Rikki Plunkett stared at her reflection in the full length mirror.
"Nervous?" asked Frank Tucker, standing near her to make sure his tuxedo was on straight.
"Some, but I think I have the right to be. Don't I?" asked Rikki in return.
"You and every other blushing bride to be."
"Oh Frank," said Rikki, while putting her arms around him. "You and Kathy and Diane have done so much for me since—"
"It's okay dear," replied Frank, gently putting his arms around her and patting Rikki on the back. "Family isn't just a question of flesh and blood relations. It's about people who love and look out for each other. No matter what."
Then they both heard the organist play the opening chords of The Wedding March.
"It's time," Frank pointed out, before taking a step back. "Ready?" he asked, while holding out his hand.
"Definitely!" said Rikki, happily.
As they emerged from the dressing room in the rented chapel, everyone turned to see the bride in her wedding gown.
Rikki looked down long enough to see Frank Junior standing in front of the door. The child was in a miniature version of his father's tuxedo and holding a pillow with two wedding bands on it.
Rikki smiled as the boy turned and ran down the aisle in a slight gallop, a positive sign that he would grow up to be a fine werehorse like his parents.
As Frank started ushering Rikki down the aisle to give the bride away, she looked at everyone gathered for the happy event.
She felt a bit sad that there weren't that many people sitting on the groom's side, but then again, considering the dark moments of his past...
But as Rikki turned her head and looked to her left at where those of the bride's side traditionally sat, she stopped in mid-step and asked, "Where's Diane?"
"Diane..." the patient moaned, as Plunkett laid in the hospital bed.
"DAMMIT!" cursed Doctor Kathy Tucker, as she stared at the monitors. Plunkett's vital signs were beginning to seriously fluctuate.
Physically, the patient now looked almost like a full, 14 year old werecheetah just going through her first transformation at puberty. But Plunkett's insides were a mess, trying to complete the transition from male to female, let alone transform the once normal human adult into a fledgling were.
Despite whatever foreign chemical had been injected into Plunkett's body, regardless of the miracle it was creating, actually turning a man into a woman while a normal male changed into a female werecheetah, they still needed her sister-in-law to help successfully complete Plunkett's transition into were society.
"I'm not going to have another prolonged Jenny Harper situation on our hands!" she vowed, as Tucker reached into her lab coat for her cellphone to call her husband.
"YES?" said Frank Tucker, answering his cellphone on the second ring.
"Where the hell are you? We're at the critical stage of the transformation and need Diane to complete Rikki!" shouted Kathy.
Rikki, not Rick, noted her husband, as Frank said, "I've got more problems than you can shake a stick at on my hands right now honey. It's bad enough that the juvenile court judge sentenced Diane to repeat the ninth grade for the remainder of this school year because of her excessive truancies; but now we're in the main court house. I've managed to get our lawyer here to replace the court appointed one Diane had earlier, which I hope was a good move; because the DA is not only insistent about charging Diane with a Statute 1-A violation, but he wants to try her as an adult too on the grounds that, despite the circumstances; Diane should have known better than attempting to scare away a normal in her werecheetah form. On top of which, she'll be facing murder charges as well if Plunkett doesn't survive."
"GOD!" he heard his wife scream. "This day just keeps getting better and better!"
There was a pause, as Frank heard Kathy attempting to calm down with some deep breathing exercises.
When she finally felt collected enough to talk again, his wife said, "Well, if we don't get Diane down here soon to complete the transformation, Rikki WILL die! Is the DA willing to file charges against himself for interfering? Put him on the phone and I'll see if I can talk some horse sense into him!"