Earlier...
Martha woke up to a soft breeze fluttering across her skin. She blinked her eyes slowly and sat up, her hand resting for a moment where her husband once lay. She sighed softly, head hanging down with her hair cascading over her shoulders as she held back the resurgence of tears. Suddenly, a warmth embraced her from behind. The tingling scent of fox and the man she had known for so many years mingling in the air. She gasped and looked up. Resting against her was the man she loved more than she had ever realized. The wandering husband who broke her heart... The noble fox that had saved her life. "W..W..William? H.How?"
He just smiled at her for a long moment then kissed her on the lips, deeply and without reservation. He held her close, in strong warm arms, "Martha Anderson... I love you. I loved you with all my heart. All my soul. Even in my worst of moments, it was always you that I loved." He puts a paw-finger to her lips, "Shhh. Let me talk. You have held everyone together so well. I am so proud of the boys. But it's time you take care of yourself too. You know I love you. I will be waiting for you when this life is over. But you have a lot of life left to live and I hope not a day of that is shorter than it should be even if it means I'm waiting that much longer. Take you're time."
William smiles, "You know, I've never minded waiting on you. But you deserve a chance to be happy. Just don't settle for anyone who doesn't love you as much as I do." He trails his paw over her belly and leans in, whispering, "I have only one regret... These two will not know me like the others..." With a final kiss, his body pressing tight against her own, Martha Anderson woke up, screaming her husband's name, clinging to the fading scent and feeling of his fur against her skin. Her mind spinning and world a blur, she frantically called the Twists...
Around noon...
Martha Anderson sat across from Frances Twist, sipping her coffee from the Styrofoam cup somewhat shakily. "And.. that's when I woke up..."
Frances nodded sympathetically, "Martha, I'm not entirely surprised. You've been pushing yourself through this a lot recently, dealing with it by... in a sense not dealing with it. I'm not able to tell you if it was really him or if it was just what your subconscious thinks he would say; but I do not believe there is a difference. You need to deal with his loss in your own personal way. But I do find the implications of what you said interesting."
She glanced down at the report in front of her. At Martha's request, France had requested Dr. Tachibana do a few tests that morning. "According to Dr. Tachibana, Martha. You are in fact pregnant. It's only been a few months so it's not that strange that you haven't had any physical symptoms yet. Weres tend to be extremely healthy and sometimes it can completely mask the early stages of pregnancy. What's more, Dr. Tachibana wants do some more tests because the initial ones show some... irregularities."
Martha looked up, the idea of raising a new child, alone, was frankly terrifying given the current situation. But the idea that something was wrong with the child far, far more frightening to her. "What do you mean, irregularities?"
Frances looked over at her, "Dr. Tachibana says that the original tests hinted at twins. Probably a one male and one female as they are the most common. That's not that unusual but..." She cleared her throat, "Only one in a few hundred million chances result in a true hybrid. According the preliminary results, the male fetus shows genetic markers consistent with werecat and werefox, with the werefox being slightly higher percent. The female fetus is the opposite. We can't say anything for certain yet, Martha."
Martha wasn't listening past that point. She was too stunned. A hybrid? Her? And two? She wrapped her arms around her belly, new tears coming to her eyes as she realized what William was telling her. The legacy of their renewed union.
Frances for her part noticed Martha wasn't listening and quietly stood up to let Martha have a bit more time to process the news as she got them both fresh coffees.