Unexpected aid

The day goes by fairly quickly, and Dave’s attempts to cheer you up work well. You both face a bit of friendly teasing over sponsoring monster girls, but it’s not mean spirited at all. In fact, if anything you would say some of the guys are jealous!

Midway through the day, both Mazzy and Dakota message you, saying that they’re going to go shopping together. You warn them to be careful, but otherwise simply tell them to have fun. You ask what they’re shopping for, but you only receive teasing ‘You’ll have to wait and see!’ messages in response. Your date is planned for Friday, and now you’re more excited than ever!

Eventually, it’s time to go home, and you hop in your car. It’s a quick trip, and before you know it, you’re pulling into your driveway. Something catches your eye as you get out, however. There’s a piece of paper taped to your door. Glancing around, you see that your neighbors have something similar. In fact, every front door you can see has a paper taped to it. Curious, you grab the paper off your door and read it.

“Attention residents: You should be aware of what is happening in your neighborhood. There is a non-human living here, in the company of one of your neighbors. This ‘monster girl’ is not from our world. In order to understand better what this means for you and your family, I urge you to attend a neighborhood meeting, this Saturday.”

There’s a location and a time listed, but below that is a handwritten note.

“Brian, I apologize if this alarms you. Helen has been going around spreading rumors about you and that adorable little woman I’ve seen you with. I know you’re a good person, and she must be as well. I know you’re relatively private, but I hope you can attend, this will be good for both of you, I promise. -Joanne”

You chuckle to yourself. Joanne is another one of your neighbors, a retired schoolteacher and widow. In many ways, she’s a mirror of Helen. Though she seems to know everything about everybody, she simply wants everyone to be happy. Her own children live far away, and are unfortunately seldom able to visit her, and so you help her out when you can. She seems to have adopted you as something of a surrogate child, and dotes on you as if you were her own. All in all, Joanne is a lovely woman, and her mind is still sharp despite her advancing years.

You think about this meeting for a while. If Joanne thinks it’s a good idea, then it probably is. In fact, it makes perfect sense. No one could meet Mazzy and still dislike her!

You head inside, finding the house quiet. Mazzy and Dakota are still out shopping, which isn’t surprising. Still, it feels strange to come home to an empty house now. Once again, you marvel at the change since Mazzy arrived.

You hop in the shower and get cleaned up, and when you get out there’s a message from Mazzy letting you know that they’re on their way back. You settle in on the couch to wait, watching some tv and cracking open a beer. You smile, excited as ever to see Mazzy again, and the truly wonderful thing is that you know that she has the same excitement.