After Dean Myers left, Harold Jenkins tried to resume unpacking and organizing, but his heart just wasn't in it at the moment.
Many thoughts of his deceased wife filled his mind, but Harold was surprised to discover that the occasional stray thought of another woman popped into his mind too, so it was a welcomed distraction when his front doorbell rang yet again that day.
Answering it, Harold actually felt happy to see it was his next door neighbor Virginia McCoy on his front porch.
"Hello," he said with a smile, answering the door.
"I'm not interrupting anything, am I?" asked Virginia, noticing all the boxes in the living room.
"Not really. The movers finally delivered the rest of our things, and I'm left with the odious task of unpacking solo until Mel gets home, although why she hasn't arrived already..." he began, digging his cellphone out of a pants pocket.
That was when Harold Jenkins realized that he had turned it off when the movers arrived.
Reactivating it, he finally saw the text message his daughter had sent earlier.
DOING AFTER SCHOOL W RESEARCH. WILL BE HOME FOR SUPPER. LOVE MEL.
"W research?" he asked Virginia, showing her the message.
"Mel's learning. We're careful about using the W word in public, even if we're amongst fellow weres," explained Virginia.
"I see," he replied, while putting the phone back in his pocket.
"Anyway, if I can't help you, maybe you can help me with something that's right in your wheelhouse," said Virginia.
"Oh? What?" inquired Harold, as he invited her inside.
"The Moon Lake School Board is considering new text books for next year, and they've narrowed the High School level history department down to these 2," she explained, showing Harold the books she was carrying. "I was wondering if you'd like to help me take a look through them and give me your opinions."
"I'd be honored. Would you like something to drink?" offered Harold.
"Whatever's available, as long as it isn't alcoholic. I never liked the stuff even before I became a were."
"Sure. Just let me make a quick dash to the kitchen," he said, before leaving the room.
Virginia McCoy was going to sit on the sofa when she noticed another book there.
Curious, she picked it up and started thumbing through it.
Quickly realizing it was a photo album, she thought about putting it back down, but wanted to know more about her new neighbor's (friend's?) past, so was still glancing at the pictures when Harold came back into the room.
Harold wasn't sure what to feel when he came back with 2 cans of soda and saw Virginia going through the family photo album.
He approached carefully, and observed.
At first, Virginia looked genuinely interested in the images, but he saw her facial expression change as she drew near the end of the album.
"Oh Harold. I'm so sorry," began Virginia, as she moved to close the book.
"It's okay. I've already been through it once today myself," he said, before recounting his past visitors after the movers left.
"Well, I'll agree with the Dean. For a were-raccoon, Alice Decrux is quite a cougar. I don't know what it is about that woman, but something rubs my fur the wrong way," she replied.
Harold couldn't help but smile at the in-joke as he sat down and handed Virginia a soda.
"If you don't mind me asking, how long..." she began.
"A couple of years. I heard about the Skulk's life/soul mate bond today. Truthfully, that's how I still feel about her," he replied, noticing that the album was open on the next to last page, that of the final picture of the Jenkins family, taken in his wife's hospital room.
"I understand," said Virginia, closing the book before setting it aside, not looking at the final photo of the grave stone. "One thing you must learn about weres. The were prefix only means that we're more than human, not unhuman. Would you like to talk about her?"
"You don't mind? Mel knows everything, but it has been quite awhile since I've been able to have an adult conversation with another adult about this."
Virginia McCoy simply nodded her head affirmatively and Harold Jenkins began to talk.
About the good times and the bad.
The bright and the dark moments, especially once the cancer diagnosis was confirmed and the storm clouds began to gather on the Jenkins' future.
It would be a pleasant shock to Melissa when she entered her house for the evening and saw her father and Virginia sitting on the couch together, leaning against each other like two old friends (lovers?) who had been together a very long time.
But across the street, Alice Decrux was fuming!
Dressed more casually than her earlier visit, she was about to go back across the street and offer to help Harold with his boxes, even though she would be constantly trying to find a way to get what she really wanted, when she spotted Virginia McCoy on his front porch.
The fact that it had now been over 2 hours since her rival entered the house, and would be at least another half hour before Melissa Jenkins returned home for the evening was making Alice's blood boil.
She was so mad that she had changed into her fursona without even realizing it. Her raccoon body barely contained within her civilian clothing as her fur bristled in fury.
"He's mine bitch!" cursed Alice, although there was no one in the house to hear her. He just doesn't know it yet!