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P4 - Chapter Thirty-four

February 26th, 2021:

Qibli seems so stressed. I can tell all he can think about is his mother. He wants her to love him, he always has. And he had that chance.

But he didn't take it.

"*"

"So... I missed all of this?" Winter asked. We were all circled in Qibli's living room, filling Winter in with everything that's happened.

"Yes!" Kinkajou cried. "Where were you?"

Winter nervously laughed. "Uh, on a date."

"So you were enjoying yourself while Qibli had by far the most stressful day of his life?" I mused, crossing my arms.

"I didn't know!" Winter defended, throwing his arms up. "I'm sorry, okay? I should've been there, but I wasn't. I didn't know his mom just popped up out of the blue asking to take him back. I'm sorry, bro."

"It's fine," Qibli answered, looking out the window.

"You were on a DATE?" Kinkajou finally cried, jumping up. "Holy–WOW. With Lynx? YES. I just knew it! Why is it just now you're telling me this?"

Winter and Turtle both shot her a skeptical look.

"Uh, I mean," Kinkajou quickly stammered, "that is great news but we have bigger problems here." She calmly sat down, resting her hands on her lap.

I nudged Qibli. "Are you okay? You seem awfully quiet."

"I'm fine," Qibli said, nodding at me. "Just... thinking."

"About?" Kinkajou asked, scooting closer.

"Just..." Qibli said, very slowly turning to look at us. "I don't know. I'm..."

"Do you... want us to leave you alone for a moment?" Turtle slowly asked. "So you can think in peace?" His gaze drifted away as he slightly nodded. We all stood up in an instant, walking away from him.

I looked at Qibli. I've never seen him like that before. It slightly startled me if I was being honest.

"What do we do?" I whispered the second we were out of earshot.

"I don't know," Kinkajou admitted, glancing at him. "This is so... un-Qibli of him. I've never seen him like this."

"I have," Winter said, which caught all of our attention. "We're going to need a bucket of ice cream and a considerable amount of hugs."

"*"

"Qibli's favorite ice cream is Oreo," Kinkajou was saying as we all sat in Winter's car. "Uh, favorite candy? Maybe..."

"Sour gummy worms," Turtle finished as Winter said, "Skittles."

Winter looked up in the review mirror to narrow his eyes at Turtle.

"Candy?" Ostrich squeaked from the backseat beside Kinkajou and Turtle. We had to bring her along with us because Deathbringer, Sunny, and Thorn were all out, and Qibli was currently not in the state of mind to be watching a toddler.

"Yeah," Kinkajou said, clearly in love with her. "For your big brother."

"I guess we'll just get both," I said before Winter could argue with Turtle. There was a moment of silence that was only filled in with the sound of Ostrich's tablet.

"I can't believe she just... came back," I mumbled under my breath.

"She's definitely up to something," Turtle agreed. "I mean, she's free and the first thing she decides to do is come and try to take custody of the son she abandoned? She obviously must need him for something, I just don't know what."