Melissa Stovall awoke to the sound of footsteps coming up the staircase of her home. She threw on a bathrobe and walked into the hallway just in time to see her daughter Julie enter her bedroom.
Curious, and wanting to make sure everything was all right, her mother followed.
"Morning sweetie," said Melissa, while standing in the open doorway. "How's everything going?"
"Swimmingly," said Julie with a smile, as she made sure her mother saw her take her daily were-mermaid birth control pill.
"Where's Eric?" wondered her mother.
"In the downstairs bathroom changing clothes and freshening up for the day," explained her daughter, before going into her own private bathroom.
"You two have any plans for the day?" asked Melissa.
"After breakfast, we're just going to hang out around here for the day. But tonight, Eric wants to take me out to dinner to celebrate... everything, if that's okay with you?" said Julie.
"Sure. If you'd like, I can drive you wherever it is you're going and have a meal by myself," suggested her mother.
"We're just going to the diner. It's like, our place," said Julie with a smile, as she came back out in just fresh underwear to grab some clothes. Then she stopped, looked at her mother, and said, "But after dinner, we were planning to come back here and..."
There was a pause before Melissa asked, "The pool?"
"And the cabana. If that's okay with you," said Julie, hoping it was.
"I see," replied Melissa, leaning against the door frame and staring at her daughter. "When I got up earlier this morning, I saw the two of you sleeping together on the couch."
"Oh?"
"The two of you looked so happy together, laying there asleep in each others' arms."
"We are," confirmed Julie with a broad smile. "Someday..."
"I know honey, and I'm happy for you. Really," said her mother, smiling in return. "Just don't forget these when you pack for your big night tonight," she added, pointing to the prescription bottle sitting on top of her daughter's dresser.
"I won't, and thank you," replied Julie, rushing over to give Melissa a hug upon realizing she said yes to their plans for the evening.
MEANWHILE...
"I'll stay here until my relief comes, then meet you at the corporate office after you drop off the Jenkins and Harper," Daisuke Tachibana told his grandmother in Japanese, just as their charges started filing back into the dining room.
"Agreed," said Akane Tachibana, leader of the Skulk, switching back to English because they were no longer alone in the room.
"Everything all right?" asked Mister Jenkins, with his wife close behind.
"Yes," replied Akane. "We were going over plans to catch the suspected henchman."
"Just what do you intend to do with him?" wondered Mrs. Jenkins, as her son Harry and his fiance Jenny Harper entered the dining room.
"We will try to learn his instructions and plan accordingly from there," replied Daisuke. "But if he and Dieter Wilhelm are maintaining any kind of regular contact schedule, it will be important to make sure nothing trips our hand and reveals Skulk involvement in matters, let alone our foreknowledge of his interests in Miss Harper. Otherwise, that might cause Wilhelm to alter his plans, and possibly be an even bigger threat to Moon Lake than he already is."
Hearing that, Jenny turned and put her head on Harry's shoulder, doing her best to keep from crying. "I'm so sorry about all of this."
"None of this is your fault Miss Harper," said Akane, trying to reassure her while moving closer to Jenny and Harry. "But the threat is out there and must be faced."
"I know. Just like I have to face my fears and my family next weekend," agreed Jenny, while turning to look at the shorter woman. "Doctor Twist and everyone else have been doing their best to help me, but in the end..."
"You are far stronger than you suspect yourself to be Miss Harper," said Akane, not mentioning her suspicion of Jenny also being a rare mystic healer werevixen, "and in the end you will be triumphant."
ELSEWHERE...
As usual, Peter Talbot picked his girlfriend Karen Yuletide up promptly in front of her dorm building for their date, but something about the lady looked a bit off this morning.
"You're not nervous about meeting my uncles and their families at the garage, are you?" asked Peter, as he started walking her back to his car.
"No, but something happened last night while we were gone that you should know about," replied Karen, before telling Peter what she had been told about the mystery man who pretended to be Jenny Harper's brother. "The Resident Assistant was on the ball. The guy never got past her, although the fact that he did make it to our floor worries me a little. Campus security is keeping an eye out for him now."
"I see," said Peter, with a low, menacing growl underneath his words. "Jennifer Harper?"
"She was with her fiance last night at his place. I don't know what her status is at the moment. Her phone is either off or needs to be charged, because she hasn't returned my call yet."
"What would you like to do?" Peter asked, while standing in front of his car beside her.
"Even if I knew exactly where she was right now, it wouldn't do me any good to go over there, because for all I know that might lead this creep right to her," replied Karen, while taking a quick look around, but spotting nothing and no one unusual. "So, other than grabbing a bite to eat somewhere along the way, let's get on and enjoy our day until something says otherwise," she added, throwing her things into the back seat while Peter held the door open for her. Besides, I want to meet the rest of my potential future in-laws.