FSE

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Wow....life has thrown a bit of a curveball. Time seemed to become a bit more....unrealistic for a bit of time due to school and i didn't realize i hadn't posted anythign in a bit of time....well, at least for this series. BUT, enough with esoteric stuf that doesn't really matter! So, hope you enjoy the newest chapter! If there's somethign that seems....'ugh'ish tell me so i can improve.

Enjoy

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"Is that everything?" Marion asked, looking at his car that was filled with various objects. He saw clothes, posters, an electric piano, and other miscellaneous objects. Just by looking at it he could tell that Chris was a bit diverse in what he enjoyed--which made understanding the pup that much more difficult.

"Yes sir," Chris replied. It was difficult to see his entire life packed up into one car--was this all it came down to?

"OK...well...is there anything you want to do before we leave?"

Chris shook his head, "No...nothing,"

Marion looked down at his son and nodded. Yes, Chris was his son. They had spent one week in Jacksonville and in that time the test confirmed that he was the pup's father. Marion felt a bit tired. In the past week he'd cycled through various legal papers, made sure Chris would be at school when they moved back up north, took care of Nancy's will--which for some reason she left to him, and got Chris's possessions all packed.

Though the will was to him almost all of it had to do with Chris. Inside was even a note from her addressed to him--about two years old from the date. There was a brief apology about not telling him about their son, and about how she had felt it would've dragged him down because of his career path. At the same time she told him how her biggest regret was not telling him and letting them meet under more proper circumstances.

He was pissed at her. How could she have thought that he wouldn't have wanted to know about Chris? The pup was his son. Still, a few nights of thought on it had made it clear that thirteen years ago he had been different. Thirteen years ago, he had studied all the time, had made sure each move got him closer to the next 'A' or advantage in the academic field. How could he have expected her to tell him he had a son; especially when children during that tiem made everything more difficult.

Still, the notion annoyed him. He wished Nancy had explained more to him, but there were only a few sentences addressed to him. Next to that the note was about Chris. She told him about all his favorite foods, subjects in school, extra activities the wolf liked, his favorite type of music, and everything that one could think of. The note really helped him in understanding his son, if only a little. She told him that she knew he would fall in love with the pup just as she had--that Chris was so much like him.

Also in the will was money for Chris going to college. It wasn't much, enough for about two semesters and nothing more. Nancy hadn't ever graduated from college, but had still managed to care for Chris in a very effective manner. The two went on vacations in the summer, small trips over Christmas break, and so much more. Still, the amount she made compared to Marion's annual pay-check was quite extreme. She had an insurance policy, which he'd spent five days yelling at people about. Her insurance company had wanted to screw them out of it, and that enraged him--not for himself but for Chris. At one point he'd almost been about to punch a manager of a local firm when he told him that he wasn't getting the money. Sure not getting the money wouldn't exactly put a dent in his wallet for taking care of the pup; it was purely the principle of the thing. Even though he hadn't asked to be put in the position of caretaker now that he had it he was going to try his best. He had an immediate connection to the pup; it was almost scary.

Maybe it was because he was his son, or maybe because it was Nancy's child but he wanted to take care of him. He didn't know what he thought of Chris; was the pup Nancy's child, or was he his son? Which one took greater priority? Another thing he didn't know to do was how to take care of him. It wasn't like he knew what he was doing. In fact, he was clueless and Wikipedia didn't offer him the information he'd really wanted. It wasn't like he had time to read books on it either; he was going in cold turkey as a father.

"Well...let's get moving," Marion said and opened the car door. He unlocked the other side and waited for Chris to buckle as he got in. That was a change in itself. He waited and knew he wouldn't have even put the keys in the ignition till the pup had buckled his seatbelt.

Chris didn't try to speak or anything. He didn't want to do anything or really think--he didn't want to exist. It wasn't suicidal, but he just would've felt better if he could be in bed; not moving, not thinking, not dreaming, not doing anything. Nothing felt like life right now; it all felt numbed. The week had gone by in a hazy state of nothingness, with the only noticeable aspect to it being the absence of the one person he knew could've brought light into his world; his mom.

Marion pulled out of the driveway and couldn't help but notice how calm Chris seemed. He wanted to tell the wolf everything was OK, but the words seemed sour on his brain and not much better as they sat on his tongue. Over the week he couldn't help but notice that the pup had no phone calls, no friends come to visit, and no real contact with the outside world. Of course Chris was mourning but he wondered about the life his son was leaving behind. Was he being selfish to move him? "You know...we can come visit anytime you want,"

Chris looked over at the wolf and then back out the window. It was misty out, a perfect weather for his mood. The rain was gone and it left behind the still mist that just clouded everything over--just like how he felt.

Marion didn't try to get the pup to talk anymore. He'd lost his grandparents at a young age and when he had he simply dealt with it like Chris seemed to be doing. He shut the world out and tried to not do anything--to just be a shell. When there was no one to blame for a loss and no body to hate for something then the only thing to do was to just crumble. At least; that was how it was when he had been a pup.

He knew that Chris cried every night still. The pup never told him he was sad or anything, but he could hear the pup's whimpers every time--wishing he could help him somehow. He was under no impression the pup saw him as anyone other than the stranger who was supposed to take care of him--how could he see him as more? Did he honestly expect the pup to come to him and tell him how he missed his mother?

They had gone once to Nancy's fresh grave together; where his son had cried once more. The surprising part was Marion cried too. He didn't really know why though; it wasn't like he was extremely sad. He and Nancy had cared about each other but there had never been the bond that a life mate would need. All that he and Nancy shared for the past thirteen years had been memories. If they had been together it wouldn't have been a happy marriage or anything, or so he imagined.

Still, he was sad. He'd left a dozen roses, a light shade of pink--her favorite--on the grave the day before. He went without Chris; letting his son mourn his own way. Even though he knew Nancy was dead he stood in front of the grave for about two hours. He talked with the cold stone and asked a lot of questions. Sometimes he even laughed. He talked about their high school years, about how they had gone to prom together. There was the anger too. He told Nancy he was pissed she didn't tell him about Chris--saying it wasn't fair to either of them. He told her about how he didn't care if he'd had to drop out of school; it wasn't fair for the pup to not be without him, or either of them anymore.

The time passed quickly in front of the grave. Marion found that the mist had dampened his fur by the time he was ready to leave someone else came to visit. It had been Mr. Ole, and he seemed happy to see Marion there. The two wolves stared at each other and looked back at the grave. Marion asked the wolf about Chris and tried to get his mind around the idea of being a father.

Of course he was probably already different.

Like right now for instance. He would usually go about eighty miles an hour on the interstate but he was at fifty five. There were other cars zooming down the road but he felt perfectly content at the speed. Eighty was ten miles over and he was happily in the middle of the suggested minimum speed and maximum speed. The idea of crashing plagued him and it seemed like every passing car was a threat to him, but even more importantly to Chris.

Was that parenthood? Being paranoid? If so he could do without it. At this current speed it would easily take six or more hours to get back home instead of his usual five or less. The entire trip he couldn't help but think about Chris.

Did the pup hate him? In his mind it wasn't like there was anything to stop Chris from hating him; after all, he hadn't been in his life till right now. Still, that wasn't his fault was it? Nancy had hidden them from each other. And it wasn't like they could blame her for it. A flare of anger at his dead high school lover came over him. She had the perfect and most guilt free way to getting out of it. She could die and dump it all on them.

That wasn't right though. The note did say she was sorry--and Nancy wasn't cynical; it wasn't in her nature. Hell, the perfect plan would've been to have Chris, then have waited till he graduated and was making a nice salary then tell him about Chris and get him to help pay the bills. Still, that wasn't anything the Nancy he knew would've ever doen. He knew that she just had both of their supposed best interest in mind. But then again, it wasn't like she had been a psychologist. Marion would've dumped the prospects of his current life in an instant for this one--one with a family all his own.

The trip seemed to pass with a quick, crawling pace. Chris had fallen asleep and was now awake again. Marion wondered if the pup knew he whined in his sleep--Nancy said he did it all the time in the note. So it wasn't him being sad? But still, he felt bad to hear the pup whining, mostly because he knew that Chris was really sad. "Nancy told me you like to eat at Henry's Buffet...there's one coming up, want to stop?"

Chris felt a shot of pain course through his heart and winced. Why did the wolf have to tell him that--how did he know? Who was he to go there without his mother? That place would only make things worse. He looked out the window at the passing trees and fought back a tear. "N--No..." he managed after a moment.

Marion frowned, realizing that it was Chris's favorite place to eat, but it probably held too many memories for him. "OK...Well, would you like to pull off and grab a bite? You haven't had anything to eat since yesterday evening..."

There were pangs of hunger and Chris knew ignoring them wasn't going to bring his mom back, but he didn't care. He shook his head and sighed, "Not really..."

Marion nodded and pulled back into the left side lane since he wouldn't be pulling off anymore. "We still have about two hours before we're in Greensburg,"

"OK," Chris said and leaned his head against the window again. It had stopped raining about a hundred miles back, but it felt like the mood had followed him. The idea that he was moving still hadn't really hit him yet. He was basically leaving his middle school without any notice--leaving all his friends and teachers.

For some reason leaving all his friends hadn't really hit him yet. He knew that as far as chances went he'd never see them again, but it wasn't like he was overly sad about it. Were they really his friends? This entire week he'd been alone, none of them called or anything, and it wasn't like they couldn't have texted him.

Maybe they didn't care. He let out a small sigh and watched as his breath caught onto the glass window, causing a small bit of condensation. He didn't want to be ungrateful, but he wished he was back home--back with his Mom. The wolf next to him was supposed to be his dad, and he couldn't deny their resemblance but to him the wolf was simply Mr. Judith. That was all he was and all he could ever see him as--that was how it felt.

Mr. Judith was kind to him, always gentle and never impatent. Like right now. He knew that Mr. Judith hadn't eaten anything since last night either and that he was probably very hungry, but the wolf was forgetting that all for him. He didn't know why--why did the wolf care about him? Did the wolf care about him? Had his mom guilted him into it?

A few more hours passed and Chris found himself at a strange place--somewhere he was supposed to call home. The idea didn't register with him though, at least not yet it didn't. He looked around and began to walk towards the apartment complexes on the other side of the street. He got to the edge of the street before he stopped when he heard his name being called.

"Chris," Marion called out to the pup. The pup turned around after a few seconds and he nodded towards the house, "We're in the house,"

"Oh..." Chris got out. He looked at the house then sighed.

"If you want...we could downsize or even upsize it...you know..." Marion said as he grabbed a few bags.

Chris cocked his head. Did Mr. Judith just tell him that he would buy a new house for him? Was the wolf loaded or something? Then again, did money even matter? It wouldn't make him happy would it? He shook his head, "It's cool,"

Marion nodded and walked up the stairs, quickly unlocking his front door. He let the pup in and smiled, "You can sleep in my room--I'll prepare your room for you over the week,"

"I can sleep on the couch," Chris replied.

"Nonsense...you'll take my bed...honestly I fall asleep on the couch most of the time anyway so it's more like you taking the couch would be stealing my bed," Marion replied with a small chuckle. He didn't know where that came from. It was a total lie. He never slept on the couch; it was horribly unpleasant, but still the words had come out of his muzzle. Was he trying to make the pup more comfortable or something?

Chris stared at the couch and nodded after a moment, "OK...thank you,"

"No problem...come-on, I'll show you to the bedroom," Marion replied and led the pup up the stairs. He smiled as he set down the first suitcase and nodded, "I'll go get the rest of it, OK?"

"OK..." Chris replied and sighed. He sat down on the bed and looked around. The house was kind of bare; it had no soul to it. On the way up he hadn't noticed a single painting, and there weren't any real features that talked of what Mr. Judith enjoyed. Did the wolf ever express himself in his house--his mom did all the time. Maybe the wolf would consider going back and grabbing the stuff from the apartment his mom had decorated the house with. He looked at the wolf, "Mr. Judith..."

Marion stopped and looked back, "Yes? And you can call me Marion if you want," he added, not feeling he could really be a father to the pup right now.

"Oh...I was jus--never mind," Chris said and looked away again. It wouldn't be right to ask his caretaker to do that--and it would only make living here more painful.

"OK...well, I'll be right back," Marion replied and moved out of the stairs.

The bed was really soft. Chris leaned down into it and let out a small sigh. Even though this entire week he'd probably slept fourteen hours a day he could always sleep more. He found himself moving up to the pillow and his breath coming in slower bits.

Even if his was a bland house it was comfortable. The temperature was at about seventy or so degrees Fahrenheit and it made him feel as though he was able to just fade to sleep.

After a second he couldn't help but think that Mr. Judith had lied. The wolf's scent was really strong on the bed; no way the wolf didn't sleep here. Still, it had been nice of him to let him use the bed. He took in another breath and sighed. This place wasn't home, but why did it feel comforting too? He wanted to be home--with his mom.

Still, that was impossible now.

Chris stared at the wall and gave another slow sigh, which turned into a yawn. He thought back to his mother, and how she talked about Mr. Judith. The wolf was very kind to him, but he was hardly family. Looking alike did not make him the wolf's son--he refused that notion. Did the wolf just feel obliged to him, or sorry for him? The thoughts began to swim into his head as sleep draped over him. He couldn't help but feel that the entire thing was just a guilt trip on them both. Mr. Judith probably hated him for coming in and ruining his good life, and Chris couldn't blame him.

He'd come into the wolf's life out of nowhere. What reason would there be besides a dying person's wish that he would be taken care of? Chris breathed in the scent again and sighed once more, his eyes closing as the world blacked out once more. Mr. Judith probably despised him.

Another yawn escaped him and he wished once more to be back home. That he could be with his mother, or at the very least, she could be here with him. If only he could've seen her again--with color in her cheeks and mirth in her voice. A slow tear fell down his muzzle as sleep continued its work on his mind.

Marion put down the suitcase and guitar and sighed. He was about to leave the room to grab more bags when a whine caught his ears. It made him look towards the pup was curled up on the bed. He cocked his head and looked at the pup for a few moments. He moved over and took things off the bed before moving over to his son.

Making sure to not wake him he lifted the pup up. Instead of tucking him under the covers he found himself holding Chris. He stared at the pup for a minute, wondering what he was supposed to do now. In the pup's sleep Chris leaned over and nestled closer to him, and Marion felt he would've dropped the pup if it had startled him more. For a moment he held Chris and then tucked him under the covers. He heard the pup whine again and cocked his head. After a moment Marion jerked his paw back, realizing he'd been stroking over the pup's head. It was slightly startling, he'd only meant to tuck him in.

He watched the pup sleep for a few minutes before standing up and deciding to get the rest of the things inside. Just before he closed the door he looked back at the pup and cocked his head. This was odd. Just a week ago he'd been trying to choke down one of Mary's hangover cures and now he was a father, tucking his son into bed.

After a few seconds he smiled and shrugged his shoulders, "Goodnight Chris,"