Later that evening, Christine sat in the drawing room with the family watching television.  And in spite of the heavy mood Perry was in as the time of his ordeal neared, Christine was laughing hysterically at the sit-com playing on the TV.  Apparently Christine had managed to absorb enough of Suburbian culture to start appreciating their comedy. 

     What had thrown her at first was something she had initially looked on as political incorrectness pervading Suburbian TV.  Almost every character was in some way unique in terms of what kind of animal they were and how their fur was colored.  And this uniqueness seemed to be one of the things the Suburbians liked to laugh at most.  To Christine this had at first seemed tantamount to poking fun at someone's ethnicity.  And she felt a sense of obligation to be offended by it. 

     The slapstick sight gags also struck her as being rather insulting to the integrity of one breed or another.  But nobody seemed to mind this at all.  And as long as everyone else was laughing, she couldn't help throwing political correctness to the wind and sharing a joyful moment with her new family. 

     She rationalized that, unlike the human society she was used to, the Suburbians did not take themselves so seriously that they couldn't laugh at themselves.  And gradually Christine began to recall that there was a time when pure humans loved to laugh at themselves as well. 

     She was old enough to remember laughing at radio and television shows that had later fallen out of favor and been banned for stereotypical content.  It had never occurred to Christine how much she missed that kind of comedy.  And she was glad to see that the Suburbians had recognized the worth of it and made it a part of their culture.  This gave her hope that her life in her new world would be a pleasant one, in spite of the difficulties she had to face. 

     Perry was grateful for the distraction of watching Christine's hysterics.  He wondered if she was doing this on purpose to take his mind off his problems. 

     How grateful he was to have good friends like Christine and Kacey in his life to fill his mind with happy thoughts at the worst of times. 

     Sir Jon also watched Christine with delight.  For when she laughed he could almost see her as the little fox friend he had adored so many centuries before.  He felt as if he was rediscovering his forgotten memories as well. 

     Sonny had come to look on Christine as a pleasant addition to the family.  In spite of Christine's age, she seemed so much younger than Perry and Lorri. 

     Sonny observed that Christine had the heart of a playful child, and her innocence just seemed to come bouncing back, no matter what horrors or bad memories she faced.  And though she had every reason to have become mature and cynical, Christine's heart of light would not succumb to darkness. 

     Eventually they heard the front door open and close.  At this sound Perry became rigid, as though his heart had suddenly stopped beating. 

     "Relax, Perry," said Sonny.  "Jenny wouldn't come in without ringing the doorbell."

     Christine, feeling full of springy foxy energy from all the laughing she'd been doing, bounced out of her chair and ran to see who had come in. 

     "Vicki!" Christine shouted happily as she saw her friend walking towards her. 

     With child-like enthusiasm Christine ran to Vicki and embraced her excitedly - hardly able to keep her feet on the floor in her state of ecstatic buoyancy. 

     "Where have you been?" Christine cried happily.  "I missed you so much."

     "My goodness," said Vicki, seeming overwhelmed by Christine's energetic reception.  "You're certainly back to your old self again."

     "No, no," said Christine, in a joyful voice.  "Not quite yet, but soon.  Soon I'll really be my old self again."

     "Heh, heh," said Vicki, in a bemused tone.  "I hope I survive."

     "Oh, you," said Christine as she hugged Vicki tightly, snuggling her neck and sighing with adoration. 

     Vicki looked towards the drawing room and saw that everyone was watching.  Then she said to Christine in a quietly anxious tone, "Uh, you are embarrassing me, you know."

     "Aww, I'm sorry," said Christine, sweetly.  "But I really, really have missed you.  I feel so insecure without you to explain things to me.  I just don't know what to do with myself when you're not around."

     Then Christine took Vicki's hands and said excitedly, "So, anyway, where you been?  What'cha been doin'?  Tell me everything.  I wanna know."

     "Christine," said Vicki, in a happy but concerned voice.  "You'd better slow that tail of yours down before you break something."

     "Ha, ha, ha," Christine laughed, as she began hopping in circles around Vicki.  "Tail, tail, tail, tail.  I love my tail tail."

     Vicki put a hand to her mouth to restrain herself from laughing as she watched Christine dancing comically with her tail.  But before long Vicki realized it was a futile effort and let the laughter pour forth from her.  She just felt so befuddled at how Christine could be so serious and wise at times, and so seriously silly at others. 

     "I love my fox friend," sang Christine.  "My beautiful blue fox friend."

     Then Christine grabbed Vicki and gave her an excited little fox kiss. 

     For an instant Vicki was shocked, and then she suddenly flooded with emotion and ceased to care what the others watching thought of her.  She pulled Christine up tight against her and hugged her back affectionately.  It was as if Christine had somehow punched holes in her maturity and reduced her to a sense of innocent playfulness she hadn't felt for years. 

     "Uh, Christine," asked Vicki, after a moment.  "How old are you again?"

     "Oh, le'me see," said Christine, adopting a childish speech.  "I'm only t'ree an' a half weeks old.  Didn't you know?  I'm a born again foxy.  He he he he he."

     Christine began dancing about the foyer with balletish movements as she sang, "Foxy, foxy, I'm a little foxy.  My name is Christy.  Gee, I sure did miss me."

     "Do you think she's possessed again?" laughed Sonny. 

     "Absolutely," said Sir Jon, with a contented smile.  "She's been possessed by herself."

     Perry noticed a certain glint in Vicki's eyes that he hadn't seen since they were both small.  She was letting herself be fascinated by the motion of Christine's bouncing tail.  He wondered if it was possible that Christine had somehow hypnotized Vicki into thinking she was a child again. 

     Vicki deviously poised herself as she waited for the right moment.  Then, when Christine turned her back for a moment in the midst of her dance, Vicki shouted "Glomp!" and pounced her - grabbing Christine from behind and giving her a rough but loving squeeze. 

     Then Christine began to laugh hysterically as she felt Vicki's fingers brushing lightly over her ribs.  She tried to wrestle herself free, but Vicki's arms only tightened around Christine, holding her more securely. 

     Christine intermittently pleaded for mercy between spasms of laughter, but this only seemed to encourage Vicki.  And soon Vicki was laughing louder than Christine as she reveled in her power to inflict pleasure on her friend. 

     Sonny had an emotional, motherly smile on her face as she turned to Perry and asked, "How come I don't remember you playing like that with your sister?"

     "Are you kidding?" said Perry.  "Lorri would have been afraid of breaking me.  That's why Vicki stopped pouncing on me so long ago.  Lorri told her I might die if she played too rough with me."

     "Well, that was then, this is now," said Sir Jon.  "Or do you still feel so easily breakable?"

     Sonny gave Perry a playful little push towards the two girls, and just like that his long years of mature adulthood fell away as he hurried to join his friends. 

     "Perry, save me," Christine laughed as he approached. 

     "Now, Vicki," said Perry, in a mock admonishing tone.  "That's not how you treat a friend."

     Vicki stopped tickling Christine for a moment, but still held tight to her from behind, laying her head on Christine's shoulder as she watched to see what Perry would do. 

     "This is how you treat a friend," said Perry, as he suddenly reached for Christine and started tickling her in even more sensitive places. 

     Perry and Vicki then mercilessly tickled Christine until she found herself laughing in barks and yips.  And the more she pleaded with them to stop, the more delight they seemed to take in continuing. 

     Finally Christine called out desperately, "Truce!  Truce!" And her friends allowed her to catch her breath. 

     In that moment Vicki whispered something into Christine's ear.  Christine gave a joyful nod and Vicki released her, running quickly around to catch Perry from behind. 

     "Your turn," Christine laughed, excitedly. 

     And with that the two happy vixens assailed Perry with their fingers, heedless of his frequent pleas for mercy. 

     After a while, Vicki playfully pulled him to the floor, and the three friends rolled and tussled about the floor with childish glee, until they were given pause by the sound of a click and a flash of light. 

     "Hey, what's up with the camera, Mom?" Perry protested happily, while the two vixens continued to cling to him. 

     "Don't mind me," said Sonny.  "You know how mothers are about preserving precious moments.  I don't have very many pictures of my little boy .  .  .  acting like a little boy."

     "Oh, Mom," said Perry, embarrassed, but not unpleasantly so. 

     Christine and Vicki giggled mischievously and resumed their assault on Perry, wrestling with him and tickling him until he could hardly breathe.  Yet he showed no signs of wanting to stop. 

     At that point Vicki put a hand on Christine's shoulder and said, "Time to stop now."

     As Christine paused, she saw that Perry was drawing unnaturally heavy breaths and wheezing quite loudly.  It was like he had holes in his lungs and was painfully gulping for air. 

     "He was always like this," Vicki explained.  "He'd let us play with him until he passed out if we didn't know when to stop."

     Vicki helped Perry sit up.  Then she let him lean against her while she gently petted him until he calmed down. 

     Christine joined Vicki in supporting Perry and gently caressing him in a manner that soon had him in a passive relaxed state.  Then his pain left him, and his breathing slowly returned to normal as he focused all his attention on the ministrations of his two adoring companions. 

     Sonny snapped another picture.  Then she joined Christine and Vicki in helping Perry back into the drawing room where he'd be better able to rest. 

     Perry sat down on the sofa with the two vixens on either side of him, continuing to administer care.  Though he seemed completely content and happier than anyone had seen him for quite a while. 

     "So, did I miss anything while I was gone?" asked Vicki, returning to her normal adult demeanor. 

     "Oh, nothing much," said Christine, off-handedly. "Perry just tried to rape me.  That's all."

     "You what? ! ! !" Vicki exclaimed, giving Perry a playful whack on the arm.  "And after I promised Christine you would never do a thing like that."

     "It's alright," said Christine, imitating the voice of a certain sexy old time cartoon character.  "It's my fault for letting him cuddle my yiffy fluffiness."

     Vicki gave Christine an odd look, and Christine was sure it wasn't because Vicki didn't get the voice impression she was doing. 

     "What?" asked Christine, blinking her eyes innocently and hugging Perry's arm coquettishly to augment her impression of the cartoon character.  "Aren't I allowed to have an affectionate relationship with my cousin?"

     "It's not that," said Vicki.  "I've just never heard a mature female say things like that.  Even in jest it's so egotistical to compliment your own beauty that way."

     "But it's true, isn't it?" said Christine, continuing her impression.  "Perry, tell Vicki.  Aren't I irresistibly fluffy and yiffy?"

     Perry unsuccessfully tried to restrain his laughter, fearing to make himself sick again.  It was not unusual for Christine to act uncommonly weird and silly for a girl of her apparent age, but he could tell she was deliberately going overboard this night, and he wondered if this was her elaborate way of showing him that he was forgiven. 

     "Yes, you are irresistibly fluffy and yiffy," said Perry, adoringly.  "And cute and sweet, too.  Not to mention loving .  .  .  and forgiving."

     Christine dropped her impression and gave Perry a little fox kiss.  He accepted it gratefully, giving her a look that said without words how much it meant to him that he had not lost her love. 

     "Well, if you're done playing around now," said Vicki.  "Do you want to tell me what really happened?"

     Perry started to say something, but Christine stopped him.  Then she said, seriously, "It was nothing really.  Nature zapped our reason in a weak moment.  But we woke up before anything unforgivable happened."

     "Like I should care if it did," said Vicki, rolling her eyes. 

     "Uh, that is exactly what I was trying to explain to her," said Perry.  "But I see now that it doesn't matter to Christine whether we care or not.  And it doesn't matter to Christine whether we see things her way or not.  What she believes is what she believes.  And no amount of seduction or yiffy stimulation is going to charm her into betraying her beliefs.  So, we just have to play along with her as best we can."

     Vicki shook her head with bemusement and said, "I have to admit.  I came back tonight because I missed Christine's silliness."

     "You mean you didn't come to see me?" asked Perry, teasingly. 

     "Nope," said Vicki, tossing his ear playfully.  "Sorry if it bruises your ego, but I came to spend the night with Christine."

     "I'm so glad you did," said Christine.  "I thought you were going to stay with me and look out for me."

     "Oh, I will," said Vicki.  "All I can.  But I do have things in my own life I have to tend to."

     "Oooh, I want to hear all about it," said Christine, eagerly.  "What are the important things in the life of Victoria Anderson?"

     "Oh," said Vicki, suggestively.  "My boyfriends."

     "You mean you've been yiffing around," Christine surmised. 

     "What else do I ever do?" Vicki shrugged. 

     "Perry says you have as many boy friends as he has girl friends," said Christine. 

     "You mean regulars?" said Vicki.  "I hardly think so."

     "Perry has 19," said Christine.  "How many do you have?"

     Vicki counted out on her fingers and then said, "Ten."

     "Ten?" Christine exclaimed in shock. 

     "Oh come on," said Vicki, misunderstanding Christine's shock.  "Perry's a famous mega-playboy.  You can't expect me to do as well as him."

     "You mean 10 is not enough?" asked Christine. 

     "Can you ever have enough guys that you'd like to marry?" asked Vicki. 

     "Oh, please, you must have a limit," said Christine. 

     "When I was younger," said Vicki.  "My goal was to have 30 perspective ideal husbands.  If I had 30, I'd have one for every day of the month.  And that would reduce my chances of having to yiff with someone I really didn't like.  And over the last decade or so I must have yiffed with hundreds of guys, but I've still only picked out 10 that I feel that way about."

     Christine stared at Vicki with a shocked expression, bordering on horror.  What Vicki was describing completely dwarfed any concept of free love Christine had ever defended.  And it was all the more shocking for Christine to think of a female living that kind of life, especially one as sweet as Vicki. 

     "Don't judge me so harshly," said Vicki, again misunderstanding Christine's reaction.  "Don't you think a girl has a right to be picky?"

     Christine smacked her own forehead and held the palm of her hand there, as she was prone to do when frustrated by the logic of others. 

     "And I suppose you love the other 9 just as much as you love Perry," said Christine, in an uncharacteristically dry tone of voice. 

     "Um huum," said Vicki, nodding eagerly, as if this was a perfectly natural state of affairs that she was not at all ashamed of.

     Christine looked at Vicki and observed how content she seemed.  Then she looked across the room at Sir Jon, who was seated at a table going over some official looking paperwork he had brought home from the office. 

     Sir Jon sensed her eyes on him and looked up.  Then he gave her a wink to remind her not to take Suburbian ways too seriously because of her Polithsanian upbringing, and she shrugged agreement. 

     "Yes," said Christine.  "I do think a girl has a right to be picky."

     "That's good," said Vicki.  "I'd be in trouble if I had anymore than 10 regulars.  I didn't expect to have to be spending all this time with you and Perry.  My schedule book is a mess.  And I don't have a secretary to keep mine like Perry does."

     "I'm sorry," said Christine.  "I didn't realize you had such an active social life."

     "Well, I've pretty much got it under control now," said Vicki.  "But it was rather sticky there for a while.  I accidentally had two dates scheduled for today.  I was so embarrassed when they both showed up at the same time."

     "Oh my goodness," exclaimed Christine, with sudden intense interest.  "What happened?"

     "Well," Vicki explained.  "They both came to my door at the same time, and at first each was sure the other was trying to sneak in an unscheduled yiff.  So I had to resolve the situation quickly before they came to blows.  I showed them my appointment book and explained why it was so out of order.  And since they both love me they were sympathetic and forgave me."

     "But how did you decide which one to turn away?" asked Christine. 

     "Oh, I couldn't do that," said Vicki.  "They were both yiffy for me.  To send either of them away would be cruel.  Especially since they were each one of my 10 regulars, which means I care about them deeply.  Luckily that also means they know each other.  So it wasn't too much of a trick to get them to share me for the day."

     "You mean you yiffed them both?" asked Christine, once again forgetting to be embarrassed over a subject she regarded as taboo in the midst of her intense curiosity about the potential pleasures of yiffing. 

     Vicki nodded enthusiastically, wearing a prideful smile. 

     "Wow," said Christine, wonderingly.  "Two yiffs in one afternoon?  Did they give you any time to rest in between?"

     "Uh, Christine," said Vicki.  "It's not possible to yiff twice in the same afternoon.  You should wait at least 6 hours between yiffs."

     "So how do you fulfill your obligation to two guys in one afternoon?" asked Christine. 

     "You just let them both yiff you at the same time," said Vicki, as if the answer should have been obvious. 

     Christine looked puzzled, but the touchiness of the subject matter was finally evoking her inhibitions. 

     "What's the matter?" asked Vicki. 

     "Is this subject really appropriate for drawing room conversation?" asked Christine, gesturing to indicate that Perry's parents were still present. 

     "Don't mind us, dear," said Sonny, looking up from her crossword puzzle.  "We wouldn't want to impede your education."

     "Oh well, here we go again," sighed Christine.  "I guess yiff education class is back in session.  So, pray tell, how do you yiff two guys at the same time?"

     "You lean back on top of one while the other lies on top of you," said Vicki with a shrug, as if the answer should have been self-evident. 

     "But you told me before that Cygnesians can't practice anal yiffing without injury," said Christine.  "You also said no one yiffs without procreation in mind."

     Vicki made a look of extreme distaste and exclaimed, "Anal yiffing?  What a disgusting idea!"

     "Well, excuse me for having lived most of my life as a pure human," said Christine with mock indignity. 

     "Christine, pure humans don't .  .  .  Do they?" asked Perry, finding the idea too offensive to even voice. 

     "I'm afraid so," said Christine, shyly.  "Procreation is usually the last thing on a pure human mind.  For them it's all about pleasure, and every penetration through any orifice can feel pleasurable if it's done right.  So double penetration is a pretty common fantasy among females.  And even a lot of males fantasize about penetration as well."

     "But surely they don't act out on those fantasies," said Perry, in disbelief.  "Surely the pleasure isn't worth the risk."

     "Pure humans don't face the same risk," Christine explained.  "They don't have freely expanding yiff organs that can cause the kind of injuries Cygnesians worry about.  And their insides aren't as susceptible to ruptures as ours."

     "Still sounds pretty disgusting to me," said Vicki. 

     "Oh, I don't know," said Christine, knowingly.  "It's not as bad as you might think."

     "Christine, you didn't .  .  .  Did you?" asked Vicki, also finding the idea of anal sex too offensive to give voice to. 

     Christine shrugged and said, "In my world I was a rich promiscuous rock star during an age of free love and social rebellion.  So, if I ever tell you that I haven't tried something in the way of drugs, sex or any other human pleasure, it's a pretty safe bet I'm lying to you."

     To Christine's surprise, Perry and Vicki now looked at her the same way she had looked at Vicki when she had talked about having yiffed hundreds of males. 

     "Oh well," said Christine.  "It's a little refreshing to see that your society does have some taboos."

     "Did you regret trying it?" asked Vicki, hesitantly. 

     "Do you think you could stand the answer?" asked Christine, suggestively, enjoying being the one administering the shocks for a change. 

     "Hey, Dad," called Perry to Sir Jon.  "Did you know pure humans did disgusting stuff like that?"

     "Pure humans do lots of disgusting things, son," said Sir Jon, indifferently as he looked up from his paperwork.  "If you knew even half of what pure humans do, you'd be ashamed of your half-human heritage."

     "Miss Sonny," asked Vicki.  "Did you know?"

     "I know everything about pure humans," said Sonny.  "Some pure humans will have sex with anything that moves, and quite a few things that don't - including their pets and their stuffed toys."

     This comment drew a shocked reaction from Perry, Vicki and Christine alike.  It was beyond their reasoning how Sonny could have such intimate knowledge of pure human perversions. 

     Noting their reactions, Sonny said, "I haven't always been an anthro-spaniel, you know.  Would you believe I started out my life as a pure cocker spaniel, and that I lived with pure humans as a pet?"

     "No, Miss Sonny," said Vicki.  "I'd find that very hard to believe."

     "Well, it's true," said Sonny.  "And because pure animals can't talk to pure humans, pure humans never try to hide anything from their pets.  A pet is usually privy to her master's most private secrets.  So, I've probably seen pure humans do a lot of things even Christine won't confess to you."

     Christine seemed to be quite disturbed by what Sonny had said, and Perry and Vicki wondered why. 

     "What's the matter, Christine?" asked Sonny, knowingly.  "Does it disturb you to discover that your animal friends can evolve into a form where they can share your secrets with others of your kind?"

     "That is a very disturbing thought," Christine admitted.  "It's like an extreme violation of confidence."

     "Would you like me to tell you the secrets of my former masters?" asked Sonny, slyly. 

     "No!" Christine exclaimed.  "Keep those to yourself, please.  I confessed everything to my animal friends.  They knew me inside and out.  My trust in their confidence is part of the foundation of my life.  It's important to me to believe that, even if my pets could learn to speak human language, they wouldn't betray my trust."

     "It's hard to think of you as a slave owner, Christine," said Perry. 

     "I don't think of myself as a slave owner," said Christine.  "You've seen in my sessions how I was with pure animals.  I may have owned them legally, but in my heart they were my friends, not my possessions."

     "You were a rather unique pure human," said Sonny.  "But the fact that you were kind made you no less a slave owner."

     "Owning slaves isn't necessarily a sin," said Christine.  "There was a time in the history of Polithsania when it was quite legal to own other humans as slaves.  And my family owned quite a few of them.  Being a kind slave owner was the only way to protect them from abuse."

     "An interesting adjustment of personal morality, wouldn't you say, Christine?" said Sir Jon, in a thought provoking manner. 

     "The practice of owning pets or slaves is not in itself immoral," said Christine.  "At the time when I lived on Chikyu humans were over populating and quickly driving most animal species to extinction by displacing them from their habitats.  So I always thought it was a human obligation to take care of the animals we displaced - rather than just slaughtering them to get them out of our way.  But in a pure human society, you can't take care of animals unless you assume legal ownership responsibilities.  So slavery can be used as an option for kindness."

     "I see," said Sir Jon, knowingly.  "And I suppose you opened your home to all kinds of wild animals in need.  Or, could it be that, like most pure humans, you just went to a pet store an purchased an animal that had been specifically bred for slavery?"

     "You got me there," Christine admitted.  "Most of my pets were cute cats and puppy dogs."

     "So, even if you were kind to them and gave them a good life," said Sir Jon.  "You were still supporting the institution of slavery, weren't you?"

     "If I hadn't supported it, would it have gone away?" asked Christine. 

     "Absolutely not," said Sir Jon.  "There is not a pure human society in the galaxy that does not violently defend their right to own slaves of one sort or another.  Nothing you could do would change that aspect of pure human nature."

     "Than acting kindly within the situation my society had created was the only moral thing I could do, wasn't it?" asked Christine, defensively. 

     "Absolutely," said Sir Jon.  "You adjusted your morality to cope with a situation that was impossible for you to change."

     "Miss Sonny," asked Christine, hesitantly.  "Do you hate me for having been a dog owner."

     "Of course not, dear," said Sonny.  "Most dogs like being owned.  I had no comparable morality to judge my masters by.  As far as I was concerned I was their child.  And I was happy to be loved and cared for by them.  I was happy to please them in any way I could.  And as you well know, there wasn't much of a real life for those that didn't accept slavery.  Our options were starvation, extermination or animal research."

     "You knew all that when you were a pet?" asked Christine, wonderingly. 

     "Not until the very end," said Sonny.  "Not until I let myself be talked into running away from home to follow my lover's dream of freedom.  But I didn't last very long on the run - not even long enough to learn the full truth about my enslavement to humanity.  It took me many lifetimes to fully comprehend the situation I'd been born into."

     "And now that you do comprehend it," asked Christine.  "Do you look back unkindly on the humans that owned you?"

     "No," said Sonny.  "As you well know, Christine.  Pets know their owners' hearts as well as their perversions.  There has never been any doubt in my mind that my human owners loved me, and that they were broken hearted when I left them."

     "But if they did such disgusting things in front of you," asked Vicki.  "Wasn't it revolting to have to live with them?"

     "A pet who is truly loved knows that a pure human's sexuality or anxiety problems don't define who they are," Sonny explained.  "My masters sometimes abused me, and they didn't care if I watched while they abused themselves.  I knew of no law or morality other than belonging to the ones who loved me.  So I was never disgusted by watching them pleasure each other in the ways they most enjoyed.  And if ever they'd beat me or hurt me, I trusted it was because they were trying to teach me something.  Why do you think pure humans love dogs so much?  It's because of our heart-felt loyalty to our masters."

     "But you wouldn't be a slave like that now, would you?" asked Christine. 

     "But I am," said Sonny.  "I am a possession of my husband and my family.  I have no desire for true independence or freedom.  Belonging to others is what life is all about.  I'd feel truly sorry for anyone who didn't belong to at least one other person."

     "But isn't it wrong to own someone by paying a price for them?" asked Perry. 

     "There's always a price to be paid for owning someone," said Sir Jon.  "But it isn't always measured in terms of money, unless you regard the pieces of your heart as currency.  But even if you do buy someone with money, you will most likely have to pay with a piece of your heart as well."

     "Sensei," said Christine, emotionally.  "You confuse me so.  Why will you never come right out and tell me if something is right or wrong?"

     "Because I can not know what is right or wrong for you," said Sir Jon.  "As I've endeavored to explain to you, morality is relative.  And thus only you can determine the answer as to whether you did, or are planning to do, the right thing."

     "You see, Christine," said Sonny.  "Even though we are all human now, living in a human dominated world, we are not free.  We are pets of this society.  We depend on it to care for us, sustain us, and guide us as to how we should live."

     "All creatures seek such dependence," said Sir Jon.  "Even wild animals.  Everyone has a social order that they enslave themselves to.  Mortal existence simply isn't worth living in a state of complete independence."

     "And I suppose mortal existence is enjoyable to the extreme in a polyamourous society," Christine mused. 

     "I certainly enjoy it," said Vicki.  "I love walking down the street and feeling like every male I meet belongs to me."

     "Even if you run into an alligator?" asked Christine. 

     "Christine," Vicki whined in a hurt fashion.  "Must you keep throwing that up at me?"

     "Unfortunately, yes," said Christine.  "At least until I fully understand the rationality behind all this."

     "Well, like Sir Jon said," said Vicki.  "There's always a price to be paid.  And though I do find reptiles particularly unattractive, the possibility of ending up married to one is the price I pay for a life that I dearly love and have no desire to escape."

     "And I suppose submitting to double yiffings are another price you pay," said Christine. 

     "Christine," said Vicki, intensely.  "Double yiffings are priceless."

     "I still don't understand how you can double yiff without using both openings," said Christine.  "Do we have a third orifice that I don't know about?"

     "Oh, Christine, sometimes I just don't get you," said Vicki.  "How can someone so smart be so slow to see the most obvious of things?"

     "Give me a break," said Christine.  "I just got this body.  I have no idea how it works.  Please, Vicki, spell it out for me - just in case I'm ever forced to do it."

     "That's not something anyone can force you to do," said Vicki.  "It's something that just doesn't happen unless all three parties have agreed on it.  And only certain special types of males will agree to it, because it kind of involves the males being intimate with each other, as well as the female."

     "Males being intimate with each other?" said Christine, her interest peeked anew.  "You told me there were no same gender couples on this planet."

     "There aren't," said Vicki.  "Males can't yiff each other, but they can love each other.  Kind of like the relationship you and I have.  We love each other, but we're both females.  So we can't be a couple.  But, during a double yiffing it's a three-way joining.  Which means the males not only join with the female, they also join with each other."

     Christine's mouth hung open with fascination as she listened to Vicki.  At this point she was beyond being shocked, and she felt totally engulfed in her own curiosity. 

     "Ah, that's it," said Christine.  "Vicki, if you don't relieve my curiosity right now I'm just gonna bust.  Please, details, graphics.  Give me the whole double yiff education course."

     "Okay, little miss novice," said Vicki.  "You have one guy underneath you and one guy on top of you.  The guy on the bottom enters your yiff opening first.  Then the guy on top enters."

     "Through the same opening?" Christine clarified.  "Isn't that excruciatingly painful?"

     "Heck no," said Vicki.  "I told you, yiffing is never painful.  But I guess I can understand why you'd think that.  The entry point you had when I examined you as a pure human had nowhere near the elasticity of the one you have now."

     "You mean you can stretch it to infinity and it won't hurt?" asked Christine.  "That sounds so cartoonish."

     "Not exactly," said Vicki.  "It does have its limits.  But let's just say that nature took into consideration the difference in size of our males.  Like, say I wanted to yiff with a horse.  Their yiff organs tend to be twice as large as canine types.  So, though I probably couldn't double yiff with two equine types, I have enough elasticity to double yiff comfortably with two canine types."

     "But you said before you couldn't yiff any way except the way nature intended," said Christine.  "Surely double yiffing isn't natural."

     "There's no evidence to suggest it isn't," said Vicki.  "It works so well, and it's such a special experience.  Two times the love, two times the pleasure."

     "And two times the danger of ending up married to someone other than Perry," said Christine. 

     "Oh, Christine," said Vicki.  "I'm sorry I somehow gave you the idea that I'm exclusively in love with Perry.  I love Perry very much.  But I'd have been just as happy married to either of the two guys I was with today.  Exclusive love before a successful mating is unnatural for our species.  People like Kacey who can only love one person are considered disabled."

     "I see," said Christine.  "And is your society unkind to Kacey because of her disability?"

     "That's a trick question," said Perry.  "No one would ever knowingly be unkind to Kacey, but there aren't very many who understand how to be kind to her.  Suburbians worship normality.  It's all they know.  And though it's normal to feel compassion for the handicapped, few attempts the town has made to show compassion to people like Kacey have done much but add to their miseries.  Sometimes the kindest thing you can do for a person is mind your own business and not assume you know what's best for him.  Especially if you've no way of comprehending the problems he faces."

     "Perry," asked Christine, in a serious tone.  "You really wouldn't be broken hearted if Vicki married someone else?"

     "I won't say that I'd be unaffected," said Perry, much to Vicki's surprise.  "Of the 20 girls I'd most love to marry, Vicki has been with me the longest.  We shared our childhood together, and she was Dorothy's best friend.  I confess, the thought of losing her to someone else does bother me.  Not to the point of obsession or anything, but I know I would seriously miss not being able to be intimate with her anymore."

     "I knew it," said Christine, seeming quite self satisfied.  "You do have feelings for Vicki you don't share with the others.  She's not just one out of 20."

     "Well, I'm glad you knew it," said Vicki.  "'Cos I sure didn't.  Perry, I had no idea you felt that way about me."

     "Those aren't feelings it's proper to confess," said Perry.  "Knowing I feel that way is likely to put unfair pressure on you.  You have no way of staying with me if nature does not grant us that blessing.  And the odds against us at this point are so astronomical. . .  I'm sorry, Vicki.  I shouldn't have told you."

     "Now, Vicki, come on," said Christine, knowingly.  "Time to confess your special feelings for Perry."

     "Christine, stop it," said Vicki, seriously.  "You're about to force me to say something that will hurt Perry, deeply."

     "It's alright, Vicki," said Perry.  "You don't have to say it.  I know you don't place me above any of your other regulars."

     "That is such bull," said Christine. 

     Everyone in the room gave Christine a shocked look - not only because it was rare to hear such language in Suburbia, but because it was so bold of Christine to be telling people she knew how they felt better than they did themselves. 

     "Christine, you do realize you just called your best friend a liar to her face," said Vicki. 

     "You're not a liar, Vicki," said Christine.  "You're just in denial.  Sometimes it's very hard to see things about ourselves that are very obvious to others.  Don't you agree, sensei?"

     Sir Jon looked at Vicki consideringly for a moment.  Then he said, "Yes, I'm afraid I do."

     "Sir Jon," said Vicki in a shocked tone. 

     "Question asked and answered," said Sir Jon.  "I'm not going to meddle in your personal life, Victoria.  And you shouldn't, either, Christine.  Victoria has to come to grips with her own truths just the same as you do.  And you should know by now that such truths can't be told to you by someone else.  This is something Victoria will have to realize for herself in her own time."

     "I have nothing to realize," Vicki insisted.  "As long as I don't end up married to a reptile I'll be happy.  And even then, I'd learn to be happy.  That's the way of our kind, and I like it.  I like it a lot.  Besides, if I'm meant to have Perry, nature will see that I get him in the end.  It's part of our religion to believe that Nature chooses the best mate for us.  And I have complete faith in Nature."

     "I see," said Christine.  "You have a religion that allows you to be totally irresponsible.  Who wouldn't love a religion like that?"

     "Christine, dear, I think you should quit while you're ahead," said Sonny.  "You haven't studied the religion of this society.  So you don't know what you're talking about."

     "Oh, you're right," said Christine apologetically.  "I'm so sorry.  I didn't mean to be critical.  Let's just drop it and get back to my yiff education lesson.  Perry, have you ever double yiffed?"

     "No, I haven't," said Perry.  "I've been asked to, but I don't like the idea of sharing that kind of intimacy with another male."

     "But some males on this planet do?" asked Christine. 

     "Some males on this planet like that idea a lot," said Perry. 

     "I see," said Christine.  "So the human tendency towards homosexuality has survived after all."

     "It has not only survived," said Sir Jon.  "But it has been granted sanction by Nature, at least as far as males are concerned.  You see, during a normal yiffing there is a physical bonding between the male and the female.  They are literally connected in such a way that they share one synchronized heartbeat, one soul and one mind.  A double yiffing creates a three-way union of body, mind and spirit.  Thus Nature has provided a means for males to know oneness with each other.  And since this society will not venture to condemn anything that is said to be Natural, double yiffings are looked on favorably by our laws and customs."

     "But there's no way for females to know that kind of oneness?" asked Christine. 

     "I'm afraid not," said Sir Jon.  "As it would serve no purpose in procreation, Nature has not provided any safe way for females to physically join."

     "Well, that seems kind of unfair," said Christine, disappointedly.  "Doesn't the female urge to homosexuality exist in this new species?"

     "Of course it does," said Sir Jon.  "It's quite obvious to me that Victoria feels it for you."

     "Sir Jon!" Vicki exclaimed, in an embarrassed tone.  "I do love Christine, but .  .  .  not that way.  Christine doesn't make me feel yiffy.  And what point would there be if she could?  There's no way she could fulfill the urge."

     "That's quite true," said Sir Jon. 

     "So females have just been cheated by Nature, is that it?" asked Christine. 

     "Oh, please," said Perry.  "It's the males who are oppressed in this society, remember?"

     "Yes, I know," said Christine.  "But I'm curious.  If it was true that Vicki had feelings for me that in a pure human body would make her bi-sexual, how could she express those feelings in this form?"

     "In every way," said Sir Jon.  "Except a yiffy one.  Doesn't she like to hold you, sleep with you, kiss you?  Doesn't she feel a need to be close to you?  Hasn't she made you an indispensable part of her life?  It seems perfectly obvious to me that your hearts have bonded.  But no matter how much affection she shows you, she never makes you feel yiffy, does she?"

     "I have thought that strange," Christine admitted.  "I know that if Vicki and I were both pure humans we'd be lovers for sure.  But since I became a fox I just don't have the same urges I had as a pure human."

     "Of course you don't," said Sir Jon.  "Nature isn't cruel.  Nature wouldn't make you want something you weren't meant to have.  Nature has no objection to you loving a fellow female, but all yiffy urges are specifically geared towards procreation.  So you'll have no need to share that kind of physical intimacy with your female lovers."

     "Okay, I can accept that," said Christine.  "But why does Nature take it as important for males to be able to physically join?  Is that good for procreation?"

     "It is, since they can't join without the help of a female," said Sir Jon.  "It doubles the odds of a successful yiffing."

     "But if she gets pregnant how does a girl know which guy to marry?" asked Christine. 

     "The child will tell you," said Vicki.  "Unborn children are very sensitive to their fathers.  And, of course, you can usually tell by their physical appearance."

     "But legally you have to be married before the child is born," said Sir Jon.  "And the female is not obligated to choose between the two males.  In the case of a successful double yiffing, the law recognizes both males as having fathered the child, since they were at the time in a state of oneness.  Thus a successful double yiffing tends to yield a triple wedding."

     "Te…te…tri…triple we…wedding?" Christine stammered in her shock.  "A girl can have two husbands on this planet? ! ! !"

     "That's why I find it so unacceptable," said Perry.  "Participating in a double yiffing could result in me being married to a girl and a guy."

     "So the only males who would participate in such a thing would have to be gay or bi-sexual in nature," Christine surmised, joyfully.  "Is this place a naughty girl's paradise or what?"

     "I told you this is a female's world," said Perry.  "And of course there's no comparable law to make it possible for a male to marry two females."

     "That isn't necessarily true," said Sir Jon.  "The purpose of the triple marriage is to avoid disputes.  In the rare and unlikely case of two pregnant females laying claim to the same male, a triple wedding is possible."

     "But there's no way a male can get two females pregnant at the same time," said Vicki.  "Which means he would have had to go on yiffing others after he should have felt obligated to one.  If she wants, a girl can demand legal retribution for that kind of infidelity.  He'd be pretty much at the mercy of the one who got pregnant first."

     "But suppose a guy was really, really naughty and got five girls pregnant?" asked Christine.  "He'd end up with a harem."

     "The founding mothers were quite aware of that possibility," said Sir Jon.  "Therefore there is a very high price a male must pay if he gets two females pregnant."

     "That penalty wouldn't be surgical, would it?" asked Christine. 

     "You get the picture," said Perry.  "Females get to enjoy having two husbands, but if a male wants two wives he's kind of deprived of the ability to enjoy it.  Not very fair, is it?"

     "No, it's not," Christine laughed.  "But, you know what?  I don't care.  I'm in a world where I can have two husbands.  Beyond that I've suddenly ceased to care how weird anything else might be here.  I don't want to fight this anymore.  I just want to be an average female of Suburbia."

     "Interesting," said Sir Jon.  "Would you say we have corrupted you, or have you just evolved your morality?"

     "Oh, come on," Christine laughed.  "My morals can't survive this kind of temptation.  It will probably be hard for me getting used to being the dominant gender, but what the hay.  For a chance to have two husbands I could get used to just about anything."

     "Congratulations, Christine," said Perry.  "You've just accepted your rightful place as one of my oppressors."

     "Oh, you silly puppy boy," said Christine, playfully.  "Come here and let me oppress you a little."