Chapter 174
"Dad?"
As Natalie and the man stared directly at one another, Sophie and Shannon's heads whipped back and forth between the two of them. On Shannon's side, this was her first meeting with her new father-in-law. She was nowhere near mentally prepared for this, having expected to only find them up in High Level if at all. With how much Nat had talked about her parents moving about all the time, she really should have been ready to run into them at any time. Shannon just froze in place, trying to figure out what the chances were that they would meet up here. Did the energy bring them together, by using Sophie's dreams to influence her mother's choice of route?
Sophie on the other hand, was still trying to compute what Nat just said. Dad? Did that mean that the man in front of her was her grandfather? What even was a grandfather? As far as she was aware, other kids had grandparents, but she didn't, and apparently never did. Every time that she went up to her dads and asked them about them, they very quickly got uneasy faces before diverting the conversation. After a while, she just figured that it was something she would never have and stopped bringing it up. Now that there was one in front of her though, her mind went blank. Together with Shannon, the two of them froze up like statues, unsure how to even breach the subject of being family with the man in front of them.
As for the two family members, the man slowly stood up while maintaining eye contact the entire time. Not once did they drift to the two other people, the bow hitting the ground, or the direction of any other sounds around him. "Natalie? Is that really you?" he asked, thinking that he was seeing things. After all, he knew that his daughter had been working in the deep south of the province. Plus, they were in the middle of a city that was filled with monsters and scavengers. The sight of his daughter showing up in front of him was surreal, causing him to doubt his eyes. However, when Nat's face adopted a goofy smile, with tears running down it as she nodded in response, everything burst through.
While both were speechless, they both ran forward and hugged one another deeply. Tears ran down both of their face as they embraced, happy to see their family once more. There, they stood for a few minutes, just bawling and hugging as if to confirm that the other was really there. Shannon and Sophie just watched on, feeling like they shouldn't jump into the hug. Neither them nor the animals that were around bothered to interrupt them, just letting them enjoy the moment. However, there was one that interrupted them.
"Matis, what's taking you so long you big..... Oaf......" hearing the noise, everyone turned to look at the voice. As a woman walked around the corner, she stopped talking and dropped the walking stick she was holding as well. Instantly she ran forward, joining in the embrace in front of her with tears already flowing down her face. More minutes passed, with the scene in front of them just repeating with another body. They had not seen each other since Christmas, but with the apocalypse happening it felt like far longer. None of them had even been sure they would see each other again. When they all finally broke apart, the woman broke the silence, "Come in, come in. We have a lot to talk about, and it would be better to sit down as well with some food." She also Gestured to Sophie and Shannon to follow her, leading them all into the zoo.
Their camp was a little of the way into the facility, inside of a copse of trees, and its looks mimicked several aspects of their own. In fact, it was remarkably similar, that you would think it was almost a direct copy. The main difference was that the tent was actually suspended, sitting a few feet off the ground. That, and the creatures sitting around the area were entirely different. Instead of canines and gorillas, cougars and bears lounged about in total harmony. As they all took to sitting in different spots around the fire, Nat's mom instead moved towards the fire, putting out a metal sheet and starting to cook. The atmosphere became as if they had just gone home for dinner, and she was just starting to make dinner for everyone.
As she cooked up the food, Nat got down to talking and explaining everything that happened. She introduced Shannon and Sophie as family, and talked a bit about what happened, but left out more sensitive parts. Some of the content of their trip was not her story to talk about, and they would only talk when they were ready. She went over how she had started the event down in Waterton, how she met with all the different members of her pack, and what they had seen and done across the southern half of the province. All throughout, Matis asked questions, but only for the sake of clarity. Otherwise, him and his wife just left her to speak and share her piece. When she got to the points of rescuing both her new wife and daughter, each got hugged in turn by both of the family members.
When she finished, canines and gorillas slowly came out of her Soulscape, interacting with the other animals around the camp. The entire thing devolved into what seemed to be a giant family gathering. Laughing was prevalent, as well as challenges of strength and speed. Smiles were had and it was a good time all around. Shannon and Sophie even got up to help Nat's mom, who they found out was named Charlene, with making up dinner and getting everything ready. She had told them in no uncertain terms that Shannon was to call her by her name or mom, while Sophie was only allowed to call her grandma. Both of them felt quite happy with that, and easily started doing it. The call for food, being the one thing that quieted everyone down and had them all congregate to the fire. After all, the smell of the food had been flooding out for a while, and no one wanted to miss out on whatever produced this delicious scent.
Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, John, Hades, Sir Hellington, Onean, Sebastian, Adam, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!
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