It was early evening when Tad and Amy left for the Halloween dance, leaving Jen alone for the evening. The day had been reasonably quiet for her. The past Friday she had gotten a few calls to schedule a few interviews for some of the positions that she had filled out applications for, but none of those interviews were scheduled for today. Some of it, Jen figured was due to it being a weekend and some of it was in relation to some wedding that she'd heard rumblings of while she had gone about the process of delivering her applications and running grocery errands. At the time she paid that no mind, as it wasn't her business, though she did hope that whoever was getting married would have a long and happy life together that would never have that joy cut short.
Her thoughts on that as she made her way from the living room to the kitchen to get a bottle of water made her think of Jeff, though Jen honestly knew there was a lot that would make think of her husband. She loved him dearly and he loved her, and despite all that he went through in the military, he remained the same man she fell in love with. In that, there was plenty to remind Jen of him and in some ways that warmed her heart, but in others it also reminded her of what she had lost. Gone were the nights when she could turn to see Jeff looking back at her with a warm smile, soon to lead to more intimate encounters. Gone were the days when he had a day off and he spent time with her or with Tad. Gone were the talks at dinner where Jeff would describe something he thought was funny that had happened that day. Those were things that Jen missed, and had lead to her giving some obvious signs that she was still in heavy mourning for her husband.
"Well... at least Frances is a therapist and above all a friend," Jen thought to herself as she unscrewed the cap to the water battle, "she wouldn't make fun of me for missing him... and with his killer gone... she'd even be..."
Jen's thoughts were interrupted when there was a knock at the front door. That left her somewhat surprised as she didn't really expect any company, and since Tad had already left with Amy for the Halloween dance she didn't think it could be Amy. She also thought it was just early enough that there wouldn't be any trick or treaters out yet. Jen slowly made her way to the door, only to find that it was Samantha and Frances waiting for her at the front door. It was a surprise, but not necessarily a bad one.
"Samantha... Frances... I didn't expect to see you this evening..." Jen spoke, "what's up?"
"Nothing much," Frances gave a small smile, "just figured you might like to get out of the house for a little while. You know, have some fun and socialize with some people. After all, while a lot Moon Lake hasn't changed much over the years, there are a lot of things that are new."
"And it would get you out of the house for a little while and have fun with others," Samantha added with a fairly friendly smile.
"That doesn't sound like too bad of an idea," Jen commented, "but what sort of fun is this? I'm afraid I don't have a costume if you're thinking of the Halloween Dance."
The dance was generally a high school event, and most often only had high school students at the dance, but over the years it had grown into a town event and that it wasn't uncommon to see people who had moved to Moon Lake as adults became weres, but never attended Moon Lake High at the dance. Many times adults went as chaperones to make sure none of the high school students got out of hand or did anything that would be too risky, but some did go to dance with their own respective loves. But Jen knew that she didn't have that anymore with Jeff gone and that Samantha and Frances had each other. She didn't want to be a third wheel.
"You know full well that a costume isn't a requirement to go," Samantha gave a chuckle.
"And besides, we're going as chaperones anyway," Frances spoke, "Samantha as the Town Chancellor and to keep an eye on a couple of Freshmen specifically."
"Is there some danger?" Jen wondered.
"With them..." Samantha gave warm chuckle, "the only danger is that they might turn the Halloween Dance into the Valentines Dance. From what I've been told... the young couple are very much in love. But the request from both respective parents is to be a chaperone. We won't be spending all night spying on them. Just the standard making sure they don't get out of line and that there is no trouble."
"Not that Eric would cause trouble," Frances said to Samantha, "He's a bright kid and seems rather happy with Julie."
Jen didn't know who Eric and Julie were, at least not by only giving first names, but she wasn't going to pry into anything.
"Regardless, it'd give you a night out for awhile," Samantha commented, "Nothing wrong with that."
"And it would help you reintegrate into Moon Lake," Frances agreed, "as some things have changed..."
Jen shrugged. She really didn't have a problem with going out, though she knew that Tad had also gone to the dance. She didn't want to create a situation where it looked like she was stalking her son in some sort of "overprotective mother mode." Amy had so far proven to be a smart and intelligent young woman. Far more forward than Jen would have expected, but nothing that really gave her any real reason to worry. Her talks with Amy and the help that she and Tad gave for the Howler family regarding Amy's brothers was enough for Jen to feel safe in letting Tad date her.
"Well... I suppose it wouldn't be too bad..." Jen began, "but Tad has gone to the dance. I don't want to impose on him."
"I'm sure we can give him room," Samantha commented, "though, Frances and I would like to meet him."
"Okay," Jen managed, "though let me get into something a bit more appropriate than what I'm in right now."
Jen backed up for a moment and then stopped and looked back to Frances.
"This isn't a therapy session, is it?" Jen asked.
"No," Frances spoke, "I would like you to keep coming in with regard to grief counseling, but that would be discussed only at my clinic. Patient confidentiality is important. In certain situations, such as a response to a court order, I may share a diagnosis or my end judgement on the matter... but I cannot and I do not give any specific information revealed in any session. Anything that we discuss at the dance that relates to your sessions... will only be if you volunteer it."
"I'd think I'd like to keep that as "private" as possible," Jen answered and then headed for the stairs as Samantha and Frances came in. As she reached the stairs she stopped again and looked over her shoulder, "Will the rest of the pride be there?"
"Martha and her husband might be there briefly at the start," Samantha spoke, "but that might be only to drop off Eric and Julie. I think they want to be available for trick or treaters and have some Skulk related things later in the evening..."
"Ah... still enjoying the Halloween pranks, I see?" Jen managed a chuckle.
"I suppose," Frances and Samantha said together.