The male abandoned Derrick soon afterwards, yet the former boy did not feel alone or worried. She actually wasn't thinking of much at all, simply content to eat berries and wander the woods. Derrick was rapidly becoming a bear in her thoughts as well as her body, and the new pregnancy was helping. She began to look for a god place to have and raise the cub, a den she could live in. Time lost meaning, the passing of days simply dark and light periods.
She gave birth after a long but normal pregnancy, and nursed her two cubs. They grew and she started letting them explore. More time passed, and the cubs grew to young adulthood, and the day came when Derrick watched them leave for the last time. She felt no grief, only satisfaction - then confusion. Derrick suddenly remembered her past as a human boy, but so much time had passed! It had to be well over a year, not the two weeks of the vacation.
She lumbered out of the woods heading for Circe's palace. Was it too late? Was she a bear for life? Oddly, Derrick was not upset by the possibility. Being a bear felt OK, but she wanted to see if there were other options.