Dinner at the Ross home was a little bit later in the evening, largely due to getting things settled and Kent Ross further figuring out the route between the home that he'd purchased for his family in Moon Lake and the corporate offices for the shipping company he worked for in Seattle. Things weren't too bad and the route wasn't that hard or long to drive, but it still left a fair number of things that were left to finish with regard to the move. Kent knew that his wife Diana's car was still being shipped and hadn't arrived yet, and given Moon Lake's small size, he got the sense that that delivery would likely go to his own shipping company's office as that would be were they could deliver Diana's car, as without lots of intersecting roads, Moon Lake's layout made shipping with a semi difficult.
But ultimately that wasn't too bad and he found that Diana was already finishing up dinner when he got home. It was clearly some instant noodles and chicken that had been easily portable while on the road, but it wouldn't be bad and she looked up to him as he made his way into the kitchen.
"Hello, there," Diana said to her husband with a small smile as he came into the kitchen, and a smile that he returned, "how was your day."
"Pretty good, all things considered," Kent answered, "it may be a day or two before your car arrives... but I'm sure we'll be able to make do as things progress."
"We'll still need to handle some things... voter registration, drivers' licenses, and so on," Diana reminded him.
"Yes... but right now with work and getting things moved in, that sort of thing might just have to wait," Kent told her, "and I don't think they'll push things that we'll have to have that done in the next few days. We should have some grace period to handle all that."
"Good to hear," Diana returned the smile that Kent had given her when she came in, "Dinner's about ready... so... if you don't mind going in to sit down."
Kent nodded and moved off through the door that was to his right as he looked toward the window that gave him and Diana a good view of their backyard and the woods beyond it. The passageway to the dinning room passed a small hallway that went toward the front of the house and was largely made by the wall for the stairway and eventually lead to another doorway and the family dining room. Things were largely set up, thanks to the movers being very helpful and diligent in their work in getting the heavier and more difficult to move objects into place, meaning that if Kent needed to move anything further, it wouldn't have to go far. He heard a small clinking of dishes as Diane likely finished up with her work in the kitchen, but that didn't last long and a few moments later, Kent could hear why.
"Connor! Ava! Dinner is ready!" Diane was heard to call. From the direction from which he'd heard her voice... coming from the wall behind him as he sat down, Kent figured that Diane had gone around to the base of the stairs and called up them. From there, Kent could hear the thunder of footsteps from the upper floor as Connor and Ava came down. They arrived in the dinning room at about the same time that Diane came in with the first plates of food, which she set down before Connor and Ava. The two sat down it wasn't long before the two were starting to dig in to their food.
"So... how was your day?" Kent asked as he heard Diane approaching with the next two plates.
"Went fairly well... at least after the fight before school," Connor began.
"A fight?!" Diane gasped after she set down Kent's plate and then her own.
"Yeah... apparently Moon Lake's City Council has voted on some sort of plan that relates to their secret that wasn't overwhelmingly popular," Connor answered, "two guys got into a bit of a disagreement over that and one knocked out a tooth from the other."
"I trust you weren't involved," Kent said slowly.
"No," Ava answered, "I'd already gone in... I hadn't heard about this fight."
"Ryan, Tad, and his girlfriend and I were there to see the fight... but we weren't involved," Connor answered.
"Well... that was good," Kent said slowly, "Now what was this about the secret?"
"And who is this Ryan?" Diane wondered.
"Ryan is a guy I met on the bus," Connor answered carefully and glancing to Ava with his eyes for a moment, "he's agreed to help provide an extra opinion on what its like being a were and what ones might work well..."
"You're not going solely with Tad?" Diane asked, knowing that Connor and Tad had been good friends for years.
"It'll be great to have his help... but Tad will only know werewolves and maybe a bit on werecats because of his mom," Connor answered, "and with this being a one change only opportunity... with no do overs... I'd want to get all the information I can get before going for it."
He left out the parts where he was still trying to figure things out with his sexuality and hoped that Ava didn't bring up their conversation from upstairs. He had to admit that Ava could be determined and he had the sense that his family would support him when he figured things out. But his primary concern was to reach his conclusions on his own, not be forced into anything. Ava said nothing and nodded while eating her dinner, letting Connor breathe a sigh of relief.
"Well that does sound smart," Kent answered, "just make sure that you're sure... okay?"
Connor nodded to that, which let Kent and Diana give a private sigh of relief. As Moon Lake was a new town, and while finding out that an old friend had already moved here, it was good for them to see that Connor was able to make some new friends as well. They didn't know completely on who "Ryan" was, but if he was friendly and helped their son with his decisions, they could hope that he would at least be a good friend.
"And what about you, Ava?" Diane asked, "Did you make any friends?"
"I met a werecat named Ashley... and she was friendly," Ava answered, "though it was more her father that gave me ideas on what were to be..."
Ava didn't want to mention that much of her conversation with Ashley had been more with regard to helping Connor. In pure theory she would have preferred to make that mention, but she had promised Connor to let him figure things out on his own. However, there was also the fact that she didn't want to reveal to her parents that she'd been listening in on her parents' discussion with Samantha Twist about her parents' fears regarding Connor. She worried about her brother and was determined to help him, but neither did she want to make it seem like she was being nosey or anything like that.
"You're not..." Kent said nervously.
"No... I don't want her dad to turn me," Ava answered, "but in looking at the book... I'd have to say that the werecats do look good. And I could understand why someone who is gay or bi might become one. However, Ashley's dad is a weremountainlion. I figured that if I went that route, while I wouldn't exactly look like a werecat... I'd still be pretty close and I wouldn't have to worry about sexuality issues."
"Well that could be something to look into... it won't be too terribly far away until you're eighteen... only four years," Kent commented, "it seems like only yesterday that you were only in diapers..."
"The guide would give the indication that weres tend to be more active earlier than most normal humans," Connor commented.
"That doesn't make it right," Diana commented, "I'm more than willing to put up with their secrets... and I'll even admit a part of me is intrigued by the idea. But there is a reason the age of legal consent is the same as the age of becoming an adult. Ava is only fourteen. Still a child... a baby. Just because she's starting to grow up doesn't make her a grown up."
"If Ava decides to become a were when she turns eighteen, we'll support her," Kent commented, "but that's a decision best saved for when she is an adult. As your mother said... just because weres do it early... that doesn't mean they're right."
There were a few sighs at that, but dinner progressed fairly smoothly.