Martha's morning went calmly, though she still couldn't shake her worries on what to do. She and William had come to really like the effect Moon Lake and particularly Julie Stovall had had on Eric, as it had brought him out of his shell. He was willing to talk to people beyond his family and beyond science fiction fans on the internet. It was something that they'd really enjoyed, and while she and William had some worries that certain aspects of Eric's relationship with Julie was going too fast, that didn't mean that they disapproved of Eric dating Julie or being with her. In fact, Eric's being with her had cured Eric of many of the rather antisocial behaviors he'd had in Minnesota.
However, after something seemed to interrupt that and brought about many if not all of the behaviors that they'd noticed in Minnesota. Eric had related it to fears concerning an Arthur Curtis at school, who Eric said seemed to be into Julie. Now, those things could be fairly typical teenage drama, as Martha remembered one of her friends in high school going through various amounts drama that related to those sorts of things. However, simple jealousy over boyfriends wasn't something that would generate the massive shift in behavior that she'd noticed in Eric and wouldn't drive it to the point where Eric would become potentially possessive of Julie. That was something that she and William had noticed in their talk with Eric, both after dinner and when they found Eric practically heartbroken at his desk before they went to bed.
Her worries on this had left Martha rather worried about her youngest son, and despite a rather quiet morning, she was not in a position to feel super confident about it. Despite not having much interference lift her worries at the moment she couldn't help but keep her mind on Eric and his apparent concerns. She tried to focus on her studying for getting her retaking of the praxis exams, which would be critical for her. She looked through the study guides that William had picked up for her and even read through the various guides available for her online. But as much as she tried to study, as she would need to pass those tests in order to qualify for a full time teaching job, which she'd given up in Minnesota when Nate was born, she couldn't. After a few moments, she soon found her mind drifting to Eric with the sight of tears going down his cheeks sticking in her mind. That made her worry more and eventually she put her study materials down and set them on the end table beside the couch in the living room.
She retrieved a sticky note from William's office next to the laundry room and wrote a brief note. It was for whoever got home first, as she didn't know how long she'd be out, but with William at the college and worries over Eric too firmly in her mind, Martha had only one person she could ask for advice from in this regard. The note read, "Gone to talk with Frances about something. Be back as soon as I can. - Martha." She could see it was nearly eleven when she wrote the note and hoped that she wouldn't interrupt Frances with anything and hoped that she'd make it home before William or her sons got home.
With that done, she walked out the front door, locked it behind her and made her way toward Frances' clinic.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The trip to the clinic was quiet, and she actually found Frances on her way out, likely to take her lunch break as she approached the clinic's front doors. Frances seemed to blink in surprise as she didn't expect to find Martha approaching the clinic. She had no problem with visiting with a member of her pride, especially as some of the recent events had limited the chances for her and Samantha to talk with Martha. Martha had been busy with the Skulk during the Halloween Dance and the following Sunday morning had been such that Frances and Samantha were busy with their own responsibilities and events that had occurred. This wasn't too much of a surprise, as Moon Lake tended to be fairly busy as people went about their lives. In this it was a nice surprise.
"Hello, Martha... is something up?" Frances asked as she shut the door and turned to Martha.
"Kinda," Martha said with a heavy sigh and a frown and then looking down.
This caught Frances' attention and curiosity immediately. The Andersons were relatively new to Moon Lake, and Frances was fairly well aware of some of the difficulties that the family had had before they moved to Moon Lake, mostly from things that Martha and Nate had admitted in private. However, as they adapted to Moon Lake and as the family became weres, for one reason or another, they'd all seemed to integrate very well and were even getting through the things that had been problems in the past for the family. In this, Frances felt the case could be made that Moon Lake's "magic" had helped the family out, as things all around seemed to improve for them. However, Martha's voice sounded tense and nervous, which heavily countered that, which then lead to her next question.
"Is something wrong?" Frances asked, reaching forward and resting a hand on Martha's shoulder.
"Maybe," Martha said simply, and still looking down, "I just... I... I was hoping for some advice."
Frances raised a hand to look to her watch and sighed. Her day had been pretty quiet for the most part, but nodded and reached for the door. She might have been looking forward to some lunch, but she could handle that a bit later, assuming there were no emergencies. And for the most part, things did seem to be quieting down a bit. She opened the door and waved Martha in, who nervously walked through the opened portal. Frances followed and glanced to a surprised Rudy, who didn't expect her to come back in so soon after breaking for lunch.
"Is there a problem, Mrs. Twist?" Rudy asked.
"Not at the moment, Rudy," Frances gave her secretary some assurance that he was still free to eat his lunch, "this is just a bit of a social call for the moment... though it will delay my going to lunch. If anyone comes in... please let them know."
Rudy nodded and returned to his lunch. Frances then led Martha quietly through the waiting room area and back into her main office area. She didn't have any files open on her computer and no paperwork was lying about, and thus she easily guided Martha over the couch where her clients would normally sit or lay down during sessions. As Martha sat down, Frances sat down beside her friend.
"Now... what is it that's got you so nervous?" Frances asked, "Is it William?"
She knew that a werefox's bond couldn't be broken once formed and in place, especially when it was cemented with the werefox's love being returned. In this, she didn't think that anything would have deliberately happened between the two, but this didn't mean that there couldn't be confusion over something that wasn't understood between them. And given what she had been told earlier in October, she couldn't put it beyond the realm of possibility that some misunderstanding had taken place.
"No, it's not William," Martha answered, "It's Eric..."
Frances' eyes widened in surprise. She knew that Eric had seemed to be the most "affected" by Moon Lake with regard stresses from adapting to things, at finding out weres were real, finding out that his father had been forced to become one, and then that the rest of his family joined were-society as well. All of that could be traumatic, and Frances had had a few cases over the years where a younger sibling couldn't accept the older sibling or the parents becoming weres very easily. There was even the odd occasion where parents couldn't adapt well to children becoming weres, particularly when it related to the mandatory were law. However, she'd also thought that young Eric Anderson did ultimately adapt and adapt quite well. In fact from some things that she and Samantha had overheard in some conversations with Eric, it had seemed that the Anderson's youngest son was involved with Moon Lake's mayor's daughter and from some things Ben had told them more recently... Eric had joined were society to be with her. In this, Frances had figured that whatever issues Eric might have been adjusting to, by now those wouldn't be issued and Frances was surprised by that point made by Martha.
Martha then laid out the explanation on what had been going on. Eric had become a were, a weremerman to be with Julie Stovall, and had professed to love her deeply. This had seemed to give Martha and William a lot of joy as parents as it seemed to get him out of some rather anti-social and isolationist behaviors that Eric had gone into after being bullied in Minnesota, and Frances could understand that. Kids that were bullied often did isolate themselves, usually because they didn't think anyone could or would help them. The fact that Eric began to open himself up with Julie would be a good sign at avoiding many of the problems that some bullied kids faced. That was something good and something to be proud of, and only left Frances a bit confused on what was wrong.
And then Martha got to the parts where she and William had their concerns. That their fourteen year old son was advancing things a little too fast in some regards, which Frances understood. A fair number of her cases with parents adapting to children joining were society often related to the rather high libidos that all weres had. Young weres could control it, and if they really focus, could manage to avoid things like sex until they were eighteen, but those high hormone levels made that difficult and in some ways made other were instincts more difficult to control, though the position was understandable. However, Martha didn't seem to be the most concerned with that. From what the brown haired werecat reported was that she and William preferred that Eric be patient and focus on the parts of his relationship with Julie that drew them together in the first place, which was non-sexual. That sort of thing made sense, and was generally what many weres who weren't raised as weres tended to favor with regard to their children, be they were or normal...
However, Martha then finished with the report that Julie had had some sort of protect that distracted her and that had negatively affected Eric. He seemed to slide almost immediately back into the behaviors he'd had in Minnesota that isolated himself from the world around him. William and Martha had both tried to talk to their son about it in relation to Eric being "patient," and Martha reported that Eric's response was borderline possessive of Julie and at one point lashing out at William. THAT was something that did raise some of Frances concerns.
"The best immediate advice I can give you is that you be there for him," Frances said to Martha putting her hands over Martha's, "assure him that he is loved and that he is precious..."
"Is something wrong?" Martha asked, "what's wrong with my baby?"
Frances could see the worry in Martha's eyes, the look of a concerned parent looking to protect their child. Frances knew that she and Samantha had had those worries with Ben from time to time.
"From what you've reported to me..." Frances said slowly and with a firm grip on Martha's hands, "there could well be the potential that Eric may need professional therapy..."
"Are you saying...?" Martha began.
"You've told me he's had some issues with isolation after being bullied in Minnesota before you moved here, and he's even mentioned that what happened with your husband at the University of Minnesota was stressful," Frances spoke, "you've described Eric having issues relating to fear and jealousy that you even admitted were borderline possessive..."
Martha bit her lip as Frances continued.
"Now, possessive behavior has been noted with weretigers, usually in their desire to protect persons and things they care for, but it HASN'T been noted in weremers at all," Frances spoke, "in this... I cannot say it's something that could just go away. Given the environmental history that Eric's gone through... it could well be possible that any stress related issue could trigger a similar reaction as what you've described to me."
"But weres... weres can't get sick, can they?" Martha asked nervously.
"If we're talking about viruses and bacteria, generally no," Frances spoke, "Weres are pretty resistant to that sort of thing and cases where there may be something wrong medically are very rare. However, a were can be stressed by things and that can affect how they think and respond to their environment. And becoming a were wouldn't change someone's ability to handle stress. I'd tend to think that Eric has done fairly well, all things considered, but from what you've told me here... there is the possibility that SOMETHING might have presented some sort of stress that is still with him. Though I can't say more with regard to a diagnosis until after I've talked with Eric directly. As a parent, you are welcome to attend the session, but I will need to talk with Eric in a more professional setting."
"What do you think this is?" Martha asked nervously.
"This could be something as simple as Eric being exposed to new sensations and desires that are new to him and that some measure of self control is all that is needed," Frances answered, "which wouldn't be too abnormal for a new were... though given what you've said with regard to how reserved he was in Minnesota... and how high he went with regard to meeting Julie and then how low he went over whatever's made him worry about losing her... that could carry signs for either depression or bipolar disorder, though likely caused more by the stresses he's been through, which therapy and assurance can handle... But again, I can't make any diagnosis until I've talked with Eric directly."
"He'll be alright?" Martha asked.
Frances squeezed Martha's hands as best she could and gave her a reassuring smile, "Yes. You needn't worry."
"I can't help it, I'm his mother, he's my youngest," Martha answered.
"I know," Frances's smile remained, "if this were about Ben... I'd be just as worried as you. Eric will be fine, just bring him in on Thursday after school. I'll keep a slot open for him and we'll go from there. And hopefully... this is only something minor."