A big crowd of students stood in the path between the school and the hill leading up to it, waiting to be picked up by their families for Winter Break.

The crowd shrank as vehicles arrived and students got in after hugging their family members.

Lee, Ibuki, Esther, and Olivia stood together in the same spot. All four of them were waiting for the same vehicle, as their families were all spending the holidays at Louis's penthouse.

All four of them looked incredibly nervous. Lee and Ibuki knew that their parents were aware of their relationship. But what will the holidays be like with them as an official couple?

Esther and Olivia looked more so, as their own parents were unaware of their relationship.

All of the other students stared and whispered as a long, black limousine pulled up the hill and stopped in front of the four friends.

The door opened and Jolene was inside. She smiled. "Ready to go?"

Ibuki nodded, Jolene got in the back of the limo, and everyone else got in.

The deer-wolf was no stranger to riding in a limo, but Esther and Olivia looked fascinated. Lee had ridden in them a few times as they'd take him and his family to the penthouse on occasion.

Esther immediately looked in the cooler.

Jolene rolled her eyes. "We don't have liquor in here."

The tiger pouted and sat down, her girlfriend giggled and sat next to her. The two boys took a seat on the side.

Jolene looked a little worried. "I haven't spoken with Legosi-san and Haru-san in a long time. I'm not sure what they'll think of me being a woman now."

Lee chuckled. "I told them about you, actually. Mom asked Dad if he knew what a trans person is and he asked if they transport things."

The sheep snorted and gave a loud cackle, and everyone else followed suit.

Jolene wiped her tears of laughter away as she calmed down. She took a deep breath and her chuckling subsided. "So what did he say after you explained it to him?"

Lee smiled. "He was confused by the concept but accepted it."

The sheep looked reassured. "I figured that'd be the case. He seemed like a really accepting person for the short time I've known him."

Esther shrugged. "He won't let me fight Lee-kun though 'cause I'm a girl."

Olivia rolled her eyes. "You shouldn't be fighting with anyoneanyway."

The tiger smiled and snapped her fingers as an idea hit her. "What if I told Legosi-san I'm a trans dude?"

Jolene scoffed. "Don't pretendto be trans. It's hard enough getting people to take us seriously as is."

Esther opened her mouth to speak but the sheep interrupted. "Do you know what it's like to have security drag you out of the restroom? Have you had politicians suggest that people should pepper spray you for going in there?!"

Olivia held up her hands. "Jo-chan! Please calm down! Esther doesn't always think before she talks."

The tiger scratched the back of her head and gave the sheep an apologetic look. "I-I'm sorry, Jo-chan."

Jolene sighed. "No. I overreacted. It's just something I'm passionate about."

Lee nodded. "I bet. God knows how many Merediths are out there."

The sheep gave a wry smile. "Let's not talk about that. It's Rex-mas season. We should put that aside for now."

Ibuki gave Jolene a stern glare. "Moreover, Jo-chan, I know you've gotten comfortable speaking to the students casually and giving them orders, but you're still a professional. Do notsnap at my guests again. Am I clear?"

Jolene looked ashamed and bowed her head towards him. "My apologies, Ibuki-sama."

Lee looked at Ibuki with concern. "You don't reallyneed to scold her like that, do you?"

The sheep shook her head. "Ibuki-sama treats me as a friend, but he's still my boss. It's his right to inform me when I'm out of line."

Ibuki nodded. "It's just the nature of our relationship." He smiled and turned to Jolene. "She's still great at her job. That passive-aggressive wit is very helpful when dealing with our more... stubborn'associates'."

Jolene smiled. "Louis-sama insists I be more 'assertive' with 'imbecile shareholders' that get on his nerves."

The deer-wolf chuckled. "Remember that reindeer that started screaming at the top of his lungs?"

The sheep snorted. "Yeah, I told 'em to pay for better fake antlers and he got somad."

The two laughed loudly, but everyone else in the car didn't seem to get it.

After a short drive through the city, they found themselves outside a huge skyscraper. Every one of them had been here before. But it never failed to impress Lee, Olivia, and Esther.

Jolene motioned towards the entrance. "Shall we get going?"

Lee stood in the elevator heading up to the penthouse. The door opened and the group stepped into an incredibly spacious and lavish room. It had a very modernist design that used plenty of silver and the room was perfectly symmetrical with stairs leading up to entertainment areas. Right in the middle was a fireplace with a long table in front of it.

As soon as they entered, the first people they saw were Legosi and Louis, who were conversing. Legosi's arm was in a purple sling.

Louis turned to his son and smiled. "Good to see you, Ibuki-kun."

Ibuki grinned and his tail wagged as he ran up to his father and tightly hugged him. However, he blushed and backed away a bit, looking embarrassed, but his tail still wagged.

Legosi and Lee also wagged their tails as they ran up and embraced each other.

The grey wolf grinned. "I've missed you so badly."

Lee nodded. "I'm happy I get to be here, Dad."

From the recreational area on the left side, Juno and Haru came running down the stairs with big smiles.

The two mothers embraced their sons.

Juno and Ibuki wagged their tails in perfect unison.

Louis looked at his phone. "The rest of the guests should be here within the hour, assuming Bill-kun didn't get lost again."

Esther gave an exasperated sigh, which made Olivia giggle.

Legosi smiled at the two girls. "It's nice to see you girls too."

Haru had to look up to make eye contact with Esther. She whistled. "You're taller every time I see you, Esther-chan."

Esther grinned. "I'm a growin' girl, what can I say?"

Haru turned her attention to Olivia. "And you're looking more lovely than ever, Liv-chan."

Olivia blushed and looked away. "Th-thank you, Haru-san…"

Legosi looked down at Jolene curiously. He squinted at her before a look of realization crossed his face. "Are you…?"

Jolene smiled. "It's been such a long time, Legosi-san."

The wolf blinked. "You're Joel-kun- Err… I mean… Jolene-chan."

The sheep chuckled. "You can call me Jo-chan. Everyone else does."

Louis looked curious, then something hit him. "Oh, that's right. You didsay something about knowing Legosi-kun and Haru-chan once."

Jolene nodded. "I was just a child when I knew him. But Mom had us move away when my father passed." She looked sad. "I apologize for not keeping in contact with you two. If I wasn't so busy, maybe I could have spoken with you when you were visiting Louis-sama's penthouse."

Legosi shook his head. "It's not your fault. I'm glad you've found so much success though."

Haru gave Jolene a warm smile. "You've grown into a beautiful young lady, Jo-chan."

Jolene looked taken aback. Then, her eyes started to tear up as she smiled back. "Th-thank you, Haru-san." She chuckled as she wiped the tears away. "Oh, God. Look at me, crying in front of the guests."

Legosi chuckled as well. "Don't worry about that." He smiled. "You look so much like your mother."

Juno smiled. "Well, let's not stand around. Let's go talk over at the dinner table. The cooks are preparing something special for tonight."

Lee smiled as he and his friends followed Juno. Finally, a little bit of normalcy in his life.

Juno scoffed. "Goodness. I know it's called the 'Drama Club' but wow. That school's lost its mind."

A weary-looking Lee nodded. "Honestly, I'm just friggin' numb at this point."

Louis gave the kids a concerned look. "You guys have gone through some true insanity. I'm starting to regret enrolling you."

Haru turned her attention to Olivia. "Oh! I just remembered! You're in charge of the Gardening Club, aren't you, Liv-chan? How's that going?"

Liv jumped and started to sweat. "It's uhh… it's… well…"

Ding!

The elevator doors opened and two canines walked in. A male golden labrador retriever and a female, bespectacled black labrador retriever that looked just like an adult version of Olivia.

Olivia jumped up. "Mom! Dad!"

The lab ran over to her father and hugged him tightly.

Jack smiled and hugged back. "I'm so glad to see you again, Olive."

The female black lab smiled as well. "I hope you've been keeping your grades up."

Olivia nodded. "Straight A's as usual, Mom!"

The adult black lab's tail wagged. "That'smy daughter!"

Legosi looked over to Jolene. "This is Jack. He's my childhood friend. The woman with him is his wife, Elise-chan."

Jolene stood up and bowed to them. "I'm Jolene, but you can call me Jo-chan. I'm happy to meet you two. I've heard wonderful things about you from Olivia-chan."

The two bowed back.

Elise's eyes were drawn to Esther. She gave her a disapproving look and adjusted her glasses. "Long time, no see, Esther-chan."

Esther gulped. "H-hi, Elise-san."

Olivia looked incredibly nervous.

Ding!

The elevator doors opened again and two tigers walked out.

Esther jumped up from her chair and grinned as she sprinted over to them and hugged her father. "Hey, Pops!"

Bill held back tears as he tightly hugged her. "I-I've missed you so much, Esther…"

The female, adult tiger hugged them as well. "I'm so happy to see you, Esther."

Louis motioned to Bill. "That's Bill-kun. He's a former member of the Drama Club. And of course, that's his lovely wife, Sarah-chan."

Jolene bowed. "I'm Jolene. I work for Louis-sama and used to be Legosi-san's neighbor."

Bill chuckled. "You were Legosi-kun's neighbor in that shitty condo? Those walls were paper-thin. Did you ever hear them fu-"

Legosi barked. "Bill!"

The tiger jumped and laughed nervously. "N-nevermind…"

Ding!

The elevator opened again and in came a middle-aged female sheep.

Jolene smiled and ran towards the female sheep, while the latter did the same. They hugged tightly and laughed.

The younger sheep beamed happily. "It's been waytoo long, Mom!"

The older sheep kissed her daughter's cheek. "I've missed you too, Jojo."

Jolene blushed and pushed her mother away. "I-I told you not to call me that in front of my boss!"

Legosi chuckled. "I haven't seen you in forever, Sebun-san. I forgot you called him-" The wolf caught himself. "I mean called herthat."

Sebun waved. "It's great to see you again, Legosi-kun." She smirked at her daughter. "Okay, you gotta tell me. How many times did he mess-up your pronouns?"

Jolene giggled. "Only once so far."

Legosi blushed as Haru covered her mouth and suppressed a laugh.

The younger sheep gave the wolf a reassuring look. "It's okay, Legosi-san. I understand you're not used to it yet."

Bill looked a little confused. "Huh? Pronouns? What?"

Jolene cleared her throat. "I have gender dysphoria. Basically, I had the body of a male and the mind of a female. I had a sex change operation to fix it."

Sebun wrapped an arm around Jolene's shoulder and grinned at Louis. "And it's thanks to Louis-san over there for giving my baby girl such a lucrative job!"

Jolene blushed. "M-Mom…"

Louis smiled. "I'm lucky to have someone like Jo-chan in my employ. You've raised a wonderful daughter."

The younger sheep's face turned red with embarrassment.

Sebun had a look of realization. "Ah. Sorry, I forgot to introduce myself." She bowed toward Esther and Olivia's family. "I'm Sebun. I used to be Legosi-kun's neighbor." She looked a bit sad. "I had to move away after I lost my husband to a hungry leopard. I decided that raising Jojo in the city was just too dangerous." She looked at Legosi. "I'm sorry about just leaving like that, Legosi-kun."

The wolf nodded. "Don't worry about that Sebun-san. We moved out too not long after you did. We didn't want to raise Leethere either."

Sebun turned towards Lee. "Oh. Lee-kun! I haven't seen you since you were in diapers. How have you been?"

Lee smiled. "I've been doing alright. I've been going to Cherryton and joined the Drama Club."

Haru motioned towards Ibuki. "Andhe found himself a boyfriend there."

Lee blushed and started to fidget nervously. Ibuki blushed as well and looked away.

Bill looked stunned. "Wait! Lee-kun and Ibuki-kun are dating?!"

Jack raised an eyebrow at the tiger. "Do you check your BeastBook at all? Juno-chan and Haru-chan have been posting about it non-stop."

Lee and Ibuki blushed and stuttered in unison. "M-Mom!"

Juno giggled. "How can I not tell my friends about my son's first love?"

Haru chuckled. "C'mon, it's not a big deal, Lee. Everybody thinks you're probably a great couple."

Both chimeras hid their faces in embarrassment.

Double doors under the left side stairs burst open and out came a variety of butlers and maids, all carrying trays of food and placing them on the table.

Louis motioned to the huge feast. "We can continue our conversation after we eat. Enjoy."