Grown to Love

Chapter Two

As they were given their plates, Fox and Wolf quickly began eating their breakfast. "Woah, slow down you two." James said as he pulled his hands away from the plates as the mouths of Wolf and Fox made way to the food. "I know you're excited but you can wait." James then sat down at the other end of the table and watched as the two boys were already half way done with their plates. Fox took his orange juice and drank half of it. "We can't be late! Why didn't you tell us yesterday?" James shrugged. "I guess I forgot. And I didn't think you two would get so excited about it." "How would we not?" Wolf replied with a mouth full of bacon. He swallowed it and took a quick drink of his juice. "Tony is a really cool kid at school. It's a big deal to get to go to his birthday party!" "And now that he's ten, he'll probably get really cool gifts for his birthday. I wanna know what he gets cause then maybe we can get the chance to play with what he gets." "Fox," Fox turns his head to his father. "Hm?" "Is that really why you wanna go?" "No." Fox drank the rest of his juice and took it to the sink, stepping on his tippy toes to reach the bottom of the sink with the plate. "There'll be a lot of my friends there too, and maybe Tony will wanna be my friend." James gives a small smile then looked over at Wolf. "And why're you so excited to go?" "Uh," Wolf wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "I don't have a lot of friends who ask me to spend time with them. I wanna go out and spend more time with others. I'm always here so I don't ever get bored." Fox stands next to Wolf soon after and grabs his arm. "Come on, come on, come on! We don't wanna be late. We have to go get ready." Fox starts pulling on Wolf's arms and begins to drag him up to the second floor. "Oh, uh, thanks again for the breakfast Mr. McCloud!" His voice slightly fades as he's dragged up the stairs. James stands and picks up the plate. Peppy then walks up to the kitchen from downstairs. He had been standing with a coffee mug in his hand as he watched Wolf get dragged away by Fox. "And you said he could influence Fox in a bad way." James spoke without looking over at Peppy. "I mean, did you see how he spoke to me? I've told him many times he could call me James and he still gives respect. And he said it himself, he's always with Fox." "I know, but that's now, James, think of the future, the possibilities that could happen." James shakes his head. "I say let the time come and then we'll see what happens."
The car comes to a stop in front of a large white house with Black roofing. James turns around in his seat and gives Fox a bag. "Remember, play nice. If anything happens you just ask to call me ok?" Fox nods. He eagerly starts to take his belt off. "And Fox," Fox stops and looks up at James. "Yeah?" "Listen to Wolf and Tony's parents. I'm serious ok?" "Yeah, ok." Fox takes his belt off completely and opens the door to the car. He jumps out with the bag in his hand and closes it. Wolf places his hand on the door handle. "Wolf," he pulls it and the door clicks but he doesn't push the door open. Wolf looks over at James. "Yes Mr. McCloud?" James chuckles. "Wolf please, I've told you before, you can call me James." Wolf swallows and clears his throat. He stays silent for a moment as he looks out the window before looking back at James. "Yes, James?" James smiles. "Watch over Fox will you?" Wolf nods and makes his way out of the car. Fox and Wolf walk up to the door and ring the doorbell. A woman opens the door and she looks down at the small dogs. Wolf observes the woman's features. She was clearly a tiger. She gave the boys a pleasant smile. "You two must be Wolf and Fox. Tony's been waiting for you two. Come on in." She let them in and they stood awkwardly in the large house. There'd been balloons and streamers everywhere from the stairs, to the ceiling and floor. "We brought this for Tony." Fox said quietly. He held his hand up, holding the up bag. "Oh how sweet of you." The woman gently took the bag and walked over to the kitchen. Wolf continued to look around, now having adjusted to how clean and bright the house was, despite the decor. He saw how the tiger was dressed in a pair of tight black jeans and a maroon shirt, long sleeved with open shoulders. She had her hair done in a side bun, made of a type of braid. She also wore black heals and a pearl necklace that matched her earrings and bracelet. "Anthony!" She suddenly called out. "Come take these two boys to Tony's room." A tall and decently built man in a suit walked in from the living room. His mane was combed neatly back and his shoes shined as he walked toward the two pups. "Ah, Wolf O'Donnell And Fox McCloud, finally here. Please, come with me. Tony's right upstairs with all the other kids." He began walking up the spiral staircase and had Wolf and Fox follow. Wolf leans over to Fox. "Now it makes sense." "What does?" Questioned Fox quietly. "Tony's a liger. I didn't get it at first but it's because his dad's a lion and his mom is a tiger. It also makes sense now as to why he's so cool, his family is rich." "Oh." Fox's ears perk up as he now connects the dots. They reach the second floor and walk to a large hallway. At the end was a pair of two large doors. Anthony, now known as Tony's father, opened the doors and revealed a room full of about ten other small animals. "Tony, they're here." A liger, dressed in a pair of white pants with a pastel blue shirt walks to the doors and he smiles. "Wolf! Fox!" He took the two by the arms and pulled them into the room. "Glad you guys could come!"
For about two hours the children did nothing but play party games and run around the house or yard. When the time came, everyone had come to the kitchen to eat cake. As they ate, there was chatter all around. Wolf eventually looked around, observing everyone else there. He hadn't bothered seeing who was there but it didn't matter. He knew only three of the faces. He noticed soon, though, that everyone there was two or three years older than Fox and apparently, Fox had noticed too. He sat awkwardly next to Wolf picking at his cake. Wolf cleared his throat and looked over at Tony. "Hey Tony?" Everyone quieted down. Tony looks over at Wolf. "Yeah?" "I don't want to seem like I don't like it here but, why did you invite me and Fox?" Tony scoffed. "Because you guys are awesome." "Huh?" Fox then slightly looks up from his cake to Tony. "I've been trying to invite out guys since I turned six but I was always so nervous to ask you guys to come." "Why would you be nervous around us?" Fox asked quietly. "Because you're dad is leader of Star Fox! And Wolf, your dad works with General Pepper doesn't he?" Wolf nods. "But you're rich." Tony waves his hand. "Pfft, that has nothing on you guys. I'm just glad you came." Fox, Wolf, and Tony then smile at each other.