Chapter 69 - Is This What It Would Be Like? (200K Word Special)

Gosha finished up his omelet, patting his stomach. "So, any plans today, boys?"

Legosi shook his head. "Still nothing."

"Well, today is Saturday, which means it's the day I go and help out with at a daycare." He looked over at Louis. "It's...near the black market. So I'd understand why you might not want to come with me, but it'd be nice for you two. The kids, too."

"Really?" Louis blinked.

Gosha nodded. "It's a low end daycare, because it's the only one that takes in hybrid children. It's why it's located where it is, as well. The lady who runs it got the building fairly cheap."

"H-hybrid?" Louis seemed intrigued now.

The lizard nodded again. "Regular daycares won't take them in. It's a shame. They're very nice kids."

Legosi perked up at the mention. "Oh, that sounds interesting. I didn't know you did that, grandpa!"

"Ever since you left for school..."

"That makes sense. You had a hybrid daughter after all. Though...After what happened I'm surprised you weren't terrified of hybrids."

"What? Oh, no no! Society is already terrified of them, but I know that they're sweet just like any other kid!" Gosha scratched his cheek. "Even then...Leano didn't even appear to be a hybrid when she was a child..."

"You aren't afraid they'd grow up and...?"

The komodo dragon sadly, an expression that seemed natural on his face. "So what, leave them without any positive influences while they're still young? They need all the support they can get."

"I-I didn't mean it in a cruel way—"

Gosha held his hand up. "I know. I'm afraid. That's why I need to be there for them in a way I wasn't for Leano."

Legosi finished his omelet, seeming to shrink a little in his seat at the conversation.

"Now I understand."

"I'll be leaving in an hour, if you boys want to come." Gosha stood up, taking his dishes and depositing them into the dishwasher.

"Do you?" Louis looked to Legosi.

The wolf nodded almost immediately. "I want to go."

I hope it doesn't make him want kids... "I guess we're going, Gosha-san."

Legosi finished his orange juice and got up, heading into his room. "I'm going to get dressed."

Louis followed. "We're going to get dressed."

The canine had a bounce in his step, as was usual lately. He went over to his suitcase and opened it up, pulling out a fresh outfit. "What do you want to do until we have to go?"

"Fuck, obviously," the deer joked. "As couples do."

Legosi blinked. "Th-that's a joke, but I do really want to do that again..."

"I'm sure."

The carnivore seemed flustered as he got dressed. It was strange, his life as a non-virgin, now.

"You're sweet," Louis mumbled.

Legosi looked back at him. "Y-you're sweet, too."

"Did I make you feel better last night?"

The wolf looked out the window. "You did. You let me know you were there the whole time."

"Always."

"And...you know I like the feeling of you...on top of me." He scratched at his ear.

"I...do."

Legosi walked over, kissing Louis on the head. "Love you."

"I love you. Your grandfather is so sweet, you know. I feel closer to him than I do with Oguma," the herbivore explained. "I guess he has that effect, hm?"

"Oh, yeah. Of course...I can't imagine Oguma being fatherly. Not that I talked with him. Just from what I've heard."

"He's not."

Legosi furrowed his brow in thought. "You'll...probably never see him again, huh."

"What?"

The wolf shrugged. "Well, do you think you'll see him ever again?"

"I think so. I don't hope so."

Legosi simply nodded. For some reason, part of him wanted to talk to the stag.

Louis turned his head. "I think I'd apologize, as much as I shouldn't."

His fiance's ear flicked. "Really?"

"I think so."

"Um...well I guess there's nothing we can do about that now."

"I won't see him unless I see him. I know he's not scared of me."

"Are you afraid of him?"

"Not after all of that."

Legosi laid on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. "Well, that was probably the only way out of there, right?"

"I think so...The only way out with me living at the end."

"Yeah..." the dog closed his eyes, feeling a bit tired still from waking up early.

"I don't know. I'm sure he wants to tell me how proud he is of me for standing up to him."

Legosi breathed out slowly through his nose. "You think he will be proud...or you want him to be?"

"He will be. I don't care how he feels."

Legosi woke up with a start when Gosha knocked on the wall next to his door.

"Alright boys, I'm getting ready to head out."

Louis had been looking out at the window and his head turned. "Be right there, Gosha-san."

Legosi looked over to Louis, bathed in the early morning sun. "Mmnnmn. I fell asleep."

"I noticed."

The wolf stood up, grabbing his jacket from the chair and slipping it on. "Are you ready to go?"

Louis nodded. "Sort of."

His lover squinted, trying to pick up on the cue he was given, if any. "We can...stay here if you want."

"No..." the deer sighed. "Let's just go."

Legosi drooped down, but nodded.

They left the room and went to the front door, putting on their shoes as Gosha was pulling on a special self warming jacket and tail warmer. "You mammals have it easy in the winter, let me tell you!"

"What's it like for you?" Louis asked.

The older animal zipped his jacket up and began rubbing it against his body. "Well, I'm cold-blooded, of course. So I have to wear this friction heated material to keep myself from falling into a coma and dying out there!"

"Goodness." The herbivore raised a brow. "Sounds dangerous."

The lizard waved a dismissive hand. "Ahh, it's not as bad as it sounds! If I keep moving the material will keep me warm." He put a clawed finger under his chin. "Now, Legosi is mostly warm blooded, but I remember him saying he was cold a lot as a pup, despite all that fur."

Legosi nodded. "Yeah, but I just wear a lot of clothes now."

"Sometimes," Louis cracked a smirk.

Gosha smiled wide. "Having a personal heater sleeping next to you does the trick, too!" There was a sadness in his voice at the end there.

Legosi finished tying his shoes. "Ah, yeah you're right about that." He looked up at Louis, looking absolutely smitten.

"Shush..." The deer blushed.

The trio finished dressing and made their way outside, going down the steps and following Gosha back toward the city.

"Now boys, we're going to be right outside the black market, so watch your back. I'm sure everything will be fine, as it usually is, but remember to be alert." The patriarch looked back at Legosi. "Got it, Legosi?"

"Yes."

Gosha continued leading them. I wonder if he's been there before...surely if he has he doesn't go anymore because of Louis.

Louis frowned. "I'm not going anywhere near it."

Legosi moved his arm around Louis' shoulder as they continued, dodging Gosha's large tail was they walked.

The buildings around them started to deteriorate in condition ten minutes in. Gosha continued to talk to the pair, pointing out landmarks and such.

Louis talked history about some buildings with him, considering he knew about it as well.

Legosi listened, having no idea what they were talking about but enjoying it nonetheless. He leaned into his fiance more.

Some animals would look at the couple strangely, to which Gosha would lean toward them and smile politely, while holding his body in an imposing way.

The deer sighed. "It feels like I'm on a family stroll."

"Well, we'll have to do this in the spring or summer! I can go for a lot longer then!" Gosha had a similar spring in his step to Legosi's.

Louis nodded. "That sounds wonderful."

Soon, the group came upon an unassuming building with a small sign on it, which simply read "Daycare".

"Well, here we are!"

Louis looked to Legosi.

The wolf's eyes were wide, head tilted in curiosity. His tail waved idly behind them.

The deer let go of his hand. "We should probably act like friends."

Gosha looked back. "Why's that?"

"Just so we aren't...weirding the kids out." He looked down at his ringed finger. "Oh."

The lizard snorted. "All of these kids' parents are mixed species, some even carniherbi. Plus it's very hard to weird kids out, regardless. Their view of the world is pure, unlike adults."

"I guess that makes sense. Hence why it's the younger animals who are more supportive."

"I'm sure they'll be very happy to see the two of you. I've talked about you before, Legosi."

The wolf shuffled his feet. "Ah, I see."

"Alright, in we go!"

Gosha pushed through the door and entered a sizable space, filled with about a dozen mixed species children. Books and toys lay on the floor, sometimes broken up by a small chair or lost shoe. A young impala woman stood behind a counter, watching over them all.

As soon as the door opened, all the small heads turned. "UNCLE GOSHA!" A chorus of small animal voices filled the room as they all surrounded the lizard, jumping and bouncing as he crouched down to greet them.

Louis watched carefully. His respect for the lizard continued to grow.

"Oh, Gosha! How are you?" The impala walked over to him, reigning in some of the kids.

"Just fine, Rina! I brought some help today!"

"Oh?"

The wolf slipped in beside Gosha, the deer in tow. The kids regarded them with cautious curiosity.

Louis raised a hand. "Hello..."

Legosi waved too, shyly, which was a funny sight considering it was to a group of children.

"Kids, this is my grandson, Legosi!" the old lizard gestured, holding a hand out.

The kids' eyes widened with recognition. "Hi Legoshiiii!"

Legosi smiled back at them. "Hello!"

This made Louis smile a bit.

Gosha moved to the side to reveal more of the buck. "And this is Legosi's fiance, Louis!"

The children cocked their heads. "Fee...awnts...ay?"

"What's a feensay?"

The caretaker's mouth dropped in surprise.

Legosi scratched nervously at his arm.

Gosha answered. "It means they're going to be married one day!" All the children blinked and looked at each other.

A child with a canine face and the beginnings of some antlers poked his head out. "They're like my mommy and daddy!"

"Two boys can get married?"

A discussion started between the children, while a few of them surrounded Legosi and Louis, looking up in wonder.

"Deer, are you a pirate?"

Rina came over to them. "Stuart, that's not nice to ask!"

"No, I'm not a pirate," Louis blushed.

The impala looked up at him. "I'm so sorry!"

"It's fine, ma'am."

A little bear cub came up to them, lifting his hands to show red paint. "Wanna come see what I've been painting?"

Legosi ducked down to him, noting the odd ears he had. Part rabbit? "Okay." His voice was gentle.

The bear walked along to a little easel. "Look!"

The deer observed what looked to be a bunch of hand prints slapped onto paper. He blinked.

His mate strolled over, most of the kids staying around Gosha. "Oh, that looks very nice! What do you call it?"

"I dunno! But I had fun making it!" The bunbear laughed.

One of the younger kids came over and tugged on Legosi's tail.

"Ah! C-careful!"

Gosha went over to discuss things with Rina, meaning the kids he was keeping busy walked over to the pair.

"Legooooshiiiiiii."

"Why are you so big?"

"Uncle Gosha said you're part lizard!"

Louis nodded. "That's right. He is."

"Where?" a kid asked.

Legosi crouched down once again so they could get a better look.

"They look normal!" the child argued.

"Well, my mommy's eyes don't look like that," another hybrid spoke.

Louis put a hand on his back as he watched the kids, observing their hybrid features. They seemed so normal.

One of the smaller kids approached Legosi with her arms raised up. Legosi hoisted her up gently with his large hands, taking her all the way up to his full height. She laughed with delight. The remaining kids turned to Louis.

"Pick me up too!"

"That guy's kinda scary..."

"Yeah..."

Louis gulped and crouched down. "Wh-who's first?"

"Me! Me!"

"I wanna go!"

Legosi looked over and crouched down, moving the girl he already had to one arm. "I can pick someone else up." Cheers from the kids ensued.

Louis lifted a tiger-wolf hybrid up, looking at him. So this is what Bill and Legosi's kid would look like.

Soon Gosha came over, helping the boys out with the child lifting. The older kids hung back, just enjoying the view of the younger ones having so much fun.

"What's your name?" Louis asked the child in his arms.

The kid hid his face in embarrassment.

The deer tilted his head. "What? There's no need to be afraid."

Gosha chuckled. "Go on, Louis is friendly! He made me breakfast this morning!"

The wolf-tiger hybrid peeked out. "L-Lee..."

Legosi had shifted from giving rides to being pulled over to a block city some of the kids were making.

"Nice to meet you, Lee." Louis grinned.

"Does yow eye huwt?"

"Not anymore."

Lee smiled, looking away again shyly, rubbing his face on Louis' shoulder a bit.

Another group of kids pulled Gosha into the corner to read them a book.

Lee pointed to where Legosi sat with the blocks. "Let's go ovah thewe."

The deer nodded and they went.

"Legoshi, let's build a castle!" a kid called out.

Legosi was looking at all the blocks available to them, clearly putting more thought into it than any of the kids were. He saw Louis approach and smiled up at him.

His lover returned it. "They're a handful, huh?"

The wolf nodded. "Literally."

Lee pointed down. "Let's build something."

The deer sat down, criss crossed. "What should we build?"

"A chuwch."

"A church...?"

Lee nodded, looking over to the wolf. "You and Legoshi can get mawwied thewe."

The deer blinked. Would we get married in a church, though?

Legosi smiled, scooching himself over. "That sounds like a good idea."

One of the kids tugged on his sleeve. "Do you and deer kiss?"

The canine felt his cheeks warm up. "Y-yes. And his name is Louis."

The stag blushed. "He calls me Lou, sometimes."

"Lou, Lou, Lou, Lou, Louuuuu," the kid cooed.

"I've never seen two boys kiss before," another spoke up.

Legosi looked at Louis again. "It's, uh, just like a regular kiss."

"Just like boys and girls do," Louis added.

The wolf looked at his fiance, and at the kids around them, and felt a strange calm come over him. Is this what it would be like?

Louis looked around as well, feeling anxious. Is this what it would be like...?

The two ideas ended up being combined into one, as the kids decided that churches and castles were "the same". Legosi took his time building the foundation and planning, but the kids repeatedly foiled his plans. Of course, he didn't mind too much.

Louis just watched, not really putting in any input.

Lee tugged at the deer's shirt.

He looked down. "Yes?"

"Do you want to play too?" He stared up at Louis with impossibly big eyes.

"Okay," the deer reached forward and started adding blocks, holding the wiger on his lap.

Legosi watched the pair, tail whapping against the soft, puzzle foam floor.

Louis looked up at him, grinning.

A few more blocks and the sloppy church castle was complete. One of the kids came over with a small character figurine, hopping it up and down on the ground to imitate walking. "Ha, ha, ha! I'm gonna blow up the castle!"

Cries of disapproval rang out.

Another kid came over with his own figure. "Oh yeah? Well I'm the Beastar, and I'm not gonna let you do it!"

"Ooooh~"

The figures clacked together in play fighting. Legosi watched amusedly. Lee looked concerned.

The deer looked down at him. "What's wrong?"

Suddenly, one of the figures knocked against the block structure, toppling it.

"Ha, ha, ha! Boom! Boom, boom!" The kid controlling the villain stomped on the blocks.

"No! Go to jail!" the kid playing the hero cried.

Lee, upon seeing the destruction, burst into tears.

Louis hugged him. "Hey...calm down. They're just playing."

The kids that were playing were too caught up to pay him any mind. Legosi crawled over. "What happened?"

"I don't know. He just started crying."

Legosi held his large finger out to the wolf-tiger child, stroking his cheek. Lee looked up at him, seeming to calm down a little bit, his crying downgrading to sad hiccups. The older animal stared at his face, seeing a similar canine face staring back, only with stripes in the fur.

Louis pet his head. "It's okay, Lee."

The child held onto his arm, whimpering.

Legosi moved down to look at him. "Do you want to build something else?"

Lee nodded his head, slowly.

Louis kept petting. "Like what?"

The rest of the kids had moved on already, now playing with the figures. Lee crawled out of Louis' lap and over to the blocks. "Let's build a house."

The cervid nodded, grabbing a block. "A big or a small one?"

The child just shrugged, still calming down.

Legosi moved next to Louis, bumping shoulders. "Let's start building and see what we get."

Louis bumped back. "Mr. Planner going off the rails here."

Legosi smiled, rubbing his face against his mate's. "It's a lot like set building. It's fun."

The deer smiled. "And Lee is happy again."

Legosi set some blocks down, and then looked around the room. Around the room near the ceiling hung drawings from all the kids. Each one depicted two animals, each labelled "Mom" and "Dad". Each one was a different species. "Lee, which drawing is yours?"

The wiger looked up with puffy eyes, scanning around to find his. He pointed to a picture in the corner of what appeared to be two blobs with ears, one with stripes. The father was a wolf and the mother was a tiger.

Louis smiled. "That's a very lovely drawing."

Lee quietly turned back to his blocks. He continued to build, his odd feline and canine mixed tail wagging and waving in a strange manner.

The deer helped him, silently.

It took a few minutes, but with all three animals working together, they were able to create a quaint little house. There was a small smile on Lee's face as he looked at their work.

"Well, look at that!" Louis exclaimed.

Legosi rested his chin on his finger. "It turned out better than I thought it would..."

"For a block house. Good job, Lee!"

The child squirmed shyly, leaning against Louis' arm. "I wanna live thewe."

"You do?"

Lee simply nodded, looking at the house.

"Why?"

"It's nice."

Legosi crawled around it, looking at it from all angles. He took out his phone and took multiple pictures.

Louis looked at him quizzically. "What was that?"

His fiance shrugged. "It looks nice. I want to remember it."

The herbivore didn't understand their attachment to these blocks.

By this time, Gosha had wrapped up the story and the kids by him joined the other kids playing with the figures. They drew closer to the three, and Lee watched them cautiously.

Louis scratched his cheek. "Lee, don't you want to play?"

Lee hummed, looking around.

Legosi smiled at them both.

Gosha walked over to the trio. "Wow! Who made that?"

"Lee did!" Louis exclaimed, proudly.

The dragon crouched down and rubbed the boy's head. "Wow! That's really good! You could become an architect when you grow up!"

"Awk...iteck?"

"It's an animal that designs buildings," Legosi explained.

The deer nodded. "For people to live and work in!"

Lee looked at the house. "If I was a...awkiteck...I would build a nice house fow mommy and daddy."

"Awww..."

The little wiger turned to Louis and crawled back into his lap, gripping his arm lightly and looking at the nearby kids.

"Do you like Louis, Lee?" Legosi asked. Lee simply nodded.

The deer put a hand on his head. "That's sweet."

Lee stood up and grabbed Louis' finger, pulling it gently.

The herbivore looked down at him. "I'm coming."

The boy led him, and by extension, the wolf to a fridge in the corner. He opened it up, reaching in and grabbing a brown paper bag with his name on it, reaching in and pulling out a box of apple juice, offering it to the deer.

"Oh, you want me to have this?"

Lee nodded vigorously.

"But it's yours!"

The young animal looked down at the juice box, and then back up to Louis, eyes wide with childlike innocence. "Shawing."

Louis sat down. "I'll have a little bit."

Lee smiled, bouncing on his toes a bit as he held the juice out again. Legosi leaned down to watch.

The deer took the box and then removed the straw and unwrapped it, puncturing the box and then taking a small sip. "Mmm!"

Lee smiled, shyly leaning his head into his shoulder as he swayed back and forth. Legosi sat down next to them, and the kid pointed at him. "Have a dwink too."

The buck handed his mate the juice box.

Legosi sipped it, audibly 'mmm'ing afterward. He held onto it for a second before looking at Louis. "Uhh, we're not sick, are we?"

"No?"

The wolf nodded, relieved, before handing the juice back to Lee, who sipped it eagerly.

Rina walked over. "Lee, you weren't supposed to take that out until lunch time." Her tone was friendly, but serious.

Louis made a face. "Ah, sorry, ma'am."

Lee took the straw from his mouth. "I-I shawed with Louis and Legoshi..."

Legosi rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "Yeah, we didn't know..."

Rina smiled. "Well, that was very nice of you to do, Lee, but we still need to follow the rules, even if you're doing something nice."

"...Okay."

Louis pet his head, once more, brushing his ears back gently.

Lee burped quietly and returned the juice box to the bag, which he put back in the fridge.

The deer turned to look to Legosi.

The wolf looked back, putting on his trademark crooked smile he loved to give the deer.

His fiance smiled softly back.

Rina looked at them, trying her hardest not to fangirl in front of them. No, this isn't like one of your BL mangas. These are real animals. It would be rude. She smiled at them and turned back to tend to her other business.

Louis looked at Lee. "Do you want to do anything else?"

The wiger walked off again, the two older animals following once again. He stopped by the house, staring down at it before looking up at Legosi and pointing at the floor next to the house.

"Hm? Do you want me to protect it?" the carnivore asked.

The child nodded, and Legosi sat down next to the block structure. Satisfied, Lee took Louis by the finger again and lead him to a bookshelf. He pulled out a coloring book, tucking it under his arm and walking over to a tub of crayons, picking it up with his other little arm.

"I'm not very good at coloring..." Louis commented. "You're probably better."

Lee nodded, and pointed back to the shelf. "You can pick one that's easy. Get one fow Legoshi."

The deer tapped his chin and his eyes glided along the shelf and then he grabbed two coloring books, handing one to his fiance and sitting down next to him. The coloring book he has chosen for Legosi was bug themed.

Lee brought Louis back to their base by the house and set his book down, and the tub of crayons next to him.

Legosi sniffed the air. "I always liked the smell of crayons."

"I can't say I'm a fan."

The wolf-tiger opened his book, which seemed to consist of simple pictures of houses and families, among other things. He stared at the same species couple and their child depicted on one of the pages before bringing a crayon to it, gripped in a fist as kids usually do.

Louis watched, carefully. He didn't know how to feel about all of this.

Legosi opened up his book, tail wagging happily as he saw the subject matter. He went right to work, picking out a multitude of crayon colors after selecting an uncolored page.

The herbivore looked down and started coloring in small, diligent strokes. His eyes moved to Lee's page. "Why did you choose that one ?"

Lee continued to color, not answering until a few seconds later. "The family wants to be colowed."

"Huh?"

The wiger scribbled more, making one of the animals orange and the other gray. "Mommy and daddy!"

Legosi was totally absorbed in his book, coloring a praying mantis.

"Oh, you're making your family!" Louis observed.

"Mhm." Lee continued to color, adding stripes to the orange animal that was clearly not a tiger.

"I'm glad you love your family so much."

The child took his crayons to the kid in the picture now, obviously trying to replicate himself. He took creative liberty and drew a green splotch next to him.

"What's that, Lee?" Louis asked.

Lee pointed excitedly at the blob. "My dinosouw!"

"Dinosaur?"

He nodded. "Dinosauws lived millions of yeaws ago!"

"Well, I knew that."

"My dinosauw is a bwontosauwus! They wewe HUGE!" He held his arms out to emphasize this.

"Woahhh! That's really big!" Louis fake gasped.

Legosi looked up from his page. "Are there any dinosaur coloring books?"

Lee sulked. "Poko towe it up."

"Poko?" Louis asked.

The boy nodded. "He's a wino and a beaw."

"And he tore up the dinosaur book?"

"Yeah." Lee moved to the house now, giving it pink walls.

"Do you like pink?"

"Mhm!"

"I like pink, too," Legosi inserted.

The deer nodded. "Same here."

Lee smiled wider. "Kids at school said that pink is a giwl colow! I told them, no it's not!"

"We have three boys to prove that," Louis chuckled.

"Yeah!" Lee peeked his head up to look at the deer's page. "What awe you colowing, Loowee?"

The deer looked down. "Looks like a superhero."

The boy crawled over. "That's Spidew-Monkey. He's a spidew monkey, but has actual spidew powews."

"Wow, that's interesting. Is he your favorite?"

"No. I like Tigew-Eye. He's a tigew who can tuwn into any animal!" He crawled back to his coloring book. "He can only be them fow a little while, cuz he wuns out of enewgy. He gets enewgy back by eating cwystals."

"That's very cool! Can he turn into Spider-Monkey?"

Lee looked at Louis like he was crazy. "Noooo! He can only be anothew species, not anothew hewo. And evewy time he tuwns into anothew animal, he keeps his stwipes!" He looked down at his own stripes on his arms before he started coloring again.

"That must be inconvenient for him," Louis pointed out.

"What's that wowd mean?"

"Inconvenient...? I guess in this case it would mean he can get caught easily."

"He can't get caught! He'll tuwn into a eagle and fly away!"

"Haha, cute!"

Lee continued to color, giving a green roof to the pink house. Legosi continued to meticulously fill in his lines.

The deer yawned and continued coloring, diligently. It would take him forever to finish the drawing at this rate.

Eventually, they all finished. "Let's take take turns showing ours off. What do you think, Lee?" Louis asked.

Lee leaned forward to inspect Louis' finished product. "Spidew-Monkey isn't puwple. He's wed and blue."

"Oh..."

Legosi held back a laugh. It was strange how out of touch this 18 year old deer was.

Lee pushed his book out for the two of them to see. It was sloppy, but not the worst thing they had ever seen. The color choice was indeed unique.

"I love the colors!" the wolf smiled encouragingly.

The wiger smiled, looking back at his drawing and waving his arms excitedly.

Legosi flipped his book to show the two. The previously uncolored page was now completely full of color, including shading and highlights, as well as a background. It almost didn't look like it was done with crayon. "I didn't have a lot of time, so it's rushed…"

The deer leapt into his arms, suddenly. "It's so pretty, hon!"

"A-ah! H-hey! Why are you so happy!" His mate hugged back, tail wagging. Rina watched from afar, eyes wide.

"I'm just...so happy to be here with you. It's so normal...Sorry..."

"O-of course it is!" Legosi kissed his head. Soon, they felt another pair of smaller arms around them.

Louis' eye moved down.

Lee was gripping onto their shirts tightly. He looked up at him.

"Oh! Cool house!" Some of the kids caught sight of their creation, and drew closer to inspect it. Lee watched them, warily.

Louis looked at them. "We made it, together."

"I wanna make a house too!"

"Yeah!"

Lee walked over, putting himself between him and the other kids, holding his arms out. "No! This is ouw house!"

"But it's using all the blocks."

"That's not faaair!"

"Lee, don't you think sharing might be nice?" Louis asked. He felt so strange that he was acting this way.

Lee looked back at him, looking like he was about to cry again.

Legosi went over to him, taking his phone out. "Look, I took pictures of it. Even if it gets taken apart, these pictures won't go away."

Louis nodded. "Did you think the house would be there forever?"

Lee looked down at the ground, shrugging.

Legosi walked over to the counter. "Rina, do you have a printer here?"

"Oh, yes. I use it to make signs and ads," the impala spoke.

"Can I use it?"

"Sure. It's over here," she gestured.

Louis put a hand on Lee's shoulder, kneeling down. "Hey, it's okay."

Some of the kids came over with their figures again, playing around the house. Lee sat down and hugged his knees to his chest, watching quietly.

The older herbivore sat next to him.

The wiger reached out and grabbed a handful of his pants material.

"It will be okay," Louis whispered.

Legosi walked over a few minutes later, holding a few papers that were stapled together. "Look, all the pictures are here!" He handed it to the child, who turned through it in his hands. He smiled.

Louis looked at his mate and smiled, admirably.

"I can show my pawents," Lee observed to himself, quietly.

"Yes, I'm sure they'd be proud of you," the deer nodded

The sound of falling blocks was soon heard, and the materials were returned to the hands of all the kids. Lee looked on, shifting his attention back to the pictures again.

Legosi whispered to Louis; "I'm glad that worked."

"Good thinking." He slid his hand into the wolf's paw.

Lunch time came and went, some of the kids took naps, some were picked up by their parents, and some stayed and played. Legosi and Louis managed to keep busy, mostly spending their time with Lee, who stuck to Louis like glue.

The deer had become quite attached to the boy as time went on. It was so strange seeing him act so soft and warm toward someone who wasn't Legosi.

It was late afternoon when a female tiger entered, wearing an apron from a local grocery store. She looked tired and disheveled.

Lee and Louis were working on a puzzle while Legosi was occupied with some of the other kids.

The deer looked up and saw the stranger. That must be his mother.

The tiger spotted Lee in the corner with a deer. She walked over. "Oh, are you a new helper?"

"Just volunteering for the day."

Lee looked up, mouth open wide with joy. "Mommy!" He got up and hugged her legs. She leaned down and hugged him back.

"Hey, how'd my trooper do today?"

Lee turned and pointed to Louis. "This is Loowee. He's a nice deew! Don't be scawed of his eyepatch."

Louis stood up and held out his hand. "Nice to meet you, ma'am."

She shook it. "I'm Selena. I hope Lee behaved for you..."

The buck smiled. "He's a wonderful kid."

Selena sighed happily. "Yes...he is."

Lee tugged on her pants, the picture book Legosi had made for him in his hand. "Look what we made!"

She took it and flipped through it. "Wow, that's a really nice block house!"

The deer grinned, proudly. "It was all his idea."

Lee flapped his hands and looked for the wolf that had helped them. "Legoshi!" Said wolf pulled himself away from whatever he was doing and came over. "This is Legoshi! He's a wolf like dad!"

Legosi bowed slightly. "Ah, hi."

"Hello! Thanks for taking care of Lee."

"Oh, it's no problem! It was really fun."

"It's so nice that there's more animals here today. Usually it's just Gosha."

"Happy to help," Louis smiled.

"Mommy! Legoshi is uncle Gosha's gwandson!" Lee exclaimed.

"Oh!" The tiger seemed surprised. She turned to Legosi. "Your grandfather is a saint, I swear."

"Ah, yeah, it seems like it, heheh." The wolf still had some things to learn about the lizard.

"Oh, oh! And Louis is Legoshi's fee...feee..." Lee's face scrunched up, trying to remember what Gosha had told them.

"I'm his fiance." The herbivore finished.

Selena clearly didn't know what to say at first, but eventually she smiled at the two. "Oh, that's very nice! I hope everything works out for you!"

"Thank you, ma'am. Well...I guess this is goodbye, Lee," Louis mumbled.

Lee looked up at his mom, then to Louis, and promptly clung to his leg, whimpering.

The deer put a hand on his head. "Sorry, little guy. Legosi and I need to get back to our home with Gosha."

"W-will you be hewe next time?"

"I don't think so. Legosi and I have our own home to go to..."

Tears quickly sprung from the young hybrid's face, who promptly buried his face in Louis' pants, crying silently.

Selena crouched down to try and comfort him. "Wow, he really likes you!"

Louis frowned. "I'm sorry, Lee..."

"Here." His mother picked him up, bringing him at eye level with Louis. "Give him a hug. You'll see him again some other day." She held the kid next to Louis, allowing him to wrap his small arms around the back of his neck.

Louis paused for a moment, then looked at Selena. "You know, if you ever need someone to take care of Lee, I would be happy to see him again."

"Y-yeah! We both can!" Legosi chimed in.

"Oh, that'd be nice of you! I'm afraid we couldn't offer you much, though." Selena pulled Lee away, now wiping his eyes.

Louis shook his head. "I'd do it for free."

"I-I don't know what to say. How far away do you live?"

The deer looked at his mate.

Legosi answered. "Uhh, about an hour or more taking the train."

Selena nodded. "Well, if I ever need you in an emergency, I can call you. Give me your number."

They exchanged info.

"Thanks so much, Louis, Legosi." She turned to Lee. "See? You'll see them again. Say bye!"

Lee waved his little paw. "Buh bye..." The two left.

Louis sighed, grinning.

Legosi leaned into him. "Didn't think you'd make a friend today, huh?"

"I'm kind of embarrassed about it."

"Don't be. It was very cute."

The deer blushed more. "Hush up, wolf."