{{HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY FOR THOSE CELEBRATING! Okay, I know our title sounds like it should belong to a rock group. The only band name more intersting would be Velma and the Jinkies, but on with the show...}}
Not knowing that her idea about trying to deter Dieter Wilhelm's plans to ruin her wedding and claim "his" bride was accepted and acted upon by the local authorities, Jenny Harper had what by any standards could be considered a good breakfast with her future in-laws, the Jenkins.
Harry's parents were kind, loving, and caring. Just as she remembered her own folks in the early days of her life, before they (especially her father) started revealing their true selves in regards to how things were in Alabama and what they expected out of her. A content little puppet who obeyed every order given was not Jenny, and how her mother could continue to do so after all these years, especially after her oldest brother started bossing her around too just because he was a man...
Her fiance Harry was a dream come true. He was EVERYTHING a woman could want in a man, and a whole lot more. At least part of that was thanks to his upbringing, but some of that was Harry himself. He was someone who actually held the door open for her. Someone who let her make her own decisions. Someone who actually listened when she talked and didn't automatically say she was wrong just because she dared voice an opinion or disagreed just because his mind was already made up over how things were going to be.
Coming from such a strict upbringing, her father would freak if he ever discovered that (thanks to her friends) Jenny had been exposed to such "filth" like Sleepless in Seattle, When Harry Met Sally, and a whole lot of other romantic movies. She knew what a romance, let alone a relationship SHOULD be like, and while she was hell bent and determined to be an independent woman of today, still longed for the proverbial "happily forever after" that those movies said was possible in real life.
Deep down, Jenny knew that if Harry popped the question, she would have said "YES!" in an instant, although they would still have to face the coming storm from her family and that jerk that they wanted her to marry.
But despite the circumstances, since she and Harry had since become werefoxes, the life/mate bond was as strong between them as the pull of the sun's gravity on the Earth.
Jenny hated the fact that she was technically putting all of Moon Lake in danger by running the risk of exposing the existence of weres during the confrontation that was sure to come this Saturday at her wedding. Yet, like the Jenkins, no one was backing down or would allow anyone to interfere with Jenny's future happiness, and she took strength from that, just like she found support and love from Harry and his family.
As his parents left them alone in the family room, since the bride and groom to be was expecting company to help with the wedding plans, Jenny leaned against Harry and said, "I had another dream again last night."
"Oh?" asked Harry, holding her close. He knew her sleep was troubled at one point, and held her as dearly then as he was now. "About what?"
"My other two selves, the Jenny I used to be and the vixen I am now came by to give me more words of encouragement. The storm is still on the horizon," she said, referring to whatever trouble her family and Dieter tried to cause at the wedding, "but also said we're getting stronger. They could bring their free hands closer together as they held mine, but still couldn't physically grasp each other."
"So you think that when they can hold hands..." began Harry, wondering what her answer would be.
"I'll be completely whole, and nothing can stop me. Not even my father and Dieter," said Jenny, confidently.
"You already are honey," said Harry, encouragingly, as he kissed her. "You are," he repeated, hoping she believed her, for Saturday would be the true test. There was no doubt in his mind that Jenny Harper loved him and longed to be Jenny Jenkins. Why they didn't just elope was beyond him.
Yet he also knew this showdown would happen sooner or later, and come what may, Jenny MUST be victorious!
MEANWHILE...
A pick up truck parked at the curb of the Jenkins residence, behind a hybrid compact.
The driver got out to see a woman walking toward the front door of his parents house.
As he closed and secured his pick up, he shouted at the woman, "Can I help you?"
She turned, and the man was stunned by her beauty. Black hair as dark as a starless night, pale skin that apparently never saw the light of day, but those hazel eyes that looked like they could pierce a person's soul and reveal all your inner most secrets in an instant!
"Yes. I am Keiko Tachibana," she said, slightly bowing to him out of formality and respect. "I am here to help assist in the arrangements of the Harper-Jenkins wedding. Do I have the honor of addressing Harold Jenkins?"
"No. I'm his older brother, Henry Junior, but everyone calls me Huck," he said, holding out his hand in a friendly greeting. The lady couldn't help noticing he was at least a head taller than her, with brown hair and eyes. Muscular, for his clothes barely fit him, his visible skin was well tanned from his years of owning and operating his own construction company. "I'm here to finally meet the bride to be and go over plans for converting the storage space over the garage into an apartment for them," he added, pointing to a structure next to the house.
The two car garage had a second story about the same height as the house, but the only thing physically connecting the two was a covered walkway, creating a small, patio-like area between them.
"I see," she said. "If your business is going to interrupt mine or vice versa, I can come back later this afternoon," she offered.
"Most of mine would be with my father, so there should be no problem. Come on, I'll introduce you to everyone," he offered in return, as they resumed their walk toward the front door.
Both were still currently in their human forms, but even without the name Tachibana, Huck's weredog senses told him the lady before him was a were-vixen, and he couldn't help wondering what her fursona looked like, for he had never seen an ugly Skulk in his life, and she looked pretty cute as is. Other than her were senses proving he was a canine related were, Huck wondered what she thought of him, and if she was available and interested...