{{FRIENDLY REMINDER: Earth 2 is a totally different continuity than any of our Earth 1 threads.—tmw.}}
After steamy bouts of hot sex between brief naps all morning long, Douglas Cooper now laid in bed next to his fiance Joan Morning Cloud, simply holding and staring at the beautiful woman in his arms.
Love was a foreign concept to the Sheriff of Moon Lake.
He thought he had been in it once or twice before.
Misunderstand love as a younger man was part of the reason he was now a were-grizzly bear.
But despite his past, there was absolutely no denying how Douglas felt about the weretigress lying next to him, her furry body nestled against his.
"Do you have to go?" Joan asked, a paw gently caressing his furry chest as she nuzzled her head underneath his chin.
"Honestly, I don't want to, but I have to," replied Douglas, while kissing the top of his fiance's head.
The couple had already experienced their were-wedding and were now married in the eyes of nature when Douglas finally got up the nerve to admit how he felt and proposed to her, but they had yet to set a date or have an official wedding as far as any legal entity was concerned.
"After the night we've had, everyone understood me taking some time off this morning, but there are still plenty of things that have to be done and addressed in the aftermath of that mobster Fredrick Parker being shot, let alone those other things I've heard over my department radio on the dresser: like Jack Crawford being arrested in Seattle, the Elders having an emergency meeting about everything that might affect Moon Lake, and that report about a teacher hitting a kid at the high school."*
"Afraid I wasn't paying attention," admitted Joan. "When we're alone, I tend to just concentrate on you and me," she added, before kissing him.
"That's not necessarily a bad thing," replied Douglas, feeling her feline lips upon his as his man-bear hood started to stir between his legs again.
"When the time comes, will we even be able to enjoy our wedding, let alone a honeymoon?" wondered Joan, knowing how much being the Sheriff of Moon Lake intruded upon their lives.
"We'll make the time," he promised, before kissing her again.
"I'm going to hold you to that vow Mister Cooper. And the one you'll make at the altar too."
"And I intend to keep those vows, and a lot more," he replied with a smile.
MEANWHILE...
"Any word on or from Eric?" Spencer Lawson asked Frieda Knight as they passed each other in the hallway going between their fourth and fifth period classes.
"I sense he isn't in pain any more, and not in his fursona, so the doctor at the hospital must have been able to mend his broken nose," surmised Frieda.
"That Jeff Wilson better be glad I have more control over my emotions than I used to, or there'd be a lot of pork on the school lunch menu in the next few days," growled Spencer under her breath, referring to the were-pig that punched Eric in the nose once the private detective hired by Frieda's father Benton exposed the dirty secret of Wilson's past.
"If it came to that honey, you'd have to get in line behind me and we'd be arguing over the scraps right now," replied Frieda, baring her teeth even though both girls were currently in their human forms.
"Say, did you feel a little woozy during fourth period?" asked Spencer, looking at her girlfriend and co-lover of Eric as they neared the intersection where they'd have to separate to go to their next class.
"Yeah. Someone at the hospital must have given Eric a pain killer. I'm surprised we felt anything at all, considering the distance involved."
"Someday, somehow, we should explore just how deeply this emphatic link between the three of us truly runs, if possible. But right now we've got to get to class. See you later dear," promised Spencer, giving her girlfriend a quick peck on the cheek before reluctantly leaving Frieda.
AT MOON LAKE HOSPITAL...
"Okay. All the forms have been filled out, so you're free to go," the admissions clerk told William Anderson and his son Eric.
Why they were at the Emergency Room of Moon Lake General Hospital was quite obvious, considering the large bandage over Eric's nose, but that wasn't what made Eric stop and stare at the admissions clerk.
"Is something wrong son?" asked William, worried Eric might be having side effects or unforeseen consequences from something.
"Walker? Any relation to Brian Walker?" Eric asked the clerk, noticing her name tag.
"Yes. Brian's my only son," Emily Walker said proudly.
"I don't know him that well," admitted Eric, finding it easier to talk since seeing the doctor, "but he's a good guy."
"Nice to know," said Emily with a smile, as she felt the cellphone in her skirt pocket vibrate. "I'll tell him you said hello," she promised, as William led Eric out the front door of the Emergency Room.
Then Emily paused and took out her cellphone.
A button push later revealed the incoming text.
NEEDED AFTER SCHOOL BECAUSE OF EMERGENCY COUNCIL MEETING. WILL DO HOMEWORK THERE. LOVE BRIAN.
Emily Walker just sighed as she put the cellphone back in her skirt pocket and resumed her work.
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*All recent events of this series.—tmw.