Occasionally, there are certain official days on the calendar for recognizing particular species. While Animalia is aware of these days, they don't make a very big fuss about them. Otherwise, there would be no end of the observed holidays. At most, Animalians of a particular species would receive a small discount at one of Animalia's businesses.
For instance, on International Polar Bear Day, Marcy and her mother would go have a spa day together. And this year, Polly was also included. She was rather excited to spend some big girl time with her older foster sister and mother. She wasn't quite sure what to expect from this.
First, there was a deep-tissue massage. Polly felt a tiny bit uncomfortable with having someone press into her adult body like this. But it turns out there was a lot of deeply-embedded stress in her body. Polly had thought her double-dosing had made her healthy, which it certainly did. But carrying that weight all day, even with muscles as big as hers, did take its subtle toll. The small pops her bones and muscles made under the masseuse's hands were accompanied by relief that Polly wasn't expecting to feel. It made her resolve to do more to take care of her body.
Being a bear, Polly's claws got particularly long. Especially since a polar bear's claws are built for gripping ice and prey. It felt to have them trimmed down to a more manageable size. Then there was the special bath treatment to make her fur as pearly white as possible. Polly was tempted to have her hair cut a bit, but she liked having it long. She did have them take a bit off the end so that she could more easily put it back in a French braid.
And after that, it was time for the White women to soak on one of the hot springs. There they could open up about the big girl stuff. "So, Teddy's also wanting to be a bear?" asked Marcy.
"He's more interested in being a grizzly bear," said Polly.
"Doesn't mean it can't still work," said Marcy, "Polar bears and grizzly bears are closer-related than you might think."
"But we're not getting ahead of ourselves," said Mrs. White meaningfully, "There's only one of you who should be expecting cubs."
"Not until I'm farther along in the astronaut program," said Marcy, "Going into space is going to be stressful enough on my body without having to worry about another life inside me."
"Yeah, I don't think Teddy's even going to convert so soon," said Marcy, "His parents are going to want to know how serious he is about it first."
"I do hope we get to meet his family at some point," said Mrs. White.
"Don't put too much pressure on Polly, Mom," said Marcy, "You gave me and Chilly a lot of space."
"Chilly was a zoo animal before the Outbreak," said Mrs. White pointedly.
"And he's been a perfect gentleman," said Marcy.
Mrs. White sighed and said, "I suppose every mother doesn't want her daughters to grow up too fast. Which the Animalian virus makes happen a little too literally."
"Mom, I'm not going to rush this," said Polly, "I like Teddy, but I don't think we're close enough to consider bond-mates yet."
"Good," said Mrs. White, "You need to make sure your attraction's more than physical."
"I think they've gotten a good start so far," said Marcy.
Polly tried and tried to relax. She wanted her relationship with Teddy to last, but she didn't want to feel any pressure over it. She supposed this was part of being an adult now.