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“...Sorry. For making you angry.”
“Hah? I haven't even raised my voice. Why do you think I'm angry?”
Tails still hadn't worked up the nerve to look his mother in the face. A guilty glance at the filling ashtray would have to do. “You've started again… You must be upset. And it’s my fault this time...”
The adult fox sat for a minute, reflecting, before she answered. “Well. You're right. I am upset. I'm glad you understand that. It means you’ll take this seriously then.” She took a long, steadying drag and leaned back in her chair, her face unreadable behind the wisps of curling smoke. “I'd like to know why I caught you doing…that to a photo of me. So, start talking, kiddo.”
“It… It's like I said… I didn't know it was you… I'd never seen what you looked like when you were Aunt Sally's age…”
“That's what you told me, yes,” Rosemary affirmed. “But I want to make sure that's really the case. Be honest with me, Tails. Have you been having sexual thoughts about me?”
“N-NO! I-I haven't, I-I wouldn't-!!” Tails stammered. “My feelings, they aren't like that…ulp!”
The vixen blinked. “...What do you mean, ‘like that’? What feelings?”
The boy froze. “I… I…”
“Tails.” The firmness in his mother's voice didn't buckle, but it did soften. He had to trust her, to see her as a foundation of support instead of uncompromising bedrock to fall flat on. “Tell me. I can't help until I know what's going on with you.”
“Uhn...” Heat welled up in the corners of his eyes again. “It…it started not too long after…after you got back…” he began. “When we started living together… Being a family... I'd had friends, and the closest things to an aunt and a big sister. But…never a mom. Having someone as fun and cool and kind as you for a mother, it was everything I'd ever wished for! But…”
Rosemary hung on his words, but kept stolid. “...But?”
“I started…noticing things. Stuff that was just…normal, before. Like…how nice your voice sounds. And how cool you look when you're working in the shop. Or how p-pretty you are, especially when we're gardening together. O-or…or…h-how good you smell when we take a nap-”
“*ahem*”
“R-right, sorry… A-anyway… All those funny feelings just kept getting stronger and stronger… I don't remember when I realized what I was doing, but I knew… I knew it was weird. That I shouldn't be thinking like that. But I couldn't stop thinking about it…or about you…about how wrong it had to be…and that's when things just got worse…”
“Got worse…?” Rosemary's brow ticked up with concern. “How?”
“I was so preoccupied with it all that I couldn't stay focused. Not during training or missions… I couldn't pay attention during briefings, I'd goof up and slow everyone down on patrols… I can't keep up with Sonic, heck, I couldn't even dodge a Crabmeat today!” Tails's tails drooped glumly behind his seat.
Rosemary rested her chin in her hand. “And yet, you didn't seem slow by any means when you ran off to your room with my photo,” she said sardonically.
Tails bristled, pink from tip to tail. “Mom!! Please!!!”
“Sorry, but I had to. You kind of earned that one.”
“A-ANYWAY!” Tails shouted, more to drown out his shame than her jibe. “I had to do something to try and take my mind off of how mixed-up I felt. So I… I thought, if I could make myself feel the same way I had been, but about someone else…”
“And you thought the closest match was the Princess?”
Tails let himself smile a little, in spite of the situation. “Aunt Sally's smart…and kind…and she always knows just what to do. She's always cared a lot about me, watched out for me, so she seemed the most ‘right’…” Tails squirmed in his seat. “And, um, sh-she's r-really…h-hot…”
Rosemary pursed her lips, carefully considering what he'd admitted so far. “So, you did have sexual urges, but by then, you were shifting your focus to another older female, is that right?”
“U-um…y-yeah, th-that's right…” Tails felt so embarrassed he could have leapt into a roboticizer. “I-if I did what you, um, found me doing, but to Aunt Sally, I thought that would help even more, since I'd never thought of you that kind of way before…”
“Until you found out you were jerking off to my younger self.”
“......y-yeah.” Tails's head hung so low that it nearly touched the table. “That…was a really dumb plan…”
The statement hung in the humid summer air like a stormcloud over them both. Rosemary's composure stayed cool outwardly, but inwardly her mind was a roil of questions.
[“Wh-what the hell?! It started that soon?! We were just acting like a normal mother and son would…right?? Was it because we were separated so early, for so long? Why, WHY did I pick that photo?! It's not the first time someone's made that mistake…am I really *that* much like her?? This was such a dumb plan, what was I thinking?! What do I do now?! THINK! He's counting on you to make things right! If I could just show him how things should be between us…wait, that's it!!!”]
“I think I understand what's going on now. And I know how to help.”
Tails's head snapped back up, hope shining in his eyes. “Y-you do? You can?”
Rosemary buried a spent butt in the tray. To his relief, she didn't replace it before she spoke again. “I think your wires are crossed a bit. You're at that age where puberty is hitting, you're having all these new experiences, and it's no surprise you'd start showing interest in girls,” she stated plainly. “Normally I think your first crush would've been the Princess, but she practically raised you while I was…away. Instead, you latched onto the next closest lady in your life, the one who you've been seeing every day but missed out on that ‘family’ connection with. Me. Does that make sense?” [“Pleaaaaase let it make sense!”] Rosemary thought to herself.
“Um…I… Y-yeah. Yeah.” Tails nodded, working through the links of his mother's reasoning. “But…what do we do, then? I don't wanna keep feeling this bad…”
“That's the simple part,” Rosemary answered. “We just need to establish that relationship properly. And to do that, I think the best way would be through some quality bonding time. Maybe we could go shopping together, or see a movie. Perhaps even visit the beach, or a theme park, wouldn't that be great? Instead of letting you dwell on your stress, we can have fun like a mother and son should, and reconnect with each other. The right way, this time.”
While Tails sat silently pondering, Rosemary smiled inwardly. [“Yes…this is what he…we needed. It's all so clear now…what I'd been missing before. No wonder he'd been distant. He was trying to fix things by himself. Well, never fear, dear; mom's here! We'll get you on the right track, by getting you off of mine!”]
Rosemary reached over to gently take her son's hand. Her warmth was calming, just as reassuring as her voice.
"So...will you go out with me?"
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Miles "Tails" Prower and Rosemary Prower are © SEGA / Archie Comics.