What does Home mean?

New house, new rules.

I was pulled out of the backpack by the nape of my neck and woke up.

Yawning, I stretched and wiped my face with my hands.

I looked at who was holding me and saw Darrel.

"Goo'mornin'." I said a little warily.

"Same to you.

Now, tiny one.

Did you pee in my tomato plant?" He asked gently.

"Which one is that?" I asked.

He walked over to it and pointed at the tree.

"This one." He said.

I nodded.

"That plant is very important for food.

I'll show you where you can pee, alright?" He asked.

Setting me on his left arm, he walked into another room and pointed at a white square with a silver plate that has holes.

"This is the shower.

If you need to pee, pee here.

If you need to poop, I have an old litter box.

I'll put some dirt in it for you but don't pee in it, okay?" He asked.

"Okay." I smiled.

He sat me on the floor and I ran back toward the room where my mom still slept on the couch.

She was twitching and whimpered a few times.

I sat down and waited for her to wake up.

Darrel came back in the room and sat the box next to the wall.

"There, that's your's until you're big enough to use the toilet." He said.

"Oh glorious dirt!" I thought.

That was suddenly interrupted when my mother screamed as she flailed, clawing the backrest of the couch.

Darrel threw a blanket over her and lifted her into his arms.

"It's okay, Charlotte...

You're alright...

It was a dream, girl, calm down..." He softly spoke, his voice was like a soft hum.

My mom started crying and he carried her to a different part of the house.

He came back with a wood thing that had silvery whisker things in it

"What's that?" I asked him.

"A brush." He said gently.

My mom looked at me, worried, until he ran the brush down her back and her eyes rolled up as she went limp.

I laughed and called her a slinky.

Darrel asked why I said that.

"She always calls me slinky when she scratches my back." I said.

He laughed.

So, you fell once when she did, huh?" He asked.

I gasped and stared at him.

"How did you know?" I asked, a little afraid.

"I've had pet ferrets before.

The animals, not morphs." He said, smiling as he kept brushing my mom's fur.

I was a little jealous and asked him to brush me next.

"Sure. I'll be done in about twenty minutes or so."

My mom growled.

"Stop and I bite you." She said with a dreamy look on her face.

"Sorry tiny one, it may be a bit more than twenty minutes.

Man. It's been ages since I was able to do this." He laughed.

"What's that?" My mom asked.

"Brush someone.

The last person I brushed was a coyote woman.

She was a lieutenant in the morph ranks and treated most humans as being garbage.

In private, though, she was a completely different person.

She was a good friend and I was the only human she trusted.

We were often the subject of gossip but we never actually did anything aside from me brushing her fur every night." He added.

"Sounds complicated.

My late husband was about twice my age and fought in the war.

He was missing his left foot and dying from infection when we met.

I nursed him back to health and, well, the rest is history." My mom said.

Darrel looked a little sad.

"May I know how he passed?" He asked.

"Oh, it's fine.

He died in his sleep.

I'm not sure how but, I do know that it wasn't natural.

When I woke up, he was already cold and stiff." My mother said as a tear soaked into her fur.

Darrel stroked my mother's head as he continued to brush her back.

"May I ask you something, Darrel?"

"Of course." He said.

"Why aren't you married?

You've got this nice big home but you lived alone." My mom said.

"Honestly, I never found anyone who I could trust except for morphs and they rarely trust humans so, that's why." He said.

"You would have a morph for a wife?" She asked.

"Why not? Morphs can speak, read and write.

You're just as intelligent as any human.

I can't see an issue with it." He said, leaning his head back and looking at the ceiling.

My mom looked at me.

"Oh, Darrel. Have you got a room that Josie can play in?" She asked.

I got excited and stood up.

"Sure." He said, setting the brush on the end table and carefully moving my mother.

"This way, tiny slinky." He laughed.

"Heeey!" I called out indignantly and charged after him.

He opened a door and there was space that had no ceiling or roof.

There were plants and grass everywhere.

I stared in awe of it.

Running back in, I shouted.

"Momma! There's outside but it's inside!" I darted back toward the magic room and dropped to my belly as I slithered through the grass, rolling around and biting it.

It had a sweet lemon smell and I loved it so much.

Later, Darrel asked if I liked the lemon grass.

I nodded with a huge grin on my face.

After a year went by, I noticed that he and my mother had become closer and closer.

Eventually, I began calling him dad and I didn't even think twice about it.

I did notice my mother moving around more slowly and asked if she was alright.

I didn't understand how I was going to have a brother or sister when there wasn't a boy ferret.

I asked outright, one evening after we ate, and I was told that Darrel is the daddy.

I became an adult before I fully understood it.

Especially since my brother was a normal ferret.

Matthias' fur is red, like Darrel's hair, and his eyes are blue.

He's still a ferret like my mom and I.