Shell-shocked, Elton and Raven looked into their son's eyes peeping his head out from behind Loona's hips.

Balin was also thrilled to see them again, but he was still worried and Loona knew it too.

As he looked up at her, she gently rubbed his head, but then drew it away after a couple of seconds. She didn't want her feelings to show quite as much at first, since they were new to her.

So with a deep breath, Balin let go of her side and walked up to his mom and dad, whose watery eyes were glued to him in surprised.

"Mommy?" he spoke to them with a shake, looking up up at them with heavy eye contact. "Dad...?"

"BALIN!" screamed Elton and Raven happily.

The two parents ran up to their little boy from the door and wrapped him in their arms, spinning him around.

"Oh my God, my sweet baby!" cried Raven.

"You're here?!" wept Elton harder.

Balin couldn't believe all the affection he was witnessing. They actually still loved him after all that's happened, physical and emotionally, like the I.M.P crew said they would.

"You're... You're okay." the boy quivered quietly.

"Yes, we are. We're okay." the two each soothed him.

The parents kneeled down from him still in their arms, and Balin soon melted into the embrace, also happy to see them again.

Even if she didn't show a lot in her body language, Loona smiled, finding this moment so sweet, her eyes could mist themselves. But they didn't.

At last, Balin started weeping in sadness from the hug.

"I'm so sorry!" he sobbed.

The three grown-ups then looked to him with the tears streaming down his sad face.

"I know I missed you guys so much, but...!" he continued crying. "All this time, all I could, think about was how, scared and lonely I was, without you, even when I was safe, I couldn't keep my promise. *sniffles* I tried to remember what you taught me about, kindness, I wanted to f-fix things, and I... I..."

"Aww, no, no, God, no, mate." his parents consoled him.

Loona, witnessing this next moment, was now about to go on the brink of crying as well. And even with her arms crossed, she couldn't hold her pride in much longer.

"I-I've worked it all out in my head, I-I started having nightmares, where-where I was the problem, and where I never-I'd never see you guys again!" the boy wept even harder as his mother rubbed his cheek. "I'm so sorry that I came here, please don't hate me! I'm sorry!"

"Oh, no, no, no Balin! Don't you dare be sorry for that!" Raven teared up too. "We missed you too, baby."

"You... y-you did?" Balin looked up at her with a tear-stained face.

"Absolutely." Elton showed a smile to him. "Everyday, we've been sitting in the backyard, praying to see your manly little face again. And now..."

"Now, what?" the boy asked them, still sniffling.

"You're here!" the two parents said in unison.

"You must've been so brave waiting this long in that foster home for us." Elton continued, ruffling his head. "It's never easy, but you must have."

"Yeah." added Raven. "Because you also must have remembered your kindness after all. No matter how scared your were, you could never forget that."

Balin then slowly started smiling a little too, knowing his two parents were as right as the I.M.P crew and every other demon he made friends were from the start of their friendship with him.

"I... I guess I did." he said, slightly feeling better. "I didn't mean to have those nightmares about you. Or think about... any of this."

"No, of course not. They're nothing to be ashamed of AND they're not your fault." said Raven.

"None of this whole thing was." added Elton. "But we're so glad you're okay."

"Come here for another hug, baby boy." the mother opened her arms to him.

"Okay..."

Balin then walked into his mother's arms and cuddled her softly with her cradling him, as he nestled in her long black hair.

"I love you, mommy."

As the two continued cuddling, Elton looked up at Loona, who scrunched her hair with a nervous yet teary expression. She sobbed a little quietly, until she heard the dad's voice.

"Excuse me? Miss?" he spoke. "Are you, his uh...?"

"Yeah." sniffled Loona. "I'm the one who's... been taking care of him." she quickly showed him the fake adoption papers as proof.

As Elton looked, he was stunned to see someone of her background be so bold and vulnerable as to take care of their lonely child.

Thankfully, they thought she adopted him from the foster home and she wanted to keep it that way, until they at least gained each other's trust.

Raven also looked surprise looking at her when she lifted her head from the cuddles. But with one grateful face, Elton reached his hand out to the 22-year-old gothic hellhound-in-disguise for a shake, when she took a step back.

"Sorry." she choked. "It's just... I really don't, like being touched."

"Oh? Okay, I respect that." said Elton, feeling a little awkward. He was beginning his 30s after all, so he knew how that felt.

"What's your name, Miss?" Raven spoke to her next.

"Loona." she replied nervously but bluntly. "Call me Loona."

Balin knew this whole scenario wasn't easy for her, even at 7-years-old, being someone born and raised in Hell their entire life. Whether it was keeping Hell a secret or just minding her own business. (Unless he, Tex, Dylan, or even Via were involved).

So with a deep breath, having no choice but to lie to his parents for her and the others. He never did it before, but he was still brave.

"She found me at the foster home." stated Balin. "I was scared of her at first, but when she saw me, she calmed me down and we chatted for a bit while she was on her phone. After... everything. Soon, she decided to adopt me and promised to take care of me. And love me. Like you. Did you, Loona?"

Loona twirled her hair back from her face again, warmed by the boy's honesty-filled lie.

"Y-Yeah. With the help of my step-dad and his... colleagues, that is." she replied.

Raven then walked up to Loona, releasing the boy from the cuddling.

He watched the whole thing feeling nervous about her this time. He also thought to himself that this was just like one of the dreams he had after that night of bad ones.

The mother felt just as awkward of what to say about this surprise, but Loona sensed it and showed a soft mother-like smile. She then decided to gently lay a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"You two have such a good kid." she softly spoke. "He's the kindest, sweetest, bravest kid I've ever met."

As they looked at each other, both parents smiled in return and hugged her.

Surprisingly, Loona had a warm feeling about this embrace. A feeling, like the only people she should kill or maul for touching her would be people who weren't as mature as these two humans, like Blitzø or Moxxie or even perverts.

So looking at Balin, she smiled at him the most as she embraced his family.

"Thank you so much for taking care of him." the parents both said with gratitude.

"...Whatever." she smiled with a kind response.

"Please, come on in." said Raven. "I'll log you two into the security system. It's the least we can do."

"You need something to eat or drink?" asked Elton. "Must've taken an eternity to get here."

"Sure, I could kill for a cup of coffee right now." replied Loona as she walked inside the safe house with Balin ... And with a wink to the readers.

...

The safe house looked so much like a beach house, the ones Elton and Raven always dreamt of owning. Even though it had more security than they wished for, it was still a dream-come-true for them, and the boy couldn't be more happier.

Seeing the moment to relax, Loona then knelt down to Balin and wrapped her arms softly around him as well. "I'm so proud of you, Balin." she whispered with a smile, as he wrapped his arms around her two.

A few minutes later...

The interior house looked more like a modern dream home, with LED lights hanging from the ceiling as well as the walls. There were two couches in the living room where the four were now sitting: One was a love-seat and the other two were recliners.

As Elton was making cookies for everyone, including the two special visitors, Balin and Loona sat at the love seat as Raven was speaking to her.

Balin was resting right next to her as she wrapped her arm around his neck, trying to act natural as he showed his mother some pictures of the fun day they had in No-Name Town together.

He showed her the video of his little victory dance at the bowling alley, then started showing some pictures of their time in Hell.

Luckily, Loona was able to clean up the photos with her social media skills, changing their demon forms into human ones, which made the boy go 'Ooh' in relief.

The hellhound's love of technology was, and always will be, but a fickle mystery.

"Wow. Let me tell you, Ms. Loona, what you're doing for him and us makes you just as brave as he is." said Raven.

"Please, Loona's just fine." she replied modestly as she drank her coffee. "Any parents of his is a friend of mine."

"Okay, Loona. I understand." shrugged Raven. "Beautiful name by the way."

Loona blushed hearing that from the human boy's mother.

"Shucks, you sound a lot like this little guy here." Loona looked at Balin with her sassy tone, yet a warm smile. "Always so polite."

"I know, right?" Elton arrived with the cookies. "See, Rave? I told you he was a ladies' man."

"Ladies' man, eh?" Loona looked at Balin again, more teasingly. "So that's why all those women you've been meeting fell in love with you."

"Hey, you too, Loona."

"Ooooohh." the boy's parents reacted cheekily too.

"Oh, alright, I'll admit falling in love with you too. I mean, what's not to love about this cute little dude?"

Everyone in the safe house just laughed at their innocence, until Raven picked up a tiny whiff of something on Balin's body.

"Geez, Balin. Is that dog slobber I smell on you?" she cringed. "I know that from anywhere."

Loona's eyes widened with shock. She had forgotten that her tongue and her fur had basically covered up his once normal scent as they knew it, especially with her tongue bath/grooming from before.

"Oh yeah, uhh, I have a dog at our place." lied Loona. "Believe it or not, she took a real fancy to him."

"Whatever it is, you still smell like she cleaned you or something." said Raven with a smirk. "Why don't you take a real shower while the grown-ups talk more for a bit."

"Okay. I'll be back, Loona." said Balin as he stood up.

"Take your time, kiddo." replied Loona as she chewed away at a cookie.

"Where's the bathroom, mommy?"

"Just up the stairs, turn right, and take the first left along the halls." Raven guided him. "We have two bathrooms here, but use that one. The towels are spares."

"Thanks!" Balin then walked up the stairs and through the hall to the bathroom.

...

Soon all undressed, Balin took a refreshing shower. The first Earth shower he had in days.

The shampoo he used in Hell did smell like pepperoni and a little bit of blood, and the soap he used also smelt like blood with a flavour of musk stick.

But all the same, he took some more time to think about his choice, whether he wanted to stay with Loona and the others longer, or return to the life he once knew. Even though it changed so much for him, and so fast at his age.

...

"So, Loona. You said you were from... Baltimore, right?" asked Elton.

"Boston." replied Loona blankly as she finished off her coffee mug.

"Okay, in that case, welcome to our island home!" the dad declared, making Loona and his wife giggle.

Loona then whispered to Raven: "I take it he's where the kid gets his charm from, isn't he?"

Raven then giggled quietly. "You think I can do better?" she whispered back in a tease.

"That's not what I said!" laughed Loona with a blush.

"I'm just fucking with you." laughed Raven a little less.

As Elton was picking up on the whispering, he came up with some a little subtle trickery to return the favour. He stood up from the couch, left for a bit, and returned with a big book in his hands.

"Say, Loona. Since you showed us your pictures of the little man, why not show you ours while he's showering up?" he asked her.

"Uhh... sure, okay." she shrugged, as she and Raven let him sit in between them.

Elton then opened the book to reveal it was Balin's old baby photos.

"Awww!" cooed Raven with a warm smile, while Loona just showed her usual warm smile.

PICTURE #1 showed Raven making a 1-year-old Balin laugh as she made a toy scuba diver dance around in the tub.
PICTURE #2 showed a 2-year-old Balin during a Wiggles concert in a blue, yellow, and red t-shirt.
PICTURE #3 showed an invitation to Balin's baptism in April 2017, six months after he was born, along with a picture of the event.
PICTURE #4 showed a 5-year-old Balin sitting next to Elton, sucking on one of his empty beer bottles.

That picture made the three grown-ups laugh so much, while Loona choked on one of her cookies with the giggles.

Her heart melted bit by bit seeing each picture, so she decided to take some photos of them with her phone.

When she was finished, Elton then grabbed out his iPhone to then show her his trickery.

"...And watch this." he smirkingly taunted Raven.

The two looked close to see it was a video Elton secretly took of his wife through the doorway of Balin's nursery, as she was sweetly singing him to sleep when he was a couple of months old.

The lullaby she was singing to him was 'Can't Help Fallin' in Love with You' by Elvis.

A flustered Raven tried snatching the phone away, only for Elton to throw it to her as Loona laughed at the fight.

It reminded her so much of Blitzø & Moxxie and their fights during their work days, which sends her laughing harder and even recording it on her phone for the socials.

But this one, it made her heart melt, knowing she'd seen something actually 'fucking beautiful.'

"You know, from occasional singer to... occasional singer," Loona rubbed her shoulder nervously. "You're really good, Mrs. Johnson."

"Please. Raven will be fine." she replied. "Thank you."

"Call me Elton, too."

And the two of them together said: "Anyone who's a dear mate of our son, is a mate of ours too."

The gothic-looking hound slowly blushed hearing that from them.

Soon, Balin walked down the stairs all dried up from his shower and back in his clothes.

"Feeling better now, kiddo?" Loona asked him.

"Yes, Loona." he replied.

"Well then, we only have a few hours before curfew, so..." Raven then said to her son. "How about we take Loona here on a little tour of Tathra? We all loved taking our trips to this place, right?"

"Oh, yes please." nodded Balin.

"Yeah, I'm up for it." replied Loona with more energy, as well as her caring smile.

A/N: See y'all in the next chapter.