Waking up, two things became clear. The first was that last night really happened. I woke up to Taylor, still holding me. The second was that as I woke up, I noticed that my mom was standing in the doorway. Her mouth was ajar. I guess Taylor had to go to the bathroom sometime last night. I tried to adjust myself. Noticing my movement, mom covered her eyes and walked out of the room, shutting the door. Not exactly the way a mom wants to see their child. Sighing, I got out of bed, went to the closet, found my nightgown, and slipped into it. I also took off the necklace. Sleeping with it on all night gave me a headache.

            As I walked into the dining room, mom was sitting at the table, eating breakfast. “Well, good morning, Angel. I trust you enjoyed yourself last night?” mom asked, giving me a stern look. Going to the coffeepot, I didn’t answer her right away. I knew what she was going to say. After pouring my cup, I walked back to the table and sat down next to her.

            “I am sorry, mom. That wasn’t something I wanted you to see,” I said before taking a sip of my coffee. I waited for her to respond, but she was busy with the bite of food that she had just taken. When she finally finished, she looked at me and smiled.

            “Oh, Angel, you need not apologize. I just didn’t realize that you two were that close already,” mom said as she placed her hand on mine. It was strange. I didn’t think she would be okay with seeing her daughter naked in bed with another girl. Usually, when I brought Erin over to visit, she would have me keep my door open. I guess it was because I was a boy? I didn’t know what made her change her mind. Even the whole arrangement with Taylor and I sleeping in the same room didn’t seem to bother her.

            “But mom, I don’t get it. Aren’t you going to say that I’m too young for sex or something? I mean, how are you okay with it?” I asked, not entirely convinces that she was. She just looked at me and smiled. I know that my mom is pretty laid back compared to some parents, but this was a little concerning.

            “Honey, with everything that you went through as a kid, trying to hide that you wanted to be a girl, not being able to date. It was about time that something like this happens for you. Am I a little concerned about you having sex so soon in the relationship, yes! However, you are now eighteen and need to learn to make your own decisions. And I trust you. Hell, I trust Taylor. She has been more than good for you,” mom said. Then she leaned in and hugged me. Smiling, I hugged her back.

            When I was about to get up and get my second cup of coffee, Taylor came into the kitchen. As soon as she saw my mom, she turned as red as a tomato. If she ever played poker, she would be screwed. Her facial expression said it all. I quickly grabbed another cup from the cupboard and poured her a cup of coffee.

            “Hello, Mrs. Avery. How are you this morning?” Taylor asked, still blushing. I placed her cup in front of her, and she quickly grabbed it. I went to sit next to mom again, but she shook her head and pulled my chair back into the table. Then she gestured for me to sit next to Taylor. And here it was. She was about to give us the lecture I thought she was going to give me. I slowly walked around the table and sat next to Taylor.

            “Now girls, I know that things happened last night, and I am happy for you two. However, I must ask you, girls, to be careful. Don’t do anything that you will regret later. A relationship is hard to maintain. And even harder once you begin to become intimate with someone.  I am not saying this to upset you or make you feel that what you did was wrong. I just want to make sure that both of you are happy. I love you with all my heart, Angel, and I care very deeply for you, Taylor,” mom said as she placed her hands on both mine and Taylors. I loved my mom. She was so amazing.

            After Taylor and I had breakfast, we headed towards the lounge. Everyone else was still asleep, so we had it all to ourselves. We decided to watch a movie. After some debating and going through half the lounge’s movies, we settled on Kiki’s Delivery Service. It had been forever since I had seen it, and Taylor had never watched it. She told me that, although some shows she was allowed to watch as a kid, a lot of the animes were forbidden. Her parents believed it promoted the wrong kind of thinking. I failed to see their argument.

            As we watched the movie, I decided to lay down. Shifting myself into a laying position, I rested my head in her lap. I was rewarded with her running her fingers through my hair. My tail lightly beat against the couch with every stroke. Though I was good about hiding my emotions before, it was kind of hard to do so now. It was like I had a mood ring, only it was a tail instead. It felt so good.

            Halfway through the movie, Ashley and Esme joined us in the lounge. Ashley took her regular spot on Esme’s’thorax while Esme laid her body on the floor next to us. It must be hard having to adjust to not being able to sit on the furniture like everyone else. I felt terrible for her. And then there was the fact that her brother was still missing. The worse part is, we heard on the news that the facility had been moved to one of the private research facilities. Before we could try to stage a rescue, we needed to find out where the facility was located. Mr. Carver said he had an idea where it could be, but he needed time to consort with his contacts.

            By the end of the movie, both Mandy and Joey had joined us. Mandy sat next to where my feet were, while Joey sat on the floor in front of me. It was like I was under protection from something, but I didn’t know what.

            “That was an amazing movie, Miss, at least what I got to see of it,” Joey said, stretching his wings out. At the same time, Mandy copied him. Despite the weird look that she always seemed to give me, I had to admit that she was beautiful. I guess part of that was because I had always found the devil girls on the internet attractive. What can I say? I’m a girl of different tastes.

            “I just wish that we had been invited to it before it was halfway through,” Ashley said as she stared at me. I guess she had expected that we would have woke them up and offered them to watch a movie with us, but I couldn’t just walk in and wake people up. I wouldn’t want them to do it to me if I was in a dead sleep with nowhere to go.

            “Sorry, Ashley, I just wanted to watch a movie with my girlfriend!” Tayor said before turning to look at me. You could see the admiration in her eyes. Then she leaned down and kissed my forehead. This made me blush, as everyone was now staring at us. I was about to say something when Mr. Carver hurried in.

            “Angel, your father, is on T.V. He said something about going to explore that floating island that has covered most of Clinton. He also mentioned that he felt that it was somehow connected to you.” Mr. Carver said. This didn’t sound good. Dad said that the mayor didn’t want anyone going near that island, and now my dad talked about doing just that. I looked up at Taylor with a pouty face.

            “We need to go to your dads’. He could potentially be in danger, or at the very least, arrested for disobeying an order from the mayor,” Taylor said as she got up, causing my head to fall against the couch. Rubbing my head, I stood up with her. Then I remembered that dream with the wolf.

            “I need to go there anyway. I had a dream where the wolf goddess, who made me look this way, told me that I needed to visit that place. She said that it would help; me to unlock my true power.” I said. Taylor looked like she was going to say something, then decided against it.

            “ Well, what are we waiting for?” she asked as she started dragging me out the door and down the hall towards the elevator. The next thing I knew, we were in my car, heading towards Clinton.