Mudminnow River and the smell of the ground

she listened in silence for a few beats as Hearth spoke, resolving to ask again about the "it's complicated part". again rose questions to her maw, but only one did she speak- one that had bothered her, time and again, especially when she was already feeling down. 

"Do some Ma's...want to leave? Do they hate their pups? Are they unhappy?"  came her question, subdued. while her feelings toward her mother were vast- from contempt to anger to a gladness that it just Sunny and Da and her, and they could do perfectly fine- at times her mind returned to a question she had not asked Da. Did Ma hate her? was she too loud, or annoying, or a bad pup? the question always caused a little bit of her throat to constrict, for reasons she did not know.