Nicole's Point of view

I woke to the continuous sound of my bedside alarm clock beeping loudly; each beep was a thunderous hammer of pain to my brain. I slammed my paw down onto the snooze button, silencing the wretched box, I laid on my bed, staring at the ceiling, I sighed to myself, as I thought of the things planned for today 'Job-hunting' I sighed as I threw my bed-sheets aside. I stumbled towards the bathroom, nearly tripping on my tail, upon reaching the sink mirror, I stared at my reflection 'What a mess'

I peered at the clumps of tangled white fur sticking from my body, quickly, I grabbed my brush and began to comb the clumps of fur, after various tries and numerous strands of fur being pulled out, I finally managed to smooth out my body and tail fur, I looked at my reflection "Another day, another job" I sighed, as I sprayed myself with a bottle labelled 'Scent remover. Perfect for mammals in heat'

After all, I didn't want to go into an interview smelling of the season, that'll give off the wrong ideas. 'I swear, if another male hits on me, I'll lose it'

Giving myself a few more sprays along my neither regions, it felt relieving to be able to hide my situation behind a bottle of scent remover. Seedy bars and clubs were always encouraging me to be open about the smell, to better attract patron and tips, a disgusting thing if you asked me.

I left the bathroom and slowly walked towards Nathan's room, the entire apartment was filled with an eerie silence, I peeked into the living room, the place was empty, no one asleep on the couch or watching TV 'Looks like Paul's already gone to work' I thought to myself, I gave off a loud yawn and shook the thought aside, as I arrived at Nathan's room, I gently pushed the door; the sunlight from the tiny hallway illuminated his ever so tiny room.

I carefully walked towards his bed, taking care as to not step on his few toys which littered the room. I sat on his bed, as I watched over him; he began to whimper and shake a bit as he tried to wrap his tail around himself. 'Must be having a nightmare' I sighed, my ears began to droop, I was saddened by the thought of my boy being in any sort of pain.

I began stroking his head, feeling his soft red fur passing between my fingers, as I wrapped my tail around him, trying the best I could to comfort him and to protect him from his nightmares. He unwrapped himself from his little tail and grabbed my tail, hugging it tightly, burying his muzzle into it. A smile grew on my muzzle as watched over my little bundle of joy "It's alright, mommy's got you" I whispered, as I felt him slowly calm down.

As Nathan's grip on my tail begins to loosen, I grabbed a nearby stuffed fox, I quickly switched my tail for the toy; he didn't seem to have noticed the switch, as he began nibbling on the stuffed Fox's ear. I tucked Nathan back into bed, making sure he was as comfortable as possible, before giving him a little kiss on his head "Sweet dreams Nathan" I whispered.

I left my baby to his dreams, as I went to make a cup of coffee, the smell of coffee in the air brought back pleasant memories. I thought back to when I was a kit, how often; I would wake up to be greeted by the aroma of freshly brewed coffee. I remembered how, one morning, I would see my father asleep in his brown recliner with a cup of coffee in his paw, he always looked so peaceful sitting in his chair, I smiled at the distant memory, but my smile quickly turned to a frown, as I was quickly hit with the reminder that he was gone.

I shook the thought aside, as I focused back on the day. I took a seat by the kitchen, a cup of coffee in my paw "Looking for work's going to be difficult, keeping one would be even harder" I sighed to myself "Let's hope these jobs wouldn't be like the previous one" I mumbled to myself, as I began browsing my phone.

Looking through the numerous job offers, I found various places that were hiring, Bug-Burga was one, though the wages were too low for my needs; in addition to that, the idea standing behind a grill was not too attractive, Palm Hotel was looking for a cleaner, the pay seemed decent and the job wasn't a problem, the job seemed perfect; until I remembered it was in Sahara Square, I looked at myself, remembering I was an Arctic fox, bred for the cold, the heat of the Sahara would kill me "Looks like that's a big nope" I mumbled to myself.

I browsed around other jobs that seemed decent enough, however upon closer inspection, they either were too low paying or required some degree of skill or education.

After looking through many job offerings, I finally found one that seemed appropriate, 'The Mockingbird Restaurant- Help Wanted' I tapped on the link provided. The Restaurant was located around Savannah Central, which was relatively close by, browsing through the descriptions, it would appear that they were looking for waiting staff to fill in the night shift 'Nightshift eh? I'm sure Paul can take care of Nathan while I'm away' I thought to myself, my mind quickly flashed back to a distant memory, the last time Paul looked after his nephew, he gave himself food poisoning trying to cook dinner; luckily enough, Nathan was fine 'After that experience, I'm sure Paul would just order some takeaway instead' I thought hopefully.

My ears perked up as I heard footsteps behind me, I spun around only to see my son standing in the hallway, rubbing his eyes with one paw, and holding the stuffed Fox in the other, "Mom?" he yawned.

"Nathan, what are you doing up? Go back to bed" I pleaded.

"I can't...I had a nightmare" he revealed, twitching his little nose as he began sniffling. I got up from my seat and walked towards him; I picked my baby up and hugged him tightly.

"It's alright sweetie" I sighed, as I stroked the back of his head "Now, why don't you tell me what happened," I asked, as I took a seat on the couch with my sweet kit in my arms. He only began sniffling loudly, while he recounted the events of his nightmare.

"Well, we were at the park" he sniffled "You and dad were walking next to me"

I couldn't help but smile at the thought "Even in his dreams, Nick is the ideal father" I thought. "Go on" I assured Nathan as I caressed his head.

Holding my boy so close, made me notice how his small body shook with fright, his frantic breaths were worrying "Must have been a horrible Nightmare" I thought to myself as I hugged him even tighter.

"Then dad disappeared" he whimpered "Y-you were crying, t-then you disappeared" he cried "An-and then..." Nathan only whimpered more as he cried into my shoulder, hugging me tightly as I felt teardrops drip down onto my shoulder.

"Shhh, it's alright, mommy's here" I whispered, I began to nuzzle him, making sure he felt safe. I began humming a soft lullaby that I used to hum to him when he was just a few months old, the same lullaby that my mother used to hum to me when I was a kit.

As I sat there humming the lullaby, comforting Nathan in my arms, I thought about his nightmare, to any other kit, pup or cub around his age, the thought of being alone is terrifying. I thought back to when Nathan was a lot younger; probably when he was a few months old, how he would cry and whimper if I wasn't with him every second, it was annoying for a bit, but it was also comforting to know that he needed me, he didn't need Nick or anyone else, just me.

Slowly, Nathan's cries began to soften, as all that could be heard within the apartment was the lullaby I was humming, as the lullaby came to an end, silence filled the room. All that could be heard was the ticking of a nearby clock and the horns of cars just outside the apartment.

"Mom?" asked Nathan.

"Yes, sweetie?" I replied as I continued to nuzzle him.

"You won't disappear as you did in the nightmare, would you?" he asked.

"Of course I won't" I assured him.

"Promise?" he asked.

Flashback - 1987, 30 years ago

"You won't leave us will you mom?" I asked as I stared into mom's blue eyes.

"Nikki dear, aside from your father, you and your brother are the most important thing to me, I would never leave you two"

"Promise?" I asked, hoping mom would keep her promise.

"I promise," she said.

Flashback end

She lied, she didn't keep her promise. But I intend to keep mine. "Nathan, for as long as I live, I promise that I would never, ever, leave you"

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