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OK...life has been a bit more than unbearable lately but i apologize for any lateness in the postings and i have a lot to come down the road, and i hope everyone enjoys this piece

Enjoy and Cya 'round

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"Umm...what is the catch of the day today?" Jake asked as he looked over the menu.

"Catfish," the waiter replied.

Jake's forehead creased and he looked up again, "OK...I'll have the catch of the day with a baked potato and steamed vegetables,"

"To drink?" the waiter inquired.

"Water," Jake replied. With that the waiter went off. He'd been the last to order, and he always felt as if he fidgeted while he ordered. He couldn't say he didn't feel out of place when out in public with the wolf's family. For obvious reasons he tended to stand out, but it wasn't a terrible thing. He knew he was just being too paranoid, that more than likely people weren't even giving him a second glance. He took off his glasses and put them in the neck of his shirt, hoping it would make the world fade away a little.

"Took you long enough Big-guy," Lucas said jeeringly. His stomach rumbled lightly and he chuckled at it.

Jake looked over at the wolf and smiled, "Sorry...but maybe you should go on a diet...getting a bit hungry are we?"

"Me? Diet? I think you just classified irony in it's more primal form," Lucas replied with a laugh. Jake was just playing with him, the bear knew he was hungry. He wasn't sure why but it felt as if he hadn't eaten anything in the past few days, and he was sure he could take down an entire buffet.

"Ouch," Jake said with a light laugh.

Lucas smiled at the bear, and then looked at his family. So far they were getting along swimmingly, no comments that were unnecessary being spewed just yet. His mother didn't really acknowledge them as a couple, but instead constantly seemed to be trying to see them as she had seen them during spring break-just friends. That was more than ok with him, his mother was at least bearing Jake's presence. His sister was currently coloring on a napkin with the complimentary crayons that were on the table. She was drawing some sort of strange image, it looked like a drawing of a trachea, though he shuddered to think what his sister saw in it. "So...how is work going?" he asked his mother.

"Good...though this week is going to be long-I have at least two meetings and I'll probably be dealing with annoying clientele till the end of the week," Mrs. Vadikson said with a gruff sigh.

"Well, at least more work means business is going well," Jake said, hoping that he was right. He wanted to try to speak to Mrs. Vadikson, he didn't want her to hate him completely. She didn't have to like him, just not hate him.

Mrs. Vadikson shot a glare at the bear, who flinched visibly. She sighed and nodded her head, "Yes...that's true,"

There was almost a tangible feeling of relief at that. If a nuclear war had been about to break out it would've been at that, so now they might be safe-though Mrs. Vadikson still seemed a bit on the radioactive end. Mr. Vadikson coughed a bit and took a sip of his water, "So...do you two have any big plans for the rest of your break?"

"No, not really," Lucas said and looked over at Jake, "You want to do anything?"

"Nah, I'm fine relaxing...past few days have seemed kind of...active," Jake said, saying the last word with a bit of stress to it.

Lucas felt his stomach rumble with hunger again and looked down at his stomach, as if he wished to silence it. He looked over at Jake, "Yeah..." he said and nodded then looked over at his father, "You were planning to talk wit-"

"Later tonight," Mr. Vadikson said, making sure the topic was dropped at that. He did mean to talk to the two, but it wasn't a family conversation-at least it wasn't one that involved anyone but him and the two of them. His wife could participate, but he knew that she didn't want to; he'd offered for her to come and talk and she rejected it. And it'd be shameful for Ana to hear any of it. It was an important conversation, but not one to be had in the current setting. He let out a light chuckle, "So...tell me how school is going for you Jake,"

Jake looked over at Lucas, as if looking for permission from his mate, who nodded at him in response. "It's going well. Kind of tough...but the exams were fun too..."

"Oh, Big-guy, that reminds me," Lucas said, cutting in, "we need to compare our grades later,"

"Why would you do that?" Mrs. Vadikson asked. She looked at Lucas, "You made the highest mark you could anyway. What is there to compare with?" she asked. Even if she tried to hide it, there was the small implication that she was expecting his grades to outdo the bear's.

Lucas chuckled, "Jake usually does equally well," he said and smiled at his mate. He could tell that the remark from his mother had shut him up, and he wanted to go back in time and stop it. The bear wasn't pouting, but he showed little indication that he was interested in adding to their talk now. It wasn't even the fact that he felt insulted because Jake knew he was smart. It wasn't that his ego was soft to other people's judgment; he knew the bear too well to think that. There was the simple fact that the bear could tell when he wasn't wanted around-even if it was just one person. That one person though, changed his entire attitude, and Jake would become his old introverted self in no time flat if he sensed such a thing. The bear did hide it well though, Lucas could only tell it because he knew Jake as well as he did, and by a small lingering look in Jake's eyes, one that faintly told him everything he needed to know.

"Look, it's a carnival!" Ana said gleefully. She was great at timing her entrances. She shoved the napkin in the center of the table.

Lucas heard Jake laugh lightly, and did so also. His sister was young enough to not really know when they were talking very seriously, but old enough to make the conversation steer a different way. He looked at the picture again; it still looked like a trachea to him. He grabbed the picture, "Jake...what does this look like to you?"

"Umm...I don't know...a carnival," Jake replied with a chuckle.

"I was thinking a trachea," Lucas replied. "See, there's the tube part of it and you can even see where it attaches to the lungs,"

"Hmm...yeah I guess..." Jake replied with a chuckle.

"You two think of school too much, you're seeing biology in art," Mr. Vadikson said with a chuckle.

Lucas looked over at his dad, "So...what you're saying is we should stop trying, right?"

Mr. Vadikson cocked an eye at his son, "Now that would be putting words in my mouth,"

Jake chuckled, "So he didn't learn that one from you?"

Mr. Vadikson laughed, "No, that one must have come from his mother,"

Mrs. Vadikson looked over at Lucas, "No it didn't. I say things as they are,"

Lucas just laughed as he looked at his parents, "Maybe it's just blunt truth," he said with a light chuckle. Before the conversation could go much further their food arrived. Lucas had ordered pasta with alfredo sauce, his father had a salad, his mother had a pot pie of some sort, his sister had some sort of kid's meal. They all began to eat and the banter trimmed down to the simple small talks usually attributed to meal time conversation. As the meal passed he felt his hunger being sated slowly. His other needs came to his mind, the ones that were constantly interrupted by some other people-even though he pushed them back. It made him feel like a pup again almost, he wasn't even in control of his usually normal instincts.

He felt his member telling him things, and he tried to keep his gaze away from Jake; at the very least to keep his mind out of the gutter. He saw something slide onto his plate and looked over at Jake, who just smiled at him.

"Go on...try some," Jake said with a smile.

Lucas looked at the fish, "Is it good?"

"I like it," Jake replied and took a bite from the vegetables.

"Hmm, OK," Lucas replied and bit into the fish. The bear was right; it was really good, better than his own meal. "Want some of mine?"

"Nah...I'm OK," Jake said, sampling the broccoli.

"OK...how about you sprout?" Lucas said and pushed his plate to his sister.

Ana looked up at him, "I'm not a sprout," she said with a pout.

"So..." Lucas said and put his paw on the plate, "you don't want it?" he asked and laughed as she pulled the plate towards her. He let her take the plate; he wasn't hungry anymore. He'd felt hungry when he ordered but there was a lot of pasta, much more than he could eat. He chuckled as his sister avoided everything on the plate save the spaghetti, her original target.

They all spoke for a few more minutes, and when they got ready to leave actually stopped around town, going to a few places. It wasn't really anything that was worthwhile, but to Lucas it meant something. The pure fact that he wasn't just with his family spending time, but that he was with his mate and family meant a lot to him. There was no real event that marked the scenario, but he felt as though it was important-they didn't have to make any stops. They could've gone home and each gone into their individual parts of the house, but instead they were together; together even though they didn't have to be. Sometimes they might lightly laugh, and other times there wouldn't be any words, but it was still nice.

After close to two hours they all went back to the house, now going into their spots. His mother actually went out to see her sister along with Ana, and he, his mate, and father sat down to watch another part of their most current season.

About two episodes into the show Jake felt his phone vibrate. He looked down and saw that Jim was calling him. He sat up and looked over at Lucas, who just smiled lightly at him. He leaned down and kissed Lucas lightly on his head before exiting the room. Once he was away from them he answered the gorilla's call, "Hello?"

"Hey Jake..."

"What's up?" Jake asked, putting on a cheerful demeanor. He was happy to talk with Jim, but he knew that the last thing Jim felt right now was happiness. As long as he could be something for Jim to lean on he knew he'd be fine.

"Nothing much...that offer to just talk still good?" Jim asked, as if expecting Jake to say no.

"Of course...so, how's it going?" Jake asked, sitting down at the couch in a different room. After a few minutes of talking Lucas came in to the room. The wolf smiled at him before joining him. He didn't act any differently, he knew Lucas didn't expect him to-the wolf was simply staying near him. After a few moments Lucas was in his lap, just staying near him. He gently stroked the wolf's head as he talked with Jim, all the while becoming more and more grateful for Lucas's presence. He still talked very normally with Jim, they laughed, joked, and did things they normally did-he just wanted to be there for him at the moment. As more time passed he found that their position changed a bit. He was now lying down on the couch with Lucas's head resting on his shoulder, the wolf gently dozing.

Jake continued to run his paw over the wolf's chest, holding him close to him. He spoke with Jim for two hours nearly, the gorilla always trying to talk more and more. Jim only choked up once in their talk, but he never bawled like the night before-not that Jake could blame him if he did. They talked about a lot of things, from women to playing cards, whatever came to mind. When the gorilla finally had to go Jake let the phone close as gently as he could and put his attention to the wolf before him. Lucas was sleeping lightly, his eyes peacefully closed as he relaxed on his mate. Jake couldn't help but feel a smile on his muzzle, and he gently kissed the wolf on the top of the head. He stayed for a moment, breathing in Lucas's scent, calming himself a little.

Jake thought about Jim and Jen, what had happened between them. He'd yet to talk with her, but didn't know if that was a good idea. Time seemed to pass by as he got lost in his mind, thinking more and more about what had happened. If this happened to Jim, what was to say it couldn't happen to him too? He just wanted to be with Lucas, and the more he thought the more scared he felt. It wasn't even focused on Jim and Jen; they just pushed the button to his mind-like they were spark needed to light the fire. As he fought his mind he continued to tell himself that they were different. He loved the wolf, he wouldn't ever leave him, and even though his mate left him he knew that wouldn't happen again. There was no way Lucas would betray him again-the wolf cared about him too much, that's what he told himself over and over.

"Jake? Hey, Jake..."

Jake snapped out of his mind, realizing Lucas was calling him. He looked down at the wolf and smiled lightly, "Yeah?" he asked. The wolf was staring at him, a slightly worried look to his eyes.

"You OK?" Lucas asked, cocking his head a bit. He'd woken up to the bear's whines and light tugs. He was sure Jake wasn't even conscious of it, at least not with how the bear had seemed so lost in thought.

"I'm fine," Jake replied, trying to act like he was right.

Lucas smiled at the bear and nuzzled him lightly, "You were acting a bit strange...you were whining a bit, and making a bit hard to breathe,"

Jake frowned and returned the small show of affection, "I'm sorry,"

"It's OK...what were you thinking about?"

"Just...relationships I guess,"

"Us?"

Jake looked down at his mate, seeing that Lucas already knew the answer. He nodded a little, "Yeah..."

"Want to talk 'bout it?"

"It's pretty stupid,"

"So?"

Jake chortled lightly, "OK, you got me there...you sure you want to know?"

Lucas leaned forward and kissed the bear on the tip of his lips, and then nodded.

"I guess...I'm a bit scared for us. You know, Jim was great for Jen, I thought 'hey, these guys are perfect for each other' and all that kind of stuff. With them breaking it off I'm just scared. It's not anything big...I'm just being paranoid," Jake said with a light shrug of his shoulders.

"Yeah, you are," Lucas replied with a smile. He saw Jake frown at him and he laughed lightly, "Hey, I'm agreeing with you, it's good. I'm saying that you're wasting your time worrying about us being apart...you know I love you, right Big-guy?"

"I know," Jake said with a smile. He felt the wolf's lips press against him for a brief moment, a bit longer than a peck.

"Good," Lucas replied and pushed on his mate. He sat up and let out a yawn. He didn't know how long he'd slept, though it felt like a good nap. A meal and a nap-life was great right now, even better with his mate around. He looked over at the bear with a smile, "So...what time is it?"

Jake leaned forward and grabbed onto Lucas, "It's about five," he said and pulled Lucas into a hug.

Lucas chuckled lightly and felt Jake nuzzle him playfully, "You certainly change your moods quickly,"

Jake kissed the wolf's neck, "You made my doubts go away,"

Lucas felt a grin cover his muzzle, "That's what I'm here for," he said with a chuckle and pushed a bit on his mate, who only became more attached to him. He began to laugh a little and felt Jake kissing at his neck more and more. "Jake...please!"

Jake pulled back and smiled at his mate, "OK..."

"Well," Lucas said with a frown, "that was a bit too easy,"

"It won't be so easy later," Jake said, a low growl to his tone.

Lucas smiled at his mate. In the past few minutes Jake had managed to go from worried to happy, to playful, to lewd in a very short amount of time. They both shared a quick kiss, careful to not let it become anything more than that. With that he stood up and stretched, looking down at his mate, "Hey, I'm going to get a shower before supper...and I guess you'll be cooking a meal for me,"

Jake scoffed lightly, "Yeah...you go relax while I slave over a hot stove,"

"So, what you're saying is I'm the man of the relationship?" Lucas inquired and puffed out his chest.

Jake cocked his head and stood up next to Lucas. He gave the wolf his best glare and then swooped him up by his shoulders, "Yeah...that's what I meant," he said with a playful scowl. He could see Lucas's tail swish lightly behind him. He smiled at the wolf.

"Are you going to put me down?"

"Not until you correct yourself," Jake said with a smile. He was holding Lucas about two feet off the ground, but still made sure that the wolf wasn't uncomfortable. He saw the wolf's grin increase a little.

"Fine, you're my number one man Big-guy..." Lucas replied and when Jake put him down he chuckled, "But I still say I wear the pants in the relationship,"

Jake patted Lucas on his shoulders and rolled his eyes. He looked at him for a moment and chuckled, "Guess what...I take the pants off in the relationship,"

Lucas laughed and leaned up kissing Jake on the lips once more, "We'll see about that one," he said and with that moved off to the bathroom. When he got to the bathroom he quickly turned on the shower and took off his clothes. His member was swollen in his sheath, but was not out yet. It was definitely annoying to always be with the bear but never having sex. "Just a bit more," he said with a sigh, knowing that tomorrow would bring the pleasure he was waiting for.

In the kitchen Jake was learning a new dish from Mr. Vadikson. Normally cooking was pretty relaxing, something he really needed, but not right now. Mr. Vadikson was making sure he was cooking well, as if it was a test of his skills and not a learning experience. At some points he felt a bit tired but the wolf was a great teacher-an amazing one actually. Mr. Vadikson did make cooking seem more like an art than just something done to survive. Lucas's father had experience in culture, he didn't just know how to make something taste good; he knew how to give it personality. He felt a paw grasp his wrist and looked at Mr. Vadikson who stopped him.

"No, no...you can't just throw things in like it's all going to be some large mixture," Mr. Vadikson said with a sigh.

"But...it is just a huge mixture...isn't it?" Jake asked and saw the wolf's eyes glare at him a little. Mr. Vadikson was a much harsher teacher than any he'd had before, which was as funny as it was scary. Jake would've never imagined that his mate's father could be a tough teacher, but he was strict and practically unforgiving for mistakes. If Mr. Vadikson didn't take the meals he prepared so seriously it would've been humorous, but he knew better than to laugh. Most would laugh at the sight, how serious the wolf was about something like cooking, but Jake feared the wolf a little, "I'm sorry..."

Mr. Vadikson let out another sigh and pulled Jake's paw from the dish, "Jake, when you are working in a lab, do you just throw all your chemicals together because it's all a huge mixture of things?"

Jake frowned and shook his head, "No sir..."

"Cooking isn't that different..." Mr. Vadikson said and saw the bear's frown. He patted him on his back, "Go stir the sauce before it starts to burn...I'll be explaining this part of the meal so don't miss out, got it?"

Jake nodded and walked over to do as the wolf said. It wasn't that Mr. Vadikson was being mean, he just didn't really tolerate lots of mistakes. The wolf would return to his kind, gentle self as soon as the meal was prepared. For the next hour he helped the wolf fix the meal and learnt more than he had bargained to. Lucas was watching TV again, but came in to check on him every few minutes. At one point Mr. Vadikson even shooed his son out of the kitchen because he came in so often. It was a pretty funny sigh, no matter how you saw it. Now the only thing to do was take the meal out when it was properly cooked-so it was relatively simple right now. The wolf was quizzing him on how to re-cook the meal, if he had to start over. Jake closed his eyes and thought, "Umm...you'd use milk,"

"What type of milk?" Mr. Vadikson asked, his eyebrow lightly tipped.

Jake looked at the wolf, as if trying to decipher if he was serious or not. Sadly, Mr. Vadikson was very serious. "Does it matter?" he asked, not able to understand why it would. The wolf's face told him he'd better give an answer, any answer, if he didn't want to be scolded, "Soy," he said with an exasperated sigh.

"Nope...you'd use buttermilk...come-on use your head Jake. It makes sense if you think about it,"

"OK..." Jake said a bit apathetically. Normally he loved to learn from Mr. Vadikson, but he just didn't feel like it right now. The wolf's teaching style was perfectly suited for long term memory, he'd remember what he was taught, but right now he didn't want to hear the tone. It wasn't that he'd become annoyed with Mr. Vadikson, he was grateful, but life's sudden turn didn't help him any. Even if he didn't consciously feel it all the time, he was strained by the events-which he realized at times like this. It was like being in the mist, you don't realize you're soaked until feel the first drop of dew fall off your fur.

"I guess you're not thinking about it? It's very important" Mr. Vadikson said jokingly with a light chuckle, knowing the bear was a bit stressed.

"Honestly I couldn't care les-" Jake was saying before he stopped his snapping comment. He shut his mouth quickly and just closed his eyes, as if trying to go back in time to smack himself before he could even speak. An aggravated growl vibrated in his chest-directed at his own mind. The next thing he felt was a pat on his back and he looked up to see Mr. Vadikson smiling at him.

"The meal isn't going to be ready for about twenty minutes...go relax with Lucas," Mr. Vadikson said gently. He didn't blame Jake for the snap, he was being too tough on the bear and he knew that. Even his parents hadn't been as tough on him when he was learning as he was on Jake. That, combined with the most recent stress of the bear's life was quite a chunk to handle. It wasn't that he was trying to punish the bear in any respect, but he did mean to be hard on him. Though it was a bit strange he wanted Jake to cook very well, especially if his son was going to be eating it. Not that he thought Jake didn't cook well beforehand but he was still Lucas's father; it is in his blood to want the best for him-he wanted the best for Jake too. He squeezed the bear's shoulder and nodded towards Lucas's room, where his son was. With that the bear got up and headed towards the room, his head hanging a bit as he did. There wasn't anything he could say to the bear to make him feel better-Jake was probably beating himself up. The most frustrating thing to him was that it wasn't like the bear had really snapped at him, but Jake didn't seem to care about that.

Lucas looked up as Jake came into his room and couldn't help but feel a bit sad when he saw a small frown on his mate's muzzle. He scooted back on his bed and made room for Jake in front of him, who quickly took the place. He draped his arm over his mate and pulled him closer, "What's wrong Big-guy?"

Jake pushed back into his mate's chest a little and let out a sigh, "It's nothing. I kind of snapped at your dad,"

"Is he angry with you?" Lucas asked, obvious by his tone that he'd be on Jake's side, not his father's.

"No...I guess not. I'm lucky to have a guy like him to teach me; he's patient, a great cook, intolerant of mistakes, kind, and fun to be around,"

"I don't think that middle part is the best...I know he's the type to get onto you for little mistakes. I could talk wit-,"

"It's good for me," Jake interrupted, not wanting his mate to do anything about it just because he was in an emotional rut. He sighed again and continued, "It...makes me learn faster," Jake said and could feel Lucas nuzzling the back of his neck.

"If you say so..." Lucas said and kissed his mate on the cheek.

Jake sighed a little, he felt better already. It wasn't that he'd been torn up about the snap at his mate's father, it wasn't too bad. He was more just frustrated in general. Christmas break was supposed to be relaxing, but over the past week he'd had nothing but stress to come at him. He felt terrible for Jim, hating that there was nothing he could do about it, and hated himself for being so depressed while being with Lucas at the moment. He wanted things to be good, for everyone to just be happy and get along. It wouldn't be so hard for life to go well would it-for just a day? He was brought out of his loathing self pity by a small chuckle from his mate. He rolled over in his arms to look directly at him-wondering what was funny.

Lucas felt the bear roll over and chuckled a little, "Sorry Big-guy...I was just thinking,"

"What about?"

"Ehh, you know, stuff,"

"You have to tell me now," Jake said with a weak laugh.

Lucas studied the bear's eyes for a moment before going on, "Well...I was just thinking about this time last year. We weren't together, but...you realize that it was like pulling teeth to get you to open up to me about small things? Even like why you were down about something, like if you were sick. You used to always hide whatever you were doing from me. It's kind of like you tried to act all big and bad, not that you weren't big, but I guess you just put off a air of composure, you know?" he asked and saw Jake hesitantly nod his head. He kissed the bear lightly and then continued, "Not a bad thing Big-guy, but I was jus thinking. I used be lucky to get you to tell me how you felt about the weather...but now it's nothing like that. Now it's different, you know?"

"Yeah...I'm complaining to you about everything, even the stupid little things in my life..."

Lucas cocked his head a little; frustrated Jake had mistaken his words, and then moved a paw up. Instead of being comforting he gently swatted Jake on the muzzle, not a hit, just enough to make the bear's eyes widen. He frowned at him, "That's not what I meant by that to begin with, and you do realize that I'm your mate-that I'm there for you? I want you to come to me with everything because none of the things you say are stupid, got that? Besides I complain about 'stupider' things than you do,"

"No you don't...you nev-"

Lucas stopped his mate, "Not true Big-guy...remember before the break? I complained an entire week that I'd failed that psychology test,"

"But you had a fever and had thrown up that night...you should've been hom-"

"I still complained about it," Lucas interjected. He smiled at his mate, "See...you're doing exactly what you did that week too. Even though it's a stupid thing to complain about I sulked about it all week, and you were there to help me feel better the entire way. It's stupid to not bring anything to each other-especially if one of us is sad about it or something. Besides Big-guy...the moment one of us starts to act like a child we can discipline the other. Just don't think that anything you say is stupid. See Big-guy, you went and took a compliment and made it into a lecture,"

Jake frowned a little, "I'm sorry..."

Lucas smiled at his mate and gave him a quick kiss, "It's OK...I love you anyway,"

"That's a miracle," Jake said with a light grin.

"Yeah...what can I say, you got a lucky catch," Lucas said with a shrug of his shoulders. He nuzzled Jake gently, "You feeling any better?"

Jake buried his head in Lucas's chest, "I'm getting there..." he replied, breathing in his mate's scent. After a moment he looked up at him, "I don't know though...I'm being such a downer during the break. Have I said thank you yet?"

"For what?"

"For being there for me...even when you should be relaxing and enjoying time with your family,"

"It's what I do. We're mates and I want to always be there for you. You don't seem to get it...I haven't felt like I was relaxing till I was back with you,"

"Suck up,"

"It's true," Lucas replied and kissed Jake again. The bear rolled back around in his arms and he hugged Jake from behind, "Things are going to be fine,"

"I hope so," Jake replied with a light sigh and closed his eyes. He wasn't tired, but he just wanted to be with Lucas right now-to shut out the entire world. With a sigh he accomplished that a bit, and as time passed he lost track of his surroundings save for the wolf that was near him.

Sadly life didn't seem to allow him luxuries for long. An outside noise came to his attention, a high squeaky noise.

"Supper time!" Ana yelled into the room as she ran in.

Lucas put a finger to his lips, "Ana...please be quiet,"

Ana looked at Jake, and ran over to him and began to shake him, "Come-on, it's not bed time yet! Supper is ready!"

Lucas felt his jaw drop at his sister's lack of kindness; she was a little demon sometimes. It was pretty funny at the same time though. He felt Jake get up, the bear putting on his best face for the little pup.

Jake gave a playful frown to the small pup, "You want me to barge in and wake you up in the middle of the night?"

"You wouldn't!" Ana said, as though it was some all applying law, like gravity.

"Oh, I wouldn't?" Jake asked and grinned at her. He scooped her up and gave a playful growl, "You know what happened to the last person who woke me up?"

"Jake, you wouldn't do that to Ana would you?" Lucas asked with a playfully scared voice. It was almost like they had a routine set just for her. It worked well, she was still young enough to buy it too, yet brave and naïve enough to laugh at just about anything.

"Oh, I would!" Jake said and licked his lips, "I have to get enough food for winter sleep and young pups and cubs are just so...so...so tender," he said, adding the last part with a hungrier look to his eye and licking his lips. Ana kicked at him now.

"Let me go, I don't want to be eaten!" Ana yelled, though she was laughing too, just as she always did. She was quickly put down by Jake who fell back onto the bed, Lucas grappling him from behind.

"Run while you can! He won't be down for long," Lucas said and acted like it was a struggle to hold back the bear who was reaching for his sister. Ana ran out of the room quickly, yelling about how she didn't mean to wake him up. When she left they both broke out into a spree of laughter. Lucas ruffled his mate's chest and Jake rolled around in his arms.

"You're cruel,"

Lucas licked the bear's nose and smiled, "You started it,"

Jake couldn't help but smile at his mate, "What...they're so fun to play with at that age," he replied and felt Lucas lick his nose again, "Stop that,"

"Stop what?" Lucas asked and licked the air as Jake dodged his tongue. He laughed as the bear rolled off of him and got up too, "You're right...my family is probably waiting on us,"

Jake nodded and fell in line behind the wolf. In the kitchen the family of wolves was already sitting down and fixing their plates. They both did likewise and began to grab some food. It looked really good, and Jake could tell just by looking at it that it wasn't a simple meal. He thought about all the preparation he'd put into it, and how the aroma was almost as good as it tasted. Mr. Vadikson really did know how to cook, he did it very well and with passion; it was more like the wolf was a chief and not a fill in teacher.

"Jake, could you pass the dressing?" Mrs. Vadikson asked.

Jake quickly grabbed the dressing and handed it to the wolf, it was the first time she'd asked him to do something that didn't have some sort of ill intent behind it. She didn't thank him; he hadn't been expecting her to though. He took a bite of the pasta and realized just how the melted chesses all came together to blend into what was probably the best thing he'd ever tasted. The small meat sauce on it also added to the flavor and was unique tasting, he couldn't place it though; it was different-earthy.

"So, Dad, you happy to get back to the school?" Lucas asked as he blew some of the pasta to cool it.

"Well...it's a mixed blessing," Mr. Vadikson said with a sigh. "I like the class, but I'm not really into some of it. They have me teaching history and psychology,"

"Social sciences...sounds simple enough," Jake said, playing with one of the noodles on his plate.

"It is...knowing the material isn't the problem. It's the classes I teach, the people in them..." Mr. Vadikson said with a sigh.

"What's wrong with 'em?" Jake asked, rolling the noodle around his fork and bringing it to his lips.

"Ehh, some of them just don't care,"

"You'll get that in every class," Lucas threw in.

"Yeah...it's sad but true...Lucas is like that in college," Jake replied with a chuckle.

"Am not," Lucas said, sticking his tongue out at his mate.

"As seen by his maturity," Jake added, nodding at his mate. He looked over at Lucas who smiled at him and they both exchanged a small look of love-something they'd found they could do some time ago. It was strange to just be able to look at the other's eyes and know what they were feeling or if they were doing well, but it was good too.

"I care about school!" Ana yelled, throwing herself to the center of the conversation.

Mrs. Vadikson chuckled lightly, "Just as you should if you want to be like your big brother,"

Lucas felt a smile across his muzzle, his mother still loved him-she still wanted Ana to be like he was. Well, save for him being gay. Those small words made him feel a lot better about their relationship, even though it would probably never be relaxed like it was before. He looked over at Ana and smiled, "Yeah, what can I say...being me is pretty great,"

Ana looked at her brother then to her mother, "Do I get to go to college someday?"

"Yes you do," Mrs. Vadikson replied with a smile.

"It's fun right?" Ana asked, now looking at Jake.

"Yeah, but it's tough sometimes..." Jake said, trying not to make it sound like it was one huge party-it wasn't.

"And I get to have sleep overs all the time?" Ana asked.

"Sleep overs?" Lucas asked, cocking his head a little as he tried to stab a piece of pasta. This must've been what she'd meant to ask to begin with. For such a young pup she could direct a conversation in the direction she wanted quite skillfully.

"Yeah! Just like you and Jake," Ana replied gleefully. There was a spiting sound, followed by coughing.

Jake choked on the water he'd been drinking, which was now on his plate too. He felt a paw on his back and he tried to regain his breath. It was exactly like those movie scenes where the question takes someone in the middle of a drink by surprise. He felt Lucas hit his back a bit more roughly, forcing the excess water out. After a minute he managed to regain control of his lungs, coughing up the last of the water. Taking in more oxygen he took deep breathes and felt Lucas rubbing his back.

"Ana...they don't sleep over," Mr. Vadikson said to his daughter. He had no idea how to approach this one, and by his wife's face, neither did she.

"But they're always together!" Ana said, pouting now, "How come they get to have sleepovers all the time,"

"Umm...Ana," Lucas said and waited for his sister to look at him, "Me and Jake aren't having sleepovers...we live together,"

"Like Mom and Dad?" Ana asked.

This kept getting worse and worse.

"Kind of...we're both students and well...umm," Jake said and looked at the faces of the table. Mr. Vadikson was giving him a look that told him to be careful with his words, Lucas's face told him he didn't know how to handle it, Mrs. Vadikson's was one mixed with fear and anxiety at what he would say, and Ana's was attentive. "Well...we live together because it is easier on the both of us and we both like each other enough to where we can share a place. That's what two people who...umm...are there for each other do; it's what mates do," he finished, a bit unsure of how he was explaining.

Lucas seemed to realize what he could say now and gained his sister's attention, "Ana, me and Jake are mates, we're together," he said, hoping she'd leave it at a just friendship level, he had no idea how to tell her he was gay-how she'd be able to get what it meant and that stuff. "You know what a mate is, right?"

Ana nodded her head. In the family it was expected for pups to learn about the family relationships early.

"Good...well, you see...me and Jake have a bond and it's not like we're having a sleepover, we both live together and take care of the other when we need it because that's what mates do," Lucas explained with a slight sigh.

"But Dad's mates come over and they don't stay all the time," Ana said, still pouting.

"Ana...it's different for Jake and Lucas," Mr. Vadikson cut in.

"Bu-" Ana tried to say but was cut off.

"That's enough of that young lady," Mrs. Vadikson said, obviously holding a large amount of contempt for the situation.

"Not fair," Ana grumbled as she poked at her pasta.

Jake looked over at Mr. Vadikson who seemed a bit relieved, but a bit concerned about how the situation was handled. The rest of the meal passed a bit more carefully, and after awhile Ana found the next thing to attach to. She quickly got over the fact that her ideal dream wasn't quite what she thought it had been. Mrs. Vadikson soon took her departure, Ana leaving also. Mrs. Vadikson had a visible scowl, not staying around much longer than needed-the situation obviously getting on her bad side. She cast a glare at Jake, not bothering to hide the scowl and Jake looked away as she walked down the hall. A door shut to the bedroom and Jake looked down at the floor.

"Well...that certainly was interesting," Mr. Vadikson said with a chuckle. "I didn't expect that,"

"I'm sorry..." Jake said, as though on cue.

"Jak-" Lucas was saying but he was cut off by his mate.

"No...I'm making things awkward, there's no way around it," Jake said, it was true.

"Well, we'll just have to adapt now won't we?" Mr. Vadikson asked. He smiled at the bear, "You're a part of the family-for better or worse. Ana is too young to really get what you two have, so we'll tell her you're both mates. When she gets older she'll put it together,"

"What if she doesn't approve?" Lucas asked.

"We can deal with that when that comes to it," Mr. Vadikson said. He had no interest in talking about the 'ifs' of that topic. There were other ifs that had to be addressed, and he guessed that now was a good time. "Hey, you two...start cleaning up,"

Lucas sighed, "What?"

"You're right...Lucas, you clean up. Jake helped to cook, he doesn't have kitchen duty," Mr. Vadikson said, his son's mouth hanging open. He stood up and walked off, "I'll be back in ten minutes...I want to talk with you two,"

"Fine..." Lucas said and sat there for a bit longer.

"Well, get to work waiter," Jake said, his mood lifting a bit.

Lucas stood up and began to gather the plates, "Totally unfair," he said under his breath as he walked over to the sink. He turned it on and began to rinse the dishes. It wasn't so bad, well, it was, but he could live with it. He grumbled a bit more and began to scrub furiously while he could hear his mate chuckling behind him. Lucas looked back at Jake and scowled, "Jerk,"

Jake chuckled and leaned back into his chair, "I can get used to this," he said and stuck his tongue out at the wolf.