Martha's day had gone very well, with the local school willing to let her sub and even having a possible opening for the next school year, provided she could get all her certification up to date again. That'd take some time, and she wouldn't know how well that would go until William got home, which wouldn't be too far away, but she'd still have to wait. To top it off, she now had underwear and bras that would fit the new her better and wouldn't dig into her skin when she transformed. She even had some outerwear that would be able to shift with her, and in the process learned of the shop where she could also take William to get attire that would work better with the new him as well. All in all, that made for a very successful day, and Yvette's lawyer had plead guilty, which meant the rogue would be out of her family's fur and Eric had to be on his date by now. And when she returned from her shopping trip, she had picked up the mail, which included letters and notes from Akane for herself and William, which included the contact information for all the Skulk members.
Relaxed and pleased with her success, Martha put her new clothing away and changed into more comfortable clothing that the formal clothing she wore to her interview and wore for the rest of the day until she got home. It gave her some opportunity to relax a little before she'd need to get ready for her date with the Twists, and she hoped their day was just as productive as hers was. Though there was some concern as she knew that Samantha would be welcoming a new family today, and if her own memory of her own family's welcome was anything, that could be potentially stressful for Samantha. As she remembered how opposed to to the town's laws she and William had been. It made her chuckle to herself as she thought over what she and William had opposed being weres over, as she was a werecat now after a short time in Moon Lake.
Her chuckling however stopped when her mind thought over to the third person in the menage a trois that made up the other half of her sexuality. She had twice made offers for some fun or at least companionship for the day with Frances, but her own work had come up and put that on hold. She couldn't really complain, as she didn't want to really get in the way of either Samantha's or Frances' career, but knowing that Frances worked as a therapist, Frances had the potential for dealing with potential stressful situations. In that she hoped Frances was okay and not too troubled. As she set a teakettle down on the stove to heat the water, she wondered on how things would go if Frances had actually had a stressful day.
She had only just set the kettle down as the hose phone rang. She wondered who it could be but made her way to answer the phone. She answered it to find that it was Samantha on the other end of the line.
"Hello, hun," came Samantha's voice as Martha answered the phone.
"Hello," Martha answered, curious at the phone call, "How did welcoming the new family go? Anything wrong?"
"It came as a surprise for them... but that part of my job almost always is," Samantha answered, "the reaction that you and your husband had initially are not altogether uncommon among normals that move to Moon Lake. Though with this new family... I think they've been spooked to the point where the parents might jump to protect their daughter and she seemed rather curious... like your Nate."
"Well..." Martha commented, not knowing about the issues the new family had, "hopefully things go well for them... being a were... it isn't a bad life... and I'll always be thankful to you and Frances for the gift you both gave me."
"I know," Samantha relied, "and we're both glad you feel that way, dear."
Martha smiled at the comment. However, Samantha wasn't done talking.
"However, Frances had a rather stressful afternoon," Samantha told her, "Miss Smith..." Samantha's tone with the rogue's name was very icy, "...called to speak with Frances, which has made her think that something in the girl's psyche is very fragile, the police have also uncovered a mystery around her mother that they're trying to solve, and the only one who can truly answer their questions at the moment... is Yvette Smith..."
"That doesn't sound good," Martha said nervously.
"Not bad... but still stressful," Samantha answered, "which will mean when our night becomes intimate... you and I need to focus our efforts on Frances. Let her know that we both love her very much."
"Don't worry... that's something I can do very easily," Martha promised.
"Okay then, see you in a few hours," Samantha promised and hung up. Martha then hung up her phone and was prepared to check on her tea when the doorbell rang, making her jump a little.
"Things seem to be very busy today," Martha mused to herself and made her way to the door. She found waiting for her a blond woman with curves that matched Martha's own and carried the scent of fish mixed with perfumes, Melissa Stovall. In her her hand was Eric's back pack.
"Hello, Mrs. Anderson," Melissa gave a soft smile, "Eric and Julie are off on their date and I am here to drop off his book-bag."
"I see, come in, come in," Martha said in a friendly voice as she heard the water boil for her tea, "I've just started making some afternoon tea, if you'd like some."
"I'd love some," Melissa answered, "thank you."
Melissa handed Eric's backpack to Martha and followed the werecat into the Anderson home. Martha lead her into the living room and motioned to the couch while she sat Eric's backpack down near the entertainment center. From there, Martha moved toward the kitchen.
"Will you want cream and or sugar?" Martha asked.
"A little cream and two sugars," Melissa answered and let Martha had quietly into the kitchen.
Martha was quick in pulling the teakettle off of the burner and pouring the boiling water into a teapot that she had ready. The water mixed with the teabag that was in the teapot, and Martha could actually smell the tea, which was good. It was one of her favorite brands and she hoped that Mrs. Stovall liked it as well. While the tea steeped, she readied two cups and readied the cream and sugar to mix in with the tea. Once the tea was ready, she returned to the living room with the two cups. Melissa smiled politely and accepted the tea as Martha handed the cup to it.
"They aren't very fancy cups," Martha said weakly, "but..."
"I don't mind," Melissa answered, "tea is tea. Having tea in more expensive china wouldn't change the taste."
Martha smiled as she sat down and took a sip from her tea. As she set her cup back down she looked to the Mayor's wife.
"So... how did they look when they left the school?" Martha asked, "Did Eric look calm or nervous?"
"He looked rather calm to me," Melissa answered, "though he nearly took a header going down the school's front steps. Apparently he'd been looking for his brother to let him know about his date with Julie and was running a bit late..."
"Did you see Nate?" Martha wondered.
"I'm afraid not," Melissa answered, "though, I'm afraid I'm only a tech specialist. I'm not involved in a lot of the person to person meetings that my husband or Mrs. Twist would be. I wouldn't know what your Nate looks like. He could have walked right by me and I wouldn't have known."
"I see," Martha answered with a shrug and figured she'd get to introduce her eldest son to the Stovalls at some point.
"But Eric and Julie did look good together and walked off in good spirits," Melissa finished her answer, "You'd swear they were destined to be together if you could have seen them."
"That's very good," Martha smiled.
"What brings about the interest in how Eric looked?" Melissa wondered, "From what I gathered at dinner... is that Julie might be your son's first real girlfriend... but surely he's had other friends and people he was on good terms with."
"Not really," Martha answered, "in sports... Eric has focused almost on the competitive side of things. He'd practice to do his best and fought hard to win or help his team win. He wasn't too bad in that regard, but neither did he really bond with teammates. They got along in terms of the play on the field, but not much more than that. And at the same time... he's also been rather bookish. So when he wasn't in a sporting event he was reading."
Melissa blinked in surprise.
"And his bookish side seemed to irritate those that were on the sports teams he participated in," Martha continued, "one group of kids even bullied him FOR his bookish side. From there he began shutting himself out from everyone but family... and the stresses that William and I went through didn't help..."
Martha paused to sip her tea, "It's why William and I are so pleased that he's found friendship and maybe love with Julie. It'd get him to open up and not so turtled up... as it were."
Melissa did her best to remain calm. She had her worries for Julie, and that Julie's hopes that Eric would become her weremerman and the nature on how weremers fell in love, she could see that Martha, and likely William, had real concerns of their own. In that sense, it was probably a good idea to urge Julie to enjoy the time together and be patient. If Eric had trouble with bullies in the past and became withdrawn because of it, that affect whatever decision he might make regarding being a were or not. In that, it would be best to go slow.
"Well, they looked good together," Melissa smiled and sipped her tea, which did taste good, "actually reminded me of myself and Martin when we were dating."
"Well... maybe that'll be a good sign for the future for them," Martha commented.