Raccoon Four

It was a bit of a surprise waking up to a raccoon snuggled against his chest, but as King began to come around from a deep sleep, he started remembering everything that had happened the day before and, technically, earlier that day.

"You really just tossed a random raccoon in a suitcase and brought him home, then gave him your Bahnbahn without a second thought," he mused quieted to himself as things began to sink in.

He felt Baron begin to stir a moment later, likely from him talking to himself, so he was extra careful when he reached over to his nightstand and retrieved the wallet he'd found with the raccoon.

Turning on his side slowly, he waited for Baron to adjust himself, then carefully began looking through the wallet. It was faded brown and worn with use, but also still in reasonable condition. He knew that there wasn't much cash in it, so he didn't bother with the little bit that was there.

Besides, he wasn't looking for money, anyways.

Ah, here we go.

He'd found a few credit cards, and one debit, but he just-barely glanced at them before pulling out a little crinkled photo that looked like it was taken out of its sleeve quite often to be looked at.

Cute kid.

Looking at the raccoon slowly stretching out against him, King cleared his throat quietly to make himself known, then spoke at about half his normal volume.

"Is this your baby girl?" he asked as he turned the little photo towards him.

Baron paused mid-stretch as his eyes opened to look at what he was being shown. King waited only a few moments before realization dawned in the animals eyes and it quickly rolled over and reached for the little picture.

He let him have it, and was rewarded with his sweet friend hugging the little piece of paper to his fuzzy chest as he began to make a quiet chattering sounds.

"She's a cutie," he said, earning the raccoon's attention for a brief moment before Baron settled back down against him, still hugging the photo lovingly.

You clearly love that little girl... but things got so bad that you felt you needed to end it all.

He didn't dwell on the thought for too long, because he didn't want to make himself depressed. Baron had made a decision that he'd felt was necessary. Thankfully, his raccoon, it seems, managed to take control at the last second and saved his life.

I wonder if you'll ever come back, though. It's not so bad now. I can even keep taking care of you if you don't want to go back to what you had.

He was a bit surprised at his own thoughts, but he didn't feel like he'd take the words back if he decided to say them out loud.

As he continued to think, he noticed Baron slowly roll out of bed, then thunk to the floor with a little squeak. He didn't seem surprised by the collision, however, and quickly stood back up to begin hobbling toward the door while on his back legs, holding the paper to his chest as carefully as possible.

"Where ya going, bud?"

Baron barely spared him a glance as he left his room, making King grin as he pushed himself up.

Man, I feel so much better now.

He just needed to be careful today and let his body rest before another big run... and raccoon kidnapping. After a quick bit of stretching, he began his quest to the laundry room, since he figured that was where Baron had gone, but before he could even make it out of his room, his phone began to ring on his bed.

The ringtone had him quickly retrieving it, then answering as he lifted it to his ear.

"Hi mom."

His mother usually called him at least every other day since he'd moved. He should have expected it and had his phone on him.

"Hi sweetheart, I'm heading to the supermarket soon. Would you like to come along? I can get you some groceries if you'd like," she said, clearly hoping that he'd be willing to join her.

He was just about to decline her request when Baron hobbled back in and reached up at him with a little black paw. Without thinking, King took it and allowed himself to be lead, hunched and in an awkward position, all the way to the laundry.

Ah, he wants Bahnbahn.

"Sure, one sec," he told Baron.

"Wonderful! I'll see you in twenty minutes!" his mother said before abruptly hanging up, making King slowly lower the phone from his ear as his face paled.

Wait! I was talking to my raccoon, mom!

It was too late for him to talk his way out of it, though, and his excuse didn't exactly sound logical. Inwardly groaning, he quickly got Otterbahn out of the dryer and handed him off to an ecstatic Baron, then hurried to the bathroom to relieve himself and brush his teeth. That's when he noticed something floating in the toilet bowl.

Oh thank the lord, you're potty trained.

He quickly peed, then flushed the toilet and washed his hands before returning to his room to get dressed. Since he rarely ever took pictures while out with his mom, he didn't bother dressing up much.

Just a simple pair of jeans and a black shirt was perfectly fine. He was just tugging on his bright blue and pink shoes when he heard a light knock on his door.

That sound was evidently not a positive one to Baron, however, because he soon had a stressed raccoon trying to climb his leg... with Bahnbahn clutched in one of his hands.

"It's okay, sweetheart. That's just my mom," King said as he calmly leaned over and picked up the little guy.

"Nothing to worry about, okay?" he said as he carried Baron out of his room.

The little raccoon was clearly still nervous as it pawed at his shirt constantly, but King knew that once he met his mom, he'd definitely like her.

Hmm, hang on a second, though.

Taking out his phone, he carefully texted his mom with one hand as the other continued to hold Baron.

I'm going to unlock the door, but give me a second before you open it.

He waited a minute, until his mom responded with an Okay, then leaned forward and turned the bolt lock.

As soon as he did so, he took several steps backwards until he was nearly to the sofa he'd gotten from the local thrift store. He waited there as the door was finally opened and his mother stepped inside.

"Oh?"

The shock was clear on her face as she stared at him, and, more importantly, the raccoon clinging to him and his Bahnbahn in terror.

Thankfully, his mom had seen plenty of strange things during her career as a lawyer, so she only looked surprised for a few moments before she managed to change her expression to one of calm intrigue.

"Who is your friend, Rex?" she asked, making King look down at Baron, who was currently hiding his face in his shirt and Bahnbahn's fur, shivering like a leaf.

You don't like women, huh?

"Um, long story short, I found him on the bridge. I think his human form was trying to, uh... kill himself. I brought him home with his suitcase," he said as he pointed to the red suitcase still open on the floor next to the entrance to the kitchen.

"I also have his wallet. His name is Baron Reese King."

His mother remained quiet as she processed what he'd said. She was never one to speak before she analyzed a situation completely, so he waited patiently for her verdict on his actions.

"Well, first things first. You shouldn't have taken someone home who was suicidal, or really, any stranger in general. I understand why you did, but that's not a smart thing to do," she said, making King nod.

He definitely understood that. Things had just sort of happened one after the other, and now, here they were.

"Alright, now that I've said that, how has he been behaving with you? He seems scared of me..."

King nodded as he slid his phone into his pocket, then patted Baron's back gently.

"He was really scared of everything, at first, but never this bad. I think he might not be good with women," he said as began rubbing his back.

"Can I see the wallet, please?" she asked as she remained where she was.

King didn't see an issue, so he took it out and tossed it over to her.

His mom calmly opened it and found Baron's I.D..

"Twenty-nine," she mused as she went over it quickly, then slid it back into the wallet. She then began looking through it for anything else that she might find of interest.

He knew that there wasn't much, but then he remembered the cards from before.

"Hang on a second," he said as he went into the other room and grabbed them from where he'd set them on his desk.

Returning to the living room, he quickly walked over to the kitchen counter as his mother backed away into a corner in order to make Baron a little more comfortable.

Once he'd set the cards down, King quickly moved back over to the couch. His mom then stepped forward again and picked up the items to look over.

"He was looking for a lawyer..." she mused as she took out her own phone and dialed the number on one of the cards.

Someone picked up quickly on the other end, because she was soon asking for information about Baron. The other lawyer seemed hesitant to give it, but as soon as she gave her name, they caved quickly and supplied what she wanted to know.

When she finally hung up with the man, his mom didn't look too happy.

"He was looking for a lawyer because his wife had evidently coerced his father into putting her as the sole beneficiary on his will before he died, and she also had a restraining order placed against him for several things he claims he hasn't done."

She finished speaking with a stressed sigh. It didn't sound good.

No wonder you wanted to end it.

Of course, they didn't know the real story, so they couldn't just say that he was in the right.

But still...

Looking down, he saw Baron hesitantly glance up at him with his big, dark eyes.

"It will be okay, bud. We'll figure things out."

His mom replied to that with what he didn't want to hear, but knew she'd say.

"King, you don't know this man. Yes, he might be innocent, but he could also have done some pretty bad things, too. You really should turn him over to the police."

Frowning, King looked over at her as he hugged Baron a little closer.

"That's just it though, mom. I don't think he's even here anymore. I haven't seen any indication that his human side is still here. He's just been a scared raccoon since I've brought him home," he said.

His mom didn't look happy with his response, but she knew how stubborn her son could be. So, thankfully, she relented, to a point.

"Well, I came over to take you shopping. Do you think he would be okay coming with us?" she asked calmly.

He highly doubted it.

"I should probably leave him here," he said as he gently removed Baron's little paw from his shirt, then carefully lowered him to the floor.

The moment he started walking for the door, however, he heard a panicked squeak that immediately had him spinning around... only for Baron to grab hold of his pant leg and look up at him in terror.

Okay, I think you're playing this a little too much.

Squatting down, he was just lifting a hand to pat the little raccoon's head when Baron abruptly scrambled into his arms again!

This time he even dropped Bahnbahn and the picture of his daughter.

"Um..." King mumbled as he stood back up and turned to face his mom.

"I guess he wants to go," he stated awkwardly as he settled a hand beneath Baron's fuzzy bum in order to help hold his weight.

His mom shrugged.

"I don't mind," she said honestly.

King was just about to follow her out the door when she stepped outside, but then remembered something and picked up the picture of Baron's daughter, then set it on the counter.

"We'll come back for it, okay? Don't want to lose it while we're out," he told the raccoon who was now staring at the little photo as if it was torn about leaving now.

Since he still didn't try to climb down, however, King figured that it would be okay and walked out the door. Once he got it locked, he hurried down the steps and slid into the back seat of his mom's SUV.

The ride to the store was quiet, and his mom even turned off her radio so that Baron was a little more comfortable. By the time they got there, he'd stopped shaking and was nervously glancing out the window.

"We're just going to get you some food, okay bud?" King said as he carefully climbed out of the car, then shut the door gently but firmly.

"Here, see if he'd like to hide in this," his mother said as she held out a thick winter coat.

He took it quickly, then carefully wrapped it around his fuzzy friend. Baron only hesitated for a moment before snuggling into the coat, leaving just his little wet nose and whiskers exposed to the cool air.

"There we go. Much better, yeah?" he said as he began following his mom into the store.

He let Baron be as his mom began picking out things she needed, and also, to his surprise, added different things she was looking up as on her phone as she shopped that would be good for raccoons, too.

"What? He needs to eat. He looks really thin," she said when she'd finally had enough of him just staring at her as she added items to their cart.

King felt his face warm slightly as he looked down into the coat he was holding. Dark, wide eyes stared back at him, but Baron thankfully didn't seem nearly as stressed as he had been on their way over.

"I think he's finally calming down," he said, then looked around the aisle they were in.

"It's actually pretty quiet in here in general..." he noted, a bit surprised since the store was so big.

His mother set something else in the cart.

"Of course it is, this is sensory hour. It wasn't intentional, since I didn't know you had him with you, but it's worked to our advantage. Between seven and eight, the store lights dim and there are signs for everyone to be quieter for people with sensory issues," she said, making him think back to when they'd entered the store.

Oh, she's right. I did see that sign.

"That's good. It's definitely helping keep him calm," King said as he finally reached for something on the shelf.

They finished in that aisle a few moments later, then went to the fruits and vegetables section. That's where his mom really got busy. There was soon a large pile of fruits and veggies in their cart, and even Baron seemed curious enough about the constant additions that he snuck his little head out of the coat to look.

At that exact moment his mom was putting a large bundle of grapes into a produce bag. He was normally a throw a pizza in the oven for breakfast, lunch, and dinner kind of guy, but those grapes did actually look pretty good. Baron seemed to think so, too, because he gave out the quietest squeak King had heard from him so far.

"You want a grape?" he asked, drawing Baron's attention up to him for just a brief moment before he lost it to the grapes again.

"I'll take that as a yes," he said as he walked over and took two from the bundle.

"Just a couple, okay? We have to pay for them," he said as he handed Baron both grapes.

The little raccoon took one in each paw, then happily ducked back into the coat as little chewing sounds echoed from within it.

"I think he really likes grapes," King said, making a deduction that had his mother raising an eyebrow.

She was used to his humor, however, because she'd raised him to be pretty similar to herself.

"Grapes it is," she said as she added an extra bag for them, then tossed in a watermelon, two cantaloupes, and two bags of apples.

That's a little more than just grapes...

"Oh hush, you. Go get some bread and deli meat," she said, reading his mind.

He knew better than to talk back so he went over to the deli counter and got some honey smoked turkey, oven roasted chicken, and a container of macaroni salad.

Once he'd finished and brought back all of the items, the cart was suspiciously more full than it had been. There were now potatoes and carrots, as well as way too many containers of greens for his liking.

"How much do you think he weighs right now?" his mom asked suddenly, snapping him out of his internal salad strife.

"Uh, probably five or six pounds?" he guessed, lifting Baron up and down a tiny bit to try and get a better idea.

His mom took that information and quickly analyzed it, then went back for two more containers of salad mix and a bag of sweet potatoes!

I... I was just going to give him sandwiches and pizza, though.

He also wasn't the best cook, but that was mainly because he was just that lazy. He could follow a recipe perfectly fine, but to actually spend the time doing it? Nah.

"Well, if you want to take care of him properly, you're going to have to put in some effort," his mom told him, reading his thoughts again.

Looking down, King stared at the dark eyes now blinking up at him. When Baron realized he had his attention, he made a little chewing motion with his mouth, clearly wanting another grape.

"Uh, you can have more in a bi—here, give him this," his mom said, cutting off his words as she handed him a banana.

"It's from the free children's plate they leave out with fruit. He's not technically a child, but I'd say he's close enough right now," she said.

King took the offered fruit, then peeled it with his teeth before offering the open end to Baron. He, himself, wasn't a huge fan of bananas, but, it seemed, that his new friend wasn't nearly as picky.

The little guy tried to take the entire thing into his mom's coat! Thankfully, he managed to hold onto it, and after a few moments of being pulled out by Baron's little paws, he managed to snap off a big chunk and abruptly retreated with it!

"Uh, we might have to wash your coat when we get back," he said, garnering his mother's attention just long enough for her to shrug.

"That's fine. I'm just glad that he's eating everything you're offering."

That made sense.

Maybe his human form will come back once he gets healthy again.

They eventually moved on from the fresh food area and went to the meat section. Fish was evidently on the menu for Baron, while King grabbed himself a few packs of chicken. His little friend didn't end up showing himself again until they were over by the dairy and eggs.

"Oh, here's a good idea to keep him busy for a little bit," his mom said as she put four cartons of eggs into their cart!

"That won't make a mess?" he questioned, not liking the idea of raw eggs on his floor at all.

His mother gave him an are you serious look before clarifying, "you boil them first, my sweet son."

Oh.

Turning around to the aisle of chips behind him, King selected a few bags of sour cream and onion, tortilla, and barbecue.

By the time he'd returned to the cart, there were thirty small yogurt containers stacked up next to the cartons of eggs.

My god, she's going to make you a chubby little guy.

Baron popped his head out of the coat at that exact moment, his nose twitching as he sniffed for more food.

Uh, you have banana all over your face, bud.

He didn't bother trying to wipe it off, though.

"Here," his mom said as she handed him a little ball that looked suspiciously like a cat toy.

"I don't think he's going to like a cat toy, mom..."

Baron eyed it as he brought it closer to him, though, and once it was within reach, he abruptly grabbed it, then ducked back into the coat!

Uh... okay. I guess he does.

The tinkling sound of the little bell inside the ball was heard nearly nonstop for the remainder of their shopping trip, and while it had grated on his nerves in the beginning, King quickly got accustomed to the sound and even ended up grabbing a few more before they finally finished up and went to check out.