They might not be able to replace Jeff, but they were old friends and she would need their comfort and friendship.
She checked the text and found that it read: "Srry we missed U yestrday. Been busy wth BIG drama in Moon Lake and Ben had a gf come for dinner. Be by l8r to catch up. - Sam." She texted back an "OK" and gave the best time for a visit, but was somewhat curious as to what could be "big drama" in Moon Lake. She'd never noticed anything like that before she and Jeff left, but figured that Samantha or Frances wouldn't keep unnecessary secrets. It'd give her the ability set up the appropriate ceremonies to either join a new werecat pride or rejoin her old pride, as well as talking with Samantha about the various pack Alphas that might be willing to accept Tad as a member.
"Who are you talking to, mom?" came Tad's voice.
"Just checking a message from an old friend," Jen answered as she looked up to see that Tad has arrived and was looking over the selection of cereal or pop tarts that she had presented for his breakfast.
"No eggs?" Tad gave a disappointed sigh.
"No eggs," Jen confirmed, "and since you have school... we don't have time to get breakfast at the diner."
Tad gave a sigh.
"Hopefully I'll be able to stock the fridge now that we're moved in," Jen answered, "and you have school, where you'll meet and make new friends."
"Hope so," Tad replied optimistically. "It'd be neat to actually meet a town completely populated by weres..."
"Moon Lake has its fair share of normals as well as weres," Jen told him, "It did when your father and I were here, and they do know about the existence of weres here."
"They do?" Tad asked.
"Yes, but unlike on the outside where all they have are those dumb werewolf movies or possibly church driven hysteria," Jen answered, "the normals know we're here but also that we aren't bloodthirsty monsters. In that they don't needlessly fear us and we all get along perfectly. Your normal neighbors will do what they can to protect you here..."
By this time, Tad had collected a bowl and had poured himself a bowl of cereal. His mother's optimism and knowledge on her old hometown made him feel a bit more confident, though his mind was more on the friend he'd met the previous morning while they were moving in.