Together We Stand {Bass Family}

Pipit was the first to arrive, asking him a question that was a lot more heavy handed than he realized. It wasn't an outright question, but it was nearly impossible to miss the implication in his tone. He opened his mouth to say that he was fine, only to close it with a sigh. His ears pulled back, and he studied his son's face. "I've been better, a lot better. Hopefully things will start to look up from here," he said softly. He was about to say more when Piper came up, bumping up against him. He offered a small smile and leaned down to lick the top of her head, something he seemed to do often with his kids. "Hey Kiddo, I hope you haven't gotten into too much trouble," Bass teased. It felt lack-luster though, not in the usual light that he liked to carry with his growing children. He hoped that his youngest girl wouldn't notice though. His heart felt heavy, not looking forward to everything that needed to be said. Sparrow came next, and he was thankful that she hadn't gone off on her trip just yet. He wanted everyone to be here for this, it wouldn't be fun to have to go from kid to kid to recap everything. Bass felt like he could see her worry, and he tried to catch her gaze. Quickly he gave a shake of his head, he would not share her stipulations at this time. He was still fighting hard to think everything over, and bringing it up would only cause more drama than he desired. Next came Lark, who sat silently beside his brother. He waited for the rest of his kids to show up, finding it odd that Finch had not showed up yet. Usually she was the first. And Merlin and Harmony, where were they? He sighed again, trying to think of how to start all of this. And then, Finch raced in. He eyed her, a single brow raising as she flopped beside Lark as her bird sat on her head. Where had she been? Finch met his gaze and offered a sheepish smile, and he just slowly shook his head. The oldest litter were 3 years old already, they were allowed to have a life.

He waited a little bit longer for the others to appear, but when no one showed up he knew that he couldn't wait any longer. Taking a deep breath, he looked around to his children who had gathered. "I called you kids," could he even call them that anymore? "here because this is a family matter that does not concern the rest of the pack. I'm sure you have all realized that your mother has once again vanished," Bass tried to keep the anger and hurt out of his voice, but failed. It cracked under the weight of his emotions. "If she does return again, she will not be welcomed back. She has made her choice to leave this family, I supposed she did that a long time ago..." He turned to the side and attempted to keep himself in check. He didn't want to think about how blind he had been to the whole thing.

When he had more of a firm hold on himself, he looked back at the young adults before him. "Starling has also left. He got into a bit of an altercation with myself and Finch, and left after that. I haven't run into his scent for awhile, no matter where I have looked. I'm just hoping that he needed to sort things out and will come back when he's ready." He hated that his family had been torn up like that. Falling silent, his golden gaze flitted across each face, trying to get a read on them. And now if anyone wanted to say something, now was the time. The floor was open to them.

"SPEAK!" -- "SPEAK ITALIAN!"