Cosmo flew down the street of his childhood home, alone and with a lot on his mind. Not too much longer after Wanda had slipped the emerald ring on his finger, he made the mistake of blurting the news out to the entire family, hoping to receive even a half-heart "congrats", but found himself travelling to his mother's to "have a talk". He turned a corner on the street; the liquor store that had haunted him to this day was still standing strong, though the building itself was starting to mold, and graffiti had painted on the walls and windows. But the smell stayed as strong as ever, almost identical to the smell that laced around the periwinkle house he had no choice but to call home for 18,000 years.

After he had finally arrived at the crooked front door, Cosmo knocked on the door, the door creaking open, letting out a sea of darkness from the inside. The only thing he was able to make out was his mother, Nora, wobbling in front of him with dead cyan eyes and hair, a stained shirt, and half a bottle of wine in her hand, small drops falling out slowly.

"What? What do you want, this time?", she slurred, looking up and down at Cosmo coldly.

"Mama, don't you remember? You wanted to talk to me.", Cosmo reminded, though nervous in the inside, still wanted to remain firm in front of her. She couldn't see him crouch down and give into her once more. This needed to get done. "Uh, are you gonna let me in?"

"Don't talk back to me like that! Of course, I'd let you in. What kind of fucking idiot do you think I am?", Nora snarled, though her shouting voice was lower than usual, "Take a seat, Cosmo. Move some of the bottles outta the way, son."

Cosmo felt chills run around his body as the beer bottles fell lazily on the ground, allowing him to take a seat on the hardened couch, crossing his legs as Nora closed the door, staring coldly at her so-called "son".

"So, I heard you're getting married soon. I was just wondering something son…where the fuck's my invitation?"

"I'm sorry?"

"You damn well heard me.", she snarled as she dimmed the lights on, slamming the wine bottle on her nightstand, "It's your fucking wedding! Don't you think you should invite your own mother?"

"But Mama, I though you hated Wanda? Why would you want to go to our wedding? Unless…you actually wanted-"

"Son, look at what's on the table? What the fuck else would I want to go?", she said, motioning towards the wine bottle, "Weddings always have the best alcohol, after all, and you know, your poor old, raped mother has been sitting here, rotting away after your piece of shit father had move out."

"Wow Mama, I knew better than to get my hopes up.", Cosmo groaned, "I thought for once you'd care about me?"

"Well..I DO care about you more than those other two little bastards I had with your father."

"That doesn't mean shit to me, Mama. You didn't care about me enough to love and guide me through my childhood!"

"Oh bullshit! I was always there for you."

"Yeah, until I was 12,000", Cosmo sighed, "After that, it was like I didn't even exist anymore. Where did you even go, anyways?"

"Why should I fucking tell you? I don't answer to you!"

"Because you hurt me, Mama! You knew I wasn't the smartest crayon in the box, yet you looked at me as if I couldn't do anything right.", Cosmo yelled, before he started thinking back to the night she had left…

"Aw man, I got Ds and Fs again! I never get anything right! Why am I so stupid!", 12,000 year old Cosmo pouted as he and Wanda waited outside the school gates for the bus to pick them up, since they had not mastered teleportation yet. Wanda, taking her eyes off her millionth straight A report card for once, frowned sadly as she put a hand on Cosmo's shoulder.

"Don't be so hard on yourself, Cosmo. You're not stupid..y-you just need a little extra help."

"But I've been getting that! But It seems like no matter what I do, everything's in one ear and out the other! I mean, really? I don't know how you do it, Wanda. Do you have like a super brain or something?"

"No, silly.", Wanda laughed, rolling her eyes a bit, "Well, if you want, I'll tutor you some if you can convince your parents to take you to school earlier."

"Pssh, yeah. Like, that'll ever happen. Mama's usually at work by then and Papa's at his computer, typing up one of his stupid parenting articles. Oh man, speaking of Mama..", Cosmo's stomach dropped as the thought of Nora came across the mind, remember how much of a bad mood she had been recently since she had to deal with that pay cut, "Man, if she finds these grades, well..I might not have to worry about bad grades for much longer."

"Why don't you hide it? Or just show your dad? He's nice, right?"

"Yeah, but he doesn't have much power in the house. I bet as soon as I walk inside my house, Mama's gonna demand to see my grades. Ugh..", Cosmo groaned as the bus had finally arrived, the two climbing on the seat near the front, "Well, if I die, you know what happened."

"Cosmo, I really think you to call someone for help. I don't care if you've made straight 0s this semester. She shouldn't be treating you like that."

"Yeah, but what can I do? If I tell, she'll make everything worse!"

"Well..here, how about this.", Wanda reached into he backpack and wrote her address on a pink sticky note, handing it to him, "If she gets violent, you come over here, and I'll talk to my momma and daddy. I don't know if my mom will be sober enough to be much help, but I'm sure my dad'll hear you out. Just promise me, you'll be careful when you're at home."

"Yeah..thanks Wanda.", Cosmo gulped, clutching the paper as he arrived to his place, "Uhm, I'll see you later, Wanda."

"Be careful!"

Cosmo stepped out of the bus and slowly approached the house in front of him, his heart dropped as e saw his Mama there home, early from work. His Papa, Linnie, looked at Cosmo nervously as Nora held out her hand.

"Report card. NOW!"

"I-I'm sorry Mama..I-I tried my best. I really did-"

"I didn't say fucking excused. I said report card. NOW!", she snatched the report card from Cosmo's hands, her eyebrows furrowing even further as she read down his grades. Her teeth clenched as she made a fist with her free hand. Linnie approached Nora cautiously, gentle hands trying to ease Nora.

"N-Nora honey um…h-he really did try his best..um, sweetheart…i-it's ok. W-We just need to get him some tutoring and um…h-help him with his homework some more. That's all- OH!", without warning, Nora turned around and punched Linnie hard in the stomach, watching him fall down to the ground before turning back to Cosmo.

"What the hell is this shit! Didn't I fucking tell you to get your fucking grades up? Are you trying to get a rise out of me?", Nora shouted, "Linnie, your belt. NOW!"

"N-N-Nora please..n-no! T-That's not going to teach him anything! P-Please stop yelling at him-OH! NORA!", he screamed, as she landed herself on top of him, and placed both her hands on his waist, yanking the belt out of his tan pants loops, before shoving his head back down on the floor. Nora then folded the belt up, and smacked it against her hand.

"You know the rules, ass! Over here! Now!", Nora snarled, though her words were barely heard, as Cosmo started to break down, turning into one big, blubbering mess, begging his mother for forgiveness. Thought after a while longer of this happening, Nora dropped the belt and threw her hands in the arm, storming off into her bedroom, swearing a stream of words. Once she had left the room, Linnie got back up and knelt down, giving Cosmo a comforting hug before he saw his wife come out of the room, with a large, navy overcoat, and a suitcase on her hand.

"N-Nora, where are you going? Don't you see your son needs you? H-He needs his Mama..Honey, please don't go!"

"It's too fucking late! I'm leaving! Your fucking dumbass genes passed on after all, and I will NOT have a disappointment of a son! Oh wait..it's too fucking late, isn't it?"

"N-No Mama! Please! I-I'll do better, I promise!"

"That's what you said last time, you little shit! You've had your chances, now suffer the consequences. I hope you and your fucking, piece of shit father go straight to hell for all the time you've wasted for me! Goodbye you brat!"

After she had slammed the door, Cosmo was left sobbing in his father's arms as Linnie hugged him, rubbing his back softly, and telling him how sorry he was. Cosmo cried violently, begging Linnie to bring his Mama back to him, while all Linnie could do was hug the child, and hold him close the rest of evening, with constant reminders that nothing was Cosmo's fault. Thought much like everything else, Linnie's soft and gentle words went one ear and out the other…

"I-I just wanna know why? What did I do wrong? You knew I wasn't smart, Mama, and you refused to help me!", Cosmo complained, tears falling off his face, "Why am I not enough for you?"

"Oh for fuck's sake! You really think I wanted to have you?", Nora snapped, "Everything that had happening in my life was all yours and your piece of shit father's fault! Had he not tried to rape me that day, maybe I'd be a little happier, huh? Maybe I'd fucking have you when I wanted instead of allowing him to take control!"

"B-But Dad didn't….he never…he always said you raped him…"

"Oh, of course now that he's moved out, he wants to go ahead and talk shit about me…No Cosmo! Everything that piece of shit man says is a lie! He raped ME that night, not the other way around. Have you ever heard of a female rapist?"

"Uh yeah…woman can be rapists too, Mama."

"Oh shut it, you little shit! I see your father's got you all manipulated and shit! Well..I was drunk one night and I told your father to lie down on the bed with me, and then sooner or later, I found him on top of me and I couldn't fucking get him to stop! Why do you think I hit him all the time? I hit him because he fucking deserves it! Someone has to get justice around here!"

"I don't believe you, Mama..if Papa had raped you like you said, then why didn't you call the police?"

"I…well…I…listen, you ungrateful bastard. I-"

"Exactly! Because then, you'd be going to jail for false reporting! Now answer the damn questions!", Cosmo yelled, tears falling violently, "Why am I not enough for you? Why do you thin you get to leave for 6 plus thousand years of my life, and then expect an invitation to my wedding, only for you to get wasted at it? Why should you get to experience this? You missed my prom! You missed my graduation! Dad had to fill in for you during the mother-son dances all the 8th graders got to dance in."

"Pshh…you damn kids. You think your father is so fucking important! Well, guess what, sugar tits? I put a fucking roof over your head for 12,000 fucking years, and I paid the bills to make sure YOU got what you needed. Now, as your mother, I demand an invitation for your stupid wedding, and maybe I'll consider forgiving you?"

"Wait wait..hold up? You forgiving me?", Cosmo asked, looking at his mother skeptically. Nora grinned toothlessly and nodded, "What do you have to forgive me for? I did nothing to you!"

"Nothing except ruin my life and give me an attitude…you know, I had really expected better of you. Why do you think I expected you to get better grades than your idiot siblings? Haven't you ever heard the expression, third time's the charm?"

"Haven't you ever heard the expression, no means no?", Cosmo said, throwing his hands up and getting up from the couch, "Listen here, I don't want you even getting within a 10 mile radius of the church we're going to, and if I or Wanda, or ANY of the guest see you there, then I'll be sure to find you and make your life a living hell, just like you did to me, Papa, Darren, and Chelsea."

Nora stammered as she watched her son get up and leave towards the door, looking back at her coldly once more, before slamming it behind him, leaving her swallowed up in the pitiful darkness of her house once more.