FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

IMPORTANT NOTE: Before starting please read the story in order, starting here: Not Dead Yet: I. Atomic Heat

Let me begin by saying I am so sorry this has taken so long. Five freaking months? Its taken five months for me to remember to edit these pages and finally post them. Unacceptable really considering this is my favorite chapter. I have let far too much time pass by without posting this. Seriously, though if you want more of this you should harass me.

A special thanks goes out to KJwulf for his 'first impressions' read which has already influenced the later chapters.

~Stay Crispy

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Not Dead yet

III. Intermolecular Forces

"What do you mean she has a son?" His sister sounded equally surprised and infuriated.

"I don't know much sis. Alyce just told me like a few minutes before she left." The hyena replied.

"Wait, you did this to her didn't you? That night on your birthday dinner I bet!" Kasmer held the phone a few feet from his ear as his sister shouted at him.

"I-I don't know..." He answered honestly. "I'm not sure what happened that night, but she didn't look pregnant or anything since then."

"What do you mean you don't know? Did you even ask her?" He tried turning down the volume on his phone, but it didn't help much.

"I- uh well... no. She just left after she said that-"

"Get your sick ass out of bed and go see her!" Erika definitely had the definition of tough love nailed.

"Alright alright. Love you sis."

"Be safe." She grumbled.

"Always am."

"Hmmpf." She hung up on him.

He slipped his phone into his pocket and sighed. His sister was right of course. Kasmer shouldn't have just let her leave like that, but instead he should have tried to talk to her. He got dressed and started driving to Alyce's place.

Fifteen long minutes later he pulled up into her driveway. The nerves in Kasmer's stomach made him feel as though he had spent too much time near a nuclear reactor. With a soft laugh, he realized he had. He took his walking cane along with him as he approached her door. He didn't need it at the moment, but sometimes he would still get dizzy and nearly fall over. He rapped his knuckles on the door three times and waited.

"Coming!" An unfamiliar yet distinctly male voice answered.

Kasmer's gut tightened. He still wasn't sure if she was cheating on him or not, but he would probably let his cancer take him if she was. He toyed with the thought of sprinting back to his car and taking off, but his feet were firmly planted in the ground. Maybe whoever was inside was baby's father. The door opened and splintered his thoughts.

"Hello sir?" A small male pup around the age of seven answered the door holding a toy plane in one paw. Kasmer was dumbfounded, but the resemblance was uncanny. The jackal pup looked exactly like his jackal mother. Somehow, he even seemed to smell faintly of cinnamon.

"I-is your m-mother home?" Kasmer leaned heavily on his cane. He suddenly felt like he had to heave.

"Momma!" The pup called back, "There's a sick hyena at the door!" With that Kasmer hurled his lunch into Alyce's lawn.

"Felix G. Henderson what did I tell you about answering the door to- to..." Alyce was speaking in a motherly tone Kasmer had never heard before. First she was predator, then she was comforting, now she was a mother. He reasoned by the pup's age she must have been a mother for quite some time already. She wasn't speaking now though, but instead had stopped dead in her tracks as she saw Kasmer wipe his muzzle.

"H-hi..." Kasmer spoke all he could muster.

"Hey..." She broke her stupor, "Felix be a good pup and play in the backyard. I have to talk to my friend." The pup cheerfully ran off into the house with a toy plane zooming in his paw.

"He..." Kasmer choked, "Looks just like you. He'll break a lot of hearts when he gets older."

"Kasmer, sweetie... Com'on in. Here take a seat on the sofa." She helped him sit down. He felt more weak than usual.

"Is this our second date now?" He laughed weakly as he slumped his tired form against her, "I- I should have asked you about him before you left instead of getting angry."

"Its okay... I really should have told you sooner. Its just," He could see tears welling in her eyes as she continued, "Its hard being a single mom some times. Most guys just leave as soon as they find out."

Suddenly, Kasmer understood. All those times she said she was leaving early or they couldn't move in suddenly clicked. She was afraid. Afraid of losing him. He felt a surge of love well in his chest and flow from his tear ducts. Suddenly a funny thought occurred to him and he couldn't help but laugh.

"My sister thinks you're pregnant." Alyce's jaw dropped when he continued, "And I'm the father. Hell, I thought you were cheating on me." Alyce's expression changed to a sweet smile.

"Sweetie, we aren't even dating. You never even asked me out remember? And the father thing. You kept your pants on during your birthday."

"Could I now?"

"Take your pants off?" She gave him a sour look like he had pushed the wrong button.

"No, no not that. Could I ask you out?" He laughed as he spoke, "Alyce- Henderson? Would you go to the prom with me?"

"You're such a dork sometimes," She wrapped her arms affectionately around his neck. "I might have to cancel all my other dates, but I think I can fit you in."

"Damn, I'll have to go find a tux now... and a prom." Their lips met before he could embarrass himself any more.

"So Felix doesn't bother you?"

"Your son? No, he seems like a good kid. I don't really even know him though." Kasmer was suddenly feeling a lot more healthy now. He couldn't shake the feeling that Alyce had that effect on him.

"You'll love him I'm sure. He wants to be a nuclear engineer like his mommy."

"I'll try and persuade him otherwise." He paused and thought for a moment. He had never even seen him before with all the years they spent as coworkers, "Where was he when I wasn't around? I've been here before and I never saw any sign of him"

"He likes to spend the night at his grandparent's pretty often."

"I take it his father isn't around?"

"He passed away in a car accident before his first birthday." Tears welled up in her eyes again.

"I lost my father when I was young also," He held her closely trying to comfort her, " I'm so sorry."

"T-thank you..." She obviously hadn't expected Kasmer seem so concerned.

They were silent for almost half an hour as they listened to each others' breathing. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as held each other. Eventually, little Felix ran in and startled them. They quickly broke their embrace like nothing happened.

"Momma, is the sick hyena going to stay for dinner and movie night?" Felix spoke excitedly.

"I'm not sure, Kasmer?" She looked up at him.

"Only if the F-117 gets to stay," Replied Kasmer, correctly naming the model of plane the pup was playing with.

The kid got a real kick out of that. After Alyce got up to make them dinner, the young jackal bombarded him with questions about everything from how fast planes go to why they called it a Nighthawk or how he could see a stealth plane. Kasmer did his best to entertain the pup while his mother was busy.

He found him self growing easily attached to inquisitive kid. The pup must have inherited his mother's intelligence and looks. When they had nearly exhausted their supply of plane related questions, Alyce reappeared with three steaming plates.

"We always eat at the table, but on movie day momma lets us eat it on the couch," Felix quickly informed him before adding, "Momma, can the sick hyena stay after the movie so I can show him my other planes?"

"If that's okay with him, what do you say Mr. Sick Hyena?" She gave him a grin as she passed around the plates and forks.

"Sure, I could talk about planes all day." The sick hyena replied. Alyce used her womanly rear to make a spot for herself right in between the two males.

"Look at this, my two favorite boys sitting on both sides of me." She gave her son a kiss on the forehead.

"Mooooom!" He complained.

Alyce flicked the TV on and they watched some science fiction movie about space cowboys or something. Kasmer wasn't really paying much attention to the movie as he was to massaging Alyce's paw. Felix had fallen asleep about half and hour before the movie ended and Alyce carried her son to bed.

When she returned she found Kasmer sprawled out asleep on the couch. She turned off the TV and gently shook him to wake him.

"Hey Kasmer. You too tired to drive?"

"Mhmmm..." Kasmer groaned.

"Want to spend the night here?"

"Sure..." Kasmer barely mumbled.

"You could sleep in my bed."

"I'm awake." Kasmer's eyes snapped open.

"Let's go," She whispered as she snuck him up the stairs and into her room.

The next morning Kasmer woke up groggy. The hyena took a few squinted looks around the room and realized that he wasn't in his bed. His chest felt sore for some odd reason and he looked down to view the shredded remains of his shirt. After a moment his head cleared up, he had spent the night in Alyce's house. In her bed, he corrected himself. In fact, she still lay sleeping next to him wearing... nothing. A thought struck him and he lifted his blanket to look at himself. He was still wearing his belt and pants.

"Damnit."

He quietly slipped out of bed to make his daily call to his sister. It was Saturday and she didn't have work today so he would usually call her later, but today seemed like a special occasion. Besides he had some explaining to do. He pulled out his phone when a small voice spoke up behind him.

"Is momma up yet?" Felix's voice surprised Kasmer so much that he jumped and nearly dropped his phone.

"Uh- n-no not yet." Came Kasmer's nervous voice. He wasn't so sure how much the pup knew about their relationship. Hell, Kasmer wasn't sure how much he know about his relationship with Alyce.

"What happened to your shirt?" The pup raised a suspicious eyebrow at him.

"I uh- well actually your mom-" Kasmer froze as he stopped himself, "Your mom saved me from uh- an alien. An alien called... Chris." He glanced at a nearby book cover for an author's name.

"The aliens lost almost fifty years ago," Felix simply replied.

Before Kasmer had a chance to reply, the pup and his plane flew out of the room. Kasmer stood there with his muzzle gaping. The kid was definitely smarter than he expected. He remembered his phone and dialed his Erika's number.

"Yeah good morning sis. You aren't going to believe this." He began.

Twenty minutes later he said his goodbyes and hung up his phone. He slipped it into his pocket when suddenly he heard a familiar noise behind him.

"Going somewhere?" Came a predatory voice that startled him.

"Oh its just you- aaaaack!" Alyce cut him off as she tackled him anyway.

She sat on his chest and held both his paws against the ground beside him. Her morning hair was strewn in her face, but it only made her look more feral.

"So you were talking to Felix about aliens?" She gave him a rough lick on the snout.

"I uh-" He was starting to sweat.

"I lost a distant relative you know? No one I knew personally. Great uncle from Germany." She was clearly being honest, but not too serious about the issue.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring it up."

"Its not a big deal, I just-"

"Momma what are you doing to the sick hyena?" A little voice spoke up behind them.

"Oh Felix I- I uh.." For once Alyce was at a loss for words, "We were... uh wrestling..."

"Wrestling? Yeah whatever," The pup wasn't convinced.

"Well we were actually wr-" Alyce was cut off by her son.

"Sure momma." Felix rolled his eyes, "When's breakfast?"

"Well Kasmer here was just about to help me make some. Weren't you?" She gave the hyena a sweet look.

"Yeah? Oh. Yeah! I was uh- going to help with uh... Pancakes?" Kasmer did his best to smile despite being in the awkward position of being pinned by the pup's mother, who thankfully had found some clothes. The clothes however, was only his jacket from last night.

"Wooo pancakes!" Felix cheered as he flew out of the room as fast as he had appeared.

"Thanks sweetie," She got off him and helped him up, "Lets not burn it this time."

"Sure thing, but first there is something I need to tell you," Kasmer hesitated, "I thought I was going to tell you yesterday before I knew about Felix, but I really wasn't sure until just now."

"What is it?" She held her arms around his neck.

"I love you."

She didn't answer immediately. Instead she nuzzled his chest and held him tighter. He thought she was about to start crying when she whispered back.

"I love you to." She spoke before meeting his lips with hers. He never held anyone so tightly before.

They made their breakfast together and swapped plans for the weekend. They decided to spend the weekend all together at the mall and maybe later stay at home for a while. The day was peaceful together and Felix starting calling Kasmer by his actual name. They got home late and ate a small dinner.

"Did you want to spend the night again Kasmer?" Alyce asked him while Felix was hopping back and forth in excitement.

"Sure, I can stay a little while longer." Kasmer no longer needed to go to work since he was unofficially retired.

In fact, with all his spare time he actually spent more than a little longer at Alyce's. He started out seeing them on the weekends. Then eventually he was taking Felix to and from school so his mom had it easier. Before he knew it, he was at her place more than his own. Eventually Alyce just asked him if he just wanted to move in with her, which he promptly replied by sweeping her off her feet and peppering her with kisses.

Even after he moved, he kept up his normal routine of calling his sister every day, and sometimes he would find out Alyce had called Erika the day before. It seemed the girls had really hit it off. Meanwhile, he was getting along just great with Felix. The pup seemed to have a never ending stream of questions which he did his best to answer. However, Kasmer felt a suspicion that Felix was hiding a real important question that he could never seem to ask. He started to treat him like he imagined he might treat his own son one day, but something felt off.

With the change of scenery, Kasmer felt a huge lift to his health. He would still get his regular check ups and the doctors were amazed by his progress. They said he should have been wiped out by his radiation poisoning months ago. He felt like he had all the time in the world again. Whenever they asked for his secret, he would just point at the door where his girlfriend and her son were waiting down the hall.

"And then one of the doctors exclaimed that I could out live the doctors themselves. I-" Kasmer was walking without a cane. He was leading Alyce and Felix to the car when he stopped mid-sentence.

"That's great news sweetie, I'm so happy." She squeezed his paw tighter. Her other paw was leading her now eight-year-old son along with them. "You were saying?"

"I just realized something," He paused. "You know that I have been living with you both for almost a year now?"

"Wow... I didn't even think about it." She gave him a sweet kiss. They had barely started kissing in front of her son about a week ago, but they were sure to be careful around him.

"Oh it looks like Felix's shoe is untied."Kasmer gave the young jackal a wink and the pup nodded back.

"Oh yes. It looks like its untied. Kasmer can you help me?" Felix spoke scriptedly.

"What are you boys up to?" Alyce's brow furrowed as she watched Kasmer get to his knees to help her son. "He has been tying his shoes for a few years now." She caught a glance of a small black box being passed from Felix to Kasmer.

"Alyce Henderson, will you marry me?" Kasmer opened the box where diamond ring lay inside. Felix was grinning from ear to ear.

"W-what? Y-yes! Yes!" She exclaimed nearly crying. Kasmer didn't even have enough time to get up before his fiancee tackled him to the ground.

"I love you."

"I love you to."

"Thanks big man," Kasmer gave Felix a high five.

They weren't fiancees for very long though, as they were married in a week. The wedding was simple ceremony. They had invited all their family and power plant friends over for a reception at their place. Kasmer was happy to find out that Stead was still alive also despite both of them being exposed to unbelievable amounts radiation. He tried to ask Stead about it at the reception but the wolf just waved him off.

"I don't really know man, we just got lucky." His fellow volunteer shrugged his shoulders.

"I still think about Engles sometimes. I think he may have grabbed one of the older suits. Maybe we were just lucky." He adjusted his tux uncomfortably as he remembered the power plant accident.

"His wife Beryln has been taking it hard. She spends all her time with Petir now." The wolf sipped his wine, "You know Engles used to fly helicopters during the war? I bet he's a hero in more way than one."

"Yeah, I bet," The hyena tried to change to a cheerier subject. "So how old's your son now?"

"Meinol? He's just turned twenty. Staying the summer at college with his girlfriend," The older wolf poured them another glass of wine. "Looks like my wife is calling my over. You better get back to yours and congratulations again! Everyone at the power plant knew you two would end up together."

"Thanks stay healthy!"

He returned to his seat besides his new wife. Kasmer planted a kiss on Alyce's paw before he spoke.

"Did I tell you, that you look stunning in that white wedding dress? The contrast would drive an art student wild."

"Yes dear, about ten times now," Alyce laughed at his compliment anyway. She seemed a bit preoccupied at the moment.

"Is something the matter dear?"

"No, no not really. Just looking for Felix. He was with my mom a second ago."

"Here I am!" The pup's excited voice popped up behind them and nearly caused Kasmer to spill his wine in surprise.

"Whoa whoa, nearly gave me a heart attack," Kasmer laughed as he shakily put his glass down.

"Kasmer, I wanna ask you something." The pup was holding his warplane toy close in an endearingly as he looked at the floor.

"Yes, the Stealth Fighter is not actually a fighter, but a bomber. The government renamed that to fool the Soviets." Kasmer laughed as he tried read the pup's mind.

"No, its not that." The pup looked up at him, "Can I call you daddy now?"

Kasmer was not expecting that. Alyce started crying and before he knew it, his own eyes welled up. He knelt down to the pup's level and gave him a hug.

"Y-yes, my son. You can call me daddy."

"I love you daddy."

"I love you to."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Thank you kind reader for visiting and I hope you enjoyed the story. If you did or didn't, I appreciate any and all feedback, but I treasure comments especially. If you like my style or just want to read something else by me feel free to check out Cripsen's Overflow where I post all my one-off stories. Again feel free to harass me through PMs or whatever to motivate me to work the next chapter.

~Stay Crispy