Sunset for Halloween 2015 was approaching.
Soon the Trick or Treaters would be out and about.
Members of the Skulk, including William Anderson now in his werefox fursona, were already taking their positions at selected intersections to help those in need this night.
Martha Anderson, being only an honorary member since she was the married werecat of William, was at home putting the final touches on her youngest son Eric's costume, although both were still currently in their human forms.
"There. Not a bad Jacques Cousteau if I do say so myself," said Martha, showing off Eric in the full length mirror of her bedroom.
Eric looked at least like a French sailor, if not the famous oceanographer. The outer jacket and matching hat were just his size, even with the youngest Anderson recently becoming a were-merman. The shirt (with a Cousteau name tag sewn on) and khaki pants had to be adjusted since his entry into were society, with Eric now having a more toned swimmer's body, but thankfully the tennis shoes still fit well.
"Do you think you need some makeup for beard stubble?" she asked him.
"No. It might not have been as often as he would have liked, but Cousteau did shave fairly regularly. At least in most of those documentaries I saw," replied Eric. Then he paused before saying, "Mom, can I ask you something?"
"What sweetheart?" as his mother started gathering together her costume for tonight. She was just planning to wear a mask and go in her fursona as a mysterious feline to celebrate becoming a werecat since moving to Moon Lake.
"Is it natural to miss someone when they're not here, even if you know you'll see them later?"
"Julie. Right?" assumed Mrs. Anderson, looking more closely at her son.
Eric nodded affirmatively as Martha said, "Yes, it is. It's only natural. You're in love. And what's even better, like Nate and Alex, you found your true love on the very first try," she added with a smile, while trying to hold back the tears of joy she felt forming.
"What about you and dad?" asked Eric.
"What about me and your father?" she asked in return.
"I know things are much better now since we moved here and you both became weres," began Eric, knowing that his father's life/soulmate bond with his mother since becoming a werefox, and his mother's newfound happiness since acknowledging her bi nature and becoming a werecat, that nothing could tear them apart now. But there was still the shadow of the past hanging over their history together.
Martha Anderson stared at her son and said, "It wasn't true love at first sight like Julie says it was with you, but I did fall in love with your father, and knew that he was the only man for me, even back when I was denying my true nature. That's why finding out he cheated on me hurt even more than it should have. Some relationships do have their ups and downs. That unfortunately is just a part of life," conceded Martha.
She wouldn't bring up the fact that William sired a daughter with a co-ed when she was hoping to have one with him, let alone the fact that he'd have to pay child support until the kid's 18th birthday with no visitation rights, wasn't a pleasant memory either.
"When you're apart, you miss Julie, and I'm sure she misses you," added his mother, to which Eric simply nodded.
"Hopefully separation anxiety will be the only hang up in your relationship. After all, thanks to those prophecy dreams some weres have, you two know what lies in your future," said Martha, thinking about the day she and William would be grandparents to Eric Junior and Melinda Anderson.
"But your father and I are much better now. We have a very bright future together, and so do you and Julie. Who, by the way, you shouldn't keep waiting young man," his mother reminded him.
"You're right. Got to go! See you at the dance. Love you!" said Eric, giving Martha a quick peck on the cheek before running out of her bedroom.
They grow up so fast, thought Martha. Then she turned to look at herself in the mirror.
Someday, we will have a daughter of our own, Martha promised herself, before totally undressing so she could assume her fursona for the night.
ELSEWHERE...
"You make a lovely mermaid," Melissa Stovall said, while brushing out her daughter's blonde hair. "Then again, I knew that since the day you were born," she added, before kissing the top of Julie's head.
"You make a wonderful mermaid too," replied her daughter, while reaching over her shoulder to hold Melissa's hand.
The two of them were in Julie's bedroom. She was sitting on the stand in front of her makeup table, with her mother standing behind her brushing out her hair as Julie finished getting ready.
Julie was wearing a dazzling two piece bikini. Not as low cut as she would have preferred it to be if it had been just her and Eric alone somewhere, instead of the two of them attending a public event at the high school gym. Then again, her father always said his daughter could make even a burlap sack attractive.
Julie was wearing flip flops at the moment but would assume her Stage 2 form, displaying the webbing between her fingers and toes as well as the were-mer scales on her legs, once they reached the dance.
"Mom, can I ask you a question?"
"What dear?" as Melissa kept brushing Julie's hair.
"Whenever I'm with Eric, I get this funny feeling."
"A good funny feeling or a bad one?"
"I'm not sure. It's as if I want to go somewhere secluded, just the two of us, and spawn with him," replied Julie.
Melissa Stovall stopped brushing her daughter's hair and looked at Julie in the mirror. "You're still taking your were-mermaid birth control pill every day, right?"
"Yes mother," said Julie, much to her relief. "The dreams Eric and I have had together clearly say that we don't become parents until after we graduate college and have our careers underway. We certainly don't want to jeopardize our future, let alone our children's existence. But still..."
"I know what it is," said Melissa calmly, while putting down the hair brush and repositioning herself to look at Julie directly. "You know that for were-mers, 'love at first sight' and 'happily forever after' are actual, proven scientific concepts and not just the fond wishes of romantic fairy tales," to which Julie nodded affirmatively.
"When you find the one you're destined to be with, and that person loves you in return, let alone is willing to become a were-mer if they're not already one," continued her mother, as Julie thought happily back upon when she and Eric gave each other their virginity as she ushered him into were society*, "that is truly a magical moment in a were-mer's life. But one thing you have to take into account is that although what you're feeling right now is both natural and special, it's something a were-mermaid usually doesn't experience until she's in her 20s at the earliest."
"So once more, Eric and I are seriously ahead of the curve," realized Julie, thinking again about the comparisons to their relationship against the one her parents have.
"Yes," conceded Melissa. "I don't care what your father says, the one regret I shall always have in my life until the day I breathe my last is the fact that it took me ten years to realize your dad was, is, and will be the only man for me. All that wasted time being a normal human being alone and lonely, trying to get my career and Stovall Systems** up and running when we could have..."
Julie stood up and gave her mother a hug before Melissa Stovall could start crying.
"Anyway," said Melissa, while grabbing a tissue to dab at her eyes. "Once we were married and I became his were-mermaid, I felt the spawning urges too. But we were both adults with our careers already established, especially since your father had just started his first term as Mayor of Moon Lake, so the time was right and nine months after our honeymoon, you entered our lives," she added, while giving Julie a hug in return.
"And they all lived happily forever after," said Julie with a smile.
"Yes, they do," agreed her mother. "Now then, I do have a question for you. Where did you ever come up with the name Melinda for my future granddaughter?"
"I have absolutely no idea. Eric agrees that Junior is obvious, but he's totally in the dark about that too."
Then they both heard the front doorbell chime.
"We both know who that is," said Melissa with a smile, as she looked down at the single pearl necklace*** Julie proudly wore around her neck.
"I'll see you and dad at the dance mom," said Julie with a smile, before grabbing her purse and heading downstairs to the front door and a waiting Eric Anderson.
Alone in her daughter's bedroom, Melissa Anderson stared at her reflection in Julie's mirror.
Hmm... Julie's right. Her parents love each other deeply, and Martin and I aren't even 100 yet. I wonder how he feels about having another child now, instead of waiting until after Julie graduates high school like we originally planned?
_________________________________________________________________________
*WAAAY back in a five part sequence, starting with the episode "Marco..."
**Melissa's computer firm.
***The were-mer version of an engagement ring.—tmw.