As the Hales left, Martha and William found themselves alone in their new home. The home they'd come for a new start in, and the home both now hoped that they'd never leave. William calmly let their front door shut and looked over to Martha for a moment. Seeing her smile brought a warm smile to his own face.
"So... what next?" William asked, "Do you want to shower or...?"
His ears soon caught a gurgling noise rumble from Martha's toned stomach. Her smile soon became rather sheepish as she knew that he heard the rumbling of her stomach.
"I'd suppose a bit of breakfast might be a good idea," Martha commented with a soft smile, "We can shower after that."
The two of them quietly made their way into the kitchen without bothering to get dressed. While Martha set about scrambling some eggs, William rummaged through the bread drawer and ultimately pulled out a bag of English Muffins.
"So... a full open marriage?" William asked to Martha, "I'd thought..."
"That that wouldn't be an option after everything?" Martha finished, "It certainly isn't what I would have thought of when we first got married..."
William watched as Martha turned, her eyes drifting from the pan that was cooking their eggs on.
"But things have changed since then," Martha answered, "WE have changed... When we got married, I was still repressing the fact that I am bisexual... and you know my folks spoke highly of the traditional marriage. One man, one woman and for life."
William nodded remembering the interactions he'd had with Martha's parents. They seemed like good people and fairly typical protective parents in the traditional sense. They didn't respond well to the fact that he had been caught with his pants down, as it were, with regard to his past indiscretions.
"And that's what probably set up a lot of our difficulties," Martha continued, "You could have obviously had a bit more control... but the issues that revolved around my repressing being bisexual and what I'd expected out of a marriage didn't help. I wouldn't have agreed to an open marriage then, but neither was I being truly honest with myself."
By now the eggs were done and Martha took black plastic spatula to scoop servings for herself and for William as well. William also placed two toasted English muffins down before the two of them walked from the kitchen to the dinning room.
"And now things have changed," William said slowly as he sat down beside her.
"Yes," Martha answered, "We became weres... I realized and admitted that I'd been repressing a real part of me, and became a werecat. I feel far more comfortable with myself now. And in becoming a werefox, William, the part of you that I've always loved... the man who's caring and understanding was made so strong that your libido couldn't overpower it. It cemented your bond to me, and every time anything that's come up, be it Yvette or... whatever... you've demonstrated firm loyalty and love to me, beyond what even my parents would have wanted."
"It reinforced the love that was always there," William said to her and placed his hand over hers, "I was stupid but the love never went away. Becoming a werefox... it's hard to explain beyond the fact that I bonded to you. It's like my love grew stronger."
"Which I've loved," Martha smiled back to him, "but what we've become has lead to more than just saving our marriage... or at least making that easier."
"Of course it changed things," William answered, "I told you that I would be more than willing to let you indulge in all aspects of your sexuality. It'd help you and it'd be selfish and hypocritical of me to demand absolute loyalty when it was obvious before we moved here that hadn't been able to do the same."
Martha nodded while William paused to take a bite of his eggs. After chewing and swallowing, he continued.
"The thing that puzzles me was your decision last night to make things truly open," William commented, "that you would SHARE female lovers with me... Not that I'm complaining, but that was a bit of a surprise."
Martha gave a slightly sheepish smile to that and then looked down. William sat quietly and hoped he didn't offend her, as things had been going so well between them.
"That came while we were having fun with the Hales yesterday," Martha answered, "there were times when it was clear that she wanted to be with you and that you did want her... but yet at the same time, I could see your love for for me. I could see that Douglass and Dawn had been doing this for longer than we've been residents of Moon lake, and that hadn't hurt their marriage. With all of that, I figured that it made sense for us be the same..."
Martha sat her chair and kept her eyes focused on William.
"Especially while you may have agreed to it for me out of some sort of penance for your past mistakes," Martha finished, "and that wouldn't be entirely fair of me. You made mistakes, that is a given, but that doesn't make saying that I can play the field while you can't isn't fair to either side and isn't respectful. Especially when looking at the Hales. It was like their love for each other was strong regardless of who they were with."
"So long as they came together," William quipped.
"In a way, yes," Martha nodded, "and from what I've seen... your bond has made it clear that you aren't going to just wander off on me. It's like the things regarding our marriage that I feared happening weren't an issue after you became a werefox. It made me feel confident and secure in not just my sexuality but in you... knowing that I truly would be the most important thing, regardless of whatever adventures we get up to... and as we had our fun with the Hales, I realized THAT was more important than the traditional expectation of marriage. Couples that stay together and fit that traditional definition aren't always going to be as happy as others."
"I would have worked hard to show it, regardless of whether or not I became a were," William commented, "even if it took years."
Martha nodded, "but as it is, it happened... and things got better far faster than either of us could have hoped for."
"Yes," William nodded with a smile, happy to see Martha happy, "which is great."
"And represents just how much everything has changed," Martha commented, "we came here as normals with a loving, though strained marriage..."
"And we became happy and at times horny weres with a loving and now open marriage," William smiled to her.
Martha smiled and nodded. She took a bite out of her English muffin, which crunched a bit as she bit into it. Things had changed greatly for them and they had gotten a new start in a new town. It might not be the new start they expected, but it was one that Martha had come to love, and she knew that William had come to love the changes as well.
"For the next four centuries," Martha smiled and the two of them kissed.
The kiss was soft and gentle, and Martha felt her nipples harden slightly on her chest and she looked to her husband after a moment.
"And now that we've had some breakfast," Martha said to him, "why not go up and shower before getting back to either studying for my teaching certificate tests and you getting ready for next week..."
"You read my mind," William said with a smile.