Ooh! Mixing it up a little bit! Updating something AFTER I finished my homework instead of before! Good for me! To be fair, I did procrastinate my homework the entire time it was assigned to me and I did turn it in about two days late. But that's neither here nor there! Enjoy chapter two! This is probably gonna be the only other chapter unless any of you guys comment me a really, really good idea for a third chapter.

"Hey, Lou," Della smiled when her youngest son sat down next to her, before noticing his arm, "What happened to your arm?"

"Ah, just a scratch."

Della frowned, "Are you okay?"

"Oh, yeah, Launchpad patched me up."

"That was nice of him. I'm sorry I didn't notice you were hurt, sweetie."

"It's okay. Uh, mom? Can we talk for a bit?"

"Of course! You can tell me whatever is on your mind." Louie took a deep breath and glanced back at Launchpad, who gave him a thumbs up.

"Today really scared me," Louie blurted.

"Oh, honey…" Della took one hand off the wheel and comfortingly squeezed Louie's shoulder, "I'm so sorry, I didn't know."

Tears formed in Louie's eyes as Della turned back to the wheel, "I don't try that hard to hide it. No one ever notices how scared I am."

Della frowned, a pang in her heart, "Louie? We don't mean to ignore your emotions. I just thought you were adjusting to the adventure aspect of our family."

"I just don't get why we have to keep throwing ourselves into dangerous situations. Dewey got hurt today. And it could've been worse than this, mom…"

"We'll keep you kids safe," Della promised.

"But what if you're the one in danger?" Louie blurted, "I can't lose you again." His body shook now with sobs. Della's eyes widened and in one fluid motion she waved Launchpad over to take her place and then pulled Louie into the biggest hug.

"Sweetie, you don't have to worry about me, or about any of us. Leave the worrying to the grown-ups, we've got everything under control."

"That's not true," Louie sobbed, "Something could happen…"

"I won't let it," Della promised, holding him closer, "I am not going anywhere. I'm not going to disappear. I promise. I promise, I promise, I promise. I love you, Louie. I'm going to be here."

Tears had begun to stream down Della's face as well, feeling so sad that Louie had been harboring all this fear and she'd had no idea.

Louie continued to sob and Della began to rock him, humming her lullaby and planting kisses on the top of his head.

"I'm so sorry, Louie. I shouldn't have taken the rocket, I wish I hadn't missed so much of your life. But nothing in the world could make me miss the rest of it."

"What if something happens?" Louie asked again.

"We'll handle it together, as a family." Louie shuddered and buried his face in her jacket and Della rubbed his back.

"I love you, Louie. I'm sorry you've been so worried about this family. If I'd known you were so afraid we would have talked about this way sooner. I'm proud of you and your siblings, you're all great adventurers, but you're also just kids, and I'm not going to let anything happen to you. I promise."

"Thanks, mom. I wish I wasn't so scared, I just get nervous..."

"It's okay to be afraid, baby…" Della hummed, running her fingers through Louie's hair, "I get scared too sometimes, especially when it comes to keeping this family safe. I've always loved adventuring and it still scares me sometimes. I know that you don't like adventure as much so of course you'd be scared every now and then. But I've got you, Louie. This family can face anything."

Louie stayed quiet for a minute.

"Do we have to face everything?" He asked, tucked into her arms, keeping his head down.

"Hm?"

"Do we have to go on every adventure? What if it's not worth it sometimes?"

"Hm…" Della continued to play with his hair, which Louie actually really liked, "Sometimes we don't have to go on every adventure. I think we could probably talk about it more as a family. And if you were ever uncomfortable with any adventure you could always let us know and maybe sit it out."

"I'd like that," Louie admitted, "But what if something happens to you guys that I could've stopped?"

"Louie you're a kid. You're not responsible for what happens. You're allowed to want to take breaks from the dangerous adventures. You can put yourself first if you need to, buddy."

"Thanks, mom." Louie still seemed nervous and unsure.

"Hey," Della said, "you know your physical and mental health is more important than anything else, right? I don't want my kiddos hurting. If you ever feel like you need to take some time off from adventuring, or that you need to talk to a professional about your anxiety, or if you need anything at all to be your happiest and healthiest self, let me know. That's what moms are for."

Della gently pressed a kiss to Louie's head and he smiled, shimmying a little and getting comfortable in her arms.

"Can I just stay here with you for a bit?" Louie asked, not wanting to admit that this was the first time he'd felt truly safe in a while.

"Of course, sweetie. I'm here for you. I've got you." Della continued to hold Louie close and rock him until the hum of the plane and her lullaby lulled him to sleep.

"Thanks for taking over the controls," Della said, after setting Louie down in a comfortable position and covering him with her jacket.

"Oh, it's no problem," Launchpad said, getting up and trading places with Della.

"And thank you for being there for Louie. This is the first time he's opened up to me like that and I have a feeling you're partially responsible."

"That's no problem either," Launchpad said with a smile, "He's a good kid. He deserves to be listened to."

Della nodded, a little somber as she thought about how much pain her little boy had been that had gone unnoticed.

"He does. I'm gonna be better about that. Hopefully, we can both be better about reaching out." She glanced once more at Louie, who was now sleeping peacefully, and smiled. Things were going to get better. There was nothing this family couldn't face.