BACK IN SAN DIEGO...
After Joanne Howard left to go to work that Monday, Peter Talbot and Karen Yuletide tried to catch up on their respective homework via the Internet and Moon Lake College's website.
Peter used his laptop while Karen was on the family computer in the Yuletide apartment.
With her mother in the hospital after that serious auto accident, Karen had flown down to be with her while Peter accompanied the woman he loved.
Peter threw himself into his work, as much as a distraction from recent events as well as the fact that the assignments needed to be done if he wanted to maintain his schedule of graduating next Spring with a business degree.
Karen however...
"DAMN IT!" she yelled, angrily throwing her pen across the room.
"What's wrong honey?" Peter asked, looking up from his screen, although he knew the answer.
"What's wrong?" Karen asked in return. "EVERYTHING!" she yelled, as she began sobbing. "This ISN'T how things were supposed to be! Mom should be fine and healthy. We should of had our romantic weekend together and I should be your werelioness now in all but formal name," before the tears totally overtook her.
With Karen still being a normal human being at the moment in love with a were, the two of them were supposed to spend the weekend together as Peter ushered Karen into were society before their Valentine's Day wedding next February, but when the call came about the accident...
"I know dearest," said Peter, soothingly, as he got up from the living room couch of the Yuletide apartment to walk over to his beloved at the computer.
"Peter..." began Karen, looking up at him through crying eyes. "I love you so much. My heart aches that we aren't already together the way we planned, but mom..."
Peter just bent down and kissed the top of her blonde hair. "Now please, look at me," he requested, gently placing his hand under her chin before raising Karen's head up until their eyes met. "You have already captured my heart, and we will be married in time, if not on time. If not this coming Valentine's Day, then definitely as soon as it is viable for us to do so."
"But my mom..." began Karen, thinking about the woman lying in the Intensive Care Unit of San Diego General.
"I will not lie to you or make any promises that are not within my power to keep, but know that I shall do everything I can to ease both your burdens and hers if possible," swore Peter.
"Do you know how much I love you Peter Talbot?" Karen asked, as she tried to dry her eyes.
"At least as much as I love you," he replied. "Now, what do you say to catching a cab ride to the hospital and seeing how she's doing?" suggested Peter, thinking about how this afternoon the doctor would be making a decision on whether or not to artificially drain the fluid that had been building and pressing against the base of Monica Yuletide's spinal cord since the accident.
YET SAN DIEGO WAS NOT THE ONLY PLACE WHERE EVENTS THAT WOULD AFFECT MEMBERS OF OUR CAST WERE OCCURRING...
"Just sign these documents and your marriage is officially over," the divorce lawyer said, handing the woman sitting across from him a pen.
"Sadly, my marriage to that two-timing cheater was over long before I realized it, let alone the court stepped in to declare it so," the lady replied, before taking the pen and applying her signature.
Once the last document was signed, she handed the whole pile of paperwork and the pen back to her lawyer.
"Done. Just like that?" she asked.
"Almost. The court still has to record and file them," the lawyer said, as his secretary signed them as witness to the proceeding. "You'll get a copy within a couple of days but otherwise, you are officially single again Abigail," he said. Then he applied his signature in the appropriate spots before the secretary took the documents and left the office.
"Now then, here's the check for your half of the liquidation of all assets you and your now ex-husband jointly held," the lawyer announced, before handing her a rectangular piece of paper. "And an itemized invoice of all assets and debits that resulted in the amount you're receiving, including my legal fees," he added, handing his client that document.
Abigail looked it over from first line to last before saying, "It appears to be in order."
"Good," said the lawyer. "Now then, after you receive your court copy of the divorce decree, do you want me to still make travel arrangements to that Moon Lake in Washington state for you?"
"No. I've decided to pack everything I still own in my car and drive there myself to see what's left of my family, because I don't intend to ever set foot back here again," Abigail announced.
"Well, it's your decision," the lawyer replied, a bit taken aback at that announcement. "But if I can ask, what do you intend to do from this point on?"
"I still plan on seeing what's left of my family, for I haven't seen any of them since they left to move there. I'll at least spend Thanksgiving with them, if not longer. After that?" Abigail said, shrugging her shoulders. "I'm a free woman now, and I intend to stay that way."
Abigail has made previous appearances in our series leading to the above, but her arrival in Moon Lake will have an impact upon at least one family there, if not others. STAY TUNED!