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The Cardinal Rule

Part One

By Xan Steel

The day started off like any other for Sam, who is an older mouse, as he got up from having a depressing dream about his mate who had passed away right after giving birth to their son, Michael. It happened twenty-five years ago to the day, as today was Michael's birthday today according to the calendar. He did his best to raise him as a single parent, while having never really been interested in re-mating again. You know that old saying, 'No one can ever replace the best love of your life' or something like that. He got up and headed into the kitchen to make some coffee for himself, and Michael as he would sometimes drink it with him, while getting something for breakfast from the refrigerator and started cooking it, while he waited for him to come home from his morning jog.

After a few minutes Michael came through the front door of the house panting and wheezing as he pushed himself harder this morning than normal. Sam watched his son walk around the living room for a bit to cool down, as he brought him out some semi cool water for him to drink, as Michael took it and slowly drank it. He stopped and pulled Sam into a hug, "Thanks papa." "Anytime son, and happy birthday." He said with a smile as Michael kissed his cheek in thanks and said he was going to get cleaned up. Sam watched him walk off to the bathroom as he slipped into a light daze watching him. He was the spitting image of his mother. A svelte body, that was toned just ever so, having child birthing hips, an ass that one could honestly worship, legs that seemed to go on forever, and the exact same hip and tail sway his mother had, not to mention those large round rimmed glasses he wore added to his cute factor. Sam mentally slapped himself for where his thoughts were headed. He could never bring himself to screw his own son. He loved him to death, but he didn't know how he would react to such a request. This is what gave Sam the idea for his birthday gift, a small condo in a nearby little town that he had grown up in.

In nearly thirty years this little town hadn't changed one bit. It's population was still in the low to mid two thousand, and a lot of the buildings look like they came out of the twenties. Sam had persuaded Michael to go with him into that little town today, as he wanted to see his reaction on it as they went to the downtown area. To his surprise he really liked it for it's 'Out of Time' feel, and uniqueness in architecture. Sam then turned to him, "How would you like to live here?" He asked him. He loved the area a lot, as there happened to be a great big park for him to do his jogging in every morning. The local mart had all the fruits, veggies, and juices he liked, and the town as a whole gave a warm friendly feeling he enjoyed.

Later that afternoon, Sam took him to the tallest building in the area. The sign out front read 'Sky High Condos' as he pulled into the parking lot and into a guest space. "Papa, what are we doing here?" Michael asked in that sweet innocent voice of his. "I have a birthday gift for you here, so come on in with me" Sam said as he got out of the car. Michael followed his father into the building as he headed for the elevator and watched him push the fifteenth button. Michael also noticed that the elevator was more modern than the rest of the building, meaning it had recently been updated or replaced. As they walked out of the elevator Michael noticed it had a Victorian look and feel it. The floor had a deep red carpeting with some old chairs styled the same, and some vintage style wall lamps. Sam took out a set of keys, unlocked the door number 1513, and let Michael walk in first.

The front door opened into the living room that was quite large with deep red carpeting, eggshell white walls, and two large picture style windows. One of which was looking in the direction of the park he liked. He walked on into the kitchen that had no walls to separate it from the living room. It was large enough to have a small island in the center, and both a refrigerator and a dishwasher. It was missing a stove and oven, but it had a microwave. So he could cook food until he found work and could save to buy one later on. He continued on down a small hallway and the first door that he came to, was the guest bathroom. There wasn't anything out of the ordinary about it, other than the colors weren't all that great. Across from there was a bedroom, and it was currently a bit bigger than his room back home. "I like this room Papa" he said to Sam while walking around and noticing how much bigger the closet was. "There is more to see son" Sam replied. He walked out of the room and headed to the end of the hall into the master bedroom. This room was just about as big as the living room, the closet was big enough to be another room unto itself, and the bathroom was to die for. It had a large jacuzzi tub and a standalone shower with a sitting bench in it. Colors ranged from browns and golds, with a marble corner top for the sink, with Victorian style lamps on the walls, and a large full body mirror. Michael turned to his father, "This is a really pretty place Papa." "I'm glad you like it." He said smiling. "Are, are we moving here?" Sam looked at him, "This is your birthday gift from me to you, the house you were born in." Michaels eyes lit up briefly before turning to a questionable look. "You're not moving with me?" He asked. Sam sighs softly "I'm afraid not son. This house holds to much sadness for me to come back to it, and I'm passing it on to you." "What do you mean?" Sam did his best to hold back on his emotions while telling Michael about the moment when his mother died after his birth. "I was holding her from behind as the paramedic coached her during your birth. After you came out they cleaned you up and let her hold you. She smiled as she kissed and named you, but shortly after she started convulsing as they took you away. I held her tightly trying to get her to relax, but it only got worse until she finally stopped, but only because she was gone." It was at this point Sam broke down as he remembered it in vivid detail. "I, I couldn't ssstop holding her." Michael came over and held him tightly while crying with him. "I'm sorry for making you remember." Sam just shook his head, "No it's ok, I'm like this every year, it's one of the reasons I never re-mated. It's just something I've never been able to get past it. I do know that she would have wanted you to have this place. Much like you have shown me today, she loved that park."

Sam managed to calm down after a few minutes, and told Michael he would help him move, as well as helping him with his bills until he could find work. "I'm not sure how easy I will have it with finding work in this little town. I know I love the feel of this place, but I'm not sure if there is work for me here" he finished. Sam told him to take his time, and that if he needed anything all he had to do was call him up, and he would be there as soon as possible. Sam drove them back home, and by the time they got there it was evening, and both of them were hungry. So Sam stopped by a little diner they enjoyed eating at and had a last meal together before Michael's big move tomorrow.

The next day Michael went out a little earlier than usual to get in one last run in the city he grow up in. This is when he started to notice the differences. Those little things you don't really notice until you've been to another town or city. This place was a city with a large population, and the trash to show for it, it was dingy and dirty, and the smell wasn't all to pleasant either. It amazed him that he never saw it until today. As he got back he went and took a quick shower before heading to his room to finish packing. As he was getting dressed he bent over to pull out some shorts to wear with his backside to the door of his room. Sam was walking by and happened to look into his room and saw Michael presenting himself unintentionally. He quickly hurried away to the kitchen, trying to focus on making coffee while ignoring his loins. 'Damnit Mary, why did he turn out looking like you?' Sam thought to himself while forcing his mind to think about coffee, cars, guns, and explosions hoping it would change his bodies desires. It helped as he started to smell the coffee more and wondered if he made it to strong. The good thing was, it had turned his attentions to something else as Michael came out to the kitchen completely dressed.

Throughout the day they managed to get most of Michael's stuff loaded up and moved over to his new, yet old place. By nightfall they had managed to finish moving everything, and it wasn't to long after that the place was starting to effect Sam emotionally, as Michael told him to go home and relax. Michael thanked him for all the help he did today, and told him not to worry about him. They hugged tightly and Sam bid him a good night, and left. After Sam left Michael noticed how hungry he was and started to make a lite dinner for himself. Once he got that started he went and took a shower while it slowly cooked. During his shower is when he began to feel the emptiness of the place. While being on his own was something he had hoped to do, he couldn't help but feel like something wasn't right. It seemed to fast. Not to mention that being alone for the first time in his life was a little unsettling. Once he finished he dried off and put an overly large button up shirt on and went out to the kitchen to check on his dinner. Afterwards he went and set his small tv up and turned it to a familiar station. He himself had no real interest in tv, but the station was something his father watched a lot of, so in that aspect he didn't feel to alone. As he finished eating he went and cleaned up his dishes before going out to the living room where the tv was and sat down to watch it while he laid his head on a pillow. It didn't take long for him to drift off to sleep there on the couch.

As Sam got home from Michael's place he went to the bedroom and over to his dresser when he kept a small memorial box. He opened it and pulled out a picture of Mary, Michaels mother. He took the picture and sat down in the edge of his bed, as his emotions started to surface again. "I miss you, and can only hope I raised him well. It's not been easy, especially when he looks so much like you. I know I may have pushed him to fast, but I feared the worse happening between us, and I didn't want that to happen. So please watch over him, and help keep him safe." He kissed the photo and then put it back into the box before retiring for the night.