Chapter 45

Home Is Where The Heart Is

The girls drove back to Kel's studio apartment on Capitol Hill.

Kel sighed as she opened the door. "Welcome to my little rat-hole." Gwen looked around the sparsely furnished Studio. It felt to Gwen to be a...sad, lonely place. Kel plodded into the kitchen, putting on water for tea while looking around the bleak apartment.

"It ain't much I admit, but it's cheap. It's only running me four fifty a month." Kel sighed.

"For_this?"_Gwen asked while taking in the living space. "What kind of amenities does it offer?" Kel shook her head,

"Off street parking, a basement coin laundry, and a rooftop patio, if you can call it that, and if you don't mind being watched by every building around you. Oh, and it's on the bus line--and there is a nice view of the Sound if you lean out the bathroom window. Come have a look..."

"But Amanda, _are_you _happy_here?" Gwen asked stirring honey into her tea.

"I dunno, it's a place to crash and do laundry...and it's cheap so...eh." she said, shrugging her shoulders. "Why?" Kel looked at her friend and teacher.

"Welll..." Gwen paused. "I talked it over with Rick. And we were wondering, if you would _like_to move in with us?" Kel just blinked. "You could have your own room, we have three guest rooms, you know." A small smile tugged at the corners of her mouth.

"_R--really?"_Kel asked in almost a whisper, looking around her studio.

"Well, yeah. If you'd like--I mean Rick and I both like having you around, we are compatible, both in and out of the sack," She gave the Vixen a wink. "And there will come a time when I won't be physically able to see to Rick's needs, and you both seem to enjoy each other..." She said in a soft intimate voice, baring her soul a bit to the vixen.

"Y--you'd be _willing_t--to fully _share_him with me?" Gwen gave her a small nod.

"I don't see why not. Rick and I are _soulmates,_and that goes far beyond the normal boundaries of marriage...I _don't_want you to feel in _anyway_pressured or _obligated_to do this. It's just--that you mesh so well with us, and--it seems so practical. You both work the same shifts. Put in your own phone if you want..." Gwen looked deeply into Kel's brown eyes.."Besides,_I_like having someone to do '_girl-stuff'_with." She finished with an impish smile.

Kel was stunned. She couldn't find _one_point to argue with, Gwen was right on all counts...It was something she honestly, _never_considered--anything _remotely_like this...

"W-w-well...uh...I--I've_never_considered something like this..._I_really do like being with you guys and everything...and looking around, you can see what I have to come home to--I've just--are you _really_serious about _this?_About me _moving_in with you and _Rick?_I mean us being, um all together?" Gwen just nodded, a coy smile dusting her muzzle.

"_Only_if _you_wish to, Amanda. It's just...what is it, hon?" She asked, seeing a tear sliding down Kel's cheek, her eyes bright.

"I--I couldn't wish for something this...this--oh Gwen, _please,_tell me you're _NOT_joking...you _really WANT_me... to...to." Gwen reached for the shaking vixen.

"To share our home and life? Yes, Amanda. We WANT you to join us..._if,_and _only_if you would feel okay with this. I am _acutely_aware of the fact that this is an unusual request to make of you. But you've got to admit, we're _not_exactly your run of the mill furs." Gwen smiled compassionately as Kel nodded; burying her head in the skunk's shoulder--and the tears freely fell.

"I--I--I Oh Gwen! I have no family. And--and you guys are closer to me than family...a--and I never_dreamed--you'd ever, _ever_offer something like t--this to..._me. I--I don't know _what_to say..." The vixen sniffled, trying to get control of her emotions.

"Well," Gwen said softly. "You_could_say yes...if you _want_to, that is?" She pulled the Vixen up and looked in her eyes, for the answer was plain to see. And in a voice barely above the ghost of a whisper Kel replied,

"Yes, please..." Tears were streaming down her cheeks.

It was a simple matter to get Kel packed up, as there _wasn't_a whole lot to pack. Kel bounced down to the manager's office on the first floor and cheerfully turned in her notice. The stunned stoat manager blinked at the paper.

"Keep the furniture if you like, you can rent it as a furnished unit!" Kel beamed, dropping her keys on his desk.

"B--but _you've_been my best tenant! _Why_are you moving _out_all of a sudden?"

"I'm moving in with family!" the vixen called back as she flounced out the door.

"I thought she _had_no family!" The stoat said to himself, scratching his head.

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