Jimmy S.R walked upstairs to see his anthro cougar cub Jimmy J.R. curled up in his bed napping. Next to the cub was his pet cat, Dickens. The Siamese seal point with chocolate paws made a happy chirp as it got up to stretch and greet the anthro Stag-deer fury.
“No it’s not time for treats,” Jimmy S.R speaking as the cat began to purr, while snaking around his legs. Jimmy ignores this as he places his hoof hand on his son and gently rouses him from his slumber.
“I heard you help made some soup for us,” Jimmy speaking as his son stirs from his nap. Getting up groggily, the cougar cub quickly perks up when he sees his dad helping up out of bed.
“Roxy and I helped,” Jimmy J.R speaking as he rubs the sleep from his eyes; the nap feeling short as he yawns.
“Well go downstairs and join the others,” the stag-deer fury guiding his son out of the room; taking care not to step on a cat that seems determined to try and trip the two up. “And take Dickens with you,” Jimmy speaking to his son as he walks to the spare bedroom.
The spare bedroom was situation between the master bedroom and Jimmy J.R’s; Jimmy S.R knew he had to soon convert it into a nursery as his mate Alison was currently five months pregnant. He was hoping to be told the gender of his future cub, but the anthro cougar was keeping that information close to her chest.
“I can’t exactly paint the room correctly without know the cub's gender,” Jimmy muttering as he reaches the door. He was just about to open the door when he heard the toilet flushing behind him; turning around to see Brittany exiting the bathroom, the wolf fury smiles.
“I knew I heard your voice,” the female wolf fury speaking; “was clearing the driveways hard?”
“Your father helped once we finished his,” Jimmy answering; “he’s downstairs.”
“Who is looking after Dusk and Dawn,” Brittany looking concerned; “is mom here as well?”
“Your mother is looking after them,” Jimmy answering; “you father doesn’t seem to worried, so long as they as well as Oliver and Paul don’t burn down the house.”
“Figures,” Brittany rolling her eyes as she summons her phone; calling her mom to check up on her and her cubs as she walk down the hall towards the stairs.
Jimmy turns back to the door of the spare room and opens it up. He sees both Denise and her cub Roxy resting on the spare bed. Jimmy knows he is going to have to lug the bed as well as the desk to the basement soon; the desk being used as a makeshift home office as he balances the books for the restaurant as well as managing the household finances. Having a knack for numbers, a gift he got from his late mother Victoria, Jimmy was able to get a degree in finance during the prior COVID lock-downs during 2020 to 2022. A year later he becomes the anthro stag-deer fury he is now. Staring at the two female tigress furies; one a mother who has protective grip around her daughter, Jimmy carefully wakes up Denise. Letting her know that they have returned and that Michael has her car outside parked on Edward Heartpaw’s driveway.
“Oh thank you,” Denise slowly disentangling herself from Roxy; she rumbles with delight as she can smell the soup that has been simmering for the past few hours. “Not that smells delicious,” Denise getting up; prodding a sleepy tigress cub awake as she now stands up and stretches.
“I heard that Roxy helped,” Jimmy responding as the cub slowly stirs; “and that she caught you and Brittany having a little fun earlier.”
“I’d rather not talk about that,” Denise shaking her head from embarrassment; “bad enough I had to explain about sex to a cub who couldn’t comprehend what we were doing. I don’t need to regal you of it,” Denise glaring at deer fury who was smiling wryly back at her; “I’m sure your mate filled you in.”
"She gave me the cliff notes," Jimmy grinning as Roxy finally opened her eyes to see her older half brother staring at her.
When Alison was preparing the soup base, Roxy and Jimmy were shouting off items to add to the stock. Ingredients such as carrots, celery and mushrooms made the cut. However some of the more odd requests, such as marshmallows, chocolate chips and popcorn were vetoed by both Brittany and Denise. Also in the soup was barley, potatoes, onions as well as some peas. Radishes was another ingredient that the cubs requested and despite Brittany and Denise's earlier vetoes; that particular vegetable made the cut. The soup base consisted of garlic, canned chicken and canned ham, tomato paste, basil, parsley and other assorted herbs and spices. Along with the soup was fresh made garlic bread topped with cheese. This added aroma made everyone's stomach rumble as they gladly took a bowl and a slice of the bread and eagerly dug into the inviting concoction.
“This could be a borderline stew,” Michael savaging his bowl; using the garlic bread to sop up the remaining juices as he contemplates licking the bowl clean.
“And I thought I was hungry,” Jimmy S.R watching his father spend less time eating compared to sitting down; “would you like a spoon to eat it with?”
“Funny,” the elder deer fury retorting; “hard work made us all hungry.”
“The cold didn’t help much,” Edward chiming in as he does his best to savor the bowl as it warms his paws as he holds it; “it generally never gets this cold on the west side of the rocky mountains.”
“Why is that,” Jimmy J.R looking up at his grandfather; his bowl of soup only half eaten as he watches everyone else devour theirs with gusto.
“It all has to do with the mountains blocking the arctic air that usually comes down from Canada. Instead we typically get rain. Lots of it as we are close to the Pacific Ocean.”
“But now and then,” Jimmy’s father adding as he puts down his empty bowl of soup; “mother nature throws a curve ball and lets us know who is in charge.”
“This is one of those curve balls,” Jake speaking up; “and a right nasty one at that.”
“Good news,” Brittany looking at her phone before putting it away; “no snowfall is forecasted for the next few days. It will be ten degrees warmer tomorrow than it currently is today, so you can play outside for a few hours before you start to freeze.”
“Can we go sledding again daddy,” Roxy looking at her father; her bowl of soup almost empty as she looks excited for the fact of playing in the snow again.
“Of course,” Michael smiling the looking at Denise; “and mom will join us.”
Roxy looked excited at the fact that mom would join them in some snow fun and she soon gobbled up the rest of her soup. Alison adding some pickles in her bowl gets the usual groans from the men and a chuckle or two from Brittany and Denise; those that finished their soup quickly got up to get themselves another bowl. Being told to save some as Alison wants to send some over to her mother and her brother Adam; an anthro cougar cub who came down with a cold thanks to his energetic playtime in the snow the day prior.
“Dusk and Dawn might like a bowl,” Brittany finishing her first helping; “and mom would like some.”
“We still have plenty of leftover chili,” Lucas Soulfang putting his now empty bowl down; “I was thinking of sending some of that home with you and Jake.”
“Just none of that spontaneous combustion hot sauce of yours,” Jake chuckling; “that stuff is nasty on the tongue.”
******
An hour later after everyone had their bellies full from the soup; Jimmy was helping Alison clean up in the kitchen while their cub watched television with Dicken’s snuggled on his lap. Checking the pot and seeing there is not much left, Jimmy ladled the remaining soup into a few Tupperware containers and placed them in the fridge. Re-arraigning the dishwasher he manages to fit the large pot in the bottom rack, as the top rack is filled with bowls and a few glasses.
“Any other dishes that need to go in,” Jimmy looking about before preparing to close the door and begin the cycle.
“No,” Alison finishing wiping down the stove; “run it.”
“Assuming the weather report is accurate,” Jimmy turning on the machine and wiping down the nearby counter; I’m going to start converting the spare room into a nursery. I wish you’d tell me the gender of our cub, so I can properly paint the room.” Jimmy bunching up the towel and tossing it into a hamper; despite fury’s not wearing clothes, items such as towels, bed sheets and the odd blanket for the extremely cold days still need to be washed and cleaned. Most fury’s using their magic runes to remove the washer and dryers from their homes soon kicked themselves for not realizing that they are still needed. Alison remembered when her fathered swore after finding out that Julian turned theirs into an alchemy station. The pretense was making potions and experimenting with turning base metals into gold. It was one of the few times that the anthro cougar saw her father get really cross. Fortunately, Julian was able to undo the transformation and restore the appliances back to what they were.
“And spoil your Christmas present,” Julian looking at her mate with a wistful smile; “you’ll just have to wait until Christmas day. You’ll have plenty of time to repaint tafterwards. Just clear out the room until then.”
“Oh,” Jimmy coming up behind his pregnant mate and embracing her; placing his hoof hand on her protruding belly and feeling the baby within writhe from the intimate contact; “so that is what I’m getting? What about our son,” Jimmy whispering in his mate’s rounded ears; his hot breathe causing Alison to twitch and flick the ear in response. “What is junior getting for Christmas?”
“You’ll just have to wait,” Alison purring; “in the meantime lets join our son and watch some television.”