Just as the engine was turned off, the time read 17:55 on the display, so they’d made it at about when they said they would. Meaning that there was a good chance that George was already here now. When he thought about it, Clemens realised that he could’ve arranged to have George picked up and save him the long walk home. But it was far too late to do anything about that now, and no point in him bringing the point up. It seemed rather rude to him if he did try to bring it up.
It took him a moment to wriggle his way out of the back seat, needing to work around his large tail, but Clemens was out without too much difficulty, taking the moment he had to stretch his limbs before Jenny was around and at his side.
Molly must have heard them arrive, since the front door had opened and she was there.
“Joseph.” She greeted him once they were closer, taking care to keep her voice down.
“Whoa.” Jenny gasped out once she had a really good measure of her size, easily one-and-a-half times taller than Joseph.
“I did sssay they were nine and twelve feet tall, didn’t I?” Clemens whispered to her.
“I know you did, but it’s still something that hard to believe until it’s seen.” She whispered back.
They had to stop speaking once George arrived, looking like he’d gotten changed in a hurry. Again, Clemens decided against bringing it up. Though the quietness that they were presenting did suggest that their cubs were asleep at the moment.
“Wasn’t expecting you here as well Joseph.” George spoke quietly.
“Well it was easier for me to drive, already knowing the way here.” Joseph explained.
“I see,” Molly understood. “Just to let you know, Michael and Machli are sleeping right now so we do need to keep the noise down a bit.”
“I get it.” Clemens replied. “Ssstill, it’ll be nicce to catch up on thingsss.”
“That it is.” George agreed as they all headed inside.
Dinner came quickly, having only needed to be served. For the five of them, it was a little cramped around the table and Clemens needed to watch where he was leaving his tail, but they managed well enough. Meat was clearly the dominant item, though given the dietary requirements of Clemens, George, and Molly, that was to be expected, though there were enough vegetables for Jenny and Joseph to have.
“I wonder if a habit’sss going to be made of thisss.” Clemens remarked once he’d finished swallowing his last tiny bite, needing to cut the meat into small pieces that he could swallow whole.
“Habit?” Molly queried.
“Well last year, it was you and George that came over for dinner. And now it’s us over here this year.” Joseph worked out.
“Ah. But there’s still some major differences.” Molly added once she was on the same page.
“The babies?” Jenny asked.
“That’s one, yes.” George confirmed. “And there’s a lot more as well.”
“I think I heard a bit about it. Tabitha winning?” Jenny asked them.
“That was the other big thing that happened here.” George confirmed. “Once all the lies and half-truths were picked apart, she won by some distance.”
“I bet that Wayne didn’t take it well.” Clemens remarked.
“He cleared out of town not long after.” Joseph answered. “That’s pretty much the last big piece of Beauregard’s work gone now.”
“So the worst is behind you now?” Jenny continued to ask.
“I believe so.” George replied.
“That’sss good to hear. It’ll mean that thisss place will be much better for bringing up your kidsss.” Clemens moved it on.
“That it will.” Molly answered before moving the subject forwards. “So what about you two? What’s happened with you over the past year?”
“Usss?” Clemens took a moment to think it through. “Well I’m guessssing you already know about thisss.” He and Jenny showed their engagement rings.
“We’ve heard.” Molly confirmed the fact. “When’s the date?”
“The start of August.” Jenny replied. “After that, the two-week honeymoon.”
“Oh?” Molly pushed on.
“An RV trek acrossss the Statesss.” Clemens supplied. “Not sssure yet where we’ll go, but there’sss time to work that out.”
“Well then. Congratulations.” George spoke with a smile in his voice. “And for now?”
“A few daysss at the Glacier National Park, but we don’t leave until tomorrow.” Clemens answered the question. “Then back here for a day before needing to head back to Florida.”
“And what about life there?” Molly asked them.
“Well, thingsss have been pretty good the past year.” Clemens started. “The zoo’sss getting more popular thessse daysss, and I find myssself doing a lot of the ssschool toursss that they do every ssso often. I think the kidsss perfer to sssee me though.” He chuckled slightly at that bit.
“As for me,” Jenny added her part in. “I do see quite a few that have taken the Animatrix Serum. Mammals and Avian seem to be the more popular choices in Florida.”
“I’d thought there’d be a lot of reptiles in Florida.” George wondered aloud.
“Oh, there are. Just not as many.” Jenny explained. “That could be because it’s a little easier to adapt to mammal and avian than it is for reptiles, but I don’t know for sure.”
“I wouldn’t be completely sssure about it either, but I think thisss may be a reassson that explainsss why.” Clemens looked at his tail, reptiles tending to have thicker, larger ones than most mammals.
Any further conversation had to be cut off by the sound of crying coming from up the stairs. Clearly, the cubs were making CERTAIN that they wanted attention, and right away.