"Nate and I can get the dishes for you, mom," Eric offered as the small group began to break up in the entryway.
"Thank you, dear," Martha smiled to her sons as they moved off to do the dishes.
While they went toward the dinning room, Martha opened the front door and let Nellie and John lead their family out. Marsha and Sally remained close to their parents, but did did look fairly comfortable with Martha and William. Martha and William quietly followed along behind their old friends. It was still a surprise to find that they had both moved to the same "sleepy" town in Washington state, but it was a pleasant one.
"Well, it would appear that everyone's adapted well... and in line with the towns laws," John commented, "a shame your welcome to were society was forced, Will..."
"It's fine," William answered, "being a werefox has been something quite helpful for me... in more ways than you know."
William looked over to Martha as he moved to stand by her. Neither of them had told Nellie or John about some of the issues that had made them move from Minnesota, as neither really wanted to admit to friends they had in Minnesota about something that their becoming weres and moving into a more open marriage had fixed. Nellie and John nodded in response at that let the issue drop as the group made their way to the sidewalk next to where the Lyons' cars were parked.
"Still... good to see that things are going well," John spoke.
"Yes," William and Martha agreed together.
"And it was great to see you again," Martha spoke again, "having you over... it was like old times."
"You're not old," Marsha pointed out.
"Well... yes," Martha smiled, "We're all young for weres... but what I said wasn't our age. It was a reference to the fun times we had in Minnesota."
"Mostly where we would have dinner with them and they came to our home there and had dinner with us," Nellie said to her daughters.
Marsha and Sally both nodded as they looked up to their mother. Nellie smiled to them and then looked up Martha. The two woman openly hugged, in the way that anyone would hug an old friend that they got see again.
"It was great seeing you, again," Nellie said to Martha.
"Yes," Martha nodded, "and perhaps we'll have to do more... after all I'm sure I wouldn't mind seeing some of your paintings."
Nellie smiled and nodded. She then looked over William for a moment and looked back to Martha with a smirk. "And regardless of the circumstances of how he became a werefox... I think you lucked out. He looks absolutely dashing and ready to pose for Ralph Lauren."
That made Martha blink with some surprise, as she didn't think that Nellie would necessarily have any interest in William. After all, she had John, and he wasn't necessarily a bad looking man. Though Nellie had said that their marriage had been "open" before they even left Minnesota and Martha also remembered her interactions with Dawn and Douglass Hale. Dawn and Douglass were both very open in their marriage in that they even shared both partners in that Dawn would be with other males and Douglass with other females, assuming everything was willing. That, however, was a bit more open than Martha felt personally comfortable with. She was fine and okay if there were women that were also bi and were willing for something more than just girl on girl action, and thus sharing them with William, as she felt confident that with his bond in place he'd never run off on her and in a sense it was fair if she was to be allowed to find "other women." However, William remained all the man she could need or want, though while Nellie's comment had surprised her with its very interested tone, Martha did agree with the message.
"Yes, he is quite the catch as a werefox," Martha agreed, "though I think he'll probably stay as a professor and not become a male model."
"Well... if my beautiful and sexy wife is with me, I wouldn't mind," William quipped and kissed Martha's cheek raising a protest from Marsha and Sally.
"Ewwww!" Marsha declared with Sally adding, "Mushy stuff!"
"That'll change when you get older," Martha commented.
"No, boys are icky," Marsha answered.
Martha and Nellie both shook their heads as Nellie and John began to move their kids toward their vehicles, which let Martha and William hear what was round two.
"I wanna ride with mom!" Marsha declared.
"You rode with mommy last time," Sally argued, "It's my turn."
"No it isn't!"
"Yes it is!"
"Remember that?" William whispered to Martha, remembering the days when Nate and Eric were younger.
"All too well," Martha replied in a whisper, "and I'm glad that Eric and Nate have grown out of that."
"Any tips then?" Nellie asked.
"Odd and even days always worked," Martha offered, "Just need to remember which one has odd and even days."
Nellie looked to John and then down to Marsha and Sally. The two girls blinked and then looked to each other for a few moments before they realized that they were being given the choice of choosing which day.
"Even, I'm not weird," Marsha answered.
"I'm not weird either!" Sally argued.
"In this case 'odd' refers to a number that is not divisible by two," Nellie explained, "like one, three, five, seven, and nine..."
"I'm number one!" Sally cheered.
"I guess she's fine with the odd numbers," Martha answered.
"Okay," Nellie chuckled, "Since it is the twenty-sixth it is Marsha's turn today."
That generated a new round of complaints, but Sally ultimately accepted and moved to ride with her father in the minivan. Before John climbed behind the driver's seat of the minivan, he produced a small clip and handed it to Nellie. The two shared a brief hug and kiss, and to William's eyes was something of a "just wait for some fun when we get home" look on both John and Nellie's faces. Nellie then took the clip to fasten Marsha's seat belt so that it wouldn't be too high on her body. They all waved and soon drove off.
"Good thing you didn't mention the the fact that after a few months you have two odd days in a row," William commented as he and Martha turned to head back inside.
"I'm sure they'll find out about that come Halloween," Martha gave a smile.