Henbane Tea
Cup three

Fri. Feb 14th 2014

Pulling into her usual spot in front of the ‘abandoned’ mine, putting the van into park before cutting the engine and getting out.  It felt like it had been ages since she had been here, when it  had been about two months.  As she got to the door, she half expected her passcode not to work, but it did.  She made her way through the long hall stopping at her office and unlocking the door before stepping in.

“Jeez, I thought that they would have cleaned this for me.”  She said walking into the office, looking at the piles of papers that still littered her desk and other places.  “Oh well at least I know where things are still.”  She said as she sat down at her desk, slouching back in it.

“Look who’s back from the dead.”  A voice called out, causing Shanoa’s attention to snap to the source.

“I was just on vacation.”  Shanoa said, rolling her eyes at the sugar glider that was standing in her door.  

“On vacation for like two months?”  Slip asked cocking her eyebrow a little.

“Well some of it was vacation, the rest of it was bed rest from an operation.”  She said with a little shrug.

“You had an operation.”  A strong french accent joined the conversation, the owner showing up a second later.  “Is there something that you need to tell us?”

“Well I guess I can kill two birds with one stone.”  Shanoa said with a little shrug.  “My wife and I went on vacation, and she surprised me with something.”

“Wait….your wife surprised you with an operation?  Is this some strange tradition that I don’t know about?”  Mairya asked tilting her head a little.

“No…  Its kinda hard to explain.”  Shanoa said slinking back into her chair.  “Mairya you know about my condition, Slip you not so much....”  She said looking to the sugar glider.  “I can’t have kids….Well I couldn’t, and I want to have a family, so she got it set up to get me into an operation that would fix that, so part of the vacation was spent doing that, and the rest was healing.”  She said patting her belly.

“So you’re going to try and get knocked up?”  Slip asked, tilting her head a little.

“Yes….and Slip….stay out of my records.”  Shanoa said looking to the hacker.

“Ok.”  She said rolling her eyes, “I guess this something that you will be needing to talk to the boss with...Ill get back to work.”  Slip said waving to the pair before slipping off.

“So, I take it with you trying to become a mother, that when you become pregnant, you will need less and then no in the field work.”  Mairya said nodding a little to the catwolf.

“Something like that.”  Shanoa said pausing to think of how she wanted to word her feelings.  She wanted to tell her that she wanted to leave the group, that she was going to worry about her family, to just protect them.

“Ok, just talk to me and let me know what you need.”  The poodle said with a little nod, turning and heading off.

Shanoa let out a sigh as she started digging through her desk, pulling out an envelope and slipping it into her pocket before tilting her head back against the headrest.  She wanted to tell Mairya that she was done working for her and the group, that she would find other, safer ways to help people, but most of all not do anything stupid now that she was going to be growing her family.  She had started thinking about leaving the moment that she had talked with Anna the night that she had brought Curio home, but now the feeling had just grew and doubled over and over.  Hell she had to go pick up her medication, starting up the process that would lead her to being a mother.

“I wonder if Mairya would kill me if I kept using this.”  She said pulling the envelope from her pocket, knowing that it contained a debit card, one that she was given when she joined the group along with being told that she would be able to use it to get anything that she needed as long as she worked for her...she still did work for her...so everything was good there.  “I will tell her later.”  She said getting up and starting for her door, closing and locking it before heading back to her car and her home, knowing that she had a lot of things to do...and even more coming.

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It was getting on in the afternoon by the time that the catwolf had gotten home, but she had this planned out, along with the many other things for the night.  If everything went the way that she had it all set-up, she would be pulling into the driveway and Anna would be off taking Curio to stay with a friend of their’s…  And she was right, pulling into the driveway, it was just her car.  She got out and started into the house, closing and locking the door behind her, heading right for her bedroom the moment that she got in.

She had been planning and getting things ready, practically since the day that Anna popped her big surprise.  A date night to rival all the other date nights, something that the two would remember for a long time, and something that they could tell their kid; though they would have to leave some of it out, at least till they are a little older.  She giggled a little as she opened the closed door and pulled down two boxes, setting them on the bed and opening one of them.

In the box that Shanoa opened was a fairly simple looking, black, spaghetti strap, slit leg dress.  It was something that she had special made for her, soft velvets and the slit went up just enough that she could tease that naughty doe of a wife.  Pulling it out and setting it to the side, she pulled out the stockings and panties that went with it, but before she could put any of it on, she had to shower, slipping off to the bathroom to just that, knowing that she had a little time before Anna would be getting home.

The catwolf was purring loudly and happily by the time that she got out of the shower, knowing that it was just about time for her wife to be getting home.  She stood at the foot of the bed, picking up the lacy panties and wiggling into them, she knew that with the way things were going it might a while before she could wear something nice like this.  Next came the stockings, a little splash of white, a little change from the black fur stockings that she had on all the time.  It was about the time that she was wiggling into the dress that she heard the front door opening.

“Shanoa, honey, I’m home.”  Anna’s voice called out through the house, heading back to the bedroom.

“I’m in the bedroom.”  Shanoa called back, sitting on the edge of the bed, leaning to the side a little and smiling from ear to ear.

“I know you aren't in here napping or something.”  Anna said as she opened the door, muzzle hanging open a little at the sight of her mate dressed up, smiling so sweetly.

“I think that I might be a little over dressed to take a nap.”  She said sitting up and pulling the other box into her lap, then patting the spot next to her.  “Specially napping on our date night.”

“Shanoa….what do you have planned?”  Anna asked as she walked over to the bed, sitting down with her wife, squeaking a little as the box was set in her lap.

“Well I told you that I would be getting you back for the little christmas surprise.”  The catwolf said with a little giggle.  “Well this is the start of it…  A date night that you won’t soon forget, something to beat all the other date nights, and maybe even something to beat the night that we met.”

“Well you’re a little to overdress to go out to some bar.”  Anna said poking her tongue out a little before looking down to the box.

“Oh I know...and there’s a reason for that.”  She said pointing to the box, “open it slow poke.”  The feline mix said, her tail wiggling a little with anticipation.

“Sometimes I worry about the things that you pull.”  Anna said as she opened the box, pulling out the dress that Shanoa had picked out for her.  It was a beautiful deep blue, dress, the sleeves and shoulders made of a see through silk, the fabric darkening as it went further down, all topped of with tastefully placed glass beads.  “This….This is.”  Anna was at a loss for words at the sight of the dress.

“I thought that you would like it.”  The catwolf said smiling, “well I thought that it would look really good on you.”  She said poking her tongue out.  “Now….you go get ready, we have a date night to get to, and I have some call to make.”  She said getting up, kissing her wife on the cheek before slipping out of the room and heading off to make the calls.

It took the deer a moment or two to get over the dress that her mate was dressed in as she left the room, and the dress that she had gotten her.  It was times like this that just made her love and worry for her wife more.  Love her more knowing that Shanoa loved her so much and wanted all the best things for her, but it made her worry more, knowing the things about Shanoa that she did, half wishing that Shanoa had never told her.  She pushed the worry out of her head as she got up and started off to the bathroom to start getting ready.

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Anna was seeing more and more that Shanoa wasn’t kidding about making this the best date night that two had.  She had rented a limo that was now pulling to a stop in front of a building marked with a sign that read, ‘Restaurant Eve.’  The doe’s eyes went a little wide at the sight of the outside of the building alone.  This was the kind of place that looked like it would cost an arm and a leg to even look at, much less get inside and have dinner.

“Shanoa, this is a little much isn’t it?”  Anna asked looking a little wide eyed at her mate.

“Nothing is too good for my wife.”  She said smiling as they got of the limo, heading around to Anna’s door to meet her and take her arm in her’s.  “Now….Come on sweetie.”  She said as the two started walking up the short walk way to the entrance, nodding to the doorman as he let them in.

“Just how long have you been planning this?”  Anna asked as she looked around the large open room, taking in the sight of the tables that were so carefully laid out, the decorations that hung on the wall, even to the well dressed staff that was walking around.

“Like two days after the operation….I mean I had to do something while I was laid up in bed.”  She said as the two walked up to the seater’s podium, waiting for them to show back up.

“Can I help you lovely ladies?”  A male’s voice spoke up, drawing the two’s attention to the well dressed and somewhat fuzzy looking sheep that had walked up.  “Do you have reservations?”

“We do.  It should be under Kiyomizu.”  Shanoa spoke up, watching the sheep as he looked through the list that he had, nodding and looking back up to them.

“Oh yes, right here.”  He said picking up two menus, “if you ladies would follow me.”  He said motioning for the lovers to follow, leading them through the restaurant, to what looked like a back room, something that people would reserve for a party or something, leading them in and to the back, to what looked like a sofa that had a table sitting in front of it, hell there was even a fireplace there too.

“Shanoa, you shouldn’t have.”  Anna said looking around the room, watching at the catwolf took a seat on the sofa, patting the spot next to her.

“Oh please, there’s a lot that I shouldn’t do but I do it anyway.”  She said poking her tongue out as her wife came to join her.

“Your waiter will be along in a moment or two, I hope you two have a wonderful night.”  The seater said as he handed them the menus and turned to go back to his job.

There was a moment or two of silance as Anna looked over the menu, tilting her head a little at the things listed there.  “Shanoa….this all seems….really fancy.”

“It kinda is.”  The catwolf said with a little snicker, “I guess that I’m a little used to it, between dinner meetings and things like that at work, and family.”  She said leaning against her wife, “I can help you pick something out.”

“That would be good.”  Anna said flipping the page of the menu, looking at the extensive list of wines and things that they had.  “Oh god….”

“You’re a bartender, you should know that kinda thing.”  The catwolf said with a snicker as she watched the doe’s eyes scanning the page.  “You drink more wine than I do, so I think that I will let you handle picking that stuff out, and I will handle the food.”

As if summoned the waiter stepped up to the table, nodding to the two.  “Ladies, are you ready?”  The male gerbil asked, pulling a small notepad and pen from a pocket of his apron.

“Ok,” Shanoa spoke up, closing her menu.  “For an appetizer, I think we’ll go with the wild mushroom risotto.”  She said watching him scribbling the order as she placed it, “and for the entree, for me, I want the Meshelle’s lobster and squid ink fettuccine, and for my wife the breast of squab “a l’orange”.”  Shanoa said looking over to Anna who was a little lost at what she just ordered.

“Someone has astute tastes.”  The gerbil said, looking up from the notepad, “and what can I get you two to drink?”

“Is there anyway that we can just get the Vin de Constance in a glass?”  Anna asked looking up to the waiter.

“A bottle of the Vin de Constance please.”  Shanoa said cutting the waiter off, “oh and a glass of Dalwhinnie fifteen year on the rocks please.”

“Ok, I will be back with your drinks in a moment, the food shouldn’t be too long after that.”  the male said as he scribbled the rest of the order down and turned to leave.

The moment that she was sure that the waiter was out of earshot, Anna turned and looked to her wife.  “Shanoa….That’s….that’s a little much.”  The doe said nudging her a little bit, “you do know that you don’t have to spend all this on me to make me happy, right?”

“Oh I know that I don’t have to spend money on you and spoil you, but I want to.”  She said leaning in, pressing her lips to her wife’s.  The two closed their eyes as they kissed, letting their tongues wiggle and dance around, forgetting that they were in a public place, even if it was in the back room of a restaurant, though they were snapped back to reality the moment that they heard someone clearing their throat.

“Sorry.”  Anna blurted out as she sat up, blushing darkly at the site of the waiter setting Shanoa’s drink on the table, before setting the wine well by the table with two glasses.

“I will be right back with your appetizer.”  The gerbil said with a little nod, un fazed by the two.

Again, once he was out of the room, the doe gave the catwolf a nudge.  “You’re a butt you know that right?”  Anna said with a little giggle.

“I know, but you still love me, and I love you Nubs.”  She said giving her a little kiss on her nose.

“I do, no matter the crazy things that you get out there and do, and scare me half to death with.”  Anna said snuggling up to her wife, her paw coming to rest on the catwolf’s belly.  “You know, soon you won’t be able to do stuff like that...I know this is date night, and might not be the best time to ask, but what are you going to do?”

“Ladies, your appetizer.”  The male said as he set the plate of carefully prepared and place mushrooms, rice and a few other things.  “The food will be ready shortly.”  He said before slipping off.

“Well.  She paused for a moment as she picked up her drink and took a long sip from it, shivering a little at the taste of the whiskey.  “Would you believe me if I said I didn’t have a plan?”

“Yes.”  Anna said picking up a fork and shaking her head a little.  “I know that you tend to be the kind of person that flies by the seat of your pants….but there are somethings that you just have to stop, think and plan.”  She paused a moment as she took a bite of the risotto, “oh god this is really good.”

“I thought that you would like that.”  Shanoa said smiling warmly as she took a bite, purring at the flavors.  “But, to be honest, I have thought about it.”  She said taking a deep breath.  “I have thought about leaving the group, and just settling down, you, me, Curio and our soon to be….but...I still have to think of just how to tell them that.”

“You know, you could just tell them that you’re leaving, I mean it’s not like they have you under some kind of contract….do they?”  Anna asked tilting her head a little as she kept enjoying the appetizer.

“Contract no, some weird moral obligation yes.”  The catwolf said picking up her drink again before sipping it, trying to pull the words out of her head.  “I think that I have a little bit of a hero complex or something…  I joined the group cause I was promised that I would be able to help a lot of people, just as many if not more than being in the ER…  The idea of being able to help people, kids, and adults alike, no matter their situation is what drew me.  It’s the same reason that I so blindly went into that house to save Curio like I did.”

“Well there are other ways that you can help people you know.”  Anna said looking over to her wife, who at this point was nearly done with her drink.  “I mean, it wouldn’t be anything like what you’re doing in this group, but...I mean, you can still help people.”

“I know, and I want to…”  She paused, finishing off the drink.  “To be honest….Since I saved Curio, I have been thinking about leaving the group…  Seeing my sister’s daughter getting married, that just made me think even more about it…  I mean I want to be able to see Curio get married…  Hell I want to see our soon to be get married.”  She said reaching up to wipe away a tear.  “And I know that working with the group, there is that chance that I will end up in something that will put me in the ground, and I don’t want that.”  

“You know…”  Anna paused a moment, trying to think of something that would help.  “You could start up your own practice.”  She said wrapping her arms around the catwolf and giving her a good squeeze.  “You know...one that would be there to help anyone… No matter what…  If they can’t pay, you would still be there to help them.  I know that might not be the best money wise, but think of the people that you could help.”

“You know…”  Shanoa said smiling warmly, letting out a little mewl as she felt Anna’s fingers brushing away a tear.  “That sounds like an amazing idea…I will just have to find the best place, someplace that needs something like that…”  She paused leaning in and kissing the doe on the nose.  “I’m not good with money and running a business….but I know this doe that knows all about that...what do you say?  Wanna run the business side of things for me?”

“You know that I will be right there with you.”  Anna said smiling happily as she leaned up, returning the kiss.  “I would be happy to help you run it.”  She said nuzzling against the hybrid, who happily returned the nuzzles, purring happily.

“Ladies, your dinner is served.”  The waiter said as he and one other waiter stepped up to the table, setting the two’s plates down before slipping back off to work.

“This looks good.”  Anna said smiling as she looked over the finely crafted dinner.

“Ooooh it is.”  Shanoa said pulling the wine bottle from the well before popping the cork and pouring a glass for her and Anna.  “Now, let's eat, and not worry about anything.”  The catwolf tail as she handed the doe her glass, the two clinking them together before taking a sip and starting their meal.

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Dinner and dessert had come and gone, and at this point the two were both feeling full and happy, and more than a bit buzzed, snuggled up with one another, listening to the fire crackling, before Shanoa was the first to speak up.  “Anna….I need to get up.”  She said, feeling her wife reluctantly letting her get up.  

“Buzzkill I was comfy.”  Anna said with a little huff, watching a little confusedly as Shanoa got up.

“Yeah I was to, but...it’s getting about time to go home, and I have something that I wanted to ask you.”  She said snickering a little at the face that the doe made as she walked around the table.

“Shanoa….”  Was all that she was able to get out as the catwolf got down on a knee.

“I know that I have done this once, but I thought that it’s time to do it again.”  She said reaching out, taking her wife’s hand and holding it.  “I know that you have been through alot with me, and I know that I have caused you to put up with some shit, but I’m so beyond happy that you did put up with it and stuck around…  So I guess what I want to ask is, well, will you stay with me, when everything is settled down, we can have a nice renewal service or something?”

“You are such a dork.”  Anna said getting up and wrapping her arms around the catwolf.  “And yes, you know that I will.”  She said holding her tight.

“Perfect, I love you.”  Was all that Shanoa said as she held her lover.

“I love you too.”  

Sat. Feb 15th 2014

“Shanoa….  You look a little on the dead side today.”  A voice spoke up as she walked into the lounge, the voice coming from a female newfinland dog, that was easily bigger than Shanoa.

“Last night was date night.”  She muttered as she walked over and flopped down on the sofa across from the dog.

“Well it looks like someone had fun...maybe you won’t be so grumpy.”  The dog snickered a little.

“Bite me Barbra….”  Shanoa said looking to the dog.  “And I would be happy as hell if wasn’t for the hangover.”  She said rubbing at the base of her ears.

“Well that’s what you get for drinking the night before work…”  She said, her voice getting a little louder as she spoke, snickering a little as she watched the catwolf flinch.

“Well I was trying to make this date night the best one...and we kinda went through a two hundred dollar bottle of wine.”  She said rubbing her eyes as she got up and walked over to the coffee maker.  “I asked Anna if she would keep being crazy with me….”

“And if she has any sense she said no.”  The dog joked as Shanoa made her coffee.

“Nope….She’s going to keep being crazy and help me with a big thing that I’m doing.”  Shanoa said leaning back on the counter as she started sipping the coffee.

“Oh god, knowing you, there’s no telling what you talked her into.”  The canine said shaking her head a little.  “But I’m going to take a shot in the dark, and go with you two finally having a kid of your own...What did Curio say about all this?”

“Well that’s part of it.”  Shanoa said with a little shrug, still sipping at her coffee.  “But yeah, we will be having a kid, and I’m going to finally be a mom….I started on the medication and stuff for the invetro stuff.”  She said walking back to the sofa, sitting back down.  “And Curio is excited to have a little brother and sister.”

“Well, hopefully this will calm you down a little more.”  Barbra said getting up, stretching a little.  “Some of us have to do real work…”

“Not my fault they gave me office work today.”  Shanoa said with a shrug, “hungover or not, I don’t like doing paperwork.”

“Riiiiight.”  She said teasing the hybrid a little, “Don’t get any paper cuts, or hurt your paws typing.”

“Love you too.”  Shanoa said smiling to the dog as she left to get back to work, the catwolf lingering around a little longer to finish her coffee before getting up and snagging another cup before heading to her office.

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Shanoa had been sitting at her desk for what felt like all day, her hangover had started cutting her some slack, that and the pot or so of coffee that she had drank was helping to.  She leaned back, rubbing her eyes a little before she glanced over at the clock.  Deciding that she could get away with a little break, and work.

She pushed her keyboard out of the way and reached under her desk, into the laptop bag there, pulling out her old, laptop.  It wasn’t anything special, it was just something that she kept around for when she had to do office work and felt like doing something else for a little.  Opening it and plugging in her mouse before typing in the password.

Opening and pulling a little notebook from her desk, she set it down, it was the notebook that she was using to keep track of leads on houses, and possible places for her private practice.  She would get started on that in a moment, after he emails.  Normally she would check them before she left the house in the morning, but thanks to hitting the snooze button a few too many times she was a little behind getting to work.

“Junk, junk, junk, boring, sell, Oh.”  She said as she looked through the list of emails, seeing one that was from a friend of her’s  “Herms getting hate?”  She said reading out the subject of the email.  “Oh wow….it looks like some shit is going down in this place…  Talk of people being hurt when protests turn violent,  MarbleCliff…  I wonder.”  

It was clear that the things in the email hit Shanoa in just the right way, her mind was going right to work.  Her mind thinking of just how she could fix this, or how she could at the least help out…  Then it hit her, the things that Anna said, opening the clinic that would be there to help anyone no matter what…  With her owning it, and her ‘connections’ she would be able to make sure that she would be there to help anyone, male, female, herm, rich or poor.

“That’s it.”  She said as she scribbled down the name of the place before closing the email and opening the browser, she had things to look up.  “I wonder if Anna would be mad about maybe moving.”  She muttered as she looked up on the internet, finding out that the place was up in New Hampshire.  She picked up her phone and typed out a little message, before sending it to Anna and then getting back to looking up real estate.

Within moments the catwolf had found a few nice looking places that were fore rent, ones that didn’t cost an arm and a legs, something that would be good for the three till they could go and look at buying a home; she would have went ahead and picked one out, but she knew that Anna would kill her for it.  With a little more looking and work, she found a building that was perfect, and the rent on it wasn’t bad, hell it was ready to be stocked and ran, though she still had to figure out where she was going to be getting the money, especially if she was going to leave the group.

She jumped a bit as she heard her desk phone ringing.  “Hello.”  She asked as she went back to looking at some places.

“Dr. Kiyomizu, you have a visitor, your wife is here.”  The nurse said

“Send her back.”  She said before hanging it up, a knock at her door a moment or two later before Anna stepped in.

“What’s this about moving?”  The doe asked as she walked into the room and pulled up one of the spare chairs next to Shanoa.

“I didn’t think that you would have drove all the way out here to kick my ass.”  The catwolf said with a little snicker, Anna just half rolling her eyes.  “Ok….”  Shanoa said with a little huff as she switched tabs on her browser.  “You remember how you were talking about me opening a clinic that could help everyone?  Well I found a place that needs one…  And help with a few other things.”  She said pointing to the the news article that she had found talking about the people that had gotten hurt during the protests.

“That place is…  What five hundred or more miles…  You don’t even have a place…  Much less a place to stay…  I mean you haven’t even found a place to set this up…  You will need staff…”  Anna kept rattling off the things that the catwolf was going to need.

“Anna…  Honey, we have been married for how long?”  Shanoa asked with a little snicker.  “You know, they have companies that will handle moving things from point A to B…”  She said switching tabs again, “I found a nice little place, about the same as a house payment when I was paying off our place…”  She took a moment to let Anna look at the photos of the home that was for rent, before switching tabs again.  “As for a place to set up, I found this, for rent, lease, whatever, it’s got everything that I would need, other than phone and internet…  And as for the staff, I’m sure that it won’t be that hard to steal some.”

“You know…  I’m starting to think that I shouldn't leave you alone.”  Anna said shaking her head a little.  “And…  Well I can see where you’re coming from…”

“I feel like it would be the best thing for us…  I mean, if you look at it…  It would be a new start, a safe place for our growing family, I would be able to help people…  You would be there to help me run the business side of things.”  Shanoa said reaching out, taking her lover’s paw.  “You know that I just want the best things for you, Curio, and our soon to be, so…  I’m asking you, would you be ok with moving, and starting a new life…  As a complete family?”

Anna was silent for several moments as she thought about this, clearly weighing the options, the pros and cons of both things.  She had moved once to be with Shanoa, and like the catwolf had said, she just wanted the best for her and the family, but she worried about how Curio would take it, she knew that the little bat was excited to start school and start making friends…  But if they moved, she would still be able to do the same.  After what seemed like hours and hours, she opened her muzzle.  “Do it…”  She said taking a deep breath, “I know that it’s going to be a lot of work, but…  I know that it’s going to be for the best…  For all of us.”  She said leaning back in her chair a little.

“Well that takes care of that.”  Shanoa said smiling.  “I’m going to be spending a lot of time in my office here and at home getting things settled…  And that other thing.”  She said taking a deep breath of her own.  “If you want…  Go on home and start talking to Curio…  You have a better way with words on something like this…  I have things here to take care of…  And some other things…  I might be home a little late.”  She said leaning in kissing her wife on the cheek.

“You're not going to do something stupid are you?”  Anna said cocking an eyebrow at her mate.

“Stupid, no.”  Shanoa said shaking her head a little.  “I’m going to take care of some things here, make a few phone calls and get things set up…  And then I need to go talk to boss lady at the group…  Let them know that I’m done.”  She said leaning back in her chair, “it’s going to be weird not working with them…”

“They won’t do anything to you will they?”  Anna asked, leaning in a little.

“Oh god no…  Boss lady looks a little tough but she is in this for the same reason I am, to help people, I’m sure that she will understand where I’m coming from when I go to her and tell her that I’m setting out to take care of things for the family, and me.”

“Well…  No matter what.”  Anna said getting up, leaning over and hugging her wife.  “Be Careful, and I love you.”

“I will, and I love you too.”  The hybrid said holding onto her wife for a moment before she let go and started out of the office.

“Well this day got a little….  Lot longer.”  Shanoa said shaking her head.

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Things had gone a lot smoother at work than she had thought, for some reason, she was expecting to get swamped with paperwork, but she ended up finding time to get somethings done.  Called about the house for rent and talked to the owner, explained what was happening, that she was looking to move, that she needed a place before hand and all that, and the owner agreed to fax her a copy of the paperwork and applications, she wasn’t able to get up with the person that owned the medical office that she was looking at, though she left them a message.  She even managed to get a quote or two on a moving company.

All of that was easy compared to what she still had to do.  She still had to let the group know that she was leaving.  She had been with this group for a while now, and with them, she had helped many people, in a few different ways, some nice and clean; like donating money, others not so nice; like the things that she had to go through to save Curio and the other girls.  She just hoped that Mairya would understand.  

She let out a sigh as she got of her car, she had been sitting at the opening to the mine for a good ten minutes or more at this point, and it was now or never.  Like all the countless times that she came to the building she put in her door code and went in, heading right to her office and flopping in her chair, slouching back as she pressed the button on the phone on her desk.

“Shanoa?”  The voice on the other end spoke up, “I didn’t think that you would be coming in today, especial this late in the afternoon…  Is there something the matter?”  Mairya asked.

“No, there’s nothing the matter, I just need to talk to you…  Would you come to my office?”  Shanoa said taking a deep breath.

“Sure, I will be there in a moment.”  Mairya said before the line went dead.

“Well this is it, there’s no turning back.”  Shanoa said, doing her best to psych herself up as she pulled a manila envelope from her desk and set it on top.

“What do you need?”  The poodle asked as she stepped into the office, shutting the door behind her.

“Chloe, we need to have a talk.”  The hybrid said, motioning to the chair on the other side of her desk, getting a bit of a funny look from the canine.

“What about?  Are you sure that something isn’t the matter?”  She asked, cocking her head a little as she took the offered seat.  “You know that I’m here to help you any way that I can.”  She could tell that something was up, it was a rare occurrence for Shanoa to use her name.

“Chloe, you know that I have been a part of this group for sometime…  And you know that I have been so thankful for the many chances that it's given me to help people, but…  With all the things that are coming up in my life…  I think that it’s time that I leave.”  She said taking a deep breath, trying to gage the poodle’s reaction, having a hard time doing so given her cold, unchanging demeanor.  “You know that I have a family now, and it’s going to be growing soon…  And I can’t be doing things that are going to put me at risk, like what I did when I saved my daughter…”  She paused again, somewhat amazed at Chloe, thinking that she would have shown at least some kind of reaction or emotion.  “But, it’s not to say that I’m not going to stop helping people, it’s just that I’m going to go about it differently.”

“I have to say, that I am sad that you’re leaving…  You have been a great asset, and team member.”  The poodle said, the tiniest hint of a smile on her muzzle as she spoke.  “And I know that you will always keep helping people, that’s what drew us to you…  You might act like a tough, hard ass, but I know that you have a big soft spot…”

“You know, just cause you think that I have a soft spot, or that I might have one, doesn’t mean that I can’t or won’t kick your ass.”  Shanoa said half rolling her eyes before sliding the manilla envelope towards the poodle.  “This is the bank card, and all the other info for it that you gave me when I started.”

“What is it that you say all the time?  I love you to.”  Chloe said with a little snicker, the smile starting to grow a little, ignoring the envelope.  “You know, I have to ask, just how are you planning to help people?”

“Well…  A friend of mine sent me an email telling me about some shit going down in a city called MarbleCliff.  It seems that there is some hate being directed at herms.”  She started, taking a breath and slouching back a little.  “And it seems that there are people there that are getting hurt in protests…  And well not all of them have access to medical help.”  She started to talk, only to be cut off by the poodle.

“So you’re going to be going up there to play paramedic until all of this is over?”  She asked, tilting her head a little.

“Well…  That’s part of it.”  She said smiling a little.  “I’m going to be going there to open a clinic of my own…  A place that anyone that needs help can get it, no matter the circumstances…  If they have the money to pay, then that’s great, if not, we will still be there to help them, if they got turned away cause their a herm or something, then we will be there.  I spent most of the day looking at a place to rent until me and the wife and kid can look at houses, and I even found a building for lease, stocked and ready to go…  I just got to start talking to a bank or something.”

Chloe smiled even more as she leaned forward, interlacing her fingers in front of her muzzle.  “What if I was to offer you a little deal…”  

“Oh fuck…  And the catch would be?”  Shanoa asked rolling her eyes a little.

“Oh, no catch.”  She said placing her hand on the envelope, pushing it back to her.  “Well….just one.  The bank account and the money…  You use it only for the move, and to pay for things at the clinic, payroll, equipment, insurance and all that…  Consider me a benefactor of sorts…  I want none of the money back or even my name brought up…  I just want you to use the money to help people.”  She said smiling and sitting back in the chair.  “That and for you not to forget about us…  Come back and have tea or something.”

“Good lord…  You are a strange one to try and read…  I don’t know if you are just that willing to help people, if you're a little on the crazy side or what.”  Shanoa said shaking her head a little.  “But…  Anyway.  Thank you.”  She said taking the envelope, “I will consider you as the first and best benefactor for the clinic…  Hell I might name it after you or something.”  Shanoa said with a little snicker.  

“You don’t have too…  Like I said, just get out there and help people with it.”  The poodle said standing up, “and don’t forget us.”  She said holding out her paw.

“I will make sure to help as many people as I can…  And a big part of it will be thanks to you.”  She said getting up and walking around her desk.  “Thank you.”  She said pulling the poodle into a hug catching her a little off guard.

“And you talk about me being a hard one to read…  I didn’t take you for being the hugging type.”  She said with a little snicker, “and if you need help, in the form of something other than money, you know that we are all here for you.”  She said, turning and walking to the door.  “I’m sure that you want to get home to your wife and child, I won’t keep you.”

“I will remember that.  I’ll be back later to clean up the office and get my things.”  Shanoa said grabbing the envelope and slipping it into her bag.  “Again…  Thank you.”  She said, watching the poodle nod as she slipped out the door.  Shanoa let out a little sigh as with another weight off of her chest, she was a little caught off by the offer, still thinking that it was a little too good to be true, and if it had come from someone other than Chloe, she would have known that it was too good to be true.  As she started walking back to the entrance of the mine and to her car, it hit her, she would have better news to give Anna, and possibly a little more explaining to do. 

---------------------------------------

Pulling into the driveway the catwolf cut the engine and got out grabbing her bag and heading to the the house, the moment that she got in she was greeted by the sound of meowing, looking down to see that it was the little kitten that she had gotten Anna and Curio; the little chimera cat meowed a few more times before she reached down and gave it the pets that it was demanding.

“Hey sweetie.”  Anna said as she walked into the living room.  “Dinner is just about done…  So how did things go?”

“Yeah, I kinda need to talk to you about that.”  Shanoa said kicking her shoes off and setting down her bag to take her jacket off.  “Where's Curio?”  She asked, picking up her bag and heading over to the makeshift office space that she had set up in the corner of the living room.

“She’s taking a bath?”  Anna asked following Shanoa over to the desk.  “Did something happen?”

“A lot happened today,” Shanoa said half smiling, “and before you get your panties in a wad, none of it was bad…  I called different people, I will be here most of the morning doing paperwork and talking to people about getting moved, that building and all that.”

“Ok, that’s good, but what about your job here?”  Anna asked tilting her head a little.

“Well.”  Shanoa said smiling a little at this point, “I kinda told them that I was leaving, that I had something come up and I needed to leave.”

“Shanoa, you didn’t.”  Anna said looking to her wife, looking even more worried at this point.

“I did, the boss said that he understood, he hates that I’m leaving, but knowing that I’m going out to spread my wings and all that, he’s happy.”  She said smiling, “I have most of my papers and things here, some of them have to be sent to me.”

“So we’re literally going to be packing up and leaving in such a short time?”  Anna asked tilting her head a little.

“Something like that…  Like I said, I just got to get some things set up there and the moving people, then it’s just a plane flight to our new place in New Hampshire.  Once we get there and settled, the three of us can look into finding a house and all that as a family.”  The catwolf said smiling and leaning over to kiss her wife that was leaning on her desk.  “Sooo…  It’s looking like about two weeks.”  

“Momma’s home.”  A voice caught the two attention, causing them to turn and see Curio standing in the living room, dressed in her pjs.

“Yes, and she has lots of things to talk to you about, me and Anna both.”  Shanoa said looking over to her wife.  “So...dinner time?”

“I will get the table set…  Come on Curio.”  Anna said motioning for the little bat to follow her to help out, leaving Shanoa to slip off to change out of her scrubs and into something a little more fitting for being home.

“This looks good.”  Shanoa said as she walked into the dining room, purring at the dinner that Anna and Curio had set out.

“I thought that it would be nice to make something to go with the big news that’s going to get dropped.”  Anna said with a little snicker.

“Are you going to tell me that momma Anna is going to be pregnant to?”  Curio asked, looking between the two, head tilted a little.

“No sweetie.”  Shanoa said sitting down at her spot.  “Though this is going to be something big.”  The catwolf said looking to the little bat.  “This is a little hard to think of the way to come up with the wording.”  

“Curio…  You know what it means when a family moves right?”  Anna asked looking to the kit as they started eating.

“Like moving to a new house?  Are we going to move to a bigger house cause momma Shanoa is going to have a baby?”  She asked looking over to the catwolf.

“Something like that.”  Shanoa said with a little smile.  “We are going to be moving to a new house, one that’s big enough for all of us and the baby…  But it’s not going to be here in Jonestown.”  She said watching the little bat tilting her head a little.  “You know how I work at the hospital…  I found a place in a state up north where I can open a practice where I can take care of people.”

“So momma Shanoa is going to open her own hospital?”  Curio asked sounding a little more confused.

“Something like that, Shanoa is going to be opening a Practice…  A place where she can work with people one on one and find out what’s making them sick and help them get better.”  Anna spoke up, “She’ll have her own building and staff and everything.”

“And you will get to go to a really nice school too.”  Shanoa said smiling to the bat that was getting on board with the move more and more.

“If we move to that place, then what’s going to happen to our house here?...  And the people that we know?”  Curio asked, again looking from mother to mother.

“Well, the people that we know, we can always come back to visit them, talk to them on the phone, that kinda thing.  As for this house…  I’m going to put it up for sell.”  Shanoa said with a little shrug.

“How are we going to get everything moved?”  Curio asked, looking around the house, glancing at all of the different things.

“I will be hiring a mover for all of that…  Don’t worry, they won’t miss anything.”  Shanoa said with a little smile.

“It sounds like it’s going to be a lot of work, but if it makes momma Shanoa happy, then I like it.”  Curio said happily, making the two adults smile.

The dinner went on like normal, the family sitting there eating and talking about their day, though this time there was a lot of talk about the move and all the things that came with it, Curio was pretty excited when she found out that she would be getting to fly again.  She also asked lots of other questions, some of them about how the place looked, what was there, things like that, most of them Shanoa couldn’t answer.  She had looked up things, but she didn’t look that far into it.

“So you never told me.”  Anna said looking over to her wife that was sitting on the bed, the kitten in her lap as she went through some paper.  “How did it go with you know who?”

“Huh?”  She asked, looking over the rim of her glasses at her wife.  “Oh…  Well funny story.”  She said snickering a little.  “I went and talked to Chloe…  And well, like I thought, she was fine with me leaving the group, though she wants me to come back and visit for tea and keep in touch with her and the others.”

“I don’t think that I would mind that, I mean you wouldn’t be getting into anything that could be dangerous or anything.”  Anna said sitting down on the bed with her wife, glancing at some of the papers.

“Na, it would just be coming back to visit, show photos of the kids, talk about life…”  She said leaning over and kissing her wife.  “I went to give her the bank card and stuff back and well…  She got to asking me what I was moving for, and well, I told her the truth, that I was moving so that I could start a clinic all my own, and well…  She told me to keep it…  To use the money that I need for the move and for running the place.”  She said as she started putting the papers into a folder now that they were in some kind of order.

“Is she expecting you to pay it back or something?  Or do something for the group?”  Anna asked, looking a little worried.

“No…  She just wants me to use the money to help people and all that.  She’s basically the clinic’s first and biggest benefactor.”  She said setting the folder in a briefcase that had several other documents in them.

“She…  She sounds like a good person…”  Anna said still a little confused at Chloe's generosity.

“She’s a strange one to say the least…  And yeah…  She has a heart of gold, but she doesn't always do things the… ‘right’ way.”  Shanoa said laying back, letting out a little huff as she felt the kitten starting to walk on her belly and up to her chest before snuggling up.  “Why you little butt.”  She said looking down her muzzle at it, Anna just snickering a little.

“Well that’s good to know.”  She said reaching over and picking the kitten up.  “I guess that we should get a little sleep, from what you said, you have a lot of work to do tomorrow…”  She said setting the kitten on the floor, watching it scamper off as the two settled into bed.

Sun. Feb 16th 2014

Shanoa sat at her desk, Anna and Curio still asleep at this time.  It was rare that Shanoa would be up at this hour given the fact that she didn’t have to go to work, but she knew that she had things to do, and it all started with the pot of coffee that she had started drinking from.  She was at her desk, going through papers and gathering up the ones that she would need right off, that way she could take them with her, she was also there making sure that all of her certifications and the like were up to date, looking into the malpractice insurance that she would need, just going down the list that she had made in her head.  It was around eight in the morning that her phone started ringing.

“Hello?”  She asked, a little surprised that someone was calling at this hour, but then she remembered the messages that she had left.

“Yes, Is this miss...Ki...Kiyo….”  The voice spoke up, butchering her last name.

“Kiyomizu.”  She said with a little snicker, “please, call me Shanoa.”

“Ok.”  The voice said with a little sigh of relief.  “So Miss Shanoa, I got your message about renting the place, and something about getting moved in asap.”

“Yeah, about that.”  She said taking a deep breath.  “I seen the house that you had for rent, and you see I need a place in that area as soon as I can…  I’m getting ready to move there to open up a general clinic there…  I can handle the rent, pass the background checks and all that.”

“Well it takes about a week for all that to come back, depending on how long it takes the paperwork to get from me to you and back.”  The voice spoke up, “have you ever rented a place?”

“I did a while back when I first moved to where I’m at now, then I started paying for a house and have been in that…  If you have a fax, you can send it right away…”  She paused, “or even an online application.”

“We don’t have the online application set up just yet, but I can fax you the paperwork.”  The voice said, the sound of papers resulting  picking up for a moment.  “Ok, what's the fax number?”  He asked.

After rattling off the number, Shanoa spoke up again.  “Ok, I should have this done and back to you, around this afternoon sometime, depending on how busy the rest of the day is.”  She said happily.

“That works for me, I will make sure to get it to the top of the list when you get it done and back to me, you have a good day.”  The voice said before the two hung up, Shanoa leaning back and stretching a little.

“I take it that was for the house?”  Anna asked a little sleepily as Shanoa got up, grabbing her empty mug.  

“It was.”  She said walking over to her wife and giving her a quick kiss on the nose.  “There’s coffee on the burner.”  She said as she walked over to it, pouring her another cup, “the guy is going to be faxing me the paperwork.”  She said, as if timing it, the fax machine by her desk whirred to life.

“Any word from the other person?  The one about the building?”  Anna asked as they walked back to the living room with coffee in hand.

“Not yet.”  Shanoa said, the phone ringing as she sat down.  “Speak of the devil or something.”  She said picking up the receiver.  “Hello?”

“Am I talking to Miss Kiyomizu?”  The voice on the other end spoke up, getting her last name right.

“Shanoa is fine, but yes.”  She said leaning back in her chair a little.  “I take it this about the lease for the building?”

“Yes it is.  So I take it that you're interested in the building…  Is there anything that you want to ask me?  Or anything you need to know?”  The voice said, keeping a professional air to it.

“Just where and who I send the check to…”  Shanoa said, pausing for a moment before opening her muzzle to speak again, to get cut off.

“Ma’am, we are looking for people that are serious about leasing the space out…  This is a prime spot, fully equipped, the only thing that you would need to get is phone and internet service set up.”  The voice said, sounding a little irritated.

“I’m as serious as you can be.”  She said taking a deep breath, “I’m moving to the area in a short time or so, and I’m looking for a place to lease to set up my own clinic…  And this one was to good to pass up, so you can see why I said that.  So, if you could, you can send the paperwork to my fax number.”  She said rattling it off again, as she leaned over to scoop up the papers from the rental person.  “I will fill them out and get them back to you asap…”

“I’m sorry ma’am…  I just wasn’t thinking that someone would jump on this that fast and much less be able to pay the lease and everything so quickly.”  He said, going quiet for a moment.  “Ok, thank you…  I will get the paperwork sent to you, and then we can get everything else rolling.”  The voice said before the two hung up, moments later, the fax machine starting up again.

“Well it looks like you have a stack of paperwork to get through.”  Anna said looking up from her coffee cup before getting up.  “Well I’m going back to bed.”  She said patting her wife on the shoulder, “if you need anything, wake me up.”  She said leaning in and kissing her wife before heading off to bed.

“Don’t worry, I think that I have this.”  Shanoa said with a little snicker, thankful that her job had prepared for lots of paperwork.  The catwolf spent the rest of the morning dealing with the paperwork that she was sent, filling out the the papers for the different background checks, credit history and countless other things.

After what felt like writing a book, she sat back letting out a little sigh.  The only thing that was left to do with the paperwork was to send it off, with a little kick of her footpaws she rolled her chair over to the fax and pressed the numbers for the first place and started sending it through; once that was done, she started on the next set.  

About the time that she was done with all of that Anna and Curio walked into the living room, glancing over at the catwolf that was leaning back in her chair.  “All done sweetie?”  Anna asked as they passed by to the kitchen.

“Yes.”  She said getting up, grabbing her mug and following them.  “All that’s left is to wait to hear back from them, and that should take a week or two.”  She said pouring herself some more coffee.

“Well I think that I want something to eat.”  Anna said as she opened the freezer, pulling down a box of frozen waffles.

“Sounds good to me.”  Shanoa said smiling, “what about you squeaky?”  She asked looking to her daughter.

“With lots of syrup.”  The little bat said happily.