PANICKING

Mothers day special

Angstyyyyyyyyyy and fluffyyyyyyyyyy

Alastor nuzzled closer to his mom and a laugh escaped his lips as she tickled him.

"Mama! Hehehe! Stop! I ain't five anymore!"

He squirmed in his mom's lap. He nearly escaped her grasp, but she pulled him back into her lap, and started ruffling his hair.

He screamed and giggled. "Mama!" He burst out laughing as she tickled him a bit more.

"Alastor!" His mom slapped her hands to her cheeks and looked at him with a clearly fake, shocked expression.

"Yeah ma?"

"Why, what day is it?"

Alastor thought for a moment, before he jumped up from the couch and sat on the floor in front of his mom.

"It's motha's day!" The 10 year-old boy exclaimed, grabbing his mom's knees and bouncing up and down on them.

"That's right! And ya know what motha's day means, dontcha?"

Alastor nodded and squeeled in excitement.

"Pa's takin' us out for dinna'!"

"That's right! Ya remember ya're manners?"

The boy nodded eagerly.

"No elbows on the table! Wait for permission to eat! And don't interrupt!"

His mom picked him up and set him on her lap. "Yep!"

-----

The night didn't go as planned...

___

John, Alastor's father, sat down at the round table in the little café. Alastor sat acroos from his father, hands folded on his legs, which had a napkin on them.

His mom sat next to him.

They didn't say a word. The one night Al's father promised he wouldn't drink, he'd gotten wasted.

Alastor kept his head down... He didn't even want to look at his father as he placed a few dollars on the table to pay the bill, and stood up.

They walked home in silence. Alastor hadn't given much thought to his father's drinking before now, but as the young mind develops, so do questions.

And so... When they arrived home, the question that had been nagging Alastor for a good three hours slipped his mouth.

"Pa', why do ya drink?"

The burly, tall man had looked down at his boy, and without another word, grabbed him by the shirt collar.

Alastor let out a small yelp of surprise as he was lifted from the ground.

"Ya want ta know, ya lil' bitch?"

Alastor nodded.

His father dropped him, and Alastor fell on his back.

He got up, rubbed the back of his head a bit, and looked at his father.

"I'll tell ya. I drink 'cause o' you. Ya're a dirty lil' dis'pointment tha' came int' my life. Ya don' deserve ta live, ya lil' rat. Ya got dark skin tha's ugly as hell. Ya're ungrateful, and worse o' all, ya're always smilin'!"

Alastor had dropped his smile. Never once did he smile again, at least not until the day his mother died. The day she said: "Smile, Alastor. Smile until next I see you."

--

Alastor stiffled back sobs as tears shrouded his vision. He put his forehead on his fist and took shaky breaths.

It was mothers day at the hotel... And he couldn't even celebrate. He stayed cooped up in his room. But a sense of pride washed through him as he let tears rolled freely down his face.

He hadn't yet broken his promise. He hadn't seen her yet, and he hadn't stopped smiling.

He wiped the tears from his eyes and looked at the ceiling.

"Ma, I'll find you soon..."

The door to his room opened, and Charlie motioned for him to come.

They went to the lobby.

No one had any mother to celebrate with... And that was fine. Alastor knew he wasn't alone as he spent the day playing games and mourning losses with the others.

It was a sense of joy as he finally, after many long years, let go.

He let his smile falter.

Because his mom didn't want him to smile until he saw her.

She meant for him to smile until he felt loved.

And as the others surrounded him and hugged him, just a small bit of comfort as he cried from the pain of the memories, he knew he had made the promise come true.

He finally felt loved.

---

This book getting too many updates? Nah, y'all love the angst and fluff. Happy mother's day!