With many families, it's traditional for them to gather together on the holidays, especially Christmas. Though for most family, it would be the younger members of the family traveling to be with the elders. The Animalian virus changes many things, particularly family structures as it can make the young mature and the old in their prime again. It also extends travel plans quite a bit as Animalian colonies spread around the world. For instance, instead of Nate and Shuixing traveling to Nate's family in Wisconsin, they were traveling to them in Heiya Island. Part of this was to avoid the notorious winter weather in Wisconsin that could snow them in. There was also some concern about Maya being exposed to some nasty germs in America. The Bowman family was willing to come to them, though Meryl had her own opinion on it, as always.
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"You ought to let her see more of this world than just this little island," said Meryl, "And isolating her isn't going to make her immune system better."
"I know," said Nate, "And we promise we'll come to you next year."
Meryl snorted and said, "I'm sure you'll find some other excuse."
"Now, Meryl," said Olly, "It doesn't matter where we meet so long as we all meet up. Besides, I think Myron likes it here." Currently, the littlest members of the Bowman family were playing together. Nate's half-brother, Calvin, and his cousin, Myron, were 3 years old at this point, which made them two years older than Maya. Fortunately, they were playing relatively gently with each other, though they did give each other's tails a yank. It was only an issue when someone grabbed Myron's longer ears.
"Calvin's getting bigger," observed Nate.
"Yes, and your father and I were discussing giving him a little brother or sister," said Blueberry.
"Really? I thought you were fine with just Calvin," said Shuixing.
"I would be fine with that as well, though Blueberry has been rather persuasive," said Ulysses. The only small hindrance in their relationship was their reluctance to refer to Blueberry as Nate's mother. Nate's mother had walked out a long time ago and Nate was really happy that his dad found love again with a wife who was more than willing to raise calves with him, more than one apparently. But still, it was hard to call the cow he used to milk 'Mom', especially as the Animalian virus made them around the same physical age.
"What about you?" asked Meryl, "You thinking about having another calf?"
"Maybe in a year or two," said Shuixing, "We'd have to redesign part of the house if we had another."
"You could retire and let someone else be the Water Star," said Ulysses.
Shuixing shrugged and said, "Maybe, though I haven't found anyone that might be a good successor like Tuxing had Liao."
"Speaking of whom, how is she doing?" asked Ulysses.
"She and Lenard are doing great," said Shuixing, "I think they're holding off on having cubs until they build up their finances a bit."
"Did you get paid for all your promo stuff?" asked Olly.
"Yes, but you know how expensive it is to raise a kid," said Nate.
"Too true," said Ulysses.
"Also, Lenard is still taking care of Mikey and it might be a little awkward at his age to know his sister-in-law would be..." started Nate.
"He's not gonna be a kid forever," said Meryl, "Somebody ought to give that boy The Talk."
"Not you," said everyone flatly.
"And what about your other sisters?" asked Blueberry, "I bet Muxing is very busy these days."
"Oh, she is," said Shuixing, "She's training all day long for the Year of the Snake competition. I mean, I think it's obvious she's the most likely winner, but she's not assuming it will be an easy win."
"So which one is she going marry again? The two-headed snake or the shemale snake?" asked Meryl.
"Um...both I guess?" said Nate, "I mean, they're so close, I don't think it matters who's mates with who. Also, I don't think 'shemale' is an appropriate term."
"You sure? I looked up online that they call herms that on-" started Meryl.
"Not in front of the children, please," said Ulysses.
"It's not like they'll understand," said Meryl.
"Meryl, please," said Ulysses.
"Fine..." sighed Meryl.
"And what about your other sisters?" asked Olly, "Are their boyfriends still..."
"Human? Yes, I think Huoxing will want to convert Gang on their wedding night. Which is quite an amazing amount of restraint for her," said Shuixing, "And Jinxing and Mistu aren't quite that serious yet, or so they say."
"I'm sure they'll figure it out," said Blueberry.
"Well, my sister didn't take nearly as long to figure it out," said Olly. Nelly had her foal last year and she was proving to be a good mother for a mule. At least she wasn't competing with Meryl anymore, at least not in silly ways.
"And next year, we'll be having Christmas at the farm so she can make it," said Meryl. Meryl actually liked her sister-in-law in friendly rival sort of way. Though the insults the sling at each other while working out would make non-family members concerned.
"Well, you knew what you were getting into when you married me," said Nate to Shuixing.
"It's been more than worth it," said Shuixing happily.