Nate came downstairs while Alex moved to call his parents about staying over at the Andersons for dinner. He saw no sign of Eric in his brother's bedroom as he past it and as he came down the stairs he could hear his parents talking, which he guessed meant that they were okay with Eric going out with the Stovalls. He supposed that was okay and might make having Alex over for dinner a bit easier. Though as he reached the doorway to the dinning room on his way to the kitchen he did hear more on what his parents were talking about.
"Well, we can be glad that Eric is doing better," William spoke, "and you know that Frances will help him... if there is anything more to worry over."
"Right," Nate heard his mother answer.
"Hey guys..." Nate called as he walked up to the doorway to the kitchen from the dining room to find his parents puttering about the kitchen to assemble dinner, which looked a bit like leftovers, but Nate supposed that was ultimately fine. They both looked up to him as he came in.
"Hey, Nate," William smiled to him, "how was practice today?"
"It went pretty good... a lot of running around and that sort of thing, but I think I'm learning the positions and plays," Nate said weakly, "It's kinda fun."
There was a bit of a silence, which left Nate scratching the back of his head as he looked to his parents. Nate knew that his parents were worried about Eric, just as he'd been worried about Eric. He'd seen Eric blossom in a way that he really couldn't remember him ever being before, even before he was bullied. It was like Moon Lake in general or Julie Stovall in particular had made him happy and sociable, which was great. And Nate was happy for that, to have Eric suddenly go back to being quiet and distant, and to hear him crying at his computer the previous night was something that seemed to conflict with what Nate had observed in Eric since they'd moved to the small Washington State town.
"Did you get your homework done?" Martha asked after a moment, as if searching for something to say.
Nate nodded and figured not to push anything that related to Eric at the moment. He was worried, but then Eric DID seem better at the end of the school day and when he and Alex had arrived. That was enough for Eric to have some hope that things would in fact be better, and that all that could be done was to simply move forward.
"Yeah... today wasn't that hard a day for homework," Nate answered, "Alex and I got it done before a call came in about a pack meeting... We didn't get the full details as to when it is, though I think it has something to do with a were family moving back to Moon Lake."
"That happens?" William wondered. In theory he knew that was possible, but with all the good that moving to Moon Lake and becoming weres, regardless of the circumstances, had done for the Anderson family, a part of him really couldn't picture leaving the town. In spite of his sins, his marriage with Martha had always been loving in that he never stopped loving her, but he had to admit that he'd let himself be lead by his own lusts too much, which had lead to his infidelity and the circumstances that made them move in the first place. Yet, now as a werefox, he felt more confident in his bond to Martha and was more certain what to do to make her happy with him and happy with herself, and many of these things were things that his inner fox told him should have been paid attention to from the beginning. And this, he felt saved his marriage, and was something magical. The part of him that was overjoyed at that couldn't picture anyone wanting to ever leave Moon Lake.
"I guess," Nate gave a shrug, "Though that's about all I know."
"Must be something special," Martha commented, thinking on Nate's induction ceremony and the special picnic meeting that Samantha and Frances threw to welcome Jennifer Decker back to Moon Lake and introduce her to the other members of the werecat pride that she'd joined.
Nate nodded in response as he watched his parents continue to move about the kitchen, moving trays from the refrigerator to the microwave or to a heat resistant platter near it and also gathering plates and utensils. It lead to a small clicking of material. For the moment Nate ignored it as he tried to work up the courage to ask if Alex could stay for dinner. Eventually the conversation did turn more toward dinner, as Nate heard Alex coming downstairs to join them.
"Dinner isn't going to be much more than leftovers tonight, I'm afraid," William spoke, "will that be okay?"
"Yeah, I'm cool with that," Nate answered, "If you're cool with Alex staying over for dinner."
"My parents said they were fine with it, so long as I'm still home by ten," Alex added as he came into the doorway and stood beside Nate.
"Okay," Martha smiled as she glanced to William, "Just so long as there are no negative reviews of our cooking. We may not be gourmet chefs... but we've done well enough."
"Sometimes, that's all it takes," Alex commented, "Good does not mean it HAS to be fancy."
"Okay... give us a few minutes," William chuckled.
Nate and Alex nodded and disappeared out of the doorway. It wasn't long before they heard the television come on as Nate and Alex settled into a comedy that was on TV at the moment. It was only after she was sure that Nate and Alex were distracted by the television that she moved over to William, who was looking for another leftover dish to fish out of the fridge.
"This will work out good," William commented, "We'll get to hear about practices from Alex's point of view. Could be interesting... and was something we've kinda agreed that Nate should do more of."
"Yes," Martha nodded, "though... my concern remains with Eric. He's doing better, or at least looked better this afternoon."
"Which is good," William softly reminded her, keeping his voice down so that Nate and Alex wouldn't hear them with the television on. He watched as Martha nodded in agreement at that.
"Yes," Martha agreed, "though I suppose... I'll never stop worrying until I hear from Frances that everything is fine and that I got worked up over nothing."
"It wasn't nothing," William answered, "and if it is something serious... we don't want to ignore it. I'm not sure on the specifics... but people that are bipolar can have extreme highs and lows. Going from very happy or active to very low. And if that is the case... even if the cause was the environment we put on Eric... it'd be better to make sure we get help from someone more skilled than us at this sort of thing, which you said Frances has already offered."
Martha nodded again, "I should update her... just so she knows. Eric knows about the appointment..."
"After dinner," William told her, "and be strong... Everything will be fine."
Martha nodded at that. From there the two adults resumed collecting dishes and getting things ready for dinner. It wasn't too long before the food was warm and they called Nate and Alex to the dinning room. They offered Alex first choice of what he wanted and let Nate pick second. They then enjoyed some good conversation with regard to Moon Lake's Thanksgiving football game and how the practices went. Alex shared some of the traditions that Moon Lake had had with the game and where he generally played and where Nate would likely get a shot at playing. For the moment it looked as though much of where Nate would play was on special teams, though Nate might also get some time at running back and linebacker depending on how well Nate learned the plays so on. It made for good conversation, and William and Martha were pleased that Nate was having fun.