Polly slowly walked behind the two other uplifted Polar Bears, Chilly and Marcy as they all left the WSA's campus. In many ways she was quite amazed by all the Animalians in both Animalia and Lyre and that many of them seemed to go about life in ways that wasn't too unlike what she'd seen on television. In this, she was rather curious about all these Animalians and how they lived their lives and what they did, mostly as she had been kept so isolated. She had been allowed to move about, and Jeremy didn't stop her from "going out" at times, but in many respects she'd been isolated.
Polly had been kept in a home schooling program with note cards and things that Jeremy had bought online that covered all the major subjects. Many of them were interesting, though at times, Polly's interest was only to watch them and not much more. It often took Jeremy being there and watching them with her for her to be willing to do the assignments, but he never seemed to complain on that and he was always kind to her, which she liked very much. However, the incident stemming from Heather Wilcox's attack on Sophie and Roland had had many consequences that she didn't like. Most of them came from Jeremy's arrest and his presently being held in one of the security rooms at Horizon for his role in getting Heather Wilcox the Animalia Virus.
Jeremy's arrest had left Polly isolated and confused and she had responded in the way that only a little child could. By being upset and thinking that saying, "I'm sorry" was all that was needed. She tried that with her visits to Horizon, and they didn't quite work the way she expected, much to her disappointment. On top of this, people in Lyre had noticed her and had shuffled her over to WSA, where they found that despite the fact having the body of a young woman in her mid teens, thanks to the Animalia Virus in her own system, Polly's mental abilities were still closer to a seven year old's, which made her dangerous. She may not mean to harm anyone, but she could throw a massive temper tantrum that at her physical size could do real physical harm.
For the moment, both Marcy and Chilly were both rather quiet on the whole issue, but were glad that Polly agreed to come along with them. Marcy wasn't familiar enough with Jeremy and Polly's personal life to give any judgement on how he raised her and Chilly, while he'd been an Animalian for over a year now, was still coming to grips with many of the odd things that went into human social organizations and how they operated. He knew Marcy's parents and knew they loved her and would protect her with all their might, which would include him if he ever hurt Marcy's feelings. The one thing they did agree on was that Polly shouldn't be alone.
"So... you two are brother and sister?" Polly asked after a moment.
"No," Marcy answered, "we're bond mates... in love and together, but since we can't legally marry until I turn eighteen, being bond mates is... well... it's the Animalian equivalent of a promise ring. Chilly's promised himself to me and I to him and we'll be together under that. Marriage will simply make that official when we're legally able to do so."
"Legally... but weren't you both from the zoo?" Polly wondered curiously.
"I was," Chilly answered, "but when I was uplifted... I shook and twisted a little that scared Marcy and she dove into my enclosure to "save me." But at the time she was too small to really lift me, but I could see the kindness in her and when I was finished transforming... I couldn't just let her come to harm and couldn't not say thank you for being so kind. From there... well... Marcy became a female Polar Bear Animalian and we soon fell in love."
Marcy smiled at the memory, and was grateful that Chilly didn't get the more intimate details.
"So... he was your Prince Charming?" Polly asked Marcy.
"In a way, yes," Marcy answered, "but unlike the fairy tale, I wasn't saddled with an evil step mother. In fact, my parents were not only welcoming to Chilly, they joined us... and they will be most happy to meet you."
"Until my brother can come home," Polly spoke.
Marcy only nodded as they walked along until they came up to modest ranch style home. It was painted white with light blue trim and had a light blue metal decal of a bear over the doorbell. Polly marveled at it before Marcy ushered her inside. Once inside, she called out, hoping that at least her mom was home.
"Mom! Are you home?" Marcy called out.
A voice soon answered from the direction of the kitchen, "In the kitchen, dear. Did school go okay?"
"Yeah, mom," Marcy answered and began to usher Polly forward with Chilly following along behind, "though something's come up..."
"Come up?" was the response. Marcy knew that her mom would likely be curious, but she really didn't have an answer that would work well at a distance. As such she ushered Polly forward until they came into the kitchen. There, they found another double dosed Animalian in gray shorts and a shirt putting groceries away in a large refrigerator. The most telling thing was that this Animalian was also a Polar Bear, like Marcy and Chilly. There was soon some shocked staring as Polly looked at Marcy's mother and Marcy's mother looked to Polly.
"You two couldn't... didn't..." Marcy's mother began.
"Mom, this is Polly, she's the younger sister of one of the Horizon scientists," Marcy introduced Polly, "but he's in a bit of trouble at the moment that's left her a bit alone. The school thought it'd be a good idea that she stay with other Polar Bears until things are all sorted out."
"It shouldn't be for long," Polly spoke, "Jeremy's a good man and he loves me as only a big brother can."
Marcy's mother looked to Polly and then to Marcy and Chilly and asked, "did they say...?"
"Beyond the request that we take her in?" Chilly spoke, "we really didn't get much. But she does seem nice... and since you and your husband were so welcoming to me... and... well..."
"We thought that you'd be okay with looking after her, at least in the short term," Marcy spoke.
"At least for the short term," Marcy's mother spoke, "we can fold out the couch and let her sleep there... hopefully it'll hold."
Marcy's mom then came forward to find Polly looking up at her curiously, in a way that was not too unlike a young child. She couldn't help but give a warm smile to her.
"You're an Animalian," Polly stated as she looked up slightly to Marcy's mother.
"Yes, yes, I am, thanks to Marcy," Marcy's mom spoke, "and that is a story in and of itself..."
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Greg and Mari were kind and loving parents, and the Animalian Outbreak had been quite a surprise. The biggest surprise had been that not only had their "little" Marcy gotten caught up in it, she'd fallen in love with the one who converted her. But, in the end, Chilly seemed very polite and over the course of the summer had been very helpful around the house, and Mari did like having him around. In that, Chilly had proved himself as a potential mate for Marcy. There was some hope for a short time that Marcy could be human again, but after listening to the sounds from Chilly and Marcy together, it was soon pretty clear that Marcy wouldn't WANT to go back, even if a cure was found. That then lead Greg and Mari reaching a fateful decision before Animalia had its first Halloween...
"You... you guys want to join me and Chilly?" Marcy said in surprise at the dinner table as she sat on a bench that had been specially constructed to support her muscular weight as a Polar Bear Animalian.
"Yes, Marcy," Mari answered, "Your father and I do... It's pretty clear that you won't go back if a cure is found and Chilly has proven himself around the house and helped with many things... to levels that I wouldn't have thought of before the outbreak..."
"You'd be surprised what the zoo staff talk about when they're cleaning interior shelters and stalls," Chilly commented.
"In this... you should both know that you have our consent," Greg spoke, "Just so long as we don't have grandchildren before you get through college..."
"We promise," Chilly promised raising a paw, as if taking an oath, making Marcy giggle. Even Greg gave something of a smile.
"But... you should still have a family," Mari commented, "and neither Greg nor I know what will happen with regards to Animalia... be it becoming its own country or something or whether or not the government will try to turn it into a new zoo or something... And if they do... you'd be separate from us."
"And we don't want that," Greg added and reached out to softly take Marcy's free hand, "for good or for bad... we want you and Chilly to stay together and stay with us. So we may look after you as good parents should. And if the worst happens... it happens to all of us. As a family."
"Things seem pretty good right now, dad," Marcy commented.
"You never know what may happen," Greg answered, "please, Marcy. Let your mother and I do this... show that we welcome Chilly to our family and show that we still love you."
Marcy couldn't help but smile at that and moved to hug her father and then her mother. She really didn't have anything to really say on the request. It was made in love, and since the outbreak, they had learned a fair bit about Polar Bears, both from Chilly commented on from experience and what Marcy had found in books and on the internet. Of course, Animalia had no regulation that said every member of a human family that converted to be an Animalian had to be the same animal. In this, if her parents wanted to be storks, there was no rule against it. But their request was made in love and Marcy wasn't going to demand her parents be something other than Polar Bears with her and Chilly. In fact a part of her was eagerly awaiting to watch her parents transform.
After she finished her hugs, she went over to a cabinet shelf and collected four glasses and then moved to head toward a bathroom on the other side of the living room. She turned and walked backward as she went from the kitchen/dining room to the living room to explain things. Like any other double dosed or fully mature Animalian, Marcy was lactating and did periodically need to be milked to avoid carrying too much added weight on her chest, but that didn't mean she was going to take off her top in front of her parents and suckle them like babies.
"I'll be right back, just need to fill these up," Marcy spoke with a small smile and left her parents with Chilly.
Greg and Mari nodded and looked back to Chilly who sat quietly, half twiddling his thumbs. For a moment, he followed Marcy as she walked to the bathroom with his eyes, but then he returned his attention to his mate's parents, who had been so kind to him and even offered him a place to stay. Sometimes, Chilly felt like he didn't deserve all the kindness he'd gotten.
"You two have both been so kind to Marcy," Chilly said to them after a moment, not really knowing what else to say.
"She's our baby girl, regardless of what species she is and how big she is," Greg answered, "we'll always love her... and we've seen enough in you to think that you want what is best for her too... in the same way that I want the best for Mari... as a man loves his wife."
Chilly nodded.
"And as Marcy's future husband," Mari added, "that makes YOU family too."
"It does?" Chilly wondered.
"Yes, when a man and woman get married, their families are joined by marriage," Greg answered, "the groom's family becomes "in-laws" of the bride and the bride's family becomes "in-laws" of the groom. It shows that both are together as one... and bonded by love and the law."
"And we've seen that love between you and Marcy," Mari agreed with a smile to Chilly, "which is why we want to be family for YOU too. In the years to come, you and Marcy will have your own home and your own jobs and you'll be starting your own family... And they'll be Polar Bears like you two... but if they meet us and see that we're still human... they could be confused. So, we're doing this for family and to show you that you're welcome here, Chilly."
"Marcy and I can probably both share some of the spare clothing that Horizon's offered until the two of you have things that will fit the new you," Chilly commented as he noticed Marcy returning with a glass of milk in each hand. His long ursine muzzle could also easily tell that it was bear milk not cow's milk, as the scents were slightly different.
"Okay, here is dose one," Marcy spoke as she announced and placed one glass in front of Greg and another in front of Mari, "I'll be back with dose two."
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"And from there, my husband I drank the Polar Bear milk that Marcy provided and we became Animalians," Mari smiled over to Polly, "and never looked back. We're happy to have Marcy as a daughter and are proud that Chilly became such a polite and respectful Animalian and we are eagerly waiting for the day they can get married. The rest is history."
Of course, the rest of that history was rather adult oriented and despite her physical build, in which Polly was tall enough to look down on members of the Rhino Guard, Mari got the sensation that Polly really wasn't mature enough to fully comprehend the very romantic evening that Mari and Greg had after their transformation with Marcy and Chilly engaging in similar activity shortly after her. In that, Mari made sure her story was rated PG.
"And in that, you'll be welcome here, Polly," Marcy said.
"What about my brother?" Polly asked, "He's not a bad man. He loves me very much. He plays with me. He provides seals..."
That even made Chilly blink. While Polar Bears DID primarily feed on seals and sea lions in the wild, he'd never been fed that while in the zoo. Most of what he'd been feed had been fish, which they had in greater supply. After becoming an Animalian, he'd enjoyed a fair number of foods that Marcy's family ate, but neither did they eat seals. In fact the only seals in Lyre/Animalia were those that were in the aquatic exhibit during the initial outbreak. No wild seal population lived in Nevada and it was also doubtful that humans could get seal meat imported, if that was even legal. In this, Chilly Marcy, and Mari all figured that Polly's brother was feeding her beef or pork with a lot of the gristle still on the meat and telling Polly that it was seal meat.
"I don't think we have the room to house your brother here, too," Mari commented, "and I'm sure that when whatever trouble he's in is "paid for," he'll return to his own home. By then... it may come time to return you to him."
"What about Marcy?" Polly asked, "She offered to be my sister."
"And in a way, she may," Mari spoke, "but being sisters may not mean you'll always be together..."
"And all Eliza told us was that your brother was in some sort of trouble and that we needed to look after you," Marcy added, "we don't know how long he'll be in trouble... and we don't want a fight. When he's free to be with you, we may have to stand back and let him resume custody, because he is your brother."
"We can set an arrangement that you can come and visit and that we can all be friends," Mari spoke, "and you can bring him to visit as well... but Marcy is right. If your brother has legal custody, and his legal situation hasn't affected that... then when he's released, you'll go back to him. But you will have us as... and all of Animalia as friends."