Homecoming

"Hi everyone. I'm Hank and I'm a werewolf."

[Group: "Hi Hank!"]

"It's been seventy-six days since I devoured anyone. Like I said a few weeks ago, that was a three hundred year old vampire who really needed to die. But I came close to blowing my streak over the weekend.

"I went back to South Carolina to visit my folks and to introduce them to Michelle. Yeah, taking the girlfriend home to meet the folks is a big step. At least it is for me. Realizing that I wanted my parents to meet Michelle made me see just how serious my feelings had become for her. It took me a few days to work up the nerve to ask Michelle if she wanted to go. I was afraid she'd think I was getting too serious too fast, I guess. But she didn't think that at all! When I asked her, Michelle's face just sort of lit up and she said she'd love to come with me.

"Her brother Luke told me later that Michelle had been thinking about inviting me to meet their parents. And she was afraid of the same thing I'd been afraid of! So, me asking her showed Michelle that I was just as serious about her as she was about me. Did that make any sense?

"Anyway, we flew down to South Carolina, rented a car and drove to Mom and Dad's house. They came out as we were getting out of the car and there were hugs all around. I could tell Dad liked Michelle right from the start. After I introduced her to him, he grinned and gave me a big thumbs up signal. Dad's not what you'd call subtle. Mom was more reserved, but she always has been the quieter parent. I figured it was because she was doing the typical mother thing. You know, where they size up their son's girlfriend to see if the girl is good enough for their son?

"We went in and Mom showed Michelle to her room. Yeah, separate rooms. I'd warned Michelle that was going to be the case. She had just laughed and told me it would be the same when we went to California to meet her parents.

"Of course, Michelle insisted on seeing the room I grew up in, which hasn't changed since went off to college. All my old Star Wars posters were up on the wall, including my little shrine to Natalie Portman and the slave girl Leia cardboard stand up.

"Dad told her, 'We left his room just the way it was when he went to off to college in '99. I knew he'd bring home a girl someday and I'd need something like this to embarrass him!'

"Michelle laughed. She's got a wonderful laugh! Um, sorry, got distracted. So, she laughed and told Dad, 'It's not going to embarrass him. His apartment looks the same, except he's added Lord of the Rings, especially Liv Tyler stuff. He calls her the hot elf babe.'

"Dad just laughed and Mom gave me a stern look, but she didn't say anything. I guess I'm supposed to stop noticing all the babes in the world once I've got a girlfriend. After that, we had dinner and settled in for the evening.

"The next morning, Dad made me go with him to the Home Depot. He had some heavy stuff to pick up and needed me to do most of the lifting. Michelle decided to stay at the house rather than come along. I think she was planning to work on convincing Mom and she was good enough for me.

"Dad and I were gone about an hour and a half. The minute I saw Michelle, I knew something bad had happened while we were gone. Mom didn't seem to notice and Dad was oblivious, but it was obvious to me. I told my parents I was going to take Michelle out to see the sights and we left.

"We drove around aimlessly for a while, not saying much. I pointed out my old elementary school, the house we'd been living in when I was born, things like that. After about half an hour, I said, 'I know something's bothering you, something about my Mom, most likely. She can be hard to get along with, so don't think I'm going to be upset at you if the two of you aren't hitting it off.'

Michelle was quiet for a bit, like she was trying to make her mind up about what to say. Then she said, 'Let's go somewhere quiet where we can take a walk while we talk.'

"One of the nice things about living in a small town is that it's easy to get away from it all pretty quickly. Twenty minutes later, we were walking along a secluded forest path I remembered from high school.

"I was worried at first, because Michelle wrapped her arms around herself, sort of protective like, and walked with her head down. I thought she was trying to figure out how to break things off with me. When I saw a tear run down her cheek, I was sure of it. Unable to take the suspense any more, I asked her, 'Are you trying to figure out how to let me down softly?'

"She stopped, startled, and said, 'You think I'm trying to break up with you?'

"I shrugged, 'I don't know what to think, Michelle. But you're really upset about something you don't want to talk about. My imagination is doing a number on me just trying to figure out what could make you so miserable and all I can think of-'

"Michelle sort of flowed into my arms. Isn't it amazing how women can do that? She hugged me tight and said, 'It's not you. It will never be you. I love you, Hank!'

"Then Michelle sort of growled, 'But your mother!'

"I laughed, my gut unwinding. 'Mom can be a pain in the ass, but her heart's in the right place.'

"Michelle didn't laugh with me. 'No, Hank, I don't think it is.' She sighed, still hugging me, and continued, 'You and your Dad hadn't been out of the house for a minute before she asked me if I knew about your taint. I had no idea what she was talking about and I guess it showed. That's when she launched into this long description about your tainted blood.'

"That was like a sucker punch to the gut for me. 'My tainted blood?' I asked.

"Michelle nodded, 'That's what she said. I knew what she meant, then, even if I didn't like her description. So I told her I knew you had ALPS and that I didn't care. She spent the next fifteen minutes lecturing me about all the horrible things that can happen around someone with ALPS, about how it can be passed on to children, stuff like that.'

"I looked into Michelle's eyes, 'I knew Mom never really adjusted to me having ALPS, but she's been told by doctors that ALPS can't be passed on to children by the father! God, Michelle, I would never have left you alone with Mom if I'd known she was going to pull that crap on you!'

"Michelle looked away from my eyes, 'That's not quite all, Hank. When it became obvious she wasn't going to convince me, your Mom handed me a big envelope, telling me to read what was inside, that it would open my eyes to the truth. Hank, it was all the junk Reverend Riley and his group have been putting out!'

"I went totally numb, 'My parents are-'

"Michelle quickly interrupted, 'No. I asked her about that. You father has no idea. Your mother says nothing gets your father angrier than Riley and his campaign. She says he always was short-sighted about ALPS.'

"Michelle looked back into my eyes. 'I'm sorry I couldn't hide my feelings better. I'd give anything not to have hurt you like this!'

"I forced a small smile, 'You didn't hurt me, Michelle. That burden belong to my mother. You're the one person who'll help me heal.'

"And that's when a terrible day got even worse. From behind me, I heard a voice I recognized all too well. 'Ah, ain't that just so damned sweet!'

"I turned around and there was Larry. The bully who made my life Hell as a kid. He had his whole pack of delinquents with him, too. 'It's about time you came back to my pack, were-wimp!' Larry said. 'And you brought along a friend for all of us to play with!'

"Right then I just snapped. I transformed and launched myself at Larry. I don't even remember what happened during the fight. The next conscious thought I had was Michelle pulling on me, saying, 'Hank! Come on, Hank! Look at me! You don't want to do this!'

"I came back to myself then and transformed back. The little clearing was splattered with blood and Larry, still in wolf form, was lying on the ground at my feet. He had been ripped apart so badly his healing was having trouble keeping up. The rest of the pack was no where to be seen. I let Michelle lead me away from him and back to the car.

"She told me what happened after I snapped. The short version is I kicked the crap out of Larry and was so ferocious I scared the others off. Michelle drove me around while I calmed down and got control of myself. Then we went back to my parents' house and I did my best to pretend I didn't know what my mother had done."