“most of you know this already, but in my old world, i didn’t exactly look like i look now.”


    “not true! master was always sexy!” lydia declared.


    “mmm! mmm!” miki nodded.


    lydia was the only one who had seen me how i looked when i first came here. i was fat and slovenly. i had lost a lot of weight by the time i met miki, but i still wouldn’t say i was attractive. i hadn’t finished losing all the weight and put on muscles until about the time i met terra. at that point, i probably had reached the level of being fit. of course, that was still nothing to how i looked now. i still shot the girls an appreciative look and then continued.


    “i didn’t have friends, and i wasn’t very popular either. the only one in that world that mattered to me was my mother. simply speaking, i had no one else in that world that would have cared if i lived or died. well, i had a cousin, but i was distant with her. she even refused to see me over the last year, so i was pretty sure she stopped seeing me like family. i also have an estranged half-sister, but she had no interest in me at all. she doesn’t even consider me family, so i don’t either.”


    “okay, but what about your mother.”n0velusb.c0m


    “she moved on.” i smiled sadly. “there is not much else to say about it. after crossing the country with bernice, carmine, and garnet, i came to my old house. the yard was cut and she had done repairs on it that hadn’t been done for ten years. in fact, it looked better than i had ever seen it. so, did she.”


    “you... saw your mother?”


    “mm...” i tried to make my smile look happy, but tears formed in my eyes. “she was happy. she has a new guy. young. they were flirting happily. then, i approached her...”


    “wh-what happened?” miki asked, her eyes wide.


    “she... um... she didn’t even recognize me. the guy accused me of being a scam-artist and then attacked me. i... defended myself. i guess i went a bit too far. i had trouble controlling my anger as deek. the guy got hurt. you... should have seen the way she looked at me. she called me a monster. my mother didn’t recognize me, and she...” i stopped, tears falling down my eyes. “well, that’s the past. i guess there really is no going back. i had no home on earth.”


    “deek, i’m so sorry,” lydia responded tearfully.


    most of the girls were crying.


    “it’s fine...” i splashed water on my face. “i’m fine. she’s happy. she looked good. she looked better than i had ever seen her when i lived with her. the house is taken care of. her life seems better off without me. she doesn’t need me there complicating her perfect life. besides... i have you guys. you are my life.”


    the girls all blushed at those words, a few taking the opportunity to bridge the distance between us. i felt flesh pressing against me from every side as the girls held me comfortingly.


    “are you sure it’s okay?” miki asked worriedly.


    “yeah... before we left, i took everything i thought might be useful. books, tablets, technology, seeds, the works. i can always go in a few years and check up with her, but i have more important things to do here. one day, maybe i’ll return. it’s more of a comfort knowing no one is worried about me.”


    i held my girls closely and slowly began to feel better. i didn’t like talking about that disaster, but i felt a bit better now that they all knew. i had dealt with the past. it was now time to worry about the future.