Leaving Doctor Twist's clinic, Jenny stretched and felt quite proud. On one level, it was with the proud assurance that she was a happy and healthy member of the Moon Lake Skulk, the town's werefox community in which she was one vixen among many and in a town where she was one were among many. Her entrance into were society hadn't quite been what she'd imagined, but then there had been a lot in her life that wasn't exactly "normal," by anyone's standards. But now she was happy and healthy and she had a lifetime lover in Harry Jenkins, who once they were ready would have plenty of little werefox kits to raise and probably spoil silly.
The thing that filled her with the most pride though, was her mother. She turned to see her mother come out from the clinic with a look of refreshment on her face as well, which was a good thing. Her father wasn't an evil man, and in terms of protecting the Harper family, he'd done a good job over the years, but he'd been obsessed with a definition of family and leadership that didn't even belong in the nineteenth century, let alone the twenty-first century. It was something that had made her determined to get away from her father with the wedding being sort of her final goodbye to him, but that had carried with it its own stresses.
"Let me help you with that, Mom," James Junior said to Elizabeth Harper as he offered the older woman a hand down from the curb before approaching the Jenkins vehicle.
"How are you feeling, mom?" Jenny asked hesitantly.
There had been a lot of surprises that she hadn't expected with regard to dealing with her parents, both before and after the wedding. Some of the things her father had pulled were to be expected, and reinforced Jenny's determination to get John and Janice away from him before he took is rage out on them before James Jr. could stop him, or apparently persuade her father to take it out on him rather than the younger ones, but there were some surprises there too. Most of them related to Elizabeth's almost sudden regaining of her independence and her confidence, which seemed to come out of no where. Jenny had hoped that Frances might have an explanation for that, but she supposed that would have to wait until they could talk privately.
"Strangely good," Elizabeth answered slowly and with a small smile, "It's like I've gotten a lot lifted off of my shoulders...."
Elizabeth then reached out to touch Jenny's shoulder, "And Jen... I'm sorry if I was never the mother you truly needed... or that I'd let your father pull the stunts he pulled."
"It's okay," Jenny said back, "in the end, everything turned out okay and I'll be looking forward to a happy life here with Harry..."
"And since Dad has pretty much made himself an invalid with regard to his heart disease," James Junior added, "You're free to go your own way or call the shots... if you and dad..."
"I know it may seem odd," Elizabeth admitted, "as your father has never been consistent... but deep within him is a good man. Perhaps I didn't work hard enough to keep him from falling into those bad habits... perhaps we were too distracted by other things. The sixties and seventies were wild times to be in for anyone. But all the same... I can still see the goodness deep down in your father. And maybe with just the two of us, he won't have as much to complain on."
"Perhaps," Harry commented, "but first we'll need to go through the work of transferring John and Janice's custody..."
Elizabeth nodded as she buckled herself into the back seat of the car. James Jr. sat beside her while Jenny sat in front with her husband. The ride couldn't have been more than a block, though Elizabeth figured that a block in Moon Lake had to be different than a block anywhere else, and they soon settled into another roadside parking space outside a small and almost plain looking office building. Behind them was a much taller building that to Elizabeth was practically a skyscraper. It stood tall with the sunlight glinting off its large windows as the building spanned the width of the block across the street from them.
"Tachibana Enterprises," Harry explained, noting Elizabeth's and James Junior's staring at the building, "the top employer in Moon Lake and what essentially makes most of the town's money. It's a scientific research company that has dabbled in just about everything, though most of their bread and butter is in pharmaceuticals."
Harry didn't say that those pharmaceuticals was in relation to the were birth control pill.
"And we're visiting?" Elizabeth asked as she looked to Harry who was slowly walking toward the smaller and by comparison more drab building that he'd parked in front of. Near the roof of the building was written in gold block letters "Aredale & Sons."
"This is a law firm that was recommended to me that could help with the legalese in getting Janice and John in to Jenny's care," Harry answered, not saying that it'd come in an email from Akane no Tachibana's offices from across the street they were presently on. While Elizabeth's transformation from broken and abused housewife to budding independent woman was pleasantly surprising, neither Harry nor Jenny were going to risk the were secret with her, and James Junior, despite being privy to the secret wasn't going to do anything that would risk it for many of the same reasons he had tried to protect his younger siblings over the years.
They made their way into the office and found it to be very business like with people ducking in and out of offices as they did their work. Along one wall, Elizabeth noticed a line of portraits that had been done. Most of them were of men in suits, but the last stood out rather differently. It was a woman in a woman's business suit with what looked like a lace flower wrapped around her neck or on her upper chest. Underneath the portrait was as brass nameplate that read "Aberdeen Aredale, Family Law." While Elizabeth focused herself on looking at the lobby area, Harry approached the front desk area to speak to the secretary.
"Excuse me, we're here to see Aberdeen," Harry spoke politely, "We should have an appointment. I'm Harry Jenkins and this is my wife Jenny and these are her brother and mother."
The secretary looked up and nodded before pressing a button on the keypad in front of her, "Ms. Aberdeen... the Jenkins are here."
"Very well," a female voice answered while the secretary gestured to a row of red cushioned chairs and said, "Ms. Aberdeen will be out in a few moments." They then calmly moved to sit down in them. Harry sat rather comfortably, though Jenny gave some nervous glances to both her brother and mother. The law firm might not be the most lavish office in the country, but it probably beyond the range that Elizabeth or James Jr. could afford. Jenny was fairly sure that the costs were paid for, but she wasn't sure on how to explain that. Before anyone say anything, a woman with sandy blonde hair parted in the middle came out from the office areas behind the entry way. She wore a forest green blazer with plain green skirt and a white shirt.
"You're the Jenkins?" she asked as she approached the back side of the front desk.
"My wife and I are," Harry spoke as he stood up, "I'm Harry and this is my wife Jenny."
"These are my older brother James Junior and my mother Elizabeth Harper," Jenny spoke.
"I see... well, please come with me," Aberdeen spoke and lead the four of them down a narrow hallway, which was lined with diplomas and all of them could see all the law degrees hanging on the wall. They were eventually lead into the last office. It was filled with a series of filing cabinets and a few big bookcases as well. There were only two chairs in front of a large cherry wood desk, which Aberdeen strode around to seat at, "Now... I was told by phone you were wishing to discuss child custody in a way that MIGHT be a bit difficult for the state Washington."
"We were looking into having my younger brother and sister come to stay with me and my husband," Jenny said as she allowed her mother to take a seat in front of Jenny.
"Well... this could be a case that would also involve divorce proceedings," Aberdeen began, to which Jenny raised her hand.
"No, no one is getting divorced," Jenny spoke, "what we want to do is transfer the custody of my younger brother and sister to myself and my husband and his parents here in Moon Lake."
"My parents can also write out the parenting plan for their health and well being if need be," Harry spoke, "we just felt it appropriate to talk to you first as some aspects of this case will be tricky."
"Tricky?" Aberdeen raised an eyebrow, "Like how? Would someone contest the transfer of custody? If your mother is here, and you're seeking to take custody..."
"I'm willing to hand my youngest over to my eldest daughter, ma'am," Elizabeth said politely, "I trust her to raise them right. Especially as their father and I will be facing some rather tough times in the near future with regard to medical bills and so on... However, it is their father that may be a difficult issue."
Aberdeen was busy writing some notes on a pad before she answered, "Well, that may then depend on the health and competency of the father. If he's virile and well within his senses, you may need to get his consent before we can go any further... Now if you can legally prove him to be abusive or potentially so, we could open a child custody hearing for the benefit of the children in question..."
"My father's behavior isn't the only complication," Jenny said slowly.
Aberdeen scratched her head for a moment, "Not the only complication?"
"My residential address, and thus the address of my youngest children and their father is in Alabama," Elizabeth said slowly, looking down as she finished, "If their father hadn't had a heart attack over-reacting to what should have been a joyous event, we probably would be back home by now."
Aberdeen blinked hard and then slowly scratched the back of her head with her pen. She was clearly frustrated by that last statement, but she did eventually speak.
"That WILL be a bit more tricky," Aberdeen said slowly, "I can get a preliminary agreement that would allow for both of you to take initial possession of the younger children... though you will need a written agreement to the transfer from both your mother and father."
Jenny and James Jr. traded a few glances. Elizabeth in her new mood might be willing, but they were still a bit unsure on how to handle their father.
"How do we get dad to sign?" James Junior wondered.
"That I can handle," Elizabeth assured them, "argue in a way that will affect your father's wallet and he'll follow."
"Regardless, because it's in another state, you'll need official paperwork from Alabama that has been notarized," Aberdeen spoke carefully, "how old is the oldest of them?"
"The oldest of the two is fourteen," Jenny answered.
"Then that will do ell enough that you may not need their official signatures in the presence of an Alabama notary," Aberdeen commented, "since they are minors... however, if this ends up being something that goes to court, you'll need get the signatures that hand over custody to you from your parents."
"We... I can manage that," Elizabeth spoke.