//------------------------------// // Your Precious Love // Story: Another Horizon // by Crystal Wishes //------------------------------// Velour stares at me from across the diner's narrow table. I know it was a lot to take in, so I sit and wait for him to process everything while I gaze at him with fondness. He's grown so much since I saw him last, but of course he has—that was so many years ago. Anypony around us would easily believe he was my son with our purple coats, but I can tell. It's not my coat, but Velvet's eyes that he takes after: that vibrant shade of purple with pink hues that make it all the more beautiful. And that mane with so many curls! Velvet had always worked hard to straighten her mane, but I really liked her curls. It's nice to see them displayed proud and unabashed on Velour. Really, beyond his wings, he's all Velvet. The way his brow furrows to make cute little wrinkles, how svelte his long legs and lithe body are, and most of all, his laugh. It's her laugh, through and through. "So," he finally says in a voice also much more like Velvet's than mine, "you really are my dad." I shake my head. "I'm your father, but not your dad. That's how Velvet wanted it." Velour's wings tuck in against his sides and his gaze falls to his coffee cup. "Wow." "Yeah." I look him over and smile. He's big, taller than me for certain, but he's got a gentle demeanor about him I instantly adore. "How is she?" His ears twitch as he glances up at me. "Uh, fine, I guess. She's different from the way you describe her, though." My head tilts. "How so?" "She's, uh, she's less..." His nose scrunches up and a shiver courses through him. "Sexual, ugh. I can't even imagine my mom being like that." I can't help but laugh. "Really? Sorry, sorry. It's hard to talk about her without those parts." "I think you could have left out some of it," he mutters, ears flat against his mane. The laughter comes back twofold. "Okay! Sorry. But what's done is done." There is a distinct look on his face that can be only described as 'gone'. His mind has wandered off in what is definitely an attempt to scrub itself clean from the images I accidentally placed there. It's like when a cat misses a jump and freezes, hoping that its mistake will just vanish if they try to ignore it hard enough. "Okay," he finally says, resurfacing from his deep thoughts several moments later. "Okay. Well, then, uh. I guess. What now?" I try to shrug noncommittally; I don't want to look too eager. "That's up to you, Velour. You can walk out of here and go back to life in Canterlot with your mom. It won't hurt my feelings any. I was never there for you, so I don't expect you to even think of me as a father." I can't help a shy, uncertain grin. "But, if you want to stay, I can introduce you to your half-siblings." His ears stand so tall that it almost looks painful. "Half-siblings?" "Yeah. Not long after I left Canterlot for good, I settled down here in Baltimare and met my now-wife. We have three foals of our own." I pause to mull over my next words very carefully. "My wife knows about you, and about Velvet. I didn't keep any secrets from her." It's no surprise why that stuns Velour into silence. I mean, telling him about a whole family he has—kind of, sort of—that he's never known about is a lot to take in. I let him work through the revelations at his own pace, twiddling my hooves in my lap. Velour, finally, swallows and gives a nervous shake of his head while his wings quiver at his sides. "Um, maybe, next time? If that's okay? I should probably start home. I don't want Mom to worry." His eyes dart between the table and mine. "This was... nice. Yeah, nice." His lips quirk into a brief smile. "I always kind of wondered what you were like." I chuckle and tilt my head to one side. "What am I like?" "Hmm." The smile returns, this time bringing mischief to his eyes. "I'll tell you when I visit again, uh—" He hesitates. Whatever he says, I'll agree to it, but he doesn't know that. "Next week? Same time, same place?" He shifts a little in his seat. "That sounds great to me." I slide out of the booth and he follows suit. We fumble through an awkward hoofshake before he trots out into the streets of Baltimare. The door swings shut behind him, and I release a breath I hadn't realized I was holding. Seadust, who owns both the diner and my heart, sidles up next to me and we watch him leave together. "He seems happier'n when he came in," she comments, a lilt of curiosity in her voice. "Good talk?" I just love how her country accent hasn't faded in all the years I've known her. "Great talk." I turn my head to kiss her cheek. "Frankly, I'm surprised he didn't catch on to the way you kept hovering nearby." Her lips purse and she shoots me a dirty look. "Oh, an' you were much better! Tellin' him all 'bout his mother like that. Shame on you." She raises a challenging brow. "This where you tell me that your li'l trip down memory lane made you miss her?" A hum rumbles in my chest as I playfully mull over the question as long as I can before she huffs, and I laugh. "You know better than to ask questions you already know the answer to, saltshaker. But—" I lean in to place a quick peck of a kiss on her lips. "—no. I'm afraid you're stuck with me." "Don't I know it." Her head turns to look at the door, the mirth still in her eyes but her lips falling to a somber line. "He'll be back, won't he? I'd like to meet him proper." There was a brief pause before she glanced back at me. "If that's all right with him." I drape a wing across her back and use it to pull her to me. "I think so. He said there'll be a next time." The smile returns in full force. "I'll bake him somethin' special, then. He like cherry pie? Apple? Maybe pecan? Oh, come on, sugarbowl. What does he like?" "Honestly? I'm not sure." I press a kiss to her temple. "But I look forward to finding out together."