Fox Life

Iris was sitting in her office when a loud whine came from a room nearby followed by a thud. A man laughed, and Iris could hear the soft voice of the worker at the front desk.     

'That girl, what is she doing?'     

It was hard enough for Iris to make sure they didn't go under without bringing in her personal savings, so why did they have to create a commotion outside? She needed time to think of a way to find home for more of the pets.     

The man raised his voice, saying something about it being fine, and Iris pushed off her desk. Something clearly had happened and she couldn't leave the young teenage girl to deal with it by herself.     

"What's happening?" she asked upon coming out of her office.     

Right away she saw Spots, a young Dalmatian abandoned in a park nearby with nothing but a name tag. It had taken them a good couple weeks to heal the injuries he'd gotten after running by himself and to nurse him back to good health.     

Why was he then lying against the kennel, whimpering? Bella, the part-time worker, was crouching beside him and petting his head while looking wide-eyed at the man towering over her.     

Upon noticing Iris, she jumped to her feet and ran over. "He said he wanted to keep Spots so I took him out. The little guy was too excited and jumped on the man, who then kicking him away."     

"He did WHAT?" Iris glared at the man, not bothering to hide her fury. "Please leave. We're not letting you adopt this or any of the other animals here."     

"What's this? Don't pretend like you care. That mongrel was about to dirty my suit. What does it matter if I taught it a lesson?" the man said in a dismissive tone.     

Iris went to kneel by Spots who jumped into her hands as if he'd seen his mother. The dog was larger than it was comfortable to hold, but Iris let the big baby stay in her arms until he stopped shivering.     

"I'm not changing my mind," she said without turning her head. "I won't let my pets go into abusive families." After saying that, she whispered a few calming words to the dog and opened his kennel for him to go inside.     

Spots resisted for a bit, whining, then accepted his fate. Seeing his dejected expression, Iris pulled out a treat from her pocket. She mused how after just a year of owning a shelter her pockets were never empty of various animal treats.     

When she stood up, the man took a step forward, crowding her. 'Really? That's your best intimidation tactic?' Iris shook her head internally while smiling on the outside. It was somewhat hilarious how people both mocked her for doing something so insignificant and yet always came to get pets from her shelter just in case this would put them in Kyro's good books.     

"Who do you think you are?" the man said, his spittle flying in her face. "Just because you married some rich guy doesn't mean you're worth anything. Now give me that mongrel so I can leave this disgusting place."     

While saying that, he reached for the kennel behind Iris, but she caught his arm. With a smile, she put more force into her grip, making him wince. "Listen to me now," she said upon pulling him close to her face. "I'm not giving you any of my animals, and that's that. Now leave, or I'm going to call the police. Understood?"     

The man's face went red with outrage, but he couldn't pull out his arm from her grip. What he hadn't considered was that Iris was wrestling with various dogs for most of the day. Although she didn't train, her fitness level had went sky high after starting the shelter.     

Once the man scurried out with his tail between his legs, Iris gave instructions to Bella about how to deal with such people next time and returned to her office. However, before she could even sit down, her phone began ringing.     

'What now?' she wondered when she saw that it was the number of their nanny.     

"Your son turned into a fox! I swear I'm not joking! I swear! I saw it with my own eyes! One moment he was watching the cartoon, then he started crying and in his place was a fox!"     

The young woman was screaming so much that Iris could barely understand any words. Only thing she got was that her son had done what she'd hoped he would be incapable.     

'This day is getting better and better…'     

With a sigh, Iris said she will come right away and see it for herself. When she came, she saw Kyro leaving the elevator in a rush. There was panic on his face, something she'd never seen before.     

"What happened?" she asked while joining him in his rush to the park.     

"The idiot tried to run out of the house, fearing the changeling, and Jared escaped," he answered in a choked voice, and Iris' own heart leaped to her throat.     

Their son, what will happen to him? The boy was only one year old, for god's sake! He didn't know about traffic rules and such! If he ventured into a street…     

Tears threatened to burst out, but Iris forcefully brushed them away. This wasn't the time for it. They had to find their son—now!     

They ran into the park and were about to separate to cover more ground when a dark tail caught their eye. Upon closer inspection, they saw a black cat carrying something squirming in its mouth from near the lake.     

Iris was the first to regain her senses and rushed to the two. Falling on her knees, she scooped up the two lovelies and kissed Lucy a thousand times as tears rolled down her cheeks without end. "You majestic beast, you savior of mankind, our holy guardian angel, I love you so much! What would we do without you?"     

It wasn't long before Lucy decided he was sick of the attention and pushed her away. Iris let him go and focused her attention on the baby fennec in her hands. The little, hand-sized thing was sandy in color just like her and was looking up with its small beady eyes, ears lowered.     

"How could I be angry at you, my dear?" she whispered, kissing him on the head too. "I'm just happy you're okay, so happy."     

Kyro leaned over and caressed the little one's head too. "But don't do that again or your mother will have a heart attack."     

A couple choked laughs escaped Iris' lips, and she brushed the tears from her face. It was all right, her precious baby was safe. Still, her heart raced with the thought of what would have happened if Lucy hadn't went out after the kid and brought him back.     

"That's it, I'm hiring your mom. I don't care if you don't want her in our house. This can't happen again," she declared in an icy voice.     

Grimacing, Kyro nodded. Clearly, as much as he didn't want his parents to be around them 24/7, it was better than risking their little baby's life.     

They returned home then, Iris carrying little Jared and Kyro bringing Lucy. The old cat was no longer as lively as before and didn't move unless there was a serious reason for it. He was surprisingly sickness-free, but age was catching up to him.     

The moment they settled down, the doorbell rang. Iris went to open the door and met Elise who hugged her like they hadn't seen each other for years instead of the day before.     

"What did Gale do now?" Iris asked, already knowing the culprit behind Elise's presence. In the last couple months, her escapes had become a common occurrence.     

Elise bit her lip, looking down. "Nothing. I just brought up the idea of marriage again…"     

Motioning for her to come inside, Iris shook her head. "Why do you love to torture yourself so? That topic has never led to anything good between you two."     

"I just…" She didn't finish her thought since a little fennec came exploring toward them. It wasn't walking steadily, but that didn't stop him from coming to investigate the commotion by the door. "Is that?" Elise asked with wonder in her voice.     

At Iris' nod, she squealed in joy and bent to pick up the little baby. She was his favorite aunt and instantly threw away all her sadness and began playing with him like he was the most fascinating being in the world. Which, of course, he was.     

Iris had never seen such an adorable little fennec before.     

In a bit, Kyro went to pick up Mila from primary school. As he returned, he brought with himself Gale and Lily. Apparently they had all met up in the elevator.     

There was nothing too surprising about it and Iris was about to look away when a redness caught her eyes. Was that a bruise on Gale's cheek? She stood up and came over to investigate.     

Yes, yes it was! She wondered who could have possibly been able to do that to him. In the last three years he had mellowed a lot and become more like the person she'd met at first, cheerful and happy-go-lucky, but his rotten personality hadn't disappeared anywhere.     

If something or someone decided to stand in his way, they were all met with a punch to the face (if force could solve the issue) or were tricked into falling over their own feet (if the situation was a little more delicate). In the whole wide world, there were few people who could get the better of him.     

"Lily's work," Gale volunteered himself before Iris could ask. "I thought I taught her boxing to defend herself, but it seems I was mistaken with her purpose."     

"What made her punch you?" Iris asked while thinking to take his coat, but he shook his head. "I won't stay long. Came here just to drop off Lily and pick up Elise."     

"Suit yourself." There was no way that Elise would come with him after they've just had one of their arguments, but Iris didn't say anything. It wasn't common for Gale to come around first. His pride didn't usually let him do it, especially not in public.     

When Elise saw him, she turned away and pretended not to have seen anything. Her body language was more than expressive enough, but Gale didn't react. He came around and picked her hand up, her top of the hand his away, and his to hers.     

Elise was about to pull away up to thee point when her mouth dropped open and she looked up at Gale with tears in her eyes. "You— I— How? Why? I can't believe." She shook her head as if trying to chase away an illusion. "But you said…"     

Puzzled by what was happening, Iris made a slow round about the sofa to get a good look at what had shocked her friend so much. On Gale's fourth finger, there was a small ring. It wasn't as fancy as Iris' own had been, but she could swear it was an engagement ring.     

Her eyes went wide at that moment. Had Elise proposed to Gale? And he refused? But no, she would have been more distraught if it had just happened. Then… Wait, didn't their big arguments start some three months ago? Back then, Elise had returned all in tears, unable to say anything through them, only swearing to never see Gale again, that he was the worst man alive.     

'Worst man, huh?' Not only had they made up in a week's time, someone had just accepted their ring. Iris was about to step forward to tease them about it, but Kyro pulled her back and put a finger to her lips.     

"I've said many things," Gale admitted, his expression going a little awkward. "It doesn't mean that all of them were true. Just ninety-nine percent."     

With a laugh, Elise rose from her seat and embraced him. They were about to kiss, but Lily with Mila made a lot of noise, and the two pulled apart. Gale glared at his little sister. "Make up your mind! One moment you're so unhappy I'm doing bad by your beloved friend that you punch me, and now you won't let me do well by her?"     

"Kissing is weird," Lily declared. "It looks stupid." Mila nodded by her side in total agreement. The two then skipped away into Mila's room while giggling.     

Gale rolled his eyes and pulled Elise after himself to leave the apartment. "Keep that devil for tonight." His words were followed by the bang of the door thrown closed.     

"Well… that was entertaining." Iris chuckled, hardly believing what she'd just seen. Those two always had the weirdest interactions. "Their life certainly isn't boring."     

Still holding her by the waist, Kyro leaning in to place a kiss on her lips. "And what about ours? Would you call it boring?"     

Before Iris could answer, there was a scream from the sofa—the little fennec was demanding attention. Iris looked up at Kyro and they shared a knowing look, then both burst out laughing.     

"How could I ever call it dull?" Iris said, pulling away from him to pick up the baby. It made itself comfortable in her arms and closed its eyes.     

If there was anything they didn't lack in their life, it was excitement. With Mila unable to control her changes, they had to always think on their feet while trying to explain why she suddenly disappeared from class or was not coming to study for a week. And now even little Jared would join in by making the same type of trouble.     

Iris' shelter was doing well because of all the well-off patrons who wanted Kyro's attention, but it was a double-edged sword. Every donation had to be weighted, and she had to be extra careful with whom she gave the pets, if the people really wanted a companion or just to gain her favor.     

Dioscuri was doing well, but that didn't mean that Kyro was being idle. After their relations with Harril Resources had become a lot warmer, he and Mark did a lot of groundwork for collaboration and expanding both companies. Gale in the meantime ensured that their footing was stable and that no one could pull the rug from under their feet again.     

Kyro went to sit on the sofa, and Iris joined him. She leaned against his side and closed her eyes too. "Do you think I have enough time to take a nap before something goes terribly wrong again?"     

"Doubtful. My parents haven't called in a week, and there's always the—"     

Before he could even finish saying his sentence, the doorbell rang again, and Iris didn't know whether to laugh or cry. How did their home end up as the roadhouse that everyone had to visit on their way anywhere?     

"Iris, open up, I know you're there!" Luca shouted out from behind the door. "I just got an internship, and you HAVE to see this. Hurry up! I can't wait to share it with you!"     

Iris looked at the sky, begging for patience. Was there a way to suddenly renege on your promise to everyone that they were always welcome?     

"You better go to her before she pulls down the door," Kyro said, stretching out his arms to pick up Jared. The boy squirmed in sleep, but didn't wake up.     

"Sleeps like a rock, just like someone else," Iris noted, a teasing grin on her face.     

Kyro caught her arm. "I have more than a few ideas if you don't feel like sleeping tonight."     

There was a suggestion in his voice, and Iris laughed. "Our house is full of children!"     

"So?" he asked innocently. "I can have my mom be here in ten minutes, and it's Friday now…"     

"I did say I want her to watch over them… If she could take them for the weekend, that would be even better I guess…"     

Midway through her speech, Kyro was already on phone with his mom. Iris marveled at his ability to manage it so fast with one hand when Luca's shouts reached her again.     

"See you tonight," she whispered with a light peck on his cheek and skipped away to the door. It had been forever since it was just the two of them in the house, and excitement bubbled within her. She even giggled on her way to the door.     

Who said that age brought strength and calmness of character or seriousness of mind? She was yet to find any of those traits. Every time she thought about her life, she was reminded of a fairy tale, and warmth would fill her.     

From a lonesome duck, she had become a person with a fulfilling job, loving husband, and two adorable children.     

'Heh, I clearly hit a jackpot in life!'     

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