it's in your blood and it's in your making

He laughed softly when she began to lean against him, and he wrapped his paws about her shoulders, and dragged her closer. She was so light, with her slim build and lesser height. He gently poked her belly, which had flattened since her latest litter. “You eating enough, your Ladyship?” he asked, jokingly frowning down at her.

“It does indeed” he agreed. Sometimes, it felt like just yesterday when they had been children. There had been times when neither remembered their duties, they were just kids, who loved to play and laugh. When he realised just how long ago that had been, the years really seemed to stretch out before him.

“Leaving?” he asked, sharply, surprised. Some of her kids were leaving? “Are you allowing them to?” he asked. Not as an insult, but purely curiosity. Did she give them that freedom? If his own kids asked to leave… he wasn’t so certain he would let them. Did that make him a tyrant? Perhaps.