I held the wet cloth up to Caitlin's face again. I knew they were just three small scars, but she had a way of making me care for her.

We had our own house now, me and Caitlin. We had walked until we saw a 'For Rent' sign somewhere and then just took the place. I'd get the money to pay for it, somehow. Hell, I'd work digging ditches if it means I never have to be anywhere near Stitch again.

Caitlin pushed my hand away. "Charles, stop," She said, "We need to get you to a hospital. Your shoulder is dislocated and you have a cut on your back that's longer and deeper than any cut I've ever seen."

"I'll live." I said. "I'm just worried about you."

"Don't be," She told me, "I wasn't in a fight as brutal as the one you were in."

"I'll get over it; cuts heel. I'll never forget what she did to you, though, never." I held her close.

"Oh, Charlie," She said.

I stroked the back of her head. My Goddess.

The next day, there was a knock on the door. I got up and went into the other room to see who it was.

Lilo walked in. "Aloha cousins." She said, cheerful as always. She was carrying a few boxes in her arms.

"What's this stuff?" I asked as she set the boxes down in the living room.

"Well, Stitch was throwing away some stuff today. I noticed it was all of your stuff and when I asked him 'Why are you throwing away Charlie's stuff?' he just said 'Who's stuff?' so I asked Angel where your new address is and she sent me here."

I opened up one of the boxes. "Haven't seen this stuff in five days." I said.

"Yeah, we all really thought you'd come home." Lilo said.

I laughed at the thought of going back. Why would I?

"Someone wanted to come see you." Lilo told me.

"Who?" I asked.

"She's outside." Lilo went back to the door and shouted, "Okay, you can come in!"

I saw four pink paws step feebly inside. I turned my head. I didn't want to see her.

"Charlie?" Angel said.

I grumbled.

"I'm sorry."

"Huh?"

She hung her head about three inches from the ground. "I'm sorry. I should've told Stitch in the first place."

I reluctantly looked over at her. She had a cut on her shoulder and a black eye. I suppose we had all gotten hurt pretty badly.

"Has he heard now?" I asked. Angel nodded. "How'd he take it?"

"He just keeps saying to himself 'I have no son, I have no son' over and over again. I told him about how I drank the blood and everything. He just can't accept it." Angel told me.

I sighed. I knew he didn't want me as a son.

"He's hurt pretty badly." She said.

I nodded solemnly.

"Jumba had him under morphine for a couple of days. He's got bandages wrapped all around his chest and shoulder. He's so near death, it's eerie."

I bit my bottom lip. I didn't know what to think. Stitch was my dad, and I had caused that, and I did want him to hurt, but... dead? I didn't want him dead.

"Charlie," Angel grabbed my hand, "I want you to forgive me."

I felt a stage of overwhelming disbelief come over me. "What?"

"All the things I've done are driving me crazy." She said. "I was wrong. I should have told Stitch after you came to me. Even beyond that, I should have told you and Stitch before you found out. You had no idea who your parents were, didn't you?"

I shook my head. Tears were coming to my eyes. "I had nightmares about it. I heard The Siren Song from mom, but I didn't know who it was."

"I'm so crazy... I went to extreme efforts to make sure Stitch never knew." Angel confessed, "I erased Jumba's memory. I made sure he didn't remember you being born. That way I knew he wouldn't tell Stitch. I didn't take any chances."

"How'd you erase Jumba's memory?" I asked.

"Charlie, do you really think Jumba made me with only the ability to turn experiments from good to evil?" Angel smiled sinisterly.

I sighed.

"But, I shouldn't have done those things to you. Please Charlie, please forgive me." Angel started weeping.

I looked at her. She was Angel. My mother who kept me a secret. My mom that never told my father I was his. The woman that had hit the love of my life. She was crying and begging me for forgiveness. I didn't want to forgive her. I really, really didn't. But deep down... I knew I had too.

I held her head up so I could look her straight in the eyes. "I forgive you."

Her crying ceased. She didn't hug me. She didn't thank me. She just looked at me with shock and disbelief. Her jaw had dropped open. She stared as if I was some Godly figure.

"I wouldn't have done the same thing." Was all she said.

"I know," I told her, "But I had to."

Angel shook my hand and then walked out the front door. That astonished look still painted on her face.

Damnit, why do I have to be such a nice guy?
I told Caitlin what had happened between me and Angel later. She smiled and gave me one of the biggest hugs I had ever gotten from her. She told me I had done the right thing.

I suppose that's what Caitlin does to me. She gave me moral values so I could go through these times. She really just made me an all around good person.

She rubbed her head against my neck. "I'm proud of you, Charles."

I smiled and rubbed her head. "I love you, Caitlin."

I could practically feel her smile against my chest. "I love you too, Charlie."

Just then- at the worst possible moment- there was a knock on the door.

"Oh geez," I got up and went to go see who it was.

"Who is it?" I asked and then opened a tiny crack in the door. Immediately, I shut it in his face.

The knock came back again. "Open up." He said.

"Get the hell of my property!" I warned him.

"Charlie..." he said.

"Stitch," I told him, "I've killed dozens of other experiments in my lifetime. One more isn't going to stain my conscience."

"I have to talk to you." He said.

"What? So you can tell me that I'm not your son? So you can tell me that I'm a lazy free loader? So you can tell me that I'm a useless parasite on society?"

"Geez, Charlie. Just open the door."

"You have five minutes until I call the cops."

He groaned and stopped pounding at the door. "Damn... why do you have to be so stubborn, Charlie? Augh, listen. I just came over here to apologize. I'm sorry I attacked you. But you can't blame me for what I did-"

"Hell yes, I can!"

"I did it because you attacked Angel!" Stitch said, "I love Angel every bit as much as you love Caitlin. I couldn't take the sight of her standing there, beaten and hurt. I shouldn't have attacked my only son, I know. But I was driven by love, Charles."

I sank down to the ground. Damnit, he was right. I had hurt Angel the same way Angel had hurt Caitlin. Had I been Stitch, I would've done the same thing. But there was a question that I had to ask him...

"Do you hate Angel now that you know I'm her son?" I asked.

I thought I could hear a small laugh come from the other side of the door. "No, no... I don't think there's anything in this world she could do that would ever make me love her any less."

I smiled. At least my existing hadn't affected their relationship with each other. Even if it did affect mine with them.

I opened the door for him. "Come on in, Stitch."

Stitch walked in just far enough for me to look him in the eyes. "So, this is your new place, huh?"

"Yup." I said.

It was true what Angel had said- he did have bandages wrapped around half of his body. His entire left arm was held up in a sling.

"What happened to your arm?" I asked.

"Oh," he said, "Jumba thinks it might be paralyzed- he doesn't know if it's permanent or not. But I guess that's the down side of having an evil genius slash mad scientist as a doctor." He laughed a little.

Stitch took a deep breath. He was getting ready to say something big. "Listen, Charlie, I'm really sorry about everything that's happened. I want you to forgive me. I'm not saying you have to accept me as a father figure- I know that'll never happen. But I just want you to know that I'm sorry for everything I've ever said or done to you. I'll never really be your father; you'll probably never even like me, but maybe we could... you know... not hope that each other burns in hell?"

I laughed and shook Stitch's hand. "Deal."

"Charlie!" Caitlin called.

"Yeah?" I shouted back.

"I need you in the bedroom!"

Caitlin! Did you really just say that?!?!

Stitch tried to hide his laughter. "Oh, sorry! Didn't know I was interrupting something! Heh heh..."

"Okay, thanks for stopping by! So sorry you had to leave so soon!" I pushed him out the door and slammed it behind him. It's true what they say- when family comes to visit you after you've moved out, you start remembering why you left in the first place.

I walked into the bedroom. "Yeah, Caitlin?" I asked.

She pointed to a picture frame. "Do you think this looks straight?"

My ears drooped. "Yeah... sure."
After an exhausting day like that, the night couldn't have come a moment too soon. Me and Caitlin had been watching TV on the couch and she had fallen asleep with her head in my lap. I stroked her fur back by her ears and she'd purr in her sleep. She was so calm and peaceful.

I loved Caitlin so much and was so glad to have her. This was the toughest time of my life and she had been with me all through it. Not once did she back down or let me fall. She was there for me. I could trust her. It felt unspeakably great.

I thought about Caitlin for a moment. I realized that she wasn't like me. She had a family that loved her and wasn't dysfunctional. She had friends that liked to hang out with her. She was smart and she could go to school or start her own career.

But she wasn't doing any of that.

She was here with me instead. That's how much she loved me, I realized. She gave up all her potential and her great life to be here with me. To be with me and my family that hit her, and my never-ending sob stories, and my crazy, confusing life. She had everything and yet... she wanted to have me instead.

I held her as close as I could. An overwhelming feeling of love had come over me. For the rest of my life I knew that I never wanted to be with another girl besides Caitlin.

I gentily slid off the couch. I had to go somewhere. I had to go now. I couldn't wait another minute. There was something uncompleted in my life that I knew I had to take care of.