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It was raining when Puffy found herself with a son. It was raining again when she found herself standing in the kitchen with her little boy racing around her feet. Dream was nearly 9 now and he still had yet to hit a growth spurt. He was tiny. Even for his age. But Puffy maintained that he was going to grow to be taller than her one day. She just knew it. She could tell.
He was too big of a person to be trapped in a small body for the rest of his life. She would go out to the villages around their seaside shack and trade the things she caught. Today she’d even promised to take him out into the water. To let him see that place she spent most of her time before she found herself settling down with a little boy by her side.
“Mama, are we gonna see sea dragons?”
“There are no sea dragons, Dreamie.”
She could see the pout on his face even though he stayed tucked firmly behind her. He read stories most of the time when she was gone. Read books that she picked up for him but he also went out and took care of the gardens. He had a wooden sword that she’d helped him carve that he used to practice fighting against the trees. She’d caught him from time to time pretending that the trees were monsters that he had to fend away from the house and the shore.
When she would come home she’d find Dream standing atop a step stool that she’d made him in the kitchen. He’d be setting up the food they had and trying to set up everything for dinner for the two of them. He was too short to fully reach the counters but he was an agile child and he managed to climb to get what he couldn’t get on a normal basis.
As it was it was raining outside and Puffy was trying her best to delay so that they would have a smooth time trying to sail. The last thing she wanted to do today was break her baby boy’s heart by telling him he couldn’t go out on the ship after she’d finally given him the all clear.
“How much longer Mama?”
Breakfast was cooking slowly above the redstone counter top. Eggs and strips of bacon. She had milk already in glasses for them but Dream was practically bouncing with energy and he needed something to do.
“Why don’t you go out and get us some more milk?”
“But we have milk.”
Dream climbed onto his stool to look over the counter. Staring directly at the glasses of milk with bright green eyes that rivaled a grass meadow on a sun filled day. As soon as he confirmed his words he turned back to his mother and watched her. A sad look closing over his face.
“Do you not want me to come with you? Did I do something?”
The small note of his voice made her heart break. Dream was too pure for this world. Too good for anyone to deserve. He was like a living ball of sunlight when the rest of the world was consumed by the void. He was good. He was pure. He was hope.
As soon as she heard him Puffy was kneeling down so Dream was standing above her. Her hair lifting oh so slightly in the ponytail she had it in as she cooked.
“No,” She cupped her hands over his cheeks and held his face so he continued to look at her. “No, Duckling. You could never do anything. It’s just raining. And I’m not sure how long the storm will last and I want you to be safe.”
His eye brows pinched over his eyes like clouds covering the sun.
“But you go sail all the time in the rain. I want to help you. I’ve been practicing. I can keep you safe!”
He sounded so sure of himself. So proud of his abilities that he could protect her. Despite the fact that she was a well seasoned sea captain while he was nothing but a child trying to impress his mom who had lifted nothing heavier than wood. But he was so determined. Enough so that she believed wholeheartedly that he would.
She sighed. Brushing the hair of his bangs away from his face as she stood back up and kissed him lightly on the head.
“Alright. But you have to stay close to me, okay? I don’t want you going overboard out there.”
He nodded happily and Puffy knew in her heart that she had made the right choice. They finished cooking and ate their breakfast the whole way through Dream happily talking about what they were going to see when they went out to the water. He was talking about the dolphins that they could swim with. The drowned that he’d read about. The tridents that allowed people to fly through the skies. He was in love with all of it.
Tales of the sea that she’d told him as bedtime stories while he was tucked away in his blankets. Of massive caves and ruins and shipwrecks. Ravines and magma blocks that allowed people to breathe underwater. Of enchanted helmets that let people stay under longer and boots that let them swim faster. Dream talked about all of it.
The whole way through putting on clothes that they knew would be soaked. The whole walk down to the shore and out to the dock. The whole way to the ship and up onto the deck. The crew of the Shepherd greeted all of them with a smile. They were all well aware of their Captain’s son. They knew of the antics they had at home. They knew how home sick she got for him when they had to go out on voyages with her there. She wasn’t ready to give up on her position yet and she wasn’t ready to leave the crew but that didn’t mean she enjoyed leaving her little boy behind.
Dream getting to come on the ship meant they may begin sailing again. Little hands would be good. And ship cats were common enough that the youngest crew member would be well kept in company since they all knew cats were his favorite animal to find in the villages.
He happily bounced where he stood next to Puffy while the crew mates came up to look for her. She could tell Dream wanted to go around exploring. The way he was bending around her legs to get a look at things. But through it all he never let go of her hand. She never let go and he never tried to pull away. He was staying close. Just like she’d told him. Both of them were getting drenched standing on the deck like this. It was nothing she wasn’t used to and Dream looked completely fine with it though it didn’t stop her from feeling guilty about having him stuck there while she did business. She could see her first mate watching Dream with a fond smile. Niki had always loved the stories she’d tell about Dream. And she’d even met the boy a few times when the crew would come out to land. Squeezing Dream’s hand slightly to get his attention she kneeled down to his level again.
“I have to take care of some things, okay? But Niki is going to take you on a tour of the ship.”
He beamed up at her and nodded his head. Turning over towards Niki while her first mate came forward and took Dream’s hand to lead him away. Puffy went into her quarters at the back of the ship and watched out the windows towards the deck while she talked with the other members of her crew. She watched Dream be led around the deck and watched him smile and laugh as he explored. She watched Niki lift him to let him see over the edge down into the water. Watched him excitedly point out things that he saw. She felt herself smiling along with the energy that he radiated. The joy that he exuded.
By the time the sun was setting and it was time to take Dream back home Puffy felt utterly exhausted. Dream on the other hand was led back to her cabin and excitedly began to prattle on about everything that Niki had shown him. She laughed even when he climbed into her lap and tried to suffocate her in a hug.
“We were safe.”
She hummed. Running her hand over the back of his soaked head. Carding the knots out of his hair while her other arm circled around his body.
“I’m glad. I’m happy you had fun, Duckling.”
“One day I’m going to help you run the ship. I’ll come with you and we can go out sailing all the time and-”
“One day, Dreamie. But not today. Today you still need to sleep and grow and live. And then we’ll go out here together. We’ll keep each other safe.”
She rested her chin over his head and held him just a little tighter.
“Right now you’re still my baby Duckling. I want to hold you while I still can.”
“I’ll always be your Duckling, Mama.”
If she had the energy to cry with joy she might have.
“You will. You will. I love you Dreamie. Never forget that.”
“I won’t. I love you too.”