Nate, thinking he had heard something, woke up on the living room sofa. He then heard somebody going up the staircase, but thought it was his brother Eric just checking on him, not realizing that his dad was home.
Realizing that it was almost 9am, and anxious to get on with things, Nate woke Ben up. Ben called his place to see what the status of his moms and Martha Anderson was while Nate went to his room to change clothes and freshen up.
On the short walk from their place to the Twists residence, Ben and Nate met Martha on the way.
Ben could already tell just by sniffing the air, but Nate stared at his mother and asked, "Well?"
Martha Anderson smiled and said, "Meow!" before hugging her son. "Now I see why you've had your fascination all these years. It's wonderful!"
Nate returned Martha's smile and told his mother he would see her later.
Inside the Twists residence, Samantha and Frances were already dressed for the day, and cleaning up from their late breakfast.
When Ben came out of his bedroom after changing clothes and freshening up, he thanked his mothers for driving them. "My car should be out of the shop Monday. I just wish the school would change their mind about only seniors being able to take auto mechanics."
"We don't mind," said Frances, as each woman grabbed their purses.
"Now, should we wait, or go on with our errands and come back for you later?" asked Samantha.
"We'll play that by ear. But you better drive," Ben told Samantha. "Nate has something he wants to talk about on the way."
"Oh?" both ladies asked in unison.
In route, Nate explained everything he told Ben about knowing that recent events were far from the first instances of his dad ever cheating on his mother.
"And I just don't know what to do," said Nate when he finished relating the back story. "Part of me hopes it all will work out, but I'm afraid of what might happen if it don't."
"I see," said Frances. "Unfortunately, children always get caught in the middle somehow during these situations. I'm afraid the best you can do at the moment is be supportive of both your parents, within reason, without showing favoritism to either one. And watch out for your brother. Eric will need you from time to time, even if it's just to have somebody to talk to."
"Speaking of which, we'll have to continue this conversation later. We're here," said Samantha, while parking at the curb in front of a nice suburban house about ten miles away from where they lived.
"Take your time. We'll wait out here for either a 'go on' or a 'we'll be out soon' message from you," said Frances, as the boys got out of the back seat and walked to the front door of a nice looking two story dwelling. There was a station wagon in the driveway and some young children's toys scattered in the front yard.
Ben's Pack Alpha opened the front door and waved to the women while letting the boys inside.
After the front door closed, Frances turned to Samantha and said, "Well, that's an interesting development."
"Yeah," agreed Samantha, leaning back against the driver's seat. "I had the sneaky suspicion William Anderson was a G.D. Jackass the moment I first met him."
"Samantha Alison Twist," said Frances.
"What? Being a lesbian doesn't mean I hate the entire male species just because they are men. But I am anti-jerk, and Martha is stuck with a real winner there," complained Samantha.
"She was worried enough this morning over breakfast about facing William again as it was," agreed Frances. "But this? At least she's taking her werecat birth control pills."
"You don't think she might go on the prowl?" asked Samantha, concerned about their friend.
"Don't know. We basically gave her a double shot of werecat during our makeshift induction ceremony," her wife reminded her, "despite the fact we were just doing it to be romantic because we've both fallen in love with Martha."
"And I don't regret one moment of that," said Samantha, while reaching out to hold her wife's hand. "Yet between the pills, her concerns about William, and especially not wanting to risk having another child with him since her new a-were-ness has increased her fertility, everything should balance out in time. Right?" she asked.
"Even with a were's increased libido, the newness of it does wear off. Martha has a good head on her shoulders, but she's going through some tough times right now. We'll just have to be there to help when we can, and console when we need to," said Frances, holding Samantha's hand.
"We will honey," replied Samantha, leaning as much as the seat belt and the front bucket seats would allow, until she was against Frances. Samantha put her arm around her wife and said, "Including Ben, we're a quartet now, and I always look out for my family!"
Frances smiled and kissed her mate again, then the two of them sat there in the car, waiting for the boys.