Sun Mote Copse Along the skyline

Niamh blinked at Towhee's question. While she had never been terribly forthcoming about the fractured relationship she had with her kids, she thought by now that it might've been common knowledge, or at least assumed by her packmates. Nellie had run away- and had pointedly asked the Frosthawks not to send notice that she was safe amongst them- something Niamh still saw as a sleight. She and Bronco had brawled- and while she'd told none of their fight, she assumed Bronco might have...But apparently, he hadn't. Still, she'd projected her feelings onto her packmates, and had simply assumed they all felt how the small family had found themselves, in absence of their patriarch, on an incredibly troublesome faultine. 

So she shrugged. -"Funny question,"- She answered, inferring then that she'd meant both her yearlings. -"Nah. Maybe they don't flat-out resent me, but we're not close."- She said. After all, Nellie was still a yearling, but had spent most of her life away from her family, and Bronco...Well, she wasn't willing to belly up to the bar and confess the extent of their troubles to anyone. -"I'm pretty sure the only reason Bronco visits is because he wants to make sure Meerkat gets to and from Moonspear safe,"- She said, but there was a hint of fondness in her movements. Even if her son wasn't coming to visit her, at least he was taking care of the family members he did care about. It hurt to feel as though she was excluded from that group- even though he had sought her out to deliver news. It just wasn't enough to prove to Niamh that he cared for her at all. 

She was reminded of a conversation they'd had during the heat of summer, when Niamh had admitted that she felt off. Had she recovered from that feeling? It was hard to say. After a month of rain, having to relocate the pack, and losing Alyx- well, it'd all been enough to make her feel her fur begin turning grey. And she hated that thought. She was willing to shrug it all off as simply being an overwhelming month. -"Eh, ya know, August was just hard. I been carryin' a bit of that around, I guess."- She said, and was quiet for a moment. -"Y'know...I don't like it when people ask me questions about how I'm doing but...I'm glad you do."-