Harold gave a small frown as Melissa made her way out of the kitchen dining area and then heard her heading up the stairs with the robe that he'd bought for her. In some way, he'd wanted to see her in the robe and in a sense to see her were form. After all, she'd asked to see him in his, and in a sense that earlier demand made sense. After all, as he'd been finding out since becoming a weretiger, Harold had been finding more and more that he'd found being in his were form was more real to him as anything else. In this, even if he didn't show Melissa his weretiger form on purpose, she'd likely see him in it more and more. It'd then stand to reason that Melissa would soon go through the same transition that he'd gone through.
"I suppose I'll just have to wait," Harold mused he looked over to see the empty bowl of cereal that Melissa had been eating from after she came down for breakfast and as he'd explained the changes in his and Virginia's wedding plans, "as... I'm sure she'll soon feel more comfortable in her werecow form than in her human form... just... just as I feel more comfortable in my weretiger form."
He set about quietly clearing the table and chuckling to himself on just how much things had changed since moving to Moon Lake. It had originally been to simply get a new start after his wife's death. Finding out that Moon Lake was a were sanctuary had never been part of the plan, and that both he and his daughter would find themselves truly joining Moon Lake's were community certainly wasn't part of the plan. But yet, it happened and the more Harold had thought about it, the more he liked it. There was of course the protective father's desire to make sure that his only daughter was treated with respect, and that was now reinforced by a weretiger's natural protective instincts. The best part for him, though, was Virginia McCoy.
He couldn't help but smile as he set about rinsing the bowl that Melissa had been using as thoughts of Virginia entered his mind. She was strong and fit, and unlike Alice Decrux, Virginia had never seemed to have an agenda that she kept hidden. It'd taken a lot at first to get him to recognize that he was falling for the High School history teacher, but as that happened, he had actually seemed to feel better. This didn't even relate to even being a were in that Virginia made him feel happy in a way that he had not felt after Eliza Jenkins' death. It was odd and surprising in a way, but it felt real to him and he was happy to have her love and looked forward to their wedding at the end of the coming week. His thoughts dwelled on that until doorbell ring. He was quick to move to the front door, and couldn't help but smile when he found that it was Virginia at his door.
"Hello," Harold gave a small smile, "I was just thinking of you..."
"Oh?" Virginia gave a small smile.
Harold took a step back to offer Virginia entrance into his home. He noted that she was holding a set of textbooks in front of her as she entered. It left him a bit curious, though a part of his mind did remember that she'd been tasked with overlooking and updating the textbooks that the high school would be using. They'd tried to have some discussion on that subject at least twice, though without much in the way of success, and the most important of those attempts had lead to the fight between Virginia and Alice that lead to his becoming a weretiger. He guessed that Virginia was still going over the material.
"Yes," Harold gave a weak smile, "and on how happy you've made me happy. I told Melissa about the changes we made with our wedding plans."
"Oh? And what did she think?" Virginia asked as she watched Harold shut the door behind her.
"She seemed pleased," Harold commented, "though... I think that may be because it would mean a trip to Seattle to buy clothing that will fit the new her... formal clothing, that is."
Virginia slowly nodded, remembering that Melissa had made her choice and became a werecow the night before. If it hadn't been for Alice Decrux's tricks, it might have otherwise been a rather "joyous" situation. Outside of the one member of a new family required to become a were, in accordance with Moon Lake's mandatory were law, joining any were group was completely voluntary and one that was often taken with some degree of ceremony, or at least open excitement. Melissa had seemed to make good friends with Trevor Tyson and his friends, which had been something that Virginia had observed during the school days before the fight with Alice that preceded Harold becoming a weretiger.
She also remembered seeing how happy Melissa had seemed to be with Trevor at the Halloween Dance, and it reminded Virginia of her own joy at Harold not resenting her for what had happened between them. In this, if it hadn't been for Alice Decrux, Melissa's decision to go through with becoming a werecow would have been worth a party. However, because of it, she knew that Harold was worried about whether or not Melissa's joining were society was something influenced by both Alice Decrux's Love Potion Number Nine and the "example" that Harold had set with Virginia after he become a weretiger. He'd even voiced those worries late that evening. What Melissa and Trevor indicated when they returned the previous night had alleviated some of those worries, but Virginia figured that there was still plenty that Harold was worried on... as by the time everyone had been able to relax from the stresses of the Decrux's prank, the more intimate plans that Harold and Virginia had planned was lost.
But, Melissa Jenkins did return from the Halloween Dance as a were. She was still in human form, but she was a werecow when she returned, and seemed happy in being with Trevor. The transition had meant that Melissa was bigger than she'd been before the dance, the slight increase in her height, musculature, bust, and hips were enough to show her new were status, and her broader shoulders, for a woman, an indicator of her becoming a werecow. Trevor's mother, Erma, had apparently given Melissa some clothes that were likely being saved as had-me downs for her own daughter, but Melissa's becoming a werecow raised Melissa's need for clothing that would fit the new her. However, from parent/teacher conferences, Virginia knew that the Tysons lived to the northeast of Moon Lake on a fairly decent sized family farm, and as such she knew that formal wear wouldn't be something the Tysons would have a lot of on hand.
"Well... she probably will need formal wear," Virginia answered, "and while Moon Lake's stores might be able to manage it for her human form... a lot of what they have hear would be limited or pricy and not worth it."
"Pricy and not worth it?" Harold wondered, raising an eyebrow.
"Awareness is a store downtown that makes clothing that is advertised as being able to shift with the were," Virginia answered, "and these clothes are often more expensive... however, they only can only do this with the smaller were species in which their were form isn't that much bigger than their human form."
"I take it that weretigers and werecattle are too big for that?" Harold guessed.
"Our were form is too large when compared to our human form," Virginia nodded, "their clothing can fit our human forms... but we'd still destroy them if we tried to transform to our fursonas in them."
"Yeah... that probably will mean a trip to Seattle at some point," Harold sighed, "though... I'm going to guess by the books you've brought with you... you still want to look over them and see what would be the best textbook to use?" He paused to watch Virginia nod and then gave a small smile, "and I'd be more than happy to help with that... though there is also the formal dinner at the Tyson home tonight. I guess introducing me to Trevor's family and that sort of thing."
"And that's fine," Virginia commented, "our wedding doesn't have to be super fancy. Especially if we're only having a justice of the peace due the ceremony. So, I'm sure that you and Melissa should have no problem with a quick trip to Seattle."
Harold blinked for a moment as Virginia's voice fell off at the end. As they moved into the living room and sat down together, that set his own mind wondering on some of the other things that would relate to their coming wedding. Her voice sounded uneasy and almost nervous, even though both of them had been happy with the arrangement. That puzzled Harold a bit as Virginia set the two textbooks down on the coffee table in front of the couch.
"Is something wrong?" Harold wondered.
"Well... with Melissa... and probably with Principal Andrews as guests," Virginia said slowly, "I have some worries regarding families... my parents, your parents... that sort of thing."
"My parents are rather old," Harold said slowly, "and they and Eliza's parents might be glad to see me smile again... and might be willing to come visit on occasion, particularly to see Melissa. But I'd think the big thing would be to at least let them know that I'd be marrying someone... What about your parents?"
"Well... I'm sure they'd be happy to come, but they wouldn't have the time to do so... if we stick with a wedding at the end of the week," Virginia said slowly.
"Would you prefer we push it back to during the Christmas break?" Harold asked.
"No... you've been so good to me and while you've said I've made you happy... you've done the same for me," Virginia smiled, "in that I'm a bit giddy about it."
"So... would your parents be okay with it?" Harold asked with a concerned look.
"I think so," Virginia said slowly, "though they will expect pictures."
Harold happily nodded. He had a camera that would work well and Melissa knew how to work it, and since the wedding would likely be during the day, there would be no letting the tiger out of its cage during the wedding. He then patted Virginia's hand softly to show his assurance that if Virginia felt okay with keeping the wedding at the end of the week, it could be managed. He was about to look to the first of the books that Virginia had brought over when his hears picked up Melissa's feet moving across the carpet upstairs and then thundering down the stairs.