“Dinner is nice”
I complimented.
“As was breakfast.”
She replied with a smile. I noticed her smile was less strained and more genuine. Like it was straight from her heart. She was happy. She seemed so to me, at least.
“Yes.”
I scooped rice and chewed. I was not used to this kind of big change. It was overwhelming. Becoming a rogue had been painful and it hurt still but it had been somewhat bearable because I had my mother with me. Just the two of us. But a new family? That was drastic. I knew I’d resolved to not complain and be happy as long as she was happy, but certain emotions and thought were uncontrollable. They just pillage your mind without permission. They cajole you to look where you don’t want to. I was cajoled to think once again of this. We were going to have a home, not roam the forests or streets and live hopeless and destitute she-wolves the rest of our lives.
“What’s on your mind, Katherina?”
“Nothing.”
“You can’t tell me nothing, not what that tortured look on your face you’re trying to hide and are doing a wacky job of.”
“There’s no tortured look, mother.”
“Just a pained one, then?”
“Not pained exactly.”
“Hopeless? Shaken to the core with uncertainty and fear of being neglected?”
“Mother, I’m fine.”
She sighed. “You are trying to be. And I think I know why.”
“Why?”
“For me. You want to be fine for me. You might not like the idea of a new family, but you’re willing to for me.”
“That is uhmm…”
I could not deny it. My mother knew me too well. She always boasted of that and it was true.
“I hit the nail on the head, didn’t I?”
“Yes, you did.”
I reluctantly conceded.
“Hey, I told you. Mate or not, anyone tries to make my daughter feel unwelcomed and unloved, I’ll be leaving that place with you and go far away where they’ll never find us.”
“We’ll become rogues.”
“Before I met him, we were already on our way to being rogues. Better rogues than have anyone throw shades at my daughter or treat her unkindly.”
I smiled to show my how much I appreciated her words and what they meant to me, but then again…
“That is the problem, mom.”
“I don’t understand.”
“The fact that you’re willing to sacrifice your happiness, life and a chance at love for me.”
“I’m a mother, Kathy. And you might understand this until you one day become one. But being a mother makes you an automatic protector, lover, defender of your child. It comes naturally. It’s like there’s this switch between single-hood and motherhood. Once this knife switch has been moved to motherhood mode, it awakens all that is required to be a mother. This switch has been turned on ever since I had you, and it’s never going off till the day I leave this world.”
The fierce love and adoration in her eyes aimed at me. The determination to keep them that way forever. It humbled me and I was, in that moment, proud of her. Her strength. Her love. Her support through and through.
I wiped my eyes and blinked back tears.
“Thank you, mother. I’m so grateful to have you. All the sacrifices and love you have shown and are still showing me…”
“Are my responsibility till my dying days. It’s no big deal.”
She cut in, completing my statement with her own words.
“Okay.”
My lips stretched a-mile wide. Fear was gone and nerves came loose.
“Okay.” She matched the energy of my beam. “Now let’s eat before the pack members come with their nonsense.”
“It’s true. But they said midnight, we still have some hours to midnight.”
I checked the clock at the wall behind her. It was just past six in the evening.
“How many hours left?”
“About five hours and forty six minutes left.”
I informed her.
“Okay, but you know I still have my clothes to arrange. I didn’t finish them before going out.”
“We’ll do it together.”
“Willing to help, huh?”
“Of course, mom. You say that like I never help you. Except in the kitchen, obviously.”
“Here and there, you do your best.”
“You know I do, even though you’re reluctant to agree.”
She laughed.
Dinner went like that. Me and her, temporarily forgetting our troubles. Keeping aside talks and thoughts of new mates and family and rogues. Of annoying pack members and their ignorance and meanness.
“Why don’t you go start packing mom, let me wash these dishes. Once I am done, I’ll come join you.”
“Alright, great idea.”
She went into the direction of her room and I proceeded to the kitchen. Soon I was done and I quickly rushed to have my bath and changed into a clean pair of jeans and a dark gray t-shirt. Other nights would have been my nightwear but this night was different. This was our last night here.
“Still packing.”
I walked into her room.
“Almost done, the important ones are already secured in that luggage.”
“Mom, you have a lot of things.”
“You’ve always said that and it is true. Which I can say, not without shame, is not the same for you.”
“Well, you know me mom. I’m not into all these stuff.”
“You should be. You are a woman, all these stuff are important to every female out there.”
“Not to this one.”
I placed my hand on my hips, observing how far she’d gone and what was left to do and where my help was needed.
“Help me get my skin care products into the bag, darling.”
I went to work immediately.
“Did you tell him?”
“Tell who what?”
“Your mate. Did you tell him about what we’re being faced with? The banishment?”
I threw a small container of what I didn’t understand into the bag. There were so many products, I was getting heady just by trying to read their names and what dermatological miracle they performed on the skin.
“Yes, I did.”
“And what did he say?”