"Grandma," Gillie asked slowly toward Mother Glen, who was still hugging her, still unsure as to whether or not this really fit, although she could swear she'd heard the name "Marilyn" before, "do you love grandpa?"
Mother Glen backed away from Gillie slightly.
"Every bit as much as I loved Vincent," Mother Glen answered, "You must remember that we leomen are every bit as much polygamous as the lupmen. We simply organize our marriages differently. Single males and females may mate with anyone in the pride. Married females can and have mated with males other then their Prime Mates, but its usually only when their Prime Mate is unavailable, and they do get their Prime Mate's permission before actually engaging in the act of mating... it has been EXTREMELY rare that a lioness has had cubs with a male that is not her Prime Mate..."
"Forgive me if this sounds crazy, Grandma, but those that have?"
"Are usually single lionesses, like Elise was," Mother Glen nuzzled Gillie, giving a low rumble that the copper lioness could feel through their fur and chests.
It reminded something that Gillie had overheard a biology student say when she was a male "Gillian IV" (though Gillian can be used for either gender) in college. A lion's roar was actually something that could be felt, and not simply heard. At the time "he" guessed that if that was true, the vocal cords in lions had to be powerfully strong if they could make the air vibrate enough for other beings to feel it.
"A male lion with a Prime Mate can mate with any lioness so long as he has permission from his Prime Mate before engaging in mating," Mother Glen explained, "those males that have done so without consulting their Prime Mates have been expelled from the Pride. Blackie and I had to quite literally chase a male that had done so out once..."
"You had one of the wolves help with something would be "Pride" business?" Gillie wondered in surprise.
"He volunteered as he had come to visit me just before I had gone to do the job myself," Mother Glen answered, "it would have been uncivilized to throw him out or reject his help... and getting back to your first question dear, I love your grandfather very much. He probably WOULD have been my Prime Mate if Jessie hadn't turned him into a teapot."
"You mean my father was..."
"Most certainly not," Gillian interjected, "nothing formal was done, but the human concept of a "bastard" does not exist in the Pride, nor does it really in the Pack, that I know of. The fact that humans do that to children is very much UNCIVILIZED in my book. Children, be they Leomen cubs, Lupman pups, Felmen kittens, Dragon hatchlings, or Human kids are precious. They must be cared for and loved, regardless of whether or not their parents have formally wed or not."
Gillie felt relieved at that.
"And to relieve your curiosity, once Gill gets used to being flesh again, I would not be opposed to taking him as my new Prime Mate," Mother Glen spoke again.
"You would Marilyn?"
"It's Mother Glen, but yes," the snow white lioness answered, "Vincent has long since died of old age. I am single again."
Gillie only sighed as the conversation was rapidly getting sidetracked, but it did somehow feel good to with family again.
++++++++
"Aunt Kaylee..."
Kaylee looked up from her guilt ridden older pups and her nervous younger pups to see Alice and Abbey standing in the mirror in the dinning room. Normally they would be accompanied by Samantha and their mothers, but Samantha was apparently somewhere in the mirrorverse version of the manor, Fran had gone straight to the medical wing, and Julie and Darla had likely gone to bed.
"What is it, dears?" Kaylee asked, "are you in need of a hug too?"
"Thank you for offering, Aunt Kaylee, but if we are not to have schooling today, we would like to look for our sister," Alice told her.
"Alright, but don't cause any trouble," Kaylee spoke, "I'd go with you, but I have my hands rather full at the moment."
"It's alright, Aunt Kaylee," Abbey spoke, "If she's with Omega Maddex and Lawrence and Betty we'll be fine..."
Kaylee then watched as Abbey and Alice walked out of the reflection of the dinning room, and then returned her attention to her own pups.
++++++++
"How did Katherine know where Glendale was?" Lilly wondered, "had she been there?"
"I don't think we're far enough along for that to have happened yet," Samantha commented, "she only attempted to get the Templar gargoyle to join."
"Who ignored her, for reasons that Marie never knew, but her eldest "guardian angel" was not about to turn her down..." Marie spoke.
++++++++
Marie sighed as she made her way down from the roof. She had hoped the Templar gargoyle would help. Even if the people of Glendale were Protestants, what the withes would unleash was an evil that even the differences between Catholics, Eastern Orthodox Christians, and the various Protestant denominations would have to be set aside, and as a protector, both when the Templar gargoyle was human and now as "Templar", Marie had assumed that he would help. It depressed her that he didn't.
"You are troubled, Marie," came a gravelly voice from above and behind her as once she made it to one of the balconies.
She turned to see Vatican come and land beside her.
"Vatican!" Marie gasped.
"Yes, Marie," Vatican nodded, "You are troubled."
"A great evil is coming," Marie said gravely, "and one of great power."
"You feel you must fight it?"
"Yes, Vatican," Marie nodded, "Those that would oppose them there are not prepared to fight what is coming. There are Leomen and Lupman there, but they are not trained for this and if they fight to save their homes, they will be transformed into who knows what... or worse enslaved..."
"If they are that powerful, even you can not do it alone," Vatican told her.
"I know," Marie spoke, "Which is why I turned to the Templar gargoyles... no luck."
"And it didn't occur to you to ask me?"
"You would come, Vatican?" Marie gasped, "but the Vatican has been your protectorate for as long as I can remember!"
"In recent years, YOU have been my protectorate," Vatican told her and placed a stony hand gently on her shoulder, and using his own strength to make sure that his arm didn't crush her, "I have been tempted to have my soul transferred into a female body and take the name Marie."
"You don't need to do that for me," Marie told him.
"Your godfather asked that I protect you," Vatican answered, "So I will. I will go with you, Marie."
"What about the Vatican?" Marie asked, "the Pope and the Cardinals..."
"Are well protected," Vatican answered, "the Templars did do well against the Turk, they will protect the Vatican. I will protect you."
Marie gave a weak smile, and then hugged him.
"Thank you," Marie told him, "I will need other allies though. Someone that can stop or protect us from these witches."
"Make your choices wisely, Marie," Vatican advised, "I will await your call when we are ready to go."