REVIEW RESPONSES

TheNinjaOfArt: I'm afraid I can not confirm or deny that at this moment in time, you'll have to wait and see.

NinjagoLover61-9: Thank you so much, I'm glad you like both stories.

Chapter 13: Round Two

The next morning things seemed to had settled down and were returning to normal for the pack. Kai was going to be stuck in a cast for the next six weeks and would need to use crutches to get around, but at least he didn't lose his foot, or so Skylor kept saying. She had been all too keen to tell them all stories about brave werewolves who had been caught in traps and had to chew their own limbs off to escape. She'd been telling them these stories until Nya managed to distract her by showing her a washing machine.

Needless to say, no one got any sleep that night, least of all Cole and Kai.

Cole had spent the night at Kai and Nya's apartment in the spare room, Ray and Maya didn't want him spending the night in the same room as Kai and neither of them argued. As Cole and Kai snuggled on the couch, watching TV as they enjoyed their breakfast, Ray reluctantly walked over to talk to them.

"Listen, Cole, Maya and I were thinking we should call your father over."

"For what? Round two?" Kai glared.

"No, to talk." He sighed. "It's fine staying over for a few days but we can't go on like this forever."

"Yeah, but you saw what my Dad was like yesterday."

"Well he would have slept on it and he's hopefully calmer." He reassured and went to make the call while Cole and Kai shared uneasy looks...

While Ray was trying to convince Lou to come over and talk, Maya had driven all the way to Ed and Edna's junkyard to pay for the gas Jay and Nya had used when they took her parents' vehicles. As she entered the junkyard she saw them talking to Chad and his father Randall about scrapping their old car. Maya knew that Chad was one of his children's frequent bullies and once she and Ray had confronted his parents about his behavior.

Unfortunately, it didn't take them long to see where the jock got his attitude from.

She considered leaving and coming back later but that option disappeared as soon as the teen and his father saw her by the entrance, smug grins quickly growing on their faces. At first, Maya wanted to run and hide, but shook the feeling off and walked into the junkyard. She had nothing to be ashamed of and neither did her family or Cole.

"Good morning!" She smiled cheerily as she approached Jay's parents.

"Hello dear, what can we do for you?" Edna beamed when she saw the fellow mother.

"Ah Mrs. Smith," Randell smirked as he stepped closer to her. "I heard yer son's home safe and sound."

"Yes, he is."

"If you don't mind me asking, what was the reason for his disappearance?" Chad asked with a smug grin.

"I-I just came to speak to Ed and Edna." She replied, trying to stay relaxed. When they realized she wasn't going to give them any gossip Randell scoffed and his smirk vanished.

"Ya can hardly pretend it's a well-kept secret yer son's gay." He huffed and Maya frozen as Chad laughed.

"Why don't you and I go over some of the paperwork?" Ed quickly suggested and led the father and son away and out of sight, leaving his wife and Maya to talk in private. As soon as they were alone, Edna placed a comforting hand on Maya's shoulders as the female werewolf attempted to hide her tears.

"Now Maya honey, how would you like a nice fresh pot of coffee?" She offered with a kind smile. Maya could only nod, not trusting her voice, and allowed Edna to lead her into the trailer where she sat down and watched Edna make them some coffee. They sat there in silence for a few minutes before Edna put her cup down and cleared her throat.

"You must be glad to have Kai back?"

"...Yes." She muttered, blankly staring at her now cold cup of coffee.

"Is Kai gay?" She finally asked and Maya took a shaky breath as fresh tears welled up in her eyes again, nodding slowly. Edna thought about what to say before smiling at the other mother. "Well... how wonderful; wonderful because you and Ray raised him so well that he knows his own mind and what he wants from life and smart enough to get his head around it." She smiled but it faltered slightly when the tears started rolling down Maya's cheeks.

"I-I'm sorry." Maya sniffed as Edna handed her a tissue.

"It's not so easy for the likes for you and me is it? But isn't it great that this is the 21st century and neither he nor Cole doesn't have to hide anything like they would have had to do when I was younger and when you were younger," She said and Maya sobbed lightly at the thought of how badly gay and lesbian people were treated and ridiculed when she was Kai's age and she didn't want her children to go through that.

"He's my baby."

"And that hasn't changed."

"Ray and I called work and told our boss the truth and why we couldn't come back yet." She sobbed. "He said, 'I understand Mr. and Mrs. Smith because my nephew's a queer'." She laughed bitterly as Edna flinched at those choices of words. "I mean 'homosexual' is bad enough, 'gay' I struggle with but 'queer'? Why are there so many hateful words for it?! Why can't he just be normal?!" She sobbed loudly.

"He is normal, Maya."

"He's a handsome boy, he loves sports and he doesn't act at all feminine." She sniffed as she wiped the tears from her eyes. "I can't be honest with him Edna; I can't tell him I'm struggling with it, if I tell him the truth he'll run away again but pretending is killing me."...

Later that afternoon, the Smith family and Cole were sat in the apartment, counting down the seconds for when Lou came to talk again. Maya had returned from Ed and Edna's junkyard nearly an hour ago and it was clear to all the teens and her husband that she had been crying but they didn't say anything as she rushed to the bathroom to fix her makeup before Cole's father arrived. Kai didn't need to ask what she was crying about, however.

It hurt him to know how upset his mother was but she wouldn't talk to him.

The brunette knew that she was still coming to terms with his sexuality but knew it was probably for the best that he didn't push her and allowed her to adjust to it all in her own time. Just as they all thought Lou wasn't coming there was a knock on the door. Ray opened it and they all stood to attention, with the exception of Kai, as Lou walked into the apartment. They all stood in awkward silence for almost ten seconds before Ray lt out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding.

"Look, we called you here it try and clear the air a bit."

"I'm sorry, but I know you two think this is alright because you're already so... different," Lou said and looked to his son. "Pack your bags Cole, we're going."

"At least stay for a coffee."

"NOW Cole," Lou said more firmly. "We can fix this if we just... get you away... from here." He muttered casting a glance at the Smith family.

"What do you mean by that?!" Maya hissed.

"Kai's not a bad influence!" Ray added, feeling his own anger rising.

"Funny how my son wasn't a homosexual until he hooked up with that boy." He spat, glaring at Kai who was sat on the couch.

"Dad!" Nya cried but it was too late as Ray had already stepped right up into Lou's face, his eyes burning yellow, as he tried to stop himself from ripping the man's throat out.

"You better take that back!" He snarled.

"Kids, why don't you go to your rooms and we'll try and talk." Maya smiled nervously as she pulled her husband away. The teens shared a worried loom but didn't argue as Cole helped Kai up and handed him his crutches and they followed Nya to her room, leaving the adults to talk things over.

"Well I've got plenty to say on the matter, only you two might not want to hear it because you're a pair of bleeding heart liberals!" Lou snapped.

"They're only down the hall, he can hear you," Maya warned.

"He needs to get out of this faze!"

"He needs your support!" She glared.

"We know it's hard to get your head around, don't think it never shocked us, but they love each other!" Ray defended.

"And you think this is right?!"

"So what if I do?" He glared. "There's no law against it!"

"No, but there should be a law against you two encouraging it under your own roof! Do you get some kind of sick joy from this?!"

"DON'T YOU DARE COME INTO MY HOUSE AND SPEAK TO ME LIKE THAT!" Ray roared.

"Those two children of yours need taking into care and you and your wife need to be locked up!" Lou screamed loud enough Maya was sure half the city could hear their argument. "That son of yours has twisted my Cole's mind! He's abused him!"

"GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY HOUSE BEFORE I THROW YOU OUT THE FUCKING WINDOW!" Ray bellowed with such fury it startled everyone in the apartment. By now his veins had darkened and his nails and grown into sharp black claws.

"I-I think you better go," Maya said, knowing if this continued Ray would wolf out and do something he'd regret.

"You don't scare me." He growled. "You can sit here all day, saying things are going to be fine, get them married off for all I care because I'm over it! I was my hands of him! He's not my son anymore!" He shouted before running out of the apartment. Inside Nya's room, the teens had heard every little word and wanted to rip Lou apart limb by limb for this, but Cole needed them more. As soon as his father had left Cole burst into tears and Kai pulled him into a loving hug...

Night came soon enough and Cole had almost moved mast of his stuff from his dad's apartment. Thankfully Lou hadn't been there so Cole didn't have to face him, even with Nya and Jay coming with him for support as he gathered his things. While Cole was out gathering his belongings Ray and Maya were discussing places for Cole to go. They knew Cole was a good kid but he wasn't part of their family. It was fine him staying for a few days, but not forever.

They asked Kai and Nya if Cole had any other family.

Unfortunately, the only one the raven-haired teen mentioned was his maternal grandfather who didn't even live in the same country so that wasn't an option. If he was anything like Lou when it came to homosexuals they didn't think it was good for Cole to move in with him anyway. The only thing they could do was allow Cole to live with them until Lou got over his son's sexuality and let him move back in. While the teens were unpacking all of Cole's things in his new room Maya was setting the table for dinner.

She could see where Lou was coming from, even if she didn't approve of his choice of words.

Cole and Kai were still young and she secretly hoped this was just a faze they would grow out of soon. She was so busy setting the table that she didn't notice Cole standing behind her until she turned around and nearly jumped out of her skin when she saw him.

"Thanks for sticking up for me with my Dad." He smiled sheepishly. "Wish he was like you and Mr. Smith."

"Don't say that Cole, I'm hardly Mother Teresa, and just Ray and Maya is fine." She replied, unable to look him in the eye. "Do you need to get more stuff from your dad's?"

"No."

"Obviously you can stay here as much as you want, under the condition that you behave yourselves." She warned and he nodded before leaving to unpack the rest of his stuff. Maya turned back to the table but she couldn't find the will to move, her mind to overwhelmed by everything that has been happening recently. Just the Ray walked through the door and was about to ask what was for dinner. He froze, however, when he saw the distraught expression on his wife's face.

Almost immediately he rushed over and pulled her into a hug.

"I hate this." She whispered into his shoulder.

"You're doing great." He reassured.

"No, I'm not." She argued as she pulled away to glare at a wall. "I keep thinking..."

"What?"

"He'll never have a family."

"Look it's different from when we were younger; he can have a family, he can have as many kids as he wants." Ray smiled softly. "There's adoption and-"

"You don't have to go into detail!" She suddenly snapped and stormed off. Ray just sighed and finished setting the table...

Kai sighed as he crawled out of his nice warm bed in the middle of the night to grab a drink of water. He and Cole would be going back to school soon and they were both dreading it. They were worried about what people were going to say but at the same time, they couldn't care less. He and Cole loved each other and that was what mattered.

As he walked toward the kitchen using his crutches, he froze when he saw Maya sitting alone on the couch.

The only light source she had was a dull lamp and rest against her lap was a white book. She looked up at her only son as he approached her but didn't say anything as he sat next to her. He looked at the book she was looking through an old photo album full of pictures from when he and Nya were young children. He looked back at his mother and saw she had been crying again.

"Trying to spot the signs?" He asked. "Trying to see where it all went wrong?"

"Don't be stupid." She scoffed as she turned the page and smiled. "Aw look at that." She chuckled as she pointed to a picture of Kai and Nya at the carnival. They looked to be around four or five in the picture.

"When was this."

"You'd just had your tonsils out, and I remember seeing you lying in that hospital bed looking so small and pale, I thought I'd die if anything ever happened to you I loved you so much."

"Mom..."

"You know, all you want to do is protect your children, keep them safe." She chuckled sadly. "You think you can that's the stupid thing."

"Yeah well, you did a good job of protecting me and Nya."

"It's a very tough world out there Kai." She sighed. "Being any kind of different is dangerous."

"I know."

"If I could wave a magic wand right now and make you normal I would do it." She admitted and Kai could feel the tears welling up. "But I can't so I'm just going to have to wait for the shock to wear off and in time I'll get used to a different sort of normal." She sighed and Kai sniffed as he fought the tears away. He looked to the album and pointed to a picture of when Nya tricked him into wearing one of her princess dresses.

"Think that's what did it?" He joked weakly. Maya just laughed and pulled her son into a hug, where they stayed for the rest of the night...