The travel on the interstate had gotten to Peoria ahead of the schedule Molly and I had. It was evening, yes, but a Monday evening. We did not anticipate arriving in Peoria until sometime the next day. But as we began carrying in the things we had taken with us, I was not about to complain. Columbia Falls and Bandhavgarh Cabin may be my home with Molly by my side, but it was good to see my Mother.
"My old room is down the stairs and at the end of the hall on the right," I said to Frank Rhoer as he was looking around for where he was to go with his bags.
"There's also a bathroom across the hall from it if you need a place for your sanitary and shaving needs Mr. Rhoer," Polly Wayne called after him.
"Thank you," Frank Rhoer responded.
Molly and I then followed my mother through the house as she lead us to the guest bedroom that she had set up for the two of us. It wasn't necessary as Molly and I knew the layout of the house, but my mother was not one to be triffled with when she had a mission.
"I hope everything is to your liking, son," Polly Wayne said to me.
"Of course it is, Mom," I answered and Molly and I set our bags down on the bed, "Thank you for letting us stay here for Leona's wedding."
Polly Wayne took my paw and then Molly's and squeezed them as hard as she could.
"You two are family," Polly Wayne said, "I miss having you close to me... but as long as you're happy, I am happy."
"Thanks, Mom," Molly and I replied and nuzzled her cheeks.
"Hey... cut that out..." she laughed, "your whiskers tickle."
We chuckled a little and let my Mother have her moment of happiness at having us home.
"Is there anything else you need brought in?" Polly Wayne asked.
"We have an igloo to bring in as well," Molly answered, "and it needs to be kept cool."
"Cool? You have water bottles in there? Or wine or soda?" Polly asked.
"Meat," Molly answered, "Rare meat. We need to keep it cool in order to keep it from going bad."
"Rare... Medium is much better, less chance for disease," Polly spoke.
Molly and I looked down for a moment. It was ultimately Molly who answered.
"That part isn't a problem for George and I now, Mom," Molly said slowly, "we can digest raw meat if we wanted to... and a good part of our instincts have us leaning toward raw meat. We cook it at a rare setting so that we have cooked it... but our instincts are satisfied as well."
"You haven't attacked anyone because of these instincts, have you?" Polly asked.
This time I answered.
"No," I told her firmly, "we are firmly in control of our instincts. It's one of the things that the guys that sued Leona were truly right about. We are not lost to our instincts and those that we follow are those that won't hurt people or the public... and even with those that could be sold as a threat, we can choose when to follow them."
"We will abide all the hunting laws and George is sworn to uphold the law in Columbia Falls," Molly added, "the notion that we're mindless monsters is a lie... and it isn't like all humans don't eat rare meat. Some do, in fact."
"Oh, I'm sure," Polly answered, "I guess it's just a personal preference on my part. Go get your igloo... but I have plenty of meat cooking right now, so don't go raiding your supply tonight. You can put the igloo in the cold room, George, it should be fine."
"Thanks, Mom," I nodded and proceeded to get what we had to store the meat we had for the trip.
Retrieving the igloo and placing it in my parent's cold room was done quickly and when I had finished, I returned to the living room and dinning room area to find Frank Rhoer telling my mother about his life and about the ranching business. He occasionally talked about Beauregard, but mostly in a sort of perplexed way. Like he was trying to wonder how or why the man became who he was. He again complimented my Mother on her ability to raise me and thanked her for letting me marry Molly. It was polite small talk that I let go.
Standing there for a moment and looking over the house that I grew up in, I could see that very little had changed. Many of the movies and CDs and things that I had had over the years were no longer there, and the same with the books that I owned, but that was a given. Things like that were all back on shelves at Bandhavgarh. The rest of my parents' house was as it was, and looking into the living room a few images flashed through my mind...
Rushing in after the attack at the freak show. Watching as Molly's human form was lost and she became the tigress I married. Her hair falling out, being replaced by reddish-orange fur with black stripes and a white underbelly. Trying to comfort her and keep her from panicking when she realized what had happened to her. We were practically back to where it had all started for Molly and I... though I knew that this time the "new starts" belonged to others.
"George," Molly spoke firmly, snapping me out my memories, "You okay?"
"Yes, dear," I sighed, "just thinking back over things... you transformed here, remember."
Molly stood up and rubbed her head against the bottom of my jaw.
"Of course, George," Molly replied, "but that was nearly a year ago now... maybe more. I think both of us have moved on from that. You helped me adjust... did all that I needed at that time... helped me become me again, even though both of us no longer match our birth certificates, species wise anyway."
"I love you, Molly," I said to her and returned her hug.
"I know," Molly replied, "and I love you too."
++++++++++++++++++++++++
It took a little while for my Father to return home from work, and when he did, my Mother had finished preparing dinner. Between feeding herself and my Father, Frank Rhoer, and Molly and I, she had cooked enough meat for a royal banquet. And it was lamb chops, something the stores in Columbia Falls had little of. And as Molly and I "sat" down to dinner, it smelled wonderful.
My Mother was just beginning to serve the dinner when I noticed lights on the driveway, indicating that my Father had returned home.
"Dad is home," I announced calmly, getting up.
"Just in time, too," Polly Wayne commented, "Go on and say hi... I'm sure he'd like to converse with you face to face for a bit."
I chuckled a little bit as I moved to meet him at the door. He had just opened the door from the garage as I arrived there, and he did seem to expect me to be there.
"Hey, Dad," I said in greeting to him.
"Hello, Son," Jacob Wayne responded, "it's good to see you."
He came forward and we shared a brief hug.
"How was your drive?" Jacob Wayne asked.
"Long," I shrugged, "but thanks to Molly's Uncle we made it."
"Good to hear," Jacob Wayne nodded, "Leona will be pleased to have you two here. She's had it pretty rough... possibly rougher then you and Molly when you consider she's partially responsible for what Changes did, which still horrifies her, was attacked by those gang members, and has then been sued by people wanting to be animal-people... You and Molly are probably the only friends she has."
"What about the other victims?" I wondered.
"From what I hear, she's managed to keep track of them, but only on a professional level," Jacob Wayne replied, "meanwhile, her interactions with you and Molly have been more personal... maybe it's because you helped free her from Changes... or maybe it's because the three of you are all members of the cat family."
"She's helped Molly and I a lot, particularly when I transformed," I remarked, "we owe her the same good treatment she's shown us... and Molly's been all shades of excited about being a bridesmaid."
"She's already been a bride, why would being a bridesmaid be exciting?" Jacob asked, somewhat loudly, as if he wanted Molly to hear him.
"Very funny... Dad," Molly answered, making my dad chuckle.
"So how have things been here?" I asked.
"Quiet relatively," Jacob Wayne replied, "occasionally some gangster from Chicago flees down here to escape the "heat" as it were. Sometimes we catch him... sometimes he flees back to the big city. Most of the "problems" we've had have been related to Leona's serum and the lawsuit... but even that has been civil. No one's been hurt. Just people protesting either the ruling or the regulations. In time it'll all quiet down I suppose."
"What do you think about it?" I wondered, "the verdict? I think they are right about it changing the world... though Molly and were both pulling for Leona."
"I'm sure," Jacob Wayne nodded, "I was too... but the law has had its say... and the government is trying to do the responsible thing with it. Most of the protesters have been wanting the regulations against marine and freshwater animals lifted... possibly some sort of mermaid fantasy or something, but that has held firm. At least for now. If we ever manage to clean up the oceans... I don't know what will happen as the best defense we have is that they would be in danger because of the pollution we have put into the ocean already."
"That'll be a while, yet though," I commented, "pollution wise we put the entire planet in pretty bad shape."
Jacob nodded, "but we should discuss happier things at dinner."
He then moved to sit next to my Mother and Frank Rhoer while I moved around to "sit" beside Molly and my Mother.
"Dad, this is Frank Rhoer, my Uncle," Molly introduced her Uncle to my Father.
"Pleased to meet you, sir," Frank Rhoer replied, "And I can see where George got his career choice from. I'll tell you that he's become a rather fine officer in Columbia Falls."
My dad seemed proud to hear that.
"I think that comes more from George's sense of right and wrong, which I can claim as solely my efforts," Jacob Wayne said modestly, "Polly helped out a great deal in that."
"He's already thanked me multiple times on that subject, dear," Polly Wayne said to my Father, making the both of them chuckle a little bit.
"So, what do you and Molly have planned, George?" Jacob wondered, "Leona's wedding isn't until Friday."
"Will you and Mom be coming?" Molly asked him.
"Just about all of the station will be coming to support Officer Jackson," Jacob commented, "You two are among the few that I know of that have been invited to support Leona."
Molly and I nodded, as my father and I had already discussed this, and I was sure that Molly had heard the conversation as well.
"So what do you two plan to do until Thursday and Friday?" Jacob Wayne asked.
"I need to go into the zoo and get my booster shots," Molly sighed, "as well as to document what specific vaccines they've given me and how many more boosters I'll need so the vet in Columbia Falls can do the vaccinations next year."
"A vet..."
"So far vets are the only physicians that will remotely know what they're doing when it comes to Molly and I," I sighed, "and it'll probably take a while for human doctors and medical schools to begin teaching about specific animal diseases and anatomy to deal with the animal-person population."
My father only shook his head while Molly and I sighed. We could tell he wasn't at all pleased with that sort of behavior.
"We might also visit Leona and see how she's doing," I commented, "especially since Molly will be a bridesmaid at the wedding."
My father nodded, "I'm sure she'll be glad to see you."
"Hopefully," I nodded.
"And what about you, Mr. Rhoer?" Polly Wayne asked, "will you be coming to the wedding?"
"I probably will," Frank Rhoer commented, "but for the most part, my only business is to try and talk some sense into my brother and his wife."
Molly gave a growling hiss at the mention of her parents.
"And that is why," Frank Rhoer continued, "they had no right to treat their own child that way... and it helped lead her and George to be somewhat suspicious of me when Beauregard started his nonsense in Columbia Falls. Never understood why he really cared about it so much. George and Molly stayed with me and my daughters for a few days, caused no trouble whatsoever..."
"Some people are just odd that way," Jacob Wayne commented, "and I guess the Rhoer family here is a little bit that way as well."
"I still can't tolerate that sort of behavior toward their own flesh and blood," Frank Rhoer answered firmly.