{{Fair warning folks. This episode gets pretty dramatic.—tmw.}}
As the Andersons were finishing up their dinner (in our previous episode) while Samantha and Frances Twist went to bed early (in the episode before that), things were kind of tense at the Jenkins' household.
Hardly anyone spoke during their evening meal, and even then the conversations were guarded. Most of the time, it was in relation to "Pass this," "Please hand me that," and comments about the food.
It wasn't that most everyone gathered round the table didn't have something to say, but with Jenny Harper-Jenkins' mother Elizabeth Harper there, some subjects were not to be discussed.
Like weres, the impending emancipation of the juveniles John and Janice Harper-which Jenny feared her parents would fight-although it was for her siblings' better well fare to get them away from such an overbearing father, James Harper Senior's narrow mindedness that allowed Dieter Wilhelm to get as far as he did in his nefarious scheme to attempt making Jenny "his", or all the years Mrs. Harper was practically nothing more than either a floor mat that her husband could walk all over or a parrot supporting his outdated opinions.
The fact that the Harpers' Patriarch was currently in the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit of Moon Lake General Hospital didn't help matters either.
But unfortunately, it was inevitable that at some point during dinner somebody might slip.
Yet no one foresaw that it would be Jenny's new husband Harry Jenkins that did so.
As they were finishing up dessert, Harry turned to his blushing bride and asked, "What time tomorrow is your appointment with Doctor Twist?"
Jenny was about to answer when her mother said, "Doctor? Are you all right?"
"Yes mother," was all Jenny would say.
Elizabeth Harper stared at her daughter for a moment, then asked, "The sudden rush to get married to someone your father didn't approve of wasn't because you're pregnant, are you?"
"No mother," Jenny said coldly. "It's going to be quite a while yet before Harry and I have any ki-" and then she stopped herself from saying KITS, because she and her husband were both werefoxes, instead of KIDS.
"You're not using birth control, are you?" Mrs. Harper demanded to know. "That goes against God's plan of being fruitful and multiplying."
"What's bir-" Janice Harper started to ask, but was instantly shushed by those sitting on either side of her.
"Mother. It's the 21st century," Jenny said calmly. "Harry and I will have children when we're ready to. Not before."
"It just isn't right. Going against God's will," protested Elizabeth.
"This coming from a woman who got married to a jerk only because she was pregnant with me," whispered James Harper Junior under his breath, knowing the back story of his birth because when it was time for "The Talk"; his father told him the same thing his father had told him about how a man should never get hitched until you've had a chance to take the mare out for a test ride first.
"What was that?" Elizabeth Harper wanted to know.
Thankfully, she didn't catch what he said but, although everyone was presently within their human forms, the weres at the table had heard every word.
"Nothing mother," was all her oldest son said, sidestepping the issue.
"Well Jennifer Harper, what kind of doctor are you seeing?" her mother asked. "It's not one of those high faluting plastic cosmetic surgeons, is it? Although that goes against God's will too, that would at least explain why you look differently now than you did before leaving Alabama."
"No mother," replied Jenny, trying to keep her composure. Her improved looks were because of the changes her body experienced when she became a werevixen, but that was none of Elizabeth Harper's business. "Doctor Twist is a therapist."
"Therapist?" her mother repeated, confused.
"Doctor Twist is someone who helps people address and handle their emotional problems," replied Jenny, starting to feel a bit angry.
"Now what emotional problems could you have?" Elizabeth Harper wanted to know. "You're nowhere near old enough to suffer menopause," which made Harry's mother Lisa blush.
"You. Dad. Dieter Wilhelm," answered Jenny coldly.
"What?" asked her mother in disbelief.
"You knew what was happening in that house for years and you never said or did anything to ease the stress for anyone. Not even yourself! I had to get out when I did, and even then things didn't go smoothly," said Jenny, as she reached under the table for Harry's hand.
"Jennifer, I..." began Elizabeth Harper, staring at her eldest daughter.
And then the Matriarch of the Harper family did the one thing nobody expected her to.
Elizabeth Harper grabbed her napkin and started to cry.
"I think some of us better clear the room," suggested Henry Jenkins Senior, while looking at the younger Harper siblings.
Without another word, Janice and John Harper stood up and allowed themselves to be escorted out of the dining room by Betty Timid and Lisa Jenkins.
Henry "Huck" Jenkins Junior looked between his father and his younger brother, wondering upon his best course of action. Henry Senior just continued to stare at their guest, while Harry simply shrugged his shoulders to indicate he didn't know. In the end, Huck decided to stay put, for now.
James Junior and Jenny exchanged looks too. Jenny said, "Even if we should call her, I don't have a home number for Frances," referring to Doctor Twist.
Her oldest brother said, "Maybe we should just let her cry. After all, it's been a long time coming and until this weekend, I don't think she's ever shed a tear since her father passed away."
Jenny thought about it for a moment, and then said, "Let me sit next to her for a bit," as she and Harry switched places.
After scooting her chair closer to Elizabeth Harper and placing a hand on each of her shoulders, Jenny gently said, "Mother."
Elizabeth Harper looked up at her oldest daughter, although she continued crying.
"Mother. Please listen to me," begged Jenny.
When the only response was the older woman staring at her, Jenny continued speaking. "Mother, I know life with your husband hasn't been easy. None of us have been able to deal with Dad the way we should."
There was a quizzical look on Elizabeth Harper's face as her daughter said that.
Jenny just nodded her head affirmatively. "You know it's true."
"I-" began her mother, and then she turned to look at her oldest son.
Since her husband's heart attack, she had turned to him for guidance, bowing to his wishes as if he was man of the house now and his word was law. James Junior simply stared back at the woman who brought him and his siblings into the world and nodded in agreement with Jenny. "We know how Dad's treated you. A lesser woman would have left him a long time ago."
"But divorce is a sin..." protested Elizabeth Harper.
"And to allow a man to prey upon a weak willed woman is an even greater sin," said Jenny in return. "You've been a victim for years. What's even worse, you stood idly by and did nothing while father preyed upon us too with his ideas of how children should be raised properly."
Tears started forming anew in Elizabeth's eyes. "What do you mean? All I've ever done is be a good and faithful wife who stood by her husband," she sobbed.
"Right or wrong?" asked Jenny.
"Err... yes," admitted her mother.
"And how many times has father been wrong?" Jenny wanted to know.
Meanwhile, Huck leaned across the table towards his father and said, "Do you think..."
"That the Harpers should handle this alone?" Henry Senior finished for his son. "Yes. Let's give them some space and privacy," he said, getting up to lead Huck out of the dining room.
"Jenny..." began James Junior, seeing the stress on their mother's face.
"She has to face this sooner or later James, and the sooner the better," Jenny said sternly, while never taking her eyes off their mother. "How many times has father been wrong?"
"I..."
"How many times has he corrected us under the mistaken belief of spare the rod and spoil the child, even when we did absolutely nothing wrong?"
"I-"
"How many times has he told you to shut up? That your place was in the kitchen and not in any of his business, especially when he was making decisions that affected the future of the Harper family? Decisions that you should of had a say in!" Jenny wanted to know.
"I–"
"How many times..."
And that is when Elizabeth Harper collapsed into her daughter's arms and started crying again.
"There, there," said Jenny, wrapping her arms around her mother. "I know my words were tough to hear, but they are the truth."
"...yes..." finally agreed Elizabeth, in a whisper only the weres still in the room had any chance of hearing.
"Now then," began Jennifer Harper-Jenkins in a more pleasant tone of voice, while still holding her mother. "Those days are over. Tomorrow is the first day of your new life. Of everybody's new lives, and you're going to live your's to the fullest."
"But what about your father?" wondered her mother, still being held by her child.
"I'm not saying you should divorce dad, but you do need to start thinking for yourself again. With his heart, dad's going to be incapacitated for quite a while, if he ever manages to hold down any kind of job again at all, so it will be up to you to start making some serious decisions and run the household the way it needs to be run."
"ME?" asked Elizabeth in disbelief, as she tried to pull away from Jenny.
"Yes. You," replied Jenny, refusing to let her mother go. "You can do it mother. You need to be strong and do what's right, for all of us."
"How?" asked the totally confused woman in Jenny's arms.
"You start by agreeing to and helping with the arrangements for the emancipation of Janice and John into my custody," began Jenny. "You distance the Harper family from Dieter Wilhelm and his associates as much as you can, even to the point of making sure you and dad testify in court against them if necessary."
"I-" began Elizabeth, as she felt a warmth overtake her.
"When you get home, you start cutting expenses and familiarize yourself with family matters," suggested Jenny. "Father's been handling all that for years on his own. I bet you don't even know how much money there is in the checking account right now. Let alone whether or not there even is a savings account."
"He's given me grocery money whenever I needed it, but..."
"That, and a whole lot of other stuff has to change, and for the better," pointed out Jenny. "You might even have to start working to earn an income to support the family because he won't be able to for at least a few months, if not longer."
"The sewing..." began Elizabeth, as she started to feel a new resolve grow within her.
"By the time I graduate college next spring, maybe you can sell the house and move into a smaller place with less upkeep and expenses," suggested James Junior.
"Yeah," agreed Jenny.
"But the house is in your father's name," revealed Elizabeth Harper.
"That's wrong. The two of you should of had joint ownership from the start," replied Harry Jenkins. "In fact, you might even have to get power of attorney over your husband's affairs until he's back on his feet again."
"Can I do that?" asked Elizabeth, as something 'clicked' within her mind.
"I think you should," replied Harry. "In fact, do you even know whether or not your husband has a will?"
"I-"
"What if he passes away and leaves the house and everything else in limbo?" Harry asked his new mother-in-law. "Or worse, what if he left everything to someone other than you?"
"He wouldn't do that. Would he?" wondered Elizabeth Harper.
"Knowing dad the way I do, it's anybody's guess," admitted her oldest son. The law should recognize the surviving spouse in a marriage, but still...
"Mother, look at me," requested Jenny, breaking away from her just enough for the two women to stare at each other face to face. "I know it's going to be a long and difficult road ahead for you, but you CAN do it! I have faith in you. James does too, and he'll be there in Alabama for moral support."
"I can do this?" repeated Elizabeth Harper, as if it was a question.
Then, finally realizing the answer for herself, the woman expressed the first smile on her face any of her children could recall seeing in years and proudly said, "I CAN DO THIS!"
James Junior and Harry looked at each other in disbelief, while Jenny simply smiled at her mother.
What no one in the room was aware of, not even Jenny herself, was that Skulk leader Tachibana no Akane believed Jenny—with her natural blonde hair turning into a luxurious coat of blonde fur when she assumed her werevixen form—was a rarely seen "healer fox", capable of tending to the needs of others whenever necessary.
Akane's belief in Jenny had already been proven by the fact that the rogue werevixen that had callously brought Jenny into were society simply as a distraction to escape the authorities chasing her had already changed her evil ways because of Jenny; although no one was aware that the new Mrs. Jenkins was responsible for this. Not even Jenny herself.
"Now, it's been a long day for everyone," began Jenny, knowing that the evening should come to an end. "I want you to get a good night's rest and in the morning, you start tackling everything anew."
"I will," replied Elizabeth, sounding more confident than she had in years. "I will." Then she turned to look at Harry. "Young man..."
"Yes?" said Harry.
"We haven't met under the best of circumstances, but I hope to get to know you better before I return to Alabama. If Jenny married you, she obviously knows something that I don't."
"Your daughter is pretty special," agreed Harry.
"Yes, she is," concurred Elizabeth Harper. Then she turned to James Junior and said, "Son, I think we've taken up enough of these people's time for tonight. Where are we staying?"
"So far, you've been staying in the hospital room with dad, but there's a motel room available for us if you want to use it," he replied.
"Good. I really need a good night's sleep, and then I'll start tackling everything anew in the morning. Starting with agreeing to or making whatever arrangements we need to put Janice and John in Jenny's custody," announced Mrs. Harper.
Jenny turned to look at her older brother in disbelief, neither realizing that their mother was parroting a lot of Jenny's words.
As James Junior led his mother out of the dining room to make arrangements with Henry Jenkins Senior for a ride to the motel, Jenny turned and smiled at her new husband.
"What just happened?" asked Harry.
Jenny just shrugged her shoulders and said "Damned if I know. But now you see why I want to switch majors and become a therapist like Doctor Twist."
Then she leaned closer to him and whispered in Harry's ear, "When we're alone in our room for the night, I just want to get furry and have you hold me close like a dear and loving husband should until I fall asleep in your arms. I do have to agree with mom on one thing. It has been a long day," said Jenny, unable to suppress the yawn she felt about to escape.
"Whatever you want Mrs. Jenkins. Whatever you want," promised Harry.
Jenny kissed her husband and asked, "Please say that again."
"What?"
"Mrs. Jenkins," requested Jenny with a smile.
"Mrs. Jenkins, my love," replied Harry, before the happy couple kissed.