The funeral was held a week later. I attended, of course, standing by my parents and wearing a black shirt and pants, the Priest’s eulogy tuned out as I stared at the two coffins. A cold feeling built in my gut making me queasy and nauseous. I managed to tear my eyes away, looking at the rest of the attendees, mostly dinos and a human or two that the Halfords knew, some of them looking to be former military… but not a lot of extended family I assumed, as there were only two baryonyxes that stood the closest to the coffins. One of them was an age-old grandfather, slumped back with a shaky cane in his claws. And the other was Olivia. Her expression was simply just…nothing, sleep-deprived eyes that stared blankly at the coffins that contained her parents, the exact same look I had at Fang and Naser’s graves… The two most important figures in her life… Just… Gone. After the eulogy is finished, her parents are lowered. Olivia’s grandfather, I assume, could no longer bear any more burden, his cane dropping to the ground as he simply fell to his knees atop the grass. No theatrics, no jumping on the coffin or screaming to the heavens, instead kneeling there, quietly. Someone helped him up at some point when the shoveling had begun, and I noticed my parents begin to approach Olivia. I followed behind them, standing by my dad’s side as he spoke up. “Olivia?” A few seconds pass before the young baryonyx slowly turns around eyes still peering down. My dad paused before slowly kneeling down to her level as she finally faced Edward, her gaze inching toward him. I watch as he gives a warm smile on his snout. “We’ll take you home.” Olivia was going to stay with us from now on. We sit together and eat a carnivore dinner, sliced steak, roast pork… And not to forget, the main dish of the century. Microwaved dino nuggies. Yet despite the fact that dino nuggies are delicious and irresistible… Olivia didn’t touch a single piece on her plate, her claws instead clutching the side of the table, having not even picked up a piece of silverware. My parents are sitting beside her, trying their best to encourage her to eat. “I think the raptor-shaped ones are the most delicious! You should try one, Olivia!” My mom claims. Olivia murmurs something, both of my parents pausing before trying another tactic, my dad speaking up. “There’s wild berry ice cream in the freezer.” They were getting desperate, resorting to the dessert option, but even that seemed to fall flat as Olivia shook her head. “M’not hungry…” She then paused, murmuring again. “Wanna sleep.” Mom and dad look at each other for a moment, nodding before looking back down. “Of course, Dear. It’s been a long day after all.” She then looked at me, noticing my plate was empty. “Oh, are you finished, Anon?” I nod, peering at Olivia and knowing… She was still suffering. “Do you think you can show her where we put her toothbrush and pajamas upstairs?” I nod again as I clamber off the seat, Olivia wordlessly joining me as she walked in front, both of us going upstairs. I briefly look back at my parents, now seated beside each other. Although they were turned around, I could see both their arms over each other’s shoulders, letting me imagine that their hands were also intertwined atop the table, trying to reassure one another. My parents didn’t know what to do. We arrive at the upstairs toilet and I show her inside, Olivia is silent as she blankly watches. “Your toothbrush is up there.” I point by the sink, a small step stool by the base of it. “And, uh…-” I look at the tower stand, her sleeping clothes hanging off the side. “That’s your pajamas.” She quietly moves over to it to take it off the pole. I instantly get the message, leaving the bathroom and closing the door behind me, silently waiting somewhere a little less awkward as I hear footsteps coming up the stairs, turning to see my parents. My mother gestured to the bathroom, “Is she…?” I nod, suddenly hearing the door open to see Olivia again, now dressed in her pajamas and ready for bed. We move to my room as my dad opens the door and turns on the lights A few days ago, we had taken almost all of Olivia’s stuff and brought it over from the now-empty Halford household, even her bed which now laid set up on the other side of my room, my parents still working on rearranging furniture to set up Olivia’s own room. The three of them make their way to the other bed as I briefly remember to get changed myself, running to the bathroom and closing the door behind me. How I miss the days of just sleeping in boxer and shirt… By the time I come back out and return to the room, Olivia is lying on her bed, Edward and Joan tucking her in. They then remain by the side of her bed for a few moments as I climb onto mine, wordlessly telling Olivia that… they were there for her, my mom running the back of her gentle claw against the side of Olivia’s snout. Olivia shows no reaction, my parents stand back up, Edward speaking. “Goodnight… Olivia.” He then turned to me. “Goodnight, Anon.” I give a small nod before they turn off the lights, leaving the small night light on in the corner. A minute or so passes in the darkness as I stare up at the ceiling, thinking about today… Losing Fang and Naser broke me, and I was 18. Olivia lost both her parents, and was only 4… What a cruel and fucked up world. The sound of a cut-off sob broke me from my thoughts, subtly shifting my head to hear the small gasps and sniffles originating from Olivia’s bed. She was crying. And for a moment, I recalled my decision back at the hospital 5 years ago. To remain a nobody in my second life, to not risk fucking up anything for anyone. To never try again. But after hearing Olivia weep for her dead parents and knowing that old me would have decided it was not my problem, or worse yet, made it about myself. Something in me just… snapped… but in a very good way as if I’d just taken the heaviest most unnecessary burden off my shoulders. Fuck. That. I flip on the switch of my bedside lamp, lighting up the room once more. Olivia quickly stirred in her bed to face away and pretended to sleep, her form still quivering. “Hey.” I speak up. Olivia tried to maintain the facade for a few seconds before ever so slowly peering at me, her gold and grey eyes catching mine as a smile grew on my snout. “Check this.” I then prepare myself for a second, making sure she’s watching… This would be my magnum opus, the first of many to come that I would do in my new life. Gathering all my energy, I did the motions as I had done it a thousand times before. I fall snout first off the bed, performing the perfect high-velocity combat roll of the century, the type that’d give you actual I-frames in a video game. My body then readies itself for a full-bodied tackle that not even the best lineman could ever hope to replicate. And then… My most powerful attack. I headbutt the floor. The force goes off like a motor shell, rivets of tight pressure releasing from the sight of impact and- Okay, I’m bullshitting, if anything I kind of fucked it up, my leg claw slipping as I gasped like an idiot, falling like a clump of scaly limbs and painfully landing on my side, my ‘death’ pose having me lie on the ground, one leg above the other while my left biceps rested above my other arm. The only thing it lacked was a crater to complete the pathetic sight… but I think that was too much to ask for. And anyhow, it didn’t matter. For it worked spectacularly, Olivia’s formerly teary eyes bulging as her cheeks expanded, maw struggling to keep closed as her entire face turned red. She then mashed her snout into the pillow, bursting out into absolute muffled laughter, laughter that would have engulfed the entire house had she not made steps to quiet it. I looked up from the floor, the edges of my snout curved in a smile and ignoring the pain in my body. That was absolutely worth it. Finally, she separated from the pillow, still struggling to contain her giggles, calming down as I looked at the drawer beside my bed. There was a reason why I even did the maneuver in the first place, standing up to the back of the room. Olivia watched me, not with warry eyes… but with curiosity as I fished through a duffle bag, looking for it. Within a second, I found it. My parents had really gone all out. A 120-pack of high-quality colored pencils, the type meant for serious artists, as well as an entire stack of printing paper. I managed to pull out both items, holding them for Olivia to see as her eyes slightly widened, her interest definitely caught. “Olivia?” I ask. “You wanna draw some stuff?” We spend the next few minutes lying on the floor beside our beds, parallel to each other, using the wood floor as a stable surface. Olivia was making good use of the colored pencils, switching them out from time to time. All I did was use the black color pencil because it was the most like a normal pencil. I’m creatively bankrupt. Pausing for a moment, I decided to draw Olivia… drawing, experimentally trying to create a perfect circle before messing up when I reached the other diameter, the basis of her head now already misshapen. I then measure up a snout, doodling sharp teeth and then completely messing up the nose. Wow, I suck at this. After finishing up the rest, I’m suddenly conscious of the edge of a piece of paper bumping against the side of my head. Looking to the side, I see Olivia trying to show me what she had drawn. It was me… drawn to an almost accurate tee of how I was lying atop the floor after falling off the bed. She had even added a crater and battle damage to my pajamas with holes and bruise lines on my clothes. And most shocking was that a 4-year-old drew this! … with coloring too! “Uh…” I then showed her mine, feeling completely inadequate. “I drew this.” Olivia paused. Before her face seemed to scrunch up, her snout letting out a silent gag. “Yours stinks.” She simply said. Ouch. Kids really are brutally honest. But I decided to play around with her words, smiling as I shook my head, exaggeratingly disagreeing. “NUH UH.” I then placed my paper down, scribbling stink lines coming from her head before showing her again, giving her my best ‘this is (you)’ face that I could muster with my snout grinning ear to ear. “Now it stinks.” She smiles in genuine amusement at my stupid joke before her eyes narrow in determination, looking back down to quickly draw and doodle. Oh fuck. I was gonna get destroyed. After furiously scribbling and going through a multitude of colored pencils, Olivia finally showed her finished project. Now, instead of me just laying atop the ground and cratered, a new figure stood, victorious over my defeated corpse. My bed, given life and standing on its two wooden legs, the side rails acting as its arm and dressed in a black blanket that wrapped around like a gi, torn and ripped at the sleeves, back turned to proudly show a menacing glowing red race car on its cloth as its pillow head seemed to peer behind in disgust at my weakness. “You lost to the bed.” I made a show of closing my eyes and collapsing backward, as if unable to comprehend the trauma of getting hit with that realization, head bumping against the floor as Olivia giggled out. I then rose back up, about to ask what she was gonna draw next before a very low groan was heard. Olivia and I blink. “Uh, Olivia? Did you-?” I then hear it again, realizing it's coming from Olivia herself… or more specifically, her stomach, the young baryonyx now clutching the growling organ as her snout tightened. “...” I slowly begin to stand up, “Y’know, I think there’s still some more d-” “W-Wait!” She suddenly grabbed my wrist. I blinked, looking back down at her, the baryonyx facing the floor. “... Can’t pay Mr. and Mrs. Agos…” She murmured. I paused, now tilting my head. “Pay? My parents?” I ask, Olivia letting go of my wrist, keeping her eyes trained on the floor. “Wait, so this whole time, you didn’t want to eat dinner because you thought you had to pay us back?” She pauses before slowly nodding. Now it was my turn to scrunch my eyes in confusion, completely perplexed at why she even thought that in the first place. “Then… what were you going to do about food?” Olivia gestured to the window, “Go out. Hunt deer.” I paused. And remembered that Olivia is still 4 years old. 4-year-olds… are still stupid fucking kids. I thought for a moment before an idea came to mind, turning and approaching my drawer to open it. Olivia tilts her head at first, blinking as I pull out a ripped piece of paper. And on it, the drawing of me back that she had made back at Joe’s garage. “Remember this?” I show it to Olivia, her gold-grey eyes widening in surprise as she takes it into her claws, staring down at it. She then looked up at me, “Y-You kept it?” I nod with a smile, “Yep.” “... Why?” Olivia asked. Pausing for a second, I took a moment to think before answering. “Because it showed that someone cared, cared that I was upset… that I existed.” I was probably using words far more advanced than anything a 4 or 5-year-old should know, but no matter, it seemed like she was understanding what I was saying. “... And when you show that care to someone, it becomes priceless to them.” I smiled. “So let me get you some dino nuggies.” Olivia pauses for a few moments, looking down at the drawing before looking back up, nodding. I turn to leave the room, quietly opening the door and into the dark hallway. Only to see my parents at the end of the staircase, their heads peeking around the corner. It looks like they knew Olivia and I were awake, possibly from the light beneath our door. I approach, my father quietly whispering. “Is Olivia okay?” “She’s fine, just-” “Hungry?” Joan instantly figured before immediately turning down, walking downstairs. “I’ll get some dino nuggies ready for her.” Edward and I stood there for a few moments as my mom rustled something up, turning his snout to me as he asked. “Was she able to sleep?” Slowly, I shake my head truthfully. “No Dad… she was crying.” The news seemed to hurt him, eyes behind his glasses drooping. “But it's okay. I gave Olivia the pencils and paper we bought, and now she and I are drawing together.” My dad pauses before nodding, “That’s good to hear.” Joan returns to the stares with a full plate of dino nuggies, handing them to me. “Here, give these to Olivia, Dear. But tell her to be careful, they might still be hot.” I blink, looking at my parents. “You both aren’t coming?” They look at each other before looking back, my mom speaking up. “We would love nothing more to be there for her… but Olivia isn’t ready for me and your father to be her new guardians.” She peered down. “No child should ever have to be ready for something like this…” Edward speaks up, kneeling to my level. “Maybe you’ll understand someday, Anon, when you get older…” He places a claw on my shoulder, “It’s alright to try and encourage others to open up, but sometimes, the best thing to do is to not force anything. We want Olivia to decide the time when she wants us to be there for her… and when she does, we’ll give her all the love and attention that she needs.” For some reason, those words really resonated with me, thinking back to my old life… How many chances did I squander? How many times did I do things wrong? But I was cut from those thoughts, my father continuing as he looked past my shoulder, nodding to my room before looking back at me. “Luckily, Olivia’s chosen someone for that role the meanwhile.” I look down at the dino nuggies, realizing he was speaking of me. “I-...” I pause, “I didn’t do much.” “You cared.” My father smiled, “And that’s more than enough.” His claw gently squeezes my shoulder, my mother by his side, their gazes upon me and full of proud happiness. “Anon, you’re the best son your mother and I could have ever hoped for.” Olivia was asleep within the next hour, nestling her head with her arms over a drawing, the entire plate of dino nuggies cleared out. My parents took the opportunity to enter, gently picking her up to place her on the bed, and tucking her in with her blanket, her sleeping form briefly stirring to get more comfy as her eyes remained closed. I now lay in my own bed, watching the happy gazes of my parents as they exit, turning off the lights behind them. … I guess I did good. Like, actual good. I…- A tear rolls down my scaly cheek, thinking back to what Edward and Joan… my real parents, not those two assholes in my previous life, had said to me. I peer at Olivia, the baryonyx sleeping gently, perhaps for the first time this week. Looking back to the ceiling… I then made a decision… a promise. For my parents. For Olivia. For myself. I would be someone who’d always be behind them, who’d always help them, who’d always give them my fullest support. I would be their someone.