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Jay and Arin return to land, and return home, unsure of what they will find when they get there.\n\nI promise the next thing I do won't be a multi-chapter epic.\n\n[url=https://inkbunny.net/s/3336160]Part 1[/url] | [url=https://inkbunny.net/s/3336168]Part 2[/url] | [url=https://inkbunny.net/s/3336169]Part 3[/url] | [url=https://inkbunny.net/s/3336171]Part 4[/url] | [url=https://inkbunny.net/s/3336174]Part 5[/url] | [url=https://inkbunny.net/s/3336175]Part 6[/url] | [url=https://inkbunny.net/s/3336177]Part 7[/url] | >[b][u]Part 8[/u][/b]<\n\n- - - - -\n\nA massive thank you to my top tier subscribers:\n[fa]booleangemini352[/fa] | Sedyna | [fa]Kaden22[/fa] | [fa]jafferroshak[/fa] | RoleplayCentral | [fa]Tierr[/fa] | [fa]akinkyyfox[/fa]\n\nIf you would like early access to my stories, polls, monthly commission raffles, weekly previews and updates, behind the scenes talks, and other bonus content, please consider subscribing to my [url=https://subscribestar.adult/xp_author]SubscribeStar[/url]", "description_bbcode_parsed": "The conclusion of this tale. Jay and Arin return to land, and return home, unsure of what they will find when they get there.

I promise the next thing I do won't be a multi-chapter epic.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | >Part 8<

- - - - -

A massive thank you to my top tier subscribers:
\n\t\t\t\t\tbooleangemini352 | Sedyna | \n\t\t\t\t\tKaden22 | \n\t\t\t\t\tjafferroshak | RoleplayCentral | \n\t\t\t\t\tTierr | \n\t\t\t\t\takinkyyfox

If you would like early access to my stories, polls, monthly commission raffles, weekly previews and updates, behind the scenes talks, and other bonus content, please consider subscribing to my SubscribeStar", "writing": "[center][b]The Good Neighbor[/b][/center]\n[center][u]Part 8[/u][/center]\n[center]By XP Author[/center]\n\nAs he pulled down the street, they could see the lights flashing. Two police cars sat in the driveway on Arin's side of the house. She let out a soft whimper in the seat beside him. \"Yeah, I know. Just... play along with what I say. Don't say anything they don't already know.\" She nodded to him.\n\nOne of the officers standing out front, a tall raccoon, started giving him a warning wave as he pulled into his driveway. The man came over hastily. \"Sir, you can't be here. This is a crime scene!\"\n\nJay opened the door, but left the truck running just in case. \"Sorry, but I live here.\" He pointed to the door with the letter B on it. \"Did someone break into my house?\"\n\nThe raccoon frowned. \"Oh, you're a resident.\" He sighed slightly. \"No, it's... your neighbors. Someone reported that there was an... incident here. The woman seems to have...\" he hesitated. \"Well, I probably shouldn't say. But the daughter is still missing...\" His eyes looked up at the girl still in the passenger seat of the car. \"Or is that her?\"\n\nHe nodded. \"Yes, that is her. Arin, is her name.\" He motioned for the girl to come on out. \"I found her on my boat this morning.\"\n\nThe man quirked an eyebrow. \"On your boat?\"\n\nHe nodded. \"Yes. I was going to drop off some fishing equipment, and saw the door was open.\" As Arin got close, he put his hand gently on her head. \"Seems she was trying to run away from home.\" He looked over as another officer stepped out of the house, a skinny panther this time. Arin also looked, letting out a slight sound and shrinking away a little as she saw him. He was pretty sure he knew why, but he played innocent for now. \"Did... something happen to her mother?\"\n\nThe raccoon sighed heavily. \"Well, yes...\" He crouched down and looked at the young girl. His voice got softer as he spoke to her. \"Hey. Um... what's your name?\"\n\nShe stayed somewhat behind Jay. \"A-Arin. Arin Tamish...\"\n\nHe nodded slowly. \"Well, Arin... I'm really sorry to be the one to say this, but you should hear it now. Your mother... It seems like she killed herself.\" The girl just nodded slowly. \"Do you have any other family we should call?\" She shook her head slowly. \"No? Your father? Uncles?\" He looked up at Jay, the squirrel just shaking his head that he wasn't any of those things. \"Any family?\"\n\n\"N-no... It... was just... Mom and me...\" She reached up and took Jay's hand, doing a very good job of playing like she was the 9 year old she looked like, and not the teenager she actually was. \"Did... someone hurt her?\" Jay tensed for a moment.\n\nThe raccoon shook his head slowly. \"It doesn't look like it. You didn't see anything before you... left, did you?\"\n\nArin shook her head again, shrinking back a little bit as the panther came over. Thankfully the man didn't say anything as the girl replied. \"N-no... she was... drinking and... had her pills... and went to sleep...\"\n\nJay spoke up. \"Hey, should you be asking this right now?\" He got a dirty look from the panther. He gave a look at him before adding, \"Without a lawyer or guardian present?\"\n\nThe raccoon nodded. \"Yeah, you are right. Sorry.\" He stood up again, looking at Jay. \"Do you know anyone we should contact? Next of kin? Someone out of town, maybe?\"\n\nHe shook his head. \"No, sorry. I've only just moved in a little while ago. I didn't get to know her mother very well yet.\" He squeezed the girl's hand gently. \"But I can watch her for now, if that's alright. She trusts me, and I can keep her safe and calm until... something else can be figured out.\"\n\n\"Yeah... that... should work. She does seem to trust you.\" He rubbed the back of his head. \"Well, I'm really sorry for your loss, little one.\" He reached into a pouch on his belt, pulling out a small card and holding it out. Jay took it, reading 'Officer Talley' and the number for the police department. \"Here. Call us if you learn anything. Someone will probably be in contact with you soon to get her... situation sorted out. It might be a day. Can you watch her until then?\"\n\nJay nodded. \"I already said I would.\"\n\n\"Yeah... sorry.\" The man cleared his throat. \"Well, you take care of her. Like I said, someone should be in contact with you shortly.\"\n\nHe nodded again. \"I will. Thank you, Officer Talley.\" He looked at the panther then. \"I'll keep her safe.\" He then turned around, going back to the truck to turn it off and get his keys. He spoke softly to Arin. \"Grab your bag and we'll get inside and away from them.\" She nodded, doing as he said. As soon as they were inside his part of the house and the door was shut, she pushed against him in a hug. He could feel her shaking a little. \"That panther. He was one of your mother's... clients, wasn't he?\" She nodded. \"Yeah, I thought so.\" He crouched down, holding her gently. \"Don't worry. I'll make sure he doesn't do anything to you. And I'll make [i]damned[/i] sure he's not going to be the one to take you anywhere.\" She nodded again, leaning against him once more, doing nothing to hide her soft sobs.\n\n[center]* * *[/center]\n\nJay's ruse seemed to have worked. When someone from the police department contacted him, they referred to it as a suicide. Not long after, a service worker came to visit. A middle aged doe named Francine Winters. She was a nice enough lady, but still seemed to keep Arin on edge a little. It was probably that she kept asking about other family, as if she didn't believe the girl had no one else to go to. Might have something to do with the fact that she had tried to run away at the same time her mother 'killed herself.'\n\nAfter having had a private interview with Arin, Francine sat down with Jay. \"She seems to have been through a lot before this. She's taking the news of her mother very well...\"\n\nHe nodded slowly. \"Yeah. I don't know all the details, but... well, to be frank, they didn't get along very well. I could hear... a lot of yelling through the walls. Mostly from Veronica.\"\n\n\"Including the night she tried to run away?\" He nodded. \"Well.\" She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. \"Since you are currently the one watching her, I might as well fill you in. They did a test on her mother and found a rather alarming amount of alcohol and opiates within her system.\"\n\nHe nodded. \"Yes, the officer that called earlier mentioned something about that.\"\n\n\"To the best of your knowledge, did she have a history with that?\"\n\nHe was surprised at the question, but then reminded himself that this woman was technically still a police officer. Or close enough to one. \"Yes. From what I saw of her, she was always drinking or... at least intoxicated. She even came banging on my door a few days ago, very confused and out of sorts. She was looking for Arin. Arin was in school at the time, since it was the middle of the day on a weekday. I explained that, and told her to go home and lay down. As far as I know, she did.\"\n\n\"And you didn't call the police about this?\"\n\nHe shook his head. \"No. Though I kind of wish I had now... I didn't know she was that bad.\" He hoped that was believable enough. \"I was planning on calling the cops after I found Arin in my boat. Once I got her home, of course. But... well...\" He frowned, looking away a little and just staying quiet.\n\n\"It's not your fault.\" It took everything he had to not react to that. \"It can be hard to judge these things.\"\n\nHe nodded. After a long moment of silence, he spoke up. \"What's going to happen to Arin from here?\"\n\nFrancine sighed softly. \"Well... it doesn't seem like she has any relatives or next of kin that we can turn her over to. So... most likely, she'll be put into foster care. We'll also set up a grief counselor for her to visit. I don't think she's quite come to accept what's happened yet.\"\n\nHe hesitated for a moment. \"Is it... possible for her to stay here, with me? I'll do whatever background check or whatever it is you need to do for that.\" He looked back at his bedroom, where Arin was told to wait while they talked. \"I think I'm the closest thing she's got to a friend right now, and don't want to leave her to some stranger.\"\n\nHe was surprised when the doe smiled at him. \"I was actually hoping you might volunteer. We will need to do a background check on you, of course. But in situations like this, it is often best if children stay with someone familiar to them. Someone they trust.\" She also looked in the direction of the bedroom. \"And she does seem to have some affection for you.\"\n\nHe shrugged. \"I... uh... I've been giving her rides to school for the past week or so.\" He explained about the bike, being honest about the bullies and not using the pothole excuse. He also explained that they had grown close during those little trips, and that was when Arin learned about the boat, which is why she had tried to run away there. He of course left out the part about the two of them going out on the water and... everything else that happened out there. Just that they talked for a while before he brought her home.\n\nHe really hoped she bought all if it. \"Well, that's good. Though are you sure about all this? Looking after a child is a big responsibility. And a teenager, too. This isn't just something you can quit if it becomes too much.\"\n\nHe nodded. \"Yeah. I know what I'm getting myself into.\" He smirked a little. \"I have a coworker who's been telling me how much of a great dad I'd be. Guess now is the chance to prove her right.\"\n\nFrancine let out a soft laugh. \"Very well.\" She stood up and straightened her blazer a little. \"Well, Mr. McGavin, thank you for your time. You take care of little Arin. I'll be in contact with you about your taking guardianship over her soon.\"\n\nHe shook the woman's hand. \"Thank you, Ms. Winters.\" He saw her out, then let out a heavy sigh once the woman was gone, feeling almost drained from that.\n\nHe heard a sound behind him and turned to see Arin poking around the corner. \"S-so... they're going to let you... keep me?\"\n\nHe nodded. \"Yeah. It seems that way.\" She also let out a relieved sigh, coming over to give him another hug. He pat her gently. \"Guess you're stuck with me now, huh?\" She giggled softly, nodding.\n\n[center]* * *[/center]\n\nThe move went smoothly, which he was very happy about. Thankfully, he still hadn't fully unpacked from the last one when he and Arin decided that the house had too many bad memories attached to it for her. And she didn't have very much of her own things to pack... though he had bought her a whole new set of clothing. She still liked her baggy clothing, but at least now it was the right size for her. The new house was even closer to the docks, too, so they could head over to the boat and go out a lot more frequently. He had already taken her out again, since the school was giving her time off for grieving. Though she didn't do much grieving, instead doing a lot more moaning and panting with him.\n\nWhen he told Zinda about Arin, the zebra was over the moon with joy for him, congratulating him... with a note of sadness over the circumstances, of course. When he introduced the two, he was happy to find they got along quite well very quickly. She even got Arin to call her 'Aunt Zin' one time, though the girl was just placating her. She did refuse to call him Dad, though. That was just too weird for the both of them.\n\nThough it would soon be... technically correct. He had signed all the paperwork to become her legal guardian. And with that in place, he started looking to adopt her more formally. He got in contact with an orphanage called the Hart House for Wayward Children. Their headquarters were way up in Alta Ferro, but they had branches all over the country. They also had quite the sterling reputation from what he found in his research. Even Arin had heard of them, though she couldn't remember from where. The owner, a rabbit named George Hart, had won a few awards with the place, and it seemed even his own children helped out with the place where they could. With the help of the Hart House, he was able to start the process of formally adopting Arin. Something she was more than excited about.\n\nOnce the movers had left, the two of them fell onto his brand new king-sized bed. He looked over at the girl. \"So. How was your first move?\"\n\nShe smiled. \"Exciting! Tiring...\"\n\nHe nodded. \"Yeah. And we haven't even started unpacking everything yet.\" She just groaned, which made him chuckle. \"We'll take it slow, don't worry.\" She nodded, shifting over a little to lay up against him. He gently ran his fingers through her hair, which was up in pigtails again. After a long moment, he leaned over. \"You up for some dinner?\"\n\nShe nodded excitedly. \"Yeah!\"\n\nHe leaned over and gave her a kiss on the cheek. \"Then we can... test out the new bed if you want.\"\n\nShe giggled again, giving him a big grin. \"Yeah... And no neighbors to hear us...\"\n\nHe smiled back at her. \"Dinner first, though. Pizza sound good?\"\n\n\"YEAH!\" She hopped up to her feet immediately, bouncing on her toes. He chuckled, still loving how excited she got about things. Especially that big, goofy smile when she was happy. He was going to make sure she smiled like that a lot from now on.\n\n[center]* * *[/center]", "writing_bbcode_parsed": "
The Good Neighbor

Part 8

By XP Author


As he pulled down the street, they could see the lights flashing. Two police cars sat in the driveway on Arin's side of the house. She let out a soft whimper in the seat beside him. "Yeah, I know. Just... play along with what I say. Don't say anything they don't already know." She nodded to him.

One of the officers standing out front, a tall raccoon, started giving him a warning wave as he pulled into his driveway. The man came over hastily. "Sir, you can't be here. This is a crime scene!"

Jay opened the door, but left the truck running just in case. "Sorry, but I live here." He pointed to the door with the letter B on it. "Did someone break into my house?"

The raccoon frowned. "Oh, you're a resident." He sighed slightly. "No, it's... your neighbors. Someone reported that there was an... incident here. The woman seems to have..." he hesitated. "Well, I probably shouldn't say. But the daughter is still missing..." His eyes looked up at the girl still in the passenger seat of the car. "Or is that her?"

He nodded. "Yes, that is her. Arin, is her name." He motioned for the girl to come on out. "I found her on my boat this morning."

The man quirked an eyebrow. "On your boat?"

He nodded. "Yes. I was going to drop off some fishing equipment, and saw the door was open." As Arin got close, he put his hand gently on her head. "Seems she was trying to run away from home." He looked over as another officer stepped out of the house, a skinny panther this time. Arin also looked, letting out a slight sound and shrinking away a little as she saw him. He was pretty sure he knew why, but he played innocent for now. "Did... something happen to her mother?"

The raccoon sighed heavily. "Well, yes..." He crouched down and looked at the young girl. His voice got softer as he spoke to her. "Hey. Um... what's your name?"

She stayed somewhat behind Jay. "A-Arin. Arin Tamish..."

He nodded slowly. "Well, Arin... I'm really sorry to be the one to say this, but you should hear it now. Your mother... It seems like she killed herself." The girl just nodded slowly. "Do you have any other family we should call?" She shook her head slowly. "No? Your father? Uncles?" He looked up at Jay, the squirrel just shaking his head that he wasn't any of those things. "Any family?"

"N-no... It... was just... Mom and me..." She reached up and took Jay's hand, doing a very good job of playing like she was the 9 year old she looked like, and not the teenager she actually was. "Did... someone hurt her?" Jay tensed for a moment.

The raccoon shook his head slowly. "It doesn't look like it. You didn't see anything before you... left, did you?"

Arin shook her head again, shrinking back a little bit as the panther came over. Thankfully the man didn't say anything as the girl replied. "N-no... she was... drinking and... had her pills... and went to sleep..."

Jay spoke up. "Hey, should you be asking this right now?" He got a dirty look from the panther. He gave a look at him before adding, "Without a lawyer or guardian present?"

The raccoon nodded. "Yeah, you are right. Sorry." He stood up again, looking at Jay. "Do you know anyone we should contact? Next of kin? Someone out of town, maybe?"

He shook his head. "No, sorry. I've only just moved in a little while ago. I didn't get to know her mother very well yet." He squeezed the girl's hand gently. "But I can watch her for now, if that's alright. She trusts me, and I can keep her safe and calm until... something else can be figured out."

"Yeah... that... should work. She does seem to trust you." He rubbed the back of his head. "Well, I'm really sorry for your loss, little one." He reached into a pouch on his belt, pulling out a small card and holding it out. Jay took it, reading 'Officer Talley' and the number for the police department. "Here. Call us if you learn anything. Someone will probably be in contact with you soon to get her... situation sorted out. It might be a day. Can you watch her until then?"

Jay nodded. "I already said I would."

"Yeah... sorry." The man cleared his throat. "Well, you take care of her. Like I said, someone should be in contact with you shortly."

He nodded again. "I will. Thank you, Officer Talley." He looked at the panther then. "I'll keep her safe." He then turned around, going back to the truck to turn it off and get his keys. He spoke softly to Arin. "Grab your bag and we'll get inside and away from them." She nodded, doing as he said. As soon as they were inside his part of the house and the door was shut, she pushed against him in a hug. He could feel her shaking a little. "That panther. He was one of your mother's... clients, wasn't he?" She nodded. "Yeah, I thought so." He crouched down, holding her gently. "Don't worry. I'll make sure he doesn't do anything to you. And I'll make damned sure he's not going to be the one to take you anywhere." She nodded again, leaning against him once more, doing nothing to hide her soft sobs.

*     *     *


Jay's ruse seemed to have worked. When someone from the police department contacted him, they referred to it as a suicide. Not long after, a service worker came to visit. A middle aged doe named Francine Winters. She was a nice enough lady, but still seemed to keep Arin on edge a little. It was probably that she kept asking about other family, as if she didn't believe the girl had no one else to go to. Might have something to do with the fact that she had tried to run away at the same time her mother 'killed herself.'

After having had a private interview with Arin, Francine sat down with Jay. "She seems to have been through a lot before this. She's taking the news of her mother very well..."

He nodded slowly. "Yeah. I don't know all the details, but... well, to be frank, they didn't get along very well. I could hear... a lot of yelling through the walls. Mostly from Veronica."

"Including the night she tried to run away?" He nodded. "Well." She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Since you are currently the one watching her, I might as well fill you in. They did a test on her mother and found a rather alarming amount of alcohol and opiates within her system."

He nodded. "Yes, the officer that called earlier mentioned something about that."

"To the best of your knowledge, did she have a history with that?"

He was surprised at the question, but then reminded himself that this woman was technically still a police officer. Or close enough to one. "Yes. From what I saw of her, she was always drinking or... at least intoxicated. She even came banging on my door a few days ago, very confused and out of sorts. She was looking for Arin. Arin was in school at the time, since it was the middle of the day on a weekday. I explained that, and told her to go home and lay down. As far as I know, she did."

"And you didn't call the police about this?"

He shook his head. "No. Though I kind of wish I had now... I didn't know she was that bad." He hoped that was believable enough. "I was planning on calling the cops after I found Arin in my boat. Once I got her home, of course. But... well..." He frowned, looking away a little and just staying quiet.

"It's not your fault." It took everything he had to not react to that. "It can be hard to judge these things."

He nodded. After a long moment of silence, he spoke up. "What's going to happen to Arin from here?"

Francine sighed softly. "Well... it doesn't seem like she has any relatives or next of kin that we can turn her over to. So... most likely, she'll be put into foster care. We'll also set up a grief counselor for her to visit. I don't think she's quite come to accept what's happened yet."

He hesitated for a moment. "Is it... possible for her to stay here, with me? I'll do whatever background check or whatever it is you need to do for that." He looked back at his bedroom, where Arin was told to wait while they talked. "I think I'm the closest thing she's got to a friend right now, and don't want to leave her to some stranger."

He was surprised when the doe smiled at him. "I was actually hoping you might volunteer. We will need to do a background check on you, of course. But in situations like this, it is often best if children stay with someone familiar to them. Someone they trust." She also looked in the direction of the bedroom. "And she does seem to have some affection for you."

He shrugged. "I... uh... I've been giving her rides to school for the past week or so." He explained about the bike, being honest about the bullies and not using the pothole excuse. He also explained that they had grown close during those little trips, and that was when Arin learned about the boat, which is why she had tried to run away there. He of course left out the part about the two of them going out on the water and... everything else that happened out there. Just that they talked for a while before he brought her home.

He really hoped she bought all if it. "Well, that's good. Though are you sure about all this? Looking after a child is a big responsibility. And a teenager, too. This isn't just something you can quit if it becomes too much."

He nodded. "Yeah. I know what I'm getting myself into." He smirked a little. "I have a coworker who's been telling me how much of a great dad I'd be. Guess now is the chance to prove her right."

Francine let out a soft laugh. "Very well." She stood up and straightened her blazer a little. "Well, Mr. McGavin, thank you for your time. You take care of little Arin. I'll be in contact with you about your taking guardianship over her soon."

He shook the woman's hand. "Thank you, Ms. Winters." He saw her out, then let out a heavy sigh once the woman was gone, feeling almost drained from that.

He heard a sound behind him and turned to see Arin poking around the corner. "S-so... they're going to let you... keep me?"

He nodded. "Yeah. It seems that way." She also let out a relieved sigh, coming over to give him another hug. He pat her gently. "Guess you're stuck with me now, huh?" She giggled softly, nodding.

*     *     *


The move went smoothly, which he was very happy about. Thankfully, he still hadn't fully unpacked from the last one when he and Arin decided that the house had too many bad memories attached to it for her. And she didn't have very much of her own things to pack... though he had bought her a whole new set of clothing. She still liked her baggy clothing, but at least now it was the right size for her. The new house was even closer to the docks, too, so they could head over to the boat and go out a lot more frequently. He had already taken her out again, since the school was giving her time off for grieving. Though she didn't do much grieving, instead doing a lot more moaning and panting with him.

When he told Zinda about Arin, the zebra was over the moon with joy for him, congratulating him... with a note of sadness over the circumstances, of course. When he introduced the two, he was happy to find they got along quite well very quickly. She even got Arin to call her 'Aunt Zin' one time, though the girl was just placating her. She did refuse to call him Dad, though. That was just too weird for the both of them.

Though it would soon be... technically correct. He had signed all the paperwork to become her legal guardian. And with that in place, he started looking to adopt her more formally. He got in contact with an orphanage called the Hart House for Wayward Children. Their headquarters were way up in Alta Ferro, but they had branches all over the country. They also had quite the sterling reputation from what he found in his research. Even Arin had heard of them, though she couldn't remember from where. The owner, a rabbit named George Hart, had won a few awards with the place, and it seemed even his own children helped out with the place where they could. With the help of the Hart House, he was able to start the process of formally adopting Arin. Something she was more than excited about.

Once the movers had left, the two of them fell onto his brand new king-sized bed. He looked over at the girl. "So. How was your first move?"

She smiled. "Exciting! Tiring..."

He nodded. "Yeah. And we haven't even started unpacking everything yet." She just groaned, which made him chuckle. "We'll take it slow, don't worry." She nodded, shifting over a little to lay up against him. He gently ran his fingers through her hair, which was up in pigtails again. After a long moment, he leaned over. "You up for some dinner?"

She nodded excitedly. "Yeah!"

He leaned over and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Then we can... test out the new bed if you want."

She giggled again, giving him a big grin. "Yeah... And no neighbors to hear us..."

He smiled back at her. "Dinner first, though. Pizza sound good?"

"YEAH!" She hopped up to her feet immediately, bouncing on her toes. He chuckled, still loving how excited she got about things. Especially that big, goofy smile when she was happy. He was going to make sure she smiled like that a lot from now on.

*     *     *
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