Yavik's disappearance was worrying for Kelvi. But...this wasn't the first time he'd been "delayed" during one of his deliveries. A mountain pass could have collapsed, and they would need to wait for it to be repaired, usually helping out and coming home with a few more decats. He'd been gone for 18 months, three times his longest delay. The odds of him coming back by this time seemed dim, but Kelvi was a positive person, sometimes unrealistically so. She wouldn't give into her fears. She'd been given some decats from her family, and her sister had been coming over to help with Heksis. Just before she married Yav, her sister had warned her that one day her husband may never return, but she married him anyway. Yaviks' group's track record of almost never being late to a delivery and relatively incident-free runs certainly assured her. They were all far too experienced for anything to take them down. However, she worried nonetheless. Everyday, she would remember one of the stories that Yav shared with her, some recollection of danger and heroism that left her speechless every time. Her beloved was a survivor. There was no way some foul creature would get the jump on him. And if they did, his comrades would no doubt protect him with their lives.

Kelvi woke up about an hour ago to the squeaky chirps of her pup, who would always be begging for attention in the morning. Since his birth, she had certainly spoiled him with almost every waking moment she had and most times even into the night, even when he drifted off to sleep. She'd spent the whole night in his room three days ago, sleeping on the floor. Hek's snoring was adorable, a mix of gentle squawks followed by calm and sleepy grunts. Now that he was awake, he had learned to roll around the room by wrapping himself in his arms, tucking his mandibles back, and using his soft fur to move about the floor.

Heksis looked beautiful to her. Four big, glowing eyes, full of curiosity, happiness, love, and empathy for everything they saw. His little face ,hands, and feet had a thin bit of fur that covered them. But the rest of his body had changed significantly in the months since passed. A ring shaped mane had grown around his neck, one that would only continue to grow, as with all males, until he reached adulthood. A slightly smaller amount of fluffy white fur had grown on the rest of his body, protecting any vital organs from the cold and even little bit on his head.

Kelvi leaned against the wall, watching Heksis giggle with childish glee as he rolled from the left wall over to the right wall, and then back again and again. Little Heksis amazed her by how easy it was for him to entertain himself with just the slightest of things, but then again, she didn't remember that much about what she did at his age, so it would probably be best if she didn't judge.

She had brought him some toys though, which were all piled up into a small paper bag under the cradle, which Heksis still hadn't noticed despite her previous attempts.

Heksis had made it back to the left wall once again, and then happily rolled over to the right wall.

Since the little furball was having so much fun, Kelvi figured why not jump in herself. Kelvi pushed herself forward and away from the wall behind her, lying down on her thin, furred knees before easing herself onto her belly, and beginning to roll along with Heksis. The excited giggles and squeals increased in volume the more she joined in, Heksis' demeanor suddenly changing to a little more competitive. She couldn't lose to an infant.

She kicked into overdrive with her rolling, rolling about 3 times faster than the slower awkward roll she had been doing before. It didn't take long before she hit the right wall, and then began to roll in the opposite direction. She could feel all the shed fur get on her clothing as she rolled toward the left wall, which Heksis appeared to be rolling towards. Now was her chance to show him who's boss.

She rolled on her side to the left as fast as she could, elbows feeling slightly sore from the amount of times they scraped across the foam floor. But when she made it, she slammed into the wall, with Heksis following shortly afterwards, hitting the wall with a silent thud. Kelvi panted slightly as she got up, lifting her head up first before her entire back was straight, crossing her legs in a criss cross Dazia sauce way.

"Okay Heksis...You wanna see some of the toys I got you?" She asked, knowing that if she was panting, Heksis must be exhausted already. Luckily none of the toys she brought required that much physical work, so Heksis should be fine playing them. Kelvi looked to see Heksis, and smiled when she saw her little boy leaning against the wall, panting but ready to get back in the game. He was panting for at least 5 seconds before he turned his head to listen to his mother, still laying on his back and leaning the wall.

"What are they...?" Heksis asked, his voice sounding precious to his mother's ears. There were slight pauses in between each word as his mind was still grasping sentences.

Kelvi smiled at each word. "I got you a few books, a couple puzzles, and one Javlok plant. So you have someone to talk to." She explained, preparing for Hek's question about what a Javlok plant little pup's eyes widened with excitement, looking around the room for it, still not seeing it under the cradle.

"What's a J-Javlok plant momma?" Heksis asked, struggling to pronounce the new word.

"A Javlok is this magical little green plant that can think on its own. In a way..." Kelvi knew the plant wasn't entirely sentient on its own, so saying it could think on its own might be an exaggeration. But the woman she'd bought it from had told her that when its roots joined together with the roots of other Javlok plants...they would become fully self award and sentient. Shortly after...she started offering a 5 percent discount if she bought another Javlok plant. Typical.

"When you touch it's leaves...you can talk with it." Kelvi explained, doing her best to speak about the plant as if it were the best thing in the world. She'd seen multiple Javlok plants in her youth, usually owned by the kids of the rich mining families or out in the middle of the market for everyone to see. Apparently people had started to modify them a little a few years ago, make them produce more seed or something. Because now it was just a little companion for her son.

"Talk with it? It has a mouth? Could it bite?" Heksis asked, obviously curious about the plant but still cautious about it. He was curious, but he wasn't.

"No it doesn't have a mouth."

"Then how does it talk?"

"Magic..." She didn't want to have to explain the whole thing to him, so she explained it by just saying it was magical, rather than explain it to him scientifically. He'd ask so many questions if she tried to explain it scientifically.

"Magic? A-a-a p-plant? Who made it?" Heksis asked, probably believing it was made by a sorcerer or something. He'd enjoyed the story she'd read him a little too much. He must've thought that it was a true story.

"I don't know who made it." She replied.

"Then why did you buy it?" Heksis asked, as if buying something from someone you don't know was dangerous.

"I bought it for you." Heksis didn't say anything else for several minutes. He just stared at the plant. "I'm tired..." he finally mumbled, resting his head on her neck and sharing some of her warmth. She laid against the wall, feeling herself struggle to keep her eyes open as well. They both needed a little nap.

"Okay. Want me to read you a story after you wake up?" She asked, immediately thinking about where she was going to nap. Of course he would want to hear a story. She'd only read one to him once and he'd been absolutely fascinated with it.

"Yeah." Heksis mumbled sleepily into her neck, lifting his head up afterwards and letting out a short yawn at her shoulder.

Kelvi could see the exhaustion in his eyes. An hour ago, they had been wide open, glowing brightly and looking at everything they could. Now...they were glowing faintly, lids barely ope. She decided to sleep on the couch in the living room once she put him to sleep, knowing that it would be good for her since the leather of the couch felt really good on her back.

"Nap time little one." She whispered into his ear, bringing her upper arms up to him and holding his bottom as she pushed herself off the wall with her lower arm, getting on her knees. She put one of her legs up, before doing the same with the other, lifting herself up onto her feet. She looked over at Hek's cradle.

The cradle had a large wooden frame, large enough for half of her to lay inside of it. The wood was polished, light brown, with multiple dark brown lines and swirls in the sides of the wood. The top had a large screen hatch, which had been lifted up and was leaning against the wall behind the cradle. When she wanted to, she could close that over the cradle to make sure Heksis couldn't get out. He'd tried several times before, luckily he'd been caught every time before he could escape. She'd installed a large plastic baby lock on the screen door, so he wouldn't be able to climb out and play around without her supervision. As smart as he'd become...she didn't want to take any chances with him. If he fell down on something, who knows what could happen.

She held onto him as she made her way over to the cradle, letting him rest his head on her neck a little more, enjoying the warm feeling as he snuggled his head against her neck. Once she'd made it over to the cradle, she took a quick look inside it. Hek's bright green blanket, woven from thousands of strands of string. His pillows, all white and stained with drool. And the mattress of the cradle itself, which was a plush but bumpy white.

"Want me to put you in a cocoon?" She whispered into his ear, quickly receiving a small grunt of approval from Heksis, whose eyes had been closed completely.

She took that as a yes, immediately reaching down into the cradle with her lower arms and moving the spread out blanket to the left side of the cradle. She gently set Heksis on his right side amongst the numerous pillows that covered the soft cushion that served as the bottom of his cradle. He immediately slumped into the pillows, stretching his little arms and legs as a small little grin formed on his mandibles. She'd started to work on the cocoon as soon as she'd set Heksis down. She took the blanket out of the cradle, flattening it out before spreading it across every part of the mattress except for the one Heksis was sleeping on. Once it was spread out, she lifted Heksis back up again, with one of his little feet holding onto a pillow as she lifted him up. She gently tugged it away from his foot and held onto it for him, not wanting the weight to bother him. She put him on the left side of the mattress, laying him down on his back before wrapping the left side of the blanket around him, before beginning to roll him to the right with layers of blanket being added to the cocoon as she gently rolled him along.

Once she was done, Heksis had completely fallen asleep in his blanket cocoon, eyes closed shut with a blissful look on his face. That should keep him asleep for awhile.

Kelvi needed to take a little nap. She hadn't been playing with him as much as usual, but she was tired nonetheless. She'd sleep on the couch, a small nap would certainly do her good.

The eliksni walked out of her child's room, her bare feet walking on the cold stone floor. Hek's room was connected to the living room, which would make it easier for her to walk back in once Heksis had woken up. She made her way over to the couch, briefly examining the piece of furniture as she made her way over to it. Soon as she did, she spun around, quickly leaning back and falling onto the leather couch. Once her upper half had landed, she quickly lifted her legs up off the ground, one at a time, putting them on the couch. But, to her surprise, her left leg rested on a small heavy but soft object. Hek's plushie must have been left out in the living room, why Heksis had left his favorite toy out in the living room she didn't know. She looked back down toward her left leg to confirm her suspicions, and...as expected, had the Yuzka plushie come into view. The fake Yuzka was beautiful in its appearance, colored string had been weaved together, and then stuffed with thousands of tiny little pebbles. The weight of the toy was meant to give the children a little exercise when they carried it.

It certainly seemed to work. Heksis must've gotten tired and given up on carrying it for a little while.

She leaned her head back, her head falling back on the cushion of the couch. The pillows had been thrown off, so her head rested on the bottom cushion. She looked up, briefly examining the smooth and polished ceiling, the glow of her eyes faintly reflecting against the polished granite surface. Hek would probably wake up in a few hours, and when he did, he would make noise until she got went back to get him. He certainly didn't like being trapped in his cradle. She wouldn't either.

She was going to enjoy this nap...

(Happy New Year! I know this chapter isn't as long my other chapters have been, but don't worry the next chapter will have more. I'd like to give a big thank you to SurefireReadingFF for all the wonderful support. Editing and revising parts of my chapters, giving tips and suggestions. This story wouldn't have gotten this far of joy for him. So if you haven't already, go give him a follow, and check his stories out. A more grown up Heksis will be making an appearance in The Lost House. But, most of all, I'd like to thank my readers, who power my fanfic forward. I'm open to any ideas that you guys have for this story, so long as it seems to fit into the destiny universe. You can message me on Kik or Skype!

Skype: Redfishcam

Kik: Redfishcamm

Feel free to tell me any of your ideas! Happy 2017!)