Bearclaw Valley If Satan had a hockey team then I'd be the goalie

So far life as a mother was fairly easy-going. Laurel was exhausted a lot still, but she was cared for by Xan, sometimes his mate, and Indra. She still wanted out, though mostly because she did not think she could really be happy with double-crossing Xan around. But after his mate was still nice to her, even if she had stolen all the things that Laurel deserved, Laurel felt more sorry for her than anything else and mad at Xan. After all, she didn't deserve a double-crossing asshole like Xan either. Laurel could only hope her own boys would not grow up to be the same, but she'd teach them good manners. It might be better to teach them good manners far away from Xan but, if she would not have such opportunities because life decided otherwise, she'd at least teach them that Xan was an asshole they shouldn't wish to aspire to be like.

Life a a momma was pretty nice, though, as she loved her children more than anything in the world and she was glad to have Indra's help. That day was a little different than the days so far. They'd been growing steadily, but she had not noticed much of it because it happened so gradual. It was a magical thing to experience, knowing they grew but every time she noticed something that was bigger or better it still felt as it was all so sudden.

The same went for the lightest boy's eyes that day. She was watching him go about the den after he'd been drinking when he first opened his eyes. A smile lit up Laurel's face -- a rare thing that mostly her children got to see -- and she nosed his face to draw his attention so she could see his eyes, then softly said: "Hello there, handsome."