The Christmas season was one that was often set up for family, and in some were particularly private about the celebration. However, others could be a bit bigger and involving more people, and Fennec Hall proved to be the latter. Named for the fact that the one who commissioned it, Joanne had become a Fennec Fox Animalian as part of a means to try and repair her relationship with her daughter Nicole. It had been a strained relationship because of Nicole's desire for freedom and to model while Joanne had been nervous about what that would do to Nicole's career in the long term. Nicole left the New York home she'd always known and came to Animalia to get a new start and "be free." After falling into depression over "losing" Nicole, Joanne eventually came to Lyre and converted to repair the relationship, and the two did see regular therapy as part of that healing, and it was working. Nicole preferred to keep her apartment, but she was a frequent guest at Fennec Hall as some of the things that had driven them apart in the past were starting to heal.
Some of it also came from some chance encounters. Joanne had come across a male Fennec Fox Animalian working out one day and rapidly began to strike up a relationship with him. When Nicole met Philip, she soon also found that unlike Joanne who had regained her youth by double dosing, Philip was Nicole's age, and to a degree, a part of Nicole was also interested in Philip as a mate as well, largely under the theory that everyone should be with those their own age. But Philip seemed to like Joanne and Nicole found that he wasn't going to dump her mother for her, which then got Nicole frustrated over the potential for someone born in the same year as her treating her like his child. On learning that Philip's father, Lars, was divorced, she had set out on her own plan and found that Lars was a fairly successful insurance agent in Salt Lake City. The idea was that she and Lars would hook up and balance out all the "parental entanglements."
That in turn lead to Lars' conversion and finding out that he'd developed Regressive Hypersexuality Syndrome on his conversion. Some things were awkward, but in many ways, Lars ultimately won her over and gave Nicole enough pleasure that her old plans were irrelevant. She wanted to keep Lars and was more than willing to put down her job at the Meat Market to return with him to Salt Lake City. Then came the surprise that Lars requested transfer to his company's office in Lyre/Animalia and had it accepted. It'd mean less pay and a smaller clientele, but Lars seemed to make that decision to be near her, and that only further rewarded Nicole's growing love for him. It also then assured that her relationship with her mother could continue to heal and allowed for her and Lars to be guests at the Christmas party at Fennec Hall.
The mansion was done up with lights and was dusted by the light snows that had come in in the few days before Christmas and Lars marveled at it as he and Nicole made their way up to the front door. Lars carried a gift for Philip and Nicole carried one for Joanne as this would relate to some of the aspects of the party. Joanne had invited a fair number of other friends in Lyre and Animalia, and even a few of her business associates in New York to come Christmas together. So far as Nicole knew, most of the invitations that went out beyond Lyre/Animalia were turned down to spend time with family or avoid crowding flights across the country. Gifts were optional but were noted as a sort of "Secret Santa" unless they had specific people to give gifts to. Lars and Nicole chose to give to their family.
"Good evening," Joanne's head butler spoke as he opened the door for them. The head of Joanne's staff was still Human and fine with it, but in connection with the party, he was urged to wear something more "comfortable." He ended up selecting a red sweater and a pair of khakis. "I trust things are well?"
"Yes," Lars commented and held up the gift, "I have a gift for my son."
"And I have a gift for my mom," Nicole added and held out her gift.
"They will be happy to see that, particularly under some of the present stresses," the head of the staff said in a semi flustered voice.
That puzzled both Nicole and Lars. While there had been some initial worries when Joanne first came to Animalia over her behaving like a rich snob, that had been quickly put aside when Joanne not only paid all the fees and expenses for her staff to come to Fennec Hall and for any and all conversions that they might want, and as Joanne and Nicole repaired their relationship after each learned or recognized the troubles that they'd had prior to their respective conversions. It was also observed that Joanne also seemed to get along with the people of Animalia and Lyre and had likely eased away a lot of the worries that might have been there. In this neither Fennec Fox Animalian could get the frustration in Joanne's staff, especially as Nicole had come across some stories where Joanne had taken to sun-bathing with some of the other members of her staff to chat as though they'd been good friends for years.
The two of them made their way in and found that there were a few guests that were there in the main living room area. The room was dominated by a large artificial tree and one that was bigger than what was used in New York. Nicole even noted a few opened gifts under the tree and arranged so that they weren't all in one area and guessed that that was something from earlier in the day and might even be some of the staff's gifts, given things. That wasn't too bad, and a few of the guests were admiring the tree, but both Nicole and Lars found that most of the guests weren't looking toward the tree but toward a gathering near the other wall. Even Miles, the son of one of the staff, and covering the party for Animalia Ambassadoria was focused on this. It was only as they got closer that there came any indication of what or who was causing the commotion.
"Well... I must say you've done well with the place," came a woman's voice, "and made a fine pick in a male... who's grown up quite well, given his father."
"Well... thank you... but..." Joanne was heard to say.
"Though I'm sure you've had some skill or training to help him along," came the woman's voice again, "given that his father isn't all that lucky in who he's picked as mates among other things..."
This was something that got Lars to give as a low a growl as he could muster. It turned a few heads in surprise, though some of that was because foxes of all kinds were not known for their growls. Some of the larger species, like the Red Fox, could bark at times, but it wasn't a deep powerful bark. It was more of a high-pitched yip or whine. And since Fennec Foxes were among the smallest foxes in the world, it wasn't likely that any growl from them would be any more intimidating than a Red Fox's.
"Morgan," Lars grumbled which served to get the guests to part ways to give him and Nicole a sight at the scene.
Philip was standing there in a pair black slacks with a dull-gold polo shirt on with Joanne standing to his left in an all-black evening dress with a high collar. Around her neck was a gold necklace with a carved fox hanging from it. To the front of them was Morgan, who was dressed reasonably well, but nothing anywhere close to what Joanne was wearing. Lars also felt that Joanne and Nicole filled out their outfits better than Morgan did hers. And it wasn't as though Morgan was ugly, at least physically, and that might have been a big part of why Lars had first started his relationship with Morgan. Though, it only came later when he learned that she was ugly on the inside, unsatisfied with anything Lars did, even when he had success at work and was climbing up the ladder for the insurance company he worked for. There were complaints about his performance in bed, particularly after Philip was conceived, and eventually Morgan started cheating on him and then left without so much as a "goodbye." The parting of the group of people also allowed Morgan to then turn to Lars while Philip and Joanne did the same.
"You hadn't said you would be bringing an additional guest," Joanne said to Lars, her voice a bit stern, though it was unknown if she was addressing Lars or Nicole.
"We didn't pass any invitation on," Nicole said quickly and looking to Morgan who was quiet for the moment.
"Though, hopefully my ex-wife was simply bringing a gift for her son and will be on her way," Lars said slowly, though he privately doubted this.
The way their divorce had gone hadn't been particularly pretty and Lars could not ever remember Morgan having anything to do with Philip. She'd make child support payments but that was about it. There weren't any visits to see Philip as he grew up and it was extremely rare that Morgan had ever called or written to inquire about anything, and so far as Lars figured, the letters were more to brag about who she'd found and compared him to Lars or something along those lines. With his own conversion happened, and Lars began to develop Regressive Hypersexuality Syndrome and bringing about a fair number of the sorts of things that Lars remembered being part of his college life seemed to come back. It was something that raised some level of aggression toward Morgan, and he thought of her as more of a "stuck up bitch," which wasn't how she was in college. In this, he didn't think that Morgan was there to just give a gift and then politely leave, and the remarks about him were part of that.
"She has brought no gift for anyone," Joanne spoke with narrowed eyes, "this woman showed up about ten minutes ago and made a mention of Philip... but has seemed more interested in me..."
"Come now," Morgan spoke up, "I've barely had time to even see my son. So, it would make sense to learn about the woman that he's shown an interest in. Maybe see what he's interested in..."
"I'm not interested in being controlled," Philip spoke up, "and dad and Joanne have both given me the freedom to work around with some ideas. It may not be typical for some, and it may not mean a lot of instant money, but I like it and it's fun."
"So... this is like when you showed up at the apartment Nicole and I have been sharing," Lars said slowly, "trying to ruin another person's Christmas."
"I have a right to see my son," Morgan said defensively.
"Which you didn't use while he was growing up," Lars spoke back, "you left me alone to raise Philip and I'd like to think I did a good job. Teaching him responsibility and the skills needed to succeed with whatever he'd set his mind to. And yeah... he's had some lucky breaks that I didn't get at his age... like meeting a woman who is kind to him as a person and isn't out to find some kind of sugar daddy."
"The nerve... I never..." Morgan began.
"Regardless," Joanne cut Morgan off, "you have shown up at my Christmas party, uninvited, belittled MY daughter, who I've worked very hard to try and repair relations with, and seemed only barely interested in your son. And what interest has been there, isn't that of a woman separated from her child seeking to reconnect. That doesn't strike me as being part of the season."
"And from what I was told," Philip added, "that you would be looking for a way to get money out of all of this... and in some ways, I'm sure Joanne would be willing if you EARN it."
This got Joanne to blink and turn her head to Philip, "what are you thinking?"
"That if she's needing money... perhaps she is in need of work," Philip offered, "you could hire her to be a servant for dad and Nicole. She'd then get paid if she does a good job."
Morgan practically gasped at this, and before anyone could say anything she crossed her arms and almost stomped her foot in a pout. After a moment or two she did manage a response, "it would appear that I've picked a poor time. I wish you a Merry Christmas, Philip. And I would say that you turned out better than your father." She then turned back to head out and as she passed Lars she simply said, "Lars."
It wasn't long after that they heard the front door open and close as Morgan left, though Philip looked to his father and said, "it might be best if we find some way to file for a restraining order... at least from your apartment and the mansion here."
"Agreed," Lars nodded as he looked to Joanne and then Nicole, "though... the idea on having her work as a servant?"
"From the way you've described her, dad," Philip commented, "that was something that I figured she'd be too proud to take. She might want access to Joanne's money and possible Nicole's inheritance... but it would be more through some kind of gift. Like she was getting it for free. I figured that if she would have to work for it, she'd be too proud to accept it."
"And if she did?" Joanne wondered, "I'd then have that... woman... on my payroll."
"And then the work would serve as an educational experience that she'd have to learn from," Philip answered, "which ultimately might lead to things getting better because there would be no avenue to just run away."
"A long-sighted idea... though I doubt your mother would actually learn the lesson," Lars grumbled, and then turned to Joanne, "and I'm sorry she's caused you so much trouble on Christmas. Perhaps what Nicole and I brought might make it up to you."