William Anderson returned to his suburban home within Moon Lake and found it full of surprises.
The first thing that surprised him was that there were no additional cars anywhere near the property.
Martha didn't have any "guests" today? he wondered, pulling in the driveway.
The second thing that surprised him was his youngest son Eric coming up the walk just as William was heading toward the front porch.
"You're not just now getting home from school, are you son?" he asked, a bit concerned.
"No. Julie's," Eric said with a smile.
The fact that his werefox senses detected the distinctive odors of fresh water and a certain were-mermaid lingering on his son made William smile.
"How is she?" he asked.
"Wonderful," said Eric with a smile. "Mrs. Stovall bought me my own bathrobe for when I'm over there," he revealed, as they walked to the front porch together.
"You know," began William, stopping on the porch to dig out his door key, "we haven't actually looked into the logistics of the project yet, but your mother and I have been discussing the possibility of putting in a fresh water swimming pool here next spring. Of course, whenever it is built, Julie and the rest of her family will be more than welcomed over here."
"Really?" asked Eric in disbelief. "Thanks dad. Maybe I can get either Julie's mom or dad to contact you about how much theirs cost."
"That sounds like a good idea. Maybe there's some kind of were-mer discount available," realized William, as he opened the front door and they stepped inside.
The third surprise that greeted William Anderson was two-fold.
The smell of a great dinner cooking as well as seeing his wife setting the table.
"Hello Martha," William said happily, as both he and his inner fox were happy to see her once more.
"Hello yourself dear," said Martha, coming up to give her husband a wonderful kiss as she wrapped her arms around him.
Mom was home all afternoon? realized Eric, as he saw the happy couple together. Maybe my talk with them did some good after all.
"Did you have any plans for tonight?" asked William, while setting his briefcase down.
"What did you have in mind big guy?" asked Martha in return, snuggling up next to him while purring, barely able to keep her werecat fursona from coming out and jumping him for sexual pleasure.
"A trip to the hospital," announced William, which instantly killed Martha's mood as he explained what happened to Jenny Harper as well as the Jenkins* family today.
"That poor dear," said Martha. "Of course we'll go visit them. Just let me serve dinner first," she added, turning to head back for the kitchen even as they heard a lot of footsteps coming down the stairs.
The last surprises of the evening for William were seeing his oldest son Nate coming down, along with his boyfriend Alex Ramsey and their mutual friend (and next door neighbor) Ben Twist.
"Mom? Can Alex stay for supper?" Nate called out.
Martha turned back to look at William, who simply nodded affirmatively. "If it's okay with his parents," she told Nate.
"I'll call them right now," replied Alex, as Ben walked past them and towards the front door.
"You're not staying for supper too?" wondered William, as Ben drew near.
"No sir," answered the only son of Samantha and Frances Twist. "Besides needing to finish my homework, I've got a date tonight with a beautiful werepanthress," he said with a smile, thinking of Kenya Adaeze.
Then Ben turned to his friends and said, "I'll see you guys in the morning for school."
Nate said "Night" as Alex waved.
As Ben turned to leave, he said to Eric, "Did you have a nice time with Julie?"
Eric's smile was the only answer Ben needed as he left the Andersons.
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*The Jenkins that are already a part of this story line and not the Jenkins of a separate Moon Lake thread that is currently running.—tmw.