The day had begun well enough. Samantha Twist had awoken in her fursona with the most important person in the world cuddled with her, Frances, in her fursona. Seeing her wife's eyes slowly open was enough to make her happily purr in the knowledge that Frances was okay and that her everything hadn't been lost.
"Well... it's good to see you love me too," Frances smiled as she returned the good morning purr as the two of them got up for the day, which included the mutual good morning stretches.
"I guess there has been a lot of stresses that go beyond the normal routine," Samantha gave a small sigh as she got to her feet and looked over her shoulder, seeing Frances moving slowly toward their shared master bathroom and returning to human form.
She wanted to do the same, though as she did so, her eyes did catch the hole in their bedroom window. The whole that had been made by a stray bullet that had been made during the battle started by the battle next door when a Werekomododragon fought with Moon Lake's police. But there was at least the fact that Frances wasn't hurt, despite everything that happened. That was fortunate for Frances, and Samantha was glad for that. However, it would mean that their window would need to be fixed. Sure, as werecats cold nights were never really a problem, as they could easily transform to stay warm at night. Ben could easily to the same in his room, but that didn't mean they were just going to let damage go unrepaired.
"Thankfully, those things are over," Frances said with a smile.
"Yeah," Samantha nodded, "anything big today besides Jennifer Jenkins' last session?"
"I don't think there's anything "big," but who knows what surprises may come up," Frances chuckled.
Samantha laughed back and nodded and was soon checking her phone as she'd have a few things to handle while Frances had her work. The biggest thing was the repairs to their home which would mean taking time off from work, given that Jenkins construction had likely been taxed by some of Moon Lake's recent drama just as much as anyone else had. Samantha hadn't been in her present position when the Jenkins family first moved to Moon Lake, but she did learn about the company that Henry Jenkins Sr. ran, and they handled a lot of the building restoration, construction, renovation, carpentry, and so on in the Moon Lake area. While Henry Sr. never became a were, the people in Moon Lake seemed to respect the work he did and accepted him as a contractor for the town and even some of the areas outside of the town. His oldest son, Henry Junior, or "Huck" as he was called took over the company a few years back, but it still went strong and Henry Senior did pitch in on occasion with regard to smaller projects.
Of course, after Huck was shot by one of Dieter Wilhelm's agents, Samantha wasn't quite sure on how the company would handle the work. The company was still there and they had plenty of workers, but Samantha wasn't quite sure on how they would be directed and scheduled as outside of the winter months they were often working on a fairly large number of projects. Because of that, Samantha needed to keep her schedule open for the day, which required double checking on her required duties as Town Chancellor. Thankfully, they were at a general point in the year when there weren't that many people moving too Moon Lake, as those with families often wanted to keep their kids in school and with winter not too terribly far away, there was often a lot of concern that adults would find themselves living in a hotel and with their furniture in storage while trying to find places to stay while going through the process of buying or renting a home. Most of that was usually more busy during the late spring and summer when it was expected that the weather would be more cooperative. In this, the Andersons and some of the other families that had come to Moon Lake over the past fall were among the "wave" of people coming into Moon Lake for the year.
With some things that related to other duties that Samantha had being the only thing that was on her schedule, Samantha was able to settle them or try to schedule her appointment with Jenkins Construction around them. Once that was done, Samantha then went about her routine of getting ready, as she would have to go in for at least a little while.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
And much of the day went relatively well for Samantha. Finding out that Jenny's last session turned into a sort of "group" session was a surprise, and based on the look on Frances's face when Samantha was there, it'd been a surprise for Frances too, but there wasn't much that Samantha could do about that. Asking on that would risk getting into details that Samantha knew her wife couldn't answer due to privacy issues, and even with what Samantha could ask Frances on regarding those things, it wasn't the time or place. The only thing there was that she could only hope that Jenny would do well and that she was set up to be able to save her family.
That last part weighed on Samantha's mind heavily, particularly in her relationship with Frances. While Frances' relations with her family were a bit strained... with it really only being her older brother that got along well with Samantha and Frances, Samantha knew that her wife was "big" on the concept of family. If Ben's parents hadn't been killed in that car wreck, it was quite possible that Frances and Samantha would have looked for someone to adopt in order to have a family. It wouldn't be quite a family of their own, as they were both women and as such it was biologically impossible for them to have children together unless there was a lot of genetic science involved, and Samantha really didn't think she could afford the genetic experimentation that would be needed to engineer a baby that was half her half Frances...
And while Martha might actually tolerate sharing William, who's behavior had definitely improved since his transformation was completed for the purpose of providing a biological child for her and Frances to raise, Samantha wasn't really interest in that. Even if William's only action was to provide a sperm sample for artificial insemination. Samantha was not interested in men and never was and never would be, which would mean that even if she and William had hit it off like best friends when the Andersons first moved in, that wouldn't mean that she would be that interested in conceiving a child with her next door neighbor.
"But Ben is a Junior in High School," Samantha thought to herself as she pulled onto the Twist driveway while waiting for the arrival of whoever Jenkins Construction would send to inspect the damage that Dymixious's arrest had done to the Twist home. "It won't be long before he graduates and moves out... He might stay at home while going through college... but by that point he will be eighteen and there's nothing Frances and I can legally do to keep him at home. Which means ... which means... we'll... we'll have an empty nest..."
The lump growing in her throat at the prospect of being left alone with only Frances and no one to look after caught Samantha by surprise. It wasn't like she was unused to having the house alone to her and Frances, as they'd had it that way before they adopted Ben. But they did adopt Ben, and Samantha found herself finding it hard not seeing herself as a parent and in that, there was the fear that losing Ben when he moved out and all the happy memories that she had with Frances raising him would go away with that. Especially since there was no way that two women could have children together Her mind kept thinking over that as she made her way toward her front door that she barely noticed the sound of a truck engine pulling up to the curb in front of the Twist home and she literally jumped when she heard a male voice say, "Mrs. Twist?"
She turned to see Huck Jenkins standing just onto the lawn with a slightly nervous look, possibly from seeing Samantha jump in the air from surprise. She also noted that the weredog was there without a cane or crutch.
"Mr. Jenkins..." Samantha began, "are... are you okay?"
"I'm doing well enough, all things considered," Huck answered, "and call me Huck... Mr. Jenkins is my dad... and will always be my dad."
Samantha blinked and then nodded, though she was curious at Huck being free to work. The reports on what had happened to him were pretty severe in that even with a were's incredible ability to heal, it'd take time before he was back to one hundred percent. And yet here he was, standing calmly without need of a cane or a crutch. And the present mission wasn't going to have him testing his recovery too much, and as he drove up he could see enough to have already done part of the inspection. Moon Lake had a layout that was different that was very different from others that gave it a wagon wheel like shape, but a lot of that was also in relation things as they developed. While the central rings of Moon Lake were older and had many of the houses being closer together, the Twist's home was farther from the center of town and along a part of the spokes that were built later at around the same time that the college was built. In this, many of the buildings were built like a pretty standard suburban neighborhood.
In this, as he drove up, his eyes were able to pick up from the outside the only damage to the north side of the Twist house was in a window on the northwest side of the home. Huck still wasn't sure on how that rogue bullet got there, as the newspaper reports on the fight didn't say that the police fired wildly during the fight and that their shots were fairly well controlled. However, while weredogs might not have as great of vision as the various feline weres or avian weres, that didn't mean that they were blind. He could see where a blanket or throw-rug was placed where a window pane should have been. That meant that somewhere someone HAD to have fired a round that did damage to the Twist home, but Huck wasn't a police officer and had no authority to investigate what happened. He was a handyman with a job to do. And it looked like his client was worrying over him.
"Are you sure?" Samantha asked.
"Yeah, it'll take more than some lunatic from Alabama to take me down," Huck answered with a small grin, "I'm too tough."
"Well... it would appear that your confidence hasn't suffered any," Samantha managed and opened the door for him to enter after her.
Confidence and optimism was one of those traits that were as unique to weredogs as werecats were for being female. It was one of those things that could be something that made understanding were society rather difficult as every were species was known for some behavior, build, or attitude that was unique to them and only them. For werecats and werewildcats it was that they were all one gender and were at least bisexual if not homosexual. For werefoxes it was that their males and females were beyond perfect in terms of physical attractiveness, had their unbreakable bonds, and seemed to instinctively know precisely where to touch to get the most pleasure out of their partners.
All of these things had their potential plusses and minuses. For werefoxes, that bond meant that while the pair lived, it was unbreakable, but if one partner died before the other, that unbreakable-ness would be a potential problem. In that, Samantha thought that a lot of Akane no Tachibana's focus on her business and so on was a way of coping with the fact that her husband and bonded mate was dead. For weretigers, their drive to protect could become borderline possessive if they weren't paying attention. For weredogs, it meant that confident optimism could well mean that they'd get into trouble against something that was well beyond their capabilities, but for the moment that wasn't something that Samantha could deal on.
"I'll take you to where Frances and I have our bedroom," Samantha said to Huck, "it was the bedroom window on the north wall that was broken."
"Yeah... I think I saw a blanket that was covering one window on the northwest corner," Huck commented as Samantha lead him through the house.
Huck found himself glancing at some of the Twist family photos on the wall. Most were of Samantha and Frances, whom he knew were married, but there were some that also had Ben in them. They very much looked like the sort of family that he remembered growing up in with Henry Senior, Lisa, and his younger brother, Harry. Moon Lake's secrets had been a surprise, but in a way, becoming a weredog was fun and he did like it, even if his specific breed was a lap dog. Though seeing the smiles on Samantha and Frances's faces as they stood together in the photos only served to remind him of Betty, and how blind he'd been... not to notice that the woman had been in love with him since high school but had been to shy to say anything or had been waiting for him to make the first move. In that, finding that Betty had loved him was a good thing, and probably the only good thing that came out of his being shot.
"Was there any internal damage?" Huck asked as they walked along, going across the living room and into a hallway before finally turning left to head into the master bedroom, "Like to the wall or to any furniture?"
"The biggest thing was a picture frame of Frances and I together," Samantha answered, "with the bullet going right through the picture of her..."
"Well... we may be able to put together a new frame in our woodshop," Huck spoke, "but replacing the photo will be up to you and Frances, Mrs. Twist."
Samantha nodded and gestured over to the window that would essentially need to be replaced. For the moment she didn't say anything and Huck took her silence as a sign of agreement to the offer as he pulled a tape measure out of one of the side pockets on his jeans. He could see the blanket, which looked like an old baby blanket or throw rug that was essentially tacked to the wall to replace the glass that had likely been shattered when the bullet hit it. He'd heard of bullet proof glass and shatter resistant glass, but Moon Lake hadn't invested in that all that much. About the only ones who had any of that were the police and they got it from pretty specific suppliers that essentially related to their role as law enforcement. In this, the blanket/rug was there as a temporary stand in for the normal window.
"Do you know the specific make and model on the window frame, Mrs. Twist?" Huck asked.
"Not off the top of my head," Samantha admitted, "though it was a sort of plastic frame..."
That much was pretty clear to Huck has he made his way up to the frame. The blanket was directly tacked to the wall, with a pair of thumb tacks, that was something that was done all the time in just about any home. Though, it was most often used to hang posters not blankets to cover broken windows. He also found that it was the lower window that had actually been shattered by the gun shot. The upper part of the window was fine and that the window frame was being used to help hold the blanket/throw rug down. That would be good news as they'd only need to replace one window, though he'd still need to get measurements to know the size of the glass pane he'd need to order and the specific make of the window frame in order to get the references in order to be able to take it apart and put it back together.
The first thing was that Huck began taking measurements of the window frame, including the height of the frame and the thickness of the pane, which would give them the data he needed for there to be some measure of understanding on the size of the window that they would need. He also lifted up the lower part of the window to get clear so that he could take a look at it. He frowned when he saw that the window frame was actually part of a kit, and was likely put in the house when it was built and in that it wouldn't matter the maker or even if Jenkins Construction had done the install. Such window frames were not designed for such a simple repair. They could be replaced, but that would mean replacing the entire window, which would include the upper half which wasn't damaged. He sighed and looked back to Samantha who had watched him take measurements and then pause to write them down on a small notepad and then move on.
"Is something wrong?" Samantha asked, "You can fix the window, right?"
"That's all going to depend on how you define the word fix," Huck said slowly, "the window is a part of a kit system. A lot of hardware stores and construction companies tend to use them nowadays because they come as a unit and are pretty much standardized. It makes installing them much easier than many more custom windows."
"There's a but in there I take it," Samantha gave a sigh, to which Huck nodded.
"Because it is a kit, it means you can't easily or cheaply fix it without replacing the entire window, which will include the upper half of the window as well, though that looks like it isn't damaged."
"So, I need to buy a whole new window?" Samantha asked.
"A new kit, yes," Huck answered, "the good news is that for what you'll be buying, it won't be super expensive, but you will have to obviously pay for a whole new window. I can talk to Betty and we can get some one to come in do that install tomorrow morning sometime... as we do have similar window kits in stock."
"You can't do it?" Samantha asked.
"The doctors have okayed me walking around and doing inspections like this," Huck answered, "but the heavy lifting and controlled lifting that will go with removing the old window is something they want me to lay off of for a bit... Now, that shouldn't take too long, but I'm sure you'll want your window back in shape as quickly as possible."
Samantha did nod to that, though there was a different question she wanted to ask.
"Is there any other option besides replacing the entire window?" Samantha asked.
"Well... based on the measurements I've taken, I could probably have a custom frame built that would fit the window tracks you have," Huck said slowly, "but while you would be replacing only the lower window this way, because it's custom built... there will have to be some special install to make sure it fits the frame for the window and works with it. The cheapest you'd get with this method would ultimately be a new lower half that will essentially be screwed into the frame and can't be opened or closed, regardless of whether or not you have screens... and that's just make sure that it can hold heat and clean air in. We can build a frame that could work completely with the existing frame, and could be opened and closed to fit the frame... but that would take longer to assemble and would be more expensive."
"So... what am I looking at, here?" Samantha asked.
"If you go with replacing the whole window, that'd be your cheapest option and would cost around two hundred dollars for parts and labor," Huck spoke, going off the of the general cost that similar jobs had gone for in the past, "and that's assuming we make good time in doing the install. If you want a custom frame built, you could be looking at two hundred dollars just for the window and we're not talking the cost of the time building the frame."
Samantha gave a defeated whistle at that, though she had done some checking online to test costs, as while Jenkins Construction was the main company in Moon Lake that handled these sorts of things, that didn't mean she couldn't see what other costs were. Many of those often had varying costs as well that would relate to specific frames and so on, and could have some that would cost two hundred dollars just for the window frame, to say nothing about the cost of the install. She then noted Huck writing down the numbers he had on a notepad which he tore out and then offered to Samantha.
He then crossed the bedroom and looked at the wall behind the photograph. The police had already recovered the bullet and took it with them as part of their "cleanup" and that did allow Huck to look in closely at the wall and it's plaster. From what he could see, he guessed the gun used was a handgun, but he really didn't know more than that. The damage done may not have been major, but it was enough let Huck see that the bullet had gone into a wooden frame of the house. In that provided the wood didn't splinter, the damage would be superficial at worst. Of course there would be some things to make sure of first.
"Have you and Mrs. Twist had any trouble with your electricity or any signs of flooding?" Huck asked, "something that might indicate that the round nicked a wire or pipe?"
"Nothing like that... no odd sounds," Samantha answered, "and obviously the house hasn't caught fire and we haven't lost power."
"That's good," Huck answered, "that'll mean that the bullet didn't hit a pipe or electrical wire before it stopped, so you got lucky. And since your home only has one floor, I wouldn't think that the wooden beam will be at a point where it'd need to be replaced. For the moment, we might just have to replace the plaster in this small area here and cover the area where the bullet went in."
"For the moment?" Samantha asked as she watched Huck run his finger over the circular bullet hole in the wall.
"That is on the best estimate side I can give you for parts and labor," Huck spoke, "with regard to the wall itself. If the cost is just to the plaster itself, that might just be a ten dollar cost to you for parts and labor to check the plaster and replace the part that's been damaged along with what the work crew will have to cut out to make sure."
"And on the worst estimate?" Samantha asked nervously.
"That the round was big enough to have done REAL damage to the wooden beam it went into," Huck answered, "that could require removing the entire wall section to replace the beam and then replacing the beam. THAT could cost you up to another hundred dollars for parts and labor... depending what specifically that you'd want with regard to the wall and where we can get the supplies from. Though from what I can feel... I don't think the damage is that bad. We may want to remove a patch just to be sure, but that should confirm that the damage wasn't that significant... and you got lucky there."
Samantha blew out the breath she'd been holding in. She found herself lucky that Frances hadn't been hit by this stray bullet. In this, while she knew that major home renovations and repairs had the potential to be costly, she didn't care about the cost. Frances' clinic earned them more than enough money to live fairly well, and that was before Samantha's earnings as Town Chancellor came into play. The cost didn't matter. What did was getting her home repaired and things back to normal. She wrote down her own notes for the potential cost to the wall, but she was pretty sure that Frances would agree on the cost estimates on what to do. The only thing where was a potential disagreement between Samantha and Frances would relate to their family issues, and that was something that Huck couldn't answer for them.
"If you need to think it over... and talk it over with your wife go ahead," Huck spoke when he didn't get an immediate answer, "We'll even get a new picture frame built free of charge."
"Oh... you don't..." Samantha began and stopped herself when Huck turned to look to her, "Never mind, Huck. I'll talk with Frances about all this when she gets home."
Huck slowly nodded, "We'll be ready... in the meantime... you're very lucky to have her. Your pictures... the two of you look good together..."
Samantha nodded as she caught his voice sort of dropping off toward the end.
"I'm glad you two have your special someone," Huck spoke, "and by all the smiles in the photos weren't too blind not to notice it..."
"Huh?" Samantha spoke as Huck began to make his way out.
"You weren't Town Chancellor when our family moved in... but I'm sure the city records indicate that I took on the role of the Jenkins family were," Huck answered, "It was fun and the pack I joined was friendly... There is a lot that I wouldn't trade for anything."
"I can notice that people once they've become weres seem to enjoy being weres with all their insecurities going away after," Samantha commented, "Like too much of what they know on weres is old made up BS and they don't realize that weres aren't mindless until they are one."
Huck looked back and nodded, "Yeah... And I do like being a weredog, but there was one thing that I'd begun feeling "left out" on... and that was a mate that would be with me through thick and thin... Maybe it was jealousy that Harry accepted that Jenny became a werefox and bonded to her... becoming a werefox to be with her... but while pack meetings could be fun, I never had anything quite like what my younger brother has with his wife and what you have with yours."
They crossed the living room again and were soon heading up the main hallway toward the front door again.
"Well... I think you're still pretty young for a were, I don't think it's beyond a point where you can find someone who loves you," Samantha commented.
"The funny thing is that she was always there," Huck gave a sheepish grin, "but I was too blind to see it. While I became the Jenkins family were, I made good friends with a Moon Lake Normal in High School named Betty. We hung out a lot, even after my transformation and we could always talk about things... and she was good with carpentry too! It wasn't until I got shot that I learned she loved me... that she'd joined Jenkins Construction for that purpose and yet I never noticed... and in that... I realized that I'd gotten along with her so well for so long... that I loved her too."
"Sounds like you did get some good luck there," Samantha commented, "as you survived the gunshot... and found someone to be with..."
The more confident grin returned.
"And as soon as I'm medically fit," Huck gave a grin, "I will show her just how much I love her... especially since she's already bought weredog birth control pills for her... she's special, and I'm glad that I'll get the chance to show her just how special she truly is."
Samantha was happy for him. It may have been something that was more to sate her curiosity, but she was happy for him. He deserved it, given what Dieter Wilhelm had put him through. And as she looked at the quotes he gave her, which had a fairly wide range for windows that would essentially match what she and Frances had in the master bedroom. That would give them plenty to talk about, though the biggest thing might be well what they do when Ben moves out.