"Well, I'm pleased with you, George," Molly said to me as we ate dinner the night after her baby shower, "you've cooked a good meal and you didn't make a mess of my kitchen."
"You know I'd clean it up if there was anything out of place," I told her, "besides, both our names are on the deed to this cabin. Doesn't that make it OUR kitchen?"
"It is my kitchen," Molly gave a playful smirk, "I merely let you use it from time to time... and wander in while I'm cooking."
"I wander in because I want to help," I told her, "and shower you with love and affection."
Molly only chuckled and shook her head. She then gestured to the swollen womb that she was carrying around her mid-section.
"I know you love me, George," Molly smiled again, "this more then proves that you love me."
"I'd love you even if we were infertile," I said firmly.
"But we aren't," Molly answered, "as my womb can attest... and we're going to be parents! We're going to have cubs! Our own family!"
"Yes," I nodded, "and the start of a whole new adventure."
Molly nodded and took a piece of her steak on her fork and placed it in her mouth. She then quietly moved that piece in her mouth and "sliced" the meat into smaller pieces before swallowing the meat. And that was largely how Molly and I ate the meat that we served, be it breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Humans chewed food by crushing it on wide and flat molars in the back of their mouths. When Molly and I were transformed, our teeth changed along with the rest of us. Our canines had lengthened into the fangs of any other tiger, while our molars became narrower to serve more as scissors to slice meat rather then to crush it.
Now, to some extent, that didn't mean our molars couldn't chew. Chewing would probably grind them down until they flattened out, but with our molars that was in theory possible. But, Molly and I, since our transformations had found that chewing was not possible for Tiger People. There, though, the reason was in the great big canine teeth. Chewing would require some rotation of the lower jaw, and if Molly and I tried that, we'd likely put a lower canine through the roof of our mouths or an upper canine through our tongues. Neither option was good, and resulted in us only being able to "chew" by moving our jaws up and down while using our tongues to push meat between our molars. And with time and practice, Molly and I had become good at it so that we weren't "grossing" anyone out.
"Yes, a great adventure," Molly nodded after she'd finished "chewing", "provided the start of that adventure isn't foiled by a couple of rats..."
"Grabar and Larceny?" I replied, "I actually have some good news in that department."
"They've already plead guilty?" Molly wondered.
"No, but that could be a possibility," I shrugged, "the good news is that they've finally got the schedule arranged. They'll be having their opening statements in about a week. And then they'll go from there. And if I do end up being called out there to testify... based on how things are now, I won't have to go until the mid-point of next month at the earliest."
"So you'll be here when our cubs are born?" Molly asked.
"Yes," I nodded.
Molly then smiled, got up and came around the table. She gave a slight chuffing as she approached me, and we were soon nuzzling our muzzles against each other.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The next few days went by relatively quietly. Molly and continued to do somethings around the house that we could to prepare for the birth of our cubs. Much of that was related to buying the supplies needed to care for them, as one of the woman that had attended Molly's baby shower had said that we could never have enough diapers. Most of the rest was refining out a plan of how to diaper them. We knew we'd have to shave them at the spots where the diaper's "straps" would touch the skin for obvious reasons. The real question was how large of an area would we have to shave. We eventually tossed out on diaper to measure things out. Through the measuring, we figured that the size of the area we'd need to shave would be a bit larger then the "straps" on the diaper.
Things at work were also quiet. Officer Barnes and I ran our patrols and dealt with the standard "routine" calls that most police officers had to deal with. Some days had more then others, and on a couple, there were no real incidents at all. What came as a bit of a relief was the fact that we now knew the basic schedule for Grabar and Larceny's trial. With knowledge that if I was called out, that it wouldn't be until the midpoint of July seemed to be a relief to everyone at the station as much as it was to Molly and I personally. Some of it was probably the fact that I was fairly nervous over the issue they didn't want me "going nuts" with worry over whether or not I would be able to be there for Molly. If that was the case, I was thankful for it.
The big thing that Molly and I were preparing for, however was the arrival of my parents. Jacob and Polly Wayne, although they would always be dad and mom to me, and probably grandpa and grandma to Molly's and my cubs. But there were still various things that Molly and I had to do in preparation for my parents arrival. Molly and I made sure the "guest beds" were ready and clean. They'd be our cubs' beds in the future, but for the moment, my parents could have them. We also made sure to buy some of the grocery items that Molly and I didn't buy for ourselves. Cereals, vegetables, fruits, grains, that sort of thing. Molly and I didn't buy them normally because most of our guests at Bandhavgarh were only there for a little while, or as was the case with Amos and Marcella, shared our carnivorous diet. My parents didn't though, and Molly and I made sure to buy the food items that would be appropriate.
"Well, I think we're good to go," Molly said to me one evening in the kitchen as we'd set the things that my parents would need down, "all we need now is the arrival of your parents."
I slowly nodded and held Molly to me for a moment. She rested her head on my shoulder. The arrival of my parents was the only thing we needed now. We'd gotten an Email from my mother a few days before, announcing their departure from Peoria to come see us. She'd also given the basic plan for their trip. Based off of that, Molly and I were expecting my parents any day now.
"Yes, yes, we are," I nodded and then heard the sound of an engine out on our driveway, "and that could be them now..."
It could be, or it could not. Whenever Dave or Tabby on their way into town stopped by our cabin on their way, they drove. And there were a couple of occasions where Frank Rhoer, Meredeth, or Nessie came up before driving somewhere else, they drove. There was the possibility that it wasn't my folks, but we were expecting them, and the sound of an engine sent both Molly and I moving toward the door. And it turned out to be my parents, and we met at the door itself. Molly didn't even give my dad the chance to knock.
"Mom, Dad!" Molly said with a smile and nearly pulled my parents into the cabin.
My dad gave a soft smile and hugged her back.
"It is good to see you doing well, Molly," my father gave a smile, "How have you both been?"
Molly didn't get a chance to answer my father as my mother began to faun over Molly's womb.
"Oh... dear... Molly you look positively radiant!" Polly Wayne said excitedly, "and you look almost fit to bust!"
"Well, this is my last week before my due date," Molly answered, resting one paw on her womb, "Do you want to feel them kick?"
"Do I?!" Polly Wayne replied and then reached out.
Molly caught my mother's hand with her other paw and gently placed my mother's hand near the top of her womb. My mother then gave a happy squeal when after a few moments she felt one of Molly's and my cubs' paws push against her hand.
"The top..." Polly Wayne said slowly.
"They're ready to come out," Molly nodded slowly and began to usher my mother into our living room.
"You have great timing, dad," I told him, "we'd just finished placing some grocery purchases for you and mom while you're here. We're also pretty close to starting dinner as well."
"Then we are just in time," my dad said with a smile, "how are things?"
"Doing rather well," I answered, "especially since Beauregard and all his R.A.M. nonsense is over with. His last pawn the previous school district superintendent was voted out and a good friend of ours, Tabitha Choir was voted in. And so far she's done rather well. One of Molly's fellow teachers also serves on the school board, and from what Molly's found out from him, they've agreed to do a four day school week starting this fall to save money... and did it quicker then Tabby's predecessor did in all his years as superintendent."
"Ah, ha," Jacob Wayne said slowly, "and how are other things... We noticed a sign on one of the barbed wire fences on our way up said: "Bandhavgarh Ranch and Preserve"... you and Molly getting into the ranching business on the side?"
"Mostly to help her Uncle," I said slowly, "the man who essentially gave Molly and I this cabin, Michael York, died over the summer, and in accordance with his Will, Molly and I inherited the ranch land and the house that Michael York lived in. Since Molly's uncle hit a rough patch when Beauregard's schemes were uncovered we'd actually moved to help them out..."
"Yes, you and Molly got him and his daughters the job of looking after a small herd another rancher had practically given you and helping this Mr. York," Jacob Wayne nodded, "you and Mr. Rhoer explained that when you and Molly came to Peoria for Leon and Jacki's wedding."
"Yes, well, since Michael York has died, and we inherited his land and home... we've allowed Frank Rhoer to move into Michael York's old home and run the affairs of the ranch," I sighed, "with the full support of Michael York's family... and so as a result, Molly and I technically own a ranch that Molly's Uncle and Cousins run... it made our tax returns rather interesting... but things are stable, and gives some help to family."
"Which is due to grow by two," Jacob Wayne commented with a smile.
I glanced over to Molly and my mother, who were talking about how her pregnancy had gone and what Molly and I were planning to do after the cubs were born.
"Yes, yes..." I nodded, "the Rhoer-Wayne family will be growing by two."
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The next day began quietly. Molly and I, of course, still had to get up fairly early. Me for my work, and Molly for her work with the Summer Sun program. She enjoyed a lot of the summer work that the school district did, even though for the most part it amounted to a babysitting service... but Molly had also informed me that there was a summer school program that ran with it. For those that had either failed during the course of the normal school year, or for those at any grade who wanted to get through grades K-12 quickly. After a quick breakfast, I left on foot, leaving the Transit for Molly to drive.
In a sense, that was our insurance policy in case the day arrived. If Molly walked in to work, and labor hit her, she could be stranded. If she drove, she'd at least have a way of contacting someone to let them know what was going on and where she was. And if she made it into work before that happened, it would allow me to drive her to the hospital. I didn't know for certain if they'd send an ambulance or not, and so I figured that having the vehicle there and close to where Molly was would allow her to be easily transported to Kalispell to give birth... provided I could get there quickly enough.
But neither of us knew what was coming that morning, and we largely went about our routines as well as we could. I went into work and ran the morning patrol with Officer Barnes. Things had been quiet and there wasn't that much to be concerned about. When we returned for lunch we found that there was an FBI agent there with a series of paper envelops and one decent sized box. He was talking with Officer Howard as we came back into the station.
"Ah, here they are," Officer Howard spoke, "Officers Wayne and Barnes... they're the ones who ended up drawing the calls on the thefts Grabar and Larceny made here."
"Did you recover some of the non-cash goods?" I asked curiously.
"A fair number of them," the agent answered, "we've been driving around the country to find some of these things. Believe it or not, some of the agents in this part of the "investigation" had to go as far south as Sacramento to find out if there was any of the stuff left..."
He then gestured to the things he had with him.
"Anyway, these were matched with descriptions that were taken from copies of your reports when they first started burglarizing things here," the FBI agent continued, "I've been assigned to go through them to figure out which item goes to which household..."
"He needs access to our report files to match the item to the address," Officer Howard then spoke, "which means he needs you to help him sort through all these things."
"And who will be returning them when they're all matched up?" Officer Barnes asked.
"Technically that would be me," the FBI agent said, "but given the local layout... and in some sense for some good local PR for your department, we'd want you along as well."
Officer Barnes and I slowly nodded.
"Well, we were about to break for lunch," Officer Barnes spoke, "we can get started on that immediately after. See if we can get everything returned before the day is done."
"Okay then," the agent nodded.
And that was how it went. After lunch, Officer Barnes and I sat down with the FBI agent and began to double check our earlier reports for the descriptions of the items that Grabar and Larceny had stolen. We were in one of the questioning rooms near the station's "front desk" area and were quietly working on the task at hand. However, as we did so, my ears picked up something going on outside the room.
Officer Jenkins had picked up the phone, as the caller had called into the main office rather then dispatch, although if there was a call to be transferred to dispatch, all Officer Jenkins needed to do was press a button and it would be done. She seemed to be asking the caller a question or two when a different sound was carried over the phone. It was altered a little by going through the phone line, but to my ears there was no mistaking it.
"GGGRRRRRRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" came the cry, practically a roar, that sounded full of pain.
"Molly," I stood up.
"Officer Wayne?" Officer Barnes looked up.
"Someone from the school has called the station and was talking with Officer Jenkins," I answered, "and I heard Molly give a cry of pain. Something is wrong."
"Who's Molly?" the FBI agent wondered as I began to head to the door.
"His wife, pregnant with twin cubs," Officer Barnes said to him.
I made it to the door just as Officer Jenkins had arrived at it.
"Of... George, that was the school," Officer Jenkins began, starting formally and then ending non-formally.
"I heard, is Molly okay?" I asked.
"She's going into labor," Officer Jenkins spoke.
I then turned to Officer Barnes.
"I NEED to be with her," I said slowly.
"A few moments for your partner to drive you to your wife won't bother me," the FBI agent said, "go on."
I then informed Officer Howard that Molly was in labor, signed out and rushed to the patrol car. Officer Barnes would drive me to the school, and depending on whether or not an ambulance had been sent, I would then either follow the ambulance or drive Molly to Kalispell.