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Cleo and I spent most of the following day in the woods again. Although her house is a perfectly safe place to transform, it felt restrictive. Being out in the woods allowed me to stretch out my wings and run as much as I liked. Cleo was not moving as quickly today, and it seemed like something had bothered her since last night. I tried to act as if I didn't notice, but I was unsure if that was my best choice.

I ran up beside the gryphon and slung my wing over her back. "Need to take a break?" I asked as I pressed my side against hers, pulling her in with my wing, "You've been down this morning, is everything alright?"

Cleo Gave a halfhearted laugh, "Not feeling the greatest right now. Think I may have a bug coming on." She leaned her head against mine, "Let's stop here and rest for a bit. I need to lay down." She slowly fell onto her side and stretched. I positioned myself behind her and pressed my head into her neck feathers.

"Is that all that's the matter?" I asked. She let out a sigh, and her feather puffed out slightly.

"No, I have plans with my folks tonight, but I want to find a way out of it." She rolled her head back so she could see me with a single eye, "Through a game of telephone, they caught wind of you."

I pulled my head back, "But the only ones to know were..."

"We never really said we were being secretive about it." She said, slowly shaking her head. "I don't see an issue, but I don't feel like dealing with the barrage of questions tonight." She chuckled as her eyes closed.

I thought about it for a few moments. If we were committing to this, we might as well rip the bandage off now. It won't get any easier, especially with our current courtship activities. I took a deep breath and sputtered, "What if I came to dinner with your parents?"

Cleo's eyes shot wide, her head lifted quickly, and her eyes locked with mine. "What? Do you want to try and fool a bunch of old gryphons?" Surprised, she seemed to think it was a joke.

"We aren't fooling anyone, but we don't have to mention my history. They don't need to know I'm human." I tilted my head and tried to shrug off her reaction.

She rolled her hips and groaned as she laid her head back on the ground. "My word! What did I eat to feel like this?" Cleo laughed as she began to massage her belly. She rolled back onto her legs and slowly stood up, "Maybe I'll feel better if I walk it off." She began to step forward, but something about her motion looked different. I couldn't place a finger on it, but her walking was unusual.

We returned to the car, and I drove back to her house. I waited as she took a shower before taking one myself. I learned that changing did not eliminate any smells for either form. After a day running in the woods, my human body still smells of gryphon sweat. The same goes for other activities as well. I still bathed in my human form. My coordination was not the greatest when it came to washing my larger Gryphon body by hand.

After drying off, we departed for her parent's home. Cleo seemed nervous as we drove, and I tried to assure her everything would work out. What is the worst that could happen? They find out we began courting? They are already aware we are spending time together. We would be fine if we didn't bring up the transformation, or so I thought.

As we pulled up to the street, a gate blocked the road. A high wall surrounded the neighborhood with a large gate in front of it. The gate and walls left no gaps to see through, but after Cleo entered a code in the keypad, the gate rolled open. Revealing homes of all kinds of conditions, surprising since I expected a gated neighborhood to have immaculate homes. The gate closed quickly behind our car as Cleo drove until we were roughly six houses in. We pulled into the driveway of a nicer home than the rest of the street.

As Cleo exited, she wasted no time shifting into her gryphon body. I looked around but was unable to see anyone else outside the houses. I followed Cleo to the door when she saw I was still on two legs. "You have to change, Jackson!" I tried to react quickly and fell forward as the feathers shouted around my head.

"But we are not inside-" cut off by the door opening, a gryphon who resembled Cleo closely stood before us. The gryphon's ears perked up at the sight of us, and she stepped out and wrapped her arms around Cleo, "It's so good to see you!" She shouted. Turning her attention to me, she gasped, "Is this your partner?"

"Yes, Mom." Cleo laughed, embarrassed, "This is Jackson." Cleo gestured a claw to me. Cleo's mother cocked her head slightly before whispering, "His name is close to that human boy you were with. You have a thing for Jacksons, then!" Cleo's feathers ruffled slightly as her eyes darted between her mother and me.

"Well, come in, come in!" Cleo's mother guided us through the doorway. The house looked no different from a regular human home, the wooden floor in the mud room had some scratches, but the rest was carpeted. As we continued to walk, we passed a small office and a deeper voice called from inside. "Cleo, who's this you brought with you?" The voice was deep yet soft sounding.

I turned to see another gryphon, much larger than the three of us. His fur was a dark brown, and white feathers covered his head. His height was visible as he stood, and he was significantly larger than I.

Cleo turned and calmly answered, "This is my partner, Jackson. We've been together a few weeks now." Her dad looked confused as his head cocked to the right, "Are you Ashwin's boy?" He asked.

"No, I-" I started but was quickly cut off by Cleo, "He's not from around here. He's from... out west." Cleo tried to answer smoothly.

"Oh, I know a few clans out west!" He said excitedly, "Who were you born into?"

Oh no, I haven't a clue what to say next. I tried to think of an answer quickly but hesitated. He stared, looking for a clan name, but I stood with my beak open, about to speak. I finally blurted an answer, "Oregon!" But this left Cleo's father with a confused look.

Come on, Dad, don't bombard him with questions. He's shy and doesn't do social stuff well. It took a lot to get him to come tonight." Cleo said with a chuckle.

"Alright, Alright, I'll leave him be. Irene! Do I need to pick up anything since we have a guest?" Cleo's dad yelled out.

"We should be fine, and you can spare a bit yourself, Greg!" Cleo's mom Irene shouted teasingly. Greg shook his head lightly and laughed. He returned to his office and sat on the floor, lining up well with his short office desk. I followed Cleo to the living room, and we sat next to each other on the couch. Cleo's parents' couch had a small slit in the back, making a perfect space to tuck your tail into. Cleo began massaging her belly again. Her eyes looked uncomfortable as she did.

"Are you sure you are alright?" I asked, reaching a claw toward her belly. Cleo quickly tapped it with hers, and I pulled it back. "I'll be fine, just feeling... blegh" She gave a slight nod before she laid her head back against the back of the couch.

I head the sliding door behind us open, turning to look. I caught Cleo's dad as he walked into the backyard. "So do your parents not care if anyone knows they are gryphons?" whispering to Cleo, I tried to keep quiet. Cleo turned and had a confused look. "Why would they hide it here? They- oh," She seemed to have a realization before chuckling. "This whole neighborhood is filled with gryphons, Jackson. It's a safe place to be yourself, except on Thursdays. They are left for humans to come in for whatever reason they need to."

That explained the gate and why the houses seemed mismatched next to each other. Cleo explained that the homes are passed from generation to generation, and new ones are built by the community as needed--an almost secret society within the small land. From any outsider, it looks no more than an uppity gated community. Cleo's parent's home was one of the newer units, finished only four years ago. Living in this neighborhood style was typical for gryphons, allowing them to be themselves without the risk of the outside world.

"So why did you move to your current house?" I asked, still whispering as Cleo's mother was nearby.

"I wanted to live more like a human. Only being yourself around the same group of people grew old to me." Cleo sighed and adjusted her posture, "Everyone around me started to move on, but I didn't mesh well with the others my age. So I took a break from gryphons and found you." As she finished, she shuddered. Shaking the seat, she held her belly again.

"Are you sure you are fine? You've done that twice now, hon." Looking down at her claws, she pulled her wing to cover herself.

"I'm fine, I promise! Maybe I'm just hungry?" She said unconvincingly. She stood up from the couch and walked toward the kitchen. Her mother was working at the counter, cooking away. The table was odd at first. The legs were shorter than the standard table and had no chairs. Cleo's mother began setting out plates. She turned to Cleo and asked her to call for her father. "Father!" Cleo shouted from the door, "It's time for dinner!"

Her dad was quickly at the door and followed her back inside. I stood off to the side as everyone seemed to know what to do. Eventually, Cleo's mother sat on the floor facing the table. Cleo's dad wasted no time taking his place next to her. I started to walk to the other side where

Cleo was already planted on the floor. She gestured for me to sit next to her.

Cleo's mom began to ask small questions about Cleo and me as we ate. "So, how long have you two been seeing each other?" She asked excitedly.

Cleo cleared her throat before answering, "A month is all. We have been doing great in that time, though." Cleo's mom turned her attention to me, "You must be pretty good to her, then. My Cleo wouldn't start her courtship with just anyone."

Her mom's words surprised me, and I coughed, choking a little. "I try to be the best I can be." I tried to answer.

"I'm glad to hear you two are doing well. Cleo's mother and I spent a year courting before we finally bonded." Cleo's dad spoke, looking at his mate. "It's a long process, but it's worth it when you find the one."

I tried to keep my heart steady, but I didn't want to give any hints as to how far Cleo and I were in courting. I tried to smile and nod my head in agreement. Cleo didn't seem phased by the conversation. Based on our discussions with her friends, it seemed like courtship was more open and less private than human dating. Speaking of it was still uncomfortable for me, though.

After we finished dinner, the sun had already begun to set. I panicked initially as one of us would have to drive across town at night. Cleo's mom seemed to pick up on that as she offered for us to stay in the guest bedroom tonight. We spent the next hour talking about current events in our town and the gated community projects. As we spoke, Cleo seemed to become more and more restless. She fidgeted when sitting and struggled to stand when she tried. She began to seem panicked, and I could feel something was indeed going on.

Cleo jumped up, and her head darted around, "Excuse me! I need to go to my room!" She sprinted to the stairs, her back legs sliding as she turned up the staircase. Before I could react, the door pulled shut. Her parents stood up, but I already started jogging to the stairs, "I'll check on her. She may have eaten something earlier that upset her stomach. They seemed to relax as I quickly ran up the stairs.

Open the door. I found the guest bedroom with Cleo standing next to the bed. She jumped up on the bed and turned to face me. "Oh, thank god it's you. Can you grab a towel out of the bathroom there?" Cleo laid on the bed with her claws gripping the blanket. I ran into the bathroom, grabbed a white towel off the rack, and ran to her side. Her body shook, and her claws squeezed at the bed blanket.

"I have the towel! Where do you want it?" I hobbled around with the towel in my claw.

"No use now, ehhh!" She groaned, "It's too late for that." She tensed up and pressed her head against the bed, pushing hard enough that her beak began to sink into the blanket. Looking past her head, I could see her feathers puffed up, and her tail was shaking. With a grunt, she exhaled, and she appeared to go limp. Her beak opened, and she let out a deep breath. Her eyes opened and made contact with mine.

The door swung open as Cleo's mom rushed in frantically. "Cleo! Are you alright?" She shouted, but once she saw Cleo lying on the bed, she turned her head to the side.

Cleo rolled onto her side, and her tail fell against the bed. She seemed worn out as she slowly turned her head to look down at her body. But I could not see what she was looking at. Cleo's mom gasped as I realized they were not looking at her body but rather at the bed itself. On top of the light blue blanket sat a glistening white orb, oblong in shape. At first, I felt cold, but as my mind put together what the globe was and what it meant for Cleo. My heart began racing, I felt like I needed to do something, and my body felt excited. Without thinking, I opened my beak and screeched at the ceiling before bringing my head down to hers.

I couldn't think of anything else at the moment. Only one thing mattered right now. I pressed my head against hers, our feathers mingling into a mess as she was still lightly panting. "I love you, Jackson." She said as she rubbed her head against mine. I wanted to reply, but I couldn't find the words.

We were no longer just partners. We were no longer just a human and a gryphon in love. We were now bonded, together as mates.