At the beginning

Artorias clarified that he was thanking her for everything she had done for their family and she quickly realized she wasn't the only one going down memory lane here and being tugged by the emotions it brought. She smiled as she listened to her son talk about the love, protection, and support she had given them as their mother, his kind words bringing tears to the corners of her eyes as emotion sat heavy on her chest. She had never put any thought into giving her children all of these things–giving them all of herself. It had just been a natural response to love and care for them with everything she had and to do her very best to give them the family and the life she didn't have growing up. She knew from her own experience that it wasn't an automatic or natural response from all parents, but for her there had been no other option.

Still, as Artorias thanked her for being their mother–for being his mother–she couldn't help the tears that rolled down her cheeks and the wide smile that pulled at her lips. Being a parent sometimes felt like a thankless job and sometimes she wondered if she ever did it correctly, but little moments like this reminded her that she did her best and maybe that was more than enough. She reached a black paw up to his cheek, wiping away some of his unique, glistening tears before she gently pulled his head down a bit so she could reach to give his cheek a kiss. "Oh my little blueberry... Being a mother to you and all of your siblings has been my greatest honor and joy," she replied, her voice strained and struggling through her tears. "I love all of you so much."

She had to reach up to wrap her forelegs around his neck and still ended up having to pull him down to her a bit in order to tuck his head under her chin the way she used to when he was little. She laughed a bit through her tears, blinking them away from her eyes as she nuzzled the top of his head. "How do I shrink you back to blueberry sized?" She still remembered them all being so small like it was yesterday and even though he had been this tall for years now it was still so hard to wrap her head around the fact that he wasn't her little boy any more.

"Talk" | "Carpathian"