Father and daughter wanted to talk.
They needed to talk, but Harold Jenkins requested that any conversation waited until after they got back home, for he was still trying to adjust his seat properly and get used to his now slightly taller and more muscular frame while driving.
His daughter Melissa honored the request, mentally compiling a major list of questions for him.
Once they arrived at their one story Moon Lake residence, they fixed themselves a quick but late dinner.
Melissa had a hamburger with all the trimmings while Harold, finding himself ravenous because of his unplanned transformation into a weretiger, ate the rest of the meat rare, with the veggies as an afterthought.
"Now then," said Harold, before recounting everything to his daughter, from his initial dreams to not knowing that a bite or scratch would induct him into were society as he tried to do the honorable thing and break up the fight between Virginia McCoy and Alice Decrux.
"And they might prosecute Virginia because you're now a weretiger and didn't plan to be one?" Melissa asked in disbelief. The fact that he was also calling their next door neighbor by her first name instead of Miss McCoy wasn't lost on her.
"Apparently this town takes civil rights very seriously," observed Harold. "I've told everybody and their brother that it was an accident, that Decrux started the fight, and that I have no intention of pressing any charges against Virginia; but the only response I get from anyone in law enforcement is that decision is up to the local district attorney."
"Kind of mixed signals there, between saying that one member of a newly arrived family has to become a were while changing someone against their will is punishable by law," pointed out Melissa.
"True. When or if I might ever have decided to become a were would have depended upon how things progressed between me and Virginia. I'm not saying I ain't interested in her, especially now; but I certainly wasn't in no rush to replace your mother and my late wife," admitted Harold. "My main goal, and the original objective for moving us here, was to attempt acquiring a fresh start and get on with our lives. Looking for someone else was never on the agenda."
"But I've seen the way the two of you have been around each other, even before the fight. She was definitely interested in you before you realized you were interested in her, let alone became a weretiger."
"Again, when, if, and with who I might ever have fallen in love with are my decisions," Harold reminded his daughter, although he would not deny a growing fondness... and longing... for the weretigress if asked. "I'm just thankful that it was Virginia and not Decrux that scratched me, because after what Dean Myers told me about her, there is no way I'd ever be interested in her, let alone willingly want to be a were-raccoon."
"And the dreams?" wondered Melissa.
"Well, the one during the initial stages of my first transformation was obviously a fevered dream," assumed Harold. "I needed to rectify what was about to happen with my memories and love for your mother," he added. Although there would always be a place in his heart occupied by the late Eliza Jenkins, there was now a space occupied with thoughts of Virginia McCoy as well. "As for the others?" and, having no explanation logical or otherwise, just shrugged his shoulders, not knowing about were prophecy dreams, let alone it was highly unusual for a normal to have one before they ever became a were.
"Well, you certainly look better now than you did before we moved here," observed Melissa. "The under eye bags and worry lines that developed on your face between mom's cancer and losing her have disappeared. Besides being slightly taller and more muscular, you seem more chipper and like your old self again, and you've got a full head of hair again," she pointed out.
"I guess being a were does have its advantages with and without fur, but I still feel it should be a totally voluntary choice and not something forced upon a person, even if there is a Mandatory Were Law," commented her father. "Speaking of which, even though we went ahead and filled out that prescription for were-cow birth control pills that Doctor Tachibana gave you, now that you're under absolutely no pressure to become the Family Were since I'm it, I want you to stop and have a good long think about whether or not you still want to become a were, let alone what kind."
"I kind of have been," admitted Melissa. "I still have feelings for Trevor Tyson, but I want to make sure it's him, which would make it a werecow if I want to be with him."
"Maybe you should go out on a couple of regular dates with him first. See if his feelings for you, let alone your feelings for him are truly genuine, or if it was just the pressure and the deadline of the town law that was pointing you toward him," suggested Harold. "Besides young lady, I also know you're still a virgin."
"DAD!" said Melissa, as she seriously began to blush in embarrassment.
"Don't DAD me. We've had this talk before. There's never a right time or place, but there should always be the right reason for your first intimacy. And if your mother was here, not only would she be agreeing with me, but she would also remind you that your first time should also be special and memorable too."
"I know," replied Melissa, staring at her plate and not looking at her father as she still felt the blush on her face.
"Besides that, you told me before you had originally narrowed your possibilities down to 2 choices. Since you're not facing a deadline any more, I don't see why you can't take the time to stop and really consider this issue from every aspect, just like your mother and I taught you to do. Just keep your original promise to me to announce your final decision before you act upon it, and then wait another 24 hours just to make sure that is the right one for you before you do."
"I will dad," promised Melissa, before standing up from the dinner table and giving him a hug. "Fur or no fur, I'm so glad you're feeling more like your old self again."
"Me too," said her father, being careful not to scratch his daughter for fear of turning her into a weretigress.
"Listen," began Melissa, breaking the hug, "it's getting late and I still have school tomorrow, but can I see your new fursona?"
"My what?" asked Harold.
"Your fursona. Your new weretiger side. Fursona is what a lot of people around here call their were personality."
"Oh. Sure," said Harold, rising from the table. "But you'll have to let me go to my room and undress, let alone change first. My old clothes are barely fitting me any more, and I don't want to ruin what little I can still wear." Got to check with Dean Myers about that potential clothing allowance.
"Okay. You go do that and I'll clean up," offered Melissa, as Harold went to his bedroom.
A couple of minutes later, Harold Jenkins announced he was coming into the kitchen, and his daughter Melissa stared for a long moment before smiling at his new fursona.
It was the classic orange and black stripe with white tummy/chest look you would expect to see on a tiger, provided you also expected that tiger to be at least 7 feet tall and muscular as it walked on 2 legs and spoke English. The fact that he was still modest enough to keep his arms down so his paws could cover his new masculinity wasn't loss on her. Still my father, but I wonder what Virginia, let alone how I'd look, as a weretigress?
"Well?" asked Harold, as his daughter continued to stare at him.
"Dare I say it?" she asked in return.
"Say what?"
"You look grrrrrrr-eat!" answered Melissa, trying to do her best Tony the Tiger imitation.
"Okay you," said Harold with a smile, which Melissa would not admit would take some getting used to seeing on his muzzle. "It's already approaching 11," he continued, looking at the kitchen wall clock. "You said it yourself. You've got school tomorrow, so get to bed. I'll finish up in here and see you for breakfast in the morning."
"Okay. Night dad. Love you," said Melissa, as she left the kitchen and went to her bedroom.
While it wasn't easy with tiger paw hands, Harold Jenkins did manage to finish the dishes and left them drying on the shelf rack.
Then, after checking on his daughter and making sure Melissa was both in bed and asleep, he was about to retire to his own bed when a stray thought crossed his mind.
With that, he went back to the kitchen, silently let himself out the backdoor, and then walked over to Virginia McCoy's house next door in his new fursona.
But a quick check of both his traditional and new were senses confirmed that she wasn't home yet.
Dang! Must still be in jail! he sadly realized.
With nothing else to do, Harold was returning to the back entrance of his house when he remembered something Virginia said.
We supplement our diet by hunting for fresh meat. You need to get in touch with your inner tiger, but remember, you're in control, not it.
Another smile crossed Harold Jenkins muzzle as he decided to go out into the open woods behind his house and explore not just the neighborhood, but what it meant to now be a weretiger as well.