
"It's been so long since we last came here..."

A young female lombax, named Xennah, smiles and nods as she looks down in her arms. A tiny lombax kit, named Nyxon, coos and looks up at Xennah as he sucks his thumb.

"Indeed! Are you ready to see your grandpappy, Nyxie?"

Nyxon makes a little squeaking noise and smiles. Xennah giggles and turns to a young male, named Ratchet, who was walking beside her. Ratchet chuckles at the little kit's excitement and ruffles his hair with his hand.

"You haven't seen grandpappy since you were a newborn, eh, little pal?"

Nyxie coos and giggles as he looks over to Ratchet, holding his arms out to him. He makes a little squeaking sound as he wriggles around in Xennah's arms. Xennah giggles and hands the wriggling kit to Ratchet.

"You little wriggler~"

Nyxie continues to giggle and gently touches Ratchet's face with his hands as he looks down at him. 

"Daa~"

Ratchet chuckles and wags his tail as he looks up at Nyxie.

"Can you say daddy, Nyxie~?"

Nyxie makes a confused expression and tilts his head to the side. Ratchet chuckles once again and speaks slower as he continues to walk beside Xennah.

"Da-ddy~?"

"Daa... daddy~!"

Xennah and Ratchet both gasp as they hear Nyxie talking. 

"You said your first word~!"

Nyxie giggles and makes a small squealing sound as Ratchet lifts him above his head and spins him around in the air.

"Good boy! Can you say it again~?"

"Daddy~!"

Ratchet smiles proudly and continues to wag his tail happily. Nyxie squeals happily and wags his tail also as Ratchet holds him in his arms, hugging him close. 

"Our little guy is growing up so fast..."

Xennah smiles and kisses Nyxie's forehead before looking down at him. 

"He sure is... he's not even supposed to be old enough to speak yet! I think our little one's gonna be enrolled in a special school for sure~!"

Nyxie coos and soon squeaks as he points ahead. Xennah and Ratchet look ahead and smile as they notice that their destination was just a few metres ahead. Ratchet smiles as he holds Nyxie close.

"Home, sweet home."

---------------------

"Hello? Grim, are you there?"

Xennah smiles as she follows behind Ratchet and looks up, admiring the surroundings of Ratchet and Grim's garage. 

"It looks the same as ever..."

Ratchet chuckles as he looks around the garage before heading over to Grim's office. He knocks on the door and looks down as Nyxie coos and reaches forward. He then knocks on the door too and makes a confused expression when no-one answers.

Ratchet chuckles and holds Nyxie close as he looks down at him.

"Nice try, pal... but I don't think Grim's in there."

"I'm right here, kid!"

Ratchet and Xennah both turn around and smile as they notice Grim stood behind them, leaning against one of the walls. Xennah walks over and Grim smiles down at her before giving her a small hug.

"Xennah, it's been a while!"

Xennah giggles as she hugs him back and looks up at him.

"Hi, Grim and yes it has!"

Grim chuckles and looks over to Ratchet before smirking down at her.

"How's the trouble-maker been~?"

Xennah smirks also.

"Are you talking about Ratchet or Nyxie~?"

Grim chuckles once again as he looks over to Ratchet, noticing that he was pouting.

"Very funny..."

Nyxie giggles and claps his hands as Ratchet walks over, still holding onto him. Grim smiles as he looks down at Nyxie and gently ruffles his hair.

"Well, look at you! You're looking more like Ratchet everytime I see ya!"

Nyxie smiles and coos as he reaches forward and places his hands on top of Grim's. Grim smiles down at the kit before turning around and motioning his hand towards the nearby couch.

"All of you can take a seat, if you want... I was finished setting up some gravity coils."

Xennah smiles and nods as she takes a seat next to Ratchet. Nyxie coos as he looks up at Ratchet before watching as Grim takes a seat also. 

"So... how have you all been?"

Xennah smiles as she looks over to Nyxie before gently tickling his tummy.

"We've been pretty good, Grim... little Nyxie started teething the other day!"

Grim chuckles a bit as Nyxie giggles. Ratchet gently opens Nyxie's mouth and shows his one tooth that was growing. Grim takes a look and Nyxie soon begins to wriggle around, uncomfortably. Ratchet chuckles a bit as he releases his mouth and looks up at Grim.

"Heh... I remember back when Ratchet got his first tooth too. The poor thing wouldn't stop crying when it was coming through though..."

Xennah makes a somewhat sympathetic expression as she nuzzles Ratchet, who was blushing a bit from the story. Nyxie giggles as he nuzzles into Ratchet's chest.

"Aww... I bet Ratchet was a cute baby~"

Grim smirks a bit as he notices Ratchet blushing.

"Well... let's just say that he was a lil trouble-maker right from the start~"

Xennah giggles and makes an 'aww' sound as Grim shows her a photo of Ratchet as a baby, tugging on Grim's horn. Ratchet blushes more and reaches forward, attempting to grab the photo off him.

"Grim! You're embarrassing me!"

Grim smirks as he holds the photo out of Ratchet's grasp.

"That's the idea, kid~! You always do your fair share of blushing..."

"Hmph..."

Xennah giggles as she leans over and kisses Ratchet's forehead.

"Aww, don't be shy, honey~"

Ratchet pouts a bit as Xennah giggles and Grim chuckles from his embarrassment. Ratchet was about to speak but he soon lowers his ears a bit as he hears a small sniffling sound coming from Nyxie. He looks down and sees that he was scrunching his face up and about to cry.

Xennah lowers her ears also and leans over, gently running her hand across his muzzle.

"What's wrong, sweetie-pie?"

Nyxie continues to sniffle and lowers his ears as he looks down at Ratchet, who had lifted him above him.

"Yeah... what's up, little pal?"

Nyxie soon begins to cry loudly and kicks his feet. Ratchet stands up and holds him close to his chest, attempting to calm him.

"Shh, it's alright..."

Ratchet soon feels his nose twitch and makes a disgusted expression as he holds Nyxie out in front of him.

"Ugh... I think I know what's wrong."

Xennah giggles a bit as she reaches over next to her and grabs a large bag. She hands it to Ratchet and smirks up at him.

"I believe it's your turn, honey~"

Grim chuckles and smirks up at Ratchet.

"I think it's clear to see who wears the pants in this relationship~"

Xennah giggles and Ratchet pouts a bit as he puts the bag on his shoulder, walking over to the other side of the garage. He mutters to himself a bit as he activates his SwingShot device from his glove.

"Yeah, yeah... Xennah is the boss. Don't wanna make her angry..."

Nyxie continues to cry loudly and soon clings onto Ratchet, feeling comforted by his soft fur. Ratchet smiles a little and kisses the top of his head before looking up at an area above him.

"Ready, little pal? We're gonna go for a bit of a ride!"

Nyxie sniffles a bit but soon begins to calm down from being in Ratchet's arms. He coos and watches as Ratchet aims a beam from the SwingShot device up onto a metal bar above their position. Ratchet then retracts the beam, causing them both to ascend.

As they ascend, Nyxie coos and smiles a bit, enjoying the experience. Once they reach the top, Ratchet climbs up onto the surface and chuckles as he notices Nyxie smiling.

"You enjoyed that, huh~?"

Nyxie squeals and claps his hands as Ratchet lays him onto his bed. Ratchet chuckles and looks around, noticing his many posters and photographs on the wall. He used to spend many hours in his bedroom as a teenager.

"This used to be daddy's bedroom, Nyxie..."

Nyxie coos as he attempts to look up behind him at the photographs. Ratchet chuckles a bit and proceeds with the diaper change. Nyxie giggles and kicks his feet as Ratchet attempts to change him.

"You're not making this easy for daddy, Nyxie~"

Nyxie coos and smiles innocently as he looks up at Ratchet and stops kicking his feet, as if on cue. 

Once Ratchet had finished the change, he picks up Nyxie and the changing bag before putting it on his shoulder. He then smiles as he points to a photograph on the wall. 

"Look Nyxie, it's daddy~!"

Nyxie, who recognised Ratchet in the photo, smiles and reaches his hand out, touching it. 

"Daddy~!"

Ratchet chuckles as he furthers explores his old room. He finds a little plushie of his OmniWrench and smiles as Nyxie notices it and attempts to grab it.

"You want this? It's daddy's first toy~!"

Nyxie coos and wags his tail as Ratchet hands the toy to him and he hugs it. 

"Aww... you know daddy had that when he was first training to be a Ranger~"

Nyxie makes a confused expression as Ratchet says 'Ranger' and Ratchet chuckles before pointing to another photograph on his wall. 

"Yeah, daddy was a Ranger... you see these two? They're Brax and Cora, daddy's Ranger partners."

Nyxie looks at the picture in amazement and coos as he notices another photograph of Ratchet as a child. He squeals and reaches out for it. Ratchet chuckles as he puts the other photo down.

"I'm guessing you like the photos of me, huh~? Well in this one, I was only about 2 years older than you. I rode that HoverBike and apparently I didn't know how to stop!"

The little kit looks up at Ratchet and soon begins to chew on the OmniWrench toy. Ratchet smirks a bit as he places the photo down on the table next to him.

"I guess you're still a bit young to understand me, eh~?"

Nyxie simply smiles cutely as he continues to chew the toy. Ratchet smiles and kisses Nyxie's head before looking down at Xennah and Grim.

"I still bet that you're gonna be a great Ranger someday... but anyway, we better get back to grandpappy and mommy."

Nyxie smiles and holds onto Ratchet as he retracts a nearby ladder and climbs down it, holding Nyxie close as he does so.

-----------------

"... took Ratchet a good three baths or so to get his fur clean again! The little scamp was covered in oil!"

Ratchet feels his ear twitch as he overhears the conversation with Xennah and Grim. He groans a bit and feels his cheeks begin to heat up in embarrassment.

"Grim, please stop telling people that story! It's embarrassing!"

Xennah and Grim turn to Ratchet and both smirk at his now blushing cheeks. Ratchet sits down and hands Nyxie to Grim as Xennah speaks.

"Hi sweetie, you took a while!"

"I was just showing the little scamp my old bedroom... turns out he really likes my OmniWrench plushie~!"

Xennah giggles as she notices Nyxie cooing and chewing on the toy. Grim looks down at the little kit and chuckles as he ruffles his hair.

"A chip off the old block, you are... got your mama's eyes though, haven't ya~?"

Nyxie coos as he looks up at Xennah and reaches out for her. The young female takes Nyxie into her arms and hugs him close.

"Mama~!"

Xennah gasps and wags her tail as she hears Nyxie speak. She holds him up above her head and smiles up at him.

"D-Did you just say mama?!"

"Mama~!"

Xennah squeals happily as she kisses Nyxie's nose.

"Oh, you're such a clever boy~!"

Nyxie giggles and looks over to Ratchet and Grim as they chuckle. 

"You definitely have your mother's intelligence, son~"

"Indeed... I said it before and I'll say it again... lombaxes are pretty clever."
