Next door to the Andersons, Ben's mothers, Samantha and Frances Twist settled into their own quiet dinner after a long day. Frances had done fairly well, and felt that her sessions with Jennifer Harper were going along quite well. Transformations where a new were wasn't completed quickly always had the risk of the new were suffering from a great deal of stress and needing to be able to "talk it out" in order to function again. In many cases, it usually lead to things dwelling on the were that transformed them, even if the situation had the pair being willing, but the stresses that hit newly transformed weres that came from outside their own transformation could also become even more troubling. The stresses that Jenny's parents and Dieter Wilhelm put on her were well within what could create other stresses. Frances, however, did feel proud in the progress she was making as Jenny seemed stronger and more confident with each session.
However, Samantha had remained rather quiet with her focus on her own food, which was a bit of a surprise to Frances. Normally, Samantha would ask her about her day and if she had had any troubles or triumphs or would share with Frances her own triumphs in the day along with hints or plans for later in the evening. So far though, Samantha had remained rather quiet. Frances looked to her wife and noticed a rather distant look on her wife's face as she ate. It wasn't that Samantha wasn't eating, but it was like she didn't know what she was eating. That had to mean that something was up.
"So... how have things been going?" Frances asked after a few moments as she Samantha had been eating quietly. She hoped to get Samantha to actually say what was bothering her.
The answer that Frances got was not the one that was very encouraging. Samantha gave a heavy sigh and set her fork down.
"Things could be much better," Samantha said with a heavy sigh, "Apparently Jenny's unwanted suitor in Alabama has sent ANOTHER agent up here to Moon Lake with the mission to catch Jenny and potentially kill Harry..."
"That doesn't sound good," Frances commented.
"It isn't," Samantha gave a groan, "it isn't... especially as this new guy... he isn't the blatant idiot that the first guy was. He hasn't gone onto the campus and asked for Jenny. He hasn't showed up in a vehicle identified as 'stolen.' The plates on his vehicle identify it as a rental and that it has been rented... and that's really all we've able to find out so far."
The two of them ate quietly again for a few moments. Frances could tell there was frustration on her wife's side, and that likely related to all the excitement that the town had to go through of late. The starting point was the actions of a rogue werevixen, who may have had some hormonal imbalance or may have been poorly raised, that had infected two normals against their will. One was their neighbor, William Anderson and the other was Frances' patient, Jennifer Harper. It was something that Frances knew frustrated Samantha to no end, given on how and why Samantha had gotten into her work as Moon Lake's Town Chancellor, which related to when Samantha turned Frances into a werecat, even though Samantha hadn't had her first transformation when it happened. Samantha had wanted to make sure such accidents didn't happen again in the future and that every family moving to Moon Lake fully understood things and would thus be safe. Yvette Smith's actions had essentially attacked Samantha's record in giving people a safe welcome to Moon Lake.
Recovering from that then had its own issues. With William Anderson, there was ultimately nothing major. He'd apparently accepted becoming a werefox and his transformation had helped further their friendship with Martha Anderson, which was good. The issue remained with Jennifer Harper and her desire to marry and be happy, something that no one in Moon Lake would deny her the right to do. The Skulk had already promised to make it up to Jenny and help her with her wedding to Harry Jenkins. Frances knew that Samantha would wish to do the same to demonstrate that the town didn't condone what had been done to Jenny, as on many levels Frances agreed with Samantha in that regard. Though, that didn't mean that things didn't come without their own stressful points, namely a ridiculously strict family and an obsessed suitor who couldn't take "no" for an answer.
"I take it that you can't just arrest this agent," Frances said slowly.
"Yes... because he hasn't been stupid," Samantha sighed as she finished her dinner, "it means that we have to remain wary and on alert and we might not be able keep Jenny fully safe... especially if he goes crazy at some point..."
Frances got up and helped Samantha up as she finished. Frances didn't need to do so with regard to Samantha's stability, but she did so for the sake of being close to her wife and to provide plenty of comfort to her wife, as it was clear that Samantha was stressed by things that related dealing with keeping Jenny safe for her wedding. She soon found that there were several tense muscle groups around Samantha's upper back and shoulders.
"Well... I'm sure you've done all that you can," Frances assured her wife. "That should be enough..."
"Enough?" Samantha asked, "We have to have Jenny and Harry stay in the college's safe room just to be sure that this guy doesn't go onto the campus and to Jenny's dorm room... and that STILL doesn't stop him from setting up a spot where he can simply watch and then shoot at anyone who is with anyone who looks remotely like Jenny did before her transformation. We're going to be on edge for the foreseeable future."
"I'm not sure there is going to be a way we have an easy path through all this," Frances said with a soft sigh, "you can't really let yourself get so stressed by all this..."
"Get stressed by all this?" Samantha answered, "I'm not supposed to be concerned about the town's safety and happiness?"
Frances lead Samantha into the bedroom and ushered her to bed. She eventually getting Samantha to sit on the edge of their bed and then climbed onto the bed behind Samantha. Samantha looked over her shoulder as Frances began to massage Samantha's back. She still needed the answer to her question.
"Well?" Samantha repeated her question, "I'm not supposed to be concerned about the town's safety and happiness?"
"You're more than welcome to be concerned," Frances answered as she began to work on trying to work through the tension in her wife's muscles, "but you can't let your concerns dominate your thoughts to the point where you're worried over things you cannot change or effect."
Samantha gave a bit of a purr as Frances got into loosening some of her muscles as they did so.
"You've done all that you can to protect Harry and Jenny and keep the town as a whole safe," Frances answered, "Mr. Wilhelm and his men are issues of stress... BUT you've done all you can to limit what damage they can do. The rest... the rest is something that you couldn't change even if you tried."
"That doesn't mean I have to like it," Samantha countered.
"Of course, my dear," Frances replied, "but it's better to accept what you can't change. You'll only just drive yourself into the ground and won't look good by the time the wedding comes."
"Oh... I suppose we can't have that, can we?" Samantha quipped.
"No, we can't," Frances answered with a warm smile, "because you always do what you can and everything you can to set things right... and while at times you may be quick to anger when someone does something wrong... and you may let things like this stress you... I've never known you to fail at doing the right thing keeping the town safe. You've done all that you can, and as such, I'm sure all will be set right... so long as you don't stress over the things you can't change."
"Thanks," Samantha smiled and then purred again at the massage Frances was giving her, "oh... that feels good."