It wasn't super late, but with it now pushing nine PM, Charlene Covaks had felt her own worries for Rachel growing. Partially as families began finishing dinner, many of the typical nighttime activities that would come along with Moon Lake. This was something that the bouncer from Cat's Eye Club had mentioned, as had Samantha when she visited the new Covaks home, that weres were often more active at night. It was the time when they were allowed to be outdoors in their were forms, largely expecting that any normal human driving through Moon Lake wouldn't see the were all that well in the dark. The weres would then enjoy just about everything from hunting to love making outside and in the woods. From what Charlene remembered, it made the town come off as a mix of a love nest and wilderness survival camp.
Now, with the assurance that Moon Lake's weres were friendly, and with the knowledge that Rachel had become a werecat before they even moved to Moon Lake, Charlene wasn't too worried about any sort of attack or force being used against the home. But Charlene also knew that Rachel was still adjusting to things didn't want her daughter to get in trouble or lost in the woods. She had given permission for Rachel to visit with the Richards' pride, because it was something that Charlene hoped would get Rachel to come out of her shell after what Leslie had done to her, but she wasn't sure on how long the meeting would last and what would happen at it. With things now moving past the dinner hours, that raised the worry that only a mother could have and had Charlene pacing near the front entry to the house and into the living room after they'd had their own oven baked pizza.
Though at one of her rounds, she thought she heard voicing from just outside the front door, and that got her to open it. There she found something rather cute and amusing. Some of it was also reassuring in many ways. For one thing, Rachel was just returning home, which was something well desired. However, Rachel was in her werecat form and looking almost comfortable in it. Charlene had seen Rachel transformed before, and she'd accepted Rachel's change in form with ease, but she noted that Rachel rarely took her werecat form, and when she did, she didn't stay in it for long. Charlene took Rachel's return in her werecat form as some sign of progress in getting over what Leslie had done to her. It was a different form, but Charlene had been reaching a point where she didn't care about different, she just wanted Rachel to be happy again.
The other part of was to see a young red-haired woman kissing Rachel's cheek. The woman was about Rachel's age, maybe a year or two older. She had fiery red hair that contrasted with fairly fair skin and definitely with Rachel's black hair and fur. She was a couple inches shorter than Rachel, especially while Rachel was transformed, and had to get up on her toes and resting one hand on Rachel's shoulder to kiss Rachel's cheek. She wasn't as voluptuous as Rachel was, or even as Charlene herself was, which put the young woman within the average build for normal human women. This had to mean that this woman was still human, though possibly thinking about becoming a werecat in future. Charlene had some concerns to make sure that this woman wouldn't take advantage of Rachel the way Leslie did, but seeing a small smile on Rachel's muzzle was enough to make Charlene happy, and so she spoke to the two of them.
"Rachel, how did the... am I interrupting something?" Charlene asked with a chuckle as she saw the redhead kissing her daughter on the cheek.
"What? No, we were just... talking..." Rachel said, blushing more as Cynthia laughed. Though Charlene couldn't see that blush through Rachel's fur.
"There's no need to be embarrassed, dear," Charlene smiled, "just seeing you smile... that makes me happy. That you're starting to get past what Leslie did to you..."
"But..." Rachel practically stuttered out as Cynthia laughed a bit.
"Your sisters have gone back upstairs... Michelle said something about finishing her homework, and I don't know what Jasmine's up to, but she hasn't left the house," Charlene spoke, "and you should know that they want to see you happy. If you've found someone... they may tease you a bit, as sisters do, but they'll still be happy for you."
"See, a happy family," Cynthia said to Rachel, "everything will be fine."
Rachel rolled her eyes, though that only earned another giggle from Cynthia. Something that also seemed to make her feel good, partially as she was now battling mentally with the part of her that was attracted to Cynthia and now finding that a possible romantic relationship was possible, given that Cynthia appeared to be considering becoming a werecat and was bisexual. True, most of what Rachel had with Cynthia was more "school" related, given that Cynthia was assigned as a student adviser to her and was one of the RAs in the freshman dorms, but from she'd been able to find out, there were no rules against it. But Rachel also didn't want to jeopardize a friendship that was also forming with Cynthia, and that's where her own sisters' teases worried her.
"And things would appear fine," Charlene smiled, "you would be..."
"Cynthia Fredericks," Cynthia offered Charlene her hand, "my aunt is a member of the pride that your daughter visited... and... well, I've been seriously thinking on joining a pride, but haven't pinned down which one to join, yet. I believe you were there for a lot of the initial Freshman orientation meetings the other day..."
"I was," Charlene said slowly, as she looked to Rachel, "making sure my daughter was adapting well to everything... as I'm sure you know, that things weren't great with that... Though... shouldn't?"
"My aunt became a werecat, but her sister, my mother didn't become a were," Cynthia explained, "it was my older brother that became our family's were. But as I said... I've been wanting to join a pride and the pride my aunt is a member of is one of the ones I'm looking into."
"And I see you've had a wonderful impact on Rachel," Charlene smiled, "she's come home happy... smiling... it does my heart a lot of good."
"Thank you," Cynthia said with a bit of nervousness in her voice.
"Why don't you come in, you two can tell me about how this meeting went?" Charlene commented, "it might give me some tips on things I can do to help Rachel."
"Mom," Rachel protested, still embarrassed by the half joking tone her mother had taken when she came out the front door to greet them.
Charlene observed the protest but ignored it. Helping Rachel was always first and foremost on her mind and she would do almost anything to help her eldest daughter. It was where a part of her min had figured that if she were to become a werecat, she could be there fully for her daughter. It'd mean losing things, as she was completely straight, but she felt it might help Rachel. Though, the discussion with their neighbor from across the street, Alice Hayes and her daughter, Megan, there was the warning that sort of thing wouldn't necessarily be what Rachel wanted. And seeing Rachel smile, was something that gave Charlene some comfort that things would be fine and that sacrifice on her part wouldn't be needed. She just needed to get some knowledge on what to do... thus she awaited Cynthia's answer.