Friday:
I woke up, again. There was the first hint of light outside. I felt beat. I had woken several times during the night and every time it had taken me a long time to fall asleep again. I got up and stumbled off in the direction of the bathroom, to take care of an urgent business.
When I left the bathroom again, I heard Sarah call out "Chris?"
I padded to the bedroom and looked in "'Morning, Sarah." I said, tiredly.
She looked at me "How are you?"
"Tired. I did not sleep well."
"Same here. I missed your warmth, Chris." She patted the bed "Come here."
I walked over there and sat down.
Sarah bent close and sniffed me. She wrinkled her nose a little but then she smiled and lifted the covers "Come in. The smell is nearly gone. I don't notice it unless my nose is really close to you." I climbed in and she turned away from me "Just hold me, Chris."
I scooted close, put my arm around her waist and buried my face in her headfur, kissing her neck "It feels so good to hold you. I love you, Sarah."
"I love you too." Her voice sounded a little sleepy.
"I have plans for you, now that you are back in my arms." I thought as I gently cupped her breast "I'll just wait a little longer, until you are really sleepy."
Sarah sighed in pleasure and interlaced her fingers with mine.
"Chris!"
"Yeah?" I mumbled, sleepily.
"It's nine already!"
"Nine ... Nine?!?" I asked, surprised and looked up. The sun shone brightly and indeed the clock said it was nine. "Blast! So much for my plans." Reluctantly I let go of Sarah "I guess we'd better get up."
"We have to. Chris?"
"Yes, Sarah?"
"I want to drive down to town to take care of the shopping as soon as possible. Could you start preparing breakfast while I have a quick shower?"
Grinning, I bent close again and kissed her breasts "Of course, Sarah. Everything for a pretty lady." I said, got up and padded into the kitchen, to start preparing breakfast.
"Chris, could you help me?" Sarah asked as she padded in, wearing only her dripping wet fur coat and spread a towel on the floor and stepped on it "Dry my back and tail?"
"Of course." I answered as I took the towel she offered to me and started rubbing her back. "I love drying your fur, Sarah." Grinning widely, I went on "But I love getting you wet again even more."
She giggled then broke into full laughter. "Do you ever think about something else?"
"Such as?" I asked "What else is there to think about?"
Sarah laughed again "You are crazy. But I love you anyway." She turned around and wetly licked my face. Before I could react, she turned back and said "My tail is still wet."
As I toweled her tail dry, I sneaked in a few rubs at the sensitive spot at the base of her tail, causing her to growl in annoyance, yip in surprise and mewl in pleasure.
Sarah picked up her writing pad and we sat down to eat breakfast. "Any special requests? Food or otherwise?"
"Well..." I grinned "I don't really care what's for dinner ... as long as I get my desert afterwards."
"You! ..." She swatted my arm and laughed. "Males."
"Ok, seriously. Since it's supposed to be rather warm the next few days, I think we can go with light stuff, salad, cold soup or things like that. How about a barbecue on Sunday?"
"Maybe. I'm not too hot on eating a lot of meat, though."
"You could go light on the meat, we can do potatoes and other veggies as well. And salad and bake-it-yourself bread or something like that."
"Hmmm, this has possibilities. I'll ask Alice about it."
"Can you get any open shoes? Sandals or slippers or something like that?"
"I don't know. They might have something, but I can't promise anything."
"Ok, Chris. See you in three hours or so."
"Bye. I'll prepare lunch for you, ok?"
"Fine. Surprise me." We kissed once more, then she left the house and got into her car.
I watched her until the car disappeared around a bend. Then I went back inside, put on the protective boots and got the tools from the shed. For the next hour and a half I cut up a few fallen trees around the house. Then I showered and prepared lunch. I picked some more flowers and I settled down to relax and wait for Sarah.
# # # # #
Sarah parked her car and padded into the shopping mall. "First stop, the telephones." She thought as she headed towards them.
She dialed Alice's work number and waited for the phone to be picked up.
"Furry Clothing, Janet Burrows speaking."
"Hello, Janet. This is Sarah Carolinae. Could I speak to Alice, please?"
"Hello. Sure, let me call her. Alice! She'll be here in a few moments. Bye." The receiver was put down on the table, after a few moments it was picked up again "Alice Castor speaking."
"Hi, Sarah here."
"Hello, Sarah. How are you? ... I'm so glad to hear from you. So your alien lover has not killed and eaten you yet?"
"That was really nasty, Alice!"
"I know, sorry. He just rubs me the wrong way, Sarah. I can't help worrying about you."
"Well ..." Sarah grinned as she thought about Chris "It's not that he does not try. Not the killing part, that is."
Alice snorted "It was kind of hard not to notice, when I visited you. ... I'm sorry, Sarah, but ... I don't like him."
She sighed "Well, he has become a really good friend, Alice. I hope you change your mind about him soon."
"I'll try to. But he creeps me out, every time I look at him. Maybe when I get to know him better, but I don't trust him yet."
"I hope you can overcome your dislike for him. Well, when will you visit us again?"
"My shift ends at four today, I can be there at five or so. I won't stay too long, though."
"Fine. We'll fix something to eat. What about Sunday?"
"Since the weather seems to be holding up, we are planning to drive up there and stay the whole day. I can hardly wait to go swimming again. We'll get there late in the morning, say ten or eleven. Is that fine with you?"
"Yes. Chris suggested that we have barbecue in the evening. What do you think?"
"Hmmm, why not. Sounds like a good idea."
"Fine, I'll take care of everything. It's the least I can do. After all you let me stay at your lodge for free."
"Great!" She paused for a few seconds "Sarah. You have not called your parents yet, have you?"
"No. I planned to do that next. Why?"
"Well, I just want to warn you. Your mother called me Tuesday, after my visit, and she asked some questions about your lover."
"I see."
"I did not tell her much. When she asked me what species he was, I told her that you should tell her that. You might want to think about what to tell her. I think she's a little suspicious about the whole thing. Either tell her the truth or think of a plausible lie."
Sarah was silent for several seconds "Thank you. I'll have to think of something before I call them."
"Maybe call me again and tell me what you told them, so that I can support your story if she calls me, just in case."
"Will do. Thank you for the warning, Alice. I'll call again in a few minutes. Bye!"
"Bye!"
Sarah put down the receiver and stared at the phone for a minute, trying to decide what to tell her parents. Finally she replaced the receiver and padded off in the direction of the food court.
She got herself a large cup of coffee. "What do I tell my parents?" Sarah asked herself as she sipped her coffee and nibbled at her donut. "I don't want to tell them what he is over the phone, I want to do that in person. I have to find something that might make is plausible for Alice not to tell them his species." After thinking about it for some time, she decided "I'll tell them that he is a mixed breed. I can't really think of anything else that might explain why Alice would not tell them his species." She finished her coffee and walked back to the phones.
"Jane Carolinae speaking."
"Hi, mum."
"Sarah! How are you?"
"I'm fine. I feel great, actually."
"I'm glad to hear that. Anything to do with your mystery lover?"
"Well, yes. Chris really knows how to make me happy."
"Hmmm, anything I should know about?"
"Well..." Sarah laughed "I'm a big girl now, I don't have to tell you anything ... But you get the picture ... You'll meet him soon anyway, when we visit you."
"I was wondering ... You did not tell me anything about him when you called on Tuesday, and that made me a little anxious. Sorry for prying, but I had to call Alice in the evening. She told me that he was ok ... kind of. But she would not tell me anything about him, not even his species."
"Well, I wanted to tell you in person, but ... He's a mixed breed. Wolf, Cat and Rabbit with some others further up the family tree. He looks kind of weird. But ... I've really come to love him in the few days we've been together."
"I see ... Do you think his intentions are honorable?"
"Yes. I'm as sure as I can be, given the short time we've been together."
"Well, ok. I'll pray that you are right. You deserve someone who makes you happy, Sarah."
"Thank you. I have a good feeling about him, mum."
"So, when will you visit us?"
"Well, it's so beautiful and restful here. I think we'll stay until Tuesday and start out early on Wednesday, we'll probably be at your place sometime in the afternoon."
"I'm looking forward to seeing you, Sarah."
"So do I."
"And your ... lover?"
"He's a little anxious about meeting my parents, but he'll survive." Sarah smiled as she said that. "Bye, then. I'll probably go shopping again on Monday and call you, if not I will call on Wednesday morning when I stop by at Alice's place to return her things."
"Bye, Sarah."
Sarah called Alice again, to let her know what she had told her parents.
"Anybody else I want to call?" Sarah mused "Marsha!" She paged through her address book to look for her friend's number then she picked up the receiver.
"Adison Shipping, Marsha Besum speaking."
"Hello, Marsha! Sarah here."
"Sarah! Hello! How are you?"
"I'm much better, thank you. I've even found someone new."
"Wow! That was quick. Ok, tell me something about him."
"Well, he looks kind of strange, but he really knows how to make me happy, I can tell you that much." The smirk on Sarah's muzzle could be heard clearly, even over the phone line "For the rest you'll have to wait until I'm back."
"Humph! That's not fair!" Marsha pouted "You make me all curious and now you won't give me any details." After a few moments Marsha went on, in a much happier voice "Good for you." Then her voice sobered up "George is not going to be happy about that. He called several times and tried to reach you. I think he was trying to make up with you."
Sarah snorted "Well, if he calls again, tell him he's had his chance but he blew it and now it's over. I don't have anything else to say to him."
"Ok, I will. When will you be back?"
"Next weekend, Sunday probably. Give my best to Rick and see you."
"Bye, Sarah."
"Bye."
"Who else?" Sarah asked "Zig Zag. I should really call her. Especially considering that I would not have taken this holiday and met Chris if she had not badgered me into it." She found the number and dialed.
"Zig Zag."
"Hallo, Zig. Sarah here."
"Hi, what's up?"
Sarah smiled "Quite a bit, actually. I just wanted to thank you for making me take this holiday. I feel a lot better." She giggled "And if your comment was meant as a double entendre ... I've met someone new."
"Ohhh. That was quick. So you aren't loosing any sleep over your ex-husband?"
"Well, not over him, anyway."
"Good for you. Care to share any ... juicy details?"
Sarah thought about it for a few seconds "Let me put it like this: I'm sure you'd love to sneak a camera into out bedroom. And not only the bedroom, either."
"That sounds interesting." Sarah could hear the grin on Zig's muzzle "So what does he look like?"
"Well, rather strange. He's pretty much unique, I don't think you've ever met anyone like him. Come to think of it, we may even have some problems because of it. But I don't want to talk about it over the phone, Zig. You'll get to meet him when we get back to Columbus."
"That sounds pretty ominous, Sarah."
"Zig, I don't want to talk about it on the phone. You'll know what the problem is when you see him."
"Ok. But ... you've really piqued my interest. Now I'll be worrying about you the whole week, Sarah." She paused for a second "Well, if there is anything I can do to help you ..."
"You don't have to worry, Zig. I'm having a lot of fun with him, really. ... Hmmm, I may have to take you up on your offer." She dug into her wallet for another quarter but came up empty "Zig, I'm sorry, I'm running out of change. See you."
"Bye!"
"Bye!"
# # # # #
"Time to go shopping." Sarah thought as she examined the store register "Hey! They even have a cobbler. Maybe he has something that might fit Chris."
"Good day, Miss." The salesfur, a male brown bear, asked her "What can I get you?"
"Hello. I need some slippers."
He considered her feet "Let me see what I have in stock."
"They are not for me." She said as she rummaged around in her purse "The friend I want to get them for has plantigrade feet." She pawed him the piece of paper with the measurements she had taken. "Something in that size."
He considered it for a moment and asked "What species is he?"
Sarah looked at him for several long moments before answering "He is a mixed breed."
"Oh. Let me see what I have." and disappeared in the storeroom. A minute later he returned with a three boxes "One of these might fit, depending on how wide his feet are."
Sarah considered the slippers he had put on the table. She discarded two of the pairs right away, they were way too wide and examined the remaining pair closely. It was basically a wooden board, with a slightly molded surface and an adjustable leather strap. "Hmmm, they are a bit large, I think." Her eyes widened when she saw the price tag "Oh, my! They are rather expensive."
"Well, the next smaller one I have is too small. The price includes custom fitting, so if you bring your friend, I will do any required modifications free of charge."
Sarah considered them for some time, then she sighed "Ok, I'll take them." thinking "Chris, you'd better be worth it. This is starting to put a big dent in my finances."
"Fine. Does your friend have large claws? Then I'd glue cork strips here, so he can grip them properly."
"No, thank you." Sarah dug out her purse "I'll take them the way they are now. And I'll find out if my friend wants to have them modified."
"Thank you." He counted out the change "Here you are, Miss. Don't forget to bring the receipt if you want me to modify them."
"Thank you. Good bye."
"Good bye."
# # # # #
"Time to get the groceries, I guess." Sarah thought and fished the shopping list out of her purse. She considered it with a sinking feeling, then she sighed and grabbed one of the big shopping carts.
As she had feared, the only sun block lotion was in the pharmaceuticals section and was quite a bit more expensive than she had hoped. She considered the bottle for a while and finally put it into her cart. "Chris, you owe me. Big time."
As Sarah counted out the bills, she asked the cashier "Could you call someone to help me carry all that stuff back to my car?"
"Sure, Miss." He said and pressed the button to call for assistance.
"You need help, Miss?"
"Yes. Could you please help me carry all that to my car?"
"Sure." The male rabbit said and started picking up the shopping bags.
Sarah returned the shopping cart and led him towards her car. She opened the tailgate and watched as he stored the bags in the trunk. "Thank you." she said and pawed him a little change.
"Thank you, Miss. Good bye." He said, turned around and walked back to the shop.
# # # # #
The lack of sleep was starting to catch up with Sarah. Her head hurt, mainly because the bad road required her to concentrate almost constantly . Several times she had been shaken up rather roughly when she had not noticed a particularly bad pothole in time to slow down or avoid it. Three quarters of the way up she had to stop and rest for a few minutes. She was really glad when she finally turned her car into the driveway and stopped.
I got up when I heard Sarah's car approach. After checking that it was indeed her car, I picked up the flowers I had picked for her and went out to meet her. When she did not open the door, but just sat in the car with closed eyes, I opened the door for her "Hello Sarah, I'm glad you are back."
Her ears drooped a little and she looked at me tiredly for several seconds before she answered "I'm glad I'm back as well. I'm bushed." Then she unbuckled her seat belt and climbed out.
I held out my hand to help her, then I kissed her and handed her the flowers.
She sniffed them "Thank you, Chris." then she leaned her head against me. I put my arms around her and held her. We stood like this for a minute, then she said "Thank you. I feel better already. Let's get the car unpacked."
It took three trips to carry everything into the house.
"What do you think about these?" Sarah asked as she unpacked the slippers.
"Let me have a look." I took them and sat down on the couch. Fiddling with the strap, I adjusted them until they fit as well as they would, then I walked up and down a few times. "They fit ok, I guess." When I saw the disappointed look on her face, I went to her and hugged her "Thank you, Sarah." I kissed her "They are fine, really. I don't think anyone could get a much better fit without me going as well and trying them on. If I want anything that really fits better than those, I'll have to have it custom fitted, I guess. It wasn't easy to get those, was it?"
"Not difficult, really. But they were bloody expensive. You owe me, big time."
I kissed her again "Thank you. I appreciate what you are doing for me, Sarah." After a short pause I went on "It's not easy for me to have to depend on your generosity. Maybe I'm just a sexist male, but I can't help but feel that I should provide these things for you, not the other way around. I really want to make it up to you." I considered her again "Let's put away the groceries and have lunch, ok?"
"Yes. I'm famished."
I took the food I had prepared from the fridge and we stored the perishable groceries. Then we sat down to eat. We did not talk a lot, but as she ate, Sarah perked up a little. Afterwards we drank some tea. "What do you want to do now?" I asked as I cleared away the dishes.
She looked at the clock "Alice will be here in two or three hours. Let's go for a little walk."
So we did, for about an hour.
"Sarah, the slippers are actually quite comfortable, now that I'm getting used to them."
"Then I'm glad I did not waste all that money."
"You did not." I kissed her "I'll thank you properly, later ... I think I'll have to wait until after Alice has left again, though."
She smiled and squeezed my hand.
# # # # #
Our lips parted and then suddenly Sarah's ears swiveled around. "I think Alice is coming." she said.
I looked at her, grinning "I love what you are doing with your ears, Sarah."
"That?" she asked and swiveled them around a bit.
"Yes." We kissed again, then we got up to greet her friend. When we stepped out of the house, I could hear her car as well. But I stayed in the darkness of the doorway until I was sure that it was indeed Alice, then I went to join Sarah and greet her friend.
Alice got out of the car and greeted Sarah warmly, kissing and hugging her. I think the smile on her muzzle was a little forced when she held out her paw to greet me.
We made ourselves comfortable on the porch. Sarah snuggled up to me on the bench and Alice sat on a chair facing us.
"So, how are you two doing so far, Sarah?"
"Fine. Apart from the little snag we hit yesterday, that is."
"Well?" (I'm not quite sure, but to me Alice's question sounded suspiciously like "I told you so.")
"Yes. For some reason his scent made me nauseous. Probably something he ate. Whatever it is, it's gone again."
"When I find out what it was, I'll make sure not to do it again." I said.
"We spent the night in separate beds and ... I did not sleep well ..." Sarah turned to me and kissed my cheek "without this big stupid cuddling toy."
"I love you too." I said and kissed her as well.
We chatted for another half hour or so, then we ate dinner. Soon afterwards Alice left again.
# # # # #
"So, did you visit Sarah?" Martin asked his wife.
"Yes, I did."
"How is she?"
"She's fine, I think. Her lover still creeps me out a bit, but I guess I'm slowly getting used to him. As far as I can see, they are happy together and he seems to be treating her well. I guess he is ok. But I can't help but wonder what kinds of problems Sarah will have because ... he is an alien." She paused for a few seconds "She is planning to have a barbecue on Sunday."
"That's a good idea." He smiled "By now I really need that day to relax, what with all the overtime I'm putting in."
Alice got up, stood behind her husband and put her paws on his shoulders "Let me help to get the stiffness out of your muscles, Love."
# # # # #
"Chris?" Sarah asked, a bit sleepily.
"Yes?"
She grinned "That was a nice down payment, but you still owe me."
I grinned back and kissed her nose "I'll be more than happy to work off a little more tomorrow."
"I'll hold you to this, you know." She smiled and closed her eyes "Good night."
"Good night, Sarah." I answered and inhaled the pleasant scent of her ... headfur. It did not take me long to fall asleep.
End of Chapter 7