Chapter 7: Leaving the Nest
The Lupins were at their wit's ends with the appliances breaking. Tara and Luke discussed upgrading, but in the end they decided against it. The family funds were in a comfortable place. Tara wanted to completely rebuild the house when Larisa reached adulthood. If her daughter could not spend too much time away from home, Tara wanted to make sure she loved it.
Larisa was a determined inventor, though she had her occasional mishaps.
Larisa was still not very good at controlling her transformations.
The stress of setting herself on fire left her stuck in werewolf form for a couple of hours.
Painting was much less dangerous. Nikolas painted for fun and to calm his nerves.
Larisa now had two of his paintings by her bed. Nikolas was embarrassed by the little one he'd made as a child, but Larisa loved it.
Nikolas was a dedicated student. He would happily just paint all day, but Nikolas understood the importance of schoolwork.
He didn't mind Larisa's werewolf antics too much. They were best friends. Nikolas would never show it, but he felt sorry for his baby sister. She was stuck while Nikolas was free to do whatever he wanted.
Larisa would not be a baby much longer.
Larisa's first order of business was to get a haircut. She didn't want anything getting in the way of her inventing.
Unlike her brother, Tara spent more time inventing than anything else. Nikolas had Haley for a friend as well as his sister. Larisa just had Nikolas.
Tara was worried for her daughter. How would she feel about having to stay isolated for the rest of her life?
Larisa was oblivious to her mother's worries. She was happy with her life.
The Lupin parents decided to invest in some local businesses. That way if something ever happened to them, their children would always have enough income to live on. Luke became a partner in the bookstore, Tara in the grocery.
The stress of school was often the root of Larisa's transformations. She'd gotten to the point where she could hold delay things during the school day, but as soon as the school bus was out of sight Larisa was a werewolf.
All of the hard work during the school year really paid off. Larisa was of above average intelligence. Between the two she was able to exempt from all of her finals.
Nikolas was graduating soon. Though he was just as hard working as his sister, he did not share her genius. He had to get to school halway through the day for his Trigonometry and Physics exams.
The two Lupin woman spent the day relaxing together.
Nikolas graduated. Tara was so proud of her son. He was a handsome young man with a bright future.
Now that he was finished with school, Nikolas had time to really pursue his love of painting.
Painting wasn't the only thing he was pursuing. Nikolas was spending a lot of time with his long-time girlfriend Haley.
When he proposed, she accepted. They were married at city hall. Neither one of them wanted a big wedding, especially since Haley found out she was pregnant!
Nikolas hugged his parents and his sister goodbye. It was time for Nikolas to move out.