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We spend our life doing the things we love - hopefully.

We get our 80 years - if we're lucky - and then it's over...

If you didn't spend every moment doing what you wanted most, you've wasted that time.

And you don't get a second chance.

*****

The twins had come as a surprise. After the drive home from the hospital, they were laid together in the one crib. With mother looking over them both, one newborn fox kit stretched out a paw and found his brother with it. The paw would stay there until long after mother left the room. As the twins slept, shouting came from the other side of the door. It would be a long time before the kits could understand it, but they had time: the shouting would continue for at least as long as it took them to learn what it meant.

*****

Two golden, bushy tails swung perfectly in time. Nathan had his father's hand, and Noah was holding Mom's hand. As the looming front doors of the elementary school came ever closer, the two twins were chatting constantly.

"...Ik caras yort sa..."

"...ha dara mem barm..."

Nobody but the twins could understand. Lily smiled down at the twins, while Rick glowered.

"Cut that out! Talk normally!" growled their father, slapping Nathan across the forehead. Lily opened her mouth, but the welcoming Kindergarden teacher's voice cut her off

"Twins? Must be Nathan n' Noah! Welcome! Find a chair and sit down!"

The two brothers hesitated, trying in vain to pull their parents into the class with them. No, no way could they go in there alone! Lily gave them both a comforting hug and said,

"It will be alright, go on. We'll see you this afternoon. We..." Lily looked for Rick, but he was already heading towards the car. "...love you..."

Hardly reassured, they still wanted Mom with them. Being abandoned in a strange classroom was scary, but they knew there was no getting out of it. Finally letting go of Lily's hand, but keeping each other's, they sidled towards a pair of seats in the back of the class. At least they were still with each other.

*****

The bell rang, and Mrs. Anderson led the young furs out to meet their parents. She couldn't help but smile: earlier this morning, every one of the children had their tail glued between their legs, now they were all free and wagging happily. It's always amazing how quickly the young furs adjust to school life.

The twins saw a familiar car in the parking lot, and sprinted out to it.

"So, how was your very first day of school?" Lily asked,

"Great!" the twins exclaimed in perfect unison.

"We learned all kinds of stuff-"

"-and we played this game where-"

They talked about their day all the way home, and then talked about it some more. By bedtime around eight, they were singing about how much they loved Kindergarten.

"Alright you two, it's bedtime. Come on..." Lily grabbed a wrist in each hand and guided her sons to bed. The Mayers never had much money, and had only saved for one child, so they were barely making it month by month. They lived in a small, two bedroom house, and the twins slept in the same bed. For now, they all survived, and both parents knew that the twins were happy. Lily tucked the brothers in together, and kissed them each on the lips.

"Good-night you two, I love you."

"Why does she do that?" Noah questioned after his mom had left the room.

"Do what?"

"That." Noah stated plainly, kissing Nathan the way Lily had.

"Oh, um... she told me it's because she loves us, I guess that's why she does it."

"Well, we love each other, so, there." Noah replied with another kiss on Nathan's lips. Nathan murred softly, both perplexed and content.

Both twins' ears twitched like they were going to shoot right out of their heads as the shouting started again. It was Nathan's turn to be inquisitive.

"Why are they always so mad?"

"They... I don't really know. Once, mommy said something about 'money'. She told me it was really important and daddy was always mad about it, but I don't know why."

A few minutes later, all four ears perked up again at the sound of a car pulling up outside. A door slammed, and the car drove off into the night.

As the sound of the car faded away, a new sound filtered through the door: sobbing.

"Uh, Nathan? What's...what's happening?"

"I don't know. Let's go find out!" Nahan said brightly.

"No, no, no... mommy will get mad, we need to be in bed."

"Come on, we'll be quiet." Nathan got out of bed and pulled on Noah's hand.

"Alright, if we get caught, though..."

They quietly opened the door and snuck down the hall, towards the other bedroom, their tails brushing together lightly as they slunk ever closer. The twins could tell that Lily was completely hysterical. Never - not even when she had denied them a real bike - had they ever heard so much crying. The twins glanced at each other; in fact, they had never heard either of their parents crying at all before. Despite Noah's silent protests, Nathan quietly twisted the door handle and gently pushed the door open. Both twins froze when they met Lily's eyes. They tried to back away, but couldn't when they saw their mother's expression. It wasn't angry; it was hurt. Betrayed.

Heartbroken.

Looking her eyes, those glistening, sobbing, pain-filled orbs, made the twins forget their fear of getting in trouble. Instead of breaking and running, they pressed forward, slowly advancing into mommy's barely outstretched arms. The only thing they could think of doing was to do what mommy did when they felt like that; they walked up to her and hugged her.

"What's wrong, mommy?" they asked together.

"Y-y-you-u're f-f-fathe-er, h-h-he... h-he d-d-does-n't... oh, he doesn't love us... any...more...!" Lily collapsed onto the bed with the twins on top of her, shaking the bed with uncontrollable sobs.

"We love you..." And the twins proved it to her, each kissing her once, and embracing her even more tightly.

Lily couldn't speak anymore. Emotionally exhausted, she fell asleep.

******

The next morning the twins woke up early, even before Lily was awake. They wouldn't have to get ready to go to school for a while, so the twins sat in bed. Each was on their side, facing the other.

"She said... daddy doesn't love us any more?"

"I think so..."

"But... that's impossible!"

"I know... she couldn't have been right when she said that."

An hour passed, and Lily still hadn't come in to get them ready for school.

"What are we going to do if she doesn't come?" Nathan asked

"Um, I bet we can take care of each other for a day, it would be fun!"

"You mean, drive to school?"

"N-no, cars are scary. We could walk, I know how to get there" Nathan boasted. Nathan was always looking to do things his own way, while Noah was the more obedient of the the two. Both really wanted to go to school, but they might have to walk to school if -

The door opened. An extraordinarily disheveled Lily came through.

"School. Get dressed." She mumbled.

Get dressed? That was a new challenge for the twins. They had picked out clothes before, but mom had always been there to help if they picked out something that looked bad. In truth, it would be hard to pick a bad outfit from the twins' closet, which was mostly jeans and t shirts. Everything went well with jeans, but the twins couldn't know that. They stood in the closet in their pajama bottoms, looking at the dirty clothes from yesterday. If they could just pick out something that looked the same...

Noah reached for a pair of jeans, and Nathan did the same. Noah grabbed a dark red t shirt, and Nathan took a grey one.

"OK?" they asked each other. They both agreed that they couldn't do any better, and marveled at how simple the task seemed in hindsight. Without a real thought, they each pulled down their pajama pants. They never wore anything under those, so they were stark naked. Not that it was possible to hide anything: they looked exactly the same, right down to the under-deveopled, furry sheath. When they saw themselves naked, it was exactly the same as seeing the other.

They looked at each other, each seeing the same thing. Each fox saw another looking at them, with large, brown eyes. They had sleek, thick, golden-brown fur down the sides and back, with dark brown accents above each right eye, and at the tip of their tails and ears. Starting at their chins, down their fronts, and ending at their sheaths was fluffy white fur. They stood about 3'6", and had bushy tails that seemed too long for them at nearly two feet.

"Hehe, you're cute!" Nathan giggled. It was a joke of theirs; they had figured out a while ago that any compliments to one were basically complementing both.

Noah started to pull up his jeans, but was interrupted but Nathan.

"Wait a sec... I think we need these." He said, opening a drawer and throwing Noah a pair of white briefs, and taking a pair for himself.

"Oh yeah, you're right."

They pulled up their underwear, then their jeans, then put their shirts on. They each brushed their fur, enlisting their sibling's help where they couldn't reach, and headed out towards the kitchen wearing hearty grins, having completely forgotten about their father.

Meanwhile, Lily was crying at the kitchen table. The twins didn't understand - how could they? How could she explain to them that Rick was... gone? She barely understood it. He had just gotten a cab and left. Lily wanted to scream, how could anyone be so negligent? Just walking out, leaving her to raise two kits on her own? No, that man was not her love; if she ever saw him again...

Lily was fuming by the time the twins walked in, but she broke down when she saw their faces. How could they be so... happy? Rick was gone, how could anyone ever be happy again,?

The twins' grins slid off their faces when they saw Mom was still upset, reminding them of what she had said.

"Mommy-"

"I dont get it, you said-

"Daddy doesn't love us anymore?"

"Oh, you two..." Lily sobbed, pulling them both into a hug. Tears dropped onto both t-shirts, making dark spots on the shoulders. The warmth from the twins help replenish some of Lily's composure, but there was still no way she would be driving them to school.

"W-what did you mean when you said... that?"

"Where is daddy now?"

"Come on, you two..." Lily limped over to the living room attached to the kitchen, and the twins sat on either side of her on the couch. She pulled them close again, so that the two were pretty much on her lap.

"D-d-daddy...'s...gone..." was all Lily managed before her muzzle fell forward onto the twins' shoulders, making the already wet spots there much bigger.

"W-when is he..." Nathan began weakly, and Noah finished.

"Coming back?" They knew the answer, but they had to ask. They reached over and held each other as Lily moaned.

Lily's throat wasn't working. It was burning, and while her mouth moved, no air came out. Constricting tightness held her air in as tears poured from burning eyes, but she knew words were unnecessary. The twins bent their heads towards each other, and began to cry themselves.

The large, orange ball of weeping fur that was all that was left of the Mayer family remained on the couch for half an hour. After that thirty or so minute eternity, Lily got up. She went into the kitchen, made a cup of coffee and put a pot of soup on the stove. The twins adjusted after Lily left, laying down to face each other on the couch. The twins continued crying as the embraced each other, Nathan had his muzzle tucked into the warm pocket between Noah's muzzle and the couch, while Noah had his paw on the back of Nathan's head, resting his forehead on it. Noah's muzzle pointed right to where Nathan's neck joined his shoulder, his nose filling with the salty scent on his tears. At that moment, the twins wouldn't give each other up for the world. That warmth, the comfort they gave each other there, that seemed to be all they had left.

In the kitchen, Lily's soup had warmed up. She poured out three large bowls, setting one of the counter for herself, and bringing the other two out to the twins. Lily set the two bowls of soup on the coffee table and watched the twins, who hadn't seen her. It was ironic how Rick's leaving had brought them closer together. Was that possible? She had never seen siblings so close, but look at them now...

"Hey, kits, I made some soup for you..." Lily said meekly. The twins didn't respond at first. Food was enticing, but neither wanted to give up the warm, comforting fox they had in their arms. As Lily left to go back in the kitchen, she gently put her hand on Noah's head and scritched his fur. He finally turned his head to look at where the soup was steaming on the table, giving a soft pouting noise as he did so, as if that was all the effort he could muster right now. It pretty much was.

Noah turned his head back, now looking into Nathan's eyes. "Soup..." he whispered, and Nathan gave a tiny nod. With some difficulty, they both managed to swing their legs out onto the floor without letting go of the other. They sat up, their tails curling around the other's back. Still holding the other with their tails and one arm, they leaned forward towards the slowly cooling soup on the table. Their tears had stopped now, but their eyes were still bloodshot and their facial fur had large matted patches under the eyes. The kits really couldn't taste anything, but it felt nice to have the warm fluid flow into their stomachs, adding to the warmth they felt from the other.

When they both finished eating, they laid down and held each other again. Their tears were spent, but both were still too distressed to go about their day. After they fell asleep, Lily carried the fuzzy, golden ball of fluff into their room and laid them in bed. Poor kits, she thought to herself, it's just...not fair that they have to go through this. It was barely noon yet, but both the siblings would pass in and out of consciousness until early the next morning.

Noah opened his eyes and saw he was in his room, which was certainly not where he fell asleep. He fell asleep on the couch, hadn't he? Yeah, he was there because-

oh god...

Noah moaned as he remembered the day before, waking Nathan up, who had a similar response. They latched onto each other yet again, crying a fresh set of tears. Both were somewhat surprised to feel the other's bare fur on their legs, and figured that Lily had stripped them to their underwear but not put their pajamas on. It felt nice, though; cuddling like that, chest to chest, stomach to stomach, leg to leg...

"Kits? You awake yet?" Came a somewhat defeated sounding voice through the door.

"Yeah, mom..." The bleary-eyed twins mumbled in unison. The door opened, and the older fox came through. She sat on the bed where the twins were just sitting up, and began the speech she had dreaded giving.

"I love you, kits. So does your father. It was just..." This was not going well. not even a dozen words in, and she was choking up already. "just... him and I had some problems. You... you need to know it had nothing to do with you. It was all my f-fault. As soon as he got a j-job out of t-town, h-he..."

The kits leaned in to Lily, and the family was embracing yet again. "He...he left." A few minutes passed, and she was able to continue. "It's just the three of us now, and I can't always be there for you. You need to act grown up, and take care of yourselves..."

*****

Whatever challenges had faced them, the twins lived up to them. For once again, they were confronted with the terrifying ordeal of standing in the gates to a new school.

It was the first day of sixth grade. It was the first day where they would go to different classrooms for different classes, and the first day where the twins wouldn't be in the same room together for the whole school day.

"Um, how many classes do we have together?" Noah asked sheepishly.

"Come on, we've been over this a mil-squeak!-lion times..." Nathan blushed furiously at the crack in his voice. Orange fur turned pink, then red as Nathan's face got hot from the blood filling it. Noah would have laughed, except the exact same thing had happened to him on the bus. Clearly, school wasn't the only thing that was changing.

**************

So, you made it through that! (Or else you just skipped down here)

This is my first story (in a lot of ways). Please vote, comment, and don't worry about being gentle - I can handle it.