A Son of his own Chapter 34: Home again and the tasty smell of favourite dinners
Sorry if I haven't uploaded in a while, I'm currently studying for my summer exams and I don't want to get a bad grade. I hope you understand what I'm going through but I'll make some exceptions to make chapters just for you guys! I hope you like this chapter because it'll be filled with lots of father and son time...
Don't forget to leave you reviews of course as it lets me know you like my story and it motivates me to keep going!
And, I'm going to be honest with you guys here but, I'm kinda struggling to come up with new ideas so if you have any, let me and they'll be greatly appreciated because my mind is more focused on studying and I really want to continue my stories, I do, I just need your help, will you give me that help?
It'll be greatly appreciated if you do so if you have any good ideas, don't hesitate to let me know.
Savannah Central, Nick's apartment, 3:00PM
Nick took out a key from his pocket and jiggled it around inside the lock of the door to his apartment until he heard the iconic 'click' and he smiled as he opened the door and took in the sight of the small hallway that led to the living room and the kitchen.
The hallway looked exactly as it did before Nick left for the Academy, the green palm leaf wallpaper was still firmly stuck to the walls and the oak wooden floor was still clean and the blue fabric doormat that had the word "Welcome" written onto in white was still in the same place and every picture that hung on the wall were still in place.
One picture in particular that was worthy of mentioning was Nick taking a selfie with his mother Susan (I don't know the name of Nick's mother so I'm going to use Susan because I think it's a suitable name for her) when they were walking in the park together.
"Better give her a call when I get a chance, haven't called her for four months and she must be so worried" Nick thought happily to himself as he and Nathan walked through the short hallway and arrived in the central area of the apartment.
The kitchen was left untouched, the dark blue metallic fridge was still in place and every magnet on it were still there, the stainless steel cooker, sink and the wooden cupboards were the same and the kitchen wall tiles were still green just like Nick's eyes and the granite worktops were still shining in the sunlight as every quartz share in the granite reflected from the sunlight and the wooden dining table was neatly set with the seats placed firmly underneath it and the sunlight shining through the windows shined upon the table.
The living room just like the kitchen was left as it was before Nick and Nathan left, the two black faux couches were still in their proper places, the oak wood coffee table was still in the middle of the living room and the flat screen TV sat on top of the glass table across from the couches and each picture hanging on the wall in the living room were still in their places like they should be, Nick's apartment appeared to have been completely untouched.
Nick set his suitcase next to the dining table and took in a deep breath of the apartment air he hadn't smelt in such in a long time, he was glad to back in his home and most importantly he was glad to be reunited with Nathan again.
He remembered how boring it used to be living by himself in his apartment, Nick even considered getting a roommate but no one would want to be roommates with a Fox because of the stereotypical sly and sneaky Fox aspect.
But Nick didn't care about that anymore because he had someone far more valuable than a roommate.
"Dad?" Nathan asked as he gently nudged Nick's leg to get his attention and it worked as Nick stopped daydreaming and looked down at Nathan.
"Yes son?" Nick asked as he knelt down and gently rubbed Nathan behind his ears which made him giggle slightly.
"I missed being here, I'm glad to finally be back here" Nathan said happily as he walked foward and looked around the living room as if it was his first time being in Nick's apartment and Nick couldn't help but smile at watching his son wandering about the living room.
Nathan hopped up onto the black faux couch and relaxed his back against the soft cushions until he found a comfortable spot and decided to start a small lazy phase for today. Nick walked up to the couch and sat beside Nathan which made Nathan huddle against Nick's side and Nick gently placed his paw onto Nathan's little shoulder.
"Judy told me that she tried to get you enrolled into some schools but all of them refused, is that true?" Nick asked curiously while trying not to sound serious as he did not want to upset Nathan.
"Yeah, we went to multiple schools that were enrolling but they all refused, said that I wasn't worth the bother of teaching because I would use my school knowledge for cunning activities, can you believe that?" Nathan said in a slightly agitated tone because he absolutely hated the stereotypical sly and sneaky Fox aspect.
"It was the same with me but I did manage after a lot of tries and I got into a school, I went to college and got a degree in tailoring but I couldn't get the loan to start a shop of my own so I had to resort to quote on quote 'cunning activities' just to make some bucks, I hated it but I had no choice. Especially not after the Junior Ranger Scouts incident" Nick said as he remembered the feeling of getting muzzled, he wasn't able to breath because the metal cage in his face was so tightly attached and he clawed it off like crazy as a result.
Nathan remembered when Nick told after he first adopted him that he was muzzled when he was his age because he wanted to join the Junior Ranger Scouts but since it was filled with Prey children, they wouldn't allow a Fox to join them and Nathan told Nick that they were bullies who probably had refused other predators in the past and Nick got some of his self confidence back with those words told to him by his son.
"Tailoring? What's that?" Nathan asked since he had never heard of the strange word before.
"Well, a tailor is someone that makes clothes and can make clothes fit whatever body type their customer is if they already have some clothes on them, I always like tailoring with my mother when I was your age but like I said, couldn't get a loan because I'm a Fox" Nick said while carefully describing tailoring to Nathan and spoke with slight sadness at the end of his sentence.
"Let's say you were a tailor, if you found me all alone in the street, would you take me in even though you don't know who I am?" Nathan asked which actually made Nick start to think seriously.
After thinking for a certain amount of time, a good answer popped up in Nick's head.
"If I was a tailor instead of a con artist and if I did find you all by yourself on the street, I'd still take you in because you needed help and you needed to be loved. When you told me that you ran away from your parents underneath my brick bridge, I felt pity for you and I wanted to help you in anyway that I could. If there was one me that was a tailor and one me that was a con artist in separate worlds, both would take you in, do you know why?" Nick said as he stopped rubbing Nathan behind his ears and placed his paw back onto Nathan's little shoulder.
"No Dad, I don't know why" Nathan said after thinking for a bit and spoke sadly since he couldn't find an answer.
"Both would take you in because you're the best son anyone could ask for. You're brave, you're smart, you're tough and you're open minded and I'm the kind of Mammal that likes those aspects wrapped up into one body and that little body is you. Being away from you for four months was almost unbearable for me because I always loved to wake up in the morning and see that cute little smile on your face. You're a good boy Nathan, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise" Nick said happily as he smiled and Nathan was speechless at what Nick just said to him.
There was only one thing for Nathan to do.
And that was to embrace his Dad as his way of saying thank you.
Nathan huddled closer to his Dad and hugged him and all that Nick could do was hug him back because who doesn't like hugs?
"Thank you Dad, I'm glad to be with you again" Nathan said as he looked up at his Dad's smiling muzzle and continued hugging him.
"I am too son, now, why don't I cook us up some dinner and you watch some TV? We can have our favourite since we are back after four months" Nick said happily as Nathan's muzzle smiled happily because he always loved it when Nick done his favourite dinner which contained of pizza slices with cheddar cheese, pepporoni (which would be made of fish) and small pieces of green and red peppers with a side of mouth watering fries and chicken pieces covered in breadcrumbs (batter), sounds pretty tasty!
"That would be great Dad! A change from eggs and cricket bacon for once" Nathan said as he and Nick broke their tight embrace and Nick showed a rather confused look.
"Eggs and bacon? Is that what Judy gave you for dinner when she was taking care of you?" Nick asked in a rather disappointed manner.
"Yeah. It's not that I hated it, I love eggs and bacon and all but having it every day for four months would make you sick of having it, I would've asked her for something else but, she's rather choosey and I didn't want to ask her incase she refused" Nathan said with fear at the end of his sentence.
"Don't make up your own assumptions son, she either would or wouldn't. But let's put that aside, we've got to make our first day back home a memorable one. You watch some cartoons or movies on the TV and maybe I'll watch some with you while we wait for the dinner to cook, then after dinner we can play some games together or we could have a little pillow fight" Nick said as he stood up while Nathan stayed where he was and grabbed the TV remote which was placed on the arm of the couch and he turned on the TV.
After browsing through some channels hosting either news, talkshows, cooking etcetera, Nathan clicked on a cartoon channel and tuned in just in time for Courage the Cowardly Lion which was one of his favorites because Nathan always liked how Courage was so scared of everything, including his shadow!
"Is that Courage the Cowardly Lion I hear playing right now on the television? I always loved watching that cartoon in my free time!" Nick said happily as he walked into the kitchen and got some frozen pizza, fries and chicken nuggets out of the freezer, turned on the cooker and placed the pizza and fries in the oven and placed the chicken nuggets in the grill and all he would have to do was wait for the cooker to start beeping which would let him know that the dinner was ready.
"Stupid cat! You make me look bad!" Eustace Wagg said on the TV as he donned an enormous fright mask to scare Courage.
"Ooga-booga!" Eustace Wagg said which made Courage scream and run off which as a result made Nathan laugh at how silly Courage looked.
Nick sat down beside Nathan and they both watched the cartoon until Nick's ears twitched at the sound of the cooker beeping which signalled that dinner was ready.
"Dinner's ready" Nick said as the credits started rolling and he turned off the television as he and Nathan hopped off the couch and made their way to the kitchen with Nathan sitting at the dining table while Nick walked into the kitchen and got out some plates from the cupboards so he could start serving dinner.
He also got some forks and knives out of the cutlery cupboard along with some clean glasses and poured in some freshly squeezed orange juice that he made while Nathan was watching Courage the Cowardly Lion in the living room. Lauren promised Nick that she would keep his apartment well stocked with food he chose when he and Nathan got back so that's how he could make his delicious orange juice.
Nathan's nose wouldn't stop twitching at the smell of delicious and mouth watering pizza, fires and chicken nuggets, he could already taste it before he could eat it and he was starting to grow anxious because he wanted to eat his dinner already.
His wish soon came true as he heard Nick walking behind him with one plate in his plate in his paws and a small glass of freshly squeezed orange juice and Nick smiled as he gently set down the plate in front of Nathan while he licked his lips with anticipation and took in the scent of his long awaited dinner.
"Enjoy, try not to have too much fun" Nick said as he looked at Nathan with a happy smile on his face and he walked back into the kitchen to get his dinner and he came back to the dining table with his own dinner and the two Foxes licked their lips with anticipation like they were stalking their prey.
"A toast, to our first day back home and a new life" Nick said as he raised his glass slightly off the table and offered to clink his glass with Nathan's and Nathan did just that, he gently picked up his glass and clinked his glass against Nick's and they both took a small sip of the nice and fresh orange juice.
"To our first day back home and a new life" Nathan repeated as he and Nick placed their glasses back onto the table at the same time.
"Let's dig in before our dinner goes cold, we wouldn't want our favourite to go cold now would we?" Nick said as he sounded childish at the end which made Nathan giggle and eventually they both started digging into their dinner.
Nathan was so happy to be back where he belonged, sitting on one of his favourite chairs in his favourite apartment beside his favourite Dad and eating his favourite dinner, what more could he ask for? The tasty smell of his favourite dinner filled his mouth and the delicious taste enveloped his mouth as he took a bite out of his slice of pepporoni and cheddar cheese pizza along with some small pieces of pepper and ate some fires after swallowing his greasy pizza slice.
Nick couldn't help but watch with happiness as his son ate his dinner while watching his table manners and chewed with his mouth closed, he had thought Nathan so much about properly behaving himself and Nick felt so glad to be useful to another Fox that needed help desperately and Nick would give Nathan that help.
Nick sometimes wondered how his life would be if Nathan never came down underneath his brick bridge, he would have nightmares where he never adopted Nathan and his life actually turned out to be nothing but the continued pain and misery it had always been for him like it was ever since he graduated from college but he could never get a job, nor could his mother give him money since she barely got any money from tailoring.
He immediately pushed those thoughts out of his head and forgot completely about all that bad stuff, he has a son to raise and he is glad to be a father of a well behaved and adorable little boy.
The two Foxes are their dinner at a casual pace and soon after they finished their dinner, they both slouched onto the couch to let their food digest while they watched a cartoon called "Pexter's Laboratory " (Dexter's Laboratory) which Nathan really loved to watch because it was really funny.
"What do you want woman? Stay out of my laboratory! I'm doing very important calculations!" Pexter said angrily but childishly as his sister Fee Fee always intruded his lab and ruin his experiments.
Fee Fee had a tendency of blowing things up in Pexter's lab since Pexter (for some reason) always placed big red buttons on his experiments and Fee Fee cannot resist pressing the red buttons.
She then pressed a big red button on Pexter's desk and nothing happened at first.
"Hm, Pexter, this button's brok-" Fee Fee said as the button suddenly exploded and she was covered in black ash as was Pexter who showed a rather disappointed face.
"Girls, never, learn" Pexter grunted but the truth was that he shouldn't ever place self destruct switches in his lab!
The rest of the day for the two Foxes was filled with playing games with each other and now it was time for them to go to bed along with the rest of the city.
Nick lay down underneath the covers of his soft bed and he cuddled Nathan close to him as they both prepared for another night of sleep. Nick had an alarm set on his phone for 5:00AM as Judy suggested to him and he was determined to do well on his first day on the force with his partner Judy.
Most of all, he was determined to keep Nathan safe.
With those thoughts, Nick tucked Nathan closer to him and brought him up him to his muzzle where they both made tired eye contact with each other.
"Some day today huh son?" Nick said happily as he smiled and Nathan gently rubbed his father's grizzled muzzle which slightly tickled Nick.
"It was Dad, I'm glad to be back home again and I'm glad to be with you" Nathan said tiredly as he slowly closed his eyes.
"I'm glad to be with you too son, let's get some sleep" Nick said as he lightly kissed Nathan's head and brought him closer and covered him with his paws and it wasn't long before they both fell into a deep and peaceful sleep.
"I love you Nathan, you're the best son anyone could ask for..." Nick whispered into Nathan's ear which lightly twitched at his voice and Nick soon fell asleep...
I'll have to end it there I'm afraid. As usual, leave a review and let me know if you have any ideas because like I said I'm struggling to come up with new ideas so let me know if you've got any!
Time for another long week of studying...