Kiara's Daycare, Four Years later

Kiara's Daycare, Four Years later

It was a rather easy day at the daycare, with only two kids to care for, Mike Young, a young donkey kid and Tanya Allen, a slightly older Cheetah cub. It was rare to have so few at this time of the day.

Usually, they’d have 7 kids by 10:00 am.

“It’s been kinda slow lately, actually…” Kiara mused. Indeed, it had been. It was nothing like four years ago, when everyone and their sister wanted Kiara to take care of their kids.

“Well, it makes sense Kiara.” said Neela, one of the caretakers Kiara hired. “Kids get older, and can handle themselves better, so parents can trust them on their own.”

“And it doesn’t help that they start going to school as they grow up,” Added Roy, another caretaker.

“Good point…” Kiara sighed. “Still, I miss having all those kids around and having fun with them…”

“So do we, Kiara. But I did hear that with the new McColley Inc branch office in town, there might some new families, and maybe some more kids.” Roy mentioned, “though I can’t make promise.”

“Doubtful.” Kiara scoffed. “I don’t think new kids could be like the ones I’ve cared for.”

“You really do miss them, don’t you, Kiara?” Neela asked.

She nodded and hung her head despondently. Neela put a hand on her back. “I miss them very much. Tommy, Zeo, Jeremy, Reggie, Nathan, Leon-”

DING DONG!

Kiara perked up. “Who’s here?” She proceeded to the door, and opened it. She was surprised by who was there.

It was Leon, with his mother, Luna.

Kiara’s jaw dropped. Leon was older now. Instead of being the tiny husky she remembered, he was an elementary schooler. His brown hair had grown longer and he’d grown at least a foot and a half.

But it wasn’t just the two of them, there were a couple more kids with Leon and Luna. One was a short silver fox with blond and pink hair, the other was a tall otter with a blue ponytail.

“Mrs. McCloud, Leon, it’s nice to see you again.” Kiara said, trying not to show her joy. “and who are these two boys?”

“These are my new brothers!” Leon said, beaming. “Meet Nicky and Haru!”

“Hello Nicky, Hello Haru.” Kiara greeted politely.

“Hello,” Nicky said, waving a trembling hand.

“Hi.” Haru says nothing more.

“There’s a hornet nest at the school, so the school is closed till they can clear the bugs out. But I... still have my job you know.” Luna explained.

Kiara nodded. “And you want me to take care of your boys for you?”

“It’s been a while... but yes. You’re the person I trust the most with my children, even now.” Luna admitted.

Kiara nearly cried. “Oh, thank you! I’ll gladly watch over your children. Please, do come in.” The lioness ushered the husky and his brothers inside.

“you’ll like this place, guys, promise.” Leon assured his brothers.

Haru the otter shrugged. “If you say so.”

Nicky the fox looked around nervously. “Have you been here before?”

“Over 20 times! Mom used to drop me off here all the time when I was five years old. Kiara’s a wonderful caretaker, there’s fun stuff to do, games to play, a playground in the backyard, and if we feel tired, she’s got a guest room where  we can rest.” Leon said.

Haru made a note of that in his head, but a thought hit him. “You know, something might have changed since you were last here. It’s been four years, after all. Suppose Kiara had to get rid of something or change something?”

Roy then stepped in, grabbing Nicky and Haru’s attention by scaring them, “Or make new additions.” He said, “Hello, I’m Roy, Kiara’s college from and hired caretaker here at KC.”

Haru jumped. “Whoa! Where did you come from!?”

“The Kitchen, sorry if I scared you. But the otter kid’s right. There are some changes, The Playroom has new games and the game system that came up. There are now bunk beds is the guest room, to make more space in case we have more nappers, as Kiara calls them. We now have a library for kids with homework... aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand... we now have a pool along with the backyard playground.” Roy grinned cheesily.

Leon blinked. “Really? Wow!”

Nicky and Haru also blinked.

“Um... can I see that Library?” Nicky asked.

“I’d like to see the pool please.” Haru requested.

“Sure... what are you names?” Roy asked.

“I’m Haru, and this is Nicky,” Haru introduced. “Leon, wanna come with us?”

But before Leon could answer.

“New friend” a young voice said. Leon, Haru, and Nicky looked to see a young donkey kid, accompanied by Neela and a Cheetah kid.

“Eh? Who are these?” Leon asked.

“These are Mike and Tanya, two kids in our care today.” Neela said.

“Oh.” Leon smiled, then turned to Neela. “Say, Neela, how’s Mason? I haven’t seen him at school in a while.”

“He’s home sick with his papa.” Neela said, “Nothing bad, just a cold and nausea.”

“Aw… tell him I hope he gets better soon, please?” Leon asked.

Neela nodded. “Can do.”

Nicky noticed Mike and Tanya had swimwear on. “Are you… going swimming?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Tanya said, “Have you looked outside, it’s a clear sky, great weather, nice and warm, it’s the perfect pool day.”

“Sounds great!” Haru grinned. “What do you guys say?” he asked Leon and Nicky.

“I’ll take a dip.” Leon said.

but nicky was a little nervous. “Um... swim suits?”

“We have plenty of clean swim trunks you can use, and float vests if you need one.” Neela said, seeing through Nicky’s ruse and reading him like a open book.

“Well, okay.” The little fox blushed. “I can swim… I’m just scared to…”

“Don’t worry, Haru and I got your back.” Leon assured, and Nicky smiled.

“Roy, can you take the three boys to get dressed for the pool? While I take Tanya and Mike out to swim.” Neela said.

“Sure.” Roy smiled and doffed an imaginary hat, taking the trio to a changing room.

~~~

Leon got changed first, putting in a pair of blue swim trunks and a matching water shirt. “like it?” Leon asked.

“Lose the shirt and you’re cool,” Haru suggested. “We have fur, y’know. Not like Max. Remember him? That human who transferred into our class before spring break?”  

Leon nodded, taking off the shirt.  “This better?”

“Mhm.”

Leon smiled, “So now they use this for more than just getting ready for naps or bed.” he said, looking at the changing room.

Nicky blinked. “Huh?”

“Well, like I said, we kids, when tired were allowed to nap in the guestrooms, or even in the playroom, but sometimes the parents are REALLY REALLY busy, so the kids actually have to spend the night.”

“Oh,” Nicky said. “Is Mom going to be that busy?”

“Not sure.” Leon said, “anyway, Miss. Mage has a closet of Pajamas for the kids that need a nap or stay the night, and if you were lucky, she’d let you keep your favorite. But only if you were a good boy.”

“Interesting,” Haru commented, putting on his swimtrunks. “Did you get anything like that?”

“Yeah, I got Arctic, my favorite Husky Plushie, and I got two cute little sleepers, one in normal blue and a Blue camo one.”

“So that explains the little pajamas, the ones you said ‘please don’t ever touch these’ right?” Haru said, joking a little.

“Shut up!” Leon shoved his otter brother.

“Haru, you do realize those were in his memory box, and he said not to touch it... did you go through it?” Nicky asked.

“No,” Haru scoffed. “I caught Leon rifling through it and saw the PJs.”

Leon blushed. “Well... those were the ones that Miss Mage let me keep, because they were my favorites.”

“It’s okay brother, we understand.” Nicky smiled before going to get changed.

Eventually, the brothers were changed and ready to go.

“How bout we check out that pool?” Leon said, as they met back up with roy.

“Sure thing! C’mon out back, kiddos.” Roy led the trio of kids outside. It was a stone-lined, star-shaped pool, growing deeper as one moved closer to the center.

“Wow, that’s cool!” Leon said, noticing Mike, Tanya, and Neela by the steps going into the pool.

“They wanted to wait for you, so you could all play together.” Neela smiled.

“Sounds good to me!” Haru jumped into the water, creating a HUGE splash.

The other kids shielded their faces from the splash. Mike quickly used the steps to get in, Tanya following, Leon and Nicky coming in right behind.

“Cold!” Nicky whimpered as he entered.

“It’s hot outside, you know.” Leon reminded.

“Still, cold water.” Nicky sighed as he grew used to  the water’s temperature.

“Oh, kids!” Neela offered the kids goggles to see underwater.

Haru declined. “I’m an otter, I’ve got a nictitating membrane.” He dived in and began swimming around.

Leon accepted, getting a pair in blue. “thank you.” He said, putting them on. “Perfect!” He, like his brother, dived in, and the two were soon engaged in a fun swim through the pool.

“I wanna swim too!” Mike said, proceeding to go swim.

“Whoa hold on.” Neela said, gently pulling the young donkey out of the water. “If you wanna swim in the deeper ends,” She brought him to the float vests, “You’ll need to put one of these on.”

“Okay.” Mike smiled, as Neela put a small vest on him, and buckled it up good and tight so it wouldn’t come off in the water.

“Okay, you’re good to go.” Neela smiled, patting mike on the head, and watched as mike got back in the pool and went swimming. “I remember when Leon was only mike’s age.”

“Yeah,” Roy chuckled. “He was such a silly little bugger, that Leon. Always getting into this and that and being goofy.”

“But he was also a sweet little kid, bringing Kiara flowers and apples, and being a good little boy.” Neela smiled. “I wish some of the newer kids were at least half the angels that Leon and other kids were.”

“We still visit, you know,” Leon mentioned. “We haven’t just disappeared out of your lives.”

“And we appreciate that, but some of the newer kids we’ve watched in recent years, they are more... rambunctious and mischievous, Tanya and Mike are some the only angels we’ve watched over in the last year.” Roy explained.  

“Well, kids are like that,” Nicky reasoned. He ducked a beach ball Haru and Mike were throwing around.

“Seeing those kids play volleyball reminds me of that weekend trip to the beach.” Neela said.

“It’s not volleyball,” Haru said. But his curiosity was piqued. “What beach trip?”

“Oh yeah, back when I was five, Miss. Mage invited me and some of the other kids to a beach trip on a saturday, I remember Jeremy, Nathan, Mason, Zeo, Ryan, Cody.”

“Wait... Ryan... as in... cousin Ryan?” Nicky asked.

“Oh... yeah... No one ever told you did they?” Leon said, rubbing his arm.

“What?” Haru tilted his head.

Leon sighed, “Okay, here goes. Ryan was adopted. one of the caretakers saw him being abandoned on the road when he was 3. Miss Amelia brought him here, where I had first met him when I was 5. He was cleaned and fed, but Kiara didn’t know what to do.”

“And after letting the little one stay a few days, that was when your Uncle Lycan came along with his son, Kit!” Roy chimed. “Lycan adopted Ryan, and everything was settled.”

“So, Ryan was a frequent here too?” Haru asked.

“You bet! Kit stayed home, but Ryan was always here.”

“Anyway, about the beach.” Leon continued. “We played volleyball, swam in the water, built sandcastles, did a little shell-hunting, but as with most fun, it was over faster than we wanted.”

“Yup,” Neela sighed. “But it was funny when Jeremy got a crab caught in his shorts!”

“True.” Leon agreed. “I miss Jeremy. I mean, I still have his Skype, but it’s a shame he had to move away.”’

“I know the feeling…” Haru sighed and darted away from Tanya, who was trying to splash him.

“Leon, go play, we can reminisce more a little later.” Roy said.

“Alright.” Leon shrugged and began a splash fight with Nicky.

~~~

After a little more fun in the water. The other kids began to notice that Mike was getting a little tuckered out. The donkey boy was rubbing his eyes, yawning.

Luckily for him, his mom arrived at the door just as he was about to nod off.

“Mikey!” his mother’s voice rang out. “Mikey, where are you?”

The other kids helped Mike to Neela, who picked him up. “We’re here in the backyard!”

Mike’s mother ran in and picked up her son. “Mikey! How was your day?”

“Fun...” Mike yawned. “but, now, nap time, Mommy.”

“You can have a nap when we get home, sweetie.” Mike’s mother smiled, cuddling her beloved son.

“Oh, Miss. Winters.” Kiara said, coming outside, with a small backpack. “Here’s all of Mike’s things, I wouldn’t want him to lose them.”

“Thank you, Kiara.” Miss Winters smiled. “Thank you very much. It’s twenty dollars for taking care of Mike, yes?”

“Yes.” Kiara confirmed, smiling as Miss Winters paid her upfront. “You know, you can always pay through my Paypal account, it saves a lot of trouble for most parents.”  

“I prefer to pay upfront. It’s less of a hassle.”

“I understand, and remember, Mike’s welcome anytime.” Kiara smiled.

“Gotcha.” Miss Winters took her leave.

“...that’s the first time I’ve seen someone pay Kiara.” Leon blinked.

“Nobody pays this woman?” Nicky wondered.

“Oh, they do pay, but not usually up front.” Roy said.

“Most payments are done online, through Paypal, and Kiara also gets local city funding and people donate to the daycare after how well we’ve treated kids... and Kiara sometimes lets a few freebies slip.” Neela explained.

“Interesting,” Haru mused. He smiled. “I like Kiara.”

“Welcome to the club.” Leon said.

“That’s right, many children like Kiara, and even call her a second mother.” Roy said. “She’s great. She took care of me when I was little too!”

“WAIT! how old is she?” Nicky asked, “She looks at most in her 20s.”

“It’s rude to ask a woman’s age,” Neela admonished, “but Kiara is 50.”

Leon, Nicky, and Haru blinked.

“It’s a amazing what good health and exercise can do.” Kiara smiled.

“I’ll have to make a note to go to the YMCA more often, then,” Haru joked.

“now then, how bout we come in for some lunch and playroom time.” Kiara suggested.

As they came into the house again, Leon got curious about something. “Hey, Kiara?” he asked,  tugging on his ear.

“Yes, Leon?” Kiara asked.

The ear-tugging continued as Leon asked his question. “Umm… remember a long time ago, when the daycare had the special magic that did things to make mine and my friends’ time here more enjoyable... I don’t see the sparkles it makes on some of the walls.”

Kiara sighed. “That’s the problem… after you started going to grade school, the magic began fading, and eventually, it disappeared entirely. There’s none left. Magic fades, just like everything else.”

“so... no more Daycare magic?” Leon asked.

“No more daycare magic, Leon.” Kiara sighed.

“That’s a shame.” Leon sighed.

“But we’ve been about to do without. After all, people don’t really rely on magic.” Kiara said. “Kiara’s daycare is still a wonderful place.” Leon smiled.

“That’s good!” he chimed, letting go of his ear at last. “How about lunch now?”

“Oh, of course! How do sandwiches sound?”

“Peanut Butter and Jelly?” Leon said.

“Peanut butter and jelly.” Kiara nodded. “We have peach, strawberry, grape, and blueberry.”

“Grape for me please?” Leon requested.

“I’d like blueberry please.” Tanya said politely.

“Grape?” Haru asked.

“I’d like peach, if it’s not a bother,” Nicky asked.

“Very well, I’ll have them ready in no time, have a seat at the table in the meantime.” Kiara said.

Leon trotted over to the table and sighed fondly. “I remember when Kiara tought me how to make cheesecake,” he murmured to himself, twirling a lock of his hair.
‘
“What was that about Cheesecake?” Nicky asked, his fox ears twitching, as he and the others sat down.

“Nicky... you and your fox ears, but since you asked, Kiara taught me how to make No bake cheesecake. it was fun, and the cheesecake turned out great.” Leon playfully punched Nicky’s shoulder.

“Ohh… so that’s why you know how to make it.”

“Yep.” Leon smiled. “Kiara and her caretakers taught me and the other kids lots of thing. some no bake recipes, certain what NOT to dos, the younger kids, myself included, even got some math lessons.”

“Math?” Nicky raised his eyebrows. “You think she’d tutor me? I’m awful at math.”

“Oh course, your mom’s payments covers anything I have do to help you or to keep you happy. Besides, I love kids, I enjoy helping them.”Kiara said, as she and Neela served the kids their sandwiches.

Haru took a bite of his sandwich. “This is the best sandwich I’ve ever eaten!”

“Better than I remember!” Leon said, eating his.

“Wow, this is really good” Nicky said, enjoying his sandwich.

However, just as Tanya as about to take a bite of hers.

DING DONG!

“I’ll get it!” Kiara ran to the door and was confronted with Mrs. Haley, Tanya’s mother, upon opening.

“Hello, Mrs. Haley, the meeting go well?” Kiara asked.

“Very well,” Mrs. Haley confirmed with a smile. “How was Tanya? Did she behave?”

“Yes... but... she’s in the middle of lunch.” Kiara said.

“Okay then. I’ll wait.”

Kiara smiled. “thank you.” Kiara walked to Tanya. “Your mom’s here, Tanya.”

Tanya looked up from her snadwich, face messy with breadcrumbs. “She is?”

“Yes, but she’ll wait for you to finish lunch, then you need to go get your backpack, okay sweetie?” Kiara said.

“Okay.” Tanya nodded and returned to her sandwich.

After she got done, she went upstairs, grabbed her backpack, and came to the front door.

“Hi, sweetie! you have fun?” Mrs Haley asked her daughter.

“Yeah!” Tanya hugged her mother. “Thank you for taking me here!”

“Of course, Kiara’s been call one of the best child caretakers in the county.” Mrs. Haley said. “Ready to go?”

“Ready!” Tanya was lifted up and carried away.

“soooo... now its just the three of us... till at least 4...” Nicky said.

“Yeah…” Haru finished his sandwich.

“How bout a tour?” Kiara suggested, “again there are some new things. and You two need to see the whole house.”

“Sure, why not?” Leon shrugged, Nicky and Haru nodding.

“okay, then, and I know just the place to start.” Kiara said.

~~~~

“The Playroom.” Kiara said, and Nicky and Haru, at the sight, had their  jaws drop to the floor in awe.


“It’s huge,” Nicky breathed.

“It’s decadent,” Haru added.’

There were toys, games, coloring books, art supplies, TVs with over 100 movies and another tv with video games, and a LOT more.

“It’s amazing,” Leon said with a chuckle. “C’mon, let’s play!”

“Whoa, the tour, sweetie?” Kiara reminded.

“Oh right.” Leon remembered.

“If you kids ever need to find the Playroom, just follow the blue lines on the walls, the red lines lead to the bathroom and changing room, but the yellow line leads to-”

~~~

“The Library.” Kiara said,

Leon gaped. Books. Books everywhere. Fiction, non-fiction, comics, textbooks, manga, cookbooks.

Nicky nearly fainted. “It’s beautiful.”

“This room is for those that need a quiet place to do homework, study or just to read, but the big rule is the same as any library.” Kiara said.

“No talking?” Haru asked.’

“So SHHHHHHH.” Kiara smiled. “now next, the Green line leads to-”

~~~

“The Detention Room.” Kiara said.

“Detention?” Leon tilted his head. “I don’t understand.”

“It’s like Time out, detention at school, the penalty box in hockey.”

“I’ve never known about this.”

“that’s because you’ve never misbehaved, no one has.” Kiara said. “If you misbehave and it’s on purpose, you go to detention and I tell your parents what happened.”

“Oh, I see.” Leon understood.

“Next is!”

~~~

“The Guestroom.” Kiara said. The guestroom was a low-ceilinged room draped in floral decor and overstuffed chairs, a coffee table of glass in the center.

“Um... where are the bunkbeds?” Leon asked.

“We had to sell them. There are beds upstairs now, instead of here. We converted this room into a room for relaxing and quiet time... speaking of the bedrooms for the kids-”

~~~

“Here it is.” Kiara said. “The bedrooms. Kids stay here if they need a nap or if they have to stay overnight.”

That made Leon remember something. “Hey, where are your kids? Kemba and Monica?”

“They started an after school group, I believe it’s a... oh, what was it again…” She snapped her fingers. “It’s an astronomy club!”

And as if on cue…

Bang!

“Mom! We’re home!”

“Kemba! Monica!” Kiara said, as they came running.

“Leon? Is that you?” kemba asked.

Leon turned around. Kemba and Monica, Kiara’s children, had grown, just like he had. Kemba was now a few inches taller than Leon, and had a small mane of black hair. Monica had also grown taller, and her golden fur sparkled more than ever. “That’s my line!”

“Well I guess we’ve all grown a little, and are these new kids?” Monica looked at Nicky and Haru.

“My brothers, Haru and Nicky!” Leon stood by his brothers.

“Brothers, Cool!” Kemba smiled.

“You and your family, Leon.” Monica said, “First your uncle Lycan adopts cute little Ryan. Then your Aunt Darcy adopts that sweet angel, Aisha. Next, your uncle Smithers adopts that good boy, Matthew. AND NOW your dad adopts two boys that look just as sweet and likable as you.”

Nicky blushed. “Well, shucks.”

“My Family never leaves a good kid without a home. Ryan was just an innocent little kid who needed a home after being abandoned. Aisha is, as Monica said, an angel, she’s really kind and caring. Matthew’s such a good kid, helping others, giving good ideas, and making people happy. Haru is a little quiet and sarcastic, but it’s nice, he even provide it early by helping Mike when he was nodding off. And Nicky, he’s a very nice kid.”

“Yeah, Nicky does seem like a complete sweetie.” Monica said.

Nicky blushed even more. He looked away shyly. “Uh, I need to go iron the watermelon…” he mumbled.

“Oh, Monica, I’m currently giving the boys a tour, you and Kemba should get to your homework.” Kiara said.

“Aw,” Monica pouted. However, she galumphed off to her room obediently, Kemba tagging behind.

“That better, Nicky?” Kiara asked.

Nicky nodded. “That was surreal. I’ve never had anyone talk to me like that before… it was really creepy.”

“Anyway, you’ve seen alot of the other places in the house, but there’s one more place you haven’t seen, not even you, Leon. It’s-”

~~~

“-a special room I call the room of Memories.”

Haru snorted. “Kind of a corny name.” The room was small, dark, and serene, painted light blue and filled to the brim with boxes and tins and jars.

“It’s not finished,” Kiara said, “I was going to wait till about this time next year, to make this place a big display room.”

“And what were you going to display?” Leon looked around and picked up a tin.

Kiara smiled, as she opened a box, and the boys looked inside.

Inside were photos. Lots of them, and all of them involved Leon.

“Momentos of the children i watched over the years.”

“Hey that’s from the beach trip, when me and Cousin Ryan were at the beach together!.” Leon said picking up said photo. Leon was building a sand castle, while Ryan, a young husky, Like leon, was running away from a crab.

“This is when Leon and Cousin Matt were out watching fireworks!” Haru pulled up a photo of Leon and an otter boy. Leon was eagerly watching the fireworks, while Matthew had an iPod on, looking somewhat distressed.

“Oh, it’s a photo of Leon sleeping with little Ryan.” Nicky smirked and waved a very, very compromising photo of Leon and Ryan, wearing footed pajamas and sleeping together, in Leon’s face, Leon was sucking his thumb in the photo. “Ooh, just think of all the likes this’ll get on Snoutbook.”

“Don’t you dare,” Leon grumbled.

“Nicky, don’t,” Haru reprimanded. “I know you’re mad because Leon pushed you into the pool last week, but that’s no reason to be spreading his baby pictures all over the Internet.”

“Party pooper.” Nicky groaned placing the photo back. “Hey... has anyone else noticed that all these photo are of or include Leon?”

Kiara nodded. “This is a box full of mementos of Leon’s daycare days.”

“Why a box just for me?” Leon asked.

“Because you were honestly my favorite kid to watch over. You were kind and caring, playing with and helping the other kids, helping me in with certain tasks, and you were just so sweet, and these are two favorite photo of all.” Kiara pulled two photos, one of the entire first group of Daycare kids, including Leon, and one of Leon and Kiara.

Leon blushed. “Aww… shucks.”

“Leon was an angel at age five.” Haru said.

“Miss Mage, why wait? how bout display some of the photos and Mementos around the house?” Leon suggested.

“That’s actually a good idea, Leon.” Kiara smiled.

“Oh Boy...” Haru and Nicky knew they’d be put to work for about-

~~~

Half an hour. No effort really. The picture frames and mementos were small and light, and easy to set up.

On the wall by the front, kiara had displayed group photos of the kids from each year. In the hallway, she set up photos of the trips she’d taken with the kids. And she decorated the playroom with some of the drawings, ornaments, little piece of art, and other gifts that kids have made for her.

when it was done, all that was left were some boxes of photos of some of the first kids.

“Roy, Neela, could you call some of the kids parents and let them know we found some photos for them to have?” Kiara asked.

Roy nodded. “Sure.” He ran off to the phone.

~~~

With some parents picking up their boxes, Leon decide something.

“Miss. Mage, can I talk to you?” Leon asked.’

Kiara turned towards him. “What’s wrong?”

“Well… I think, maybe you need to let go of the past,” he stated.

“What? What do you mean?” Kiara asked.

“Well, all those photos and stuff… it feels like you’re hanging on too tightly to the past.” Leon frowned. “I dunno, that’s just the feeling I get.”

“Well... sometimes I could go back to when you kids were those ages so that I could enjoy those wonderful days.”

“I understand, but you can’t. you have kids to care for and parents counting on you. But don’t worry, me and the others can come and help out and stay every so often. You haven’t lost us.”

“You promise?”

“I promise.” Leon smiled.

“...Thank you Leon. I’ll keep moving forward.” Kiara smiled, hugging Leon.

Leon hugged back. “I have one last thing for you.” Leon handed Kiara a small wristband with a blue crystal hanging off it. “A friendship Bracelet, I’ve been waiting to give it to you.” Leon said, pulling up his sleeve to show himself wearing one with a pink star hanging from his.

Kiara smiled, putting it on. “Thanks Leon, now lets get back to the others,” She said , the two returning to the others.

Almost immediately, there was a final knock at the door, and Kiara ran to get it. At the door was Luna’s husband, Lupin the wolf.

“Hello there, Kiara. I’m here to pick up my boys?” Lupin asked. “and those photo boxes your helper mentioned.”

“Of Course, your boys were good kids.” Kiara said, as Leon, Haru, and Nicky came, Leon carrying his photo box and haru carrying Ryan’s.

“That’s good, here, $100.” Lupin handed the hundred to Kiara.

Kiara blinked and took the money. “$100? But your kids only cost $60 to take care of.”

“A little extra for all you’ve done already for Leon.” Lupin smiled.

“Thank you, then. I hope you boys have a good night!” Kiara smiled and ushered the three kids towards their father. “and your kids are always welcome here at Kiara’s daycare.”

“thank you.” Lupin said, as he and his kids left, Leon, haru, and Nicky waved at Kiara.

As kiara waved back and looked at the friendship bracelet from Leon, she remember his words, she would let go of the past, and continue her role as a caretaker. Kiara continued on as the one people trusted with their children.