A Father's Work is Never Done

(By the way, perspective is from an umbreon.)

It was the end of fall and several clouds filled the sky as the beginning of a new day came to pass. Swarms of starly and staravia flew past in the formation of v's. The small bodies of water frozen stiff. Few Pokemon were out in the open, the chilling air bit into even the furriest of pokemon, it has even started to snow. Most of them, like I, would stay in their den to keep warm. However, there are a few mischievous little ones that "refuse" to stay inside all day.

One of which was right in front of me doing something I couldn't even begin to comprehend. My sweet, Eevee daughter was running in and out of the entrance. I stood up and watched her. She ran outside yelling, "Adventure!" And then she stopped for a second. Running back jn, she was shivering and said, "Too cold, too cold." After a minute of warming up, she did it all over again.

I chuckled softly, "She's insane, just like her mother." My mate, Espeon, passed away shortly after Eevee was born. After her death, I was lost. I felt as if a had a huge hole in my stomach, a void i could never fill. I grew unhealthy because I couldn't get the motivation to eat even a little. I could barely even think straight, let alone take care of a child. I'm honestly not even sure how I managed it. I remember trying so hard to get Eevee to sleep, and then crying myself to sleep.

My thoughts were always along the lines of, "I can't keep this up. I'm nothing without Espeon. This would be so much better if she was here, huddled against my side like she always had when she slept. Maybe I fell into a coma and all of this is a feverish dream, or nightmare I should call it." Hell... I still think that from time to time. But in the end, I remember that Eevee needs me. I can't let her down. I can't lose my composure in front of her. I thank Arceus that she hasn't started asking about her mother.

I walked up to Eevee while she was about to run out again and I stepped on her tail, effectively stopping her in her tracks. She popped her head around to mine. She gave me a big smile. "Oh hi, daddy!" She struggled out of my grasp and started running a circle around me. "It's about time you woke up sleepyhead. We gotta get outta here."

I raised an eyebrow before asking, "What are you doing? Why do we need to get out?" I stopped her again and didn't allow her to wiggle loose.

"B-Because..." she answered, looking away.

I looked her in the eyes, "Because?...

She started jumping in place, "Because I'm bored! I have to go outside. If I don't, I'll literally explode!"

I rolled my eyes, "You know you'll freeze your butt off out there, right?

"Yeah, that's why I was trying to get a running start!" She shouted. I facepawed. "If I don't get out there I'll never start my adventure."

"Sweetie, I've already told you. You have to grow up before even thinking about that."

She pouted, "It's okay, I've already planned it all out. I'm gonna meet a nice trainer and we're gonna grow really strong and beat up all the gym leaders and their pokemon. And then we'll be champions, just like you were."

"Well, I got lucky. Not all trainers are as nice as my trainer was. And it took us years to get that point, okay? There isn't a guarantee that you'll get that far.

"Maybe I'll be lucky, too! When we do become champions, you'll be cheering me on from the sidelines!" Her naive nature really worries me. "Course you won't be doing much cheering considering how fat you'll be.

I blinked, confused. "Wh-What?! I'm going to be fat? Why?"

She giggled, because we won so much money that we bought all the food in the world! And you couldn't help yourself. You ate half of it and got as big as our den!" She raised her paws up into the the air, trying to show how big I'd be.

At a loss for words I simply said, "Um... all right..."

"Let's go outside now!" She announced, leaving the cave again. I followed her. She was noticeably shivering.

"We can't stay out here, you'll get a cold." She ran around me and jumped onto my back. I flinched, but then looked back at her.

She grinned, nuzzling into the fur on the back of my neck. "Daddy's fur is so soft... "

I couldn't help but to smile a little, "Don't ever change." I whispered. I then heard her breathing becoming steady as she fell asleep. I scoffed, turning around and heading back inside. "Let's take a little nap, first."

Eevee is my daughter and I'm happy I have her. She is my reason to live and breathe. I love her so much...

I laid her down and in a sing-song voice, I sang, " You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are grey. You'll never know, dear, how much I love you. Pl-Please..." my voice broke, " don't take my s-sunshine away..."