Karen and Peter talked a bit more over various matters and mostly cemented how they wished their first time together to go, while they waited for lunch to be ready. Peter felt a great deal of personal joy that Karen was willing to join the pride and to be his lioness, but he agreed that doing it because it would make getting help for Jenny was not the way either of them wanted Karen's transformation to come about.
"It's good that we're in agreement," Karen smiled to him.
"That's pretty normal," Peter assured her, "things... things like what happened with the rogue... that is pretty rare. It happens, and it's something that weres fear almost as much as exposure, but it's still a rare occurrence. In fact... more often than not, the most common cause of an unplanned transformation of a Normal is usually an accident. A were and Normal are friends are playing... and in the course of it, the Normal is scratched slightly... usually with the were not even knowing what had been done until the Normal begins changing... that sort of thing."
"What if they're lovers?" Karen smiled, "Say... they fall in love before the were transforms for the first time?"
"I'd say that the transformation would be unplanned but deliberate," Peter commented, "especially if the two make love before the were's first transformation. Just because a were HASN'T changed yet doesn't make them a Normal. Joy and Ife have both had their first transformations while Cecelia, Emily, Maggie, and Heather have not... but ALL of my cousins carry a werelion's scent, even if for the youngest, their "condition" isn't... well active, I suppose would be the medical term."
"We can go with that," Karen smiled, "I have no plans on going into the medical profession and correcting you."
Peter chuckled and was about to say more when he heard a cough come from the house. He turned with Karen to see that his father was at the back door to the garage that he and Karen had earlier gone into the backyard from.
"Lunch is ready," Leon called to them.
Peter offered Karen his arm and said to her, "Come on... let's go."
"Yes, let's," Karen answered.
They quietly made their way inside and ultimately into the same dinning room where Leon and Regina had offered Karen dinner the night before. Karen found that the wooden table was adjustable and had been extended to suit the larger number of guests. Even with it, she found that many of the chairs were tightly packed. She also noticed that Maggie had positioned herself beside two empty seats along one side and with Rose on the other side of the two seats. Maggie patted the chair next to her as a sign to Karen on where Karen was to sit.
"Did you save us seats?" Karen asked in a friendly voice to Maggie who only smiled.
"Yeah," Maggie smiled, "You said you didn't mind being with a sixth grader."
"Indeed I did, thank you," Karen spoke, "..."
"Maggie," Maggie answered.
"Thank you, Maggie," Karen smiled, "I promise to work hard and get everyone's name right. I've actually come from a fairly small family... so, this is a lot of new faces."
"It's okay," Regina smiled to her from her seat beside Leon, "I think there are a lot of people... even those born in Moon Lake... who are a bit taken by how big our family is."
"And a good family it is!" Rudy gave a cheer.
They all settled into their lunch, which wasn't super fancy, but Karen wasn't looking for "fancy." Truth be told, she would have even been fine with meeting at a fast food restaurant and eating hamburgers so long as she had Peter for company. They were quiet for a few moments before Leon spoke to her.
"Before we get too deep into anything else, my brothers and I did discuss your request," Leon spoke, "and we agreed that we will talk with Mrs. Tachibana to see if they would like any additional security at the wedding."
"A wedding?!" Cecelia gasped, nearly spitting out some of her sandwich.
"Yes, my friend Jenny and her fiance Harry are getting married, and as new werefoxes, the Skulk has been giving them a lot of attention," Karen explained.
"I was hoping you were marrying Peter," Cecelia answered.
"I don't think we're quite that far yet," Peter said softly and sipped the punch from his glass, "but... Karen has made a great impression on me. And when we are ready... I would hope we would marry. And you, Emily, Maggie, and Heather might get to be flower girls."
The youngest Talbots all smiled. Leon gave a chuckle and then continued.
"Anyway, we agreed to ask the Skulk if they need extra help," Leon spoke, "It would be the right thing to do... and since you said something of being part of the wedding and that Peter is going as your guest... we have our personal interest in making sure that your friend's wedding has no major problems."
"There are problems?" Rose asked, "is it a forced match?"
"No, Jenny and Harry are bonded mates, they bonded on their first night together," Jenny answered, "the issue is with Jenny's family having a case of wanting to make Jenny's decisions for her... and has raised some fear of them trying to disrupt the wedding. I'd only asked as a simple favor and figured some additional presence might at least keep the ceremony peaceful."
"And a favor we agreed to do," Leon spoke to his wife. His brothers gave a few nods as well. Karen noted that while there was agreement, there were also concerns as well, which was understandable.
"You have my thanks," Karen said to him.
"It is no problem," Leon answered.
"In the meantime, why don't we turn onto lighter matters," Dahlia commented, "after all, we're not here for the Skulk's concerns, but to welcome and get to know our future pride sister and member of the family."
Karen blushed at that description of her, especially since she wasn't a werelioness, yet. She did agree with that though, as did the others. It lead into a discussion on how she and Peter met, in which Karen explained her furry fandom, though censored so not to creep out the youngest Talbot daughters, and how seeing Peter in both his human and werelion form helped her feel in control of it. From there, Peter had noticed some of her drawings and they began "dating" from there. While she explained and as they finished lunch, Karen began to pass along her sketchbook, which gained a lot of surprised and gasps.
"These ARE good," Astra commented and held out the book to Dahlia showing the image of Peter and Karen as werelions with their own cubs. Dahlia only answered with a pleased whistle.
"Yeah..." Lily nodded, "very detailed, though... a bit inaccurate. Weres generally don't transform for the first time until they turn fourteen. There have been some cases of some transforming early and some transforming late... but those are rather rare."
"I didn't know that when I drew the sketch," Karen answered, "I just... well... I thought it would look nice... a sort of family unit."
"Nothing wrong with that," Olivia commented, "male or female... our most important part of our lives is family."
Karen smiled while she agreed with the comment. Everyone seemed to like her work, which sat well with her. She didn't even notice Ife leave the table and return with a notebook shortly after. It was only Ife tapped Karen's shoulder with it.
"Is this your art?" Karen asked.
"It isn't as good as yours... but it's the stuff I like," Ife said weakly.
Karen looked through with a respectful smile. Ife's drawings were fairly simple and somethings in common with anime, but it still wasn't an anime type design. If anything, the drawings reminded of "Ever After's" art style.
"You a fan of fantasy?" Karen asked to Ife, "this top one looks sort a princess?"
"In a way," Ife said weakly, "though... I've never done realistic drawings..."
"Well... it's not too bad," Karen commented, "it isn't necessarily my style, but it's not bad. The big thing with art is to never let other people determine your style. You don't grow when you try to deliberately impress people."
"Thanks," Ife answered with a smile.
The pleasant small talk continued, and beside her, Peter smiled. Family was important to him too, and Karen's hopes for their future showed that in her. While weres might not transform until fourteen, her drawings were good and that was what mattered. The best part of lunch though, was that despite wherever there might be differences of opinion, Karen was getting along well with his parents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. In the back of his mind as he smiled to her, he was sure she would make an excellent Talbot, though they'd have to wait for the right moment.