July 12th, 2013


The last few hours of driving had helped Doug clear his mind some at least.  Watching the white lines on the highway and the glowing reflectors in between fly past nearly hypnotized him, the only things that kept him from sleep being the music on the radio and the abject terror of another dream like the one he’d just had.  He turned the volume dial up slowly, stopping before it got anywhere near loud enough to wake up his sleeping squirrel in the car beside him.  Her head was laying in his lap as she was on her side, her back against the back of the seat to keep her belly out of the way of the shift knob, and her feet hung out the open window.  


[center]
Ever haunted, by the trappings of this life
Sweet redemption, just in front of me
Well now, it seems once again that I've lost another
One of the one's that have broke through the wall
Damned
Fate won't compromise
I have sold my soul,
And now the devil's laughing
You did decide
[/center]


His hand rested on the shifter for a moment, then moved down to her head, stroking it gently out of Francine’s face.  He didn’t take his eyes off the road, but he didn’t have to.  Doug knew how beautiful and peaceful she was when she slept, and how wonderful her red fur shined in the glow of dawn.  He held her ear between his thumb and fingers, stroking the soft, velvety inside of her ear with his fingertips the way he knew she liked, bringing quiet, sleeping chitters from her lips.  


Francine’s hand lighted over his and her slender fingers grasped his tiredly.  She groaned tiredly and nuzzled against his thigh, her eyes shut tightly and her ear flickering as she took his hand and hugged it to her chest.  “It’s too early for this stuff, sugarpup…”  She said quietly, reaching up to press the seek button on the radio, letting it run through the new stations in New Hampshire.  “Are you still good and awake, Dougie?”  She asked, rolling onto her back to look up at him from his lap.  


Doug stroked up and down the center of her chest, his fingers inching under her camo tank top.  “I’m awake ‘nough, sweet thing.”  His hand slid over her breast and gave it a squeeze.  


Francine squeaked and smacked his hand through her shirt with a little giggle.  “Stoppit!  You’re driving!”  She chittered loudly and bit her lip as he pinched her nipple between his rough fingertips, giving it a soft tug.  “S-stoppit!”  She gripped his wrist, holding his hand still, not letting him pull away.  


“But you make the cutest lil’ sounds…” He smiled broadly and rolled her nipple between his pads, making her moan loudly through her teeth.  


“You’re an asshole, Doug-NNh!”  She dug her claws into his hand.  “I-it’s too early~”  Her protest stretched out into a breathy moan.  

“It’s never too early to feel my sexy little squirrel up.  ‘sides, you know you love it.”  He released her nipple and moved his hand down, stroking at her soft belly.  She chittered and pressed her belly up against his paw.  She had a thin, barely-there layer of fat, but underneath that Doug could feel toned muscle, her occupation keeping her in-shape if not for the slightly heavy diet that maintained her figure.    He squeezed her belly and smiled, his eyes still not leaving the road.  


“I do, sweetie…”  She said before pushing his hand away and rolling on her belly, putting her elbows down to prop herself up. “But I like not having a car wreck better.  So-Hey!”  She reached back and smacked at his hand that had lit on her exposed ass, giving it a rough squeeze before pulling away from the smack.  “SO!  Let me take care of my horny little studmuffin so he can drive…”  She slipped her thumbclaw in the zipper of his jeans and tugged them down, nuzzling against the bulge in his boxers as her other hand moved to pull open his top button.  


“Rrrr~”  He growled slightly and put his hands back on ten and two, pressing his head tight against the headrest.  “What about you?”  

“I’ll just have to wait till tonight…”  She slipped her hand between his pants and his boxers, palming his whole package and slipping it out over the top of his jeans.  “I guess you’ll have to make it worth the wait…”  She squeezed his balls through his boxers and slowly pulled the waist of them down to expose his sheath, the end of his manhood poking from it’s tip.  


“Oh, you’re gonna put me under pressure, huh?”  He smiled as he felt her claw at the base of his balls, tracing up and tickling at his flesh through the fur, up to the base of his sheath and all the way up the center.  The feeling of her sharp claw’s gentle tugs at his flesh was positively electric, making him shiver and his fur stand on end.  “You know how I am with pressure…”


“Oh, yes I do…”  She nuzzled into his balls and gave them a kiss, moaning quietly into them as she started to get a little heated herself.  As her tongue stuck out and barely lapped across his sack, her finger slipped inside his sheath, tugging it down to reveal his still-hardening flesh.  Her own paw slipped down into her shorts, stroking herself over her thin panties.  “You taste so damn good…”  She opened her maw wide and took one of his balls into her mouth, her tongue teasing around it as she sucked at it hungrily, moaning as she toyed her own clit.  

“Squirrels and their nu-Aah-nuts!”  He hollered out slightly as she sucked him so rough, and her soft paw gripped his shaft to start stroking it.  

Francine ignored his comment and stroked him teasingly, wringing his cock softly as it got harder and bigger, shooting and drooling pre as he got more and more excited.  “mmM-Ah!”  She pulled away with a loud pop and a gasp for air before going back down to take his other ball into her maw, not wanting to ignore one or the other, of course. She took her hand off of his cock for a second to brush her hair out of her face, letting his cock rest on her cheek, smearing some of the slick, sticky fluid in her fur.  


“F-Frankie!”  He hollered as she pulled away and let out a sigh as she took the other, biting his lip as she teased his sack.  “J-just get to it already, we’re pretty much in town…”  

Francine pulled off of his ball and moaned as she fingered her clit through her thin cotton panties, nuzzling up against his cock and sliding her tongue up and down the bottom side.  “You afraid of getting caught?”  She smacked her lips once and took his cock in her hand again, holding her mouth open wide and saying “Aaaaah,”  before slowly, ever so slowly sinking it into her mouth, not letting him touch the sides, just feel the wet warmth of her maw as she took it deeper, and deeper.  


The siren chirped loudly and Doug nearly jumped out of his skin, his cock pounding the back of Francine’s throat and making her choke slightly as she jerked up herself.  She scrambled to get her seatbelt on and fix her hair, digging through the floorboards to find her hairbrush and start fixing it, straightening her shorts and her sideways tank top.  “Do I look ok?!”  

Doug checked his mirrors for the first time in a long time, and saw the black Charger behind them, complete with the standard limo tint, spotlight, cowcatcher, and blue lights.  “Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck I don’t have any money to pay-fer a fuckin’ ticket in New Hampshire!”  He slowed down and pulled over, scrambling himself to get his manhood jammed back into his jeans and to get his wallet out.  


By the time Doug managed to fumble his wallet out of his pocket the officer was already at his window, his off-hand resting on his taser like an armrest as police so commonly do.  He was a grey squirrel, older but not particularly out of shape yet. As he approached the driver’s side door, he said, “License, registration, and proof of insurance, please.” Doug handed over the requested documents, and the officer started verifying everything was in order. “Son, do you know what I’m stopping you for?”


“Before I respond to any of your questions, officer, I gave you my valid Tennessee Carry Permit, and I do have a loaded firearm on my person.”  Doug kept his hands at ten and two on the wheel, not wanting to offer himself as any threat to the officer.  


“That’s all well and good. Thank you for being up-front about that, son. Do you realize that you were doing twenty-five in a forty-five mile an hour zone? That seems pretty unusual for someone blaring rock music as loud as you were. Have you been drinking, or on any illegal substances?” He turned his head to look at the coydog, looking for any tell-tale signs of substance abuse.  


“I didn’t know that I ‘as going so slow, officer.  Is that a problem ‘ough?  The scen’ry’s so nice and it’s a beautiful morning, after all…”  Doug suppressed his drawl as much as possible as he tried to bulshit a reason out, not really wanting to admit what had been distracting him from the road.  His eyes were shot and sunken and his nose was dry.  He had a twitchiness in his movements, his ears and tucks in his lips[a] that made him seem nervous, but anyone who gets pulled over is a little anxious.  He didn’t have the trademarked bad teeth or rotten lips that came with hard drugs, though, and his coat seemed above average.  


“Indeed it is,” Daniel smiled, seeing the beautiful girl sitting next to the man, hiding her face in embarrassment. The slight dampness on the crotch of the dog’s pants told him enough of what he needed to piece the puzzle together. “If you’ll excuse me for just a minute, everything seems to be in order so far, I just need to check a few more things, and I’ll have you kids on your way.”


As the officer walked back to his car Doug sighed out heavily, falling forward onto the steering wheel.  “Oh, thank God, I ‘on’t think this’ne’s an’asshole.”


Francine turned and punched Doug’s shoulder. “Shh!  He can probably still hear you.”  She whispered.  

“So?”  He asked rubbing his shoulder. “I said he’s [i]not[/i] an asshole.  Calm down, Frankie.”  


She started to come back at him with something, but a mischievous curl in the corner of his mouth made her stop.  “What’re you smiling at?”


He tapped his cheek with one finger and chuckled with a broader, unabashed smile.  “You got a lil’ somethin’…”


She shook her head and pulled her visor down, checking herself in the mirror and gasping in embarrassment.  “Oh my God!”  She wiped her face frantically with one hand while she bent down to dig in the floorboards.  “Where’d you put those Armor-All wipes?!”  

“I ‘on’t think Armor-All’ll be good for your fur, sweet-”


“Okay, you two,” Officer Summers said as he returned to the Camaro, “Everything checks out fine. Just pay attention to the road from now on, okay? The scenery can wait.” He held out Doug’s documents for him to take back.


“Thank you very much, sir.”  Doug took his documents back and stuffed them under his thigh for the time being.  “I hope we don’t have to see each other again under similar circumstances.”  He smiled and slowly moved out his hand for a handshake.  “Hate wasting your time like this.”


“Just make sure you get that busted-out taillight taken care of while you’re in town, son,” the squirrel suggested, “and follow the posted speed limits. You should be fine, otherwise.”


Doug nodded and withdrew his hand.  “I’ll sure do that Officer…”  He paused as he read the nameplate on the squirrel’s vest.  “-Summers.”  


Francine’s ears perked up and she turned to the window, her cheek moist with the auto cleaner.  “Uncle Dan?”  She looked him up and down, and gave his face a close, hard look with her wide blue eyes.  


“Frankie?” he asked, bending down lower to regard the young woman face-to-face. “Your aunt Laura said you’d be coming into town. My god, it’s been so long! You’ve really grown up!”


Francine stared at him for a second as he talked, not particularly reacting to anything he had to say.  Her ear twitched, and suddenly she came to life, vaulting across the car and out the window into his chest, wrapping her arms and legs around him as she nearly pushed him back into the street. “UNCA-DAN!”


"Hey, Sprite," he said, calling her by the nickname she had earned as a child for her slender, pixie-ish build and playful nature, "It's good to see you again!" He wrapped his arms around her tightly, hugging her back. "It's been... God, ever since before Claire got sick... Nine, ten, years now?"


“MHMM!”  She nodded and squeezed him tightly, nuzzling against his face affectionately like a little kid.  She frowned a bit and leaned back, holding onto his shoulder with one hand and poking his nose with the other.  “Nobody calls me Sprite anymore. Quit it.” 


“Sprite?”  Doug smirked up at them.  “‘cause she’s so bubbly ‘n’ sweet?”


Laughing, Officer Summers set his niece down and explained, “No, when she was little she just had this very cute, fairy-like appearance. Her aunt Laura said she looked like a sprite, and the nickname stuck… at least, in our house. Looking at Francine he asked, “So, is Mr. Fairbanks here your boyfriend?”


“Yes, he is!”  She ruffled Doug’s headfur and ears and pinched his cheeks.  “Isn’t he just the most adorable puppy ever?”  She had a devilish smile on her face, knowing how much she was embarrassing her mate in front of the patriarch of her family.  Doug didn’t say anything about it, but the bright blush through his tan/yellow fur told all.


“I’m not going to comment on his adorableness, but I admire his bravery if he’s dating into our family,” the older squirrel joked. “It’s nice to meet you, Douglas.” He reached his paw through the window of the Camaro. “Nice to see she hasn’t driven you totally crazy yet.” He flashed a playful grin at his niece as he teased her in front of her mate.


“She ain’t yet.”  Doug said as he reached out to shake Daniel’s hand.  “We’ll see if the weekend ‘olds out, though.”  She hadn’t stopped playing with him yet, tugging on his ears and making playful little coos and sounds like she was playing with a feral.  Doug turned up to her and smiled.  “Why ‘on’t you get back’n the car so we c’n go meet your Aint Laura, and cous’n Claire?”  


Francine squealed with joy again before turning to hug Daniel and give him a kiss on the cheek.  “I’ll see you at dinner, Uncle Dan?”  


“Yeah, get that young man to the house, and have Laura cook him up some waffles, and a fresh pot of coffee. He looks exhausted. Claire won’t be there, at least not yet. She spent the night at her boyfriend’s.” The tone in Daniel’s voice indicated that while he didn’t necessarily approve of this fact, he accepted it for what it was. “My shift is up at five, and I’ll see you tonight. Julia and her family are going to come up from Boston, and we’ll cook out. And that tail light fixed before you leave town.”


Francine giggled and nodded, “Yessir!”  Before turning and grabbing the center roof of the Camaro, sliding inside across Doug’s lap into her seat.  


“We’ll stop at ‘n autoparts place sometime afore we leave.”  Doug nodded as he took a mental note.  “Well, I think I’ll go ahead and get her to the house.  Like you said, this ole mule could use some fresh hay and everything and all.”


Francine patted his head teasingly and gave the nape of his neck a tug.  “Hyah, mule!  The man said there was waffles!”  She quickly put her seatbelt on and smacked the dashboard.  


“You ‘eard the lady.”  Doug said with a chuckle, waving at Daniel.  “I look for’ard to meetin’ y’all’s whole family.”


“I’ll see you later on,” Officer Summers replied as the Camaro began to pull off. He shouted behind them, “And try to keep it over twenty!” With that, the older gray squirrel walked back to his squad car and climbed inside.




[center]-----------------------------------------------------[/center]


Francine and Doug had closed in on her Aunt and Uncle’s house, and were cruising slowly through the neighborhood, watching the addresses as they passed by.  Francine had lost her seatbelt again and was leaning out the window, watching ahead as the mailboxes passed them by.  “Do you remember what the address was, Dougie?” She asked as her hair trailed behind her in the breeze.  


“It ‘as Walnut Trail, ‘r-somethin’-’r-other.”  Doug replied as he drove, watching the other side of the street.  

“Good lord, look at this place…”  Francine reached back and tugged on his shoulder, then pointed out the window when she had his attention.  


“Wooooooow~”  Doug exclaimed as he stopped, leaning over her back to look.  The place was a mansion[b] for all intents and purposes, and sat on a huge property. The grass was almost shoulder high in places and thick with weeds.  It almost looked like a creepy mansion out of an old Scooby-Doo episode, all old and empty and abandoned.  “Wonder‘ow many millions this place goes for?”


Francine giggled as he moved over her, his muscular front pressing down on her back.  “In this shape, it’s probably not that bad.”  She wiggled her rump up against him, getting a slight growl from her canine lover.  

“In this neighborhood?  I bet a lean-to with a wood oven ‘n’ a outhouse would fetch a mil and half.”  Doug responded to her teasing by pushing down hard, pinning her full rump to the door with his lowers. 


“Shishi-” She chittered and looked up at him, bopping him on the nose with an open palm.  “Naughty dog.”  She held onto his muzzle with that hand idly moving it around and jerking his head around playfully.  “You think we’ll ever live in a place like that?”  

Doug pulled away and flopped back in his seat, chuckling.  “God, I hope not…”  

Francine turned to face him and headtilted, her lips curled up in a cute little pout.  “Why not?”  


“Well…”  Doug sighed and leaned back against the door, crossing one of his legs across his lap to make room in the smallish car.  “I ‘ate places like this.  If I c’n step out my front door ‘n’ see a county road I’m too close, let’lone seeing somebody else’s house.  ‘Specially when it’s a place like ‘at.”  He pointed back behind him towards the house across the street to the clean, pristine, house with the golf-course-perfect lawn and the Mercedes GL SUV that looked brand new off the lot in spite of being at least a year old.  A model home, a fake place where fake people live fake lives.  


“Okay…” She said as she looked the place over and got a similar feel from it.  “Is that all, then?  just don’t want to be around people?”


“Well there’s that…”  Doug waved off and looked over the vacant place again.  “‘N’ there’s no property ‘ere.  Yeah, ‘ere’s a crapton a’house but what’ll you do with it?  No woods for huntin’ in, no fields to grow in, no creek to swim in.  There’s nothing ‘ere what’s good for anything.”


Francine looked at him with a raised eyebrow, giving him that incredulous look that comes so naturally to the fairer sex.  “Then where DO you want to live?  Get some prairie land out west or something, be a regular Charles Ingles?”  


“Don’t sound ‘alf bad, honestly.”  Doug said with a smirk as his squirrel rolled her eyes at him.  “But naw, I think I’d rather ‘ave a mountain down south somewhere.”  


“So Grampa Walton, then?”  She said with a little smirk of her own, shoving his leg with her foot playfully.  


“Sounds good to me!”  He said as he turned back to face the road.  “Build ya a big, old shotgun house, big kitchen, big dinin’ room, livin’ room right by the front porch, couple of porch swings…  Four bedrooms, a master, a guest, and two biiiiiii~iiiiiiig bedrooms, one for the girls and one for the boys.”

“Good lord, baby!”  She said as she straightened up herself and put her seatbelt back on.  “Wait, boys and girls?” 


“Yeah!”  He put the thing back into gear and started driving again, still slowly.  “I want a Walton-style family, too.  Don’t buy what those doctors’ve told you, babe.  You can have as many kids as you want, it’ll just take time.”  


Francine shook her head and smiled.  Doug didn’t take much of what anybody said as gospel, but he had a particular disdain for doctors, and especially when they told people they’d never do something, whatever it was. “It doesn’t work like that, Doug.  And even if I do get pregnant, my body can’t-”


“Your body can ‘andle anything you say it can ‘andle.”  Doug interrupted her flatly, with a stern conviction in his voice.  “I know you want a white picket fence and some pitter patterin’ as much as I do.  If that’s what you want, don’t let any sonovabitch in a white coat tell you that you can’t.”  He didn’t turn away from the road, but stared out at it with a firm face.  

Francine sighed deeply and turned to the road herself.  She propped her elbow up on the window and her head on her fist, watching the houses go by.  “How much time you plan on putting into it, stud-dog?”  

Doug cut his eyes to her and could barely see the lusty little smile on Francine’s lips.  He smiled just barely and shot her a wink.  “‘S’long ’s it takes... maybe a lil’ more to celebrate, too.”  




[center]---------------------------------------------------------[/center]




“That’s it!  That’s it!”  Francine bounced in her seat pointing at the house, making Doug laugh.  

“Well sit down for a second, hyper!”  He parked in front of the house, on the curb, not wanting to take Daniel’s place or block him pulling in.


The house was an old, well-kept Victorian, common for the area, though small in comparison to most of the other homes in the neighborhood. The lawn was well-maintained and vibrantly green, mowed in a checkerboard pattern, alternating between light and dark green squares based on which direction the blades of grass were slanted. A charcoal-gray Ford Fusion sat in the driveway, reflecting the rays of the early morning sun. As Doug put the Camaro in Park, the front door opened and a middle-aged red squirrel stepped out of the front door to greet them.


“Francine! Oh my gracious, look at how much you’ve grown,” she exclaimed, drawing her robe tighter around her body and padding down the sidewalk to greet her long-lost niece. “Sweet heavens, it’s been too long. How was your drive?” She threw her arms around Frankie and hugged her tightly.


“Aun-ooph!”  Francine had barely bounced out of the Camaro before her aunt had wrapped her up.  She wrapped her own arms around the older squirrel and squeezed her back, her tail waving behind her happily.  “Auntie Laura!”  


“You two must be exhausted, and hungry! Your Uncle Dan called and told me you were almost here. Why don’t you come inside, and I’ll brew up another pot of coffee and make you kids some breakfast?” She turned towards the house and waved for the young couple to follow her.


“We [i]ARE[/i]!” Francine exclaimed as she bounced happily.  “Is Claire up yet?!  I can’t wait to see her again!” She turned back to find her dog sitting on the hood, waiting patiently to be introduced with a smile on his face and his tail wagging out a timely thump on the hood.  “Doug, come introduce yourself!”  She reached back and grabbed his bicep, pulling him over to her aunt.  


Doug laughed and wrapped his arm around Francine’s waist.  “Hi, Mrs. Summers.  I’m Doug Fairbanks.”  He held out his other hand to her, smiling widely. “It’s so nice to meet you finally.”


“Hello, Douglas,” his girlfriend’s aunt said warmly, taking his hand into her own, “Please, Laura will be fine, or if you insist on being formal, Aunt Laura works, too. But we’re family, so none of this ‘Missus Summers’ nonsense.” She led them into the house and to the kitchen, where she said, “Go ahead and have a seat at the island so we can talk more while I make you kids up something to eat. What would you like? Waffles? Pancakes? Omelettes?”


“Oh Lord, Missu-  Aint Laura, that’s too much.”  Doug sat down as he was told and held his hand palm up, which Francine quickly took as she sat down.  

“Yeah, please, coffee is just fine.  If you have to cook us something just make an extra serving of whatever you were going to have.”  Francine insisted, not wanting to put any more work on Laura’s shoulders.


“Ohhhh, no you don’t,” Laura chided them as she pulled down  a skillet from the rack hanging above the island and setting it on the range top. “Julia’s married and moved out, Jeremy’s off at college, and Claire spends half her time over at her boyfriend’s place.” She turned around from the stove and set her hands on her hips, regarding them both sternly. “It’s been awhile since I’ve had the chance to play ‘mom’ in the kitchen, so come on, humor an old lady.”


Francine and doug looked at eachother for a second and smirked, then turned back to Aunt Laura with big smiles.  “I want waffles!  Three please, with whatever fruit you have in them and some whipped cream on top! And tons of butter!”  She bumped shoulders with Doug and he continued.


“I’d like an omelette, please.  If you have any peppers, put the hottest in there, if you have salsa, I’d definitely love some with it, too!”  His tail wagged happily and the two ‘kids’ swung back and forth, waiting on their Auntie Laura to start on breakfast.  


As the older squirrel set about retrieving the necessary ingredients, she asked over her shoulder, “So, how was your drive? It wasn’t too bad, I hope.” She grabbed a box of Bisquick out of the cabinet, and then the gallon of milk, carton of eggs, and a brick of cheddar from the refrigerator.


“Oh no, it was fine!  Most of the drive was open highway and at night, so we had the road to ourselves.”  Francine replied.  Her arm intertwined with Doug’s as they lent against each other, hands held loosely.  “We took a couple of shifts so we could stay rested and everything.”  Doug was quiet, enjoying the smell of everything as it wafted through the room to him.  Francine had been teaching him to cook for a while, but he still hadn’t quite gotten spoiled for having two or three squares a day.  


“That’s nice to hear. With your uncle being on the force, I hear some horrific stories about nighttime driving. It makes me thankful that I work seven til four, Monday through Friday,” Laura explained. Once she had the batter mixed, she started brewing the coffee. “When he used to work the overnight shift, I would worry that your uncle wouldn’t come home some nights.”


“I definitely know what that’s like…”  Francine said, giving Doug’s hand a little squeeze.  “There are nights where we don’t work the same shift, or where he’ll work days while I’m at school, and I’ll be so shaky I can barely take notes.  I don’t even want to think about what he goes through when I’m working and he’s away…”  


“Yup…”  Doug nodded and tilted his head to rest against Francine’s.  


“Ah, young love,” Aunt Laura sighed. “You two are cute. You kind of remind me of Claire and Ethan.” She removed the first of the waffles from the waffle iron and slid the plate to Francine. “I’m not sure how much you want, but the syrup, butter, and bananas are right there, Sweetie. Douglas, it will be just another minute on your omelette.”


“Thanks a bunch, Aint Laura.”  Doug smiled warmly as Francine jumped up quickly for her assorted toppings.  “With that supper you ‘ad, you might wanna lay off all the syr’p  n’butter, babe.”   He pinched a piece off of Francine’s waffle and nibbled at it.  


“Shut up!”  She giggled as she gathered up everything she wanted and brought it back to her plate. “I have to maintain my figure!”  She huffed and stuck her tongue out at him as she knifed out an admittedly large pat of butter onto the first waffle.


Laura sprinkled some cheddar across the open face of the egg, and scraped some chopped peppers out of a bowl into the middle of the omelette. While the peppers warmed and the cheese melted, she went to the fridge and took out a jar of salsa. She then passed her two guests coffee mugs, the carton of creamer, the sugar, and set the pot of coffee down in front of them on a potholder. She quickly turned back around, plated Doug’s breakfast, and served it up nice and hot.


“Thanks for having breakfast,” she said cheerfully. This nice kitchen doesn’t get used nearly as often as it should.


“Thanks f-”

“THANK [i]YOU[/i]!”  Francine said with her mouth full of the sugary, gooey mess.  “We-” she paused to swallow and take a breath, “We hardly ever eat this nice without having to go out for it!”  Doug didn’t bother finishing and dug into his omelette, having a mound of salsa on his plate to fork up with his eggs.  


“Okay, you two eat up. I’m going to go upstairs and change real quick,” she said as she excused herself and walked towards the living room. “I’m sure Douglas didn’t drive all this way to see an old lady running around in her nightgown. I’ll be back in a moment.”


“Alright!  We’ll be here when you get back!”  Francine managed to get out between bites. Doug nodded with his mouth too full to talk and waved as Laura walked off.  “Do you want some coffee, Dougie?”  Francine asked as she got up and wiped her face with a napkin. 


Doug swallowed what he had and sat back, stretching out.  “Sure, sweetie.  Just a pinch’a sugar, no cream?”  


Francine giggled as she poured two coffees, his nearly black and hers more sugar and cream than coffee.  “This is so awesome, isn’t it?  Like, actually being home somewhere?”  


“Hehe, yeah!”  Doug leaned up, putting one elbow on the island as he rubbed his stomach.  “I’m only half-done ‘n’ I’m already ‘bout full.  No wonder he’s got a lil’ belly on him.” 


“[i]Douglass![/i]”  Francine punched his shoulder as she sat back down beside him.  “That’s mean!  Uncle Dan is like, 60-something.  Everybody can’t be built like you and Anne.”  She bumped shoulders with him and took a sip of her coffee.  

“Well yeah, ‘e’s an older fella, but that doesn’t make his belly smaller.  He’s in damn good shape, regardless…”  Doug drank his own coffee, starting with a large gulp, and tried to hide the cringe from the burn.  


“Like Aunt Laura?”  Francine cut her eyes up at him with a little teasing smirk.  


“W-what?”  Doug put down the coffee and started eating again, nibbling at his salsa and omelette.  


“She has got a nice butt.  Are you just into the cougars, or is it the whole milf thing?”  Francine elbowed into Doug’s ribs sharply, making him cough a little. 


“N-what?”  Doug turned to face her, an eyebrow raised.  “Neither!”  He smirked, attempting a save, and wrapped an arm around her as he moved in to touch noses.  “I just like adorable little foxy squirrels. Bright red, blue eyes, jiggly lil’ booty that shakes in her skinny jeans...”  


“Oh yeah, that’s why you and Jenny had so much fun then, huh?”  She looked over his muzzle into his eyes flatly.  


“Aw-c-come on, you know that was a mistake…”  He squeezed her shoulder and gave her a little nuzzle.  “If I looked at her at all it’s just cause… Well, when you’re Aint Laura’s age I think you’ll be a lot like her.  Kind, happy, so loving and all?   Like, I definitely see the family resemblance…”  


“...”  Francine smiled lightly and put her hand on Doug’s cheek, rubbing it gently. “You really think so, Dougie?”  


Doug nodded and put his hand on hers, giving it a little squeeze.  “And honestly…”  He gave her a little kiss on the nose.  “As beautiful and amazing and incredible as you are… I can’t even imagine how awesome it will be after we’ve finally had ours…”  


Francine nodded, a little blush on her cheeks, and turned back to her food.  Doug smiled and turned back to his food as well, a smile on his face and a little bit of a triumphant feeling from getting out of his hot water.  “So it [i]is[/i] the milf thing.”  


Doug turned to her, his eyebrow raised indignantly.  “What?”


She meet his gaze with a playful smirk and reached out to poke his nose.  “Boop.”


Doug shook his head and laughed, snapping playfully at her finger before turning back to the remnants of his omelette.  “You’re awful.”  

“And [i]you[/i] just want me to have babies ‘cause you think moms are hot.” Francine elbowed his arm again.  


“Shut up.”  Doug shouldered against her, chuckling a little.


“Oh?” They heard Laura’s familiar voice say as she re-entered the kitchen, freshly-changed into a pair of khaki shorts and a Red Sox t-shirt. “Are you two planning on starting a family?”


“Aunt Laura! Umm…”  Francine turned red immediately and shoved Doug on the shoulder.  “Are we?”  


“Um…” Doug was as red as Francine through his tan fur as he went back into his omelette.  “Well, we’d really like to… Frankie’s in school still, and I’m not really… I don’t have a career yet.  We’re not particularly ready right now, but someday… yeah.”


“That’s nice to hear. You two seem so happy together, and I’m sure you’ll have a lovely family someday. It’s just nice to know that you’re willing to wait,” Laura said. “I wish Ethan had. Don’t get me wrong, he’s a wonderful father to his little girl, but sometimes I wonder if it will ever interfere with his education, or his relationship with Claire.”


“Well, waiting isn’t exactly a choice, as it stands…”  Francine said quietly, playing with the little bits of her breakfast that are too small to get in her fork.  “We’re going to have a hard time having a family on our own.”


Doug put his hand on the back of hers and squeezed it tightly.  “Frankie… It’ll all work out.”  


“But anyway!”  Francine smiled big and bounced excitedly, putting both of her hands on Doug’s.  “Where is Claire and Ethan?  She’s told me tons of good things about him and I wanna see for myself!”


“Oh, she slept over at his place last night. You should go over and see her, and meet him. Ethan’s a good kid; he’s just had it rough growing up, and made some bad judgment calls as a result. But Claire has made him a better man, and he’s made her happier than I ever remember. Here, here’s the address,” she said, taking a blank grocery list from the refrigerator and scribbling down the information. “Maybe you’ll even get to meet Sienna! She’s the sweetest thing ever.”


“Thanks, Aunt Laura!”  Francine jumped up and ran around the island to hug Laura tightly.  “We’ll go there right now!”  She snatched the address and ran by, smacking Doug’s arm as she bounced out to the front door.  “Come on, Dougie!”  


“Comin’ babe!”  Doug stood up and wiped his face on a napkin, smiling at Laura.  “Thanks for having us, it was awesome.  I look forward to dinner with y’all and everything and all.”






[center]-----------------------------------------------[/center]






“You got anythin’ more sp’cific’n Walnut Trail Road?”  Doug asked as they drove up this street for probably the third time, having circled the neighborhood for the last fifteen or twenty minutes.  Francine was leant back, looking out at all of the Colonial-style houses.  “Like, y’know, what kinda car they drive or anything?”  


“A red Audi sedan or a blue Mazda!”  She leaned to the center of the car and turned the radio up.  “OOooooh this is my favorite song!”  She started shaking her butt in the seat as [i]Walk You Do[/i] by The Lacs played loud, probably too loud for 9am in a nice neighborhood.  “NO HO-TAYULL, NO MO-TEYULL, WE’IN TH’BACK OF A, FIELD!”

“That’s right!”  Doug laughed and joined in as they drove through the neighborhood.  “Lil Conway Twitty an’ a seat roll back an’ I know she know the deal!”  Francine stood up in her seat and dance what she could with the t-top off and the window down, holding on to the top of the windshield to support herself as she swung her hips from side to side.  “Gotta sexy little body and it moooove, ain’t no need in ac’in’ shy!”  Her tail brushed under his chin as he parked in front of another house, neither of them planning to get out till this song is over.  “My little Di-di-di-di-di-dixie girl loves to shake hers all the time!”  She gave herself a little smack at that line, making her thick cheeks jiggle.

“NO HO-TEYULL, NO MO-TEYULL IN THE BACK OF A FIELD! LITTLE CONWAY TWITTY AN’ A SEAT ROLL BACK AN’ I KNOW SHE KNOW THE DEAL!”  They sang together before Doug turned the car off, jumping out the window as Francine kept dancing.  

“Good lawdy, gu-gu-good lawdy lookit that girl in them shawty shawts!  E’erybody in th’place get off’a wall, watch a lil country girl sha-shake it all!”  He scooped her up onto his shoulders and she swung into place riding the back of his neck, her hands over her head as she kept shaking her ass and swaying her body back and forth to the music in their heads.  “In ‘er lil-bitty faded JEAN SKIRT, short John Deere Green T-SHIRT, up to her knees in her cowboy boots-” He kept singing to her as they walked up the yard to the front door.  They finally made it to the front steps and Francine dropped down to fit inside, not down onto the ground, but wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist.  


Doug wrapped his hands up underneath her thighs to hold her up and looked back at her with a smirk.  “I know you love it when I’m whistlin’ dixie~”  


She giggled and flicked his nose.  “Silly studpuppy.”


“Yeah yeah…”  He gave her thighs a squeeze.  “Mind hitting the doorbell, my hands are occupied keeping some juicy red booty from smacking on the concrete.”  


Suddenly, they realized they didn’t need to ring the doorbell as the front door swung open and a well-dressed rabbit, or was she a hare, woman in her mid-thirties jumped back in surprise at seeing the young couple on her doorstep. “Who are you, and vhat do you vant zhis early in zhe morning? I’m going to be late for vork.”


“Um…”  Doug stopped in his tracks at the older hare.  “Uh, hi, is Claire Summers here?”


“I’m her cousin!  We found each other on facebook a couple of days ago and I told her I was coming to visit…”  Francine jumped down off of Doug’s back and stepped around to his side.  “Did she tell anyone, or…?”  


The woman shrugged her shoulders and said, “She might have told Ezhan, but if she did, he didn’t tell me. Zhey are in zhe kitchen, feeding zhe baby. Go ahead -”


“Mom? Is everything alright?” a teenaged girl, a mixture of her mother and raccoon heritage, asked peeking her into the doorway. “Who are they?”


“Zhe girl is Claire’s cousin,” the hare lady huffed. “I have to go. Svetlana, show our guests to zhe kitchen, please. I’ll see you tonight.”


“Okay, mom,” the girl said. “Have a good day at work.” As the older woman disappeared around the corner on her way to the garage, Svetlana beckoned them inside and said, “This way.” She lead them through to the back of the first floor to the kitchen of the home, where a pretty teen red squirrel sat with an infant cradled in her arms, bottle-feeding her, while talking with a male raccoon. “Claire, you have company.”


Frankie’s cousin turned around in her chair to see what Svetlana was talking about, and as soon as she saw the older squirrel girl, she excitedly exclaimed in a hushed voice, “Oh my god! Frankie?” Claire stood up and carefully passed the baby over to the raccoon, who watched what was happening with a confused look on his face. Once the little cub was secure, Claire spun around on her heels and rushed at her cousin, wrapping her up in a tight hug.


“Oh my god! I haven’t seen you in forever! How are you doing? When did you get into town? How long are you staying for? Have you been by the house yet? How long was the drive?” The questions kept pouring from Claire’s lips as she rocked side to side excitedly, squeezing Francine tighter and tighter.


Francine squeezed her little cousin tightly and coiled her tail around them both.  It was hard to understand anything either of them said as Francine answered Claire’s questions as quickly as Claire could ask them.  Doug smiled broadly seeing Francine like this, so excited and happy.  He turned to Svetlana and quietly asked her, “Claire’s happy to see her, huh? Nice to meet you.”


“I guess,” the teen shrugged as she put a pair of earbuds in. “Feel free to have a seat. Glasses are above the sink, if you get thirsty.” She walked off towards the living room, and a moment later, he could hear the sounds of her paws going up the steps. A minute later, he heard more footsteps coming back down, and another young girl turned the corner, tiredly rubbing her eye.


“No hotellllll, no motelllll in the back of a field, little Conway Twitty and a seat rolled back and I know she knows the dealllllll,” the new girl mumbled as she went. “Goddamn it, I’m going to be singing that fucking song all day.”


“You’re welcome.”  Doug waved at the girl as his tail wagged. 


“OOh, oooh, ooooooooooooh!”  Francine broke the hundred-mile-per-hour conversation she’d been having with Claire and grabbed her arm, and Doug’s and pulled them to face each other, nearly smacking Claire’s face into Doug’s chest.  “This is my boyfriend, Doug!  Dougie, introduce yourself!”

Doug laughed and shook his head, catching Claire’s shoulder to keep them from clashing together.  “Hi, I’m Douglass Fairbanks.  Frankie’s boyfriend. Uh… Nice to meet you?”

“Claire Summers,” the girl said, “Frankie’s cousin. Over there is my boyfriend, Ethan, and little Sienna.” She pointed over to where the raccoon was sitting and watching with interest while feeding the little cub. He smiled and gave them a nod of acknowledgment. “It’s nice to meet you, Doug. Dougie? What do we call you?”


“Doug is fine.  Francine’s the only one that gets away with Dougie.”  He reached over to Francine and grabbed her shoulder to pull her into his side.  “So this is the famous Ethan Black, huh?”  He squeezed and stroked Francine’s shoulder and gave her a little squeeze. “You think he’s cute?  Didn’t think you were into the maintained manicured type.”  

“Oh, shut up.”  Francine gave Doug a punch under the ribs and tousled his headfur.  “At least I’m not getting all slackjawed at every mom we meet.”  She turned back to Claire and giggled a little.  “Sorry, Dougie doesn’t know when to keep his mouth shut.”  Doug grumbled something under his breath but quickly bit his lip as she gave his ear a tug, a big innocent smile across her face.  “Care to introduce us?”


Claire giggled, and said a little under her breath so that she wouldn’t be too loud, “That’s fine, I have a friend who’s just as bad, maybe even worse. But I’ll tell you what, it takes a strong guy to go through what he has and come out looking that good!” Then, speaking back at normal volume, she continued, “Ethan, this is my cousin, Francine, but everyone calls her ‘Frankie.’ She’s the one I was telling you about, down in Tennessee. And this is her boyfriend, “Dougie.’” The introduction caused Claire to grin, and got a giggle out of Frankie. “Guys, this is my boyfriend, Ethan, and his daughter, Sienna.”


“Nice to meet you,” Ethan said as he held the baby close to his body with his left paw and stood up, reaching out with his right to shake theirs. Looking over at Claire, he said, “First Mister Henshaw, and now them? How much, exactly, does my reputation precede me by?” 


“Eh, I know a little.  Most of it sounds like stuff kids make up aside from the stuff about your folks and that car crash that got ya cripped up.”  Doug gave a little shrug and smiled.  “What about me?  Frankie and Claire give you anything to go on?”  He took Ethan’s hand with a smack and shook it, not too rough, but firm, and didn’t let go until Ethan gave a tug.  

Francine turned to Claire and said under her breath, “I didn’t tell him THAT much, I don’t know where he’s getting that junk.”  She giggled a little and elbowed Doug’s side again.  “Shhh-”


Ethan sat back down and gently pat Sienna’s back, coaxing a satisfied burp from her full belly. “Not much. Training to be an MMA fighter, work at a gym owned by another famous former fighter. And this,” he said, using his free paw to pull up the leg of his pajama pants, showing off a rather expensive-looking prosthetic leg unlike any Doug had ever seen before, “this is only a minor setback. I’ll get past it and back to free-running soon enough. It’s just a matter of willpower.”
 
“Nice little peg leg you got there.”  Doug gave a chuckle and sat down beside him.  “It’s good you won’t let it hold you back.  Good show of  heart.”  


“Giving up is for people that are already dead,” the raccoon said. “I should know, Claire brought me back to life.”


Claire walked over to her boyfriend and gave him an affectionate peck on his forehead and mussed with his hair. “You’re damn right I did,” she teased, “you’re too damn sexy to go to waste.”


Francine, not to be outdone, followed Claire over and took a seat in his lap.  “Hehe, you should have seen this poor guy when he first came into the club looking for a job.”  She wrapped an arm under Doug’s and around his back to stroke the back of his head.  “If he weighed a hundred pounds I’d be surprised, and I don’t think he’d ever seen a naked woman before, either.”  She giggled as Doug’s arm wrapped around her back and landed on her hip.  


“I think I was better off running around in the woods trapping…”  He grumbled with a little smirk on his face.


“Ha!” Claire laughed, deep from her gut as Frankie teased the poor canine. “When I first met Ethan, he was up on the roof of the school gym, drawing! We were having volleyball practice, and I thought he was some perv peeking down on us in our tight little shorts. I went up there to call him out on it, but he was so nice and shy, and had the art to back up his story, so I cut him some slack.”


“Nah, you weren’t cutting me slack, you were just luring me in with a false sense of security,” Ethan grinned. “That, and your ass really does look dynamite in those shorts. You should wear them to the cookout tonight.”


“Hmm,” the teenaged squirrel said thoughtfully, then gave him a deep kiss and whispered, “maybe after.”


“Ooooh there’s gonna be a cookout, y’hear that?”  Doug said, giving Francine a poke to the ribs making her giggle.  “Means you’ll get a chance to ‘maintain your figure’ so’more, right?”  He gave her soft rump a rough pinch, making her squeal and jump. 

“DOUGIE!” She shoved his chest and tugged his ear again, bringing his head down.  “You like this figure, perv, so quit making fun of me!”  She gave him a rough nip on the chin before letting him go, but he just smiled at her and kept eye contact with a dominant, lusty look.  


“So,” Claire said, looking over at Doug and Frankie, “we have what? About seven and a half hours to kill until we have to be at mom and dad’s? What do you two want to do until then?”


“Uh…”  Francine turned her eyes to Claire without turning her head, finding it a little difficult to break Doug’s gaze.  “Um, what do you think we should do?”  Doug slowly kept leaning closer to Francine, seemingly ignoring everything else.  


“Hey, Illyana,” Ethan called over his shoulder to the blonde hare-raccoon girl that had come downstairs. “Can you get me the Marblecliff Entertainment guide from the living room, please?” A minute later, the teenaged girl brought out a small book and handed it to him, “Thank you. Here. I’m sure you three can find something to do.”


“Us three? What about you?” Claire asked.


“I can’t just dump Sienna off on my cousins and go running all over the city having fun,” the young father said. “Besides -”


“Yes you can!” the girl he had called Illyana said, rushing back into the kitchen. “You totally can! Sveta! Come down here and tell Ethan to let us watch Sienna so he can go out with Claire and her cousin!”


“You’ve proven already that you’re a good dad, Babe. Let them watch Sienna for a few hours,” Claire said sweetly, giving him big, pleading eyes. “You know you want to, and you’re kinda outvoted.”


“Fine,” he said in mock exasperation, just as the girl nicknamed Sveta scooped the baby out of his arms while he wasn’t looking. “Hey! You two! If you’re going to watch Sienna, no ‘Lissa Jo. I want you both watching her, and I know how distracted Illyana gets when she comes over. Call my cell immediately if anything happens, even if you’re not sure if it’s important or not. Call me. Got it?”


“Yes.” “Yeah.” The girls said as they doted on the little raccoon cub, making cute faces and cooing sounds, before disappearing back upstairs.


“Sometimes, I swear you women are all conspiring against us guys,” he grinned. “So, there won’t be a lot to do this early on a Friday morning. Bowling? Miniature golf, maybe? Lunch at Dave and Buster’s in a little bit?”


After all the distractions were gone and focus turned back to Doug and Francine, they were still locked in a little staring contest, their eyes narrowed and their brows furrowed, noses scrunched up against the others’.  Until Dave and Buster’s is mentioned, when Doug sits straight up, nearly shocking Frankie out of her seat. “You guys gotta Dave’n’Busters here?”  He turned to face Ethan as his tail nearly wagged him out of his chair.  “They have DDR?”  Francine rolled her eyes and smiled, her tail snaking behind her as she jumped up onto her feet.


“Dave and Buster’s it is, then,” Claire said, standing up and pulling Ethan up behind her. “We’re going to go get dressed, while you two figure out what to do until they open.”


Doug smiled and nodded, waving Claire off.  “Go ‘head, we’ll be fine down here.”  He took the end of Francine’s tail and reeled her into him by it.  “So, what’a you think we should go do?  I reckon breakfast[c][d] is out’a the question by now.”   He wrapped his arms around her waist and hugged her back into his chest.  “I ‘on’t know if I’ll be able to fit lunch in there after that omelette.”  


“Yeah, I don’t think I could handle any more after Aunt Laura’s waffles.”  Francine put her hands over Doug’s and squeezed them.  “So… They have bowling and mini golf and stuff too.  We should see if they’ve eaten too.  We can always talk and drink coffee while they eat, right?”  She moved her head back and nuzzled against his sternum, and Doug rubbed his chin against her forehead.  


“Yeah, that’d be nice.  I love that iced salty car’mel thing.”  Doug licked Francine’s forehead and started to rub her soft stomach, combing his fingers through her fur and under her shirt.  “He ain’t that bad so far.  I’m surprised.”  


“Yeah, me too.”  Francine sighed quietly and shut her eyes. “But then again, we already knew he was handsome and charming…  He wouldn’t keep a harem like that if he wasn’t.  So we don’t really know anything new yet.”


“Yeah.”  Doug smirked and shoved his hands up quickly, palming her breasts.  


“HEY!”  Francine reached back and smacked his nose with her palm, pulling away and pulling his hands out of her shirt.  “Bad!”  She giggled as she fixed her shirt and bra.   


“All right, you two,” Claire giggled as she re-entered the kitchen. “There’s still at least one, possibly two virgins in this house, so behave until we leave, okay?”


“I’m [i]trying[/i] to behave!”  Francine pointed at Doug accusingly.  “There’s no stopping him!”  She said quietly.  “He’s already had fun once this morning and he wants more already!”  She huffed and poked his chest.  “Naughty dog.”  


“So, Ethan’s giving his cousins some final instructions before we head out, but are either of you hungry? We’ve already eaten breakfast, but we can stop somewhere if you like,” the younger squirrel asked. “There’s a lot of great restaurants not far from here, and half of them serve a pretty decent breakfast.”


“Oh Lord please no more.”  Doug held his stomach dramatically and leaned back against the counter.  


Francine patted his chest in mock-comfort and shook her head.  “Aunt Laura stuffed us full already, so we’re gonna be good for awhile.  So…  I guess we’re at your mercy.”  She smiled and scritched Doug’s neck under his chin.  “So, what do you want to show us first, Claire?”  


“Really, not much here in Marblecliff you can’t find anywhere else. At least, nothing interesting or exciting, unless you’re a history buff. For the really fun stuff, you need a day trip to Boston, but we only have a few hours to kill,” Claire said, trying to think of something that the four of them could do together. “Really, I think Ethan pretty much covered what there is to do this early: bowling or putt-putt.”


“So, do we know what we’re doing yet?” the raccoon asked as he entered the kitchen. He walked up behind Claire and wrapped his arms around her waist, hugging her affectionately and nuzzling her neck. “I love that shampoo,” he said softly into her ear.


“Not yet,” his girlfriend answered. “I was just trying to think of more options, but nothing else unless we go down to Boston.”


“That’s a no to Boston.”  Doug stood up and lifted his shirt slightly, showing the handle of a small pistol holstered inside his waist band.  “They’ll hang us for these there.  So how about bowling?  They serve alcohol at the place?”  


“Probably not this early,” Ethan said. “We’re under 21, so I never paid it any mind. But by the time we get to Dave and Buster’s, the bar should be open.”


“So bowling, then?” Claire asked. “Do you two want to ride with us, or follow?”


Francine patted Doug’s stomach and pulled his shirt down, a little embarrassed.  “Sorry.  And there’s no need to burn the gas for two cars.  I’m pretty sure your car will get more mileage and fit us all way better than that beater.”  


“It’s not a beater, it’s a Iroc-Z…”  Doug muttered, squeezing the back of her neck and rubbing it a little roughly.  


“No, it’s actually 4 different Iroc-Z’s cobbled together with the front seats out of an Imp.”  Francine argued, giving him another light jab in the ribs.  


“All right then,” Claire exclaimed as Ethan tossed her the keys to his car. “Babe, do you mind riding in the back with Dougie while Frankie and I talk?”


Ethan looked over at Doug and laughed. “How do you like that? Forced to ride in the back seat of my own car.”


“Oh hush,” she teased, cupping his groin as she walked past him out the front door. “You’ve had lots of fun in the back seat of that car.”


Francine giggled and ran past Ethan behind Claire, grabbing her shoulders and stopping just short of tackling her from behind.  “And you told [i]us[/i] to behave.”  She whispered before smacking Claire on the rump and running around to the passenger side.  “LET’S GO!”  Doug rolled his eyes and patted Ethan’s shoulder, heading out past him also to the drivers’ side back seat.








[center]-----------------------------------------------------------[/center]








A couple of hours and four games of bowling later the two young couples were seated at Dave and Buster’s. It had been a fun morning. Claire ended up averaging a one twenty-seven, but she took her losses in stride, despite her competitive nature. Ethan fared a little better, even with his prosthetic leg, with an average score of one forty-four, though his best game had been a one seventy-two and just dropped off from there. By the end, he was gingerly massaging his leg, so they called it quits.  He thanked his physical therapy for all the practice, saying that he was a better bowler now than he was before the accident.  For his part, Doug barely held up with Claire.  As athletic as the dog seemed, he was admittedly garbage at ball sports.  Francine won the day with a one fifty average.  


Francine sat looking through the menu, checking for drinks and seeing if they had anything light to eat.  “I think I may hold off on getting anything until after we’ve played around awhile.  I haven’t worked up an appetite yet.”


Doug sat pivoting in his chair, looking around at the setup of this particular D&B’s.  “So, they got anythin’ here what won’t stress your stump too much?  Looked like bowling kinda wore ya out.”  He flinched slightly when his mate clandestinely kicked his shin under the table.


“It’s okay,” Ethan shrugged. “It’s better than he’s acknowledging it instead of the quiet whispers and sidelong glances of pity.” The raccoon’s eyes darted around the establishment, taking in the various games. “I see a few things: Air hockey, that NFL two-minute drill game, and pool.”


“If you want a level playing field, pick pool,” Claire chimed in. “He has an air hockey table in his basement, and he used to be on his high school football team.”


“Hey, I was corner, not QB,” he quipped. “Anyway, anything’s fine, but while we eat, I’m probably going to play along with the trivia.”


“Hey, get me one, too!”  his girlfriend asked.


“Umm… Mind grabbing us one?  What do you think, Doug?”  Francine poked Doug’s ribs with her elbow, eliciting a shrug from the canine. 


“If you wanna. I’m ‘onna be pretty useless, though.”  He looked up at Ethan and asked, “How much’re they?  You guys mind if we share?”


“It’s free to play,” the younger red squirrel answered as their server approached the table.


“Hi guys, I’m Heidi,” the young beaver woman said, flashing them a friendly smile. “Can I start you out with something to drink?”


“I’ll have some iced tea, sweetened, please,” the raccoon replied.


“Diet Pepsi for me,” Claire said.


“I’ll have bottled water.”  Doug said with a slight wave. 


“Do you have sweet tea?”  Francine leaned over the table towards the younger beaver.


“How sweet are you talking?” the girl asked. “We have sweetened, but it’s not like the Southern style stuff.”


“Aww… Do you have hot tea?”  She said with a little tinge of disappointment in her voice.


“You know it’s July, and after noon, right?” Claire asked with a giggle. “Why not add more sugar?”


“You can’t just put sugar in cold tea, Claire!”  Francine said with a little giggle. “Sugar won’t dissolve in a cold liquid.  You have to put the sugar in when it’s hot, melt the sugar in the stuff, THEN put it in the fridge or over ice!”  She turned back to the otter with a smile, shifting her hips in her seat as she leaned up on her elbows.  “So do you have hot tea?”


“Yeah, we do,” the beaver said, trying hard to suppress her smile at the exchange between the two cousins. “Anything else?”


“I’ll also need a glass of ice and some sugar.  Thanks, sweetie!”  Francine sat back in her chair, finally satisfied.


“And can we get three of the Buzztime controllers?” the raccoon asked.


“Sure thing! I’ll be right back with those and your drinks!”


“Just put sugar in cold tea… Can you believe that?”  Francine shook her head and smiled up at her mate.  


“God it’s been so long since I got sweet tea…”  Doug replied with a light sigh. 


“Any thoughts on what we want to eat?” Claire asked. “Remember, Dad’s cooking out tonight, so don’t eat too much.”


“I’mma just go f’r’a small salad.  Think I’ll avoid meat since there’s bacon at breakfast ‘n’ Uncle Dan seems like a big meat griller.”  Doug perused the salad section as he spoke.  


“Same for me, I’m really not hungry right now.”  She giggled lightly and looked at the back of the menu.  “Although… maybe I’ll save up for some desert…”


“Want to split a lawnmower?” Ethan asked, looking over at his girlfriend. “I’m not that hungry since breakfast wasn’t that long ago.”


“Oooh-oooh-ooooh Dougieeee~”  Francine tugged at Doug’s sleeve and pointed down at a little red and white concoction on her menu. “I want!”  


“Frankie…”  Doug rolled his eyes.  “Y’already ordered an iced tea…”


“I know.”  Francine replied with a little bit of a huff.  “But I’m only gonna have a salad besides, and it’ll make playing later fun.”  She hugged his arm tightly and looked up at him with sparkling, begging eyes.  “Pweeeeeeeese?”

Doug shut his eyes and shook his head.  “Alright… let’s go and get that thing out of your pants so you can have a drink.”  He stood up and nodded slightly to Ethan and Claire.  “We’ll be back in a second.”  


Francine bounced up to her feet hugging his arm started pulling him out. “Sorry!  We’ll be back in a minute!”  


A little while later Francine pushed her plate away from her.  She’d just finished the last slice of bloody beef from the steak salad, her carefully prepared tea was drank completely, and all that was left was her little colorful frozen drink.  “Oooooooooooh that was so good~”  She almost moaned as she leaned back and slumped a little in her chair, a hand rubbing her belly.  “How was yours?”


Doug was the first to finish, and had used his idle time to play and lose horrendously at the little trivia game on the table.  “As usual, grass and water.  ‘Bout as appetising as it sounds.”


“We about ready to go play?” Claire asked.


“I’ll watch for a little bit,” Ethan answered, standing up from his seat. “I  think I ate a little too much.”


“I’m sure Darren will appreciate it!” the younger squirrel joked, referring to her brother-in-law. “That just means more for him!”


“Yeah, I think I’m ready to get up and do somethin’.”  Doug stood up and stretched lightly.  “So, these pool tables.  They eight-ball, nine-ball, or snooker?”


“Standard fifteen-ball configuration, so eight- or nine-ball,” Ethan answered. “You have a preference?”

“Just curious.  They have racks for nine, though?  Or just the standard triangle racks?”  Doug looked toward the tables, seeing if he could see from there.


Francine stood up, herself, and walked around to Claire. “What do you wanna do?  It’s been awhile since I’ve been in a arcade or anything.”


The younger girl looked around, and then pointed over to the far corner of the game floor. “How about that?”


“OOOOOOOH~!”  Francine nearly squealed as she followed Claire’s finger.  “Let’s go!”  She grabbed Claire’s wrist and ran off as Doug started walking to the pool tables.  


“Come on, big man, let’s see if you can play stickball.”  Doug waved back at Ethan as he went on his way.


“You won’t see me hustling at a pool hall or anything,” the teen said as he followed the older dog. “But I’m not terrible. I rack, you break. You want eight or nine?”


“You rack, you set the game.  Dealer’s choice.”  Doug walked to the table and pulled out a cue.  “So, I’mma guess this thing’ll keep our balls when we pocket ‘em?”


“Pretty much. Not so loud, though,” Ethan grinned. “I bet Frankie would have something to say about your balls being kept in someone else’s pocket.”


Doug chuckled lightly and took the chalk, carefully chalking his cue.  “Yeah, yeah.  That’s why she keeps ‘em safe ‘n’ sound ‘n’ on her person at all times.”  


Ethan swiped his play card and racked the balls up in a nine-ball configuration, then grabbed a pool cue of his own. He carefully studied the length of the stick, checking it for any subtle curves and that the tip was in good condition. “All right, you’re up.”


“Mhmm.”  Doug leaned over the table and took his position, potting the cue ball right on the dot.  “Funny for you to say that though.  What, 16 years old with his own little harem?  You musta been whipped three ways from Sunday.”  He broke aggressively, sending everything except the 9 ball flying in all directions while the striped white and yellow sphere stayed stationary, only spinning in place.  The four fell in the right center pocket and Doug traced the one, already thinking about the next shot.


“Not sure how much you know, but it wasn’t as simple as that,” Ethan answered. “I’m not going to go into all the details, but Claire wanted Shyara brought in to solve two different problems. Now, her best friend is a US citizen, and we have a beautiful little girl in our lives.” He shut up and watched as Doug lined up his next shot, then continued, “At first, Wendy was only included because we couldn’t bear to hurt her feelings. She was raised as a boy, but wanted to be seen as a girl. Given the amount of animosity this city has towards herms, we were really the only ones she felt she could talk to. Plus, it helped to balance the relationship out, so that we could break off into pairs. Calling it a harem isn’t exactly the right word, though, because in a harem, multiple women love and serve one man. We all belonged to each other.”


“Yeah?  Must be somethin’.”  He leaned over and started lining up his second shot.  “Bet that was sweet, though.”  He shot hard again, sending the one-ball spiralling out of the pocket and back onto the table.  “Your shot.”


“It was, up until the feelings became too real,” the raccoon said, leaning over the table and eyeing up his shot. The cue ball slammed into the one, sending it rolling into the left side pocket, leaving him relatively lined up for a long shot at the two. “Pregnancy hormones got to running wild, jealousy reared its ugly head, and I was told to pick one of them. Of course, I picked Claire, because she was the one of the three I couldn’t ever see myself living without.” He took his next shot, but couldn’t cut the two just right. It hit the bumper just a centimeter away from the hole and missed its target. “Yeah, we were young and stupid, but I don’t think any of us have any regrets. We all learned things about love, and ourselves, and Sienna is the greatest gift anyone has ever given me.”


“The feelin’s got too real?”  Doug walked around the table, trying to find his shot on the two.  “Yeah… I guess I can see ‘ow jealousy can get in the way in that particular situation.  And the girl’s absolutely beautiful.”  He bent down and tried for another long shot at the same hole, shooting too light and barely striking the two, leaving Ethan a perfect straight shot.  “Welp, there ya go.”  


“Thanks,” he said, easily taking the gimme shot, but leaving himself with a few balls between the cue and the three. He walked around the table, studying the best angle for his approach. “I hope that one day you and Frankie get to experience the joys of parenthood.” Deciding that his best course of action was to go over instead of around, Ethan attempted to pop the ball over the obstacles. The cue ball glanced off the top of the three and rolled to a halt at the end of the table.


“So… Anything you wanna know about me?  Since I know more about you than I aughtta?”  Doug asked, seeming serious as he walked around the table. “I’ve made some mistakes too, so fair’d be fair.”


“So, you’re an MMA fighter?” the raccoon asked as he leaned back against the wall. “My dad was a pro boxer. WBA and everything. What are your styles?”


“I only have one.  Karate.  Pure striker.  Your dad was... Bill Black, right?”  He bent down to make his shot at the three, sending it ricocheting off the cushions and sending other balls flying in all directions. 


“Yeah,” Ethan answered. “He taught me a bit before the plane crash.” The cue had a clear path to the three, and with just a little bit of an angle, he was able to sink it into one of the corners.


“What bits did he teach you? I’ve seen him box and he was more than fair.”  Doug re-chalked his cue for the first time in awhile as he watched Ethan line up.  


“Before the accident, I did a bit of freerunning,” he said. “So naturally, I have a bit of agility, and can dodge a punch pretty well. But dad also taught me how to take a hit. How to block, relax my neck and turn my head to soften the shot to face, keep my eyes on my opponent so I can prepare for the punch, stiffen my abs for body blows… things like that. Came in handy later on.”
        
“Why? Get in a lot of fights?”  Doug blew the excess chalk off the tip of his cue and set the little blue block down.  


Ethan took his shot, the five ball rolling to the very edge of the pocket and lingering for just a second before it finally dropped. “Kind of. I was left in the care of my aunt and uncle,” he walked around to the cue and took his shot. The six went in no problem, followed by the cue. “My uncle was an abusive prick.” He looked at Doug and said, “By the way, he would call me names like ‘big man,’ too. So I’d appreciate it if you just stuck to ‘Ethan.’ I know you don’t mean anything by it, it just reminds me of Walt.”


Doug nodded and walked to the return to fetch the cue ball.  “I get the same reaction when people call me ‘boy,’ so it’s okay.”  He walked back around and dropped the cue ball in the kitchen, letting it roll wherever it wanted.  “My ma had breast cancer.  Passed away when I’s ‘bout… I think I’s six.  Dad didn’t take it well, didn’t like ma much to begin with and big sister looked a lot like ma…  stuff went bad, yaknow?”  He leaned over the table and aimed himself, his hips wiggling slightly before he shot.  


“I know,” the raccoon said as he watched Doug line up his shot. “I’m told I look a lot like my mom, too.”


Doug shot and barely glanced off of the five.  He didn’t put much force in it, hoping to stop the cue where it was and leave himself a good shot on the six, but he didn’t give enough force to actually move the five.  He stood and backed up, waving at the table to present it to Ethan.  “Yeah?  I only ever seen pictures of your old man, so I don’t know.  He looked like a right slugger though. Don’t know if his face looked anything like what he was born with.”  Doug laughed and put two fingers on his nose, showing how it almost moved freely on his face with a quiet, crunching sound.  “Comes with the job.”  He said before putting it back in place.  


“Yeah,” Ethan said as he took his turn, sinking the five but not leaving himself much to work with on the six. He studied the angles for a moment, trying to gauge where to aim and how much force to apply. He leaned over and sent the cue rolling the opposite direction, banking it off the side and between the seven and nine. The cue ball clicked against the six and sent it rolling towards the hole, but he hadn’t put quite enough power into the shot. The ball stopped just short of the corner pocket. “My aunt would tell me stories about how much my mom would worry about how many headshots my dad would take in a match. He suffered more than one broken muzzle, and his fair share of concussions.”


“Eh…”  Doug walked around behind Ethan to get to his shot.  He almost had to lay across the table to reach.  “I wish ‘ey ‘ad a bridge…”  He said as he took his shot, a little too hard due to the awkward angle.  The cue ball follows right with the six and Doug sighed as he backed off of the table.  “But yeah, people make more of a big deal out of it than it is.  I don’t even tell Frankie about ‘em anymore.  Not worth worryin’ them over, you know?”  


“Does Frankie watch your fights?” Ethan asked as he retrieved the white ball from the return and spotted it. He had a relatively simple shot at the seven; the problem came with the nine ball being so close. If he wasn’t careful, he could risk sinking both in the process. Deciding to play things safe, he cut his shot so that the cue wouldn’t ricochet into the nine, while the seven rolled to a stop against the side of the table.


“Oh fights?  Eh, I don’t really get hurt much in fights.  It’s trainin’ where you take damage. You fight maybe a dozen fights a year as a rookie.  Two or three as a pro.”  He said as he eased around.  Shots right on the sides are more difficult than you’d think; getting a perfectly straight shot along the bank requires a lot of skill.  “But you train e’ery day.  Almost all day.  And what with my night job on top of that, odds of gettin’ beaned with a liquor bottle ‘r some asshat’s ASP increas significantly.  Not t’mention shot, stabbed, etcy-etcy-etcy.”  He  leaned over and took the shot, the seven bouncing off just barely enough to make it miss its pocket entirely, glancing off harmlessly as the cue ball came to a resting place near millimeters from falling itself.  


Ethan wasted no time lining up his next shot. The seven ball had conveniently come to rest between the cue and the eight. If he could play things perfectly, he’d be able to run the table from here. He crouched down and eyed up his approach, and drove the cue into the eight hard, not wanting to miss again due to insufficient force. The seven ball rolled into a corner pocket with the eight close behind,but at the last second, the black ball glanced the side and deviated from its course, narrowly missing the pocket.


“Yeah, I imagine the pay per match is pretty good,” he said. “I remember my dad being home a lot of the time, and when he died, he left me plenty of money. If it wouldn’t drive me crazy from boredom, I’d probably never have to work, as long as I was responsible.”


“Yeah, I guess I can understand that.  I bet Bill’d be happy at least.”


“Small consolation,” Ethan remarked, dispatching the eight ball with ease, but leaving the cue nudged up against the wall. It was awkward, but he managed to connect with the nine. Fortunately, the ball didn’t go in, and he left Doug with a perfect line to the side pocket.


“Still.  Lookin’ at how you’ve turned out and all?  I bet he’d be tickled pink he’s done sent his kid ‘n’ grankids to college.”  Doug moved around and lined up, his tail waggin’ slightly.  “Now this is where it always falls apart.  On the very last ball ya end up botchin’ every shot and turn a ten minute game into an hour game…”  He laughed and looked up to Ethan for just a second, “Nine in left side pocket.”  Before turning back down to the ball and shooting.  He shot a little too hard, but gave enough reverse english that the cue rolled slightly backwards from its strike with the nine.  The nine itself hit center in the pocket and bounced off the back, only narrowly avoiding bouncing back out completely before falling.  “Hah!  Looks like we get to play another.  Or go see what the girls ‘r up to.”  Doug stood up and smiled at Ethan, reaching out to smack his shoulder.  “Good game!”  


“Yeah,” the younger raccoon nodded. “I think we should check on the girls. Knowing the women in that family, who knows what kind of trouble they’re up to.”


“Yeah right!  Haha, I’m lookin’ forward to it.” Doug slapped Ethan’s back and lightly pulled him in the direction that the girls had went.  Once they got a little closer they could see the crowd of people gathered around, and hear the music.  “Oh lord…”  Doug’s tail wagged enthusiastically behind him.  “Francine’s dancin’!”  


“Excuse me,” Ethan said, nudging one of the bystanders. As they got closer to the arcade machine, the guys saw both cousins playing Dance Dance Revolution. The two girls, while bearing a reasonably strong family resemblance, could not have been any more different in their approach to the game. Claire was very technical and precise in her movements; her face was scrunched up in concentration as she attacked the arrows, and she wasted no motions whatsoever. Meanwhile, Francine was allowing the music to flow through her body, winding and grinding in time with the beats as her feet effortlessly tapped the arrows in sync with screen.


Doug bulldozed through the crowd behind Ethan, looking over his head and between his ears to get himself an early glimpse.  “So, your girl a dancer?”  He asked with a smirk as Claire moved somewhat rigidly, stamping the arrows on the pad as her tail twitched just enough behind her to hold her balance.  


“Not really,” the raccoon said with a smile and a shrug. “With volleyball, it’s mostly about precise movement, and reacting to the situation. There aren’t fancy spins, twirls, or anything like that. We’ve gone out dancing before and had a lot of fun, but I think her muscle memory keeps her from getting as loose in her movements as Frankie.”


“Maybe…”  Doug’s eyes moved to his squirrel, her hips swaying to the music, her hands exploring up and down her lush red body as she moved to the music naturally, almost as if there wasn’t a game being played.  “Then again, that’s ‘ow squirrels move naturally.  Ever seen ‘em in the wild?  They just kind of… Flow?”  He smirked during a long split, while both girls stomped and stood on the left and right arrows.  Francine bent down at the waist, keeping her legs locked straight as she touched her ankles and gave her rump a firm shake to make it and her thick thighs jiggle.  As she slowly stood up she traced her body with just her fingertips, turning back to the crowd like she usually did and biting her lip cutely.  She yelped quietly to herself and turned back to the screen, blushing quietly as she resumed the dance, getting a little more rigid herself.  

“She forgets where she is sometimes when she gets into it.  She’s adorable when she blushes, ain’t she?”  He patted Ethan’s back as they finally made it to the front of the crowd in time to catch the last big bit of the song.


“There’s no answer that I can give to that question that won’t dig me into a hole,” Ethan shot back. “So I’ll just say that being adorable is in the genes.”


“Haha, considering Frankie’s work, you think  I’mma get bent out of shape other guy’s think she’s hot?”  He smirked down at Ethan.  “Yours is cute for a little thing.  Little skinny, but cute in a girl-next-door kinda way.”  


The raccoon laughed at the misunderstanding. “No offense, Doug,” he said, “I’m a lot more worried about what Claire would do if she found out I said her cousin was cute!”


“Claim ‘er territory?”  Doug chuckled as he turned back to the girls and the song winded down. “That’s ‘ow Frankie tends to ‘andle that kind of thing…” 


“It’s the genes, man,” the younger male said, shaking his head, “those red squirrels are about as fiery as their fur suggests.”


“I know, right?”  Doug smiled and lowered his voice as the song finally ended and the girls jumped off, Francine holding her head down bashfully and Claire striding confidently.  “Wait till she gets it in ‘er head she wants to try for kids…  You think you’re charge in the bedroom?  Think you’re the big man?  Wait till a squirrel’s got her buckteeth buried in your pecker and then see who’s in charge.”  


“Enjoy the show?” Frankie’s cousin asked as she stood up onto her tip-toes and gave Ethan a kiss.


“Not as much as these guys did,” her boyfriend remarked, gesturing to the crowd that was now dispersing. “We actually just got here a minute ago. We had a pretty good time having a guy talk while we played pool.”


“Yeah!”  Doug wrapped his arm behind Francine, pulling her up slightly to give her a kiss on the cheek, making her uncurl a little from her defensive, embarrassed posture.  “He would’a done better if his hip rotation weren’t so buggered up.  Probably would’a swept the table on me.”  His hand moved down to her rump and gave it a rough squeeze, making her jump.  “I know I enjoyed it.”  


Francine smacked Doug’s chest and wrapped her tail around their waists, concealing his paw.  “Not in front of my little cousin!  And not here!”  She giggled up at him and didn’t move away.  “We might get in trouble.”  She murred quietly as he took advantage of her tail, kneading her ass cheek through her shorts.  

With a quick glance at his watch, Ethan said, “Hey, it’s getting close to time for the cookout to start. We should probably head back to my place, grab Doug’s car, and get over there. People are probably going to start arriving soon.”


“Hey, I almost forgot ‘bout that!”  A loud smack echoed out from underneath Francine’s tail, making her jump as Doug exclaimed.  “Ready to hang out with the rest of the fam?”

Francine chittered lowly and gave him a jab in the ribs.  “Can you just stop that for like, a minute?”  She grabbed his arm and started pulling him out, turning back to Ethan and Claire.  “Let’s get going!  I can’t wait to see everybody!”  








[center]-----------------------------------------------------------[/center]








“So the next thing I know, poor Bob is standing there, covered head to toe in pollen, sneezing his head off,” Darren laughed, getting chuckles from Laura and Daniel. The chinchilla man wiped a tear from his eye. “Julia just stood there, apologizing meekly over and over! I swear, I didn’t think a red squirrel could turn that red from embarrassment!” He turned and patted his wife on the shoulder. “It’s a funny story now, but man, she avoided him for days afterward.”


“I thought he wanted to kill me,” Claire’s older sister admitted, a slight grin on her face.


Doug and Francine laughed together reservedly.  They didn’t want to offend anybody by bringing up the fact that neither of them could quite recollect who Bob was or how the story started.  “That’s so funny, Darren!”  Francine said politely as she squeezed Doug’s arm.  


“Ugh,” a young voice grunted from Francine’s other side. “Dad tells that story anytime we go out anywhere,” Elise complained. “I’m really starting to get tired of it. It’s not even that funny!”


“Hehe, it’s cute.”  Francine patted the girl’s shoulder.  “So, you want to go get something to drink?”  

“I know I could use a coke’r’somethin’.”  Doug interjected.  “Maybe a hot dog, too…”  


“See if they have any Mountain Dew,” the little chinchilla said. “If they don’t… Iono, surprise me, I guess.”


“I think we have an open two liter  inside the house,” Claire said, standing up. “I’ll get you a glass of ice.”


“Thanks,” the slightly pudgy, adorably geeky pre-teen said. 


“Dear god, how can you drink that stuff?”  Doug said with a shudder.  “It’s like eating straight sugar.”  He went to the refreshment table and poured himself a coke.  “It’s as bad as drugs and worse than liquor.”


“I’m too young for alcohol,” she retorted. “Plus, I don’t think anyone ever won a Call of Duty tournament drunk! It helps me focus.”


“That, and they sponsor Major League Gaming,” Ethan added. “As the reigning regional Ghosts champion, she’s kind of obligated to endorse the product.”


“Mountain Dew sponsors MMA fights too and they couldn’t pay me enough to drink it…”  He dropped a single cube of ice in and took a swig as Francine looked around hoping there might be some tea. “So what’s Ghosts?  Some kinda spooky game?  Like Silent Hill or something?”

“Don’t mind him.  He’s gotta be a health nut for his job, yaknow?”  Francine waved Doug’s comment off to Elise.  


The young chinchilla girl was almost indignant at the question. “No, ghosts like Special Ops. It’s only the latest installment of the Call of Duty franchise, one of the most popular series of all time,” she bragged. “Millions of players worldwide, and I’m the best in the New England region! I love it when these guys, some of them actual soldiers, realize they were gunned down by a little girl.”


“If we could only get her to focus that hard on her studies,” Julia said as she sat down at the table. “It’s good to see you again, Sprite. How’ve you been?”


“So… wait, we’re still talkin’ about a videogame, right?”  Doug asked, still talking to Elise. 

“Oh, trust me, I know.  I’ve been trying to get this big lug to study for his GED but he’s too busy with his stuff.”  Francine sat down across from Julia and laughed.  “It’s just like having a kid.  A big musclebound kid.”


“I’m still talking about video games,” the chinchilla girl said. “Iono why those two wanted to bring up school - It’s still July!”


Doug shrugged and had another drink of his coke.  “So whattaya do in Ghosts?  Like, run around and shoot people?  When I was in school a friend of mine had Doom on his computer, it kinda like that?”


“You should see him.  If he ain’t working, like, working-working?  He’s down at that gym beating on stuff and fighting people.  And you aughtta see his trainer!  This big burly bear woman, looks like you took Lou Ferrigno and gave him implants.”  She squeezed her own breasts for emphasis at the last bit, rolling her eyes as she thought about her man’s trainer. 


Claire returned a moment later with the drinks and sat back down next to Ethan. “It’s kind of like that, Doug. It’s a military-themed shooting game, but I think the rules say that when you say you’re a girl, you need to prove it by flashing your boobs on cam.” This earned a chuckle from Julia while Elise rolled her eyes.


“Like it’s hard to beat some neckbeard lurking in his mother’s basement,” the younger girl muttered.


“Especially if you distract ‘im with chubby preteen knockers.”  Doug said between drinks.  

“DOUG!”  Francine turned to Julia and shook her head.  “I’m so sorry, he doesn’t know how to act sometimes…”

“Hey it’s true!  If the pervs don’t start playin’ one-handed they’ll be spazzin’ waitin’ on Chris Hansen to come for ‘em.”  He laughed and nodded at Elise.  “Good strategy!”


“I’ve never done it!” Elise said, unamused. “If they’re that desperate to see boobs, there’s plenty of that on the internet.”


“Hey! The foods about done! Who wants what?” Daniel called out from the grill.


“You wanna split a rack of ribs, babe?” Claire asked her boyfriend.


“Sure,” he said. “I’ll take a burger and some potato salad, too.”


“A burger, a brat, and a rack of ribs for Ethan and me, please,” she called back.


 “...  Pork ribs or beef ribs?”  Doug’s attention was suddenly drawn to Claire at the mention of ribs, his eyes settling on her like... well, like a hungry dog. 


“The same for us please, Uncle Dan!”  Francine hollered before turning back to Julia.  “So, Julia…”


“What’s up?” her oldest cousin asked as she took a drink of her Sam Adams Cherry Wheat.


“Well, I don’t wanna just sit here and talk about us all night… You got anything to talk about?”  Francine smiled shyly and looked around.  

“Yeah.  So what’s it like bein’ married to a plant doctor?”  Doug asked as he walked around to sit beside his squirrel.  


“Being a ‘plant doctor’ myself, I like it a lot,” the woman explained with a smile. “We have similar interests, and it’s refreshing that he is as smart as I am. In all of my previous relationships, I felt like I was obligated to give the guy a glossary for quick reference during our conversations. But it’s not like that with Darren.”


“... So what’s it like bein’ a plant doctor?”  Doug asked with a slight head tilt.  


Francine sighed and shook her head, taking a drink of his coke.  “She’s gonna be using a buncha big words you won’t understand…”  


Julie chuckled at their exchange and shook her head, “It’s fun. Or at least, I think it is. I was always interested in plants, and kept my own little garden when I was growing up. Plus, I get to research the various medicinal properties of a lot of different plants, and try to improve the lives of others. Not to mention there’s this really cute guy in my office.” She stole a glance over at her husband and winked.


“Oh, barf,” Elise said. “I know you two are getting it on, but that’s my dad. I don’t need to know all that.”


“Awwww!”  Francine smiled between her aunt and uncle.  “So you guys work in the same office?”

“How d’you guys get ‘ny work done?”  Doug laughed and sat back, turning to glance at Francine.  “I don’t know what I’d do if we worked together.”  


“...”  Francine raised an eyebrow and cocked her head to her boyfriend.  “We [i]do[/i] work together, Doug.”

“You know what I mean.  Like, together together.  Like if we was both doing the same thing.”  


“Oh yeah, I don’t know if I could get anything done if your sexy butt was up on stage.”  The squirrel said with a sly smile, making the dog turn his face away slightly.  


“Oh shush.”  He mumbled as he took a drink of his coke.






[center]----------------------------------------------[/center]






After dinner, the adults in the family sat around the firepit, talking, relaxing and drinking beers. Ethan had gone home to take care of his daughter, and Elise adjourned to the living room to play her video games. “So, Sprite, how long are you in town for?” Daniel asked.


“We need to leave Sunday night or Monday morning.  I have class in the afternoon and we both have work in the evening.”  Francine said, sitting on Doug’s crossed legs, wearing his arms across her shoulders like a seatbelt. 


“I don’t think I ever asked what you’re studying, Francine,” Laura said as she set her margarita down.


Francine giggled and sat back against Doug’s chest, eying Laura’s margarita.  “I’m studying nursing.  Well, I [i]will[/i] be studying nursing next year.  I had to take a semester and some summer classes down to take care of the high school I didn’t do so great on.”  


“That’s very admirable, dear,” her aunt said with a smile. “I’m proud of your for continuing your education. You’re a bright young lady, and it seems like you have a good man to support you.”


“How did you two meet, anyway?” Claire chimed in, though she was forced to settle for an Arnold Palmer to drink.


Francine blushed and turned to look at the fire, the fur on her tail puffing up.  “Umm… that’s… a [i]really[/i] long story.”


Doug chuckled and patted Francine’s stomach.  “Yeah, how did we two meet?”  He scooted back and picked her up off of his lap and put her down on the ground.  “I’m gonna get a drink, sweetie, want something?”

“Oh God, yes please.”  She replied quickly.


“If you don’t feel comfortable talking about it, that’s fine,” the younger girl said. “But if it makes you feel any better, I caught Ethan looking down on my volleyball team through the skylight in the gym. I about kicked his ass for being a spying perv, until he showed me the drawings he had been doing up there. It turns out all the noise we were making broke his concentration.”


Daniel muttered under his breath, “Cute girls in tight shorts. I think his concentration just shifted elsewhere.”


“Hush,” Laura said with a glare at her husband. “Ethan’s a fine boy, he just comes from an unfortunate set of circumstances. You weren’t always such a gem yourself, you know.”


“Well…”  Francine looked around, feeling a little more at ease.  

“Hey Daniel, you need another beer?  Lemme save you a trip.”  Doug asked as he walked towards the house.  


“Make it two,” the older squirrel said. “I don’t plan on getting up for awhile. Thanks.” As if to emphasize his point, he kicked off his sandals and propped his footpaws up on an ottoman. Looking over at his wife, he said, “They don’t need to know all that.”


“Yeah, I know,” she said with a smile, her mind going down memory lane. “I just wanted to remind you that you were actually older than Ethan by the time you settled down.” 


“Well... I’d already been working for like, six months.  We had a bouncer when I started working there, but about a month after I started he had a heart attack in his car.  So for like, three or four months we were trying out different people on the door, on and off.  They were always on drugs or drunk or trying to feel up the girls or whatever, so they usually got sent on their way quick.  Well, one afternoon when we were getting ready for open-”


“I’m back!” Doug exclaimed, two beers in each hand, handing two of them to Daniel before moving back in behind Francine.  

“-this mangy pup shows up.” Francine pointed over her shoulder at Doug, letting him playfully nip at her thumb.  “He looks like he hasn’t eaten in a month, none of his clothes fit him, and his face turns bright red every time he sees one of us girls.  The most pitiful little thing you ever did see-”  She reached back with both hands and grabbed his muzzle, shaking his face.  


“Douglas,” Laura said, placing a paw over his. “Were you… homeless?”


“Laura,” her husband warned, as if to say ‘none of your business.’


“Yeah.  Not really a secret, Uncle Dan but I appreciate the concern.”  He turned his hand over and gave Laura’s a squeeze, trying to comfort her more than anything else.  


Doug shook Francine’s hands off of his face and handed her her beer as she continued.  “So, yeah, he has references from a motorcycle shop and some little karate place in the middle of podunk nowhere saying he’s a good worker and he’s in good shape and he knows how to fight and so on and so forth.  He wasn’t as big an intimidating as the other guys were, but the boss was impressed by his references, so he gave him a shot.”  

“Even gave me half of my paycheck up front so I could buy some clothes and pay the rental on my bike.”  He said, nodding and holding up his beer.  


“Oh yeah and he rode up on this old dirt bike that’d been turned into a street bike, too. Spit smoke like a coal train.”  She took a sip of her beer, shuddering slightly from the taste.


“Well, young man, I commend you for taking the steps to raise yourself up and out of where you were, and not giving up hope,” Francine’s aunt said with a warm smile. “Stories of triumph are always so uplifting. Kind of like finding out our little Francine is back from the dead.”


Francine giggled and looked up at Doug.  “I guess that’s the whole story, right?”  


Doug blushed lightly and turned his head to take a swig of his beer.  “Yeah.  Sounds like it to me.”  


“So, what are your plans for the rest of your time in town?” Daniel asked.”I’ve got the weekend off, and so does your aunt.”


“I just have brunch with Vicky in the morning, but I’m otherwise free,” the older woman said.


“Hmmm…” Francine tapped the neck of her beer with her thumbclaw as she thought.  “I don’t think we’ve made any concrete plans.  What do you think Claire?”  She looked across the fire at her little cousin before taking another drink.  


“What do you guys think? Should we make a day trip and go down to Cape Cod, like when we were younger?” the teen girl suggested. “I bet it’s been forever since Frankie had the chance to go.”


“That could work,” Daniel said. “We haven’t been since before Julia graduated college.”


“You know what?” Laura said, pulling her phone out. “I can see Vicky any time. This is my first time seeing my niece in ages.” She tapped out a quick message and said, “There. Brunch cancelled. She’ll just probably make me pay next time.”


“Aw, now, you guys don’t have to do that!” Francine interjected.  “We didn’t bring anything for the beach, anyway.”  She tried to talk them down, not wanting to make everyone go to such trouble.  

“What’s at Cape Cod?”  Doug asked, looking around curiously.  


“It’s about 2 and a half hours south of here, in Massachusetts,” Daniel answered. “When these girl were younger we used to take trips down there all the time. Beautiful beaches, good shopping, and delicious seafood.”


“It sounds good to me, hon.”  Doug nuzzled into the top of Francine’s head and started to pet her stomach again.  “Why don’t we go?  We can go grab a pair of trunks and a bikini when we get there, huh?”  


Francine murred and rubbed her head up against Doug’s nuzzling muzzle.   “Okay… OOOH!  Maybe we’ll get you to try on a speedo!”   She smacked Doug’s hand excitedly, her tail whipping off to one side.


“Frankie,” her aunt Laura said, “I don’t think the retirees or parents of young children would appreciate that. No offense, Douglas.”


Francine giggled and roughed Doug’s face again, making his slight jowls juggle against his cheeks.  “If the weather in Cape Cod is like it is here, I don’t think he’ll be showing anything through it.  He’s a little summer pup.”  She teased, reaching up to kiss Doug’s chin.  “Besides, it’s funny to see old people get all blushy!”  


“You’d better clarify what you mean by ‘old people,’ young lady,” her uncle laughed. “I’m more than twice your age!”




“You know what I mean~”  She said cutely before sticking her tongue out at her uncle.  “Besides, who’s business is it what we wear?  They don’t like it, they can not look at us.”  She smiled and patted Doug’s thigh.  “What do you think?”

“I think It’s been a month since I saw you in a bikini, so…”  Doug turned to Francine’s uncle and shrugged apologetically.  “I’m on her side on this one, sorry uncle Dan.”


“Whattaya think, Hun? Should we just hit the flea markets instead?” the older gray squirrel asked.


“OOoooh Frankie!”  Doug squeezed Francine excitedly, his tail wagging behind him.  “It’d be like antiques roadshow!”  

Claire giggled at the dog’s antics. “You guys have fun with that,” she said. “I think I’ll sleep in, then work out for a bit. They usually get started at around six AM.”


“Sounds good to me.”  Francine replied, nuzzling up under her dog’s chin.  “We better get to bed, then.”  

“Can we get washed up first?  It’s been a long day.”  Doug scooted back and placed Francine off of his lap.


Francine jumped up with him, turning up her beer to chug what little of it was left.  “Mmmph~  Let me get mine first, sweetie?”  


“Oh, sure, hun.”  Doug stepped back and waved the way through for Francine, the squirrel bowing on her way past as she bounced on into the house.






[center]-----------------------------------------------[/center]






“So,” Claire asked as she laid back in her bed, holding her feet completely still and watching intently as Frankie carefully applied a fresh coating of polish to her claws, “What really happened to make your mother lie to us about your death? That is, if you don’t mind my asking.”


“Um…  What lie did they tell?”  Francine asked after a short pause.


“That you must have snuck out one night while at Grandpa’s lake house, and drowned,” the younger squirrel explained. “They said it was a small service, only a few of your closest relatives attended, and we’re told it was closed casket. Something about the wounds being too fresh and your mom not being ready to face the family. Francine, my mom and I went and visited once - I saw your tombstone.”


Francine  sighed and shook her head.  “Okay, so… how close were you to grampa?”  


“Not very,” Claire shrugged. “I’ve met him a time or two, but that’s it. I know he and mom don’t really get along that well, but I never knew why.”


“That’s good… he…”  She sighed again as her ears twitched anxiously.  “He touched me.  I did what the teachers told me to do and told mom and dad and… They…”  She choked a little, trying to hold back a sob.


“Shh,” Claire said, carefully shifting on the bed to avoid staining the bedding with the polish. She pulled her cousin into a comforting hug and gently stroked her hair. “It’s okay, you did the right thing. It’s not your fault that they betrayed you.”


“They wanted me to let him… They said he was old and he would pass away soon, and we needed to be on his good side.  I was their ticket to getting his property and the biggest hunk of inheritance.”  She went on, pausing every so often to catch her breath.  


“We have to tell my parents,” Claire said, starting to pull Francine by the paw.


“They already know… It was one of the first things they asked me when they finally got me alone.”  She wrapped both of her paws around Claire’s, squeezing them tightly.


“Okay… Wow…” the younger girl said, growing quiet as she processed the information. Sensing the growing discomfort in the room, she shook her head slightly and smiled. “You know what, they’ll do what’s best from here, I’m sure of it. So how about we talk about something else? Like… What’s it like working with Doug? I mean, he has naked girls all around him, and you must have guys hitting on you all the time.”


Francine smiled and scooted back, pulling her cousin’s feet back into her lap to continue painting.  “Well… It’s…”  She dipped the brush back into it’s bottle and cocked her head back, looking up at the ceiling as she thought.  “It’s kind of weird, right?  Like, he was homeless when he first showed up and after a while the girls started letting him couch-surf, you know?”  She pulled the loaded brush out and cleaned it on the rim of the bottle before going back to painting Claire’s claws.  “He was really bashful and cute and naive and, well, he is a man, so… They had a lot of easy fun with him.”  She giggled again and hissed, quickly licking her fingers and pinching a drop of polish out of Claire’s fur, quickly before it stained or stuck.  “Actually, since we got together and started… You know?  There’s only two girls in the club that he hasn’t, umm… been with.  And one of them’s as cracked out as a broken mirror.”


“And that isn’t weird? You both being around girls he’s played around with?” Claire asked. “I know with Ethan and I, it was kind of awkward being around Shy and Wendy after we all split up.”


“Well, like I was saying.  When he started getting interested in me he, like… He quit letting them put him up, for one thing.  Which, it sucked because paying for hotels made saving up for an apartment WAY slower, but he didn’t want me to think he was still messing around.  And he started taking me out on real dates.”  Francine leaned back, looking over her little cousin’s finished, colorful toes.  “Perfect!”  She giggled and leaned back, putting the lid back on the paint.  “And for like… 3 or 4 months?  He didn’t do anything with anybody.  I mean, those girls are loose, but they wouldn’t lie to me.”  She stuck out her feet and wiggled her toes at her cousin.  “Do me?”


“Let’s see,” the younger squirrel said as she looked through her assortment of polishes, “how about… this one?” She produced a bottle of deep purple polish with silver metallic flecks. “I bet this one would really go with your fur. Do you have anything to wear with it?”


“Ooooh~”  Francine beamed at the sparkly polish.  “I like it!  And I have Camo.  Everything goes with Camo[e].”  She stuck her feet up in Claire’s lap and leaned back on her elbows.  “So, yeah, like, when we finally became a steady thing he’d really proved he was serious.  And we’re both jealous as all get-out.  I mean, if you think he gets mean over guys touching the girls?  Think how mad he gets when it’s me!”  She laughed as her tail laid over her stomach.  
 
“I’ll bet! There was this girl at my school, Josie. She was the captain of our volleyball team, while I was the co-captain, and she was dating the quarterback,” Claire explained. “Anyway, Ethan made it onto the football team, and started showing up Sean, her boyfriend. She dropped that poor boy without a second thought and tried to steal Ethan away from me. I was ready to rip her hair out, but he talked me down from doing anything. She ended up just vanishing a few weeks later, and no one knows what happened to her. I’m thankful now that I didn’t get into any fights with her. I can’t imagine how that would have looked during the investigation.”


“OOooh, she better be glad you didn’t take your earrings off on her.”  Claire giggled, her whole upper body swaying, trying to make up for her desperate attempts to keep her toes still.  “Doug works days at a gym near the college, so he’s surrounded by sexy, in-shape women all day long.  And you know how girls who go to gyms are…”


“Not all of them, but I know what you mean,” the younger girl answered. “But yeah, I guess it all depends on your relationship. I trust Ethan around Shyara, even though they have a baby together. And he has to deal with guys staring at my butt in my tight shorts every game I play.”


“At least you get to wear pants!” She laughs, accidentally poking Claire’s belly with her wet toes, but not noticing.  “But I mean, like, I’ve heard that a couple of the girls that go to that gym are actual…”  She looked around to be sure no one was listening, and whispered as quietly as she could, “prostitutes!”


“Wouldn’t surprise me any,” the teen shrugged. “I can’t imagine them getting a ton of business if they’re obese. I mean, they probably visit the dentist and their doctor, too.” 


“That’s not the point!”  Francine exclaimed as the door opened, the skinny canine drying off his head as he stood in his boxes.  


“Hey, I’m finally out.  Did you get the sleeping situation cleared up with uncle Dan?”  Doug asked, his head and face still covered as he dried. 


“You can sleep in Jeremy’s old room,” Claire explained. “Mom’s already got it made up for you. Frankie will be in here with me, in Julia’s old bed.” She pointed to the bottom of her bed frame and added, “To save space, Dad built this pull-out bed and we got rid of the old one after she moved out.”


“So you couldn’t talk your dad into letting us share a room, then?”  Doug asked, sitting down beside Francine and rubbing her stomach as she laid back.  


“Considering they’re both twin mattresses, and how early you both need to wake up, it’s not a bad idea,” the younger girl said, “but you’re both adults, so you’re welcome to do what you want.”


“Well, yeah…” Doug said, squeezing Francine’s belly. 


“Hehe, as if I can’t put my puppy straight to sleep.” Francine said with a giggle.  


“Shush!”  Doug chuckled and patted her stomach.  “Your cousin-”


“-has put her own boyfriend to sleep in this very spot plenty of times,” Claire smiled. “You two go, share Jeremy’s bed. That way Frankie doesn’t wake me up at six.”


“Yes ma’am!”  Doug didn’t bother arguing, and smacked Francine’s belly with his towel.  “Let’s go!”  He jumped up and bounced out the door, his tail wagging with excitement.  


Francine sighed and giggled, looking up at Claire.  “Mind wiping the wet polish off of my nails?  Don’t wanna ruin the sheets.”  


“Hold on,” Claire said, walking across the hall to the bathroom and returning a moment later with her hair dryer. “I don’t want to accidentally wipe the polish away and leave a blank spot.” She plugged the dryer in and turned it on ‘Low,’ aiming it at her cousin’s toes.


“Thanks, sweetie.”  Francine smiled, wiggling her toes.  “So… right here, huh?”  


“Hmm?” she asked. “Oh, Ethan and I? Yeah. Don’t worry, my mom is OCD about cleaning the house. The sheets get washed regularly.”


“I wasn’t.  Just curious.”  Her tail twitched as she waited on her toes to dry.  “We’ll have to share stories sometime.”  


“Go,” Claire giggled. “We’ll talk tomorrow. If you don’t get up on time, mom will wake you up by vacuuming the room and making the bed with you still in it.”


Francine jumped up and straightened her tank top and shorts out.  “Thanks!  And we will!  Don’t worry!”  She waved as she bounced out of Claire’s room.  “Goodnight!”  


“Good night, Frankie,” Claire said. “Have fun tomorrow!”






[b][i]THE END[/i][/b]


________________


Chevrolet IROC-Z Camaro belongs to General Motors Corp.
Dodge Charger belongs to Chrystler… Ltd?  i think? (It's a Chrysler... I don't think cars get much more limited than that, lol)< opinions expressed in parentheticals reflect the opinions of @verbmymoun and not the @kemosabe
Armor-All belongs to Armor-All
Scooby-Doo belongs to Time-Warner Corp.
BMW750Li Sedan belongs to BMW
2012 Mercedes GL-Class Large SUV belongs to German Natzy bastards< Totally reflects the opinions of the @kemosabe
Little House on the Prairie belongs to Laura Ingalls Wilder
The Waltons and Spencer’s Mountain belong to Earl Hamner, Jr.
Ford Fusion belongs to Ford Motor Corp.
Doom belongs to Id software
Lou Ferrigno belongs to his estate, I guess?


SOUNDTRACK TO THIS STORY
Song-Album-Band
Guarded-Ten Thousand Fists-Disturbed
Walk You Do-Country Boy Paradise-The LACS
Country Livin’(Backroads Mix)-Prohibition-Moonshine Bandits(ft. Bubba Sparxxx) 
[a]any idea what i was trying to type here?
[b]the week prior to the first viewing of the house, the realtor checked and the property was in decent condition, not vandalized. The grass was still over grown and the paint faded, But no windows were broken.
[c]bottomless pit?
[d]No, he's saying that he couldn't stand to eat anymore.
[e]letting her redneck out