Micah's parents knew exactly what they were in for when, after they heard the sound of the front door slamming shut and their boy's backpack thudding as it was dropped on the ground, their child called out, "Hey, Mom, Dad! I got a new pet!"
The quick addition of "And this one isn't even from Uncle Dipper! I caught him all by myself!" did little to assuage their fears.
The two locked eyes, then exchanged a solemn nod before slapping on smiles and slowly wandering towards the front door.
"Oh, what did you find this time, sweetie?" his mother called out, trying to disguise the fear in her voice.
"I got a butterfly! And he's so pretty and I love him and you guys need to check him out too!"
"We're on our way, Micah, darling!" she called out in dulcet tones before lowering her voice and turning towards her husband, mouthing the words as much as breathing them.
"Butterflies are nice." She said. "I wouldn't mind having a butterfly.
Micah's father sighed. "Well, you know, I used to think lollipops were nice too, but…"
"Oh, come on." She gently shoved him, giving off a grin befitting a schoolgirl as much as a mother. "Give it a chance!"
"Fine, fine…"
The two held hands as they entered the hallway, bracing themselves for whatever lay in store for them there even as they kept wide smiles on their faces.
A quick glance revealed that their boy hadn't been lying or deluded. His captured animal of the day was indeed a butterfly, one with soft blue and purple wings that shimmered beautifully, reflecting back much of the room's dim electric lighting.
It also had a wingspan nearly as wide as their child was tall.
Micah giggled as the butterfly squirmed while perched on the boy's arm. "Aww, it tickles!"
His parents stared. After a moment's hesitation, his father asked, "So that's the butterfly you brought home?" The father kept looking around the room, as if still clinging to the hope that his son had been referring to some other butterfly that was hiding within the room rather than the one almost as big as he was.
"Yep! I found him in the woods in this big space with a bunch of pretty crystals and he grew all huge when he went in this weird blue light and then I started tickling him and he followed me all the way back home! I didn't have to use my net on him or nothing!" The boy rested his free hand on his chin. "Still trying to decide on a name for him though. Maybe Bert? No, he doesn't really look like a Bert…"
"He's not being named anything!" his father burst out. "Because you're not keeping him!"
The mother turned to face her husband, fire in her eyes. "Arnold!"
He returned her gaze. "What? I'm not letting him keep that… that thing in the house! It was bad enough dealing with 'Uncle Dipper's pets', but now this? We need to nip this in the bud right now!"
"It's just a butterfly, Arnie! What harm is it going to do?"
"I don't know! But I don't want to have to find out the hard way!"
The two bickering parents didn't notice that the butterfly had taken off from their boy's arm and begun flying around the room until it landed on Arnold's head, its squirming legs gently massaging his scalp and tangling up his dirty blonde hair.
"He likes you!" Micah cried out with a toothy grin, his eyes wide and glistening. "Don't make him leave now! Can I keep him, Daddy? Please please please can I keep him?"
The father closed his eyes for a moment and sighed. He shook his head gently, and the butterfly flew off his head, pulling a few loose hairs off of the man's head as it took off.
"Alright, fine. But we're getting a cage for it- er, him. And he's going to stay in that cage all the time unless you're playing with him, okay? And you have to clean up after him and make sure he gets all the right food and… er… what do butterflies eat, anyway?"
"Flowers, I think?" offered the mother.
"So I can keep him?"
"…yes. Yes, you can keep him."
The boy ran over to his father and gave him a tight hug, then did the same for his mother. "Thank you thank you thank you! I'll make sure to take good care of him, I swear!" As he turned back towards his new pet, Micah's eyes lit up. "And I know the perfect name for you, little buddy! I'm gonna call you Steve!"
With that pronouncement, Micah bounded up the stairs leading to his bedroom two at a time, grinning and giggling and rambling nonsensical words of excitement to his new pet.
As the boy's door fell shut, the two parents broke out into nervous laughter.
"Steve the butterfly. Steve. The giant butterfly. I can't believe we're allowing this."
The mother stuck her tongue out at her husband, then gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. "And I'm so glad you did, honey."
As their child's stomping footsteps echoed through the house, Micah's mother and father wrapped their arms around one another in a loving embrace, their touches telling stories far deeper than words could ever express.