Chapter 2: New Problems
Deidre had broken her hip, a bad injury for anyone but at her age even more so. Not wanting to risk the independent old woman hurting herself even more, her son Francis made sure the hospital would keep his mother in bed until she was healed enough to come out.
Not that Deidre could go anywhere, but she was stubborn enough to try.
Francis promised his mother that he would keep an eye on her chickens, making sure they were fed and if she was still in the hospital, he would gather the eggs for her once they started laying. Then Deidre asked him to check on her Fluffies as well which took Francis for a loop.
When the hell did his mother get Fluffies?
A quick explanation of Maggie and Glenâs plight and a chiding for not calling over Christmas set Francis right, after promising his mother heâd keep them safe, Francis left the hospital and went straight for his motherâs house. Francis never liked coming back to this house, part of it was the constant reminders of his late father, where Deidre liked to have memories and keepsakes around the house, Francis preferred to move on and let the past be the past.
Mostly though, it was the reminder that he wasnât as close to his mother as he used to be.
Inside the house, the Fluffies were sad and hungry, they hadnât anything since yesterday and were worried that their Big Mummah wasnât coming back. Then they heard the door opened and instantly the whole family ran over to greet their Big Mummah.
And only found confusion and an unfamiliar man.
âHewwo? Who yu?â Glen asked as politely as he could.
Francis jumped slightly, he never told his mother but he didnât really care for Fluffies. He wasnât an abuser but he was far from a hugboxer, he found their high-pitched voices and weird lax attitudes to sex to be unnerving and creepy. Hearing Glen speak reminded him why he disliked the creatures.
âUm, Iâm Francis. Iâm Deidreâs son.â
Glen gasped happily. âYu Big Mummah babbeh. Gwen happy tu meet yu, am Gwen, dis am speciaw-fwiend Mag-ee, and dis am babbehs.â
The four foals waved at Francis. âHewwo Fwan-sis.â
Maggie stepped up neck to her mate. âWhewe am Big Mummah?â
âWhat? Oh, um, mumâs in the hospital, she broke her hip, likely be there for a while.â
The Fluffies all looked crestfallen, Maggie cried as Glen gave her a comforting hug. âBig Mummah be ok, she stwong. Bu wha happen tu Fwuffies?â
Francis shrugged. âWell Iâll be coming here to feed the chickens, might as well try to feed you too.â
The foals cheered. âYAY, NYU DADDEH.â
âNO!â
Francis barked louder than he intended, Iris and Tom ducked under their motherâs arms while Betsy cuddled into Travis. All four shit themselves in fear.
Francis cleared his throat. âSorry, I mean I canât be your new daddy, I donât have time to. Deidre is still your⌠mummy, I just donât want you to forget about her.â
Glen nodded. âFwuffies neba fowgit Big Mummah nice Mistah, wub Big Mummah, wan hew tu be safe.â
âYeah yeah, look Iâm gonna feed the chickens, then Iâll come back and deal with you later, ok?â
Maggie looked like she was about to protest but Glen stopped her.
âDat ok, Fwuffies wait hewe.â
Francis looked over the family one more time, decided he still didnât care for them, and walked out to the back garden, picking up a bag of chicken feed and a scoop. Once he was gone Maggie turned to Glen.
âSpeciaw-fwiend, need nummies fow babbehs miwkies.â
âNummies come soon, nu wan be push-ee, nu knyo Fwan-sis, nu wan him tu be bad hoomin. He say Fwuffies git nummies soon, Fwuffies can wait wittew wonga.â
Outside, Francis took the bag of feed over to the chicken coop, while spring was definitely in the air, it was still early enough for there to be a slight chill so most of the chickens were still inside, making feeding time an easy chore for Francis. He had no problems feeding the chickens, heâd done it a few times since his motherâs retirement and he knew he could hire Old Man Caruthers in town to help when the eggs needing collecting. But Fluffies? He had no idea where to begin with them.
Putting the feedbag down so he could scoop with one hand and grab his phone with the other, Francis called the one person he knew had dealt with Fluffies in the past; his cousin who worked as a manager for a breeding farm.
The phone answered after a short ring. âHello?â
âGareth? Itâs Francis. Listen, you heard about mum right?â
âYeah, broken hip is serious, especially at her age. She alright?â
âDoctors want to keep an eye on her but she should be ok, providing she doesnât overexert herself. Hereâs the thing though, turns out mum got herself some Fluffies?â
âFluffies? Where the hell did she get them?â
âSome fucking ferals knocked on her door, bleeding heart she is couldnât let them go. But now she wants me to look after them and I got no fucking clue where to begin.â
âHmm, how many she got?â
âTwo adults, seem to be a couple, and about three or four kids, they were talking but only a few words at a time.â
âLikely the kids are still on their motherâs milk, that might complicate things. See despite what you might have been led to believe, Fluffies can survive on a meal every two or three days, its why you see so many starving ferals about the place. They just ask for more because eating is a comfort for them, feeding time means theyâre safe, now the problem is the kids, because theyâre still reliant on the mother, sheâll be constant in asking you to feed her so she can make milk for her foals. Milk makes babbehs big and strong as they say. And trust me, it will be constantâ
âChrist, I could barely be in the room with them for two minutes and they never even asked me for anything. That fucking voice.â
âTell me about it. Look your best option is to limit your exposure to them, the more they see you as a source of food, the harder itâll be to reacclimatise once Deidreâs out of the hospital. Stop by every two or three days, donât interact with them, just fill up their food and water and leave, that way theyâll learn that you are not their âdaddehâ and theyâll either have to ration out their food carefully, meaning you wonât have to deal with emptying the litterbox as much, or theyâll starve.â
âSounds easy enough, I canât believe mum made it sound like such a chore.â
âPeople who spoil their pets have a harder time since the Fluffies always demand more, you teach them to enjoy the little they have and youâll have a much easier time with it. The only other thing Iâll mention is the radio.â
âThe radio?â
âYeah, see much like dogs, Fluffies have separation anxiety, only itâs much, MUCH worse. So owners will usually put the television on to distract their Fluffy while theyâre at work. This is dub for two reasons, firstly, Fluff-TV is the fucking worst thing for a Fluffy to watch, even if you block out the obvious triggers like Dancie Babbehs theyâll still be something to set them off in one way or another. And secondly, the electricity bill will shoot up through the roof, especially if Deidreâs in the hospital for a while, so just throw on a radio, something light and easy, and the happy songs will distract them enough.â
âAlright, will do, cheer for the help.â
âAnytime Francis, just give us a call if you need anything else. Talk to you later.â
The two cousins hung up and went back to their business, Francis thought for a moment and placed the chicken feed and scoop onto a shelf in the coop, that way he could still feed the chickens and distance himself from the Fluffies inside.
Once he set up their food and the radio, he wasnât planning on seeing them again anytime soon.
While Garethâs advice wasnât strictly wrong, it was bad advice for dealing with Fluffies. Unfortunately for Travis and his family, Gareth didnât like Fluffies and Francis didnât care enough to question anything.
That first meal time, Glen and Maggie heartily gobbled down their kibble in time for Maggie to feed her young, Iris and Tom filled their little bellies happily while Travis and Betsy managed to be sated, if not completely filled.
Then the time went by, and no second meal came, the family was confused. Had something happened to Francis, had he forgotten about them? As the dark-time hit, Glen quickly foraged the kitchen for a few scraps of strewn kibble to give the foals a final meal before bed. What he found was barely enough for Iris, let alone all four of them, and the foals went to bed hungry for the first time in their short lives.
The next morning wasnât any better, when their usual breakfast never arrived, Glen and Maggie started panicking.
âWha du bout babbehs?â Maggie cried. âBabbehs need miwkies, nu wan gu foweba sweepies.â
âIt ok speciaw-fwiend, Gwen wook fow udda nummies in homesie, be ok tiww Fwan-sis ow Big Mummah git bak.â
Maggie remained unconvinced. âHuu, babbehs hab tummeh-owies, am bad mummah, nu can gib miwkies.â
Glen gave his mate a quick nuzzle before searching through the house to try and find food, the only benefit to Deidreâs sudden accident was that she was unable to shut the doors before she was taking away. The Fluffies had free roam of the house and were thankfully clever enough to avoid most of the dangers.
As Glen went away, Iris toddled up to her mother, trying to grab a hold of one of her teats. Maggie looked down and pushed Iris away.
âHmmph, Iwis wan miwkies.â
âMummah nu hab miwkies, need find nummies fiwst.â
Iris was stubborn, but too hungry to argue, she plopped herself down in front of her motherâs teats and waited, hoping that if she waited long enough the milk would come.
Across the floor, her siblings tried to distract themselves by playing with their ball, but the pain in their stomachs was impossible to ignore.
Betsy bent over, hoofs clutching her torso. âHuu, Bet-see hab wowstesh tummeh-huwties, wan Fwan-sis come bak.â
Tom snorted. âGun gib Fwan-sis wowstesh sowwy-hoofies fow gibben babbeh tummeh-huwties.â
Travis said nothing, he simply wrapped his arms over his sister and tried to comfort her.
Betsy looked up at her brother. âDu Fwan-sis fink babbehs am bad? Dat wai he nu gib nummies?â
âTwavis nu knyo, bu babbehs nu am bad, am onwy wittew babbehs, nu can be bad.â
Betsy cuddled up closer to her brother, hoping a small piece of comfort would help her feel better.
Elsewhere in the house Glen inadvertently found Francisâ other mistake, walking into the living room to find food, his ears perked up at the sound of voices.
Human voices.
âIn other news, the world premiere of July Babies went off today in London, the film based on the popular book series has been widely anticipatedâŚâ
âHewwo, nyu fwiend?â Glen looked around trying to find the source of the voice.
ââŚthe all-star cast including the voices of Anya-Taylor Joy and Ron Pearlman all made an appearance, as did writer andâŚâ
âNyu fwiend, whewe awe yu? Pwease nu hidies fwom Gwen.â
What Francis didnât know, and what Gareth didnât bother to tell him, was that the reason television was more popular was because of the visual element, Fluffies could connect the dots in their head and realise the sounds they were hearing was coming from their friends on the screen. Radio however was purely auditory, and Fluffy brains couldnât work out the disconnect between what they could her but what they couldnât see. As a result, hearing voices but not seeing anyone, made Glen believe that whoever was in the house was purposefully ignoring him.
âHuu, nyu fwiend nu wike Gwen, hab heawt-huwties. Onwy wan fwiend tu hewp find nummies fow babbehs.â
Glen would lay there crying through the rest of the news broadcast and the adverts, only once the music started playing again would he be able to leave.
And he was still hungry.
Things werenât better the next day. Glen had managed to find some stale crisps under the sofa but that was it, it wasnât even enough to feed Maggie, let alone make milk for her young. Now the whole family didnât leave the kitchen, waiting patiently for their food bowl to be refilled.
Iris hadnât moved from between her motherâs legs, every few minutes sheâd absent-mindedly lick a nipple, wishing for milk that wasnât there. Tom was still stomping around, alternating between threatening Francis with violence and begging for the smallest drop of milk to feed him. And Travis was still consoling Betsy, the poor girl couldnât stop crying which was wasting energy she couldnât afford to lose.
In her weakened state, Maggie could barely hear the faint tapping coming from the back-door into the garden. She looked over and saw Glen trying to unlatch the lock on the dog-door Deidre had installed, allowing him to go into the garden.
âWha speciaw-fwiend duing?â
âGwen twy tug u into gawden, git gwassies an fwowas fow speciaw-fwiend nummies.â
Travis stepped up, in shock at what his father was saying. âNu du dat, onwy bad Fwuffies num Big Mummah gawden.â
âGwen watha be bad Fwuffy wiv famiwy den gud Fwuffy who gu foweba sweepie. Gwen wet Big Mummah knyo it aww Gwen finkie-pwace pwan, du it fow babbehs. Maybe she undastan.â
Going back to his herculean task of opening a tiny door, Glen caught sight of a car pulling up near the chicken coops, and Francis stepping out.
âIt Fwan-sis. FWAN-SIS, FWAN-SIS PWEASE, FWUFFIES NEED NUMMIES, SU HUNGWY, NU WAN BABBEHS GU FOWEBA SWEEPIES!â
Francis honestly didnât hear him, he was too far away and too engrossed in feeding the chickens as quickly as possible. He quickly scooped out the feed and scattered it across the field, then while the chickens were distracted he was able to pour out a decent amount into the feed through for them later.
He would return to tomorrow to feed the Fluffies, but they didnât know that. All they could see was their apparent guardian getting back into his car and leaving them again.
Glen could only watch in horror as the car disappeared from view, he smacked hopelessly onto the dog-door.
âCOME BAK! PWEASE FWAN-SIS! NU WAN WOSE FAMIWY! AM SU HUNGWY, WOWSTESH⌠WOWSTESHâŚâ
Glen collapsed onto the floor, passing out from hunger and exhaustion, Maggie and the foals all approached him to give him huggies and help him feel better. But they were so weak they could barely lift their arms up to hold onto him.
They didnât know what theyâd done to deserve this, but they all promise to never do it again.
The next day, Francis returned. Hearing the door opened gave the small burst of adrenaline the Fluffies needed to cheerfully approach him, even Tom had forgotten about his desire to hurt Francis and joined in.
Glen beamed at him, seemingly obvlious to the sullen look on Francisâ face. âFwan-sis, Fwuffies hab biggesh heawt-happies tu see yu. Hab wowstesh tummeh-huwties, need nummies tu make miwkies fow babbehs, babbehs need gwow big an stwong anâŚâ
Glen was cut off by Francis wordlessly pouring kibble into the food bowl â and to his credit he did pour in a quite large amount â then he refilled the water bowl and left without a word. Glen stared confused at the wordless encounter, until he heard Maggie starting to chomp away at the kibble while the foals cheered for milkies.
âSPECIAW FWIEND WAIT!â Glen cried out, taking the whole family by surprise.
âWha wong?â Maggie asked, her mouth half-ful of kibble.
âFwuffies nu knyo wen Fwan-sis come bak, need tu be cawefuw wiv nummies.â
Iris whines. âBu babbehs hungwy.â
âBabbehs can hab miwkies, bu nu wots, need tu make nummies wast tiww Fwan-sis come bak.â
Maggie sighed, but knew he was right. They had conserved food during their excursion from the herd before they found Deidre, now they had to do it again for their foals. She returned the bowl and took a couple more small mouthfuls, enough to start producing milk again, but the temptation to have more and protect her foals was strong, she look up at Glen and cried.
âMag-ee wan be gud-mummah, wan feed babbehs.â
âMag-ee am gud-mummah, Gwen knyo dis hawd, bu wiww twy tu hewp speciaw-fwiend.â
The pair nuzzled together, wishing for this nightmare to be over soon, the foals all joined them as well, falling into a short nap waiting Maggieâs teats to be ready again.
About an hour later, Maggie could feel she was ready to start feeding again. âOk babbehs, mummah hab miwkies gain.â
Instantly Iris was front and centre, taking her rightful spot on her mother, Tom took up the other spot while Travis and Betsy waited behind, thankful that their hunger would soon be over.
Glen watched over them all, keeping an eye on Iris and Tomâs feeding, when Iris started to knead her motherâs breast to force more milk out, he gentle pulled her and Tom away.
âOk babbehs, udda babbehs need miwkies tuu.â
Iris fought her fatherâs grasp. âNu, babbeh stiww hungwy.â
âFamiwy need tu aww be cawefuw wiv nummies an miwkies, it nu gud bu ness-a-sewy.â
Iris hmmphed. âDummehs nu take Iwis miwkies.â
Glen scowled and bopped his daughter on the head. âBad babbehs, dem awe yuw bwudda and sissy. Yu wan dem gu foweba sweepie?â
Iris held her head in pain, tears welling up in her eyes. âMummah, daddeh be meanâŚâ
âYU WAN BWUDDA AN SISSY GU FOWEBA SWEEPIE?â Glen burst out, the stress of everything finally getting to him.
âNu huuuhuuu. Iwis nu wan udda babbehs gu fowea sweepie. Iwis jus hungwy, stiww hab tummeh huwties.â
Glen felt Maggieâs hoof on his shoulder and he calmed down, looking around he saw everyone was in tears, including himself.
âDaddeh sowwy babbeh, jus hab heawt-huwties an finkie-pwace huwties. Daddeh knyo babbeh hungwy, bu aww babbehs am hungwy, an daddeh need make suwe aww babbehs git wittew miwk. If hab wots miwkies nyp, dewe be nu mowe miwkies neks bwite-time.â
Iris sniffled again. âIwis fink undastan, nu wike it, bu undastan.â
âGud, daddeh sowwy fow woud tawkies.â
As Glen took Iris in for a hug, Tom stepped out the way to let Travis and Betsy feed, the two of them latched onto their motherâs nipples, but it didnât take long before they felt the familiar taste of emptiness.
âMummah?â Betsy looked up with fresh tears in her eyes. âNu hab miwkies?â
âSowwy babbehs, onwy wittew miwkies weft. Be mowe neks bwite time.â
Travis looked over at his sister and felt his little heart break. Taking a deep breath, he stepped back from Maggieâs teat.
âHab Twavis miwkies sissy, yu need mowe.â
Betsy quickly thanked her brother and took Maggieâs other teat into her mouth, it wasnât much but it was better than nothing. Glen placed a hoof on his sonâs back.
âTwavis am gud babbeh, wook afta famiwy.â
Travis simply nodded, too hungry to say anything.
The next day was all too familiar, but at least there was some food this time, although it was clearly taking a lot out of Maggie to not just eat the whole bowl and keep her children happy.
True to her word though, there was more milk and Glen made sure that Travis and Betsy got first drink to make up for not having enough yesterday. Iris was clearly upset about her new ranking in the queue but kept quiet for the sake of her family.
Even then, she still got more than what Betsy got the day before.
Glen kept working away, trying to unlock the dog-door but with had gotten no further, his big clumpy hoof couldnât grasp hold of the simply handle enough to pull it. As he worked he saw Francisâ car return to feed the chickens, only this time Glen didnât cry out, heâd figured he couldnât rely on Francis anymore.
If anything, a small part of him hated Francis for treating them this way.
Francis entered the house the next day, just in time too as Maggie had finished the last of the kibble just before bed the night before. Again he wordlessly came in, refilled the bowl and made to leave when Glen cried out after him.
âMistah Fwan-sis. Can yu open wittew doow fow Fwuffies? Big Mummah wike it wen Fwuffies make gud-poopies on fwowas, make dem big an pwetty fow wen Big Mummah come back.â
A small lie, usually Deidre just gathered the poop herself to spread it on a later date, but Francis didnât know what and didnât care enough to question the Glen.
âFine, I guess.â
He unlocked the dog-door and left the house quickly, already trying to forget about the sorry state the Fluffies were in. To him they were just as mangy and horrible as they always looked.
Had he bothered to think, he might have realised they looked this way because of him. But he didnât bother and he didnât think.
Back inside the house, Glen took his first steps into the garden, the first time heâd been outside in months, Deidre had shown him and Maggie around the garden before winter hit, now that it was warm and sunny again, he could take in the fresh air.
As much as he loved his new designation as a house Fluffy, there would always be a part of him that loved the freedom of feral lifestyle, at least before Crowley ruined it.
Glen shook his head and tried to forget about his old Smarty and turned back, seeing his family take in the outdoors. For the foals it was the first time theyâd ever seen the sky, Travis looked up at the big blue wonder, excited and a little scared of how much of it there was.
âDis am ousside babbehs, dis whewe daddeh an mummah wewe befow meet Big Mummah. It vewy pwetty, bu vewy dangawous, nu gu ousside wen nu hab mummah ow daddeh wiv yu.â
Iris giggled when she saw the flowers in Deidreâs garden.
âHeh, wook at da pwetty fwowas, pwetty wike Iwis.â
Maggie nodded. âDey awe pwetty, Big Mummah wub dem awmosh as mush as Fwuffies. Su Fwuffies nu num dem, wan pwetty gawden wen Big Mummah wetuwn.â
Glen agreed. âYeh, mummah can gub wittew mowe miwkies nyo hav gwassie nummies, bu nu hab tuu many, stiww wan gawden tu wook pwetty fow Big Mummah.â
The foals nodded in agreement and ran off to play in the grass, Glen felt Maggie cuddle up beside him as they watched their children happily chase each other. They were finally past the pain, they had made it.
At least they almost were.
Over the next few days, the Fluffies fell into a good routine, Maggie would eat a decent amount of kibble to keep the foals fed, Glen would then have his fill, and if there wasnât any left before Francis returned, Glen would head into the garden and pick out some grass for Maggie to eat.
It wasnât perfect, but it was better than what it was before.
The day it all changed was after Francis had returned and left more kibble for the Fluffies to feed, once again not paying attention to them long enough to notice their happier attitude or their healthier appearance. Once he had left, Maggie found Glen outside watching the foals at play, he was resting but Maggie knew her mate well enough to recognise something was up.
âAm speciaw-fwiend ok?â
Glen nodded. âJus wittew tiwed, be ok soon.â
Maggie shook her head. âGwen need gu hab nummies, wait tuu wong fow babbehs tu eat, nyo famiwy am safe.â
âGwen nu knyo how wong famiwy safe fow, babbehs am most impowtant fing.â
âBabbeh need daddeh tu hewp dem, gu hab nummies, Mag-ee hab enuff miwkies fow whiwe.â
Glen knew better than to argue with his mate, he nuzzled her softly before turning to go back inside.
âAHHHH!â
Only to be stopped by a loud scream from Iris at the other end of the garden, the parents raced over and to their horror, saw a small herd of six Fluffies pushing their way in through the gaps in the fence. The foals all dashed to their mother for safety while Glen stood in front of his family, puffing his cheeks and ready to take on anyone who tried to hurt his family.
He looked out over the group, one of them was a female, clearly a soon-mummah, a peach unicorn with a yellow mane, but she had a mean look in her eye, another was young, barely yet a stallion, he was completely black with flecks of red across his body, a unicorn as well.
Three of them were toughies, all stallions, all earthies. One was red with a green mane, one was a dark blue with a purple mane, the last â the biggest of the lot, was dark yellow with a black mane.
He could tell who the final Fluffy was, but he spoke the battlecry all the same.
âDummehs git wost, dis am Smawty wand nyo!â
That voice took Glen by surprise, it was familiar but from where he couldnât⌠then it hit him. The blood red body, the black as night mane, and even with his jaw not healing properly from where Glen had kicked him so many forevers ago, Glen could still recognise that disgusting, sadistic grin.
Somehow, Crowley had found them.
