"Peter…"

Peter groaned but buried his head deeper into his pillows, he didn't want to get up yet. It felt too early.

"Wake up, my little star lord," his mom persisted brushing back his hair and laying a kiss on his temple making him crack his eyes open.

"Ma…" he whispered grasping her hand tightly so she couldn't leave him, "You would never ever lie to me right?"

She didn't respond to that, just kept running her fingers through his hair.

"Don't grow up Peter," she whispered avoiding the conversation entirely, "Don't be forced to make tough decisions, just keep living as Star Lord up in the stars with no responsibility and total freedom."

She took a deep breath as his glare stared her down before he six-year-old could go into a meltdown, she began to explain herself the best she could.

"I'm not gonna be ok, baby," she whispered pulling him into her lap, "I wanted to tell you if I could get some good news but its not happening. I'm so sorry, Peter. I'm gonna try to hang around as long as I can but oh baby…"

Mom was crying. Mom never cried.

Peter would later regret his next action, but he shoved his mom hard and ran away from her as called after him in worry. He just ran and kept going. Down the stairs, waking Johnny who was passed out on the couch as he slammed the back-door open and crawling into the dog house that had been here when they moved in (mainly home to racoons now).

The King and Queen as he and his mother had dubbed the rodents, were sitting in there as usual not paying Peter much mind.

He sat in silence watching the racoons groom each other and wondered how long he had till everything he knew was gonna be ripped from him. Grandpa couldn't take him if something happened to ma, he was always gone. If he was lucky his uncle would come back but he abandoned the family after grandma's death swearing to never come back again. He left without a good bye and Peter began to fear that would be the pattern everyone he loved would make.

"Peter?"

He heard his mom's call but chose to ignore it. He wrapped his arms tighter around his legs and buried his head into them. He didn't want to hide and ignore mom, he loved mom but he couldn't handle this right now. He let out a loud sob and the racoons began hissing at him annoyed he invaded their home to be annoying.

They fled before they could touch the child when Meredith smacked king with the broom like she always did when they got ornery with her cat or son (Peter had quite the scar on his back from the time he pushed king to his limit petting him when he didn't want to be touched).

"Peter, baby, please talk to me."

"No," Peter hissed through his tears whipping snot onto his sleeve (an action that surprisingly didn't get him scolded like it usually did), "Yer just gonna lie!"

"Baby, I ain't gonna lie to ya no more, let's just talk this out, ok?"

"I won't come out unless you promise to never lie to me again! Friends don't lie to each other!"

Meredith let out a loud annoyed sigh, Peter wondered if at times like this she regretted having him at all. He sank more into himself letting the guilt sneak its claws into him, he never wanted to come out. He could just hide here, maybe forever or at least until the problem went away.

His mother though was impatient and stubborn as him and made the decision for him, wrapping her arms around his middle and pulling him out to her. She pulled him once more into her lap and kissed him on the cheek.

"I won't lie no more," she whispered into his ear kissing him again and again until he finally cracked a smile snuggling into his mother.

"You and me are best friends for now until the end of eternity and friends don't lie to each other," she said firmly, "It was wrong of me to do that. What ever can I do to repay you for the worry I caused ya?"

Peter didn't answer that, he would usually jump at the chance to get what he wanted but this time he just couldn't. He didn't want anything, he just wanted everything to not be true.

"Don't ever leave me," he whispered letting out another sob, "Don't leave me alone!"

Meredith sighed and said nothing, she promised to not lie and to keep telling the truth would mean telling her six-year-old child she was dying and he would be without her before he entered high school, most likely sooner.

Over the next few days Peter fell into an emotional limbo, his body on auto pilot. Meredith had to pull him from school because of his health. He picked at his favorite foods, stared blankly out his window in his room most of the day and didn't want to be anywhere near his mother. Try as she might he didn't want to watch their favorite shows together, he didn't want to go get ice cream, he wouldn't eat his favorite fast food she brought home and he reacted with almost anger at most physical contact.

Meredith talked this over with her dad over the phone most nights and he thought Peter needed to see a councilor because he was not handling this news well. Meredith though, didn't like the idea of a stranger possibly making her son worse. She just needed him to open up to her.

Johnny was supportive of the idea but also suggested his girlfriend bribe the kid with gifts to get him to open up more about his issues.

Meredith thought that was a very good suggestion and knew just the thing to make her son feel better. She left work early that day and went immediately to the electronic store across the street to get what she would need to make her Star Lord smile again.

The next day, she woke her son early to a large pancake breakfast. Peter as he had been doing the last few days, merely picked it apart while he sat at the table, just looking miserable. She glared at her boyfriend as he ate with gusto beside her son, talking with his mouthful about a show he was running for his band, bits of egg flying from his lips.

Meredith didn't voice her annoyance not wanting to upset Peter more and instead offered him to eat off her own fork and smiled when he accepted the bite in his face. She took a bite and then offered another from her plate to Peter, like she had done when he was a baby and he didn't fight her on it making her smile broaden more.

"Peter, sweet pea, I'm not going to work today and just you and me are gonna spend some time together."

"Fine," was Peter's response too lifeless to be counted as an attitude. She may not live to see him hit puberty but this should make up for it she thought to herself with a sigh.

She smiled at him and was relieved to see he didn't pull away when she kissed him on the cheek.

Gradually as the day wore on, Meredith felt she was finally breaking through her son's walls. It started with the petting zoo at the farm a few miles away, she knew he wouldn't be able to refuse to pet anything furry and cute. Being surrounded by goats, each nibbling at him and trying to get a bite of the popcorn he was taunting them with. Peter was a gentle soul, just as his father had been she thought with pride watching him kiss a goat on the lips.

Jason (the Earth name her space man chose for himself), always had a knack with animals as well, he was fascinated by the chickens Meredith had owned at the time, always picking them up and holding them. He had been just as childlike and curious as Peter was now, following a row of chicks back into the hen house and giggling wildly as the rooster chased him off.

Meredith snatched her giggling son before the rooster could get at him, that one had always been foul tempered and sent Peter twice to the emergency room for stitches, not that her son ever learned to stay away from him. She felt a wave of pride as he looked up to her smiling widely and even kissed her on the cheek in thanks for pulling him out of a dangerous situation.

They sat together on a picnic blanket under their favorite willow tree by the creek just outside the farm. Peter began talking a mile a minute about how he wanted them to move to a farm someday, just the two of them and Meredith was beginning to lose her confidence. She didn't want to lie to him anymore knowing it was hurting him like this but she couldn't let him live in denial either that she would always be with him. She had maybe a year, possibly two left in her and before long she would be too weak to even leave the hospital at all but she would suffer through the chemo just to give this little boy as much time with her as she could.

She had been sick for years, the tumor slowly growing, unnoticed by anyone until the doctors found it a few months ago when she came in to treat her frequent migraines. Her time on this world was running low and the only thing she cared about now was making sure this little boy would make it through her death.

"Ma, Ma," Peter said again shaking her shoulder as she just stared off letting her worrying thoughts consume her, "Are you listening?"

"Peter, sweet pea," she whispered running her fingers through his hair, "My precious Star Lord. You know I love you, don't you?"

"Duh, yer my mom," he said beginning to look scared again pulling his knees to his chest and knocking her hand away before wrapping his arm around his knees.

"That's right, all moms love their babies," she said giving him a painted-on smile, "And even when I'm gone, I won't ever stop loving you. I'll be up in the stars, waiting for you and yer daddy to come back to me once ya both get done having lots of adventures and saving the galaxy side by side."

"I – I don't want to see him!" Peter wailed crying again, "I want you to stay with me! I want us to be together forever and you and me to have adventures and see the stars together!"

"Oooh child," she sang softly collecting her sobbing child into her arms and rocking him gently, "Things are gonna get easier. Ooooh child, things are gonna get brighter. Someday, someday, we'll walk together in a beautiful sun, someday, things will get brighter."

The tears didn't stop but those pained screams stopped as he just listened to her and allowed her to clean his face gently with a tissue.

"Peter, baby," she whispered when he began to calm down, "I know it's not your birthday yet but I got you something."

She reached into her bag, smiling feeling Peter's curious eyes on her while she dug out a beautifully wrapped golden box and a smaller box wrapped in shiny red paper.

Peter reached over and just held the presents, turning them over in his hands. Hesitantly, he unwrapped the bigger box first and instantly a smile spread across his face. It was a Walkman! He had been begging for one ever since Billy down the road had got one for his birthday and never let him play his cassettes on it on the bus ride to school. This one was much nicer then Billy's too! It was blue, a much better and prettier color then the bright orange one he carried around.

He wrapped his arms tight around him mom a million thank yous launching into her ear as he clung tighter bringing a genuine smile to his mother's face.

"Don't forget the other present baby," she whispered encouragingly, lightly pulling his attention to the other box that had fallen to the ground.

Peter clung tightly to his Walkman as he curiously picked the other box and ripped the paper off with excitement. He frowned at this gift, turning his eyes up to his mother.

"It's a blank tape."

Meredith smiled kissing him on the cheek.

"Its blank right now but we are going to make the best, most awesome mix tape this world has ever known with it."

Peter's smile could out shine the sun as his mind was already in the middle of finding the perfect songs to go on this tape.