"Mom!" Jake seemed more enthusiastic to see his mother than Skyla was. The younger of the two was taking the news much worse than her brother. That much, though, was to be expected. Losing one of your parents at that age had to be difficult. Caleb couldn't much relate as he never knew his parents to begin with, but it must've been similar to his situation. Hollow, abandoned, and a little alone is how he felt sometimes. All he could do now, though, was shoot a nervous glance towards Edward while waiting for what was to follow. "Mom, mom, mom! Come meet my new friends!"

It was almost as if Jake had already forgotten though Caleb knew that wasn't the case. He was a brave kid trying to put on an act for his emotionally strained younger sister and soon-to-be emotionally strained mother. It wasn't fair that this responsibility fell onto him just like it wasn't fair that Caleb had to share the news. And yet, here both of them were. [i]Life wasn't fair.[/i] That's what knights were for though, right? They tried to make life just a little bit more fair and equal for everyone. "You made new friends? That's great, Jake!"

"Over here, Mary." Roger had stopped stroking his imaginary beard to wave the woman over. Mary looked to be in her early thirties, maybe, and had similar traits to both of her children. Long brown hair was tied into a ponytail that hung at the side of her head and was held by a ribbon similar to the pointer dog's. Azure blue eyes that were the same shade as the sky complimented her face along with this. "I want you to meet Edward and Caleb."

"Oh?" A back door was shut behind her. There was a quick look of confusion that faded in favor of shock and then pleasant surprise. The source? It was the pointer dog in a ribbon that was running over to the woman with a furiously wagging tail. A hand was slowly raised to the woman's gaping mouth. Caleb, meanwhile, could only feel a fist of guilt hit his stomach. "Ribbon! I take it that Dad and Herrown are finally home?!" 

"Actually. . Caleb and Edward brought her home." The skeleton gestured towards the hippocampus and black-haired orphan that sat at the edge of the picnic blanket. There was hesitation in the skeleton's next words and Mary sensed it too based on how she stopped approaching them. "We have something to tell you, Mary." 

That was all it took for the older woman to drop her purse onto the ground. A patchwork bag filled with books fell onto the lawn and Skyla fell forward to wrap her arms around her mother's waist with a muted sob. Jake, meanwhile, turned his focus towards scooping up the books that had fallen loose. "They won't be coming home anytime soon, Mary." 

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Roger was generous with retelling the story so that Caleb didn't have to. Even if he had begun to feel detached from the situation with each passing breath, he couldn't force himself to look away from Mary. Her face fell with each word and she had run off by the time that the explanation finished. She took Skyla and her mother with her yet left Jake alone. The young boy remained in the garden with a dejected expression and handful of books to keep him company. He could only stare in silence as sobs of his mother could be heard from the opposite side of the back door. "I told her that I would be strong for her. ." 

"I'm sure that she likes that, Jake. She just needs some time to cry and she'll be strong for you too. Sometimes people just need to cry when they're sad and then they'll be better again, I promise." Caleb was staring at the sky when it came diving towards him. He hadn't even noticed what it was until it hit their picnic blanket and Ribbon was whimpering. His eyes immediately widened at the sight before him. This included the bloodied wrangled mess that he was certain had been his sole companion back in the Big Ocean. ". . Flower? Wait. . Flower! What happened to you?! Where's Rainbow?! R-Roger! Roger! I need your help!" 

"I'm on it." The skeleton doctor was already scooping the seagull into his bony hands. "Keep an eye on Jake for me, will you?"