In my last story with Fireball, he had had night terrors, and Cobalt and I had to comfort him. Fireball started to have some thoughts about us that night. But what happens when those thoughts are laid out to us? This story has the answer...

_______________________________________________________________________

It had been a while since the night Fireball had his night terror, and the little fox's mind was swirling with thoughts since then. Not about the night terrors, but of his owner, Jake, and his Boyfriend, Cobalt. The two had spent quite some time comforting him, which had started a very long train of thought.

Fireball thought back on his life with Jake. The Blue Buizel had taken him in after he had lost his family to a bear attack and had been loving and caring to him since they met, and so did Cobalt when he came into the picture. Looking back on all their moments together, they felt more like parents to Fireball than they did owners. This led to the fox calling Jake and Cobalt as his daddy and papa respectively when he thought about them. However, he hadn't spoken to either of them about these thoughts. He was worried about how this would affect their relationship.

Meanwhile Jake and Cobalt had noticed the change in Fireball's behavior. Whenever they played with him, it seemed that he was always focused on something else. The Buizel and Pikachu decided to talk to each other about it. "I'm worried." Jake said to Cobalt "This isn't like Fireball, he's usually very cheerful." "You think it was because of those night terrors he had a while ago?" Cobalt asked. "No, he felt better after we reassured and comforted him." Jake replied "He only just started acting like this a few days ago." "Maybe he's having trouble with a bully?" Cobalt puzzled "Certainly not." Jake answered "He spends most of his time with us or Matt's family. If he was having bully problems, we'd know about it." Jake sighed "I just don't know what could be wrong with him..." he said worriedly. "Maybe we should do what we should have done already and ask him." Cobalt suggested. Jake looked to him "Yes indeed. We'll do it later."

Later came when the three finished watching a movie together. As soon as the movie finished, Jake and Cobalt decided to ask Fireball about his recent change in behavior. "Fireball, are you feeling alright?" Jake asked. "Oh, u-uh, I'm fine." Fireball answered with a hint of nervousness. "It doesn't sound like it." Cobalt replied "Not to mention you've been looking like your mind was in another place these last few days." "It hasn't, I'm alright." Fireball insisted. "You aren't, it's clear as day." Jake said "What's wrong?" "Nothing's wrong Daddy, I'm alright!" Fireball cried. It then dawned on the three of them what Fireball had said. Fireball then ran out of the living room. Jake and Cobalt looked at each other. "Did he just call you "Daddy"?" Cobalt asked the Buizel next to him. "Yeah, I heard it quite clearly." Jake replied "This must have been what was bothering him." "We should go and talk to him." Cobalt said. "Too right." Jake said.

After a bit of searching, the found Fireball huddled in Jake's closet. the fox looked to have been crying, and looked scared when the Buizel and Pikachu found him. Jake picked the little fox up in his arms and the three went and sat down on Jake's bed. After a while of Jake slowly rocking Fireball in his arms, the fox had calmed down. Jake then placed Fireball on the bed in front of him and Cobalt. "We want to know what's going on with you." Jake said. Fireball looked at him, worried. "Fireball, you don't have to worry about anything. We love you no matter what." Jake continued "Whatever is bothering you, we'll get through it together." he promised. Fireball took a deep breath and finally told them.

"Ever since that night a while ago, I've been thinking about you and Cobalt." Fireball explained "I've looked back on my time with you, Jake. From when you saved my life to when you comforted me when I had night terrors. I know that I'm a pet and that you're my owner, but you feel a lot more like a dad to me than an owner. And I've felt the same way with Cobalt since our first time meeting too." Jake and Cobalt listened. "I was scared that if I told you about these feelings, that you would think I was a freak." Fireball concluded.

"Fireball, you aren't a freak. And we would never think about you that way." Jake said. "Indeed." Cobalt added "We both love you very much." "It's actually very sweet that you think of us as your dads." Jake said. There was a long silence before Fireball spoke up again. "Daddy? Papa?" he said, gesturing towards Jake and Cobalt respectively "Is it ok if I call you that?" The Buizel and Pikachu couple smiled "Of course you can." Jake said "C'mere." And the three shared a long hug together. Fireball was happy that he now had parents in his life again, and Jake and Cobalt were happy that Fireball was able to come out with his problems.

The three eventually split the hug. "Thank you." Fireball said. "You're very welcome." Jake replied "And remember, if you every have any problems, You can always tell your daddy or papa about them." he promised. "We love you." Jake and Cobalt said to Fireball. "I love you too." Fireball said back. The three, tired from the days events, decided to just lay down and go to sleep. Fireball lay between his two dads, happy to have them in his life, and happy knowing that no matter what, they would always be there for him. With that, he shut his eyes and drifted happily off to sleep.