{{A note to "The Werewolf Prince": Eric Anderson at the moment is a normal human being who will eventually become a were-merman to be with his were-mermaid girlfriend Julie Stovall, who he walks home every afternoon, so he can't be meeting Tad right now anyway.—tmw}}
Jenny Harper looked at the piece of paper again, and then back up at her professor. "I do appreciate the offer. Everyone in Moon Lake has been so kind to me, even before..."
"I know becoming a were is a big adjustment," agreed William Anderson. "We've both been through a lot. Don't take this the wrong way, but it sounds to me like your folks would cause problems even if Yvette Smith never entered our lives."
"I called them last night about my impending wedding," admitted Jenny, after thinking over what her professor said. "To say they were shocked is an understatement. They wanted me to come here, learn everything I could about power plant management, and then go back home to marry Dieter Wilhelm. The guy I told you about. But even before I met Harry and we became bonded weres, I've always had other hopes and dreams."
"And your folks are totally wrong," pointed out William. "All I'm offering you on behalf of myself and my family is moral support, friendship, and some sage advice if requested. Now you better get along to your next class," he added, looking up at the wall clock and noticing it was almost 9. His next class wasn't till 9:30, but still...
"Thank you Professor. As another werefox, at least you understand," said Jenny, with a genuine smile, as she got up and collected her things. "Oh. As a fellow victim of Yvette Smith and a fellow new Skulk member, Harry and I are inviting you and yours to our wedding next Saturday. Can you come?"
"We wouldn't miss it for the world. I assume you'll be attending our initiation ceremony into the Skulk Friday night?"
"My invitation was waiting for me in my dorm room last night, and Harry got his at his folks' house. It's nice of Mrs. Tachibana to do something like this, isn't it?" asked Jenny, as she headed out the classroom door and tried to get on with the rest of her morning...
MEANWHILE...
Doctor Frances Twist had already seen Doctor Kathy Tucker and visited with the patient that would soon be her adopted daughter Rikki Tucker, who was also a recently transformed werecheetah as well as a former 40 year old adult male instead of now being a 14 year old girl.*
Now it was time to keep her other appointment at Moon Lake Hospital.
"So Yvette, how are you today?" asked Doctor Twist as she walked into the rogue were-vixen's hospital room, not sure how to take the fact Yvette was within her human form at the moment.
"Fine, except for this," replied Smith, indicating the handcuff on her right wrist that kept her secured to the bed. "I hate being cooped up and need my freedom."
"Tell me. If you were free, what would you do right now?"
"First, I'd take a long hot shower, or better yet: a bubble bath, without having somebody standing guard outside the bathroom door telling me to hurry up and not take so long, despite the fact being in the bathroom is the only real privacy I get right now and its lone door the only way in or out. Afterwards..." Then Yvette had to stop and think about that.
"In truth, I don't really know," she finally admitted. "I still want to find my soul mate, because I feel so incomplete without her. I'll be surprised if the Dean hasn't already expelled me, but that don't matter. After graduating high school, I wanted to go somewhere and be a fashion model, but I could only access the trust fund to continue my education."
"What trust fund?" asked Doctor Twist, promising to get back to the subject of Yvette's new found lesbianism in a bit.
"Something mom said my father set up. Whoever he was. I have absolutely no memories of the guy at all, and mom will never talk about him," admitted Yvette. "Sometimes, I think she hated the fact that I had money she couldn't touch, despite its restrictions. Then again, I could always go to college somewhere else after I've done my time," she added, tugging on the handcuff that kept her chained to the bed again.
"What happens to the trust fund if you don't go, or don't use it all?"
"I... I'm not sure. I guess it just sits in the bank," assumed Yvette.
I know the police told me she has some scholarship money too, but I'll have to have them look into that trust fund situation too. "Do you have any memories of your father at all?" Doctor Twist asked in a neutral tone of voice.
"No. Mom said he died before I was born, but would never discuss him beyond that. When I was young, I searched the house a few times whenever she was out... doing whatever it was she did, but couldn't even find so much as a stray photo of him. It's always just been her and me, as far back as I can remember. That seemed kind of cool in the beginning, but as time wore on, mom seemed to resent it more and more. Unless it was me she resented as a reminder of what she couldn't or wouldn't ever have."
"That's pretty deep," observed Frances Twist, "but having never met your mother, I can't say. Did your mom ever say anything about him?"
"To me directly? No," replied Yvette. "Would never talk about him at all beyond the fact she said he was dead, but I once found an old diary of hers. The only entry I read that I knew for sure was about him, mom wrote that loving him was either the greatest achievement or worst mistake of her life. Yet whatever the answer, I was a constant reminder that it did happen."
"I see," replied Frances, thinking carefully before asking her next question. "And what can you tell me about your Uncle Bart?"
"Him? Why?" asked Yvette in return.
"Well, he is the only known family member you have left," pointed out Frances.
"Oh," was Yvette's only reply as she thought about it for a moment. "He only came around once, maybe twice a year at the most, with no advance word of when he was planning to visit that I know of. Would always already be there when I'd come home from school, then he'd stay for a couple of days to a week at the most. Never knew for sure when he'd take off until the day I came home from school and he was gone again till next time."
"And how did he treat you when he was there?"
"Fine, I guess. Would always bring me a stray gift, like a toy or a box of candy. Would take mom and me out to dinner at least once whenever he was in town. No place fancy. Usually just the diner, but mom appreciated a night out of the kitchen."
"I see. And how did he and your mother get along?" asked Frances.
"Fine, I guess," was Yvette's answer again, not knowing what else to say. "At least, whenever I was there they got along. I don't know what they were like when I was at school. Why?"
"Just have to ask. To be your uncle, was he your father's brother or your mother's?"
"Mom's. He even showed me pictures of them as both kids and kits. It's hard to ever believe mom was that young, let alone happy once."
"It's hard for any child to ever picture their parents as anything other than a parent," was Frances' only reply, while she privately wondered if Yvette Smith could be the result of an incestuous relationship between brother and sister. Something I'll have to have both the hospital and the police check out as soon as I can. "Who's older? Him or her?"
"Him, by about 10 years," answered Yvette. "Said they were as thick as thieves, whatever that means. I tried asking once, but Uncle Bart said he didn't know anything about my father. If mom and him were so close, I always wondered if he was lying, but Uncle Bart wouldn't budge on his answer and mom would always tell me to shut up."
*During a different Moon Lake story elsewhere on CYOC.net, although the transgender part of that tale was under an unusually unique set of circumstances that would be extremely hard to duplicate.—tmw.