Alpine Lake i'm hopeless and awkward and desperate for love.

Liffey's heart stopped and shattered all at once upon seeing her daughter. The months had changed her drastically from the whole, healthy youth she had been not so long ago. But it was still Wisp. It was still her quiet, reserved little girl. The edges were sharper and rougher, but it was impossible for the mother to not recognize her child. Not when she'd spent such a long time yearning to see her again.

It was difficult to resist the impulse to sweep her little girl up in her arms and embrace her tightly, but Liffey did. She remembered Wisp as a child and how she didn't like to be touched or held close. Looking at her now, she knew that this was unlikely to have changed--probably the opposite, but the way Wisteria reacted to their presence. Liffey slowed and whined softly as she took a couple more tentative steps forward before stopping. She straightened her posture and stood before Wisp not in a threatening or imposing way, but in a way that spoke of confidence and safety. There was no danger for her here, and instinct drove her to communicate that in a more feral way than she usually did.