It was over an hour after Max had finally finished telling his mother the story.

She, like all mothers, was naturally pleased to see her son so passionate about something.

However, at the moment, the Hunter residence found itself in silence. Not a brooding silence but rather a peaceful one.

Julianne Hunter had long since retired to her bed. The events of the previous days had left this mother stressed and exhausted. She promptly fell asleep after hearing her son's story.

Max, on the other hand, was up, as usual, playing Warring Dimensia Two. This time, winning fight after fight.

He still couldn't quite believe it. His mother was ok with it. In fact, right then....

About an hour before....

Max: So, mom.... I.... I wanna join their team.

He was still scarfing down more pieces of cake while his mother was at the sink washing a dish.

Her heart flinched at the thought. She was happy he'd found something he liked, but that didn't mean she didn't worry.

Julianne: I... I see....

She hesitated. Her son putting himself in danger again. What to do, oh what to do?

The news had shown photos of the spider bots. They weren't that big of a deal, at least to her. But given what had happened that Monday night....

If he joined their team, this would become a normal thing. He might even go into an overload again, or worse, come back home in pieces.

She paused without making a sound for several seconds.

Max's initial excitement slowly turned to anxiety. Should he not have asked that right at that very moment? Was it too much? Was she going to say no?

Meanwhile, Julianne asked herself, "Why should she say yes to this?"

Everything in her heart screamed that she should say no. After all, why should she have to worry about him? Why should her son have to risk his life? He was all the family she had. And she his.

Max slowly began to recoil back into his seat, thinking, "Yeah, maybe that was all too good to be true."

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

Julianne: I suppose it would be fine.

Max: Huh?! Really?!

Julianne: Absolutely.

She said all this against herself. Her back was turned to hide a face, fighting back every single tear that wanted to fly out of her eyes.

Behind the screaming wails of her soul was one statement. She knew she had to let him do this. Something deep in her heart said so.

Was it her love for her son? After all, he wanted to do this.

Her reverence for her late husband? She knew that he would approve.

Or her sense of duty as a mother? That something in the very depths of her soul told her that this was the way to go, even though it was the most painful thing she had ever had to say.

Max: For real!?

Julianne: Of course, honey.

Years of acting had left this woman with something of an arsenal of tricks and skills to hide her true emotions.

One of them being, her knowledge of exactly what her voice sounded like and what her face looked like.

As well as an interestingly large amount of knowledge about the human mind.

Just as she'd finished her statement, she turned around with a somewhat realistic smile on her face with her eyes closed.

It was a simple face. Eyes closed and smile often meant simple agreement to most people. They wouldn't think twice about it.

Max was so excited that his mind completely failed to notice that she turned her back on him right after saying that.

Max: That's... That's great! I can't wait to tell them!

And Julianne was glad that he'd failed to notice her pain. But.....

Max: We're gonna go on all kinds of adventures. It's gonna be so cool.

As he continued to speak.

Max: And we're gonna fight all kinds of monsters, robots, and evil warriors. It'll be so awesome.

A certain pains lowly lifted from her heart. Almost as if hearing her son speak so excitedly about it calmed her down. Why did it, though? She may never know, she thought.

Max: And then... and then....

His mother giggled.

Julianne: Alright, alright... I get it.

Something about his excitement calmed her down enough. Enough that she could laugh.

Max: Huh?

She put the plate onto the rack and walked towards her son. The tears in her eyes had been held back successfully. And on top of that, what she was about to do felt right. After all, she was still his mother.

Julianne: You can go ahead and join their team.

Her hand fell onto his hair. Gently rubbing his hair. Her face wasn't happy or sad. Just concerned.

Max: Mom...

Julianne: But promise me... that if it ever gets too rough for you out there, you'll never hesitate to ask me for help. Not even for second. Do you promise me that?

There was a tinge of fear in her voice. But much more apparent was her motherly concern for him.

Julianne: Promise?

To Max, his mother had done one surprising thing after another this day. This one moment somehow stunned him more than everything else beforehand.

Max: Yeah, I promise, mom.

Julianne: Good.

She got back up and stretched.

Julianne: And don't miss school because of your super heroics.

Max: Ok.

Julianne: And don't fail your classes, or get in trouble at school,....

Max: Ok, mom....

Julianne: And don't let anybody else see your powers.

Max: Ok, mom..... I get it...

Julianne: And...

Max: Moooooooooommmm!