When the world turns its back on you

Walk | Talk | Think

Like the proud mother she was, Anais sat beside her sleepy children, a contented smile settled upon her lips. She could watch them all day if she was allowed to, without moving or taking a moment to tend to her own needs. They were just so adorable, so precious, and they were hers. It was still so hard to believe sometimes that she had carried them, birthed them, and was now raising them alongside her wonderful, devoted mate. Everything was perfect, everything amazing and wondrous and...

But that was not altogether true. Her daughters were beautiful girls, taking hints from both sides of their family, but she, too, had noticed what Glacier noticed. Seraphiel was a terror, an adorable bundle of energy and zest for life that could not - and, was currently proving, would not - be contained. Aurora, on the other hand, though rambunctious and adventurous in her own right, was easily the more reserved of the girls. She said little, if anything at all, and most of it was incoherent noises rather than sound. She did not respond to direct words, paid little attention to anyone or anything about her unless they made her stop to look at them. It had gotten the gears turning in Anais's mind, why her blue-coated daughter was so different...and she thought she had an answer.

She was considering it again as she watched the two sisters rest, only allowing an ear to turn and listen as her mate approached her quietly. Only when he was beside her did she turn to look at him, her smile brightening, and at his direction she stepped away from the slumbering beauties - with only one quick glance back over her shoulder at them - to take a seat a short distance away.

Giving her full attention over to him, she quickly realized there was something on Glacier's mind. He had a seriousness, a concern, about his face that worried her, smoothed her smile away and caused her brows to pull together slightly as he began to speak to her. His thoughts, not altogether surprisingly, paralleled her own, and before she answered Anais turned her head to peer over her shoulder once more at her daughters. "I've noticed that too," she confirmed quietly, though only for the benefit of one of their children. "She doesn't follow directions very well either."

How close was he to putting it all together, she wondered. Will he follow my thoughts? Looking with a gentle curiosity up into the face of her mate, Anais ventured a soft question, her tone calm and conversational despite the significance she felt it had. "Have you noticed she listens better if you get her to look at you?"