Jenny and Harry stretched calmly as they got up for the day, happily in the knowledge that they were happily married and that nothing and no one could ever derail that. Their early morning was fairly quiet as they got ready for their morning classes, primarily their class with Mr. Anderson first thing in the morning. Huck was still asleep on the fold out bed with Betty resting beside him while Janice and John were camped in what had been Huck's old room before he moved out. It was only a little bit before they left for their morning class that Henry Jenkins Sr. came out for a cup of coffee and his own breakfast.
"Getting ready for the day?" Henry asked softly so as not to disturb those sleeping in the living room.
"Yeah," Jenny nodded, "We have our eight o'clock class and then the appointment with Doctor Twist almost immediately after. We'll probably pick up my older brother and my mother on the way."
Henry nodded and made his way to the coffee pot, smiling to see that the burner was on and that there was coffee left. He said nothing as he selected a mug and began to pour coffee into it. Eventually he took a small sip and looked back his son and his wife.
"And what on the decision to work with the transfer of custody for your younger siblings?" Henry asked, "That will require legal help..."
"That's where we're not so sure on who to go to," Jenny spoke, "I suppose we could ask Mrs. Tachibana... but she's already done so much for us... I really don't want to burden her with all this."
"It may not hurt to at least get her advice," Henry commented, "the Skulk's lawyers have a reputation for being pretty good at their job... though, I'm not sure if that's with family law or corporate law... and there ARE differences, but it might be a good starting point."
Jenny and Harry both nodded to that. Securing a change in custody for John and Janice would be a major legal hurdle, particularly in the fact that Jenny had long filed for residency in Washington State, though using her dorm address at the college in the papers , which would essentially mean that transferring Janice and John from her parents custody to hers to get them away from James Senior might not be easy. They'd obviously have to deal with legal issues that would cross both state lines, and while Alabama and Washington State might have similar rules, they might both require that they be filled out with regard to that move in custody and to make that transfer official. There would also be the issue of whether or not James Senior would agree to it, which Harry and Jenny would need if they were to avoid a lawsuit on the subject.
"That makes sense," Harry said slowly, "they might be able to help us with who to go to."
"Though... you can look after John and Janice?" Jenny asked, "I mean... until they're officially transferred here and all the legal hoops are hopped through... they can't go to school here, as they wouldn't be residents here until Harry and I get custody..."
"Huck will have his check up to make sure he's healing from the gunshot wound later today," Henry spoke, "but I'm sure we can keep your younger siblings occupied... Might take it as an excuse to take them around town. Let them see the sights."
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The day also started fairly early for James Junior and Elizabeth Harper in the hotel room that the hospital had set aside for Elizabeth when it was revealed that James Senior would be needing a rather lengthy stay in the hospital's cardiology ward after having a massive heart attack at Moon Lake's Baptist Church. There was plenty of issues where there were a great many hoops to hop through. There was the issue "emancipation" for Janice and John to transfer them from James Sr. and Elizabeth Harper to Jennifer and Harold (Harry) Jenkins, which would be easy if the senior Harpers could agree to it. The other was seeing to Elizabeth Harper taking some realization that she was her own woman and that even with what love it its own way that she had for her husband, she did not have to do exactly as James Sr. said.
There were plenty of problems that could come with all of this, and James Jr. had spent much of the previous day trying to figure out how to do that. However, many of the ideas he'd had seemed to either mean he would manipulate Elizabeth's old habit of letting herself be subservient to him and could backfire in other areas if and when Elizabeth could be encouraged to think for herself. Most of the rest reflected that James Jr. really didn't know what to do with actually getting Elizabeth to think for herself. One of his first ideas had been to introduce his mother, privately to his own girlfriend/fiancée, but given other issues, he'd put that aside.
He'd wanted to find some way for that, and had privately talked to Jenny on that. Jenny wasn't quite sure either, but that wasn't the end of the discussion and lead to the biggest surprise that had happened the previous night. That happened when Jenny directly confronted her mother on the issue and there was a brief moment of tactile contact between them. Almost immediately after, Elizabeth Harper seemed to act more and more independent than she'd ever had before. James Junior couldn't figure out why it'd happened and it was a major surprise to him. That then kept him up tossing and turning through the night as he tried to think things over and got no where on it. Sure, Moon Lake was some kind of sanctuary for were-beasts as Jenny had showed him by assuming her were form, but James had never read any story about weres having anything close to what he'd witnessed.
By the time that James Junior began to drift into deep sleep, the black plastic radio on the wooden nightstand between the two beds came on and made him shoot up in the bed.
"Guah!" James Jr. gave a sort of started noise at the sound of the alarm clock going off, as he clearly didn't expect it to.
"It's the alarm, dear," Elizabeth said slowly as she looked back over to her eldest son as he sat there in the other bed.
The motel room wasn't the richest looking of facilities It was clean and well maintained, but it was rather small. Even with two queen size beds, a small table with two wooden chairs, the stand on which the alarm clock was, a wooden stand on which and older looking television stood being across from the beds, the room wasn't that large. The ceiling was rather high, but that was about it. It had a small bathroom, but that wasn't much more than a simple sink and shower. It was very much as though no one expected to stay long in the motel.
"Yeah..." James Junior turned and leaned over to turn off the alarm, "I know."
Elizabeth watched him give a small yawn as he leaned over.
"Did you sleep okay?" Elizabeth asked.
"Fairly well," James Jr. answered, "though I think I could have slept longer... all the stress with what is going on..."
Elizabeth bit her lip for a moment as she did recognize that stress. It was the strange thing on how she'd suddenly realized just how much she'd let herself slide in simply agreeing with James Sr. without thinking, or simply accepting her own parents' decisions without thinking. It felt like her ability to think had been turned off for years, and in doing so, she'd found that she'd actually allowed her husband to nearly do the same to their children. Though with even Alabama changing from where it was in the 1960s and 1970s, that sort of mentality that her husband had clung to wasn't going to remain everywhere. And from some other discussions, it seemed that from what friends her children did have, they'd learned enough somewhere to realize that their father's view on the world wasn't as right as he thought it was.
"I'm sorry," Elizabeth slowly, "I... I suppose... that a lot of this would be with your father and I..."
"It's okay," James Jr. commented, "as so long as you recognize where your faults are and address them... things can get better."
James Jr. slowly stood up and stretched. It gave Elizabeth a few of the dark blue boxers that her son was wearing. It wasn't necessarily a desired sight for the middle aged woman, but then since James Sr. had planned that the entire mission would be merely to collect Jenny and return to Alabama, no one had really packed that much in the way of clothes. James Junior, who had some idea that Jenny would not be coming back didn't pack anything because he figured that they'd go through the wedding and would have to leave in "defeat" before the day ended. James Senior's heart attack was the unexpected hitch in the plans that meant they would have to stay longer.
"Anyway," James spoke as he walked around to the table where his pants, shirt and socks lay over the back of a chair, "we've got a fair amount to get done today. Jenny and Harry have their morning classes, but when they finish they will be by to pick us up. From there she has her last therapy appointment... and then I'd think she'd then have some appointments to go through with regard to transferring custody of John and Janice to Jenny."
"Right," Elizabeth said acceptingly.
From there the two went about getting dressed. The clothing was old, but it was the best they had available to them given the circumstances. From there James Junior went to the front desk to ask about a breakfast. He ultimate returned with a pair of powdered jelly donuts and a couple of cups of coffee. It wasn't exactly rich food, but in many ways it was something that Elizabeth was rather used to it. She managed and she and James Junior made due and waited with regard to their early morning, which then lasted until nearly nine AM when the honking of a car horn was heard.
"That's probably Harry and Jenny," James Junior spoke, "we'd best go."
Elizabeth nodded, surprisingly more in agreement than in submission.