Flonne's Gift
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Warning! This story may contain material that is
unsuitable for children under the age of 18. If you
aren't of legal age, you should leave now, even
though you probably won't.
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Foreword: This is a direct sequel to my first story, "Painting the Perfect Lover". If you have not read it already, I highly suggest doing so before you read this one, as you will get to know the characters a lot better. Also, this story will contain spoilers from the first, so it won't be as good if you read them out of order. All you have to do is use the [more from this author] link at the top, and it will be easy to find.
Flonne's Gift
By: WolfwithaDS
"Terry, do I ever tell you you're beautiful?" I asked as grabbed my things as I always do before heading to work.
"Only about two or three hundred times a day." We shared a small kiss. "Have a great day at work, Clay!"
"It's never a great day when I have to spend time away from you. Bye sweetie!" I shut the door behind me and drove off in my car.
It had been 2 years since Terry and I first became mates. He used to be incredibly shy and hide the fact that he was half dragon, trying to pass himself off as a full-fledged fox. It was I who changed all that, a gray wolf who didn't really have much purpose other than going to college. We ended up falling in love and living together. Since then, I graduated and got a job at an accounting firm, and quite a good one at that. The salary is very nice, more than enough to support the two of us as Terry finished his last semester of college, pursuing a career as an artist. I had offered to buy Terry a car of his own, but he refused, saying he didn't need it because he could usually fly there faster than I could get there by car anyway. To tell you the truth, I love watching Terry fly around and even more so when he would take me with him.
Nothing interesting ever happens at work. I swear, somehow I get stuff done. But most of the time I find myself daydreaming, sitting alone at my desk. Today was another one of those days. I call the people I need to contact, get my calculations done, make sure my papers are in order and are correctly filed, and so on. Then I just kinda zone out, wondering what Terry's doing or allowing my mind to drift back to some moment we had earlier. I did have a picture of him sitting on my desk, one where I caught him blushing when he realized I had the camera. It's a great shot, and one that I treasure as much as the paycheck I get at the end of each month. Of course, it's not my only copy, or else I'd never leave it around where it could get damaged.
The clock finally catches my attention. I'm just glad that it has no concept of jealousy, or it would have long since run away by now. Yay, it's time to go home.
As I open the door, I'm greeted by a most wondrous scent that didn't take me long to decipher. Even before I saw him, I knew that Terry was cooking steaks on the stove. I don't know how he does them, but they always come out so good! The only secret that Terry ever keeps from me is a collection of choice recipes. I didn't care, I'd probably find some way to mess them up if I attempted any of them. Oh, but Terry could cook like you wouldn't believe. I never quite figured out where he acquired such a talent, but I was in no mood to argue.
"Hey, I thought it was my turn to make dinner. Not that I'm complaining or anything, but what's the occasion?"
Terry appeared from the kitchen. "I got an A on one of my finals, so I thought I'd share some of my happiness with you!"
Oh yeah, it was getting about that time. Terry was going to have enough credits to graduate this semester. I had almost forgotten about this. Terry didn't even give me time to say anything before he pulled me into the kitchen with him.
He had set the table beautifully, as if we were at some fine dining restaurant. "It's almost ready," he said, "Come, sit down."
I took a seat at the table. My hands were shaking in anticipation. Ooh, I loved when he treated me like this. It always reminded me of how much we cared for each other. Oh, look! He even put a pair of candles out, which would be great, seeing as how the sun was quickly setting outside. I smiled. Surely this had something to do with more than just a good grade on a final. It didn't matter right now, I was hungry and Terry was more than willing to feed me in a way that made me feel like royalty.
"Oh Terry!" I called to him in a singsong voice, "You didn't light the candles yet!" I picked them both up and held them out to him. He came over, smiling, and gazed deeply into my eyes. Without breaking visual contact, he blew once on each candle, lighting them both. I felt myself melt into the chair, not from physical heat, but from the sheer joy and pleasure that came from Terry's alluring presentation. I set the candles down on the table while I still had some control over my arms and hands, only to find Terry bend over me and hold me, folding his wings back so they wouldn't catch fire. We held each other, locked in a kiss, until a beeping rudely cut the moment short.
Terry ducked out of my arms, cleverly escaping back to the stove. He didn't have to say anything, I knew he didn't want to burn his carefully prepared creations. He put on some finishing touches and brought the food over, setting it between the two of us as he took his seat across the table from me. "Hope you enjoy it," he said excitedly.
"You know I always do." The sun had now completely set, leaving us with only the light from the candles to illuminate the room. I had no choice but to dig in.
As usual, Terry's cooking was heavenly. Everything was just perfect. As I began to feel myself becoming full and unable to continue eating, I then realized I had managed to get barbecue sauce all over my face. I reached for a napkin.
"Here, let me help you with that." Terry grabbed my hand before I could reach the napkin to my face. He proceeded to wrench the napkin out of my fist as he got up out of his seat and came ever so close to me. Dropping the napkin on the floor, Terry started to lick the sauce off my muzzle with his tongue, sending warmth and pleasure to flow throughout my body. I wasn't so sure he was cleaning me as much as making love to me. My intuition proved to be true as the licks slowly evolved into kisses that could have frozen time itself.
"Mmmm...as much as I love your cooking, you taste even better, Terry."
"I know. Hope you saved room for dessert."
"Really? And what might that be?"
Terry blew out the candles. As my eyes adjusted to the sudden lack of light, I noticed that he had removed his clothes. "I think you know what I mean, Clay."
I did know. I hurried to remove my own clothing and chase him back to our bed.
I stumbled into work the next day, not really sure how I managed to operate a moving vehicle in order to get there, but was pleased to find out I was on time with all of my necessary materials.
"Clay! Just the wolf I've been wanting to see!" Oh great, now my boss wanted to see me. Today, out of all days. "I have a few questions about...are you okay? You look a bit tired this morning."
"Yeah, I was up a bit late last night." Okay, really late. Really, really late.
"Well maybe I'll come back when you're a bit more awake. I'm afraid some of my questions may be a bit much for you in this condition. Try to take it easy today, all right?" He added a slap to the rear of my pants for emphasis.
"Ow." I winced at the pain, for I was still a bit sore there.
"I'm sorry, did that hurt? I didn't think you were sensitive there."
"I'm usually not. It's just that Terry yiffed me pretty good last night." I smiled as I played back the events of last night in my mind.
"Terry's your little foxy friend, right? Gee, Clay, I wouldn't think that you would be in such pain from just a fox." Yeah, my anthro horse boss was kidding me about not being able to handle a smaller animal. Perfect. I knew he wasn't gay, and was willing to bet he'd never had such experiences, but I wasn't going to say anything about that. He was, after all, my boss.
"You do know that Terry's half dragon, right? And that particular part of him is very dragon-like. I highly doubt you'd be able to handle his thirteen inches of--"
"Okay! I'll see you later!" Uh huh, see how quickly he interrupts me so he could leave. Hahaha, I'm sure that image would haunt him for a while. "That was more than I ever needed to know," I heard him mutter under his breath as he walked away.
As the day went on, I felt the soreness fade, but not the happy memories of last night. It was always like that with Terry. I'm sure it was the same with him, he'd have trouble thinking of anything else for the rest of the day, just like me. I'm hoping that he didn't have to take one of his finals today, but I know Terry always has good judgment, and would never put himself in such a predicament.
Getting close to the house on my way home, I convinced myself that I was going to do something about dinner tonight, and not let Terry take over. As tired as I was, I knew that there was no way I was going to allow Terry to try and serve me because I didn't feel like doing anything. I have to do my part, especially after that exquisite treat he had for me yesterday. Tonight he was going to sit back and relax, as I...did whatever got us fed.
I pulled up into the driveway and found that there was already a car parked outside. It was red in color, and...uh, pretty? Remember, I know and care very little about cars and stuff, and was too tired to bother reading the model off the back. But whose car was it?
"Clay, you're home!" I was greeted at the door by my favorite fox with a kiss on the muzzle. "I brought a friend with me to study with. I hope you don't mind."
I didn't mind. In fact, I was a bit shocked; Terry rarely brings home friends to study with. As I entered the house, I saw his study partner. She was a female wolf morph, covered with gray fur just as I was. However, her fur was much lighter, almost to the point of becoming white. As she stood up, she didn't seem to have any outstanding features, although her tail was quite bushy. She was a tad shorter than I was, but much smaller in the waist and such. It's not that I'm fat or anything, but let's face it, I am a guy. She reached out to shake my hand and introduce herself.
"Nice to meet you. My name is Flonne."
"Nice to meet you too. I see that the two of you have been studying hard." They had, or at least put on the impression of such. Papers were scattered all over the floor, with notes highlighted and color coordinated. I laughed to myself on the inside. This must be Flonne's work, for Terry has never been this organized. I noticed by the titles that they were studying for their psychology class. "Well, I'll let you both get back to work. You haven't eaten yet, have you?" The both shook their heads together. "Excellent. I think I'll...order a pizza. How's that sound?"
Terry looked over at Flonne, who nodded back to him. "Sounds great! Don't strain yourself!" I had a sudden urge to pounce on him, but he was actually working and we did have company over, so I figured I'd take my own little mental raincheck.
The pizza arrived and I grabbed another chair so we could all sit at the table. We started eating and curiosity was getting the best of me. "So Terry, you gonna tell me more about your little friend here?"
"Sure. Flonne and I have psychology class together, although she usually does better at it than I do." This caused Flonne to giggle a bit. "I've known her since last year, where we had a different class together. It was...um..."
"And now you know why I'm helping him study. You're so hopeless, Terry!" Flonne looked at Terry while she said this, watching him blush. "It was a math class. Terry sat behind me and I would always found myself watching his reflection in the screen of my calculator. One day, he discovered that I wasn't so involved in my calculations and that I was really watching him the whole time. We've been friends ever since."
Their story warmed my heart. Either that, or I was eating too much pizza. In any case, I figured I'd ask another question, this time directing it towards Flonne. "Has Terry ever taken you flying?"
She stopped, holding the pizza halfway between her mouth and the plate. She then turned to Terry and looked at him for a while. "No, I don't believe he has."
"You should ask him sometime. But not right after eating. We made that mistake once."
Terry burst out laughing. "I remember that! We were over the highway. We saw some people turn on their windshield wipers, even though it wasn't raining that day. Well, it wasn't raining water." Flonne started laughing too. Okay, looking back, it was incredibly funny. Not that I was willing to laugh at it.
"Well, I don't know about you, but I'm no longer hungry." I started to clean off the empty boxes along with my plate. "I'm so tired I might as well hit the bed already. Don't worry about waking me up, I sleep like a rock. Have fun studying."
I turned to leave but heard Terry whispering to Flonne behind my back. "I wish he slept like a rock. At least rocks are quiet. He sleeps more like a..."
Normally, I would have turned around and asked him out loud what I slept like, but I was too tired to care. I closed the door behind me, knowing that Terry would join me later that night, once I was already asleep.
Work went a lot better today, with me actually awake and productive. Go figure. I did pause at one point during the day to wonder how he was doing on his psychology test, but didn't worry about it.
I got home and found Flonne's car in the driveway again. This time, they were playing the dance game together. I didn't recognize the song, but saw a box on the couch that told me that this was the newest version that just came out. Awesome, I'd have to give it a shot sometimes, even though I wasn't nearly as good as Terry was. The song ended, and Terry turned around. "Hey, check out what I got, Clay!"
"I see it. How could I not? That song rocks, I'll have to try it sometime."
"How about now?" Flonne asked me, breathing heavily. "I need a break, I'm not used to this." She took a seat on the couch.
"Sorry, I can't. I've still got some work to do. Hey, take it easy though, you don't want to overheat. Terry, maybe you should turn on the fan."
Flonne looked up at the ceiling, but didn't see a fan. Terry smiled and started flapping his wings softly, creating a gentle breeze in Flonne's direction. "Ooohh, that feels good," she said as she started to relax on the couch.
"And don't forget, I've got plenty of bottled water in the refrigerator. I do not want either of you to get dehydrated."
I stood there for a while, watching Terry move his wings back and forth. He was always so beautiful when he did that, I wanted to go over and kiss him. Instead, I snuck behind him, took his tail in my hands, and started stroking it. He folded his wings and turned around, giving me the kiss I had been wanting. Terry then turned back towards Flonne, looking embarrassed.
"Oh don't worry. I won't tell anyone you're gay." We all laughed. Yeah, like that was some big secret.
The next day, Terry and Flonne both had their last exams. I was quite excited. But coming home after work, I found only a note that Terry had left me.
Flonne invited me over to her house to celebrate. I'll be spending the night, so don't wait for me. See you tomorrow!
Well it was Friday. But still, I was kinda sad that Terry had chosen not to stay home and celebrate with me, but I wasn't worried. He still had to have his graduation ceremony and I could definitely take him out after that. However, that still left me alone on a Friday night with nothing to do. But then again, I did have some new songs and steps to explore. I smiled, maybe I'll actually get good enough to hold some of the high scores before Terry finds out and stomps them.
Terry came in the next morning and I immediately hugged him. I could tell he was tired, this time he didn't squeeze the life out of me. "So how was it?" I inquired.
"Great! I got to take Flonne out flying. She really enjoyed it. We went almost everywhere, over the highway, a number of buildings, the college, and of course, the lake. But then..."
"Then what?"
Terry stopped, like he didn't want to say anything. I waited. If there was something important he was going to tell me, he'd say it on his own. Finally, I he looked back up at me.
"You know she's got some really awesome reflexes. Flonne has some of the same games that we do and I got totally schooled."
I had the feeling that there was something Terry wasn't telling me, but I let it go. He started to walk away, but I missed him so much yesterday that I just couldn't help myself. I pounced on him from behind and started licking him behind the ears.
"Hahahaha! Hey, that tickles! Come on, get off of me!" I was having entirely too much fun to let him get away that easily. But he was moving too much and I thought he'd end up throwing me off. I stopped licking him and instead decided to massage his shoulders, causing him to relax instead.
"Aaaaahhh..." I felt him go almost completely limp. "You're not gonna let me go, are you?"
"Nope! You're totally under my control now. Hmm, let's see, you've been quite naughty, leaving me alone like that. What should I do about it?"
I thought about it for a minute, then decided on a light but playful spanking. "Hey, stop that!" He tried to object, but he was laughing too hard to do anything about it. I could feel him growing weak beneath me.
"Oh, Terry! I love you so much!" I put my head on his neck and started to nuzzle him, still keeping him pinned to the ground.
"I love you too, Clay, but now you're just toying with me. Can we at least take this back to the bed where it's a little softer?"
"Now where would you ever get an idea like that? Ooh, you're not wanting to be naughty again, are you?" I let him go and he rolled over to face me. He had a big grin on his face. As tired as he was, I could tell he was still getting turned on by my playful actions. How could I resist that face? I picked him up and carried him off to the softer location he had requested.
A few days later, I got to watch Terry's graduation. He looked so good in that green gown. He had spent a few hours altering it so he could fit his wings through, while still making it look perfect. Funny thing was, I didn't even know we had a sewing machine. But everything was just wonderful as the ceremony went off without any problems.
I took Terry out to eat afterwards. We went to a really nice restaurant and stuffed ourselves silly. After all, he had deserved it. We decided to follow that up by going to see a movie. It was an awesome movie about...um, let's just say they asked to see Terry's ID before they gave him his ticket.
We made our way home after the movie, in what was now the late evening. We sat down together on the edge of the bed, not quite ready for sleep. I put my arm around Terry and could feel him shaking.
"Terry? What's wrong?"
He shook his head, not willing to say anything.
"Was the movie a bit much for you?"
"No, it's not that. The movie was great. But last Friday, I..."
I said nothing. I could recall that Terry spent that night at Flonne's house, but that was it. Something had obviously happened then. I began to stroke his face softly. "You know you can tell me anything."
"Flonne...she...she wanted me so badly. She seduced me, Clay. We ended up...having sex together." Terry broke down next to me, crying, but still speaking through the tears. "I don't know why she did it. It was like she needed something from me, like she wouldn't make it without me. And I just couldn't refuse her will. It made no sense, but I felt like I didn't have a choice. We've always been such great friends, but I never thought it to come to this. I'm sorry, Clay, I never meant to be unfaithful to you."
I held on to Terry, embracing him without question. "It's okay," I whispered. I knew Terry would never hurt me intentionally, but still, I couldn't help but wonder why Flonne would act that way. Surely she knew what Terry and I had together, but she wanted to sleep with him anyway? Terry was right, it didn't make any sense, but at this point, I could do nothing but hold on to him, and let him know that he always had my forgiveness.
Over the next few days, Terry was uncharacteristically quiet. I could tell he was having trouble dealing with himself after confessing everything to me, but I knew he was slowly recovering. Without having to go to school anymore, Terry had a lot more time to himself, in which I'm sure he played through that Friday night's scenario over and over again in his mind. I was glad I could help the healing process when Terry, in a less-than-subtle manner, hinted that he wanted to be naughty again with me one night. Of course, I had no objection to that.
It took Terry about a week to get back to normal. He was so happy to be able to paint for a living, without really caring if he made a lot of money or not. This allowed him to express himself more freely on paper, knowing that he didn't have to please everyone who saw it. But yet, most everyone who examined his work seemed to enjoy looking at it and taking in the emotions he portrayed. He even created some pictures for me to take with me to work and display behind my desk. I even sold one of them to one of my clients for $20 since he wanted it so badly for his wife's birthday. It was a picture of a beautiful panther morph, wrapped in a gorgeous red dress that really complimented her midnight black fur. The buyer, a panther himself, although far from good looking by my standards, said that it looked exactly like her and it would be perfect as a gift.
I was just finished with my shower one fine afternoon when I heard the doorbell ring. Obviously I wasn't going to answer it in just a towel, so I let Terry get it. I figured it wouldn't hurt to at least listen through the bathroom door, as leaving would require me to step out into view.
It was Flonne. I could tell by the sound of her voice. "Terry, I...I came to apologize for the other evening. I should never have--"
"Don't worry about it. Everything's fine. I told Clay about it and he forgave me."
"Still, it's all my fault. It's just that, I saw something that night. Something that scared me, made me think of how short life is, and how people can leave you in an instant. I didn't want that to happen. I wanted to always be with you, Terry. The thought of simply fading from your life was too much for me to handle. I hope you'll understand."
I found myself sitting down on the floor. That explained quite a lot. Fear can cause people to act in ways they never would dream about normally. But I had a feeling there was more to it. Why would she suddenly be so afraid of losing Terry?
"Flonne, don't beat yourself up over this. We cannot change the past. But maybe, we can go back to what we had before? I liked when we were friends. You said you don't want to drift apart, so why should we let this get in the way of our friendship?"
"It's not that easy. This isn't something that's going to just go away. You're right, we cannot change the past, but we cannot ignore it either. We both will have to deal with this again."
For a few minutes, there was nothing but complete and utter silence. I couldn't tell what was going on from my position on the other side of the door, but I knew that they were both in there. Finally, I heard Terry speak.
"So, what? Are you just going leave me?"
"No, I could never do that. You're right, we should not let our friendship suffer. Promise me we'll keep in touch. For now, that is all I can do."
I knew Terry was smiling, even though I could not see it. "Yes, absolutely. There is nothing more that I want."
"I wouldn't be too certain of that. I have to go for now, but I know that we will see each other soon enough." And with that, she left.
"Clay, what do you think she means by that?"
I was shocked that Terry spoke to me like that, but then again I should have realized he must have known I was in here all along. After all, he did hear me take my shower only minutes before. I opened the door and stepped out, no longer wet.
"I don't know, Terry, I honestly don't know."
The next day, my boss showed up with a bunch of papers in his hand. "Clay, how's my favorite wolf doing?" I sighed, we all knew throughout the firm that it was never a good sign to be his favorite anything. It meant he had something major for you to do. There usually was some upside to it though, since he was such a good person and all, he did reward his outstanding workers quite well.
"Don't know, haven't seen him lately."
He smiled, but he wasn't fooling anybody. If this were a poker game I'm sure I'd clean him out right now. "Maybe we should get you a mirror then. We could put it right over there." He laughed, but I wasn't too thrilled about the idea of him redecorating my area. After all, I was the gay one here. I knew he was kidding anyway.
"All right, spill it, what do you have for me? I can't take the suspense any longer."
"Okay," he said, now serious, "We just got ourselves a new account, and this one's a real big one. It's going to be a lot of work, but nothing you haven't done before. I know you can handle it."
"I'm sure I can. But why me?"
"Clay, you're so diligent in your work. You've never let me down before. I know I can always get 100% out of you. It's so great to have people that I know will not let me down." He winked at me, his equine face assuring me that he trusted me with this one and that he was certain I would not fail him.
"Swell. Is that all?"
"Yup. Have fun with it." He started to leave, but instead found himself staring at what was now my wonderful wall of art. He pointed at one that I had just put up there. "Is that one new?"
"Actually, yes. Terry just gave it to me this morning."
"That's awesome. Give him my compliments, will ya?"
"Sure thing, boss."
I must admit, I did find myself working quite a lot, even at home. It was unfortunate that I had to miss an art exhibition where Terry's work was featured for critics and fans to view and comment on, but I was rarely unable to attend.
I was taking a slight break to see watch the news for a bit and see what's been going on. As I sat in the chair, I heard a car pull up. I went and opened the door.
"Hey, Flonne. Terry's not here now, he's at an exhibition, showing off his paintings and all."
"I know, he told me earlier. But I'm really glad you're here. I wanted to talk to you."
"Me?" I was slightly confused, but I saw no reason not to let her in. "I heard about what you said to Terry the other day."
"Yes, but I didn't tell him everything."
What? Was the door not even there? Or did she simply suspect that Terry told me afterwards? That would make sense.
I looked over at Flonne. She seemed a bit different since the last time I actually saw her, like she'd put on a bit of extra weight since then. I wasn't going to be rude and say anything, but something was bothering me. I took a deep breath and then it hit me. There was the faintest scent coming from her, but it was unmistakable.
"Flonne, are you...pregnant?"
She nodded slowly. I could feel myself growing weak. No, it couldn't be. But that would mean--
"Is Terry..." My voice trailed off, unable to complete the question.
"Yes, but this is all my fault. I knew this would happen. I have to tell you something, Clay. I...I can see...the future. Not all of it, just sometimes I get these visions. I can't control when they happen, or what they're about. But I have seen images that told me that this would happen."
I didn't know what to say. Could she really see the future? She sounded so sincere, I didn't think she was lying to me, but it was a fairly hard concept to swallow.
"I know it must sound stupid, but you have to believe me. There was something about these visions that I couldn't deny. I knew I couldn't wait for later, that's why I acted so suddenly that night. I didn't want for it to be too late."
Too late? Too late for what? I felt the pieces start to connect in my head and found my voice again.
"You saw Terry leave, didn't you?"
"No..."
"Then what was it you saw?"
"I can't tell you that. The only thing I can tell you is that it will all work out in the end."
She left. Everything would work out? But how? If she had this child with Terry, he would have to go and be with her. I didn't want Terry to leave me, but I couldn't allow him to leave Flonne by herself like that. It just wasn't right. How was this going to be okay? Either way, someone was going to get left out. I didn't want it to be me, but I knew it had to be. The reality of the situation finally hit me, and I completely lost it.
The next day, I was a complete and total wreck. However, I never let that get in the way of my duties at work. I felt like the day took forever, but that's just how it is when you're like this. I didn't want to be here, but what else could I do? Staying home wouldn't get me anywhere, and it was probably better that I did have something to do to take my mind off things.
I got home, and it took one look at Terry to know that he'd spoken with Flonne. I didn't know how much she told him, but one thing was certain. He knew that she was pregnant because of him.
"Clay..."
"You know what you have to do, right?"
"Yes. But I don't want to leave you here alone."
"I'll be fine. Just promise me you'll come back and see me regularly."
"Of course I will." We kissed for practically an hour. It was hard letting him go, but there was no other option. I waved as I watched him fly off, tears streaming down my face.
It wasn't like I didn't see Terry, he showed up almost every day. He'd tell me about stuff that had happened, and everything that he felt along the way. But the time that he wasn't around just killed me. I found myself longing for him in his absence, wishing he was there, sleeping beside me like he always did. I felt empty, sad, and alone. Watching him leave had been he hardest thing I'd ever done, but I had no regrets. I only hoped that this child would bring him happiness, for I knew how much this meant to him. Terry had always been so loving, so caring and gentle, and so brave. Of course he would raise this child with everything he had, and maybe, just maybe, I would get to play some part in it. The thought brought a glimmer of hope to me, but I knew I couldn't force myself into the picture. But if Terry did ask, I would be more than happy to help him with anything he needed. We loved each other more than anything, and I was not going to let that simply fade away.
Then one day, it finally happened. I got a call from Terry.
"Clay! It's Flonne! She's having her baby! Can you make it to the hospital? I really want you to be there with me!"
I told him I'd be there, then quickly hung up the phone and raced down to the hospital. I met up with him in the waiting room.
"Thank you for coming! You don't know what this means to me." We held on to each other for seemingly forever, not caring if anyone was watching us or not. Finally, one of the doctors called Terry back. I stayed behind in the waiting room.
I had been in waiting rooms before, but this time was different. Time could have stopped completely, and I would have never noticed. If fact, I think at one point it did. I couldn't think at all, meaning I could do nothing but sit there mindlessly, waiting for something, anything that would tell me it was over.
Eventually, the doctors called me back too. They said Flonne had given birth successfully, and Terry wanted to see me.
I found Terry sitting in a chair outside the room, crying. I sat down next to him and put my arms around him to let him know that I was there for him.
"She's not going to make it, Clay."
"What? Why?" I was shocked.
"The doctors...they said she was ill, but she never told me. There were...complications..." He sniffed and looked up at me. "They don't expect her to last through the day. The baby's fine, but Flonne..."
I knew this was very hard on him. I tried to be strong for the both of us, but there's no comfort I could give him that would make everything okay. Only in time would he get better, but until then, I had to be there to support him.
"She wanted to speak with you."
I nodded, then walked into the room. Flonne was lying there, attached to a number of machines, holding the baby in her arms.
"You knew, didn't you?" I tried my best not to sound like I was accusing her of something, but this was no coincidence. "You knew you'd die after giving birth, but you chose to do it anyway. Why?"
"Clay, I've had this for years. This illness has nothing to do with the pregnancy. I was destined to die anyway. I have actually lived longer than I would have if I hadn't been carrying this child. It was only because of the maternal instincts rooted deep inside of me that I have survived this long. But now...now I can go in peace, knowing that I have served a purpose."
"A purpose?"
"Yes. I know that this child will be raised well, and will grow up to be strong and happy."
I looked at the baby girl lying on top of her. It was difficult to say what she would look like when she grew up, since many newborns look very much alike. But there was one distinctive feature that stood out, even in her first hours of existence. Even though she a basic shape somewhere between a fox and a wolf, she had wings.
"I did have one more vision." Flonne's voice startled me, as I had fallen into somewhat of a trance just looking at the baby. "It was a vision that went beyond my death, the only one of its kind. I saw...her." She motioned towards the baby. "In this vision, she looks to be about 5 or 6 years old, but she's smiling. She's so happy to have 2 loving, wonderful parents to raise her."
"But, if you're going to die...then who's the other--"
"It was you, Clay. You have to be the one that raises this child with Terry." She smiled up at me. "I know you will. Even without the vision, I believe in you. You will take this child and raise it as your own."
She was right. Of course I would do it. I couldn't leave Terry to raise a child by himself, not in a million years. In a way, I was almost happy about it. Terry would be with me, and we'd have our own baby to love and cherish. I hated to see Flonne leave, but I knew that this had been her plan all along. I could tell that she was happy to have given us this blessing, knowing that her life was going to end anyway.
"Don't worry," I whispered to Flonne, "I will do everything in my power to grant you your final wish."
"Thank you..." She managed to say, before fading into an unconsciousness from which she'd never awaken.
Author's notes: Well, I hope you liked it. This took me quite a while to write out, mostly because I had never had to deal with anything like this before, so I'm quite new to some of the situations the characters had to go through. As opposed to the first part, where the path was simple and easy for me to follow, a lot of this seemed so delicate, I kept stopping and having to think things through to make sure I was doing it right. See, I don't go back and change things once I've written them, unless I've done something really confusing.
As I'm sure you can tell, it's not over. I have plans to continue on with this, but I needed to stop here for mechanical reasons. However, if I don't get enough feedback, I don't have a reason to keep writing. So please, if you don't want the adventures to end here, express your comments by posting, voting, and/or sending me an e-mail. I love hearing from fans, so do not hesitate to share with me! If you'd like to e-mail me personally, you can find me at: