Numbered Days

The sight of her mother washed away all of her anxiety, a smile spreading across her maw. She rushed forward to run her nose across her cheek. "Oh Mom, I'm so sorry that I haven't come to visit sooner... I feel terrible," she whispered as she pulled back, gazing at her eyes that matched her own. She really did feel guilty about the way she moved about, it wasn't hard to see that her joints were stiff. "I should have brought you some herbs, I will make sure to stock up before the winter comes," the tiny woman added, taking a seat before her beautiful dame. She certainly had won the gene pool, Epiphron didn't look a day over five with her shining coat and glimmering eyes. Her one colored ear stood straight, the white one tattered at the tip. Amalia's stump of a tail wagged behind her, a soft hum vibrating in her throat as she just admired the woman before her. "You know, you are quite beautiful. I'm surprised someone didn't try to snatch you up!" she said with a laugh, her whole face showing the sheer joy she felt being around Pip.

The retired alphess asked how she was doing, and the small woman shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly. "Busy trying to keep my den stocked. With the two dry seasons together I haven't been able to gather as much as I hoped, but I'm glad I took that trip to the jungle to grab some plants there. Otherwise I was afraid we would come up dry this winter. And how about you Mother? Retirement treating you well?" All her old fears towards this conversation rushed away, and she knew that she was being silly to think that Pip would be upset at her for the lack of visits. It did little to squelch the guilt, but it was something. She adored this woman with all her heart, and was glad that they had been able to spend so much time together now. Amalia couldn't even count how grateful she was for her allowing Athena to join, even though there had been a feud between their families. Instead she had welcomed her and the boys in, most of which were still around today. And now they had their wonderful girls... honestly she was so blessed to have all these wolves around her to dote on. When it all came down to it, it was really Epiphron that had made this all happen.

"Speech"