Chapter Text
When he got home from school he threw off the stupid uniform for his lounge wear, sweatpants and an old T-shirt. He needed comfort right now. It was only around midday, given it was a half day schedule. Of course, he could message Melissa and tell her everything about what happened to him. But he’d already spoken with her and had if indirectly, gone against her advice. He would lay into his dad… at some point considering the man was always working. ‘Maybe mom? She does come home more often than dad does… and she’s generally more understanding than he is. She had a normal werewolf bringing up…. She might be able to help me.’ He nodded at that, having made a plan and left his bedroom to look at the fridge. On the fridge normally his parents posted schedules. When they’d be home, since they couldn’t be bothered to tell him in person- or over text.
Aaron sighed looking at the fridge. His mom wouldn’t be home for several hours and it seemed like his dad wouldn’t be home for a week. Business meeting. Of course he would come back home, when he was already back at school. ‘I guess that’s more time to play with Shu then?’ He pulled out his phone and walked back upstairs. He walked into his room and didn’t even bother shutting the door. There wasn’t any point when he was alone. Instead he pulled out his phone to text her.
Shu
>Hey Shu! My parents are out again, if you want to play or chat?
She responded quickly, but unexpectedly.
<Hey FC not today got… news
Got news? What was that supposed to mean? He was about to text more when she sent another message.
<Ill talk l8 need time
Okay so clearly it was bad news. Aaron sighed and exited the chat with her. So that was one person down. ‘She seemed fine during school hours… I know she comforted me and threatened to fight me but what happened in the meantime?’ He shook his head and pulled up his laptop. He decided to game for a bit before grabbing food and maybe calling Melissa. Normally he wouldn’t be so eager to bother her but… today had been especially complicated. And the last thing he wanted was to bother Shu after some rough news.
His game booted up and he was about to start playing when his phone suddenly rang. He looked at the name and smiled at it. The only person who ever really bothered calling him, Melissa. “Hey Melissa!”
“Hey Aaron.” Her calm voice replied. “I’m all done with classes for the day, I’ve only got two back to back on Monday and Wednesday. Sooo…” she trailed off for a moment before getting to her point. “How was werewolf class? Did you manage to speak to anyone on your first day?”
Aaron just sighed. “Well I certainly managed to speak to someone. Multiple someone’s.” He didn’t feel too enthusiastic about that. “But things got off the rail. Quickly.”
On the other line he could hear Melissa shifting off what he assumed to be her bed. “Alright hold on, I’m lucky mom and dad pay for an apartment off campus.” She got up and locked the door, he could hear a faint click. “What happened? Start at the beginning.”
“The day started when I accidentally nearly knocked over this really short girl. I apologized but I don’t think she heard me which is really unfortunate given we have class together. I spoke to another girl really quickly in the homeroom but I didn’t catch her name.” ‘I guess I will see her tomorrow so that’s a plus! Maybe I can become friends with her?’ “Uhhh I found a nice solitary place to maybe practice guitar.”
“I’m not seeing the problem here. Sure, nearly knocking over a girl isn’t great but surely your day couldn’t have been terrible if that was the only issue.”
“Oh believe me Melissa it only gets worse from here.” Aaron said, shutting his laptop and grabbing his phone before practically leaping into bed, the spring boards groaning slightly from his impact. “Then it was werewolf class.”
“Don’t make it sound so ominous Aaron. I know you haven’t gotten along with most werewolves but that’s when you were a child…. Or more of a child rather.”
“Melissa!” He growled at that, because with all the shit he’s been through being 17 was the least of his worries. “Are you going to listen or going to tease?!”
She giggled for a moment before responding. “Yeah I’m listening. Sorry Aaron, I don’t get to mess with you often. I promise I’ll listen.”
He groaned. ‘Can’t believe she’s my best option for advice. My life sucks.’ “I went to werewolf class and some random guy picked a fight with me. No one else was doing anything because they’re all cowards- ‘oh shit no its cause he was alpha. Irene kill me.’ “Er I mean they just weren’t getting involved. I didn’t want to let him fight me because it’s the first day of school and I don’t want to be an easy target…. And before I could throw a punch, the same short girl I nearly ran over intervened.”
“Oh? Did she punch him or something like that? You didn’t mention her being a werewolf.” Melissa stated clearly hinting at clarification.
“That’s because she definitely isn’t a werewolf. She just threatened to tattle to a teacher. Like some kind of brave idiot.” He groaned before continuing, getting to the worst part. “So then the werewolf was being all creepy towards her and I threw him out a window for it.”
“…..” Melissa took a deep breath in and exhaled. “I see. He started the fight so you shouldn’t be in trouble for that. Not how the ideal first day would go bu-“
He interrupted her. “Actually he was the alpha…. Apparently.” There, he said it. Part of the coil in his stomach loosed at that, the same way part of his worries got alleviated from the teacher talking to him.
Noise was heard on the call and after a second she spoke. “I’m so sorry Aaron, I think my connection was cut out. I could’ve sworn you said he was the alpha?!” She laughed a little in disbelief. “But then that would make you the alpha and you would’ve led with that.”
He took a deep breath. “Melissa. I’m the alpha. I fought this Balto guy and apparently that weakling was the alpha male. So now…”
“Aaron. My sweet, kind, annoying baby brother. I beg you to tell me you’re lying. This is not funny. I don’t know how much humor they used in military school-“
“I would not lie about this! I didn’t ask for this to happen!” He sighed long and drawn out.“I wish it weren’t true but now I’m the alpha male. And you and I both know I can’t just let them beat me for the title. So I’m stuck with it…. At least till the end of the year.”
A deep breath was heard on the other line. “This is exactly the kind of situation that we wanted you to avoid. Well not exactly but still!” More noise could be heard on the other end as Melissa presumably hit a pillow. “Aaron I’m… I’m so sorry. This isn’t going to be easy. But uh- cheer up! There’s plenty of good sides to this!” Melissa sounded like she didn’t believe herself.
Still he raised an eyebrow at that. “Oh yeah? Please, enlighten me. What possible good could come out of me being alpha.”
“Don’t take that tone with me! I’m serious. You can… uh….” Shifting was heard over the phone. It took a minute where there was just silence. ‘Told her there weren’t any good sides. Contrarian.’ Melissa started talking again. “Oh yeah! You’ll have a much easier time making friends with the other pups!” He paused for a moment at her statement. “Plus you won’t be alone in being alpha. You’ll pick a girl and maybe… well like her too!” She giggled a little at that. “Trust me Aaron there’s benefits!”
“I-I didn’t think of the first one. It would be nice to have werewolf friends… but I’m presenting as a human!” Clearly this is a flaw she must have forgotten. Which was ridiculous to think about, given how she has to hide too! “Wait, did you say something about a girl!” Unwillingly, when she said that, about picking a girl Shu came to his mind. It was a good thing they weren’t FaceTiming or she would’ve seen the blush that came from that.
Melissa snorted. “Aaron, high schoolers don’t know shit about girls, let alone other species. Make up human holidays, say you have a werewolf uncle or a childhood friend who was a werewolf. I don’t know what you’ll say but it’s really easy to make excuses that they’ll believe.” Her voice softened suddenly and significantly. “Just focus on being a good alpha. I know you’ll do a great job, really. You’ve got experience that they don’t have. Not just with controlling yourself but passing as a human. I think you could really be a wonderful influence on the other pups.”
Unlike when Balto said it previously, Melissa only said the word pup’s warm and kindly. He relaxed another little bit. ‘Maybe she is good for something.’ “You may have a point. I certainly don’t know much about girls. I could make werewolf friends that way. Maybe it won’t be so bad… after dad gets over it. Maybe you aren’t so awful.” He tried to tease her back, but it came out as serious.
She suddenly hissed at that. “I do not want to think about that one. Try talking to mom first and stay out of his way for a bit… that’s what I did whenever I did something he wouldn’t approve of! Like that ex-girlfriend I had. Oh, did he react to that one poorly.” Melissa trailed off. “Anyways I know I’m the best, you don’t have to tell me twice.” Luckily she was well used to his terrible tone and- wait,
“You’ve dated before?! Wait- you like girls?” Aaron asked, shocked at this new revelation. “That makes… so much more sense.” ‘Oh my Irene I’m an idiot.’ The female pop stars, the cute girls in her television shows that she always talked about… her mainly queer friends. It all added up to the only conclusion. Idiocy.
“Yikes, you really need social interaction Aaron.” She laughed at that for a moment. “Can’t believe you never picked up on that. We lived together for- well fourteen years! Yeah I like girls. Just girls. I’ve got my fill of boys from you and dad.” She laughed again at that. “Anyways I’ll chat with you later! I’m gonna go take an afterschool nap. Good luck with everything!” And with that she hung up on him, not even letting him ask more questions.
He faceplanted into the pillows on his bed. “You have got to be kidding me! How did I not know this?” He spoke the pillows muffling his voice. He lifted his head up afterwards taking a deep breath of the air that wasn’t suffocating him. “Okay so she’s totally a lesbian and even our parents knew and I didn’t and-“ his phone beeped before he could continue his lamenting of being a terrible bother and even worse at picking up hints. He pulled it out and saw a lengthy message for Shu.
Shu
<hey FC sorry for being rude earlier. got super crazy news didn’t know how take it. stuff wild rn + 1 day of school stuff
> No need to worry, you weren’t being rude. Everything okay?
It took a moment for Shu to respond. Normally she was extremely fast but she kept typing and deleting what she was saying at least four times over. And it couldn’t have been for spelling mistakes because she didn’t really care one way or another with those.
< …. I learned about my dad
Aaron, who was smiling at his phone the moment she started messaging, froze. ‘Her dad? She told me it was just her and her mom. And she’s typing- well normal for most people but super weird for her. Shit this is probably bad.’
> Do you want to talk about it?
< you sure you wanna hear about my problems?
Aaron sighed “oh Shu, I’m always willing to hear about your problems.”
> Yeah of course, tell me what’s up. I’m sure I can help somehow.
< so I don’t remember my dad. cheated on mom apparently and uh he’s a werewolf also apparently
‘Oh fuck this is bad. She would never be prejudiced! She’s better than that right? Yeah of course! Okay uh what to say what to say….’ The next message appeared before he could say anything.
< glad i know ig but don’t know how feel. no experience with werewolves… can i get ears and tail? what r they like? do you know anything FC?
He let out a sigh of relief. ‘Of course she’s not prejudiced. It’s Shu! I can’t blame her for being confused though. If I just found out something like that…’
>Calm down Shu, it sounds like you had an interesting conversation to find out this stuff. I know a bit about werewolves but if you don’t have ears or tails you probably can’t get them. Save for like potions or something.
‘Liar. You are lying to her. You know way more than you’re letting on.’ His subconscious was getting onto him for lying to her. ‘What am I supposed to say here? Oh by the way I’m also a werewolf and this entire time I haven’t told you? And also my ears and tail don’t come out? Who in the hell would believe that?!’ He was arguing with himself again. Which was certainly not a good sign for his sanity.
<rly? good 2 know thx! what r they like if u know? Srry for the ?s
Aaron sighed, looking at his phone. What could he tell her without scaring her away? She’s in high school too so maybe he can point her in the direction of a werewolf class too? ‘Maybe she didn’t even know werewolf classes existed!’
> Well I mean werewolves are different from humans usually. Can’t have chocolate. But they can be pretty cool too. If they like you- they’ll see a lot of friends as family usually and won’t let you go.
Okay so that last part he added based on what he read and his sister. And some of what her experiences were like. Mom and dad never told him anything about werewolves but Melissa would when he begged for more information. He saw her typing and then read back what he said. ‘Oh shit I can’t believe I said that when her dad is a werewolf and-‘
<they sound rly cool. i got put in werewolf class @ school. wanted extra info tho before going back. Ur the best FC 🥹
Okay so he hadn’t made a horrible error in judgment. That was comforting. Actually…
> I got placed in werewolf class too! Crazy world right? I’m happy to help you study. I mean I’m sure you won’t need it Ms.lectures me whenever I go into battle but….
< thanks FC! if need help ill ask. Super small world! still won’t play td. wanna ask mom questions about him. tomrr tho? u me new dungeon?
> Sounds like a plan! We’ll talk tomorrow. Have a good rest of your day!
Aaron smiled at that. It made total since she needed time to process things. He needed that time too. But he was way more optimistic than he was before his conversation with Melissa. ‘I’ll try and pay attention in class just in case she needs help. It’s probably a 101 class too since she doesn’t know anything. It’ll be like we’re at the same school!’ At that thought his face felt a little bit warmer. Only a loser would get excited over that. Unfortunately, he was that loser. Well better to be excited over potentially nothing than be angry for the many things going terribly in his life. At least he had two good conversations.
Aaron booted up his video games and started playing. It wasn’t the game he played with Shu, he was more than ready to continue with that at a moment's notice- or whenever she was ready. It was another game of his, an adventuring rogue- like game. He played an assassin in this game, whereas in the other he was a warrior. There were small differences but that didn’t matter. What mattered was he was going to crush his enemies. And he did- with a couple near misses in his way as well. Aaron smiled as he beat a mid-ranking boss. He looked at the time and he decided to head downstairs.
It was time for him to grab food, after all he said he would do so after he finished talking with Melissa and that time had long since passed. He left his room and upon stepping into the hallways immediately felt the pressure. In his room he could be a teenage boy. Just another boy. The moment he stepped out he was more. And was expected to behave that way. As if he were more. The walls were practically barren, as if they hadn’t been living there for at least a decade. Sure, small hints of personality showed but those hints promptly stopped a few years after Aaron was born. All the pictures that were hanging up were of them as extremely young children. No middle school for Mellisa. No first day of elementary school for him. No proms or homecomings. According to the pictures in the house, the people living here may have been a six year old boy and a ten year old girl.
Perhaps that’s when his parents' fondest memories of them were…. Or perhaps after that they proceeded to get so busy that they stopped spending even that bit of family time around. The memories cut off abruptly, as if something had happened to those taking the photos. But of course, he knew better. Much better than to believe that. Aaron sighed as he executed the stairwell and made it firmly downstairs. This at least had been decorated more kindly. Soft swishy and comfortable arm chairs dotted around the living area. Beautiful paintings up on the walls. A nice soft rug as well. It was only decorated so nicely so that no one would question it. Just in case his parents decided they would take a business meeting there. But of course no meeting there would actually happen.
Because they couldn’t. Because of their monstrous son. That’s part of why he was sent away from home for three years of high school. He was just considered a burden to them, in their head. He sighed and went to the fridge, back where his parents shared their schedule as if it would ever meet in the middle. Unlikely. He realized two years ago that they’d never give that much of a courtesy. Aaron could keep reaching and they would never reach back. He groaned before hitting his face lightly. ‘Now is not the time Aaron. Just grab something for lunch and go.’ He took out chicken that he’d made the other day and heated it up and added additional spices. Normally it would’ve been a very peaceful meal.. but to his shock the door began to open.
His mom walked through the door and upon seeing him at the table gave her version of a welcoming smile. It was colder than most, but it still managed to warm him up. “Oh Aaron, I see you’ve gotten out of school. It is quite early for that though isn’t it?” His smile was fixed in place and he didn’t even let his surprise- or sudden welling up of anger show. ‘Of course she wouldn’t know I have a half day schedule. According to her own day, she shouldn’t be home until eight.’ She closed the door and walked closer to the dining table.
“I had a half day today. It’s done to get us adjusted to school again.” He moved over a chair next to him, just on the off chance she actually wanted to talk to him. “You’re home quite early mom.”
“Yes, well a half day is a waste. Once the children go to school they should stay there.” She tutted at this. “I did have a very full schedule today but I decided that I wanted to spend some time at home. Tell me how was that…. werewolf class?” She looked serious. More than usual which was a hard feat for his mom. She dropped the smile too. Looking him up and down as if she expected his eyes to turn bright red or ears to pop out.
He stiffed at the very obvious question. ‘Of course she knew. I’m sure they knew the whole time.’ “Oh uh.. well werewolf class was…” When he was talking to Melissa it was so easy to explain what happened. But he knew he’d only have a limited amount of time to explain to his parents- if his dad even asked.
“Aaron, please do mind the mumbling. I simply cannot hear you that way.” She reprimanded his behavior immediately.
“Yes mom.” He sighed, ignored the reprimand and just went out and said it. “The alpha decided to pick a fight with me. I didn’t know he was the alpha and so I…” Aaron took a deep breath. ‘Please handle this well please handle this well.’ “I am the male alpha now.”
Rachel took a deep breath. “I see. And it would cause even more problems if you relinquished the title. I assume you informed the teacher that you are human however?” She looked at him for confirmation, trying to see if he blew his cover.
“I did, he said it didn’t matter. He did say that he’ll help me out though? Since I am a human and have very little experience with werewolves.”
“Yes…. I see. Well I’m sure you handled the situation as best you could. Try not to get too involved. The last thing you need is attention.” For one single moment Rachel broke out of her cold behavior, it lasted only a sentence. “This could be an opportunity for you to make werewolf friends.” She sounded almost hopeful at that before it went back to normal. “Don’t get too close though Aaron. Don’t forget what you are. And be very careful when selecting a female. You don’t want to cause any problems.” She walked upstairs, still in her business attire and heels. The clicking of her shoes were both comforting and dreadful. Because she was home. And because she was home.
Aaron sighed into his now lukewarm food and started to eat. ‘For one second there she felt human. If only it lasted for longer than that. Still, it went better than I hoped.’ He was chewing and moving his food around as he lost part of his appetite. Which for a growing guy like him was uncommon. ‘Least I know she’s home.’ He finished what he could and rebagged the rest to go into the fridge. ‘I’ll just go upstairs and read or something.’
Aaron went upstairs and spent the next several hours upstairs reading a book he had picked out at the library. It wasn’t exactly the most thrilling but his mom getting home when she did… it threw him off his rhythm. He loved his mom being home, and hated it too. He would get reprimanded a lot but she was still there to do so. But on the other hand he didn’t deserve it. He never did. But he has also learned that his family never really cared whether or not something was deserved or not. Well his dad didn’t, his mom was more or less indifferent and Melissa cared. If he was younger it would’ve bothered him more. Aaron was older though, and had grown more than used to it by now.
He only went back downstairs to eat a sandwich for dinner. They didn’t have much food at the house and that wouldn’t change without his intervention. His dad was going to be out on a business trip for the next week or so, and his mom would be joining him soon. So it would just be him alone in the house… again. ‘I’ll have to remind mom to take me shopping for stuff to make. Or maybe I can just ask to borrow the car and the card and go by myself.’ Aaron didn’t know when she’d be heading out, because it wasn’t on her calendar, so it was best to just go and ask now. Before she left- potentially before school started or when he got back home from school. Which meant going to the room she and his dad shared.
Aaron stood in front of their door unsure. He never went inside unless they needed him to grab them something. When he was a kid and had a nightmare he would go in but after he was seven or eight they stopped letting him in. Then he went to Melissa. ‘I don’t tell her this but it’s a really good thing I’m not an only child. Who knows how locked up I’d be.’ He took a deep breath and knocked at the door. “Mom, can I talk to you about something?”
He could hear rustling as she presumably had gotten out of bed to answer him. She opened the door, her ears out for a flash of a second before they were gone before she opened the door. “What is it Aaron?” She asked, her words somehow sounding annoyed despite the fact her tone never changed.
He looked down on her- how long had he been tall enough to do that? She was like a head smaller than he was. The two of them were never standing at the same time near each other for long enough for him to have made the realization. But he couldn’t afford to be standing around. “We don’t have much food in the house. I know dad is out on a business trip and that you’ll be joining him.”
Rachel looked less annoyed at that. “Yes of course. You can take the card and the car to grab groceries if you would like. After all, you do have your learners permit right?”
If he was alone he would’ve broken the smile on his face and made some very in-human noises. Unfortunately, he was in front of his mother so he wouldn’t. ‘Calm down Aaron she just didn’t know! That’s a pathetic excuse and you know it.’ Great, he was arguing with himself again. “I have my driver's license mom. I’ve had it for a few months now.”
She looked surprised for a moment before looking cold again. Her expressions were so minute but he learned. He had to if he wanted to know anything. “How did you get all those hours needed? I certainly did not take you out and neither did your father.”
He bit down on the inside of his lip at that question. He was careful not to have it bleed though because his mom would be able to smell it. ‘Shows how much attention they pay us.’ “Melissa did mom. We asked your permission and you told us that we could do whatever we wanted. That’s why we were gone so much this summer.”
“I assumed she was out meeting with her little…” She trailed off before finishing. She was allowed to trail off. He wasn’t. “Well her little girlfriend. I thought you were in your room playing your games. Very well, take a car. I’ll even leave some keys behind to allow you to drive it while we’re gone.”
He froze. Even his mom knew about Melissa liking girls and was… okay with that? ‘I didn’t think they’d be homophobic but I guess that’s comforting. In some ways they are so trusting. Because who would trust their seventeen year old son with car keys? And in some ways it’s like they think we’re children, telling me to stay away from the werewolves. Like I needed to be told that again.’ “Yeah, she took me out frequently this summer. I don’t know if she was with her girlfriend or not. Anyways thank you. I’ll uh… see you after your trip probably. Have a good time.” With that he turned around and walked away, not wanting to continue the painfully awkward conversation. His mother slipped behind the door, probably just as eager as him to drop the conversation. She didn’t wish him a good day in school or a good week for however long he’d be gone for. Nope. He ducked inside his room, shut his door and crashed on his bed.
“There’s no point in this. I just hope school is better than staying home in this big ass house alone.” It was still pretty early but he just wanted everything to be over. He set his alarm and decided to go to sleep. He'll shower and workout tomorrow. He didn’t want to deal with the fact she was both so close and so far. It was easier when they weren’t home. Even if it was a bit more lonely.
Aphmau POV:
Aphmau spent most of the day after her nap watching videos about werewolves, genetics and werewolf human relations. The information she got from FC was a good jumping off point and pretty helpful, but it wasn’t enough. She needed to know more. Thankfully, all the videos said that she wouldn’t grow ears or a tail, but they did mention that she may have or develop better senses than most humans. She tried to watch and understand the pack dynamics that were mentioned but it confused her way too much. ‘At least I’ll have werewolf class to be able to help me with that part. Maybe I can ask the teacher for more guidance. He seemed pretty nice.’ While she was watching the videos she was sewing the shirt and skirt uniform to look right. She wasn’t going to raise it too high, but she had been swimming in the fabric all throughout school.
Aphmau even brought out the sewing machine that was kept in the attic to work on her clothes. All the uniforms were the same size, so they all needed to be altered. The nerve of them! ‘First we have to buy the uniforms and now I have to spend time making it look less ridiculous on me!’ She was just in a mood to complain about everything. Aphmau even forgot to get Travis’ number so she could chat with him! Something that had to be remedied for tomorrow. Still, she had enough to think about this afternoon. It was a good thing she didn’t need to go to werewolf class everyday, that it was a block schedule. “Oww!” Something sharp pricked her- of course it was one of her needles. She stood up, and put her bleeding finger in her mouth to clot it.
Aphmau walked down the attic stairs to the main floor. The tangy taste of blood wasn’t the most pleasant but she also didn’t want to bleed anywhere. She took her finger out of her mouth and called out. “Mama! Where’s the first aid?”
“Mija, did you hurt yourself somehow?” Her mom was apparently on the couch and saw her bleeding finger. She sighed before standing up and grabbing a bandage from the bathroom. “You need to be more careful- what were you even doing?”
Aphmau took the bandaid and wrapped it around her finger before she responded. “The uniform is way too baggy on me. I was hemming it.” Upon her mom’s disapproval glance she tried to look innocent. “Nothing too crazy I promise! Just an inch or two off the top and a half inch off the skirt! I was also taking it in so I wouldn’t have to wear a belt!”
Slyvanna sighed at that. “I really wish you hadn’t gotten my height, mija. Although you are so cute like this!” Unfortunately, Slyvanna was not much larger than Aphmau was, only about an inch or two larger. Slyvanna sat back down on the couch and Aphmau sat on one of the dining room chairs.
“Mama… can I ask you some questions about…” She trailed off. She knew that she asked a lot when she was little about him. But her mom never answered and she didn’t know anything about him. Her mom bringing him up was super unexpected. Aphmau hadn’t even thought of him in several years, not even as a passing thought.
Her mom seemed to be contemplating the question but eventually she nodded. “I won’t say everything… talking about him brings up bad memories. But yes, you can ask me some questions. I can’t promise I’ll answer but I’ll try.”
Finally she was given approval. The most important question came to mind first. Even if that was all her mom would answer, that’s what she wanted to know. “Did he love me? You said that he left. Did he ever try and see me?” There, she asked. Even just speaking the question out loud made her feel better. For so many years she wanted to know that. Nothing else really mattered.
Pain shot through her mom’s face at that question. She looked like she was holding back tears. “I-I” She couldn’t speak for a moment. She turned away from Aphmau for a few moments before looking back at her. “He loved you so much baby. He wanted to take you with him, and I refused.” At Aphmau’s confused face she elaborated. “He was doing very shady things. I don’t know what it was… but it can’t have been legal or safe. That was one of the many things we’d argue about. He sent a phone number and email to give to you a few years ago. We were never married or battled legally for you. He just… accepted it and left to his other family.” She wiped away the tears that were forming. “I haven’t gotten anything from him before that. I don’t know why he didn’t fight me harder on having you. But I’m so thankful he didn’t.”
She nodded just taking in the information. ‘He loved me. He just didn’t love me or mom enough.’ Normally that would hurt someone, but she wasn’t surprised at all. After all, if he truly loved her he’d give her birthday cards or presents or something. But she had never been given anything like that. ‘Maybe he just loved me when I was little.’ That did sting a little, the idea that one could lose love over an inevitability but it didn’t hold much weight over her. Instead she walked over to her mom and gave her a giant hug. “Thank you for raising me.” Even though the two had their arguments and disagreements, she was the best mother Aphmau could’ve asked for.
Slyvanna sniffled for a moment before hugging her daughter back. “You are my greatest gift Aphmau. Please never forget that.” She whispered into the top of her head while tucking in a piece of hair that had fallen. The two embraced for a while, cuddling together on the couch before Slyvanna eventually pulled back. “Let’s order in tonight okay? Neither of us are going to be up for cooking tonight. We can even do a movie, does that sound good?”
Her eyes were a little watery, but when Aphmau went backwards to see her mom she gave a small smile. “That sounds perfect mama.” That’s exactly what the two of them did, cuddling and watching a terrible movie together. She was so exhausted from the day that Aphmau actually fell asleep on the couch with her mom, food only half eaten.