Holiday Tales

Mommy Dearest

Dedicated to my mom and sister

The forest was quiet as the sun began to peek through the trees. The six little Eevees looked out. It was a warm May day and they had a special mission.

"Come on," said Heart, the oldest of the litter.

Her sisters Snowflake and Lotus and brothers Spark, Fireball, and Forest followed her out of the den. The other members of the group, all Umbreons, watched the little Eevees. However, not one made a move to stop them. While their Uncle Midnight was the leader, everyone knew that it was really their father Shadow who ran the group.

Everyone expected the siblings to evolve into Umbreons since that's what every Eevee in the group evolved into but their parents were letting them choose what they were going to evolve into. Not that they were letting the rest of the group know. In fact, the rest of the group didn't even know the siblings by the names Heart, Snowflake, Lotus, Sparks, Fireball, and Forest. The knew them as Night Star, Moondancer, Night Angel, Shadow Racer, Midnight Runner, and Shadow Jr.

"And where are you going?" came a commanding voice.

The siblings turned to see Night Shade, the most dominate female in the group...at least of the female Umbreons.

"Nowhere," Heart said.

"Don't give me that, Night Star. You and those half-breed siblings of yours are up to something and that worthless mother of yours more than likely put you up to it."

"We aren't half-breeds," Lotus said. "We're Eevees."

"And Mom's not worthless," Forest said defensively. "She's the best mom in the world. And she's way more dominate that you."

Night Shade growled and started towards the siblings.

"Night Shade!" came an extremely commanding male voice.

There stood the siblings' Uncle Midnight. Despite the fact that it was his brother who ran the clan, Midnight was the leader. However, he was losing ground to Shadow and he knew it. His only chance at staying on top was to make the others believe he had his nieces and nephews' best interest in mind.

"Midnight," Night Shade said. "They were being disrespectful and..."

"...And they're six-month-old Eevees. Leave them be."

Night Shade backed away. It was no secret that she was vying to be Midnight's mate and was attempting to prove she was the best female Umbreon while still being submissive to him. Midnight looked at his nieces and nephews.

"Don't go far, don't go beyond the forest, and stay out of everyone's way," he said.

The siblings ran off and soon came across another female Umbreon.

"And where are you little cuties off to?" she asked.

"We're on a super secret mission to surprise Mom," Snowflake said.

"And where is this mission taking you?"

"Into the forest," said Spark.

"Well, a Darkrai was seen in there not long ago so maybe I should go with you just to keep you safe."

"You would do that for us, Luna?" Fireball asked.

"Of course I would."

With that, Luna lead the siblings towards the forest. They were joined by her friend Sombra who insisted on coming to help protect the Eevees.

"Thanks for coming with us," Heart said as Luna and Sombra walked her and her siblings back to their parents' den.

"It's no problem, Night Star," Luna said. "We need to talk to your parents anyway."

The Eevees' parents were waiting outside the den when they got there.

"Mom," Lotus said running up to them, "look what we got you."

Fireball came up to their mom with a big bunch of her favorite and namesake flowers: lilies.

"Thank you, Midnight Runner," Lily said taking the flowers.

"Do you like them, Mom?" Lotus asked.

"Of course I do, Night Angel. They're beautiful."

"Why don't you kids go inside and play," Shadow said. "Your mom and I need to talk with Luna and Sombra."

"Okay, Dad," Forest said as he and his siblings ran past them and into the den.

"They're really cute," Luna said.

"They're almost ready to be apprenticed, right?" Sombra asked.

"Soon," Shadow said. "Midnight isn't showing any interest in selecting mentors for them so I'll have to."

He, Lily, Luna, and Sombra entered the den and sat down in the main chamber. They could hear the siblings playing in their playroom.

"They're smart," Luna said. "I'm sure they'll learn quickly."

"As soon as they're ready, Night Star and Shadow Jr are your apprentices," Shadow said.

"You mean Heart and Forest," Sombra said. "We know those are their real names just like Moondacer's is Snowflake, Night Angel's is Lotus, Shadow Racer's is Spark, and Midnight Runner's is Fireball."

"Do Midnight and Night Shade know?" Lily asked useasily.

"No," Luna said. "All Night Shade cares about is becoming Midnight's mate. She doen't care about anything else."

"And Midnight only sees what he wants to," Sombra said. "We could leave right now and start our own clan and he wouldn't notice."

"When the time is right," Shadow said. "I don't want anyone making a move until we're ready and I give the word. Let the other's know."

~*~

"Did you have a good day?" Lily asked as she settled her children down for bed.

"Yes," Snowflake said.

"Did you like the flowers we got you?" Spark asked.

"I did. They're very lovely and my favorite."

"Mom, what were you, Dad, Luna, and Sombra talking about?" Fireball asked.

"Never you mind for now. You'll know when the time is right. Now it's time for bed."

The siblings snuggled into their nests as their mother nuzzled each of them.

"Mom," Lotus said as Lily licked her good night, "happy Mother's Day."

Lily smiled at her daughter.

"Thank you, sweetheart."