The Rowans and The Greys Chapter 11: Cousins
#11 of The Rowans and The Greys
It had become a bit of a tradition for Victoria and her younger sister, Alexis, to do a group call with their parents on Sundays. It was usually a fun time as they were all able to catch up with each other quickly. Victoria had been the first to call into the group chat, her parents image popping in on the screen.
"Hey dad! Hey mom," Victoria said to the screen with a smile. The vixen was a nice shade of dark orange, a few tones lighter than her father, but from her proportions, she resembled a younger version of her mother though Victoria was a few inches shorter. She could see her parents smile as they responded with, "Tori! It's good to see you!"
Even though her name was Victoria, the vixen had started calling herself "Tori" in high school since it was quicker to say. The younger red fox smiled, "How've you been?"
Her mother shrugged her shoulders as she sat beside her husband. "Oh, we can't complain," she churred sweetly, but Mike chuckled, "I've been very busy."
"How'd the..." Tori started to ask when Alexis popped in. Alexis was almost a clone of her mom, sharing the silver and black markings, though she was also just an inch or two shorter. For being the younger sister, she was actually an inch taller than Tori. The younger silver fox grinned, "Hey!"
Mike and Helen smiled at their two daughters on the computer screen. "Alexis! Happy you could join in," Mike said as he looked between his daughters, "You're mother and I have been fine, though I've been very busy lately."
"I was just about to ask about that Last Will and Testament case," Tori said before her father injected, "Oh yes. I have some interesting news about that."
The young vixens' ears popped up, "Oh?"
"Yes, it's been thrown out of court, but there's more to it. It seems the defendant," their sire paused for a second, "Do you remember your Uncle Chris?"
Alexis nodded, "Kinda?"
"Didn't Uncle Chris die before we were born," Tori asked.
"He did, but you remember when you were in high school and I told you to be careful around tods?"
The two vixens nodded. "You also told us to never forget about taking our birth control," Tori replied.
"Not until we were ready to have kits," her sister interjected.
"Well. Uncle Chris was the reason why," their sire said as he looked between them, "Grandpa and Grandma don't like to admit it, but Chris had a bit of a reputation for... getting around with girls."
"Ohhhh," the two vixens said in surprise. Now his advice made sense. They knew he didn't like to talk about Uncle Chris much, so hearing their father bring him up meant they were about to learn something new.
"What does Uncle Chris have to do with your case," Alexis curiously inquired. Her father let out a sigh.
"Well, your Uncle Chris... had," the tod paused for a second, realizing that, while he was talking to his little girls, they weren't "little girls" anymore, they were women in their mid-twenties, "Chris got a vixen pregnant during a one night stand, and when she wouldn't abort the child, he refused to marry her."
Tori and Alexis stared at their father. They had never heard this story, then again, why would their father ever tell it? They knew Uncle Chris was a touchy subject, but they were just now realizing how touchy it was. "What... what happened," Tori slowly asked.
Mike looked at his girls, "Well, the last time we saw her pregnant was the end of the semester. Everyone figured she was going to drop out and go home, but when Fall Semester started, she was back. She wouldn't answer anyone's questions about what happened, so everyone just assumed it was a miscarriage."
"Did she," Alexis asked before adding, "Have a miscarriage I mean."
Their father shook his head, "No. She put him up for adoption."
There was a long pause as everyone just stared at each other until Alexis asked, "Dad. What are you trying to say exactly? What does this have to do with that case you were telling us about?"
"The defendant was... er... is your cousin," the older tod finally blurted out. The two vixens blinked several times before Tori spoke, "How long have you known about this? Why haven't we ever met him?"
Mike let out a long sigh, "I didn't know until yesterday. I called him on Thursday to tell him about the case being thrown out, but I wasn't sure if he really was Uncle Chris' son until yesterday when I met him in person."
Alexis, who was a few years younger than her sister, decided to ask, "Well, what does he look like?"
"He looks a lot like his father," he replied, but then realized that they never met Chris so that wasn't a good reference point. Helen chuckled as she pushed away from her husband, disappearing off screen for a few seconds before returning with a family photo of college age Mike standing next to his older brother. Chris wore a huge smile, though his younger brother was scowling a little bit.
"Like the one on the right," the silver vixen said, holding the picture up to the camera.
Tori nodded but Alexis let out a giggle, "He's kinda cute."
Their father chuffed, "Well, not exactly like him. He's a bit heavier than his father, but they look very similar."
"Can we meet him," Tori inquired, "It's only fair since you got to meet him that we do."
"I haven't told him about this, but Grandpa Rick wants to meet him for dinner," their father replied only to say, "Don't... don't tell Grandpa Rick about this though, I... uhm... haven't told him that his client is actually his grandtod."
Tori dragged her paw over her breasts in an ex, "Cross my heart."
Alexis giggled softly, "I won't tell, but what's his name?"
"Kody Grey. He's a fi... er... bomber pilot," their sire replied, "I never asked what his mother does for a living, but they'll be in town on Saturday. I can see if they can come earlier if you'd like to meet them."
"YES," the younger sister said with a smile, though Tori was more collected, "Sure."
"All right. I'll send you a text with a time," Mike said with a smile.