Spring and summer had both passed and the forest was cloaked in a veil of dark red and brown. Pumpkins with carved faces glowed on every step of the trees turned into homes. Children ran past excitedly as they went home for their fall break. Anxiously waiting their night of trick-or treating a few days later.
Wolf walked past them all with a feeling of happiness and grief as he watched them zip past him on the paths. He was wrapped in a thick hoodie to protect himself from the autumn cold. His ears covered in a hat peched on top of his head as his former brown-turned grey tail swished along the leaves. That was one thing he missed about being younger than what he was now, even thogh back then he still got cold easily, it was even easier for him to feel downright frozen. Twitchy felt that way too and so did Anna, so he didn't really feel out of place that often. He shifted his glasses and waved at the neighbors that greeted him along. Once regared as a wild card by the HEA, he was now more of the kind old man that everyone loved in the neighborhood. Under his arm he carried a single package wrapped in brown paper that he had gotten from the bakery ealier. Lost in his thoughts, he about fell over when he felt something bump into his backside.
"What th-?" he said and calmly looking behind him he saw Chuck, the nine year old beaver boy. He stepped back quickly from him with a ball still clutched in his little paws.
"Sorry Mr. Wolf" he said sounding scared as he stared at the ground. "We were playing catch and I didn't see you"
Wolf wasn't angry though, he had a soft smile on his face and gently patted Chuck on the back laughing quietly. "Don't worry Chuck, I'm not mad. Now go along and play alright, and stay warm"
Chuck smiled at him and ran along down the path to play with the rest of his friends. Wolf sighed contently and kept walking. He reminded him alot of his son Tim, the very person he was headed to see.

(Several years ago)

Wolf walked down the polished hallways of the hospital, its halls accented with pumpkins and ghosts. In his paws was a baloon, a bucket of KFC and a small blanket in his arms as the claws on his feet clicked against the floor. He was actually for once not the person in here as a patient, Anna had just given birth to a healthy baby boy while he was away on a mission just a few hours ago and Nicky had allowed him a few paid weeks off for him to spend time with his wife and baby-boy. He had already come up with a name and was anxious to see what he looked like.
He stopped in front of the closed door of the hospital room and took a deep breath. His heart pounded anxiously under his hoodie. He closed his chocolate brown eyes and opened the door.
There she was, his wife, his mate, her ears drooped down and the jade green eyes were half closed due to tiredness as she laid on the bed. She looked up at him and smiled, Wolf walked up to the bed and sat down. Staring at the bundle in her arms intently, as if it might just disappear if he dared look away. She laughed quietly at the bucket of KFC in his arms. She had been complaining about the hospital food ever since she had gone into labor. Even though she did work there. "do you want to see your son?" she said handing him the little bundle. Wolf gently put it in his arms and looked at his son. He was still blind, the eyes tightly closed, his fur was a chocolate brown and a streak of darker brown ran down his muzzle. He looked just like his father. He stirred a little as he slept gently, silently. Wolf was too hypnotized by his boy to notice twitchy zipping into the room with a bundle of cards from the HEA. "heywolfcongratsonyourkid. Whatdoeshelooklike?whatshisname?" chattered the hyperactive squirrel as his bushy tail flicked constantly. Wolf didnt even hear him as he sat down next to Anna. "Timothy," he said looking at Anna. "his name is Timothy."
As he held the sleeping cub, he realized that this was his chance to raise a son like him. He had no intentions of leaving him come hell or high water. This was his boy, his son. His child. And he will never do anything to hurt him.

(5 years later)
The newly-bought log cabin floor was strewn with toys from the little wolf cub running around. It was the dead of Winter and a large glittering Christmas tree sat in front of the large window in the living room. Timmy though, was too busy running around in a brown leather fedora with a note sticking on top of it. An old journalist hat from his journalism days that his father gave to him. The living room was filled with a rush of cold air and falling snow as a bundled up Wolf stomped his feet on the placemat. The good thing about being a wolf is that there is never the need for shoes, his feet were covered like all wolves with a thick fleshy lair on the bottom. As he stomped his feet to get rid of hte snow and brushed some off his head. Timmy came charging and hugged his father. with a shriek of "DADDY!" as he rested his head against the thick jacket.
Wolf ruffled the fur on top of Timmy's head, "hey Timmy" he said. Even though he was exhausted, and bruised from a ninjitsu knowing gingerbread man, the sight of his son was always a great welcome home.
"Your hut again dad" he said crossing his little arms and a scowl on his little face, "I dont like it when you hut"
"It's okay Timmy," Wolf reassured him while picking him up,"I've faced worse than a mean christmas cookie, where's your mother at?"
Timmy pointed at the doorway into the kitchen, Wolf put him down and slipped out of his jacket and hung it on a hook. He walked intot the kitchen, which was filled witht he smells of chili being made filled the kitchen as Anna, with a glittering ring on her finger, was busy stirring the ingredients of chili in a large pot. He walked up behind her and put his arms around her middle, kissing her in the side of her muzzle. She laughed, filled a spoonful of chili and turned around ot face Wolf, her green eyes looked tired but they were relieved that he was now home. She lifted the spoonful of chili to his face, where the smell of the chili burned his sensitive sense of smell pleasantly. "taste," she said popping the spoon into his muzzle. He chewed for a little as the sounds of Timmy playing were still heard. After nodding his approval, Anna turned back toward the stove, "you know he keeps talking about you, how you used to be a journalist. I can't get him to stop going on about how he wants to be a reporter just like you were,". Wolf smiled and turned his tired brown eyes to Timmy giving an interview to his stuffed bear, thinking that he might just want some fresh air.

"He looks like he's having some cabin fever," he said with a mischievious look as he walked over to his son from behind and picked him up, with shrieks of laughter coming from him.

"Hey kiddo," he said as he and Timmy rubbed their noses together,"Wanna go outside?"

"YEAH! Let's go dad!" Wolf set him down and put his jacket back on. Anna leaned against the doorway between the kitchen and living room, watching Wolf bundle of his son, and take off outside.

The forest was extremely quiet in the cold night air, the pine trees looked brown against the night sky as the snow blanketed them all, just like in a christmas card. Wolf and Timmy both raced each other outside up a hill a short distance from the house. When the both reached the top, Tim began to build a little mound of snow in front of him using his gloved paws. Wolf watched his son build up his mound with a sense of curiosity, when he could no longer see Timmy, he carefully walked up to it, somehow knowing what he was up to.

"What're you doing Tim-" Wolf said before a snow ball hit him right in the chest, he backed away laughing, remembering how sister Whitetail would always get irritated at him at the orphanage whenever he would do it to people passing by. He ducked and dodged more snowballs thrown by Timmy. Wolf then quickly built up a mound of his own and they both threw snowballs at eachother, each getting in several hits. They carried on and on until they heard the vioce of Anna cracking the quiet air.

"Hey you two! Time for dinner!" she called to them. Wolf leaped over his mound and grabbed Timmy and carried him back into the house.

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(Two Weeks later)

The christmas decorations were all down, and as they rang in the new year, neither Wolf or Anna felt like celebrating, Timmy laid in bed coughing up a storm, sweat running down his forehead and a bottle of medicine on his nightstand. A doctor held his paw against timmy's forehead, checked his temperature and with a grave look he handed Timmy a sucker and patted his on the forehead, motioning for Wolf and Anna to follow him into the hallwat outside his bedroom. The Wolf parents and the turtle spoke in hushed voices, "so what's wrong?" Anna asked holding Wolf's paw, the turtle sighed and took off his glasses while rubbing his forehead.

"I'm afraid he has pneumonia" he said gravely. Pneumonia at such a young age for a wolf is very serious,"it's not good, his temperature's skyrocketing and the medicine doesn't seem to have much of an effect" Just then they heard the small gasps for air between another coughing spasm,each cough ripped at Wolf's heart and became more and more painful to hear by the minute. When he removed his paws form his mouth he called, "Mom, Dad" in such a small, quiet and frightened voice. When they both rushed in they looked at Timmy's hands and Wolf's heart seemed to fail. Both of his paws were covered in blood. Wolf turned to Anna and saw the tear glittering in her eys as she wiped the blood from his paws and hugging him as tightly as she could. Wolf turned to the doctor still standing in the doorway and shook his head at Wolf, indicating that he probably wasn't going to make it.

"Dad," Tim said as Wolf sat down next to the bed and laid his paw on Timmy's chest. "Yeah, kiddo" Wolf said trying his best to sound happy and not break down in front of him.

"Am I going to get better?" Timmy asked, "Of course you are," Wolf said as his voice began to crack and his eyes began to sting as he ruffled the fur on top of Timmy's head, his face reflecting in his father's chocolate brown eyes, "and you're going to be a great reporter and be just like your dad,". Timmy seemed comforted by this and he got up and hugged his father tightly, even though he was so weak at the time. "I love you dad" he said.

Wolf's ears drooped low and he hugged his son tightly, "I love you too Timothy," he said with a cracking voice, "just remember that no matter what happens, you..will..always..be..my..boy." a few tears ran down his muzzle and onto the back of Timothy, he hugged him tightly and with an iron grip as the realization came crashing down upon him that this is the last time he will touch and speak to his son alive.

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(The next day)

Timothy Wolf laid in the same bed, except, everything was silent, the lights were off in the bright bedroom and the orange light from the setting sun bled through the bedroom windows and shone against the polished wooden floor. Wolf sat next to the bed on which Timmy had entered an eternal sleep, the sheets had been draped over his face. The first time Wolf had seen his son quiet, still, and cold, his arms were folded under the sheets. He had sat there since the sickness had swept the lights from his eyes. He hadn't eaten, he didn't feel like eating, he didn't feel like talking, which was very unusual for Wolf. He just sat there, and stared at the lifeless form of Timmy covered by the white sheet. Anna had to go to her parents house because she was so stricken with grief. Wolf however, didn't speak, he didn't move, he just sat there with the journalist hat that Tim had loved so much. He occasional looked at the photograph on the nightstand. It was a picture of Wolf with his son, Wolf was carrying him on his shoulders, they both were laughing against the clear blue sky and green grassy hill. Timmy was waving his arms and wearing the same type of hoodie that his father always wears, and on his head was the journalist hat with the note sticking on top of it dating back to the goody thief case. A captured frame of a happier time with the child he would never be able to hold and carry again.

Wolf's ears perked at the sound of tennis-shoe covered feet approaching, and his sense of smell picked up a familiar perfume.

She spoke softly to her colleague, "Wolf," she came and knelt beside him while taking his limp paw in her hand. He didn't even look at Red as she hugged him and patted him on the back.

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(Two days later)

The small brown casket laid in between plush bouquets of flowers. Wolf and Anna both stood beside it. While Mr. Canis sat in the front row comforting his wife. Red, Granny, Twitchy and nick all sat in the middle, after each leaving little gifts for the ice cold wolf cub laying in the polished box. A teddy bear from Red, a notepad with a kids book about news reporting from Nick, and a batch of cookies that Timmy would kill for from Granny. The church was almost filled to the breaking point, Wolf didn't really care though, and as they were giving the final viewing before closing the casket, he heard an even more familiar voice from behind him. Turning around, he saw the elderly face of a whitetail deer in nun's robes. Two rosaries were in her hands. One made out of wood which was her own, and another made of baby boy blue plastic. She had gotten so much older now. Her eyes were soft and behind a pair of glasses now and most of her brown fur had faded to grey.

"Wolf," Sister Whitetail said as she wrapped her arms around him. When she let go, she put her hand on Wolf's shoulders, for the first time in days, with a cracked voice and with unched tears glittering in his eyes Wolf finally spoke again.

"My one chance to be a father, to avoid the mistakes that my parents made, and I messed it up." he said as with each word his ears dropped lower and lower till they were almost flat against his head.

"Now, don't blame yourself for this Wolf William Wolf," she said compassionately but with a hint of sternness,"God does not tell us why he sometimes takes things away from us that we love and cherish, but Timmy can now rest peacefully until you meet again." she said holding his paw and walked over to the casket and laid the rosary next to him. She place her hand on his forehead, "In the name of the Father," she moved her hand to his sotmach, "the Son" and tapped both of his shoudlers gently "and the Holy Spirit. Amen. May the lord Jesus Christ bless and keep you in his kingdom now and forever." she then gave Anna a hug as well.

Later, when they were about to close the casket. Wolf placed his paw on the ice cold forehead of Timmy. "I promise, that every year for your birthday I will visit you. Promise." He then kissed Timmothy's cold forehead one last time and allowed the brown casket to close, preventing him from seeing Timmy's resting face for the rest of his life and watched them carry it away into the awaiting hearse.

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(Present Day)

The much, much older Wolf now walked past the rows upon rows of stone blocks and hearts and angels on his way to Timmy. He finally found it. It was a small, black-granite little headstone, with a cross above the name as the surface reflected the sun off of it. He knelt down on his wobbly knees and opened the package. It was a small birthday cake, covered in blue green frosting, Timmy's favorite color. He set it down in front of the little black headsotne that read.

Timothy W. Wolf

Born: Ocober 29, 2013 Died: January 5, 2018

Sleep, thy child, sleep, for a goodbye is never forever

He patted the headstone gently as his eyes stung with tears, "Happy Birthday Timmy, you have no idea how much your pop misses you."

Thanks for reading, this is the last of the sad chapters for a while.

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