Tad sat quietly next to Karen Teller as he and his mother were engaged rather friendly conversation and catching up on things that they had been through. For Tad and Jen it was in relation to their move from Quantico, Virginia to Moon Lake and the events that came after their move to Moon Lake. Jen talked about the moving in process and arranging for therapy sessions with Doctor Frances Twist to help her through her grief over Jeff Decker's murder. Karen and Vivian Teller both voiced their support on that issue. They had never been to see Doctor Twist, but they did know of her reputation and hoped that Doctor Twist would thoroughly help Jen fully recover from what had happened to her.
"It's good that you've done well," Karen said to Jen, "It really is, and hopefully things get better for you."
"I'm sure they will," Jen gave a soft smile, "I feel safer here and Frances has been quite friendly and very helpful in letting me get my grief off my chest."
Karen and Vivian both nodded at that. They both wanted their daughter to be well and get over the trouble that Jeff's murder had caused. Beyond talking with Jen, they couldn't do much, but that didn't stop them from also hoping for the murder to be caught and arrested. Jen had told them on the phone that the FBI was hunting the murder, and both werecats hoped they were successful. On that there was nothing more that Karen and Vivian could do, but there was one thing they could offer their daughter.
"It's great to have you back, Jen," Vivian spoke up, "and now that you're moved in... you're more than welcome to have your old spot in our pride again. We've gained a few new members as some of your old high school and college friends married... one or two even found a normal that fell in love with them."
"I thank you for the offer, mom," Jen spoke, "but I'm afraid that offer's a bit late. I actually joined Samantha and Frances Twist's pride. I had my "welcome meeting" two days ago."
"What do you think?" Karen asked.
"It's a small but a very nice and happy pride," Jen answered, "and Frances and Samantha are old friends and the other members are quite nice as well."
Karen and Vivian both nodded to Jen. A part of them would have liked to have Jen in their pride, but so long as she had a pride to be with, they were pleased. Tad, meanwhile, sat quietly listening to the conversation. He had plenty of questions of his grandmothers that related to his curiosity that was fairly typical of a person meeting family for the first time. He was fairly certain that Karen was Jen's biological mother, but there were still more questions to learn about them. Vivian had some eccentricities regarding her exercise habits from what he could see, and while he had been initially surprised by it, he was also curious to know more. After all, all he knew about Karen and Vivian Teller was that they were Jen's moms, that they were werecats, and that they were his maternal grandparents.
"So... what do you think about Moon Lake, Tad?" Karen asked to him, "Do you like your new Pack?"
"Yeah, they're great," Tad answered, "and I do look forward to spending time with them... though for the moment I'm rather curious..."
"Oh... about what?" Vivian wondered.
"My grandmas," Tad said politely, "All I've known about you has been from what my mom has told me and from Christmas cards and so on."
Karen gave him a very friendly hug and held him to her with a very friendly smile.
"Well... Vivian and I can share quite a bit for you," Karen smiled, "I was born here in Moon Lake in 1927 and grew up here."
"I was born to a werecat family living in Canada in 1929," Vivian spoke, "we moved to Moon Lake the same year under the rumor that Moon Lake's economy was doing better than Canada was."
"I initially met Vivian in high school," Karen looked over to Vivian and held her wife's hand while Tad looked on, "I found her fun, outgoing, and it was my pleasure to be with her when her cat emerged when she turned fourteen..."
"From there we started going out on dates and doing what we could... we didn't have much in the way of money... but Karen was fun," Vivian leaned forward to look to Tad, "and since Moon Lake has always had legal gay marriage, we were able to enjoy being together to the fullest. We got married in 1953 and never looked back."
"I seem to recall you looked a lot at my back that night," Karen commented.
"Because you were in front of me with nothing on but your panties and your tail swaying side to side as you danced through the trees," Vivian answered, "You had me mesmerized by your beauty."
"We did settle into this house," Karen then spoke, deciding to skip over her wedding night, "and enjoyed being another werecat couple in Moon Lake... but despite the success we had, there soon came a sort of emptiness and jealousy toward some of our neighbors."
"The werefoxes, werewolves, and others that had male and female members all paraded around with their children," Vivian sighed, "and Karen and I couldn't have a child of our own. We talked about it, and eventually we agreed that one of us would accept a surrogate father when one of us came into heat... though as both of us are lesbians, we had a hard time getting to it... and eventually we drew straws. The loser had to be with the man and become pregnant."
"I drew the short straw," Karen continued, "and gave birth to a daughter we named Jennifer..."
"Mom," Tad commented.
"Yes," Karen nodded, "Your mother, who brought a great deal of joy into our lives. Giving birth hurt and when at times when her adventures would make a normal's hair turned gray."
"Hey... I was a good kid," Jen commented.
"Says the woman who thought it was a good idea to try and smoke out a bunch of yellow-jackets that had built a nest in the gutters and ultimately set the house on fire besides getting stung ten times," Vivian commented.
"I was five," Jen answered, "and I did get rid of the wasps... and while I may not have been able to change yet, I could heal from the stings."
"We were still worried when the house caught fire and you were screaming at being stung," Karen said with a smile, "Not to mention the nonsense that you got into in high school."
"Mom! Don't you dare!" Jen gasped.
"What? You didn't like Josie?" Vivian teased.
"Who was Josie?" Tad wondered.
"NO ONE!" Jen spoke firmly.
"Your mother's first girlfriend," Vivian said with a smirk, "a young werecat... beautiful and very flexible, from what we've been told..."
"MOM!" Jen protested, to no avail. Tad was curious and neither Karen nor Vivian saw any reason not to indulge that curiosity.
"They met in high school, shortly after your mother transformed for the first time," Karen commented, "and knowing my romance with Vivian, your mother thought they'd be together forever, just like her mother's did."
"But you married dad..." Tad said to Jen.
"I hadn't met Jeff, yet," Jen answered with a bit of a pout.
"Anyway," Karen continued, "your mom and Josie went on a few dates and then one day... I came across what looked like the same wedding invitations that Vivian and I had sent out and had been made by none other than your mother. It included her name, Josie's name, where the ceremony was to held, and who was invited..."
"And she sent them all to the entire school," Vivian began to snicker.
"Please... no!" Jen begged, her face red with embarrassment.
"What happened next?" Tad wondered.
"Well... the day of the supposed wedding came about, and Josie never came," Vivian snickered, "nearly all her friends showed up in the backyard except for Josie. It turned out that Josie's family moved and she got so startled by the wedding invitations that she forgot to tell your mother when her family moved. By the time that it had been sorted out, it turned out that Josie and your mother didn't have as much in common as they thought and they agreed to send "Dear Jane" letters to each other. It goes down as Moon Lake's only wedding officiated by a sandbox..."
"It wasn't a sandbox, it was supposed to Minister Sands," Jen protested, "but he never showed up either."
"As being a Catholic "priest," he had no children," Karen commented with a bit of a smirk, "and thus never got notice of the wedding invitation."
That actually got Tad to snicker a bit.
"God... I just wanted to die after that day," Jen said weakly.
"But hey... it was funny and things did get better," Vivian assured her, "You met Jeff in college, got married, and had this wonderful grandson before us. Whom we've heard so much about."
"You know about me?" Tad wondered.
Karen rubbed his head playfully.
"Of course we do, dear," Karen smiled, "Your mom and dad sent us letter every month that detailed your adventures growing up and your hobbies and so forth. Vivian and I never quite got into computers as much as you... but some of it is rather interesting. Maybe some day you can show us how to play some of those games you like."
"We'll also expect to see more of you," Vivian added, "Karen and I still work locally... but during the week, we're usually done by the time you get out of school... or close to it. You could come by and wait for us, if we're not home."
"You could even bring your lady friend," Vivian commented and then winked to Jen, "Our backyard hasn't had a wedding in a few years."
"Moooooooooooooom," Jen gave a frustrated groan.