45. Surprise

Saturday, November 21st
Waxing Gibbous Moon (One Night to Full Moon)

The Thanksgiving disaster started with a phone call I received from Randall. “Hey, we just received the confirmation from your parents that they’re coming over for Thanksgiving dinner.”

“What?” I asked, trying not to panic. Maybe he was just joking.

He paused, “You didn’t know? Dad just told me today but I figured they knew since they’re your parents.”

“Who invited them?” I asked, gripping my phone.

“Dad did, I think. Holidays are kind of a big deal around here and we always have a lot of people over for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners. Your parents are the ones that contacted the Pack before you moved here, so he had their number and thought it would be nice to invite them. I don’t think you’ve seen them since you moved into the dorm, have you?”

“No, I haven’t really wanted to see them. They aren’t very comfortable with what we are. I try not to even talk to them that much or tell them about what’s going on. I haven’t even told them I’m dating you.”

He didn’t say anything.

“It’s not like I’m ashamed of you or embarrassed by you or anything,” I said quickly, “But my mom still holds this hope inside her that she’s going to find a way to make me normal again, and dating the son of the pack leader isn’t really on the path to becoming a normal human, is it?”

“You still should have told them. I figured our relationship was serious enough that you would tell your parents about me,” His voice was laden with disappointment.

“Well, we can tell them together when they come, then. That way, they can meet you and see how wonderful and normal you guys are. They can see that someone can lead a perfectly normal life being a werewolf.” I was already cringing at the thought of how my parents would act, but I knew saying that would make Randall feel at least a little better. “Now, I need to call my parents and see exactly what is going on. I’ll see you tomorrow night.” The following night was the full moon, another evening with a group full of people who really didn’t like me.

After I got off the phone with Randall, I phoned my mom. “Hi, sweetie,” She crooned.

“When were you going to tell me about this Thanksgiving thing?” I asked, trying not to sound as mad as I was.

“Well, you never call us, and we knew you probably weren’t going to come see us for the holiday, so when Mister Quinn called us, we were delighted by the idea. We still had to make sure all our plans would work out, but we were planning to call you and let you know. We just got everything confirmed last night. We miss you and want to meet your friends.”

“When will you be down?”

“We made reservations at a hotel close to your school, we’re coming down Wednesday evening and staying through the weekend. On Thanksgiving Day, we’re planning to go over to Mister Quinn’s home for dinner. He says there will be a lot of people there, friends and family. He’s a really nice man.”

“Yeah, he is, which is why you and dad really need to watch what you say in front of him and everyone else,” I warned.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, they’re probably all going to be the same as me, and they might be offended if you talk to them about certain subjects, such as your obsession with trying to find a cure. They don’t see it as a disease like you do.”

“Oh, baby, it isn’t a disease. It’s more like some sort of curse, some sort of dark magic.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Well, I’ve been doing some research and lately a lot of new ideas I’ve found compare lycanthropy to magic more than a transmitted disease. I mean, it’s not like people really believe in it unless they’ve seen it firsthand, so it’s hard to sift through everything and determine fact from fiction, but I’m seeing a general trend towards people referring to it as a curse, and we need to find someone powerful enough to lift the curse.” Only my mom could sound like she knew exactly what she was talking about and crazy at the same time. Maybe the dinner would be good for her, maybe she really could see how at ease we were with ourselves.

“You will not talk about any of this during dinner. No curses, magic, disease, nothing. These are good people and they are happy being what they are.”

“Hey now don’t you go ordering me around,” She chastised, “I know how to be cordial. You worry too much, honey. Now, I have to do some housework so I will call you when we get into town on Wednesday. Love you, sweetie.”

“I love you too, mom,” I said through gritted teeth. She hung up the phone and I flopped onto my bed. I wished there was some way I could muzzle her, to keep her shut up so she wouldn’t spoil anything. I was already on thin ice with the Pack as it was. I didn’t need them to ruin anything, even if they didn’t mean to.

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A/N: This is some more transition. A little short, but I've got exams to study for! I've found that people respond better to actual scenarios rather than me passing the time by saying, "Time went by, blahblahblah." I don't know if I'm going to really go deep into this curse thing, thought I've always liked the idea of lycanthropy being a sort of magical thing. Selene's mom could be onto something. I also feel real bad, because I don't think I ever gave her parents names. I will probably go back and add their names in the first chapter, but they will also get names in the Thanksgiving chapter when they introduce themselves at the dinner. Next chapter is full moon, where Lilith continues to gain some followers and Selene gets an idea for how she will take her down. At least, that's the plan for now, I haven't actually written it. The following chapter will be Thanksgiving, which I think will be a very bad experience for Selene.