Title: Father's Love

Character: Bowser

Description: Watching over his sleeping children, Bowser drowns himself in his thoughts.

(BOWSER'S POV)

I sigh as I pull the bedsheets over the sleeping figure that is my son Larry. I watch as he smiles innocently and pulls his stuffed Goomba closer.

As quietly as I can, I sneak out of Larry's room and gently close the door behind me. Larry wasn't the last of my kinds to tuck in, however. I quickly and quietly tiptoe down the hall and over to the room Iggy shares with Lemmy. Every night for years now, I've been doing this.

Although I may not show it all of the time, I care for my kids. All eight of them. When I'm out of the castle on those golf or tennis tournaments, my oldest son Ludwig is always looking after the others. I respect his ability to do so, although Roy is usually pounding on Iggy or Morton.

Still, even though Roy is a bully, Wendy is spoiled, Iggy is slightly crazy and Morton doesn't know how to shut up, my kids mean the world to me.

Why am I so compassionate to them? Let me explain.

For years, I had been married to a beautiful Koopa woman who loved me for who I was. You see, I was never exactly popular in school. The class picked on me, the teacher yelled at me and the principal hated me. Even the custodian vacuumed up my lunch. I still haven't forgiven him for that.

My future wife was the only one that showed me compassion. Maybe it was how I never let any of the insults get to me. I took them like a man, just like my father, Morton Koopa Sr., had wanted. He was always so proud of me.

Eventually, my wife and I got married and lived happily together. That is, until my father passed away. I, being his favourite son, had inherited the throne, and my wife had become queen. My two older brothers didn't exactly take it well. They vowed revenge and ran away from the kingdom.

The years went by, and I had grown accustomed to being king. My wife was looking more beautiful than ever and loved me all the more. I had always wanted to be a good king, to make my father proud. I wanted to make sure that I treated my kingdom, Dark Land, with loving care and treat all of the subjects with respect. Everyone in Dark Land loved me as the ruler. If he had still been alive, my father would've been proud of me. I often wonder how my brothers would have treated the kingdom if either of them became king instead of me...

After years of ruling the kingdom like a real would, I thought my life wouldn't get any better.

It did once Ludwig was born.

My first child. I felt like the luckiest Koopa in the world. I actually had an heir to the kingdom, and as he grew, I wanted to make sure that he treated the kingdom with respect if he ever became king.

As the years went by, my wife gave birth to six more children. Seven kids. What a lucky number. I treated all of my kids the way my father had treated my brothers and I: With loving care. Sure, Roy didn't get along with some of the others, and Wendy had grown into a spoiled kid, but I loved them all.

At an early age, Ludwig had studied mechanics and soon became so good that I made him my official inventor. On a side note, he also played the violin like lightning and had composed enough songs to fill three CD's by now.

Larry, my youngest child at the time, showed an interest in plants at an amazingly early age. He always loved my wife's garden and liked playing with the Piranha Plants. He didn't just have a green thumb. He had become such a plant expert that you might say his whole HAND was green.

Morton still amazes and confuses me. He confuses me because he learned to talk on his own, thanks to a couple hours alone in his room. He had spent the entire time talking to himself, and now likes to talk. A LOT. His speeches are always long and breathless, and often put the other kids to sleep if they don't make him stop talking. Morton knows more words than any of the others, though, and is well on his way to becoming a great writer.

I had a happy family, and my wife was expecting an eighth child any day now. Now I knew my life couldn't get any better.

Sadly, I was right. It got worse.

My second-oldest brother was still alive. My oldest brother had died of a massive heart attack and my other brother was still out for revenge. Only a few short days after my wife gave birth to my final child, Bowser Jr., my brother sneaked into the castle, found my wife and I and leapt at us, claws ready to slash us to death. His focus was directly at me.

That was, until my wife protected me from harm, taking the slashes herself. Before she hit the ground, she was already dead. Out of pure rage, I killed my brother on the spot. It was a good thing that he was dead, but if only I had spotted him sooner. That way, I could've protected myself and prevented my wife from sacrificing herself.

The years felt like decades for me. Soon, all of my kids had become like young rulers of the kingdom. However, one thing was still missing from their lives.

A mother.

Only three of my kids are old enough to remember their mother. The others were too young when she died to know what she looked like. I knew that they needed a mother.

Then, I saw Princess Peach Toadstool for the first time.

She was beautiful. The most beautiful human I had ever seen. I always wanted my kids to have a good mother, and I knew right away that Peach was the best I could ask for.

However, I knew that she wouldn't willing want to become my bride, so I did the only thing I could think of, the thing I am now famous for.

I kidnapped her. Sure, she kicked and screamed a lot, but if I could get her to marry me and become the mother to my kids, I figured that it would be worth it.

Unfortunately for me, a couple of plumbers broke into my castle, stormed it, gave me a lava bath and ran off with Peach.

Now, I knew that Peach didn't like me. Heck, she probably hated me for kidnapping her, but I wasn't one to give up.

I trained my kids to fight. I wanted to stall the Marios, the two plumbers, long enough for me to kidnap Peach again and get her to marry me. While each of my kids took over a specific kingdom, I had worked my way to Peach's castle. By the time the two plumbers had defeated Lemmy in Ice Land, I had already made off with Peach.

I thought the two plumbers didn't stand a chance. Boy, was I wrong. The two plumbers trounced me again and saved the princess.

Well, the years went by and I was still single. I still hadn't given up, though. I had already kidnapped Peach five times and tried to get her to marry me, but I had failed not only myself, but my kids as well.

Well, I eventually decided to bring out the big guns. I had heard that Mario and Peach had gone to take a vacation. Perfect. I had told my youngest son, Junior, that Peach was really his mother. Hey, if my plan worked, she WOULD be, so I wasn't exactly lying. I gave my son a gift, a magic paintbrush, and told him to go terrorize the island and blame Mario.

Unfortunately, while my plan had worked for a while, Mario defeated me again, this time equipped with a strange water nozzle.

Well, that's my life story. Now, all this time, you might be thinking that the reason I want to marry Peach is to become the ruler of the Mushroom Kingdom. That's not true. I could really care less about that kingdom. The food there tastes horrible, anyway.

No, the reason I want to marry Peach is so that my kids will finally have a mother again. Peach is the most beautiful woman in the kingdom. My kids deserve no less. They deserve a mother that will look after them and comfort them when they're in need. That's why I'm so compassionate for my kids.

They're all I have left.

I have cared for my kids for years. One time, Iggy fell down the stairs and broke his ankle. I spent several weeks helping him recover. Or another time, Wendy and Larry had wandered too far from the castle and got kidnapped by a bunch of Shyguys. I spent day and night looking for them without rest, all by myself, for three days before I finally found them.

See? I'm just a normal father who wants his kids to have a mother. I don't want another kingdom. I'm perfectly happy with Dark Land.

I sigh as I tuck Iggy and Lemmy into bed and sneak out of the room. Once I get back out into the hallway, I tiptoe down the hallway, working my way out of the hallway so I don't disturb them.

My kids may need to wait longer, but I promised myself that they'd have a mother, and I'm not one to back down on my promises.

Especially when they're the ones I love.

END

Author's notes: Heh. Betcha never looked at Bowser from that angle, eh?