Joanne Howard offered to drive everyone back to the Yuletide apartment in San Diego, since there was nothing they could do for Monica Yuletide at the moment.
"Besides, you know your mother will fret and fuss over us not taking care of ourselves if she were conscious," Joanne mused, thinking about the caring nature of her fiance.
Karen Yuletide just nodded in agreement, thinking about her mother, lying in a medically induced coma within a hospital bed of San Diego General's Intensive Care Unit after a serious auto accident.
With that, she grabbed her fiance's hand as Karen and Peter Talbot followed the red haired lady to a sedan in the Visitors Parking area.
Despite the late night traffic, the drive wasn't that long, but it seemed like a much longer journey in light of the emotional trauma everyone had been through so far.
Finally, Joanne and Karen found themselves in a familiar apartment complex with Peter following.
"Here we are," said Joanne, opening the door to the upstairs unit. "Home Sweet Home."
But she hadn't taken more than a few steps inside before Joanne broke down and started crying again.
"I don't know what I'm going to do if—" Joanne began, in-between tearful sobs. "I love her so much."
"I know," said Karen, fighting her own tears for her mother as she sat down on the sofa next to the lady.
Peter just stood, holding Karen and his travel packs, and looked around the room.
Although still currently in his human form, Peter's unique werelion senses picked up the distinct scents of Joanne and one other lady he assumed was Monica Yuletide, but he wasn't 100% certain since he never got close enough at the hospital to know what Karen's mother smelled like.
Considering she had been away to college in Moon Lake since late August, there wasn't a very strong scent of Karen in the apartment, yet there was plenty of photographic evidence present to show this is where she had lived with her mother all these years since her biological father left them. There were pictures of Karen in various stages of growing up, some with an older blonde lady who Peter figured was Monica, proudly on display throughout the place.
Karen just sat there on the sofa and kept Joanne in a comforting hold to reassure the woman she was not alone in this time of trouble. Karen privately wished she was hugging her mother, or Peter, but those moments would come soon enough.
Joanne sobbed and talked, thanking them both for their support and promising she would do her best for them in return. With that she started reminiscing about quiet and romantic moments she and Monica had shared since they first started seeing each other, but left out any details about more intimate times together.
Finally the lady's voice started to get softer until, emotionally exhausted, she fell asleep.
Together Karen and Peter spread her out on the sofa. Karen took off Joanne's shoes as Peter arranged the cushions to make their new friend more comfortable.
Then, after finding a spare blanket in the bedroom, Karen covered her and they left Joanne sleeping in the living room as they closed the door to the bedroom behind them.
"This has been a long night," Karen said, no longer able to suppress her own yawn.
"It's after 2 in the morning. The night's still young for some," was Peter's only comment, as he kicked off his shoes.
"I brought my werelioness birth control pills with me. Did you want to..." Karen began, looking at her fiance hopefully, because until she got word about her mother, this was the night Peter was supposed to usher Karen into were society as his future lioness/mate.
"No," said Peter gently, even as he held her close to him. "The very first transformation can be quite... noisy. Especially the roar you would be making at the end heralding the arrival of a new were. We should wait until we're back in Moon Lake so I can welcome you properly like I planned to."
"Okay," said Karen, wearily laying her head against his chest. "Hope you don't mind sharing a Queen sized bed," she added, indicating the main piece of furniture in the room. "Mom and dad had a King before the divorce, but she didn't want no part of him anywhere after he dumped both of us."
"It's okay. But I will have to sleep fully dressed, for normally I'd be sleeping furry, if you know what I mean," replied Peter.
Karen smiled at that thought, and pictured the two of them as lions sharing a bed in their future.
But then another thought crossed her mind.
"We need to talk," she said solemnly, before leading him over to sit on the side of the bed.
Peter waited patiently for Karen to collect herself before speaking.
"I'm sure you know by now how much I love my mother. I mean in the parent-child sense, not—"
"I understand," Peter told her, putting a loving arm around Karen. "If something were to happen to my mother or father..."
"What would her chances be of surviving this if she was a were?" Karen asked.
"Pretty good. The question of potential head or mental trauma would still be unanswered until more tests could be conducted," admitted Peter, "but otherwise she would recover from her physical injuries far faster than as a normal human."
Then Karen paused before asking Peter the question she really wanted to. "Can mom become a were?"
Peter didn't hesitate to say, "No."
"What? Why?" Karen demanded to know, doing her best not to scream at him.
"First off, Monica Yuletide is currently in no position to give conscious, coherent consent to joining. Even if she was, I doubt she would survive her first transformation in her present state," warned Peter.
"What do you mean?" Karen asked.
"When a normal joins, their DNA is totally rewritten from the sub-molecular level up. If not done properly, the process can be quite painful. Your mother is in enough pain already. No were in good conscious would risk endangering her health more than it already is at the moment," Peter advised her.
"But she's my mother. Can't she be saved by becoming a were?"
"I know you are in an emotionally troubled place right now Karen, but in time you will see my position is the right one. Besides, there is also your mother's age to consider. 45 is still within what we call the safety zone, but were scientists have discovered that the closer a normal adult is to age 60, the more difficult their first transformation is. Past that point, they cannot join at all without risking their life in the process. Why do you think most weres prefer to welcome new arrivals sexually, let alone do so with someone they have a personal interest in?" Peter asked her in return. "The more emotional euphoria involved, especially after achieving orgasmic bliss, the less painful the first change is for a newcomer. After the first time, it's like changing clothes on a regular basis. Becoming furry is something quite pleasurable, while resuming your normal form seems like saying goodbye to someone special, even if it's only temporary. Besides, even if Monica was coherent, consent capable, willing, and chose to be a werelioness; I would not want to be the one to induct my future mother in-law."
"I wasn't asking about werelion specifically. Just were in general," Karen pointed out to him.
"Karen, I love you with all my heart and soul and will do whatever I can to ease your burden in this time of need but, provided she ever decided to become a were to begin with, whatever were she became would have to happen after she is fully recovered from her current injuries. Besides, if Monica joined, what of Joanne?"
"I hadn't thought about that," confessed Karen. "I'm just so worried about my mother..."
And then Karen broke down and started crying again.
Peter Talbot knew that at this point, further words were useless, so he just held his fiance close.