Beastly Roommates Ch. 03: Her Father

"So, you nervous about seeing David's old neighbors tonight?" She asked.

"To be honest, yes. We're planning on telling them about us, and I'm concerned about how they'll react."

"That's understandable. I'd say just follow David's lead."

"That's what I intend on doing."

A moment later Alice skittered to our table with our drinks.

"Hello," she greeted, though it was a bit less cheerfully than normal. She took our orders, then headed back to the kitchen.

"Is it just me, or does she seem a bit down?" Asked Sara.

"I noticed it too."

"I wonder what's up."

"I don't know." Figuring there wasn't much I could do about it I changed the subject. "Did you know that the anniversary of David moving is only a couple weeks away?"

"What? Already!?" Exclaimed Sara with a laugh. "Man, time flies! So, are you two doing anything for it?"

"David wants to take me out for a nice dinner."

"That sounds great!"

"Yes..." I said hesitantly.

"Oh, come on, what's the problem!?" She said, rolling her eyes.

"No real problem, but I am rather nervous about going somewhere like that with such a high profile."

"That makes sense, but I'm sure it'll be fine."

"I think so too..." Sara eyed me curiously.

"There's something else, isn't there."

"It's a very nice place, and I don't have anything to wear to somewhere so upscale," I confessed and Sara's eyes gleamed.

"Don't even worry about that! Make sure to take the day off and we're gonna have a girls day out! I'll make sure you'll blow David's mind!" I chuckled.

"I would appreciate that. Thank you."

"That's what girlfriends are for!" She exclaimed with a wide grin. A moment later Alice came back with our order. Weirdly enough, she initially placed my salad in front of Sara, and Sara's soup in front of me. She was normally more attentive than that!

"Oops, sorry," she apologized before switching the meals.

"That's ok." I replied. "Is everything alright?" I asked before I could think better of it. Alice opened her mouth, but glanced at Sara and after a moment of consideration she shut it again.

"Is it about Tom?" Blurted Sara and Alice gasped, indicating that she was probably right. She stared at Sara with her eyes full of surprise and a little bit of fear while I groaned at her tactlessness.

"How do you know about that?" She hissed and glared at me, apparently assuming I told her.

"Sara pointed out how he was acting toward you in the first place." Alice jerked her head back toward Sara. "If it makes you feel any better, she has known about and been very supportive of David and I," I added quietly, hoping to put the arachne a bit more at ease knowing that Sara wouldn't be judgmental. It seemed to work as her wide-eyed shock died down into mild annoyance. She leaned in a little closer.

"Fine, it is. But I have to get back to work." She scurried off and Sara smirked and took a breath as if to talk.

"I don't want to hear your speculation..." I interrupted and she closed her mouth again. I just knew that according to David, the date had flopped.

"Oooookaaaaay..." replied Sara with a sigh and she started eating her soup.

A few minutes later, Alice came back up to refill our drinks. Sara looked at her expectantly.

"You're not going to this go, are you?" I opened my mouth to say that I would if she wanted, but Sara spoke first.

"Not really," she said quickly and Alice sighed.

"Ok, fine." She glanced at me. "I imagine that you heard that I went on a date with Tom.

"Yes. David said that it didn't go very well," I replied.

"Well... that's because I didn't let it. I just went because I hoped it would get him to stop coming by. It was starting to get kinda weird."

"Oh, I see..."

"Is he still coming around then?" Asked Sara.

"No... but I can't stop thinking about that evening, or... him." Her many legs shifted awkwardly under her skirt. "To be honest, he was very sweet, if a little awkward... and I feel bad about dismissing him so quickly."

"Maybe you could give him a call," suggested Sara. Alice shook her head.

"I don't know. I didn't save his number anyway, so I guess it doesn't matter." She glanced over at another table. It must have needed service because she left.

"You've got his number, right?" Asked Sara.

"Yes..."

"I think you should give it to her."

"I'd rather not be pushy." Sara rolled her eyes.

"I'm not saying you should be, but I think she should at least have all her options available." I thought about it for a moment.

"I suppose that's true," I relented, ignoring the smug little grin on Sara's face. We finished our lunches in silence, then wrote down Tom's number on a napkin. When Alice came with the bill I handed it to her.

"What's this?" She asked.

"Tom's number." Alice opened her mouth to speak, but I held up my hand to cut her off. "If you don't use it that's fine, but we thought you should have it in case you change your mind." She sighed.

"Thanks." She took it and the bill and left. A minute later, so did we.

After leaving the restaurant, Sara and I said our goodbyes and went our separate ways.

When I got to the apartment I got the water started for a shower. Since I knew David wasn't supposed to be home for a few hours I spent some time on my weekly shampoo and blow-dry. Afterwards I couldn't help chuckling at the big, woolly, cotton ball that was my reflection. The only person to have ever seen me like that was my father when I was very young, and I intended to keep it that way!

While I waited for my fur to settle I decided to give my latest gaming endeavor another try. David had warned me that getting into it was like trying to break down a wall by beating your head against it, but that it was worth it if you could get through. I had yet to break through said wall, but the frustration that the game provided helped keep my mind off of the upcoming outing. After a fruitless hour I was ready to be done, and my fur was laying flat enough that I could get fully dressed.

A little while later David made it home. We exchanged affectionate greetings, but he quickly went to the bathroom to get cleaned up. Before long he was ready to go too and we left. However, even that short interlude allowed the pit in my stomachs to return.

As we got closer that pit kept getting worse.

"Hey, are you ok?" Asked David after we'd been driving for around fifteen minutes in complete silence.

"I will be." He took my hand in his.

"If you're not comfortable with this I can turn around," he offered. I smiled at his thoughtfulness.

"Thank you, but I think I'd rather get through this."

"Ok," he replied, giving my hand a comforting squeeze. The rest of the drive was as quiet as the beginning, but David's reassuring presence helped my nerves. A short while later he pulled into a small subdivision, then a driveway in front of a small house.

"We're here, and there's my old place," he said, gesturing to a duplex that was next door.

"It looks like it was nice," I replied.

"It was..." I glanced back at David as he trailed off. "But the new place came with much better company." He ran his hand up my cheek and I nuzzled into it for a moment before he pulled it away, sooner than I would have liked. "Shall we get going?"

"I suppose we should."

David took the bottle of wine that he insisted on bringing as we left the car and made our way to the door. David took my hand reassuringly for a moment before letting go and ringing the doorbell. The seconds ticked by my heart pounded in my ears until the door opened, revealing a female gray lupine.

"Hi, Lorie!" Greeted David cheerfully.

"Hello, David," the lupine replied with equal cheer. "Come on in!" She led us inside and with a deep breath I followed her and David. "Honey, David and his friend are here," she called out into the house.

Raylund came into the front room and him and David exchanged greetings. The lupine couple's friendly demeanor was helping ease the pit of fear in my stomach, though it certainly wasn't gone.

"This is Ruth," David introduced, gesturing to me, "and this is Raylund and his mate Lorie," he added, indicating our hosts.

"It's nice to meet you," said Lorie. There was a funny look in her eyes. She almost looked amused for some reason.

"It's nice to meet you too," I replied.

"Thanks for having us," David said as he held out the wine bottle. Lorie took it as when she saw the label her eyes lit up.

"You remembered my favorite!" She exclaimed. "I think I'm going to crack this open right now! Would anyone like a glass?" She asked, looking around the room.

"It's the same port my mom had at thanksgiving," explained David. Lorie smirked at her mate, who now also seemed to be looking between David and I thoughtfully. My nervousness started coming back and I decided that I could use the offered drink!

"Yes, please. I would like that."

"How about you, David?" Asked Raylund. "I've also got a bottle of that rye you recommended." David's eyes lit up.

"I'm not going to say no to that!"

"Great! We'll be right back. In the meantime, make yourselves at home." The lupine gestured toward a couple comfy looking chairs and a couch that were in the front room. I sat down on the couch and after a moment of consideration, David sat next to me.

"How about we just get the elephant in the room out of the way," he said, just before taking my hand in his. While I agreed, my heart started to race when Raylund and Lorie came back into the room.

Upon seeing our hands clasped Lorie stopped walking and the same amused look from earlier sprouted on her face, just before turning toward her mate.

"Told ya!" She exclaimed in a sing-song voice. "You owe me a foot rub!"

"I suppose I do," he said with a chuckle. Him and his mate handed our drinks to us and sat down in the chairs.

"Having someone you love to spend your life with is one of the greatest blessings a person can ever have," Lorie said with a smile. Their simple, nonchalant acceptance of our relationship was odd, but very refreshing! I felt my anxiety over the meeting quickly slipping away. I gave David's hand a squeeze and scooted a little closer.

"And we have an announcement of our own!" Lorie said excitedly, get our attention again.

"Yep! We're going to have a couple of pups running around here soon!" Added Raylund. His eyes shone brightly as he delivered the news.

"Congratulations!" Exclaimed David.

"That's wonderful! When's the due date?" I asked.

"In about six months," answered Raylund.

"You said pups, as in multiple?" Asked David.

"Yes, we're having twins," Answered Lorie.

"That's great!"

"Yeah, we're very excited," added Raylund.

"I would imagine so," I chimed in. With the good news going around my nervousness went away completely. However, in it's place the knowledge that David and I couldn't have children of our own started creeping in, and that made me feel a little sad. I was determined to not let it ruin the evening and put it out of my mind, resolving to talk to David about it some other time.

For the next while we mostly made small talk until dinner, when our hosts had another pleasant surprise in store!

"I talked to David a few days ago about your diet, and it's very different from ours," explained Lorie as we headed to the dining room. "So I found a recipe, and I do hope you like it." My tail started swishing in delight at her willingness to be accommodating.

"Thank you very much. I greatly appreciate that."

"I doubt David can fully appreciate being able to eat nearly anything!" joked Raylund and him, Lorie, and I all laughed.

"Not anymore I can't!" Protested David with a chuckle, and he patted his little bit of belly pudge. "Those days are long gone!" Everyone laughed.

Several serving dishes were placed on the table, and among them was a large bowl filled with a thick, red stew-like food I'd never seen before.

"It's a sort of lentil soup based a tomato paste," explained Lorie. I dished myself out some and it smelled wonderful. Trying to be polite, I waited for everyone else to be ready to eat and then ate a spoonful of the soup.

"Mmm," I murmured. "This is delicious!" I complimented.

"Good! I'm so glad," exclaimed Lorie, her eyes lighting up. With that bit of hospitality the last of my nerves disappeared and I felt genuinely welcomed.

"Perhaps next time we'll have to have you over to our place," I suggested. David looked at me curiously and I smiled reassuringly back at him he grinned as well.

"That sounds good!" Exclaimed Raylund.

The remainder of the meal was full of cheerful small talk, jokes, and laughter. After we were all done eating and the table was cleared, we all played a board game. The interesting part of the game was that we weren't competing. Instead, everyone had a token representing a character as we explored some sort of crypt. We also had to cooperatively defeat monstrous fantasy enemies like skeletons and vampires that appeared as determined by a special deck of cards. It was so much fun that I didn't even notice how late it had gotten until after a couple rounds I yawned and fatigue came crashing in all at once!

"Getting tired?" Asked David.

"Yes, I suppose so." He glanced at the time on his phone.

"I guess it's probably about time we started shoving off."

"We're absolutely gonna have to get together again," said Raylund as we all got up from the table.

"I agree!" Exclaimed David, as he started putting his shoes on.

"It was nice meeting you," said Lorie.

"Yes, I was nice meeting you too," I replied.

"Good luck with the pups. We'll have to come and visit when they're born too." Hearing David talk about having children brought the topic back to my mind. Once more I tried to put it out of my mind.

After David was ready, we left.

"That was fun!" Exclaimed David once we were on the road.

"Yes, it was," I replied, though I wasn't quite as successful in putting the thought of not having children of our own out of my head as earlier, so I sounded a little more down than I meant to.

"Is everything alright?"

"I'm just thinking about them starting a family..."

"And how we can't have kids of our own...?

"Yes." The truck was quiet for a minute before David spoke again.

"I'm sorry..."

"Don't be." I took his hand in mine. "If I had to choose between being mated to you and having calves of my own, I'd choose you a thousand times over." He grinned.

"Me too." He squeezed my hand. "But you know, I meant it back when I said that we could look into adoption." I smiled.

"I think I would like to do that."

"Cool! Let's plan on that then!"

While it wouldn't be a child born from David and I, the idea of sharing our home and love with a child who needed it had a certain appeal. My smile widened at the thought. I stole an adoring glance at David, though he was too busy driving to notice. I yawned again and suddenly found myself too sleepy for further conversation. When we made it home I fell asleep almost as soon as I made it into bed, though not before David nestled himself snugly in my arms.

Chapter 7

"HEYOO!" Tom whooped one of his more common greeting as he made his way into the job trailer. A wide grin was plastered on his face, and I had my suspicions as to why.

"Hey, wassup!" I said with a wave. "You look like you're in a good mood!"

"I'm headed to lunch, what's not to be happy about?" He asked.

"Even you aren't normally this excited for lunch, and you've been all smiles, all day!"

"Ok, you got me! A few days ago, Alice called, admitting that she didn't really give me much of a chance when we went out that one time, and afterwards realized that she wanted to give it another shot!" he said excitedly, confirming my suspicions. Ruth had told me about her conversation with Alice a while back.

"Cool! How did that go?"

"We spent the next couple hours on the phone getting to know each other! She agreed to go out again yesterday and it went much better than the first time. She even let me kiss her at the end of the night!" Tom said excitedly.

"That's great, I'm happy for you!" I exclaimed, sprouting a grin of my own. "In that case, wanna go to Serafina's for lunch?"

"Uhh... no," replied Tom, his smile dimming a little, but not going away entirely. "You can get away with it because Ruth doesn't work there, but Alice is worried about business being affected if it got out that she was seeing a human, and she couldn't do that to Serafina. Apparently they're best friends."

"Yeah, fair enough," I said. "That seems to be the price that most mixed couples pay. Me and Ruth have met up with a couple of them, and they've had to keep their relationships discreet for their own safety."

"What, who!?" Tom exclaimed.

"That's not my place to say," I replied with a chuckle. "I you and Alice ever become serious they'll make themselves known."

"Oh, alright," Tom shrugged. I almost said that Alice knew about some of them, but I stopped myself, not wanting to put her on the spot. She'd talk if and when she was ready.

"In any case, I've got some news of my own." I got out my phone and pulled up a particular picture before handing it to Tom. Upon looking at it he whistled. He handed the phone back with the image a solitaire diamond ring with a large gold band still on the screen. "It's sitting in the gun safe right now."

"So this is it, then?"

"Yep. I'm asking her at dinner tonight."

"Good luck, though considering the whole 'already mated' thing I'd bet you don't need it."

"Thanks. It is possible that she isn't ready to go fully public though, which is also why I picked a restaurant a couple towns over."

"Eh, I'm sure it'll be fine." His stomach growled. "Anyway, how about some lunch!"

We left the trailer just as the rest of his crew was walking off for lunch and we all headed to a local diner that wasn't Serafina's!

On the way one of his guys pointed out a petite brunette that was walking on the other side of the street. I glanced and could acknowledge that she was pretty, but since growing to appreciate Ruth's assets, human girls just didn't seem to do anything for me anymore!

"Now that's what I call fine," one of them said, elbowing me in the ribs.

"She ain't his type!" Exclaimed Tom. "He likes em' tall, thick, and horny!" He teased and his crew laughed. I also laughed at his double entendre regarding her horns, but had to agree. My mind wandered for a moment to the happy memory of Ruth's long, thick, furry legs wrapped around me in our throes of passion just the night before. When mind came back to the present I returned fire.

"That's true," I admitted, "but you like em pale and skinny, with legs for day!" His jaw dropped open as I smirked at finally having ammunition of my own! "Turnabout is fair play good buddy!" I exclaimed and his crew glanced around at each other, not quite sure what to make of it.

"You get yourself a girlfriend, boss?" One of the younger guys asked.

"Yeah, I think so," replied Tom, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Aw, snap! Got a picture?" Ribbed one of his other guys.

"No, not yet..." I shot him a smirk and dropped back, letting his guys doing the needling for me. He glared at me.

Eventually they got bored with the teasing and conversation, and the rest of the lunch break went back to the usual.

After work I headed home, but when I got there I was surprised and confused when Sara came out of the bedroom.

"Hi! Just so you know, you're not allowed in here for a while!" She said very quickly, brimming with excitement.

"Oooook... how come? Where's Ruth?"

"I-I'm in here," called Ruth from inside the bedroom. She sounded nervous for some reason.

"Just trust me, you're gonna love it!" She added with a wink.

"Umm, ok... Can I at least get some clothes so I can take a shower?"