Author's Note

A third chapter came out! How serendipitous!

Enjoy, guys!

Comforting Acceptance

Time was something of an oddity for the two Pegasi residents of the house. For Soarin, it passed quickly because it was spent dreaming. For Sky Streak, it was painstakingly slow. Soarin had sounded absolutely exhausted when he’d come in, and when he said he intended to take a nap, she knew better than to disturb him. From all counts, waking him from a nap was a frankly horrific experience, both in his toddler years and now. In the toddler years it had meant tantrums, but now it meant grumpiness, few answers to her questions, and mostly silence. Time crawled along at a snail’s pace for her as she tried to busy herself around the house with things to do. She’d cleaned the kitchen and bathrooms, did some dusting in her own room, and was now just finishing up making dinner. Hayburgers and fries were a rare treat for the both of them, and one she hoped her son would enjoy when he awoke. She allowed a bit more time to pass as she made up her own burger with the toppings she enjoyed, but after a few minutes she reluctantly resigned herself to the fact that she would have to wake him in order for his food to be hot.

She flew down the hallway, quieter than a mouse, as she hoped to give him every second of sleep she could before having to take it away from him. Slowly, carefully, she turned the doorknob and poked her head inside to see what was both a surprising and heartwarming sight for her.

Her son was curled up beneath his blanket, face completely relaxed and at peace, and a hoof in his mouth. She could tell he was sucking on it in his sleep by the way he was breathing. It was somewhat of a snuffling sound, with a few instances of sucking noises being apparent. It was an odd sound, but not one that didn’t bring back some wonderful memories for her. She recalled putting him down for naps in his crib and hearing that same sound. For an instant, maybe more, she saw the foal she’d taken care of rather than the stallion she’d raised.

She didn’t know how to deal with this new information. Perhaps it was a fluke. Stranger things have happened in their lives, if nothing else. But… Some instinct inside of her disagreed. Somehow she knew this was not the first time it had happened. Perhaps she wasn’t the only one feeling anxious over the big move. It was the only explanation that made sense. The question then remained of what to do with it. She could close the door and call for him, pretend like she hadn’t seen anything. But that would be dishonest in a way- a lie of omission. The other option was she could just wake him as she had intended to, and prove to him by her actions that this wasn’t a big deal to her.

For a mother to a stallion of action, the choice wasn’t hard to make.

Gently, she rubbed his back. “Soarin, it’s time for dinner.”

The stallion had murmured something unintelligible in reply before he opened his eyes. It took him three seconds to realize that his hoof was still in his mouth, his mother was waking him up, and that she’d seen it. He immediately popped it out, embarrassed, and began to try and stammer out an explanation, to which his mother simply cut him off with the words, “Come and eat.”

Soarin was utterly bewildered. His mother had seen him like this, and hadn’t said a thing. There was no look of disgust, no mocking tone, no disappointment. He couldn’t make sense of it- perhaps because he wasn’t awake enough to. Still, he followed his mother’s instructions and went to eat, simply because he was starving.

His place at the table was already set, and his mother sat at her own. She didn’t talk because she knew he was still waking up and probably shocked, and he didn’t because he couldn’t figure out how to break the silence. He focused on eating instead, and was halfway through his burger when he finally couldn’t stand not acknowledging the elephant in the room anymore. He set down his burger.

“Mom?”

“Yes, honey?” She asked, looking up from her food to meet his gaze.

“You saw…” He couldn’t bring himself to say it out loud and just left it in quiet before saying, “And you’re not disgusted or disappointed or surprised?”

Sky Streak’s expression softened as the love shined in her eyes. “Soarin, I’m not surprised at all. You’re about to make a huge change in your life, and it’s only natural to want to find comfort in something. You’re about to leave your childhood home, so maybe you wanted to have a piece of your childhood to take comfort in. And as for being disgusted or disappointed, why would I be? You used to do it all the time when you were little. It made me smile, actually.”

He was surprised at that. “Really?”

“Of course. For a second it was like I had my little sky sailor back.” She smiled.

Soarin blushed as he recalled the sailor suit that had garnered the nickname. “Mom!”

Sky Streak chuckled. “Oh, stop it. You have no reason to be embarrassed. Every mother in the world has pet nicknames for their children. Just be thankful yours is far less embarrassing than some others I’ve heard.”

He winced a little at the thought. “I don’t want to know.”

She nodded, then continued. “Honey, if this is something that comforts you, then by all means do it. You don’t have to lock yourself in your room for it either. I love you no matter what you do. And to be fair, you could do far worse things than that. All I care about is that you are happy.”

The words were completely sincere, and Soarin felt himself smiling a little. Though not finished with his food, he got up from his seat to go around the table and hug her. “Thanks, Mom.”

Sky streak grinned as she hugged him back, knowing that she had made the right choice. “Anytime, honey.”