Chapter 7
Dinner with Tim and the Pack
"Jerry, are you- Oh, Sam. When did you get here?" Tim asked.
"Um, not that long ago. I brought the pack to meet you." I told him.
"Hi." Alex waved.
"I'm Clover." Clover said.
"It's nice to meet you. I'm Britney." Britney smiled.
"It's nice to meet you too. I didn't think I'd see you again so soon, Sam." He said.
"Did you get dinner?" Jerry asked.
"Yes, the lady messed up the order so I have four burgers instead of two. Plus the fries and chicken nuggets, it's more than normal." He told him.
"What's a chicken nugget?" Alex asked.
"I didn't realize it was so late. We should get going." I turned.
"Wait, Sam, I got you something." Tim said.
He gave me a bag. There was something heavy inside. I opened it. It was a brush, a loop of metal with teeth.
"It's for your fur." He said.
"Ooo." Clover leaned closer.
"Lemme touch." Alex whined.
"MINE!" I barked.
"Sammie's being mean!" Alex complained.
"It's her first gift." Britney told her.
Jerry looked at Tim, eyebrow raised. Tim turned and looked at us. "Stay for dinner, we have enough."
We went to the kitchen. The girls looked at room in awe. Tim put the food down. It smelled like meat and something else. My stomach rumbled. It looked good. Jerry set the table. Tim split up the meal and then we sat down. We got a half sandwich thingy, thin sticks and some cut up chucks of breaded meat.
"There're some vegetables on top of the burger. Just pick off what you don't like." Tim explained.
We nodded. I took off the onion and weird green things. I nibbled one. They were tart and sour. Once we got our burgers to our liking, we began to eat. The burger was good. The sticks were fluffy and salty.
"This stuff is good." Alex chewed her burger.
"What's this made of?" Britney asked, holding up a stick.
"That's a French fry. It's made from potato." Jerry answered.
"We try not to eat fast food too often. It's greasy." Tim commented.
"I see." I nodded.
"This is very filling." Clover said.
"Oh, how's the nuggets, Sam? I forgot I ordered the spicy ones." Tim asked.
"It's fine. It's not as bad as the yellow sauce." I said.
"Yellow sauce?" Alex asked.
"Oh, I made curry, did she not tell you?" He looked at her.
"She just said you made some sauce and put her chicken in it." She said.
"How was your day, Tim?" I asked him.
"It was good. I finally finished the project I was working on. Designing a water tester." He explained.
"What about you, girls?" Jerry asked.
Everyone started talking over each other excitedly. Tim and Jerry were surprised at the response. I got them to slow down. Clover took a breath.
"We're being courted!" She smiled.
"Ah, I see." Jerry nodded.
"I got a toy duck! I named him Quacky." Alex told them.
"How many presents do you get while being courted?" Tim asked.
Britney explained that it started with small gifts like food or trinkets. Then after the first few were accepted, the males were allowed onto the territory. They would talk with their intended mate. Typically over the course of several weeks, the further it went, the more serious it was. The males would bring larger gifts now. Clothes, jewelry, stuff like that. Rejection was unlikely after this point, but it still happened. Once they were ready to mate, the male would bring scent marked blankets and they would build a new nest together.
Clover couldn't hold it in anymore and gushed about Blaine. Britney and Alex started retelling their gift stories as well. Jerry smiled, amused. Tim was quiet. I wondered what he was thinking. We chatted and finished up dinner. Jerry and Tim led us to the door. We said goodbye. Jerry hugged us all and told us to be safe. We promised we would. Then we went home to sleep.
The green things on burger were pickles.