The dining room was fairly silent as William held Martha to him. The feeling each other's soft fur rubbing against each other felt as wonderful as it always did, and was one of the reasons Martha had come to love being a werecat and William accepting being a werefox and even loving being a werefox, even if it hadn't been his choice. However, their minds seemed to be worried over many of the things that had come up over dinner. Prophecy dreams and their sons growing up far faster than they could have anticipated floated through their minds and raised worries and hopes. They were conflicting in that some thoughts were joyous and hopeful while others in many ways were worrying.
Martha was certain she wasn't ready for her baby boys to be grown ups. She looked to both Nate and Eric and she didn't see the strong and confident young men they were clearly growing into. She saw Nate in diapers and standing with an old blanket that he'd carried everywhere until he was four and a half and Eric as an infant. They were her babies, and while at times she did want them to grow up and mature, a part of her wanted them to stay her babies forever. She loved them that much and it felt like things were going too fast for her.
"I'm sure they're always be our sons and will love us," William said to her after a few moments softly stroking her back with one paw and running his claws through her fur to give Martha the gentle tactile contact of a back-scratch. His efforts were rewarded with a soft purr escaping her throat. "After all... despite all our personal dramas... me and... my infidelity and you being conflicted on your sexuality... I'd think we always did right by Nate and Eric."
"That we did," Martha nodded with a small smile, "but... why does it feel like things are happening so fast now? Did we just fail to notice time passing while we struggled?"
"I don't think so," William commented, "Time just happened to pass... and as loving parents, we saw our sons in their most innocent and "pure" forms... as our babies."
"They were so cute," Martha smiled and lay her head on William's shoulder, "and now... they're growing up."
William nuzzled Martha's head with his muzzle and then licked the back of Martha's right ear. She twitched it slightly in response as William saw the brown furred triangular cat ear move forward and then back.
"That was probably bound to happen," William said slowly, "and as much as we love them... we'll probably have to accept that it won't be too much longer before they are ready to move out and strike it out on their own. The best we can do is to be supportive when it happens."
Martha nodded and stayed close to William's side. She felt a great deal of reassurance just being by his side. She might not feel ready for Nate and Eric to be grown ups, but she did know that William was right. It wasn't something they could avoid and it wasn't as though they had been bad parents to Nate and Eric. With regard to raising their sons, they had done well and both parents had their fair share of happy memories with their sons at various events and activities.
"And not everything in the future is worrisome," William commented to Martha as he continued to hold his wife to him. "If what Nate and Eric said about prophecy dreams are true, their futures will be bright and we'll have plenty to be proud in."
"And that we'd have more children," Martha said slowly as she turned her head to look to William.
He slowly nodded in reply. Their original family plan after Nate was born was to have a son and a daughter, but when Eric turned out to be a boy, the agreed that they really wouldn't have time or money to try again and that their family would be limited to themselves, Nate, and Eric. However, now as weres, their lifespans were dramatically expanded and both of them had found that they looked like they were in their twenties again. In that, they did have time to try again for a daughter, and in fact they could potentially try a few times for a daughter as they moved on through life. They had the time to do that now as weres, and they'd even privately mused on it to themselves over time since becoming weres.
"If the dream that I had was a prophecy dream," William agreed, "a family picnic... Nate and Alex there... and you and I with twin teens. A male werefox and a female werecat... but I really can't remember much."
"Do you think that'd mean it was real?" Martha answered, "because I had a dream... I was with Samantha and Frances and all of us were pregnant... They had one child each and I had twin girls... but beyond that, I can't really remember..."
"Did you get any sense of time from this?" William wondered.
"Not that I can remember," Martha spoke, "Just that it was in the future. I don't recall having a dream like yours."
"Well... if they were prophecy dreams, maybe they were at different times," William commented, "and would mean that we would get what we tried for after we had Nate. A balanced family with both sons and daughters."
Martha gave a small smile and nodded, "that would be hopeful. I'd just wish we could figure out which one was true or at least know how to tell how they were true... and if not... why did we have those dreams?"
"Maybe because it is something we've wanted," William answered with a small shrug, "A son and a daughter is what we originally planned for... I don't think either of us ever wanted to give up on that..."
His voice fell off at the end, and Martha detected it. She soon nodded in agreement. They'd never really given up on trying for a daughter. The only reason they'd quit trying in Minnesota because they would likely be too old to try again when Nate and Eric and grew up. Now, that wasn't an issue. They'd have the potential to be four hundred before old age would claim them and they wouldn't reach middle age until they turned two hundred, an impressive lifespan that they'd never thought possible until they became weres.
"Maybe," Martha finally said in agreement and moved more to cuddle with her husband rather than some of the earlier worried stances she'd been in.
"Do you want to try for a daughter?" William asked.
"Yes," Martha answered, "but... after Nate and Eric have grown up and we've readied ourselves for that... and to give me time to get back into the sway of teaching."
"Will you want to stay teaching if you get pregnant again?" William asked.
"Yes," Martha answered, "I've learned from either the central office or from the in-service that the school does employ a sort of daycare. I can take them in and drop them off, but will be close enough in case anything comes up. And they said they generally didn't have problems with those sorts of things."
"Or we could trade and I can be a stay at home dad," William offered.
"Oh no," Martha answered, "One thing I do remember from my dream was you baby-proofing everything to the point where I couldn't get into anything. You won't get any wiggle room to find new things to put locks that adults can't operate on to keep children out."
"Well... would you want our daughter stealing your underwear?" William teased.
"What would a baby want with my underwear?" Martha retorted.
"Something... a slingshot... replacing their diaper... trying to look as beautiful as her mother," William ran off a list of possibilities, though his voice sounding very playful, "You know."
"Oh... you," Martha teased back, "but seriously... from what they told me, I'd think we'd be able to both keep teaching when it comes time to make some more Andersons in the future."
William and Martha both found themselves smiling to each other.
"And now we just have to figure out how prophecy dreams worked and whether or not we had prophecy dreams," William commented.
"We can ask Frances on that," Martha answered, "though... that may take some time to figure that out. As we'll still need to get you down to Awareness. They have a male section and will have some cloths that would fit you comfortably both in your human form and your real form. Though that may have to wait until Saturday morning... provided Jenny's wedding goes without a hitch."
"Of course," William nodded, "as she deserves to have a happy wedding..."