Chapter 28: Until We See Each Other Again

When the sun rose, my heart dropped. The sight of the sun over the horizon meant that my firstborn son would be moving out. The sight of the sun meant my family would be broken apart. The sight of the sun made my greatest horror come to life.

I hadn't even closed my eyes, barely even to blink, the entire night. I was dreading seeing the sun come up, and I didn't want to miss a moment with Royce before he left. I had either stared out of the cave to make sure the sun was still invisible or staring at my sleeping child who was no longer a child.

My dread was paused when I heard a soft voice across from the fire. "Mom, the sun is up. We should probably get started looking for a place to dig so we have enough time to dig before the rain comes again." Royce sounded like he was dreading leaving as well, but I could sense a hint of anticipation hidden beneath.

"I know, baby. Let's get dressed and we can start looking for a spot while we wait for the others to wake up. How does that sound?"

"That sounds great, Mom." With that, we both got up, making sure not to wake the three others that were sleeping just steps away from us. We put on our outfits that were already torn or stained to that we don't ruin any nice ones, and head out of the cave. We could see the sun, but the clouds were starting to crawl in from the west, so I knew rain was going to be coming later on today. Thankfully, we would have enough time to dig far enough in for him to stay there by the time the rain started.

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After about twenty minutes, we found a place for his cave to be dug. It had been perfect because it was only a mere fifty yards from my cave, but it was also parallel to a freshwater creek where he could easily get water and fish when he needed to. I was proud that my son was growing up, but from barely talking to a full-grown man in nearly a year, that was crazy talk. How could any mother be fine with their son moving out in such a short period of time? I couldn't understand this world in many ways.

Once we found the place for his cave, the others had woken up, including my mother and Matty, and they all came to help us dig. In this world, true forms had claws strong enough to easily dig through stone as if it were soft dirt.

As we were digging, Matty stayed outside to play with Pauline since he wasn't a true form yet and he wouldn't have been of much help to us as a human when it came to digging. Talking about Royce as a baby and how he was before we came to this world was my favorite part of the day. Yeah, I loved this world and the life I have created for myself here, but my life was so different there. I had less pressure – which was fucking amazing – and Royce wasn't forced to grow up so fast. To be honest, my life kind of fucking sucked in my old world though, apart from a few good things, and I honestly didn't fit in there at all like I do here. Here, my life has been made to be pressurizing, but I absolutely loved it here, aside from the accelerated growing.

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"Well Son, we finished your entryway so we should probably start bringing over you clothes and bed and start making your firepit. Doc and I will go to our cave to get your things and you and your mom can make the firepit, okay?" Alfie said as he patted Royce's upper back. Royce nodded his head and grabbed the coals and logs that we had brought over already. He sat down about ten feet from the back of the cave entrance that we had dug and started to organize his logs and coals to be able to hold a flame the longest. I sat next to him and helped when he needed me to.

We had mostly sat in silence, but I could tell that he was trying to say something that was weighing on him heavily. "Royce, baby, what's wrong?" he nearly jumped when I broke the silence.

"Nothing's wrong, Mom. Just thinking."

"Thinking about what? You know you can tell me anything."

"Mom… I know that you want to help me, and I really appreciate everything that you have done for me, I really do. I just… I think I should finish the rest of the cave by myself." I could feel my heart be metaphorically ripped from my chest as I heard the words leave his mouth. I felt as if the life had been ripped from me and I was floating through space with no place to go. "It's just that I know my true mate is not going to be mature for a while, and I want to be able to tell her that I perfected the cave by myself just for her. I know she is out there, and I want to be able to impress her with that. Is it okay if when Alfie and Doc get back that you guys go back to your cave? The rain is going to start soon anyways, and I wouldn't want you guys to get stuck here if it gets really bad again…"

"Of course, baby. You know I want to give you everything you could ever want or need, but I know this is something you need. You're going to have the most perfect cave for when she is mature, and I know she is going to love it." I gave him a kiss on the cheek as I heard Alfie and Doc walk into the cave. Royce stands up and holds his hand out to help me up. The moment my feet are planted on the ground when I stand, Royce wraps his arms around me tight enough to nearly crack me in half. "I love you. You know, if you need me, please come to me."

"I know Mom, I love you too. I'll still make sure to come visit you plenty when the rain stops." He kissed me on my check and released me from his grasp.

Walking out of the cave was probably one of the hardest things I had ever done. Tears were streaming down my face, and sorrow surrounded me like a bubble around me. I was glad that my mother and Matty had offered to watch Pauline for the night so that I could grieve without having to worry her.

About halfway to our cave, the weather started to match the emotions inside me. The rain started pouring down on us and the skies looked about as grey as my heart felt. The rain was cold on my skin, feeling similar to the loneliness that I was experiencing. Doc started carrying me bridal style after a few moments when my legs wanted to give out the further that I walked from Royce's cave.

The tears and rain mixture in my eyes blurred my vision to the point where I didn't even know where I was until I was laid in my bed with a warm body spooning me. I could tell that it was Doc since he hadn't lost his touch since he had picked me up on our way back. He always knew what I wanted or needed when I was in a good or bad mood. I knew he could feel my emotions, but it baffled me how he always knew what to do to ease my pain, no matter how slight it was. I bawled my eyes out while Doc was holding me, and Alfie went to the dark part of the cave to fetch us some meat to cook.

"Baby, I'm sorry… I love you so much, and I hate to feel you this unhappy. Just don't worry about him too much, okay? He's a strong male, and he will be safe since he is so close to our cave. And, once the summer starts, we will be able to see him every day."

"I love you too. I am not really worried, since I know he is strong enough to fight against almost any other male in this town besides you and Alfie, but I can't help but wish he didn't have to grow up so fast if we were only in our world."

"I know it's hard, but as a true form male, so much is expected from you, and that is why we have to grow up so fast. We are expected to have trained hard enough to fight a battle at any point, protect our females once we have them, create a perfect shelter for our females, and learn to live independently if we ever need to. Your son is ahead of many males his age, and you should be proud of what he has become in such a short amount of time."

"I am extremely proud of him, but I just wish I would have been able to spend more time with him. I know I am being selfish and only thinking of myself right now, but I just wish I had more time."

"Well, you have the rest of your lifetime to be with him, even if he isn't living in this cave. He will always be your son, and he will always be here with you."

Just after Doc finished, I saw Alfie put meat over the fire and come over to cuddle with me as well while we were waiting for it to finish cooking. "It's okay, Alyssa. I know I may not always say the right things or do the things you need me to like Doc, but I am still here for you and I love you more than anything else in this world. You are and will forever be my true mate, and I will always do whatever I need to do to make you feel better."

"Can we just cuddle, all of us? I think right now I just need to be between my two loves and feel those soft tails covering me."

"Of course." They both said softly as they shifted their tails out and covered me with the silky warmth. This was exactly what I needed.