Clemens checked his watch as there was a pause in the conversation on Conan the Barbarian and special effects. It wasn't too terribly late, but he and Jenny had a fairly limited time they could spend in Columbia Falls, mostly because they had both filed the paperwork for some rather lengthy time off for their honeymoon after the wedding. And while meeting with George and Molly again was a great treat, and Machli and Michael were adorable, they weren't the entire focus of his visit. Jenny had also expressed the interest in spending a couple days in Glacier, which Clemens had no problems with. While the summer meant that there would be a good many campers there as part of the tourist season, the park was still a scene of pristine beauty. Clemens did respect that, and was quite willing to give Jenny what she wanted.
"So, what else do you two plan to do while you're up here?" George asked after a moment as the sound of Molly's footsteps where heard coming back down the stairs.
"Mostly a bit of camping," Jenny commented, "Go up into Glacier... see the mountains... maybe get a picture or two at a good spot."
"A quiet spot might even give you plenty of time to think and plan things over," Molly commented as she approached and then sat down.
Clemens did nod in agreement with that. Both he and Jenny had a fair amount of things to think over and finalize. There was the whole potential "family planning" issue as to whether or not he and Jenny would have a family. He was glad to see George and Molly happy with their children, and while he knew that raising Machli and Michael would present its own challenges for them, if they did well things should turn out quite alright for both of them. Those who had received the Animatrix Serum, be it by accident or be it intentional were all adults or from what Joseph had told him in a couple of emails a child who was at least old enough to understand human norms and expectations. It was these things that allowed Animal People to control their instincts. The instincts were there, but they didn't control the mind and they could then pick and choose which instinct to follow.
Machli and Michael, however, were BORN as animal people. A tiger's instincts would be at the basis of their mental buildup from day one without a human past guide them. But in the long term that wouldn't be an issue. They'd grow up in a human society and would be raised by parents who would likely make sure to teach their children to understand what was acceptable and what was not. It might take time, but human children commonly went through the same development. And given that tigers were mammals and that in nature were raised and protected by their mother, there were many aspects of childhood for Machli and Michael that would have little difference from the childhood of their parents.
Clemens and Jenny would likely have a far more different issue if they decided to have children, and particularly if Jenny became an Animal Person. Genetic testing, according to what various scientists had determined, proved that Animal People were no longer genetically compatible with Humans. Which meant that if a way to negate the potentially infectious issues with the Serum was found, an Animal Person and Human could not naturally have children together. The Human would need to become an animal that was genetically compatible with the animal that his/her partner was. This would mean if Jenny were to become an Animal Person, she'd likely need to become a species of Python, and preferably the same species as Clemens was himself, though it might be possible that all Pythons could crossbreed, as these species generally didn't normally overlap their ranges and thus there wasn't enough interaction for such hybrids to occur naturally. Now, Clemens did have an insurance policy, so Jenny could become a mother of his child if she wanted to without becoming a snake person, but the thought Clemens had had earlier regarding Machli and Michael then hit him again.
What if Jenny did become like him, become an African Rock Python... or some other Python species, provided it was genetically compatible? Would she lay eggs the way nearly all reptiles did? And would their children have the mentality of children or would they be born or hatch with the mentality of adults, or at least near adults? Reptiles weren't well known for any sort of parental care for their offspring. Some vipers and pit vipers were known to give birth to live young, such as America's various rattlesnake species, but outside of crocodiles, alligators, and caimans, no reptile species guarded or protected its young... and even the parental care of crocodilians was rather limited. Or would the Animatrix Serum change that, just as it had largely allowed Clemens to keep his arms and legs? It was all things to think over.
"It may be good for that, but I was thinking more along the lines of relaxation," Jenny commented, snapping Clemens out of his thoughts, "Joseph can even come with us."
"I wouldn't want to get in your way," Joseph spoke up.
"Wouldn't you want to go along and plan out the wedding?" George asked curiously, "or at least the bachelor party?"
Clemens turned to see his cousin shake his head.
"You are the bessst man," Clemens commented, "Or at leasst I'd like you to be."
"I wouldn't miss your wedding for the world," Joseph answered after a moment or two, "You are my cousin and you deserve to be happy. I've simply never been much of a wild-man for a bachelor party... you know that."
"It doesss not need to be wild," Clemens told him, "Perhaps we could go to a ressstaurant and thosse friendssssssssss I know from work who are married can give their advicce and so forth."
Joseph then nodded, "That can wait until closer to your wedding."
"The best advice I can give is to always have an open mind, be it in case you make a mistake and Jenny, here, calls you on it or if something else comes up," George offered, and took Molly's hand in his own, "I've found it helps further communication with Molly and strengthens our own marriage..."
Clemens nodded, and checked his watch again. They were now beginning to reach the point where he and Jenny would need to get some rest.
"And I will do my best to do that," Clemens stood up with a smile, "and thank you for letting Jenny and I come visssssit."
"Yes," Jenny added, "Your children are both adorable and I hope you'll have many happy years with them."
"So do we," Molly gave a knowing smile, "May you and Clemens have the same joy... at least with each other if not with children of your own."
Clemens and Jenny nodded. Seeing Joseph, George was always a special treat, given the distances that separated them, and George and Molly had seemed to him to be very likable people, especially now with things in their lives beginning to quiet down, but he had also found that being with Jenny had brought something into his life that his good relationship with his cousin or friendship with other Animal People couldn't bring and Clemens didn't want to lose that. He glanced to Jenny and saw her nod, giving him the indication that she felt the same way about him.
"And thank you for letting us visit," Jenny said to Molly, "it was a pleasure to meet both of you."
"Thanks," Molly answered and again shook Jenny's hand, "we should do this again some time."
"Maybe nexxt year," Clemens commented, "it'll be a bit of a tradition... wouldn't you ssay, Joseph?"
Joseph Patten nodded with a smile. He did enjoy seeing Clemens being able to catch up with him. He also still marveled at how well the speech therapy was helping Clemens out. Lizards and snakes all had forked tongues and from the news reports that he had seen, Animal People that had chosen snakes or lizards tended to develop a rather hissing voice as the changed tongue struggled, particularly with the letter "s" and at times the letters "c and x" when they sounded like an "s." But Clemens had made great progress. True he had to talk slower, but he also was largely managing to limit how much tongue affected his speech. He was proud of Clemens' ability to adapt and learn and practice so well.
"We can even alternate... I can host the dinner one year and you two can host it the next," Joseph smiled.
"And hopefully when you next visit, Machli and Michael will have grown enough that they'll get the sense that you aren't a threat to them," Molly patted Clemens' shoulder.
"Hopefully," Clemens agreed, "but that isss in the future."