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On this particular night, Gideon was having trouble staying asleep. And every time he woke up, it was that much harder to fall asleep. It was around 3:30 in the morning and Gideon woke for what was now the fifth time. When he had though, he found that he awoke with a rather painful headache. He tried to shake off the feeling, but nothing he did helped. Pulling back his sheets, he climbed out of the bed. He got as far as his bedroom door before his head throbbed again. "Ahh..."

"Gid?" His father was heard coming up the hall from his room. "What's the matter, son?"

"Mah head's hurtin'. Ah don't suppose we have anythin' fer it, do we," the kit asked.

Tyler immediately went into the medicine cabinet in the bathroom, getting a couple headache pills out of one of the boxes. "Here, son."

The young fox quickly popped the pills into his muzzle, swallowing them down. "Thanks, Papa."

"Yer welcome."

Gideon hugged his dad, quickly got a drink of water to wash the taste of the pills out of his mouth then headed back to bed. It took him nearly another half hour before he finally fell asleep again.

When he fell asleep though, it was not a peaceful one. Gideon had been left with a nightmare. One that seemed to be an endless loop of watching his mother die, over and over. When the nightmare finally ended, Gideon woke up bawling.

Not two seconds later, rapid approaching footsteps were heard, and the door swung open. "Gid?" Tyler entered the room and came over. "What happened?"

Gideon sniffled as he looked at his dad. "First that, stupid headache... and when Ah finally got ta sleep... Ah... Ah had a nightmare... Ah watched... Ah watched Mama die.... Over and over, and Ah feel like.... Ah feel like..." But Gideon couldn't even finish his words. The dam broke and the kit started bawling.

Tyler scooted closer, pulling his son to him. "It's alright, Gid..." He ran his paws up and down Gideon's back slowly to calm him. "Ah've got ya. And Ah'm not lettin' go."

The next several minutes were spent with Tyler holding Gideon in complete silence, as Gideon cried. When Gideon finally stopped crying, he lifted his head to look at his dad. "Papa... Why did she have ta die?"

Tyler frowned. "Ah wish Ah knew. Ah miss her so much."

"Ah do too... Ah hate this." Gideon sniffled. "Ah thought Ah was gettin' better. Gettin' ta a point where Ah could manage mahself... Then that nightmare happened and Ah..."

Tyler cut him off. "Come with me, Gid." Tyler let go of Gideon and stood.

"Where are we goin'?"

Tyler took his paw. "We're gonna sleep in mah room together fer the rest of the night."

"Ah.... Ah like that idea, Papa," Gideon stood and followed his dad the other bedroom. Tyler pulled the sheets back and gestured for Gideon to climb in, which he did. Tyler then clicked off the lamp by his bed as he climbed in beside his son, holding him.

"Thank ya... Ah think... Ah think Ah needed this."

"Ah think we both did, son." Tyler said as he held the kit close. "Ah love ya, Gid."

"Ah love ya too, Papa. G'night."

"Good night, Gid."

Gideon fell asleep rather quickly after that. When he awoke the next morning, he noticed his father was not in the bed with him. He got up, making his way to the kitchen to see his father cooking up breakfast, which surprised him.

"Papa? Ah'm surprised yer still here. Don't ya have ta work," Gideon asked him.

"Not today, Gid. It's mah day off," Tyler told him.

"It is?" Gideon scratched his head. "Ain't it Friday?"

Tyler shook his head. "Nope. It's Saturday."

"Uhhh... okay then." Gideon sat down just as Tyler brought over a plate of pancakes he made. "Thanks, Papa."

"Yer welcome, son," the elder fox commented as he grabbed his own food. He then sat down beside his son. "How are ya feelin' this mornin'."

"Ah think Ah'm alright. Mah head doesn't hurt anymore."

Tyler nodded. "If ya need ta, ya can get another headache pill later, alright?"

"Right," Gideon replied as he began eating.

When the two foxes had finished their food, Tyler looked to his son. "Any ideas fer what ya wanna do fer the day?"

"Ah was thinkin' about maybe making another pie," Gideon told him.

"We can do that, but we'll need to go to the store to get the stuff to make it," Tyler told him.

"Don't we have everythin' we need here already," Gideon asked, with a confused look on his face.

"Uh... Son, don't ya remember? We used the last of what we had fer the last one."

"We did?" Gideon shook his head. "Wow... Guess Ah forgot. Ah must not be thinkin' straight this mornin'."

"Son... Are ya sure yer alright?"

Gideon looked to him. "Ah'm fine, Papa. Really. Ah must just not awake yet or somethin'." Gideon stood and cleaned up his dishes, putting them in the dishwasher before looking back to his dad. "So... can we go ta the store right now, Papa?"

Tyler chuckled. "Fine with me... Though ya might wanna get changed first."

"Uhh... Right." The kit made his way back upstairs, taking a quick shower before he got himself dressed. He made his way back down, seeing his father sipping on a cup of coffee. "All set."

Tyler nodded and downed the rest of his coffee before standing. "Alright then. Let's head out. Any idea what kind of pie ya wanna make this time?"

"Blueberry," Gideon told him. "Ah wanna make that fer the festival, so Ah wanna make sure Ah don't get rusty with it."

Tyler chuckled again. "Sounds like a plan ta me, son."

The two foxes left the house, with Tyler driving to the store. They immediately set out gathering the items they needed, with Tyler also getting a few extra things for the house, since they were there. This took around forty-five minutes, with the last thing they needed to get being the blueberries Gideon needed.

As Gideon walked along though, Tyler noticed him walk right past the blueberries.When he had, he just kept walking, as though he'd forgotten them entirely. "Gid?"

The kit stopped. "Huh?"

"The blueberries?" Tyler pointed to them.

"Oh! Right!" Gideon rubbed his neck. He then walked over to where they were, looking through the different packages of them. He eventually grabbed one and put it into the cart. "There we go. Heh. Ah feel kinda silly. Can't exactly make blueberry pie without the blueberries, can Ah?"

Tyler shook his head. "Nope." As they made their way to the checkout counter, Tyler couldn't help but be concerned with his son's behavior. Gideon was never this forgetful, and the fact he'd forgotten about the blueberries, which he knew he needed, didn't sit well with him. Something wasn't right. As they got back in Tyler's car, he turned to his son. "Gid?"

"Yeah, Papa?" The fox turned his head to look to his dad.

Tyler didn't respond until he knew how to phrase what he was curious about. "How are ya feelin'?"

"Why do ya keep askin' me that," Gideon said, a slightly annoyed tone in his voice. "Ah said Ah was fine."

"Sorry, son. Ah'm just worried about ya, because yer forgettin' a lot of things today."

Gideon didn't answer. He just rolled his eyes.

Tyler opened his mouth to respond again, but they closed it, thinking better of it, and began driving back to the house. When he did, the two foxes unloaded the car. With that done, Tyler looked to his son, whom he noticed was smiling again. "Ready to make that pie now, Gid?"

"Yeah. Just need ta wash mah paws first."

"Good idea," Tyler replied as the two walked over to the sink to do that.

Once they had finished, Gideon went right to work preparing things for the pie. Tyler helped whenever he was asked to do so, also turning on the oven so it could start preheating.

With the pie prepped and ready, the kit reached up to the knob on the oven to turn it on, but then pulled back his paw when he noticed his father had already done so. He shrugged it off and grabbed the oven mitts after opening the door to the oven. Very carefully, the fox put the pie in the oven and closed the door again. He then sat down with a smile. "There we go. Now we wait," the kit said with a smile on his face.

Noticing Gideon forgot to set the timer, Tyler walked over, grabbing it, and set it before putting it down.

This caught the kit's attention, who gave a small nervous chuckle. "Heh... Kinda need the timer, don't we?"

Tyler laughed himself. "Yeah, though Ah'm pretty sure, even without it, ya know how ta make the pie well enough that ya would know when ta take it out."

"Still, always good ta have it, right?"

Tyler nodded. "Right."

"Hey Papa?"

"Yeah, Gideon?"

"Ah'm sorry Ah snapped at ya earlier. Ah know yer worried about me. Ah promise ya, Ah'm fine."

"Alright. Ah just wanna be sure."

"Ah know, and thank ya fer carin', Papa." He turned his attention to the oven again watching it in silence.

When the timer for the pie finally went off, Gideon got up out of his chair, turning it off and turning off the oven. He put the oven mitts on, then opened the oven door. Rather than pulling it out though, Gideon just stood there.

He did this for a full minute before Tyler spoke up. "Gid? Is somethin' wrong?"

Gideon shook his head, like he'd just spaced out. "Huh?" He then noticed the open oven door. "Oh!" He reached in and retrieved the pie after his father set out the cooling rack for him. "There. Sorry... Guess Ah spaced out there fer a second."

"At least ya remembered ta turn the oven off first," Tyler said with a laugh.

"Right," Gideon replied with a nervous laugh. "Ah wouldn't want ta burn the house down."

"Exactly."

The two of them sat and talked until the pie cooled down. Gideon then looked to his dad. "Ya want a piece, Papa?"

"Sure. Ah could use a snack."

Gideon smiled and gathered a couple small plates before cutting two slices of pie, which he then placed on the plates, handing one to his dad with a fork. He then took the other plate, grabbed a fork and sat down. He then took a bite of it. "Mmmm."

Tyler took a bite as well. "Mmm... Tastes great, Gid. Then again, it always does."

Gideon snickered. "Thanks, Papa."

"Yer welcome," Tyler replied as he ate.

The two foxes were just finishing up when a knock was heard at the door.

"Ah'll get it," Gideon said as he rushed to the living room, opening the door to find Travis there. "Hey, Travis. C'mon in."

"Thanks, Gid."

"Ya want a piece of pie? Papa and Ah just finished up havin' a slice, because Ah decided Ah wanted ta bake another one."

The ferret nodded. "Sure, Gid. I'd never turn down one of your pies."

Gideon headed into the kitchen again, immediately walking over to the pie and cutting another slice, which he put on a plate before handing it over. "How are ya, Travis?"

"Doing alright. Figured I'd come hang out over here for a while." Travis smiled as he took a bite of the pie. "Mmm.... So, other than baking, what have you been up to today?"

"Didn't sleep too well last night. Got a really bad headache and had a bad dream that repeated itself over and over."

"Ouch. Sorry to hear that, Gid."

"Yeah, and apparently Ah'm forgettin' stuff a lot today. Completely forget Papa was off today. Then Ah forgot that we would need ta go ta the store because we used up all the stuff fer pies with the last one, then when we got to the store, Ah completely spaced out on the blueberries. Forgot ta set the timer on the pie we made when Ah got home... and then just spaced out when the pie was done, leavin' the oven door open."

"Wow, Gid... That's not like you."

"Yeah.... Ah think all the stuff from last night has me not thinkin' right. Not really sure."

"Your head isn't hurting anymore, is it," Travis asked.

"Nah. Mah head hasn't been hurtin' since last night," Gideon told him.

"Well, that's good at least," travis replied as he took another bite of the pie.

"Still... Ah do kinda feel silly Ah'm forgettin' stuff that Ah usually have no trouble rememberin'."

"Well, son, if yer head starts botherin' ya again, let me know."

He nods. "Of course, Papa." Gideon looked to Travis. "When yer done, did ya wanna play some games fer a while?"

"Sure, Gid. Sounds good to me."

"Ah'm gonna call Alizar and see if he wants ta play."

Travis looked to him. "I went over there before I came here. He's not home right now. I'm guessing he and his parents went out somewhere."

"Alright then. Guess it's just you and me today," Gideon remarked.

"Looks that way." Travis commented as he finished his slice of pie.

"That's alright. We can have plenty of fun together still, right," Gideon said with a grin.

"Right," Travis replied with a grin of his own.

Once Gideon had put Travis' dishes in the dishwasher, the two of them to the living room to watch TV.

Over the next couple hours, the two of them sat, watching cartoons together, with Tyler periodically poking his head in to check how they were doing. Tyler noticed that, on more than one occasion, although his son was watching the TV, he didn't look like he was really paying attention to it.

After a while, Travis noticed this as well. "Gid?"

Gideon didn't reply though.

"Gid?" Travis spoke a little louder.

This time, Gideon turned his head toward his friend. "Huh?"

"You okay? You looked like you were spacing out," Travis told him.

"Just... uh... thinkin' about stuff is all," Gideon told him.

"Anything you wanna share," Travis asked.

"It's nothin' ya need ta worry about. Just... thinkin' about Mama," the kit told the ferret.

Travis knew this wasn't entirely true, but he didn't push the issue. Once Gideon's attention was back on the TV, Travis looked toward Tyler in the hall, who sighed and shook his head.

Tyler eventually went into the kitchen to make lunch for the two boys, bringing a couple sandwiches in for them, as well as some soda. "Here ya go, boys."

"Thank ya, Papa," Gideon replied, though his eyes stayed on the television.

"Thank you, Mister Grey," Travis replied.

"Yer welcome," Tyler said with a smile, before leaving again.

It would be another hour before anything else was said between the two boys. They sat there quietly, eating and watching the TV.

Gideon finally spoke up when the show they were watching had ended. "Hey, Travis?"

"Yeah?"

"Yer always gonna be mah friend, right? Like... even if somethin' IS wrong with me?"

Travis raised a brow at the question. "Of course. I'm not going to stop caring about you just because you're having one bad day. But... why do you ask?"

"No reason. Ah just... wanted ta be sure was all," the kit responded.

"Oh! Okay then. But yeah, you're stuck with me. Even if you were to forget who I was, I won't abandon you."

"Ah doubt Ah'd ever forget mah best friend... But thank ya, regardless."

"You're welcome," Travis replied.

The two then went back to watching the TV, though now it was Travis that didn't seem focused on it. Gideon's question seemed to come out of nowhere, and he couldn't shake the feeling there was more to the question than Gideon let on, but he didn't want to risk making Gideon upset again, so he stayed quiet.

The only other interruption the two had was when Travis' phone rang later that evening. He pulled his cell out and answered. "Hey, Dad."

"Hey. Dinner's going to be ready in about ten minutes, if you're hungry," Charles told him.

"Oh! Okay. I'll be home in a couple minutes then."

Charles chuckled. "Alright. See you when you get home then."

"Yep. Love ya, Dad."

"Love you too, Travis. Bye."

"Bye," Travis said as he hung up the phone. "I gotta go, Gid."

Gideon turned to look to him. "Alright." He then stood and hugged the ferret.

Travis hugged back. "See you tomorrow?"

"Of course," Gideon said with a smile as they walked to the front door. Gideon then opened it. "And thanks fer comin' over today."

He nodded. "Bye for now."

"See ya." Gideon opened the door for his friend and stood there watching as Travis left.

Tyler eventually came up behind Gideon, putting a paw on his shoulder. "Doin' okay, son?"

"Huh?" He turned to look to his dad. "Oh! Yeah, Papa, Ah'm doin' fine."

Tyler nodded and shut the front door. "Are ya hungry?"

"Yeah, kinda. What's fer dinner?"

"Ah made soup while ya were watchin' TV with Travis. Should be just about ready."

Gideon chuckled. "Timed that perfectly then, Papa."

"Seems I did," Tyler replied. "Come on."

Gideon nodded and followed his dad into the kitchen before sitting down.

No more than a couple minutes later, Tyler put the bowl of soup in front of him before retrieving his own and sitting down as well.

"Smells great, Papa."

"Thank ya. Dig in," Tyler told him as he began eating.

"Don't mind if Ah do," the kit said with a laugh as he started eating as well. "Mmm."

"Glad the soup has yer approval, son," Tyler said with a chuckle.

"It's great, Papa," the kit replied.

Around twenty minutes later, Gideon finished his food, and when he had, he got up from the table to clean up his dishes. Not even a minute later, the kit yawned.

"Gettin' sleepy already, Gid?"

"Maybe a little, but Ah'm not ready ta go ta sleep just yet," Gideon replied.

Tyler nodded. "Alright."

"Ah think Ah'm gonna take a bath though. Ah kinda forgot that this mornin'."

"Good idea, Gid. Go on and do that," Tyler told him.

Gideon nodded and made his way upstairs. He immediately got the bath water started, then just waited as the tub filled. As he waited, he turned his attention to the mirror and looked at his reflection in silence. When he turned his attention back to the tub several minutes later, he turned off the water, got undressed and got in. He was quick to get himself washed, but, after that, he just sat there in the tub, letting himself soak and get lost in his thoughts.

Eventually a knock came on the other side of the bathroom door. "Gid? You alright?"

Gideon turned his attention to the door. "Ah'm fine, Papa. Why?"

"You've been in there for more than half an hour now," Tyler said from behind the door.

"Oh! Uhh... Sorry, Papa, just thinkin' about stuff. Ah didn't realize how long it had been. Ah'll be right out," the kit said as he started draining the water. He dried himself off and put on his PJs. When he opened the door, Tyler was still standing there.

"Ya must have been really thinkin' hard about somethin' in there," the elder kit said.

"Yeah, kinda... Mostly about Mama."

Tyler nodded. "Ah've been doin' that a lot mahself."

"Yeah? About Mama?"

"Yeah, and about you," Tyler said.

"About me?"

The elder fox nodded. "Yeah. Yer very important ta me, Gid. Ah know Ah've probably annoyed ya more than once today, but Ah just worry about ya."

"Ah know that, Papa. And Ah'm sorry fer mah attitude today. Ah know ya love me."

"Ah do. Very much," tyler told him. "Just do me a favor, alright?"

"What's that?"

"If yer in pain or hurtin', let me know, okay? Ah don't wanna lose ya because Ah couldn't get ya help when ya needed it."

Gideon nodded and hugged his dad. "Ah will."

"Thank ya."

"Ah love ya, Papa," the kit replied.

"Ah love ya too, son." Tyler said before leaving the bathroom and heading back downstairs.

"If it's alright, Papa, Ah think Ah WILL go ta bed. Ah don't wanna think about stuff anymore tonight. Is that alright?"

Tyler nodded. Of course. I'm not really surprised either. That bath must have really relaxed you."

Gideon nodded. "Yeah, it did."

Tyler followed Gideon into his room and pulled back the sheets on his bed.

Gideon climbed in. "Between the bath and the fact Ah didn't sleep well last night, Ah'm hopin' Ah'm tired enough ta sleep through the whole night."

"Guess we'll just have to wait and see," Tyler repled, pulling the sheets up over his son. "Good night, Gid."

"G'night, Papa. Ah love ya."

"Love ya too, son."

Gideon closed his eyes then, quickly drifting off to sleep.