Loona the Caretaker

Reminded Of The Past Too Much

Yes, African food can be quite yummy and delicious, especially for the taste buds of Cody, his brother, Loona, Celeste, and all his friends that were sitting in this nice, Ivorian restaurant. If only food like this was far more popular than it needs to be. As soon as everyone was well-fed in this restaurant, Tommy was more than happy to pay the check to the nice waiter of this wonderful restaurant.

Cody was feeling a little better already. Thanks to the company of his friends and this yummy food to dig into.

"So are you feeling ok, champ?" asked Tex after he took a big bite of a large piece of leftover chicken in a rather large bite as if he was a crocodile.

"Uh, Tex," said Celeste, "You might want to take it easy on ze biting. We don't want anyone to notice your... secret."

"Sorry. This poulet is so good." said Tex. "I could just order some more of these."

"Same here." Loona said. "Hmm, I'll have to come here next time I'm feeling hungry." she even patted her belly in satisfaction.

"I told you guys you would love it." said Tommy

"Fan-fucking-tastic." said Blitzo. "Fuck yeah for Ivorian food."

"Hey hey hey, Blitzo, take it easy on the swearing, sir." Moxxie pointed. "This is a family-oriented kind of place."

"Sorry Moxxie." Blitzo looked a little sheepish. "It's a habit."

"You mean besides drinking and ruining relationships with demons you care about?"

"Hey! watch it, Moxxie." Blitzo glared.

"Guys, please!" Loona said. "Not here!"

"He started it." Blitzo and Moxxie pointed at one another.

"Ughh, you guys are such children." Loona rolled her eyes.

Speaking of which, a little boy with with a blue coat walked up to Cody and recognized him. He had blonde hair and still had somewhat of a baby face with slightly chubby cheeks on him. "Cody." he said.

The older kid looked at him and smiled to see him. "Ned, hello." he said.

"Good evening, good evening." said the littler child before sticking his fingers in his mouth.

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm here with my mommy and daddy." said Ned. He then opened his arms for a hug. "Sit with you!"

"Ah, ok." said Cody with a smile.

"You're cool." said Ned.

"You know this kid?" asked Loona

"He's my neighbor... before it happened." Ned then hugged Cody like he was a role model for him.

"Big head." Ned pointed at Moxxie. "You have a big head."

"What?" Moxxie sounded a little offended. "My head is not big."

"Yes it is." said Ned. "Lobster man."

Loona couldn't help but snicker. "I like this kid already."

Moxxie just growled at her. "of course you would."

"You look funny." the kid began giggling. He looked at Loona and then back at Cody. "Pretty lady. Where did you go, Cody?"

"It's a long story." said Cody.

"I like stories, tell me!" Ned sounded excited.

"Ned?" said a man's voice. It was Brian, Ned's father who had a potbelly and black hair in a buzz-cut. "Ah there you are."

"Daddy." said Ned. "Daddy, daddy, daddy." he sounded happy to see him and giggled again. Brian chuckled and picked up his son, holding him with his right arm.

"Come here, buddy." then the man was accompanied by a woman with blonde hair and a fur coat on her.

"Mommy." Ned smiled.

"Oh Cody, hello." said the man.

"Hi Brian." said Cody. "Hi Margaret."

"We were worried about you." said Ned's mother.

"Yeah. And sorry if Ned was bothering you. He's quite the explorer." Brian added. "Yes, you are a little explorer, scamp."

"Daddy." Ned said again.

"So, where have you been?" Brian couldn't help but ask his neighbor.

"Well..."

"I've been taking care of him, sir." Loona helped out. "Yep. I saved him from the fire and he's safe with me."

"Oh. A pleasure miss..."

"Loona." said she.

"That's a beautiful name." said Margaret.

"Listen Cody, we were looking for you and we wanted to help you out after the... accident." Brian said. "Take you under our wing."

"I'm touched, but I'm happy with Loona."

"Yep. She likes him a really good deal." Blitzo added. "Let me tell you, Cody is one of a kind."

"We're really sorry about what happened, Cody, Tommy." Margaret gave her condolences.

"No, it's not your fault guys, stuff like this happens out of nowhere."

"That's the scary part of life, unfortunately." said Brian. He looked back at the nine-year-old kid. "You ok, Cody?" said Brian to him

"I'm ok. I'm happy to be with Loona. I miss mom and dad though."

Ned began grunting and struggling a little bit, opening his arms towards Cody.

"Oh, you want to hug Cody, buddy? Oh you're so nice. Ok." Brian gently put his son down and the littler boy walked up to Cody and hugged him to try and make him feel better

"Sorry your mommy and daddy go bye-bye." said Ned as he was hugging him

"No, it's ok, Ned. I'll be alright." Cody reassured him.

"Well come on, champ. Time to get you home to bed." Brian said.

"How old is he?" Cody couldn't help but ask.

"He just turned two years old three months ago." Margaret said. "We couldn't be any more proud to be called parents."

Cody looked sad at how this reminded him of when he was littler and his parents were there for him.

He began flashbacking at how he got his first steps at walking when he was a baby and when Tommy was seventeen. Yes, it was really coming back to him. Just seeing Ned with his parents like this made him feel left out since Cody recently lost his own.

"Well, I'll see you guys, soon." said Cody. "Bye Ned.

"Bye Cody." the two-year old child said before putting some of his fingers in his mouth again.

"You know, you should play with him some time, Cody." said Brian. "He looks up to you like a role model."

"Sure. I would love to some time. But I prefer to come to your house and do it."

"We understand, honey." said Margaret. "Ned will love it when you visit him."

"Bye big head." Ned said to Moxxie, making the disguised imp groan. It just made the toddler giggle in response to that reaction.