I woke up with my stomach hurting. I guess I made it out alive. I was pretty sure I would die though. I was bleeding pretty heavily when we were in that cave. I wonder how I even lasted all the way to the house. I should probably ask dad or Arthur about that. I looked around to see I'm in my own room. I didn't have any shirt on because of the bandages around my stomach. I felt a hand on my hand. I turned to see mom sleeping right next to me while sitting on a chair. She must have stayed up all night watching over me. I gently took my hand away, trying not to wake her up. She woke up the moment I moved my hand. She sat up and yawned.
"Alex, you are awake?"
"Yes, I am." Mom gave me a smile. Wow, this was going smoother than I expected. I was actually expecting a scolding as soon as I woke up. I smiled back. The next thing I know that smile was starting to creep me out. The smile was getting faker and faker. Her hand came in and slapped me right in the back of my head. "Ow."
"Ow is right. How dare you go to the dungeon without me or your father knowing? I am your mother for god sake. Do you know much I got worried? Or how much your dad got worried?" She let out a sob as she started crying. "Do you know how much Jake was terrified when you were dying right in front of him?" She took a deep breath. It was hard for her not to cry while she was talking. "Alex, I thought you were more understanding than that. When I woke up, I came right to you. What I saw was devastating. No mother should see their son with a life-threatening stab like that." She covered her mouth as she hiccuped.
Someone knocked on the door. Dad opened the door. I was seriously expecting a smile as he saw me awake, but there was no smile on him. Dad walked over to mom and put a hand on her shoulder, trying to soothe her.
"Dad?" He didn't even attempt to answer back. I didn't like the silent treatment he was giving me. Scolding me was better than the silent treatment. "Dad, I'm sorry."
"Sorry won't cut it." He finally talked. "I never expected you to do this. I trusted you a lot. Do you understand the meaning of 'I understand'? That was what you replied to me when I said 'no' to you. Do you now understand why I didn't want you to come to the dungeon with me, Alex?"
"I'm sorry."
"Sorry won't solve what you did. The moment you got stabbed I felt so useless. I couldn't protect you at all. I know my limits, plus the chimera ants were something we couldn't predict. I know you did help us warn about them, but in the end that almost cost your life. That was not worth it. We lost you once, but we finally got you after almost seven years. Do you think we are willing to lose you again? There are reasons why we say 'no'. I don't want to be a bad, strict parent. I want to be a dad that is fun and take you onto dungeon runs when you are ready, but after that stunt, you lost my trust and your mother's. Do you still think a simple sorry is enough?" I kept my head low in regret. I didn't really think about their feelings when I did it. I am so used to doing things without parents in my past life. I'm used to it. I should have thought more about what I was doing. I wasn't Deacon IV Rosevelot anymore. I am Alexander Covington.
"You are right. I didn't even consider your feelings before doing this. You have the right to scold me for not thinking before doing this. I just want to say I really am sorry. I will do my best not to be a disappointing son that I was yesterday." I got up from my bed and bent down low, ignoring the piercing pain in my stomach. I looked up to see mom and dad looking at each other and nodded.
"Fine, but never do this again. I seriously mean it."
"Alright, mom." Mom stood up and hugged me. I groaned in pain as she hugged me.
"Oops." I shook my head. "Oh, Ari has been down ever since you came in. She looked quite depressed."
"I should probably check on her!" I started to walk but was stopped by dad.
"We will bring her in." They really didn't need to. I could call her through mind-link. I took a deep breath. I was about to call her, but she just came in and jumped straight into my arms. She started licking me all over my face. Ari even rubbed her face on my cheeking, purring. She was definitely happy.
'I told I was fine.' I gave Ari a little wink. She responded by giving me another lick. I laughed since it tickled more than her other licks.
"Big Bwutha?" I saw Ami and Arthur peeking out from outside of the door. I greeted them with a smile. Ami walked over and hugged me carefully, unlike my mom. She was just too cute. Arthur didn't come over, instead, he looked guilty.
"Arthur?" Why wasn't he come in? Arthur looked at me for a second before putting on a smile.
"Hey, Alex." Arthur walked over to me and gave me an awkward hug.
"Mom, dad. Can I talk with Arthur alone?" This caught Arthur by surprise. Mom and dad were hesitant at first, but they went out along with Ami and Ari. Once we were alone, I looked at Arthur. "Do you want to tell me something? It's like you had this guilty feeling ever since I came back."
"H-how did you know?" Arthur avoided my eyes. He was feeling really guilty. I mean he was a twelve-year-old, so it was so easy to figure it out.
"Let's just say I have years of experience."