Redhawk Caldera On the merry-go-round that we call life

Maia smiled and watched as Frolic seemed to immediately take to her older sibling. There would be time, when they were older, to teach them to fear strangers and to distrust those they met, but Maia always hoped that lesson could wait. She never wanted them to think the world was full of things that would hurt them.

Chickadee’s question took her by surprise. Maia looked at her daughter a moment, then smiled. I want you to, of course. But I don’t need you to do anything except what you think will make you happy. She wished every year that they wouldn’t grow up to leave but it was a selfish want, and she knew better. She’d left to find her own happiness apart from her parents; her children would have that same chance.

But we are always here, and we always want you back home if it’s something you want to do. The door was always open. Maia was careful with what she said, though. Her perceived failings weren’t her daughter’s fault and she didn’t want those feelings to leak through.