Heron Lake Plateau Norupo.

She didn't react to Tegan teaching her children swear words, either to encourage or discourage said behavior. Towhee felt the world's most gigantic sigh gathering itself in her chest. Should she just rip off the band-aid, post-haste, so they could get it over with and she could deal with the fallout? Towhee hemmed and hawed mentally, totally unsure how Tegan might react. He was unpredictable with these things. She supposed she should hope for the best but prepare for the worst.

Towhee opened her mouth to tell him about how she was going to leave the plateau—and, by proxy, him—and what came out instead was, "How come you didn't go with them when your mom and dad went to live with the Firebirds?" If she'd known the answer to this, she didn't remember it. Her head tilted to the side. "Were you mad at them? Are you mad at them?"