Really Strange Stuff

=::= Bailey's PoV =::=

Callie pulled into the driveway and parked behind my dad's SUV, then she turned to look over her shoulder at me and asked nervously, "How do I look? Is my hair ok? How about my make-up?"

"Since when have you ever cared what your hair looked like?" Serenity responded from the passenger seat.

My calico girlfriend pouted, "I just want to make a good first impression. We're finally going to meet Bailey's folks, and it's their family thanksgiving. That makes this a big deal!"

"If you say so," the tall ravenette catgirl rolled her eyes. "Bailey said not to worry about that sort of thing though. It's a casual dinner, right?"

I couldn't help smiling at the pair of them, "Right. My parents aren't going to care how any of us are dressed."

"But having said that I think you look fantastic Callie," I added to my girlfriend. "Now how about we head inside? I promised my mom I'd give her a hand in the kitchen, before the rest of the family get here."

The calico catgirl had actually put some effort into her appearance today, although I didn't have the heart to tell her it didn't make that much of a difference. The only make-up she wore was some subtle lipstick, and that actually did add some nice definition to her smile. She'd brushed her short colourful hair too, but it had already returned to its typical slightly-chaotic look.

Neither Callie or I were wearing anything too fancy either. She was in a pair of leggings and a comfy t-shirt, while I was in a pair of well-worn jeans and a simple top. And we both wore our favourite hoodies too. Meanwhile Serenity was her usual fashionable stylish self, and I was positive her day to day outfits were nicer than whatever my parents would be wearing for the holiday.

"Thanks Bailey!" my girlfriend smiled as the three of us finally emerged from her car.

After weeks of non-stop hard work we were finally taking a day off. We had a lazy morning at home, including a late brunch of french toast and bacon. Now we were going to spend the afternoon and evening with my parents and some of my extended family, and I hoped we'd be able to relax and enjoy it.

I knew we'd be back at it again tomorrow, then Saturday we'd probably all be a bundle of nerves as we waited for the first episode of our new project to drop. And hopefully Sunday would be busy again too. If everything went well we'd be responding to countless emails and messages on social media, and we might even see an influx of new subscribers. And fingers crossed, we might see an uptick in sales on our merch store. Especially since we'd just added a bunch of new products, with the new logo and featuring our catgirl hosts.

But all that was the future. For now, we had my family Thanksgiving to get through. So I led my girlfriend and her partner up the driveway towards my parents' home.

The front door opened before I even knocked, to reveal my dad standing in the doorway. He was dressed casual like I figured, in jeans and an old shirt, but he had a warm happy smile on his face.

"Hi daddy!" I greeted him with a quick hug and kiss.

"Hey sweetheart, welcome home!" he responded. He stepped back after our hug, then motioned us in as he added "Your mom's in the kitchen, we can all join her in there and do the introductions."

All three of us followed him down the hallway towards the kitchen. The house already smelled like roasting turkey, and that seemed to make both my feline companions very happy. Their tails were standing up tall behind them, and their ears were pointing upwards as well.

Sure enough mom was busy peeling some potatoes, while the squash waited their turn on the counter next to her. She quickly washed her hands before greeting us, then after she and I exchanged a hug I finally introduced my parents and my friends to each other.

"Mom, dad, this is my girlfriend Callie Wilson," I said as I presented the cute calico catgirl. Then I gestured to the tall sexy ravenette catgirl and added, "And this is our best friend housemate and colleague Serenity Varela."

I continued, "Callie, Serenity, these are my parents, Frank and Donna Hoffman."

My girlfriend was obviously a little anxious, her tail had poofed up a bit and her ears weren't standing so tall as she greeted my folks, "Hello Mr. and Mrs. Hoffman, it's a pleasure to meet you both."

"Very nice to meet the two of you," Serenity added just as politely.

Meanwhile my dad gave them both a warm smile, "It's wonderful to finally meet you as well. And please, it's Frank and Donna ok? No need for the formal stuff, we're all family here."

"That's right," mom smiled in agreement. "Callie, Serenity, I'm glad you were both able to join us today. Bailey's told us a lot about you, and we've enjoyed watching some of your recent videos."

That put a little blush on my girlfriend's cheeks, while her best friend smiled. And both pairs of ears and tails stood up tall and proud again.

Then dad exclaimed, "Oh where's my manners got to? Can I get you girls something to drink? We've got some nice beer, and there's wine, soft drinks, and we've got some spirits if you'd like me mix something up?"

It was a bit cliché but that actually broke some of the awkward tension my friends and I were feeling. A couple minutes later Callie and Serenity were in the family room with my dad, and all three of them were enjoying some of dad's fancy imported beer. Meanwhile mom and I stayed in the kitchen so I could help her with the prep work. She had a glass of wine next to her, while I had a glass of orange soda with a splash of vodka.

She'd got back to work on the potatoes, so I began preparing the squash. And it only took a few minutes before she got started with the teasing again.

Mom leaned a little closer to me and lowered her voice as she commented, "So Callie and Serenity both seem like lovely girls. I take it you and your girlfriends are still handling their new circumstances without any trouble?"

I stifled a sigh, but decided not to let her get to me this time. So I didn't say anything about the girlfriends comment. Instead I quietly reminded her, "It's not exactly new at this point mom. It'll be seven weeks as of tomorrow."

"And yes," I added, "We're all managing just fine. Serenity's been more than happy with things right from the start. Like I told you on the phone, Callie needed a little more time. And so did I. But we both came to terms with it, and we're doing doing fine now."

Mom smiled as she replied, "I'm glad to hear it hon."

Then after a sip of wine she asked in another teasing tone, "I suppose you must feel a little left out though? After all, both your girlfriends have those cute fuzzy ears and tails. I hope you're not jealous of that? Especially considering they won't be the only ones with ears and tails at dinner tonight."

"Of course I'm not jealous," I told her as I rolled my eyes.

Then after adjusting my glasses I decided to tease her right back, "There's nothing for me to be jealous about, since I received my own enchanted plushie the other day. It's a cute little red fox, with black ears and a white tip at the end of its big floofy tail. I even promised Callie she could video me when I trigger the magic. Maybe I'll do it on our next live stream, so everyone can watch me transform into a foxgirl."

It was hard keeping the smile off my face as I offered, "I'll try and remember to email you before the show. You'd like that, right mom? You can watch your daughter turn into a foxgirl live on the internet, so she fits in with her two catgirl girlfriends?"

The look on her face was priceless, and it was almost worth it. Almost. Because of course a certain calico catgirl had wandered into the kitchen behind me just in time to hear some of that.

"Oh wow Bailey!" my girlfriend exclaimed, startling me slightly.

My expression probably mirrored mom's as I spun around to try and explain things. But Callie didn't let me get a word in edgewise.

"Does that mean you've decided to join us after all?" she asked, while her tail flicked back and forth behind her in excitement. "I know we were talking about December ninth for the next live show, but we could bump it up to next week if you don't want to wait that long!"

I started to protest, "No that's not..."

Then my voice trailed off and I frowned at her. "Hold on! How come that's the part you're focusing on? Why aren't you questioning the fact that I referred to both you and Serenity as my girlfriends?"

Callie tilted her head to one side while her ears drooped and her tail stopped moving. "I suppose I'm a little surprised that you're telling your mother about it before talking to me? But it's not that big of a shock Bailey. I've seen the way you've been looking at Serenity lately, and I see the way she looks at you too."

My cheeks were bright red at that point, but my girlfriend kept talking. And I realized she was beginning to blush as well.

With her cheeks turning pink she admitted, "I've been having some unexpected thoughts and feelings about her myself, to be honest. I've kept quiet because I didn't want to upset you or freak her out. But if you and Serenity are already cool with the idea, then I'm willing to give it a try as well."

Her expression finally shifted into another smile as her ears and tail all perked up again, "And it'll be even better once you use your plushie! A foxgirl and her two catgirl girlfriends? That'll be amazing! Not to mention, we'll be the coolest damn paranormal channel on the internet! Think about it Bailey? Three hot sexy cryptids, all working together on their own show? We'll be unbeatable!"

By the time she finished I felt almost completely overwhelmed, and I couldn't help thinking that if I did have a tail it'd definitely be between my legs at that point. I only meant to tease my mom a little, now my girlfriend was convinced I was going to use my plushie fox and form a polycule with her and her best friend.

Meanwhile mom had been silent up to that point. Now she was looking back and forth between my girlfriend and I with wide eyes as she processed everything Callie and I had been saying. She finally picked up her wine glass and gulped the rest of it down before suggesting, "Ah, Bailey? I can handle the rest of the work here, if you need a few minutes to talk to your two girlfriends."

I looked at her, then back at Callie again. My girlfriend was still wearing a wide excited smile, with her ears and tail all standing straight up. She was probably still thinking about me joining her and Serenity in front of the camera as a foxgirl. And I had to admit she wasn't wrong, about how our numbers would go through the roof if that scenario actually came true.

Except I hadn't actually made the decision to turn myself into a foxgirl. I wasn't as opposed to the idea as I acted, there was definitely some curiosity there. And while I wasn't jealous like mom teased, I hadn't missed the fact that Callie and Serenity seemed to share a new bond thanks to their nonhuman attributes. They definitely had something between them that I as a normal human missed out on.

Plus there was something really compelling about the way kitty-Callie could just curl up into a cute little furball and sleep almost anywhere. Obviously foxes are different, but they definitely looked just as cute when they curled up and hid their faces behind their poofy tails. And that thought made me realize, if I had a tail it might have just started wagging.

"Bailey?" my girlfriend's voice brought me back to the present. "What do you think babe? Should we go and talk with Serenity about this stuff?"

I took a deep breath then let it out as a slow sigh before shaking my head, "Not right now cutie. It's not the time or the place. We'll talk tomorrow, or Saturday. For now let's just get through Thanksgiving, ok?"

"Yeah ok," she nodded. "Good point."

We exchanged a quick hug and kiss, then Callie opened the fridge and grabbed a couple bottles of water, which was apparently the reason she'd come to the kitchen in the first place. With a smile and a flick of her tail she turned and headed back to the family room again, while mom and I got back to work on the food. And happily that was the last of mom's teasing. At least for now.

It didn't take us long to get everything ready, then we could leave the kitchen for a couple hours. There'd be more work again closer to dinner time, but until then we could relax and enjoy the day. I was happy to note that my girlfriends... that Callie and Serenity were both getting along well with my dad. The three of them were talking about work when mom and I joined them, the catgirls were trying to explain how we made a living by giving away content for free on the internet.

They actually seemed to be getting through to him too, which was a pleasant surprise. He never seemed to understand when I tried to explain the whole subscriber supporter model. That conversation only lasted another few minutes though, before it was interrupted by the doorbell.

"That'll be Kelly and her family," mom said as she got to her feet. "I'll get it."

A half minute later I heard my mom greet her sister and her sister's husband. Neither of them sounded any different, which made me think the plushie-user must be one of the twins. My cousins were a couple years younger than me, a boy and a girl who were both taking a year off school before heading into college.

A few seconds later mom returned with the others in tow. Aunt Kelley came in first, followed by Uncle Greg. Then the next person to enter the room was a very petite arctic foxgirl. She was actually smaller than Callie, even counting her fuzzy white ears she was still less than five feet tall. Her floofy white tail hung down low behind her as she glanced around the room like she was worried what we'd all think of her. But before anyone had a chance to react I was more than a little surprised to see a second identical arctic foxgirl enter the room behind her.

Apparently both my cousins got plushies. And they'd used them to change themselves from boy and girl fraternal twins to identical twin sisters. With matching fuzzy ears and floofy tails and beautiful long snow white hair. At least they weren't dressed the same. They were both wearing dark leggings, but one was in a pale pink blouse while the other wore a lavender top.

Aunt Kelly smiled as she greeted me, "Hello Bailey, it's good to see you again. I'm sure you don't recognize your cousins, but this is Heather. And this is Jasmine."

I smiled to the one in the lavender top, "Hello again Heather, that's a great new look."

"And Jasmine," I said as I gave her sister a smile too, "That's a beautiful name, and it's great to meet the new you."

My dad greeted them both warmly as well, and after that the twin girls seemed to finally relax. Then I went on to introduce my foxgirl cousins to my catgirl friends, and somehow I knew this was going to be an excellent Thanksgiving.