Missy was also aware of the changes with both of us and adjusted to it accordingly.
The door was no longer locked behind her since her trips were so spontaneous now. It had never stopped us from making ourselves at home anyway.
The bowls of food got bigger to compensate for our added energy being burnt. Water was even added that Stew liked to play with more than drink from. We had the tap for that.
It was the little things that let us know she was still thinking of us.
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The littlest of them all was also the most terrifying.
Exactly one month and thirteen days after first venturing off on the random trips to help decide on her path, Missy returned home with a piece of cardboard tucked under her arm.
Folding it out, she placed the empty box on the kitchen counter.
One look between us was all I needed to know what she had decided. Guilt sat behind her eyes when Stew lifted up to inspect the new object closer.
"What's the box for?" she smiled to me.
Missy rubbed Stew's head before coming to me to do the same.
"Stew, Soup, let's sit."
Missy sat on the couch and had Stew right beside her in an instant. I kept to the floor so Missy could stroke the side of my head looking up at her.
"Stew" Missy started slowly and quietly, trying to find her words "Soup, there's been something that's come up in the city I've been going to."
"What's that?" Stew peered up at Missy whose smile back was sad.
"Do you remember ages ago when I talked about the festival they had?" she directed mainly more to Stew than me "I talked to a young man who played the fiddle. Well, he's been helping me with my dresses lately to get them seen by more people. It was seen by someone very important."
"That's good!" Stew's tail batted the couch in excitement as she looked to me "that's really good, Soup!"
"Let her finish" I shushed her, not wanting to be the one to crush her spirits.
She was so naive. Her mind was totally gone from the box to focus on Missy's bright future.
"They want to offer me a place where I can work with others and get my designs out there; an actual paying job."
Missy smiled now and scuffed Stew's head as she gasped and nuzzled her face happily.
Missy rubbed mine now too, grinning between the both of us. But, then it was gone. Her smile slipped when she placed Stew back at the end of her tucked legs.
"I'll have to move away."
Stew's tail stopped beating. Her ears dropped a little when she looked to me again.
"Are we leaving the house?" Stew asked me "I like it here."
I swallowed around the burning lump in my throat and tilted my head to Missy.
"We aren't. She is."
Stew gazed at Missy's glistening eyes and whined as she tried to climb up her again.
"They don't allow animals" Missy gently pushed her back down and kept her hands around Stew's shoulders "they want me to start in two weeks time."
"But...." Stew pulled from her touch "....we aren't animals. We can go with her, Soup! We can still live together!"
Her voice was cracking as it whined out. Stew didn't know what to do with her body that backed up to the end of the couch and sat there in disbelief.
"I don't want her to leave!" Stew choked out, her eyes glistening as they already threatened to spill over "she's my Ma!"
"She's got a whole life waiting for her" I sniffled back when my own tears danced in my vision "maybe one day things will change?"
"Not one day; now!" Stew cried out and threw herself back onto Missy to huddle in the wrapping arms that stroked her back "I d-don't w-want you t-to g-g-goh-oh-oh!"
Her words were yanked out of her heaving body clinging tight. Missy sobbed as she laid her head on Stew's, her tears running down her skin to mix with the tears already flowing.
"I really don't want to leave you both. I want to take you with me" Missy blurted through her breaths "I love you both more than anything else. It's been..... tough."
She must have been playing over it all in her daily trips. It took her so long to come to this conclusion. It was killing her as much as it was us.
I leant up to bury my head into Missy's shoulder. With Stew whining into her chest and Missy sobbing beside me, my own pain cut through my trembling lips.
We were huddled there, crying into each other. Our arms held on desperately; as if any one of us would disappear if we let go.
When Missy regained her trembling breath, she pulled up to gaze down to both of us.
We tried to steady our tears, sniffling, trembling, and gasping.
"Whatever you do, i'll never forget either of you" she vowed as Stew whined again "you were the best things to happen to me, you know that?"
Her fingers lifted Stew's chin before gentle hands wiped her eyes. With a little sigh, the same fingers wiped my eyes and held my head.
"I'll come see you again. You know they won't be able to ever replace this."
Gazing around the house with a small smile, Missy sniffled through a new wave of tears.
"Someone has to be here to race the train with you" she forced a smile that made her laugh.
Stew snuggled back into Missy's chest. I snorted and smiled at Stew.
"We've been getting very good at that too."
Stew nodded, rubbing her head on Missy lovingly.
She wasn't going to leave us behind. Even though she thought we'd stay obediently in this town, we had been training for this outcome.
"We're ready" I nodded.
Stew's ears perked up, sliding across Missy's face in the process.
"We'll follow her. There's plenty more I can teach you about living under the open skies."
Stew's tail slowly started up, hitting the couch again to gain Missy's attention.
"What are you two planning now?" she muttered to us.
"We.... aren't leaving Ma?" Stew sniffled.
"Now, why would I let that happen? We can't be with her, but we can still be near her. We are just animals; we roam wherever we want, and if that happens to be in the same city as Missy, then so be it."
Stew giggled, lifting her head to nuzzle against Missy's.
"You won't be alone, Ma" Stew's voice purred in happiness.
"We aren't going to make you do this alone" I vowed to Missy's confused, tearful face.
"So, you aren't mad at me?" Missy choked out.
I gave her another hard glare while Stew shook her head.
"Oh!" Missy held her mouth that trembled through more tears "thank you!"
Forgiveness is all she wanted from us. She must have been torturing herself enough with the worst possibilities for weeks now.
I eyed the empty box on the counter. For something that had me broken and fretting before was surging excitement for a new beginning elsewhere with Stew.
Rolling hills of grass, glittering stars sprayed above, the smell of hot rain before it hit the earth; it would all be hers to discover through new eyes, and I would be the one to soak them in once more with her.
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Missy didn't waste a moment in her last two weeks.
Her first visit was to Temmit to let him know about her plans. In doing that, Missy also handed him over a fat envelope as repayment for letting her stay in her cozy home, plus a bit extra for missed ones.
They had a back and forth on accepting the gift, until Missy raced to her scooter with a wave to force Temmit to keep the envelope in his hands as he smiled after her.
The next stop was to Bartie to let him know he could stop setting aside a paper for Missy.
Even if she didn't read them, Bartie still set one aside, just in case. With Mearve there too, Missy was introduced to the new assistant who had her looking over towards us when she noticed the darker skin along his arms he tried playing off as birthmarks.
She was fascinated by him. He would be her only glimpse into what our true forms would look like, since she hadn't seen them herself. Even if it was a false vision, Missy was amazed.
After she was pulled out of her daze, Missy scooted to the vets next.
With the team inside responsible for helping out Stew, she wanted to thank them personally and break the news.
A gift of another stacked envelope switched hands that hesitantly accepted it. With the vet running mostly on donations, a generous one should keep them afloat for more urgent medical equipment.
They tried to refuse it, just like Temmit had, but knew that money like this wouldn't pass thier hands again. With the acceptance, Missy was gifted the same blanket Stew had been wrapped in when she first arrived.
Bundled in the cupboard and used to soothe many more creatures since then, it had grown worn with love and had even gained a few patches. With Stew rapidly growing since her once malnourished state, it was noticeably smaller too. Still, Stew cherished it dearly.
In a chorus of farewells and thank-you's, we were on our way again to follow Missy through the town.
The shops she visited recounted their time with giggles or smiles at Stew and I, sharing the same amusement with each new story added on during her travels to tie up loose ends.
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Sleepless nights were spent cutting and stitching together new dresses. I stepped into the sewing room to see her beloved mannequin draped with a shimmering white dress that looped at the bottom with beautiful bows. Each middle of the bow had a fake rhinestone Missy was gluing on. Her face lit up when she saw me watching her, beckoning me over to join her.
Now that Missy was bringing a breath of colour and whimsy to the city, people were taking notice. Paired with her fiddle player, the duo seemed to be doing really well. She could afford new fabric like this glittering one. Something so far out of reach was finally hanging in her room.
She was finally being noticed for her hard work. She wasn't just treading water now, but cutting through it effortlessly.
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Her success was reflected in the meals we ate. The meat was higher quality and not as smothered in layers of fat. The fresh and exotic vegetables replaced the ones from the garden that had given all it could. Simple soup turned into seared steaks with sides of vegetables. Flavours were no longer watered to spread them further. The joy in Missy's heart reflected in her exploratory meals served up. Even Stew ate up all of it, including the eggplants she grimaced through.
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