"So... you really think all this is is a new business?" one student asked to William Anderson as he got through his last class of the day for Thursday, "I mean... you haven't exactly been a were for that long..."
William sighed and nodded as he looked to the student in question. He was young, and he thought was a wererabbit, he thought, and he looked a bit nervous about things, and the rumors about this City Council meeting seemed to be just one of those things that had the student nervous. It had been something he had noticed in the background all through the day. Even some of his normal human students were uneasy about this meeting, primarily because it was supposedly a "special" meeting. Thankfully the student had only asked him after class ended while some of the other students filed out and William moved to collect his things to head out as well.
"From what I've been told by those who have been weres longer than me on the matter would reflect that," William answered, "the fact that people are still gossiping about it doesn't necessarily prove something is dire. And gossip isn't anything truly worry over. Things may not be as normal as you're used to... but that doesn't necessarily mean that anything is bad."
"I hope so..." the student gave a semi nervous shrug and then made his way out, leaving William alone in the classroom.
He quietly finished packing his bag and then checked the rows of desks for anything that might have been left behind, as there had always been cases where a student forgot something. Presently with so many people worked up over this meeting, that sort of thing was quite possible. It could provide enough of a distraction that someone could forget something, but as he made his way up the aisle between the rows of countertop desks that his students sat behind, he saw no books, papers, pens, or pencils on the tile floor, the blue plastic seats of the chairs, or on the table tops. Satisfied that things were "clean," he retrieved his bag and left the room, flipping off the light as he did so.
He could understand some of the feelings of distraction that some of the students at the college had regarding this supposed meeting, as to some extent he'd had some of the same feelings as well. Though for William, most of that had been more with regard what might have been giving Eric trouble and had sent him spiraling back into the quiet and withdrawn boy that Eric had been in Minnesota. Much of it had been some measure of guilt at letting himself be lead astray from Martha. Even before he became a werefox and bonded to her, he'd loved her dearly, but he'd had a naturally high libido and there were times where he was interested and Martha wasn't. It really wasn't that much of an issue when Nate and Eric were young, as he enjoyed seeing them take their first steps and in many ways he indulged them greatly.
But when they began to get older and they weren't quite as dependent on him and Martha, he'd often looked for some ways to have some fun with his wife. After all, they hadn't been that old, but there had been some times when Martha had seemed just not up for it and she had said she had a headache or wasn't in the mood, and that in time lead to him looking for someone that would say "yes." As he thought on it now, he realized that many of those moments were probably moments where Martha was struggling with her sexual identity and repressing that she was bisexual, and that sort of hit him doubly hard, as at the time he didn't know Martha was bi or had been repressing it. That made him wish he could have recognized that sooner and give Martha confidence to be who she was and not try to force herself to be "straight" because her parents and sister seemed to prefer it. For he'd never meant for his actions to come back and harm either Martha or his sons.
Thankfully, the session with Frances had gone well, and while Eric might have had some issues that went back to Minnesota and what had happened there, it wasn't as bad enough that Eric would need medication. Some of what Frances highlighted would reinforce what Martha had told him that Frances had said to her when Martha had set up the appointment. That message had been that Eric might have some level of bi-polar disorder, based on how "hi" he'd went with regard to Julie and then how "low" he went when he thought Julie was going to dump him, which made the report that Eric wouldn't need medication a great relief to William, not because of the cost of the drugs if it was so needed, but because to the loving father that William was, it meant that his mistakes hadn't permanently harmed his son. And these things continued to float through the back of his mind as he made his way home after his last class. Not even the crisp air or the changing of the colors in the deciduous trees that had been planted around Moon Lake distracted him from that.
He pulled onto the driveway just as Ben pulled up onto the Twist's driveway. He watched as his older son and Alex got out, shook hands with Ben and then made their way to the Andersons front door. The three met there together. Both of them had some nervous and perhaps even hopeful smiles, which William figured was part of what Eric had mentioned about Ben not being fully permitted to play football. William, however, didn't want to comment on that as he didn't think he had any right to question other people's parenting. Especially when, while he didn't necessarily see a reason not to play flag football, there was more to life than sports, which could mean that Ben could have a bright future regardless.
"How was Eric's appointment, dad?" Nate asked as he stepped up when he turned his eyes away from his boyfriend.
"It went fine," William commented, "Frances has said that Eric has had some issues... some of which do come from before our moving here... some going back as far as the kids who beat him up at the start of school LAST year."
Nate actually growled at the mention of the two kids that bullied and beat up his brother at the start of the previous school year, though, there was enough worry that his anger at the memory and the desire to protect his family didn't last long.
"But she also said that Eric was also aware of it and had even taken steps to address that... I'm guessing that Eric either told Martha something with regard to the scheduling or he said something to Frances during the session that admitted that he recognized something..." William sort of rambled in the answer before collecting himself, "anyway... while it's probable that Eric has had some... issues to overcome... it's not something that he'll need medication for. So it can't be super serious. The big thing would be to find some social clubs or something like that."
Alex happily patted Nate's shoulder at that with a more confident smile at that. Nate smiled back and nodded as well.
"That's good to hear," Alex said slowly, "though... most of the official school run activities and groups are probably full by now. He might be able to join the Freshman boys basketball team come March... but that's still months away."
"But Eric will be alright?" Nate asked.
William nodded happily at that, "How was practice?"
"Pretty good," Nate answered.
"He's getting better," Alex added with some enthusiasm.
William smiled at that and then asked, "and how's your homework?"
"Not too much today," Nate answered.
William nodded and opened the door for them, "then I'll leave you to it. Homework first... anything else comes after."
Nate nodded and he made his way in with Alex following. William followed behind, though while Nate and Alex walked into the living room and were soon settling to their homework. Knowing that Nate wasn't stupid and that Alex had seemed like a decent young man, William let them get to their work. Trusting that they wouldn't get into anything troublesome, William made his way up their stairs and then made his way to the bedroom he shared with Martha and found her quietly seated on the center of the bed they shared. She seemed rather calm and was actually already in her were form, with her brown furred tail curled around her as she sat so that the light from the setting sun shone down on her and would probably keep her warm for the moment, even if it wasn't that cold outside for the moment, at least not when compared to Minnesota's winters.
"Meow," Martha actually mewed to him as she looked up to see him set his things down and even move to change into clothing he could wear around the house. William soon also heard the shuffling of papers, which indicated that Martha had been studying since he'd dropped her and Eric off at home a little over an hour earlier. He turned to see Martha standing up with a stretch throwing her arms back behind her head as she looked to him, her ears standing alert on her head.
"I trust you had a good afternoon," William said slowly to Martha as she approached and they hugged, allowing him to feel the soft fur on her arms as they embraced.
"I did," Martha answered, "got some studying done and have been able to be comfortable with things..."
"I can see," William returned his wife's feline smile, "I trust that things are eased after the session with Frances?"
"Yes... that Eric was aware took steps on his own, was a good thing," Martha nodded, "and I'm especially glad that Eric shouldn't need medication... for... what Frances had told me when I first reported all of this to her... bipolar disorder... that's not necessarily something very light..."
"I know," William said softly and hugged Martha to him, getting the sense that while she was better now that Eric had had his session with Frances and there was no perceived major danger, there was still some element of comfort needed, "but in the end... if that's true, it's mostly circumstantial, not something that will require medication and getting Eric more involved and open will help."
"Yes," Martha agreed, resting her head against William's shoulder, "I'm also heavily grateful that all OUR issues didn't come back to seriously hurt him... me repressing who I am so firmly and for so long... and so on."
"And I'd imagine that Eric also had some relief at some personal answers," William nodded. Their answers had explained in many ways the issues William and Martha had wrestled through. William had had some sense that Martha's parents and elder sister weren't exactly the most "pro-gay" as some people. They tolerated them and even admitted they'd support things like same sex marriage, just so long as same sex couples did it "out of sight" as it were, but until they'd moved to Moon Lake, William had failed to notice Martha had been repressing being bisexual. That in turn helped fuel William's past infidelities when he went in search of someone who was interested, and both may have had their effect. William hoped he and Martha had manage to put some of Eric's confusion at ease... that NONE of what had happened in Minnesota was his fault.
"Yes..." Martha agreed, "he's been talking with Julie on Skype while working on his homework about some things... I think I heard something about a book club."
"That could be good, let's him meet new people, like what Frances suggested," William told her, "and would let him associate with more than JUST Julie. All of which would fit with things we'd already agreed on... letting him grow and become a more complete person. And as he makes new friends... he'll gain confidence and more reasons to be positive. All of which will be good things. And other things will work too... I mean, by summer... I expect you'll have your certification updated for Washington State and your contract to teach... and between us... we might well be able to afford go down into Seattle for a Twins/Mariners game... depending on when those games fall next baseball season. In this... I think today was a good day... perhaps not the end... but at least a very good start."