Fox and Luna came through the front door only a few hours later hands full of groceries. Both the adults headed straight for the kitchen to get to cooking a great first meal of the day. While Fox started heating pans and taking out ingredients, Luna in fact was putting those ingredients back into the fridge, freezer, and pantry. Fox got four pans and started to separate the ingredients for each individual pan. He didn't bother to wake everyone up just yet, not when there wasn't food ready to be eaten for surely tired yet hungry bellies.
"Luna, would you mind setting the table?" The two adults looked toward one another with a nice smile, as the wolf turned around finishing putting the last of the new groceries away.
"Okay sure." Luna volunteered for the job, however as she got to the table she just spaced on some pretty important info. She had no idea where anything was in Fox's home. She didn't know where the silverware was, where the cups, plates, and other utensils were. She didn't even know where to go to the bathroom.
"Here Luna." Fox walked over to the opposite side of the fridge to some cupboards, as he opened the doors on the top and pulled out the drawers on the bottom. "Plates and cups up there, silverware down here."
"Okay thanks Fox." The two looked toward one another again.
"Sure." After that it was pretty smooth sailing for the she-wolf. She had found out that napkins were already in the center of the table, so all that was left was to set out the actual places to sit.
"There's six of us in total right?"
"Yup, us two, my two kids, and Krystal and Katt."
"Okay sounds good." She went and began to set the table while the pans were getting hot, and Fox's time to do his job had come. He had multiple pans all going at the same time while Luna got out other things for the table to eat breakfast such as beverages. He had a pan solely for pancakes, a pan where he made specialized egg treats. One pan is where he cooked all the breakfast meats like bacon, sausage, and the like, and another pan was completely filled with hash browns cooking to a delicious golden brown.
Luna stopped for a moment and inhaled deeply to smell the vulpine's home cooking. "Wow Fox, it smells great."
"Well I've learned a lot about cooking since high school, you know when you suddenly don't have your mom to cook for you anymore."
"A pretty handy skill to know throughout life."
"What do you mostly eat? You know, being on the move so much."
"Honestly a lot of what I eat comes from boxes or is already partially prepared, it's not only cheaper but since I can't cook in a kitchen it's what I'm limited too."
"That doesn't sound like too much fun." Fox looked to her with a dismal kind of expression, one she held herself.
"No you're definitely right it's not fun. I'm excited about your cooking."
"Likewise." Fox smiled as the two looked to one another. Now that a lot of what he was cooking was about ready to be eaten, he quickly ran for the bottom of the staircase.
"Jamie! Mark! Everyone breakfast is ready!" Fox took a small break between his first household announcement up the stairs. "Jamie! Mark! Come down stairs, dad has a new friend for you to meet!
"Okay!" He heard Jamie respond as Fox went back to the kitchen. At this point Luna didn't really know what else she could do, so she went to go sit patiently near the head of the table where she figured Fox would sit. At the sound of his kids entering the kitchen Fox quickly turned around and motioned Luna to come to the three that stood near the entrance. His two kids looked to him as he presented the she-wolf, smiling nicely at the two her hands cupped at her waist.
"Jamie, Mark, this is Luna. She's an old friend of your dads when we went to school together. Jamie you may not remember, but Luna actually knew you pretty well."
"Hi, nice to…Meet you again I guess." Jamie felt kind of awkward as she extended her hand out to the she-wolf, Luna giving an amused chuckle as she took the younger girls and shook it gently.
"Likewise Jamie, it's so nice to see you all grown up after all these years."
"Mark, aren't you going to say hi to daddy's friend?" Fox and Luna looked to the kit as he in fact looked up to Luna. He held such a strange expression, he wasn't happy, excited, sad, or even nervous. He was just kind of blank, but that quickly changed as he gave an excited wave to the older adult.
"Hi!" To even Fox's surprise, he even looked to his kit in a strange way. Mark was normally so shy around women…Why was Luna different in the way he treated her?
"Hi Mark, it's nice to meet you. I'm an old friend of your dads, you look a lot like him."
"Thanks!"
"Alright kids go get yourself washed up and ready for breakfast, it will be ready any minute."
"Okay." Jamie gave as they were both considered excused. They were quickly up the stairs heading for the bathroom to brush their teeth and rinse their faces like every morning in this routine.
"Your kids are adorable Fox." Luna looked to the vulpine dad as he couldn't help but smile, being the proud father he was of his kids to hear any compliment brought great happiness to him. "You've taken quite good care of them and taught them well. I can just tell."
"Thanks Luna. I'll be honest it's been hard without having Fara here. Mark didn't even really know her before she passed away, but I try and bring them up the way I knew she would want me too."
"I know, things will turn around." She gave him a comforting hand on his shoulder as he only nodded in agreement, and went about cooking again. Before long the two kids came down as Luna helped them both to their seats. Figuring she couldn't do anymore and she didn't want to be rude and just flat out ignore the two kids, Luna offered to get the kids what they needed and helped make Mark his plate since his father was cooking and Katt hadn't come down yet.
"Do you kids need anything else?" Jamie and Mark both looked up to see Luna hovering over the two with a happy smile, wondering if she could do anything for the two kids while she was still up and they were eating.
"Can you get me some more milk please?"
"Sure thing Mark." Luna took the glass from the kit and placed it back down on the table, afterwards carefully pouring the milk in a slow current until it was nearly full. Luna eventually sat down and began to eat breakfast herself, as her taste buds sang eating this delicious meal Fox prepared for himself.
Katt didn't need to know who it was downstairs, she could hear the woman talking and laughing as she just grumbled and rolled her eyes.
"Great, another one. Where the hell is all of Fox's guy friends?" She asked to no one but herself as the feline put on an over shirt and headed down the stairs.
Krystal was doing the same thing as she just crawled out of bed, stretching her joints and yawning loudly, not caring that she was still in her nightgown as she headed down the stairs rubbing her tired eyes. She walked into the kitchen to be revealed to yet another surprise. Krystal and Luna looked toward one another as the wolf was just wiping her mouth clean.
"Krystal, how have you been?" She asked with a smile as Krystal smiled back to her old friend.
"Luna it's been so long. I've been great, where have you been all this time?"
"Traveling mostly. Been to a lot of interesting and unique places."
"So how was Titania?" Jamie interrupted as she wished to continue the conversation the two girls were having, with an upbeat attitude and a curious mind. "I've always been curious what's there. I've been learning a lot about it in my social studies class. How come no one ever goes there anymore?"
"Well Jamie the reason why is that it's because the planet's climate has changed drastically over a short period of time. Basically what happened as the climate changed the ancient civilizations couldn't survive in such a harsh climate. There are some indigenous beings there but you shouldn't go near them. They can be hostile, even on the dangerous side. But there is a lot of really interesting history there. Like tombs of ancient leaders and ancient battlegrounds and the remains of enormous cities."
"That sounds awesome!"
"I've been to a lot of places Jamie, but Titania was definitely one of the more interesting ones." Krystal didn't really pay much attention to the conversation after that. However something struck her as odd. The seat at the other end of the table across from Fox was empty…and there were three seats on the left all filled up. Luna sat closest to Fox with Mark right in the middle and Jamie at the end, however the two ladies just talked over the kits head when he was eating and not wanting to talk to Luna himself.
Part of Krystal's heart began to sank, she knew that Jamie cared for her in some degree. However with Luna's sudden arrival and her interesting background it seems as though Jamie was so easily captivated by the she-wolf, completely ignoring Krystal as she came into the room. Katt felt the exact same way, Mark didn't even bother to call out to the feline like he normally would because his eyes were just glued onto Luna. It didn't necessarily rub the she-wolf the wrong way, but she did take note and it was a little on the creepy side she had to admit.
While Krystal was a little saddened, Katt was just mostly irritated. Here she was hoping to get a nice, peaceful, pleasant weekend away with Fox and his family, only for his house to be filled with other women who had no business being here…At least business that Katt didn't see as being validated. She wasn't trying to be mean, and she certainly didn't hate her friends for being here either as luck or fortune brought them all together. She was just trying to defend what she wanted, as all three of them were. Well…At least just as Krystal was.
"Thank you." Krystal gave the vulpine dad as he handed her a plate filled with all sorts of breakfast delights.
"Sure thing, go take a seat with the others." Fox smiled as he went back to cooking. Krystal found herself sitting by Katt as there was no place left to sit by Jamie like she was originally assuming they would. The two women looked to the other with the same dismal look. Krystal didn't need her telepathy to know that Katt was thinking the exact same thoughts as she was. Luna looked like she was in perfect harmony with Fox's family, as the two kids were just glued to the she-wolf. Fascinated about her tales of traveling the system. However although she had a more interesting background than either of the two women, what she lacked was raw experience in being around Fox's kids. That's where Katt and Krystal each had an advantage, well at least half of an advantage.
No one was really talking about the breakfast table except for Luna, Jamie, and occasionally Mark as he asked questions. Fox found it very strange, Mark was normally so shy around other women but he was talking to Luna as if he was speaking to Katt with perfect comfort and harmony. Perhaps it was because he found her to be pleasing, or maybe it's because he was just getting older and not as shy anymore. Fox didn't know, but he didn't think it was some kind of coincidence either.
After everyone had finished their meals, Katt spoke to the father vulpine. "So what's the plan for today Fox?" He looked over toward his pink feline friend with a questioned look on his face.
"I don't know, I didn't really have any plans set in stone before you got her, and now we got an even fuller house so really we can do whatever everyone else is in the mood to do."
"Luna do you want to go play basketball?" Jamie got up from her seat as she quickly took her dishes to the sink.
"Sure Jamie, that sounds like fun."
"Can we dad?" Jamie looked toward her father as the two smiled.
"Sure why not?" Luna excused herself as she also cleared her spot on the table and put her dishes in the sink. The two ladies were quickly out the door heading for the court leaving the others behind. Fox cleared his and Mark's dishes as he talked to his boy heading to the sink.
"Mark are you going upstairs or do you want to play outside?"
"I wanna play outside." Mark gave as he headed for the outdoors as well. Before Fox followed him he looked to the two other women sitting at the table, now alone…
"Feel free to join us when you're done with breakfast."
"Okay." Is all Krystal said as Fox went out the door. Once he was gone the two looked toward one another with that same disgruntled look.
"I know Krystal."
"Yea." Is all the words they shared between the two. They didn't need to share anymore words to realize that this got even more complicated with Luna suddenly back in the picture. Katt didn't know if Luna was here out of sheer coincidence, or if she came to the McCloud household for a very particular reason. However Krystal held the true answer. She had already read the wolf's mind and this visit is more or less just that, a visit and nothing more. She saw the scene in the grocery store, and what Luna offered Fox. However she tried to not get upset about it, since it appears that Fox wasn't going to jump at the opportunity anyway.
After finishing their meals and clearing their plates, Katt followed Krystal outside to see the scene. Fox and Mark played together near the unlit fire pit as Mark always had a few toys out here to play with so he didn't have to retrieve them from upstairs. He had fallen down the stairs before when he was excited to play with a toy and ran up and down the stairs to go get it and bring it outside to play with. However what they were most interested in was the scene taking place on the basketball court.
Luna and Jamie were actually in the middle of a heated game. And the older adult was giving the pre-teen a run for her credits despite being the younger of the two and thus having more energy. However unlike Krystal or Katt, Luna was in much better shape that far exceeded your average standard. Katt and Krystal were not out of shape by any means, however Luna simply was in better shape due to all her hiking, walking, biking, and traveling.
The only rule in this game was that Luna wasn't supposed to jump when the ball bounced off the rim. So Jamie could try and get the ball first by jumping over the wolf's reach. While Jamie was breathing heavy, Luna gave her a face of determination.
"You can give up now if you want." Luna gave the younger girl an option, but she was raised to not back down from a challenge you know you can do if you give it your all. However before Jamie had a chance to give a response, Fox stepped in front of his daughter putting his arm in front of her body, and gave Luna a challenging smile.
"Don't worry Jamie I'll take it from here."
"Pffft. Bring it on old man." Luna laughed as she rolled her eyes.
"Old?" Fox gave her in a more sarcastic tone than angry. As he threw off his sweater revealing his upper body. However Luna did the same. She took off her own jacket to reveal a tight sports sleeveless tea. Fox took the ball first as he just dribbled it around his opponent, keeping eye contacts as he perfectly weaved the ball around his form, however a quick fake out took Luna by surprise as she tried to chase him down. However despite being 'old' Fox was able to dunk the ball with ease, hanging there as he gave a flared face to Luna, showing off again.
"Oh wow Fox so impressive." Luna gave back sarcastically faking optimism as Fox checked her the ball.
"Let's see you do better."
"You asked for it." Luna dribbled cautiously yet steady as well as the two looked toward one another with amused smiles. However to Fox's surprise Luna tried the very same tactic Fox used on her. Luna just charged toward the right side and jumped high into the air, higher than Fox or anyone else for that matter anticipated and dunked the ball herself. Which actually caused Fox to fall onto his backside onto the rough, black pavement.
"What's the matter Fox? Don't like the view from Loserville?" Luna teased the vulpine as he was just as surprised. Hell they were all surprised as Katt and Krystal's mouths hung wide open.
"The view wasn't so bad, though why don't you just tell me yourself when you get there." He shook it off as he took the ball from his opponent.
"You're funny, next one wins?" She still just hung from the rim and let go to help him back up.
"Sure because it will be the last."
"Big talk for someone whose about to lose." Luna took a stance ready for whatever he had next for her.
"Let's see how old I really am." The two were now driven to prove the other wrong. Fox was done playing games despite still smirking. He was about to end this game with one shot. At first he was just calmly dribbling in place waiting for her to slip up. However he quickly dribbled toward the opposite side from before, and shot from the three point line. Luna however just nicked the ball with her hand, causing it to lose momentum and utterly miss as she went to go recover it. Now they traded spots as it was match point with Luna in control.
"You're breathing pretty heavily there you old coot."
"I'll show you how we do it in this century."
"You're going to regret that. Watch Jamie I'm about to embarrass your dad!" Luna called out to the kit as she winked and turned her attention back to the game. She used the same tactic as Fox, dribbling in place skillfully weaving it between her legs just waiting for him to mess up. However once she realized he wasn't going to Luna decided to try a new tactic. She bounced the ball hard over his head to completely dodge having to deal with him all together as she went to recover the ball.
It was as simple as Luna jumping up into the air at the height of the ball to carry it threw into the hoop again. Another dunk over Fox as he just gave her a playful smile with a hint of disappointment and embarrassment. Just like that the game was over and Luna proved who the old one was for now.
"Oh my God." Katt just said aloud to Krystal right next to her.
"I know…I need to get in shape."
"Don't be so hard on yourself Fox. However I am rather curious how Loserville looks from that view." She smiled as Luna went to go retrieve her jacket. However as she stood back up straight and turned around she saw Jamie's excited face staring at her.
"That was amazing!" The young girl's mind had officially been blown, next to Luna's embarrassment yet humble attitude.
"Oh thanks Jamie, it wasn't anything to over the top…Even though I did literally go over the top of your dad."
"Oh you're funny." Fox called out to his friend as he put back on his sweater.
"It was just so cool I have never even seen a woman dunk the ball before!"
"It's actually pretty hard to do Jamie. I've just practiced it so much I've gotten used to it, that and I'm pretty tall for a woman compared to the average height for a woman my age."
"You are really tall, that's so cool!"
"Well thank you Jamie." Luna gave her a genuine smile as she didn't really know what else to say. She was happy she was getting along with Fox's kids. She was going to be here an entire week or longer until the reunion was over, so the sooner they all got along the better Luna thought. Luna looked back to her dad with the same kind of smile.
"Well that was fun. Thanks for the warm up Fox but I guess we're done with basketball for now. Got anything else planned?"
"Not really." Fox gave her casually. "But we have the whole day in front of us. We can go shopping, sightseeing, something that the kids may wanna do. Whatever is fine if we all agree on it.
"I guess it's really up to the kids, I'm up for whatever really. That or what Katt and Krystal want to do." Luna looked at the two other woman only for them both to be spacing out on their own. They were both just thinking about whether or not they would each get time to talk to Fox. They were still thinking separately and against one another, however with Luna here now it made things a bit more difficult than it already was.
"Can we play now?" Mark ran up to Luna's side as she looked down to the kit and sat on her knees.
"Okay Mark."
"Yay!" Mark ran to the deck of the backyard where Luna followed him to gather some toys to play with. However Fox rolled his neck as he looked to his daughter.
"Jamie since Luna is here now I'm going to install that bed I got for Mark a while ago. If you need me that's where I'll be."
"Okay dad." The two nodded to one another as Fox walked back into the house, however he had to go through the two women first.
"Excuse me." Fox gave as the two moved without saying a word. Krystal went inside to get ready and dressed for the day, however Katt couldn't help but see Luna play with Mark as a bit of jealousy stung her in the heart. Now with Luna here, it made things that much more complicated.
Katt didn't know what she was going to do, or what she even wanted to do at this point. All the feline knew is that she wanted, no needed to talk to Fox as soon as she could.
Playtime was over.
