Richard Van Direstag, after leaving his wife in the hospital room, was waiting near the curb of the front of the hospital. He didn't wait too long before he saw the similar headlights of the family van. As Frank drove into the hospital drive-through, he could see a youngish man waving at him. He stopped the car near the man and rolled down the window. "Can I help you?" Frank asked.
"Frank," the man said, "It's me. Your dad."
Frank blinked as he looked at the man. He was certainly much younger than Frank's father as well as a bit larger and more muscular. "You can't be my dad," Frank said. "My dad's 40-ish and not nearly well built."
Richard sighed and said, "No, Frank, it's really me. I'll explain on the way."
Convinced, Frank unlocked the door, and Richard climbed in. Before putting the car in park, Frank took one last look at Richard and then started the drive back home. "What happened?" Frank asked as he started to drive.
Richard took a breath and said, "It's a long story. Short of it is that I turned into a werelion by accident."
"Really?" Frank responded, "I would think that you of all people would be the last to become a were."
"Yeah," Richard responded, "Let's just say I stumbled into it." He took a moment to look at his hands and flexed his knuckles, acting as if a set of claws was going to pop out.
"And mom? Is she..." Frank started to ask.
"No, she's still normal," Richard responded. He took a deep breath before continuing, "She got attacked by a mountain lion. I killed it, but not before your mother got hurt." He shook his head, "I...it was..." was all he could mutter as Frank quietly drove. "The doctors said that there's nothing broken, but they want to keep her overnight. Just to make sure that there's nothing wrong."
"That's good to hear," Frank said as he kept driving. After a few minutes, the two of them could see the lights of the Van Direstag home. "How are you going to explain this to Rachel and Rob?" he asked as he turned on the street that led to the home.
"I'm not sure," Richard said. "I know that I can't really hide this from them, and they'll want to know what happened to Rose." He took a quick glance at himself in a mirror. He then mumbled to himself, "If I hadn't been so...bullheaded..." Frank heard what Richard said, but kept quiet.
As the two of them drove up to the house and onto the driveway, Frank asked, "Are you going to change in front of them?"
Richard shook his head and said, "No. I can't change without destroying my clothes, and I really have no desire to strip in front of my children." He took off the seat belt and said, "They'll just have to take my word for it." With that said, both Frank and Richard climbed out of the car.
As they approached the front door, Frank said, "There was this woman...Shelia I think her name was...she stopped in earlier tonight. She let us know what happened, although she left out a few important details."
Richard sighed as he heard that and then he said, "Yeah, that was the woman who changed me. I'll explain later." With that said, both Frank and Richard walked into the house to see Rachel and Rob still eating at the dining room table.