To say that Rupture had forgotten about the buck would make her seem too callous, but to say that she had been thinking about him would also be false. She didn't love the same way some kin did, she simply enjoyed companionship. So she had gently pushed away the memory of Half Waking to the back of her mind, where it lived pleasantly, but without any real effect on her day to day life until, away on a hunting trip, she began to feel as if there was something different about herself.It took her a while to realize that she was pregnant and that prompted her to avoid the grove where her grandmother could usually be found. She knew she couldn't avoid the tribe forever because she had duties to fulfill, but she wasn't sure she wanted to face her grandmother pregnant yet. It was her grandmother after all. While she knew there was nothing to be ashamed of, she simply wasn't sure if she was ready to share this with the rest of the tribe, for surely once her grandmother new, or once she entered the grove, all the mothers and the other members of the tribe would know. She would be asked about Half Waking and whether she would be around the grove more often now that she was mother.
She wasn't ready.
The day before the deadline she had committed to herself to return with ample prey to make up for her absence, Tastes Like Summer found her. She could only sigh and smile fondly at her grandmother who came up to greet with a nose to her cheek. They didn't speak for a long moment until finally Starburst broke the silence, "Congratulations, dear one."
"Thank you; it was a little unexpected," Rupture responded uncertainly, but she didn't need to be worried about being questioned; Taste Like Summer knew her granddaughter well enough not to be offended that she had stayed away instead of sharing the news.
“These things often are.” Starburst pulled away and began to walk, in a direction opposite of the grove. “Come talk and walk with me for a while.”
So the pair walked and again, there was silence except for the sound of their hoofsteps and their breathing, comfortable as family as close as they were. This time it was Rupture who broke the silence, “Can I ask you to bless this clutch?”
“Of course, ask as you please,” Starburst teased in return, but there was no bite in her words. “You know my ways.”
“An answer for a blessing,” Rupture said for she did know her grandmother’s ways. She smiled and Starburst gave her one in return.
“Very well then, a question for you and then a blessing.” They walked as Starburst thought of a question she could ask of Rupture. She settled on a question and then stopped to ask, “How do you imagine your future with your children?”
Rupture did not answer immediately, but she eventually did respond, “I can’t imagine that they would not be raised in The Den, but I do not think I can be a Mother, not even for them. That is not my nature.”
“Oh, Rupture, you are a mother enough as a Provider for that is what mothers do: they provide, even if it is something as simple as a womb to grow in and nothing else. So you shouldn’t worry that you will not be a good mother.” Starburst smiled and then she continued, “May your children understand the different roles that kin play and the multi-faceted nature of being in themselves and others.”
And with that they returned together to The Den where Rupture braved the curious and loving questions with a smile.
