A Fresh Start

THREE

"Rise and shine my, little babies" Avi whispered. The sun was barely shining through the windows and it was way to early to be functioning.

"Mitchy, Scotty, wake up. I got goodies from Dunkin Donuts. The moving truck guys just left. We have to leave in 10 minutes." Scott finally opened his eyes. He was curled up next to Mitch and was looking at the empty spot on his other side that Avi occupied that night. He stretched and yawned before sitting up in bed.

"There's my guy," Avi cooed, "Since you woke up before Momma, you can pick you breakfast first."

Scott happily chose a hot chocolate and two strawberry donuts. He was munching away with a smile when Avi literally pushed Mitch into a sitting position.

"Coffee" Mitch grumbled with a grumpy expression and closed eyes.

Avi handed the cup over before picking up Scotts bags and heading towards the door. Mitch and Scott didn't even change for the car ride, just took turns using the bathroom before heading to the car. Avi was beaming from the front seat as Scotty climbed in the back. Mitch locked up the house for the final time before putting the key on top of the door frame. Despite the hellish hour, Mitch was smiling. He finally was going to move to the mountains. Avi was going to paint and write while Mitch made his music in the state of the art studio they paid to have.

Solitude, family and happiness were in front of him, and all he had to do was jump in the car.

So he did.

Mitch climbed in back with Scotty and patted his thigh. Scotty set his head on Mitch's lap and they both closed their eyes. Mitch started scratching be hind Scotty's ear.

"Avi, turn the music off for a sec." Mitch whispered.

Avi realized what Mitch wanted. Scotty was purring. A low rumbled filled up the car as they went down the highway. The music stayed off as Mitch continued to pull the purr from Scott.

An hour into the drive, Scotty blinked his eyes open after a particularly nasty pot hole made the car jump.

"Sorry to wake you, Bud." Avi said as he glanced in the mirror.

"S'Okay Papa." He replied as he stretched across the seat, his tail swishing around.

"We have another three hours. I think we'll stop for lunch a few towns over."

And with that, Scott fell back to sleep.

- - -

They were stopped a diner when Scott brought it up.

"Would you ever want to get a dog?"

Avi and Mitch paused to look at him. Mitch had always wanted a dog, and Wyatt was good with them, but his desire to have a neko outweighed that desire.

"Would you be okay with a dog? I figured nekos and dogs wouldn't get along." Mitch asked.

Scott smiled "I love dogs. It's kinda weird, but when I was living in the alley, my bestest friend was a dog. He protected me from scary people. He was the one who gave me Kevin."

The men were shocked. No one was able to get any information about Scott's past before, and here he was voluntarily giving hints about it.

Avi didn't want Scott to get upset, so he continued the dog conversation.

"Maybe once we are settled in and have some kind of schedule we can see if a dog would be a good fit. How does that sound?"

Scott blushed a but and replied, "I didn't mean to make it seem like I wanted you to spend money on me. But a puppy-dog might be fun to have. Thank you."

Avi replied with a wink before taking a mouthful of his BBQ burger. Mitch chipped in then,

"Hon, you don't have to worry about money. We both are doing well with our jobs. I had to pay a pretty penny just to convince them to let me adopt you."

Avi raised an eye brow at this, and Mitch replied with some weird hand movement that Scott didn't understand. It must have been something Avi understood, though.

"ONE MILLION?" He questioned breathlessly, "How did you do that without me noticing, you sly little minx?"

"I have my ways" Mitch said simply.

Scott was oddly honored to have Mitch drop that much money on him, and he made a pack to be worth that price.