“Anything new going on around here?” Mike asked, sitting on the couch Spencer was previously occupying. She took a seat on the floor. Evan wanted to tell her she was sitting in a pile of dog hair, but the sight of her covered in the hair was so funny he kept quiet.
“Most exciting thing was when Bailey swallowed Elle’s wedding ring. Soaked it hand sanitizer for almost a week.” Jonathan pointed to the tricolored dog closest to the couch.
“Huh, something like that happened to me and Colleen. Evan thought it would be a good idea to snap one of her bracelets, and stick the beads up his nose.” Mike chuckled.
“I was five.” Evan muttered.
“It was still hilarious when you started sneezing those little balls every which way.”
“Of course it was.” Evan rolled his eyes, and tried to focus on the TV.
“You laughed at me when you were telling Eric that stupid story about me getting sprayed by that skunk.” Spencer reminds her father.
“Eric?” Mike asked. Another bit of information his son never got around to telling him. After Spencer explains Eric is the boy she’s been dating, Mike gives his son an annoyed look.
“Really Evan? First you don’t tell me about Jeremy’s father blazing into town, and now I find out my granddaughter has a boyfriend?”
“Must have slipped my mind.” Evan slipped further and further into his seat.
“What’s he like?”
“Uh, he’s really nice. His family moved here in June. His parents are werefoxes, and his brother’s a werewolf.” said Spencer.
“So he’s normal then?” Mike knew the only way that combination of weres in one family was possible was if they each made the change separately.
“Is that a problem?” Evan challenged his father.
“Just verifying the facts. But do you think he’ll make the change? Or not?”
“He was planning on becoming a were before I met him. He’d been dating a weremer. The only problem is that Eric isn’t sure what kind of were he wants to be.” Spencer explained to her grandfather.
“A weremer huh?” Mike leaned back into the couch.
“Dad don’t you start…” Evan knew what was coming, but he couldn’t stop it. Mike was very opinionated, and liked everyone within a ten mile radius to know it.
“Oh come on Evan. You’re a Navy man. You know the stories as well as I do.”
“But they’re just that, stories! There’s no fact behind any of them.”
“Eh, what stories?” Jonathan asked.
“Just a bunch of stupid old sailor legends.” Evan spoke up first. But again, that did stop Mike from speaking.
“Evan you know that not all the stories are fiction. Some of them are as real as you or I.”
“Stories about mermaids?” Spencer asked, her own curiosity peaked. She knew very little about most of the aquatic were like weremer, dolphins, sharks, or the like. Mer tended to avoid Norfolk, on account of all the activity from the Coast Guard, Marines, and Navy. So other than Julie, Spencer hadn’t ever encountered a weremer.
“Oh sure. Mermaids luring men into the ocean, happened all the time in the past. Before they got a moral compass. See they used to be a strictly female race, like werecats. So in order to reproduce they’d have to steal men from ships. Turn them into mermen, and when they were finished, uh, using them cast them aside.” Mike said.
“Dad you know that’s not true. Alright maybe the part about them luring men into the ocean, but everything after that was consensual.” Evan said.
“Really? Were you there? I was.” Mike reminded his son.
“You were not! By the time you were old enough to even transform the laws had changed!”
“Whatever. Point is, it’s a good thing Eric kicked that mermaid to the curb. Otherwise he might have been sucked into a life of misery. Mers are slaves to their endocrine systems.” Mike said haughtily.
“And there’s some truth to that. Julie couldn’t keep her pants on while she was with Eric.” Spencer muttered. She hoped he’s said it quiet enough, but Evan heard her. He berated her, but Mike came to Spencer’s defense.
“Oh leave the kid alone. She’s right, there's no self control in that species.”
“Dad you’re just being prejudice.”
“Just a little, but so what? Everyone knows how you don’t like werebears.”
“But I’d never openly berate them.” Evan said.
“Sure you wouldn’t.” Mike rolled his eyes.