I wake up the next morning to finds myself on the floor, with Pa rubbing my back. Must have fallen out of bed because of a nightmare.

"Do I have a bruise?" "No. You O.K?" "I think so. I've never...No, wait I have fallen on my back once."

I cringe as I remember.

"Mom pushed me down the stairs when I was 7. It took me 5 weeks to recover completely. My room was upstairs and the only time she slept across the hall from me was the night before my birthday. One of her favorite things that she'd say to wake me up was..."

I start to shake a little bit.

"Get your stupid otter butt out of bed, Freak!"

My eyes well up with tears.

"I don't know my real name. I wonder if I even have one. If I do...I don't think I want to know what it is. I don't know what my Dad's name is either but my Mom's name was Jenny. Sometimes she'd have friends over. Mom never told them about my otterness. But they'd call me names too. Sometimes they'd even cuss at me. One of them smoked. I never had the smoke blown in my face but..."

I show Pa the burn spot just below the inside of my right knee.

"I did get this a week before I turned 11. When I winced, they just laughed."

Tears start to flow down my face.

"Luckily for me, Mom's friends didn't visit very often. There were only 2. Sometimes they'd go out. They never took me with them. Other than home, school was pretty much the only place I went to. Mom didn't attend my graduation. I had to walk home. I'm surprised I didn't get blisters. But my feet were really sore when I got back. I like to think Superman saw me graduate and that my Father was proud. Do you think my Father was proud, Pa?" "Yes, I'm certain that he was very proud of you. Just like I am." "T-Thank you Pa."

I crawl into his arms for a hug. I really like the feeling I get from Pa's hugs. I like everything about just being hugged.

"[Thank you Pa.]" "You're welcome...How do you say Nori in Otter?"

I smile.

"[Nori.]" "Thanks for the language lesson, [Nori]."

My smile widens.

"I couldn't ask for a better student. I like hearing you speak in Otter, Pa. I find it comforting. So I'm going to teach you some more words." "I couldn't ask for a better teacher."

I can't help but grin as I teach Pa how to say, in Otter, the following words. Safe, home, family, hug, my, and daughter.

He's really good at learning Otter. I like teaching it to him. Because the comfort that I get from hearing him speak it is, by far, one of the best feelings I've ever had.