Baby Bunny Brother (Xix' Flash Backs) 1
Xix watched his brother drive away down the gravel road in the truck he gave the rabbit for his sixteenth birthday. He felt the tell-tale prickle in his nose; the prelude to embarrasing tears. His mom came out of the house and looked into her eldest son's eyes. She offered him a handkercheif. "You shouldn't stand out here with all of this gravel flying around. It gets into your eyes and stings like hell!" she said with a knowing smile and a wink.
"Yeah," Xix agreed, taking the cloth and blowing his sniffling nose, "Get's into your nose too..."
His mom put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm gonna miss him too."
At this Xix's facade disintergrated. "Aw, Mama!" He fell into his mother's arms, even though now he towered over her, and cried. He sobbed like he was five instead of twenty-three. Lorna held her son while he nursed his broken heart.
After a time, when he was reduced to those embarrassing hiccups and sniffles, he turned blood-shot eyes to his mother. "Mama? D-d-did we do summin wrong?"
Feeling nolstagic for the days when she could pull her cub into her lap and promise him that nothing could hurt him, Lorna ran a paw through her sons cut-short mane. "No, Cubby," She cooed, "He was more'n a brother to you. I saw it. Your daddy saw it."
"Then why's it hurt so much?" Xix pleaded.
"Because your heart's so big it let you fall in love with two people," she whispered, "Very few are so lucky, Cubby."
"But I couldn't love them both... It wouldn't be fair to them..." He continued for his Mama, "I had to choose..."
"And it wasn't easy, was it?"
"Still aint..." he took a couple of deep breaths. "Mama? I still remember when you brought him home..."
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"I still don't get why I gotta share my room!" a twelve year old Xix argued for the upmteenth time, "Especially for some kid who isn't even my real brother...!" he muttered.
"Now you stop that!" His dad growled, "He's a good boy and deserves a good home."
Before Xix could argue the point further they heard the family car pull up the driveway. Curiosity got the better of young Xix and he rushed for the door. Peering into the dusk through the screen door, He watched his mom holding a large suit case in one paw while trying to coax something out of the back seat with the other. Straining his eyes he could just barely make out a small form. As if it knew it was being watched the thing turn and stared at Xix with big, red eyes!
"Daddy!!!" Xix ran for his life to hide behind his dad, "Don't let it in, Dad!"
"Didn't I just tell you to be nice?" Maul said to his young son.
"But it's a monster! Its eyes glow red and everything!" Xix said, desperately trying to make his father understand. "Its got mama already! Don't let it get us too!"
"I'm warning you, boy!" Maul was losing his patience. Xix just didn't understand what it was like to be in the foster care system, or worse, an orphanage. But Maul knew. That's why he convinced Lorna to do this with him. Pay it forward and all that.
Xix knew his dad wouldn't listen so it was up to him. He put on his best tough-guy face.
The bunny had been nervous the whole car ride to hiis new home. He didn't have a real name yet; just a series of nicknames: Kid, Bunny, Cutey, Jail-bait, Bitch- He shook his head hard enough to make his ears flop. 'I won't think that way!' he vowed, 'These people are different. They might be scary lookin but they've been real kind to me!'
He was pulled out of his thoughts by his door opening. His new mom smiled down at him. "Have you piicked a name yet, little one?"
As nice as these people were he always lost his voice when they spoke to him. He shook his head. "Don't worry," His mom smiled, "we'll figure it out. Now come on, your daddy and new brother are waiting."
A new brother! A kind, protective, big brother!
Just then the bunny felt that he was being watched. He turned to look at the house and found what was staring at him. A pair of yellow eyes stared back. Then a mouth openedto reveal pointed white teeth, then vanshed. Hearing commotion in the house was the last straw. His new family had a wild beast in their house! He buckled himself in and reached up and grabbed his new mom's hand.
"What on-" the lion was caught by surprise and pulled her paw free.
The bunny Started to whimper and cry. Shaking his head hard. 'No, Mommy.' He wanted to shout, 'We can't go in there!! There's a monster there!' but still he could not find his voice.
Lorna, unable to understand her new son's warning, kissed him on the head. "Ok little one, you can come in when you're ready." and so turned towards the house. She hadn't seen the beast! 'NO!' He shrieked silently, 'I WON"T be an orphan again!' He summoned all of his nine-year-old courage and ran to his mom, clinging to her skirts. 'If she goes out, I go out!' His heart felt it, his mind thought it, but his body would have bolted if he weren't clinging to the skirt. The bunny did what he always did when he was scared. He made his face all froze so no one would see it in his eyes
As the two entered the house the boys caught each others eye from behind their parents. The lion cub's scowl seemed to have little effect against the monster's cold stare, like wise, the bunny's froze-face seemed to have little effect on the beast snarlling behind daddy.
"This is your big brother Xix!" Mommy said stepping from between them.
"And this" Daddy said moving as well, "Is your new kid brother!"
Xix sized up his new apponent. He'd never seen anything like this new "brother". He was short. His furr was all white and looked kinda soft. His ears were floppy and hung behind his head. He might almost be cute even with the red eyes if he weren't looking at him all creepy like...
For his part, the bunny thought his brother was big enough, and looked stong too. He had really pretty yellow eyes and sandy spotted fur. A brown mane was starting to grow. Would be cool looking if he weren't glaring at him like a beast...
The two boys stared at each other for so long without speaking thay Mama and Daddy got a little worried.
"Xix? Aren't you gonna say anything to your new brother?" Maul said.
After a moment the cub stammered, "L-look, no one's gonna kill-, er, hurt my family! Got it?"
'Does that mean me, too?' the bunny thought, 'So does that mean he wants my name to be...?'
"Killer...?" the bunny muttered.
"What?" Mama asked, stunned that the bunny was talking so easily to Xix.
"My name's Killer... Mama..."
While the over joyed parents scooped their sons, Xix and Killer, into their arms, no one noticed how the cub turned pale. 'He admitted it! He IS a killer!"
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"You really thought that?" Lorna said laughing. "Killer always thought that you'd named him on the spot!"
"No way, Ma! I thought he picked that name to spite me!" Xix laughed. When he stopped he felt another stab of pain. "He didn't leave me a number to call him with this..."
"You two'll have plenty of time to talk about this and other stuff later." Lorna said, "He's hurt but he'll recover... and he'll run right back to you. As your little brother."
"Thanks, Ma," Xix said kissing her cheek. "I gotta go, I'm meeting Leanna tonight. Wait till she hears about this!"
As her eldest dashed back inside, Lorna sent a prayer after her youngest: "Come back soon, Little One... your brother's gonna have a hard time without you..."