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The Family Vulpes

Chapter Eight:

Spilling Some Tea

"I'll be honest, part of the reason it had taken us so long to set up that double date was actually because every time Judy brought it up, I sort of...well...danced around it." Dawn sheepishly admitted, clutching her prized 'Ewe Rock My World" mug close to her lips. The petite sheep let out a few soft exhales, the surface of her hot steeped brew rippling with each bated breath. "I mean, we've had couples dates with Gus & Melly, Wade & Giselle, and we even managed to squeeze in one with Trenton & Qali since the tithe, but I was significantly more confident that those would go smoothly." She continued, wincing slightly. "But with this...." Dawn lingered, seemingly struggling to find the right words.

"You were afraid that Vernon and Nicholas wouldn't get along?" Clover interjected with a chuckle. "You've made no secret of the fact that they tend to...brush each other's fur the wrong way when we've talked about how they get on before."

The younger ewe let out another exhale across the surface of her tea. "I mean, they can tolerate each other in small doses, but in the same restaurant for over an hour?" Dawn chuckled weakly, shaking her head. "It was almost a given that they would be at each other's throats by the time the waiter came around asking us what we wanted for dessert."

Clover watched her daughter finally take the first sip of her tea, recoiling almost immediately and jutting her tongue from her mouth. Dawn wafted a hoof over her scalded tongue for the briefest of moments.

The silver-aged Chilver chuckled to herself before taking a sip of her own piping hot apple honey tea, the _nearly_unbearable heat feeling as though it was nearly scorching her throat. Unlike her daughter, however, the older ewe downed her sip without so much as a flinch. Scalding hot was how Clover preferred her tea, especially toward the start of the day. She often awoke with a mild sore throat due to the local allergens of the South Meadowlands, and a blistering hot cuppa' did wonders for such a trifle of an ailment.

Clover set her tea down neatly on a coaster, picking up an elderberry scone from the coffee table and taking the smallest nibble.

"Well..." The older ewe hemmed and hawed slightly. "...I had a friend back in college who used to say, and forgive me if this sounds speciest because...well it is..." She pressed the tips of her hooves against her chest. "...Especially in this day and age, but..." Clover seemed to hesitate, but with seemingly no objection from her daughter, she managed to press through what she felt was a tentatively offensive statement.

"She used to say that 'A fox will drive you crazy, or they will drive you mad.'"

Her diminutive daughter curled a curious brow, braving another sip of her own tea after a few more aggressive breaths of air in order to cool it.

"I don't...fully understand that?" Dawn admitted, clearly puzzled. "What did she mean?"

Clover tittered quietly to herself.

"The long and short of it, after she explained to me that is, was that a fox's personality would either absolutely repel you..." The composed Chilver shrugged. "Or it stood to wrap you around their claws and turn you to putty in their paws."

Her demure daughter let out a giggle of her own. "You're right, that is speciest." She laughed.

Clover held up her hooves defensively. "If it helps, this came from a predator's lips. Leotie was a coyote after all, with a fox mate that she was quite smitten with...so I would say she was uniquely qualified to make such a bold statement."

Dawn placed her tea on a coaster of her own, flashing her mother a dull, half-lidded gaze as she eyed her from across the coffee table.

"Exactly how many predator friends did you have growing up again?" Her dainty daughter managed a smirk. "Seems like you were hiding quite a few from me."

"She was more of an..._acquaintance_really, one I could only afford to have by virtue of being in college and my parents not knowing." Clover shook her head. "And besides, it's not like she was relevant until now..."

Dawn let out a petulant huff, which only served to amuse her mother all the more. In that instant, she could almost see a four-year-old Dawn sitting in place of her usually mature and well-read daughter. The elder ewe had to place a hoof to her muzzle to stifle a giggle.

"We really have to have just one long mother-daughter day sooner rather than later." Her suddenly-dour daughter pouted. "These little lunch conversations we have now and then only make me more and more aware of just how little I know about my own mother."

Clover offered a meek smile as she took her mug of tea back into her hooves. "Well..." The elder ewe sighed, debating internally whether to even mention the reason why she had kept a great degree of her personal history to herself for most of her daughter's life. To do so would force her to bring up more troubled times, and in turn would ruin what was a largely lighthearted conversation so far. It didn't take long for the leery lamb to think better of it.

Clover shook her head briskly, taking another bite of her sweet scone before shifting the topic back to the matter at hoof.

"Nevermind..." She muttered quietly. "Anyway, the date didn't go that badly, did it dear?" Clover cooed concernedly.

Dawn flashed her an inquisitive stare for the briefest of moments, clearly curious about what Clover had been about to delve into, but much as her mother had, her diminutive daughter also elected to let sleeping wolves lie for the time being.

The shy sheep shrunk into her shoulders, hiding her mouth behind her tea mug involuntarily as she spoke. "Oh, it was..." She sighed somberly. "Even though Judy & I were sitting between the two of them, it hadn't provided as much of a buffer as we had hoped, and by the time dinner was wrapping up, Vernon was about ready to leap over the table and choke the life out of Nick."

Clover placed her hoof to her muzzle in a poor attempt to hide her shock.

"S-Sweet Cervidwen's Hooves..." The surprised senior murmured. "W-What could Nick have possibly said to rile up Vernon to such a point?"

The fleeced female sitting across from her let out an exasperated sigh. "Honestly, I can barely remember," Dawn replied, rolling her eyes. "Nick was prattling off jokes at my and Vernon's expense at such a rate, it's all sort of smeared into one vague theme in my head at this point." The small sheep freed a hoof from its tight grip on her favorite mug, raising it toward her mother as she began to prattle off what she could recall. "I remember something about 'Woolly Oven Mitts'_and _'Yule Stocking Stuffing', specifically because that long stream of Nick's brand of humor was what finally had my poor Wolfy out of his chair." Her face screwed up. "Honestly, it was either so offensive or so obvious I had been doing my best to tune out most of what Nick was saying for the majority of the night."

The elder ewe did her best to stifle a chuckle, shaking her head in disbelief.

"Well, I suppose that's one way to break the ice..." Clover murmured with a smirk.

"It was basically a steady stream of sheep and wolf jokes through the appetizer up until the main course." Dawn let out an irritated huff. "Judy tried to say he was just nervous, but he was well aware of every single one of Vernon's buttons he was pushing. It was clear his goal was to get Vernon's hackles up at any cost." The exasperated ewe closed her eyes, letting out a tired sigh before taking another large gulp of apple tea.

"It's strange now that I think about it," Dawn murmured herself, thoughtfully. "I mean, somehow he manages to tolerate Val, that vixen friend of his who lent him her bike in order to_'save'_me during the whole _'Last Night'_debacle. No matter what she says, it just rolls off Vernon's back, but...Nick can set him off at the drop of a hat."

The diminutive daughter shook her head dismissively, letting out a soft sigh. "Then again, I suppose Val does a fine job at burying herself under my wool like a tick, so I suppose I should be more understanding." She chuckled softly. "I suppose that thing your friend said about foxes might be true after all."

Just shy of taking a sip of her tea, Clover peered at her daughter curiously with a single open eye. "Vernon's friend, the vixen, right?" She asked. "You don't like her?"

Dawn chuckled dully. "That's an understatement really..." The little lamb shook her head. "I kinda...sorta loathe her." She admitted guiltily. "Since I first met her during my initial job interview at the Bug Burga, she just put me off right away..." She continued, grimacing slightly. "I suppose much in the same way Nick knows how to push Vernon's buttons, she knows how to push mine." Dawn rolled her eyes. "How Vernon is able to put up with her antics I'll never know."

Clover smirked."Vernon's a sweet pup." She tittered. "With what little I've learned of his mother, and what I know of Dorian, they seem the type to instill in their pups from an early age to treat girls with a gentler, more respectful disposition unless they prove to be absolutely intolerable." The smirk expanded into a smile. "Dorian has always been very traditionally minded when it came to most aspects of how he carried himself."

As much as Dawn hated to admit it (as made clear by her expression), she knew her mother was right about her Puppy Love. Still, to the rather bookish bleater, the teenage vixen was in fact, 'intolerable' in her book. Every prolonged interaction felt like the ewe was having her old set of headgear braces tightened.

"Still though..." Dawn muttered. "I mean, granted I only really see her when I pop in to play Beasts and Battlefields with Puppy and the others, but as soon as she knows I'm there she targets me with a laser-like focus." The grouchy gal grumbled. "It's like I'm right back in high school sometimes, and it just makes me so frustrated I cou-!"

Dawn placed her tea mug in her lap as she raised her hooves, her nails curling in the air around a phantom neck that she began to wring, a non-existent placeholder for the troublesome teen. She shook the ghost in her grip for the briefest of moments before becoming aware of what she was doing. The ewe retracted, clear shame and embarrassment written on her face. She clasped her mug back into her hooves and took to hiding her muzzle behind it again. The flustered female cleared her throat awkwardly, in a clear effort to regain her composure before she spoke.

"B-But I'm getting off track." The ball of wool uttered meekly, her gaze fixed on the tea between her hooves in an effort to hide from what she probably assumed was a look of disapproval from the elder ewe.

However, Clover found the reaction more amusing than anything else. She snickered softly. "Sorry dear, please continue with your story."

The frustrated-looking ewe took a tense sip of her tea, visibly returning to a more relaxed state as she savored the steeping brew. "Anyway, while I did my best to calm Puppy down, and Judy did her damnedest to try to rein Nick in, everything just kept escalating and drawing more attention to us..." Dawn let out a weak chuckle. "If it hadn't been for that dessert wine, I think someone might have called the ZPD to come in and break things up."

The prim and proper parent quirked an eyebrow at her daughter's confession.

"Dessert wine?" Clover shook her head, closing her eyes as she took another sip of her own tea. "I'm surprised, that's not like you dear..."

Once again, Clover caught the slightest glimpse of her little Dawny as the normally calm and composed little lamb grew immediately flustered, her expression awash with a mixture of guilt and embarrassment as she squirmed in her rather oversized armchair.

"W-Well I-!" The sheep stammered. "J-Judy pushed for it! A-And it was just supposed to be a glass or t-!

Clover held a hoof up, doing her best to stifle her chortling as she tried to soothe her stammering sire.

"Dawn dear, it's fine." The elder ewe shook her head. "I just recalled you and Vernon both saying you were staunchly against drinking." Clover's smile faltered slightly as she broke eye contact with her diminutive daughter. "Vernon for reasons I'm not sure of, and you for...obvious reasons."

A flustered Dawn let out a whine more befitting of a teenager rather than a ewe who recently entered her thirties, again amusing her mother.

"We both regretted it afterward, really!" Dawn continued her protest, adamantly trying to defend her behavior as though she were trying desperately to avoid being scolded by her mother, or worse yet, disappointing her. "Vernon especially...he hates the way mammals act when they're tipsy going on drunk but I just-!"

The exasperated ewe began to deflate, placing her teacup back on her coaster as her head sunk into the faces of her waiting palms.

"I did p-push it a little on Vernon...I was just so desperate to smooth things over and ease the tension between him and Nick and I just-."

The amused matron giggled softly, taking a small sip of her tea before again raising her hoof to silence her daughter.

"Dawny, I'm not upset, you don't have to go on justifying it to me, I'm no-..." Clover lingered, her small smile fading into a soft and somber frown. Looking to her daughter, she could see the smaller ewe had developed a slight grimace of her own, Dawn's formally flustered expression turning to one of unease and concern.

"Mom?" Dawn cooed softly, deep concern heavily laced throughout her tone.

Clover simply shook her head, doing her best to shrug away the specter whose cold hooves she felt creeping up her back as she tried to rally back to her original point.

The now clammy Chilver cleared her throat sharply, coughing into her fist for a moment before continuing. "What I mean to say is, you and Vernon deserve to cut loose and have a little fun. After all, it's been such a big couple of weeks for the two of you!" Clover offered a broad, genuine but slightly strained smile, clapping her hooves together excitedly. "There's no harm in a little light dessert wine between friends, especially if it helped smooth things over..." Reaching for her tea again, the ewe raised an eyebrow at her still somewhat uneasy-looking offspring. "Did it smooth things over?"

Dawn offered her mother a soft nod. "Y-Yes...it did, actually...thank the gods...". The ewe let out a sigh of relief. "Two glasses for Vernon, and three for Nick, and before we knew it, they were singing karaoke together..." Dawn giggled. "Well, I say karaoke, but really they were just singing duets at the table for the rest of the restaurant..."

Clover laughed, placing her tea back down so she could clap her hooves in amusement. "Oh that sounds like it was a riot!" The elder ewe managed to get out between titters. "I wish I could have seen it myself, please tell me you took some video!"

Clover watched her rather demure daughter's cheeks burn crimson, her soft green eyes scanning the floor while she twiddled her hooves.

"I was...a bit too tipsy myself to hold my phone properly..." Dawn admitted sheepishly. "Honestly, all of us were a bit too warm and fuzzy to even recall we had phones to record them with. We were just kind of...in the moment."

Her mother smiled warmly. "Ah well, it's probably for the best." She snickered softly and brought her tea to her lips. "I'm sure Vernon wouldn't be too pleased to have that video out and about anyway."

Dawn chuckled, picking up an elderberry scone of her own. "Poor Puppy, he's got enough to deal with as is with our book doing as well as it has." The small sheep let out a pleasant sigh and bit into her pastry. "He didn't expect so many eyes on those pages so quickly, let alone at all really..." She partially mumbled, her mouth full of scone... "Then again, neither did I."

"I suppose I'm the only one who isn't all that surprised then?" Clover replied with a smirk. "You have always been such a talented writer, Dawny dear. I can't say I'm surprised your book is doing gangbusters." The golden-aged gal tutted softly. "I'd expect nothing less from my little miracle."

The fleeced female grew flustered in an instant, bashfully averting her gaze.

"A-aww....Mom..." The timid ewe bleated softly. "Y-You don't have to-..."

"Yes Dawnie Dear, I do." Clover chided softly. "You and Vernon deserve all the praise for your hard work!" She chuckled. "Now let this old culler ewe speak her mind without having someone fight her on it for once in her life."

Her dainty daughter frowned slightly. "I wish you wouldn't call yourself that." She uttered timidly.

"Dawnie Dear, I had you when I was nineteen. I'm just now standing on top of that fifty-year-old hill. I'm an old maid now, I accept that." The mature matron chuckled. "All I've got to look forward to is reveling in my daughter's accomplishments!" Clover offered her daughter a sly smirk. "Well, that, and spoiling my future grandlambs rotten!"

"MOOOOM!" Dawn's squeal was on par with the ones Clover had heard back in Dawn's teenage years when 'the rams and the ewes' talk was had. Needless to say, containing her amusement was nothing short of impossible.

However, her formally flustered daughter had grown oddly silent, nibbling on her lower lip as though she was considering saying something more. Despite her apparent nervousness, however, it was clear the ewe was fighting back a smirk of her own.

Clover's previous amusement shifted to suspicion. But before the elder ewe could give all that much thought to her daughter's sudden caginess, Dawn was quick to hop back into the former conversation.

"Still...it is wild how quickly the book blew up." Dawn admitted sheepishly. "It's only been out for...what? Almost two weeks now?" A gentle sip of tea punctuated the air. "And the physical release has been out for less than a week!"

The curious Chilver was eager to press her daughter on whatever she had been mulling over when the topic of grandlambs came up, but ultimately she decided it was best to simply set aside her suspicions for now. She was a patient parent after all, and whatever Dawn was holding back, she knew full well she would discover when the time was right.

With a chuckle, the middle-aged mammal took another dainty sip of her apple tea.

"Again, I had no doubts in your abilities." She chuckled. "Though I'm certain Gazelle's little appearance with your book on ZNN last week definitely helped."

Dawn's eyes widened, the ewe running her hooves up through her wooly poof as pure excitement seemed to jolt through her.

"I STILL CAN'T BELIEVE THAT THAT HAPPENED!" The overexcited Ovine blurted out. "My publisher, that sly Tasmanian devil, apparently mentioned our book was in the works off-hoovedly to Gazelle weeks ago, and when she expressed interest, she sent Gazelle one of the drafts!"

In that moment, Dawn seemed to become aware of her burst of over-exuberance, and her mother watched as the usually shy sheep started to reign herself back in. Her diminutive daughter cleared her throat and seemed to regain some of her composure, pressing the tips of her hoof against her chest. She daintily took another sip of her tea.

"U-Under different circumstances, I'd probably be a little annoyed by my publisher intentionally leaking my book while it was still in its final stages." Dawn continued. "But as my publisher said, you can't pay for exposure like that!"

Clover giggled.

Dawn feebly presented her mother a weak, uneasy smirk as she rubbed the back of her neck in clear discomfort. "I'll admit, talking to her the first time was a little awkward as I wasn't the...well...I've never been the biggest fan of her music. I didn't really have much to go on in terms of keeping up with her compliments regarding my book, and what Vernon and I did for the city...at least, in terms of 'genuine compliments'..." The little lamb gave a meek shrug.

Clover chuckled. "I'm sure you did fine dear." The elder ewe replied, flicking her hoof dismissively. She took another sip of her tea. "The fact that you weren't a huge Gazelle fan probably helped the conversation go more smoothly in the long run, the gods know she probably has mammals gushing about how much they love her constantly. At the very least it allowed you to talk to her almost as if she was a normal mammal."

"I suppose..." Dawn mused. "Gazelle still seemed....quite eager to work with me regardless."

The Older Ovid's eyes widened slightly. She placed her teacup back neatly onto its coaster.

"She wants to work with you?" Clover's smile was beaming with pride. "Lamb Sakes! Do tell me! What are you two cooking up?" The middle-aged mammal leaned in expectantly, clearly as excited as her generally restrained nature could possibly allow for.

Dawn giggled bashfully, slinking into her shoulders once more.

"Well, it's more of a trade really..." Her dainty daughter replied. "I mean, we talked for hours about a lot of things, but we kept coming back to how well the book was doing and about what my plans were in terms of future writing projects." Dawn scooped up her elderberry scone, taking another nibble of the soft pastry. "With the way the public is eating up 'Prey Seeking Predator', well, it seems like an ample opportunity to expand their horizons further by sharing the stories of other predator and prey couples; offer their perspective on what it's like trying to manage such a relationship, and the hardships that come with that." The ewe took another bite of her scone. "At least that's the idea I was toying with."

"Oh, that sounds like a wonderful idea!" Her mother replied with more than a modicum of enthusiasm. "Striking while the iron is hot, and helping other couples struggling to get their stories out in the open. That's lovely dear."

Her diminutive daughter snorted with laughter, blushing slightly. "Well, that's what I'm hoping for anyway. While I have this platform, I'd like to use it to help as many mammals as I can." Dawn's gaze shifted downcast. "It's the least I can do, all things considered." She mumbled. "Although one could argue devoting the entire first entry into this new series to a celebrity might be missing the mark? I'm not entirely sure yet..."

"You mean to say...Gazelle...?" Clover asked expectantly.

Dawn nodded. "We're scheduled to meet next week to start laying down the foundation for the_'Crosser Diaries'_, the first volume of which will focus entirely on her and her mate: Finnick." The ewe took a small sip of her tea. "At least, that's what we've tentatively agreed to so far."

"Well, that should be wonderful news!" Clover's smile faltered upon eying her daughter with mild concern. "But you don't seem too...excited dear..."

Dawn sighed. "I just...like I said; giving the whole first book to someone like Gazelle, even with full editorial control...I must admit I'm worried about alienating the other predator and prey couples out there who-" The fleecy femme paused, nibbling at her lower lip. She seemed to struggle with finding her words." I certainly don't have the means-." Dawn shook her head briskly. "What I mean to say is, Gazelle is popular, beloved, she could ride out anything with relative ease with her money and PR team, right?"

Clover nodded.

"But mammals like Vernon and I..." The exasperated ewe shook her head again. "And maybe that's even a stretch at this point, all things considered..." She continued. "But those of us lower on the totem pole don't really have access to that kind of protection when it comes to indulging in what is, culturally speaking, a pretty austere taboo..."

Dawn gulped, inadvertently obscuring her mouth with her prized mug as she held it close like it was a protective talisman. "I don't want to disenfranchise those very real couples, and look like I'm trivializing their struggles by devoting the whole first book in that series to what many mammals may look at as a pampered pop star..." The short sheep cringed.

The little lamb ran a hoof through her spherically styled wooly poof. "Honestly, at this point-." She paused, seemingly mulling over how best to organize her thoughts into the proper words. "Everything has gotten so far beyond the scope of my initial expectations." She tentatively took a sip of her tea, visibly savoring the lukewarm brew before continuing. "I really just wanted to write, to metaphorically pour my soul onto those pages as a form of catharsis. I only ever really expected that if I put it out there, I'd get maybe a few curious mammals, and actual pred-prey couples to actually pick up a copy, even with the whole...Last Night Fiasco." Dawn chuckled weakly. "Not that I'm complaining, but I don't think I've ever experienced this level of attention before, neither during my time as Assistant Mayor, my short-term stint as actual Mayor, during my trial, or even after the Last Night Case." She winced slightly. "It's a lot of pressure on both myself and Vernon, and I feel obligated to be as responsible and considerate as possible when it comes to our book's intended audience..."

The matronly mammal rose from her seat, making her way over to the sofa just beside her daughter before setting herself back down and placing a benevolent hoof on her daughter's knee, offering her a slight smile.

"Dawny, I think you're looking at this all wrong," Clover reassured her depressed daughter, patting her knee affectionately. "If Miss Gazelle and her relationship with that fox is genuine, it will show on the pages you write." The elder ewe offered her daughter a curious glance. "You do think she's genuine, don't you?"

The spherical poof on top of Dawn's head nodded briskly. "Oh yes. We talked quite a bit about some of what she wanted to place in the book and-... The ewe offered a weak shrug."While I'm not a Hunter and lack my Puppy's intuition, I feel she's being open and honest about her past and feelings."

Clover gave her daughter an encouraging tap on her shoulder.

"Then if anything, this will be a boon, not a detriment to the predator and prey couples out there!" Her mother exclaimed. "To have such a beloved and big named mammal in their corner, surely that would drastically sway public opinion on the 'taboo' of pred-prey couples."

Dawn fidgeted slightly, her form seeming to shrivel back into her chair as she eyed her mother timidly.

"You really think so?" Dawn asked, tapping her hooves together nervously.

"I know so." Clover smiled softly. "And based on what I've seen of Gazelle, she's quite the activist." The elder ewe tutted. "If she's as earnest and serious about all of this as you imply, she'll stand right alongside you and Vernon, and all those other pred-prey couples who just want to be heard."

"I suppose..." Dawn mused, idly scratching her cheek. "I hadn't really considered that..."

Clover slipped a finger under Dawn's chin, lifting her dainty daughter's gaze back up to meet her own.

"And you are a Hunter," Clover reassured her daughter. "A Hunter-Bellwether no less! We didn't go and put together a big ceremony in less than a day just for you to go discounting your new surname a little over a month later."

The matronly mammal watched as a smile cracked through her daughter's previous uncertain-looking grimace. Dawn snickered and she pulled her chin away from her Mother's grip.

"You fought tooth and nail for it after all, did you not?" The elder ewe added.

Her demure daughter momentarily averted her gaze, a warm, loving smile crawling across her muzzle. She stole a glance at the red half-moon mark tattooed across her right palm; the ewe let out a soft, blissful sigh before turning her attention back to her elder. "A little of me...a little of Vernon..." Dawn admitted bashfully. "I suppose that's true of the fight, and our hyphenated names."

Clover smiled warmly, pulling her daughter in for a side hug with one arm, which Dawn gave into, squeezing the older lamb back as tightly as she could muster.

"I'm so proud of you." The Chilver added, reaching her other hoof around her diminutive daughter's back and patting it affectionately.

"T-Thanks Mom..." Dawn whimpered slightly, doing her best to hold back the start of tears despite a stray sniffle escaping here and there. The pair of sheep held like that for a few moments before breaking.

Clover swabbed under her purple cat's eye lenses as she drew back from her daughter, a loud sniffle escaping her muzzle.

"A-Alright, so was that the trade then?" The elder ewe spoke, clumsily changing the subject back to something that was less likely to turn her into a blubbery mess. "Gazelle is lending her story to your series?"

Dawn pawed (or rather, 'hooved') at her own eyes for a moment, letting out a shuddering whimper of her own as she attempted to hop in line with the change of discussion.

"Sort of?" The younger ewe admitted, uncomfortably rubbing the back of her neck . "Basically, I write Gazelle and Finnick's story, we jointly publish, and we split the profits..." She lolled her head slightly. "Well, what doesn't go to publishers and PR and so forth."

"But that's not the trade-off?" Clover asked.

"Well, Gazelle is working on a new album that's sort of...well...centered around the biopic, in addition to her & her new mate's relationship and well...as much as I protested..." The younger Ovid winced slightly. "She wants me to work with her on some of the songs..."

"Sweet Cervidwen's Hooves!" Clover snapped her hooves together excitedly, making a loud 'clop' worthy of an equine.

"It's mostly just helping write some songs, but I-"

"But you protested? Why?" Her mother asked, her gaze now sharply fixed with keen interest on the little lamb to her side.

Dawn let out a half laugh. "I can't write music! I'm not a lyricist, how can I-?" She shook her head, resulting in choking out another awkward laugh. "How can I begin to help?"

Clover rolled her eyes, letting out a chuckle. "Oh please my dear, I read your book." The golden-aged gal pressed a hoof to her chest boastfully. "You write with such passion, such raw emotion, and yet still pose it to your readers with some of the most beautiful prose I've read in...well decades at this point." The older ewe leaned over to give her daughter a significantly smaller, shorter hug, although no less intense than the previous one.

"If you can knock that out of the park, getting the hang of writing lyrics shouldn't be all that difficult for you." Clover smiled."You need to have more faith in yourself Dearie, like Vernon and I do."

"I'm working on it!" Dawn admitted with a laugh. "I'm still in therapy after all..."

With that, Dawn's smile shrank to some degree, looking at her mother with an expression that seemed to dance between unease and outright fear.

"Wait...Y-You read the book already?" Dawn uttered nervously.

Clover shot her daughter a half-lidded gaze.

"Did you think I wasn't going to read my daughter's big first foray into being a published author!?" She snickered. "Not a snowball's chance in Sahara Square!"

Clover's exclamation did little to ease the growing unease lacing Dawn's features, which forced a small frown onto Clover's own muzzle.

"Oh Honey, I know you wanted me to wait until you and Vernon could send me a hard copy...but I couldn't help myself when the ebook launched and-." Clover furrowed her brow quizzically when her daughter's crestfallen expression remained unchanged. It only took the elder ewe a moment to catch on, eyes widening. She let out a dismissive titter.

"Oh Dawny-." Clover shook her head. "If this is regarding those raunchy chapters about you and Vernon, I can assure you I skipped past them. I wouldn't want to invade your privacy with su-."

"N-No, it isn't that!" 'Dawny' protested, momentarily full of vigor before receding into her chair with the softest hint of a blush on her muzzle.

"Then what is it, Dear?" Clover replied, her voice filled with growing concern.

The shrinking sheep to her side glanced out and away toward the window, rubbing her upper arm with a hoof in clear discomfort. "I-It's just...I wasn't sure how...you were going to feel reading over all that...stuff from my lamb-hood." The ewe murmured, her lime green irises stealing a glance back at the Chilver from the corner of her eyes. "About D-Dad..."

Now it was Clover's turn to frown, her own gaze shifting down and away. A familiar icy chill clawed its way up her spine, reminiscent of her late husband's invasive hooves. The whitening widow shifted in her chair uncomfortably. It appeared Aster was going to ruin this lunch one way or another, even if it was from beyond the grave.

"M-Mom?" Having swapped her frown to her mother, Dawn took Clover's air of concern.

At least that's what she thought Dawn might have said. It was all muffled as though it were coming from the other side of a wall. A wall that was made up of the various pages of Prey Seeking Predator that seemed to be drawing in all around her, with bold and pulsing words lifting off the paper and drifting toward the culler-ewe. 'Searing', 'wrenching' 'shrieking', and 'bloodied', were all words that sounded as though they were exhumed from a musty old horror tome about a beastly creature that would rend sheep folk asunder with no mercy or remorse. But these words came not from the pages of Frankenstag,_or_Doctor Jackal and Mr. Hide. No. These were descriptors her daughter had used throughout the retelling of her own lamb-hood. A lamb-hood she had seen play out just as described first hoofed, usually cowering in a corner of her own, or simply frozen with fear and shame.

This tale had a beast too, and that was the most frightening thing of all. Unlike those hideous and demonic things that lay trapped in those old opuses, this beast had been real. He had prowled the darkened halls and dimly lit rooms of the Bellwether home for nearly thirty years in search of his weak and powerless victims, taking a malicious glee in dragging them into his own personal hell along with him every chance he could. One victim with no agency at all to protect herself or leave the accursed manor, and the other resigning them both to be repeatedly victimized by a creature that almost everyone in Zootopia now knew to be a demon in sheep's wool.

Her ear twitched. She heard a pained shriek, the wail of her lamb, the crack of a belt against taught flesh. The walls of her daughter's written account continued to crowd in around her, the words falling away as scenes began to bleed through the pages, painful memories playing out in a cacophonous rancor that made it impossible to truly discern one from another under the din of screaming, wailing and drunken roaring. Clover clutched a hoof to her neck, feeling her throat tightening. The grip of phantom hooves, the nails rough and hewn began to dig into the tender flesh of her neck. Tighter, tighter, and tighter still, the gnashing and wailing of her painful memories smeared into an indescribable maelstrom of deafening-

"MOM!"

Clover snapped out of her episode, cold sweat now pouring down her brow as she felt her daughter's hoof sharply shake her by the shoulder. With her feet planted firmly back in Animalia, the panic-stricken parent could feel her heart pounding as fast as a rabbit in a sprint. Her breathing was shallow and rapid, but now that she was aware of it she had already begun the internal process of reigning it in. She began to focus her breathing, following the instructions her new therapist had given her to help combat such attacks and claw her way back to reality.

Turning her full attention to the terrified-looking ewe kneeling at her side, she was quick to scoop up Dawn's hooves in her own, gripping them tightly.

"I-It's okay Daw-Dear..." Clover shuddered, rubbing her daughter's hooves affectionately. "I-I'm okay...I..." The shell-shocked sheep let out a long, slow exhale. "J-Just had a little moment is all, I ju-."

Her daughter whined softly. "I-I shouldn't have said anything, I-."

"No, no!" Clover tutted, her speech wavering slightly as she patted the top of Dawn's hoof reassuringly."I just...we need to be able to talk through these moments...for both our sakes. I-It's a process..."

The elder ewe let out a long, drawn-out sigh. Her heart rate began to close in on something resembling normal once again. Just barely, she managed to force the weakest of smiles to her muzzle.

"As you can probably tell, I wouldn't be lying if I said getting through those portions of your book were a little..." The prim and proper parent managed a listless and dull chuckle. "A little rough to get through..."

"O-OH Mom! I Did-Din't mea-!"

Clover was quick to place a finger to the lips of the little lamb still kneeling at her side. She could see the tears already welling up behind her dutiful daughter's lenses, and in turn, could feel her own rising to match.

"Shhhhhhh..." The golden-aged gal cooed. "It's alright Dearest. I-." She did her best to stifle a rising whimper in order to continue. "It was rough, it was...but it was the truth."

Her daughter let out a harsh sniffle, lifting her lenses and swabbing at her eyes aggressively to clear the quiet but steady stream of tears that had begun to flow.

"And I know I deserve more than enough blame for my part in all that happened..." Clover continued.

"Mo-."

The older Ovid shook her head sharply, cutting her Daughter's protest short.

"I didn't stop him, Dawn. And I know I should have." She whimpered softly. "I was so scared, a-and you suffered because of my cowardice." The elder ewe sighed somberly. "I've made as much peace with that as I can."

Dawn gripped her mother's hooves in her own, clasping them tightly while she frowned up at the older lamb.

"But I...re-reading those memories...some of them...I..." Clover shuddered, a fresh wash of hot tears forming over her deep green irises as she struggled to continue. "It-It was as though I was back in those very moments...watching them all over again..."

She watched her daughter's lip begin to tremble, the timid little ewe letting out a sharp sniffle as she stared back into her Mom's tearful eyes.

A choking sob escaped Clover's muzzle, one so sharp it forced her to catch her breath.

"D-Dawn Dear, I-I'm so so-."

Before she could finish uttering what would have been the start of a long, groveling apology, she felt the sudden, forceful, and almost desperate grasp of hooves as they pulled her into a powerful embrace. Dawn was hugging her now, as if her very life depended on it, and the morose mother was quick to give into the hug as she began to quietly weep.

"I u-understand Mom! I do!" Dawn whimpered through her own sobbing, burying her face into the elder ewe's shoulder.

"We were captives Mom...Bo-Both of us..." The smaller sheep continued. "We were held captive by a mad mammal..." Dawn sniffled sharply, and Clover's ear perked as she heard a soft 'flop'.

"Mutton chops..." Her daughter hissed through her tears. "St-Stupid glasses."

Clover managed a rather shaky chuckle despite her tears. It was clear Dawn's glasses had been pushed off of her face due to the intensity of the hug, and had flopped onto the floor.

"I s-suppose...b-but I was the mammal with Stalkholm Syndrome f-for a ram that didn-"

"You-You made mistakes. All mammals do..." Dawn sighed softly. "We-We had to-to do what we thought was-was the only way we could sur-survive that situation...it-it's..." The depressed daughter let out another choking sob.

"Not realizing the m-milk in the fridge has gone bad until you take a bite of your m-morning cereal is a mistake...wh-what I did was..." Clover shook her head, letting out a sharp sniffle of her own as she gripped her daughter that much tighter.

"We all have regrets, M-Mom. We car-."

"We-We carry that baggage with us our whole...whole lives." Clover cut her daughter off, completing the phrase she had already heard from a certain Wildebeest." "You...can't ever fully get-get rid of it...but you can learn to manage it, and mini-minimize the toll it takes on you."

She heard the ewe currently buried in her neck let out a stuttering laugh.

"Turn that trunk into a carry-on bag." The ewe replied through her withering sobs. I-I'm glad to hear you've...been taking Doctor Gnu's advice to heart." Dawn let out a soft sigh, her sniffling beginning to trail away.

"I would-I would ask how your sessions were going but-but after this..." Clover could feel the smaller sheep shudder in her grip. "A-Are they- I-I mean...Do you feel...you're making progress?"

The older lass reluctantly broke the hug, drawing back from her diminutive daughter with both hooves now clasping her shoulders. She offered Dawn a rather resigned but genuine smile, despite her tears.

"Oh Dawny, it's only been what?" Clover scratched her chin with a hoof nail. "_Three_sessions total since the beginning of October? The elder ewe managed a weak giggle despite her stray sniffling. "Dr. Gnu is a wonderful therapist, but the Pridelands Empire wasn't built in a day Dear."

Dawn managed a small chuckle through her lingering sobs, pawing a hoof under her lenses again to try and stem the tide.

"I know, I know..." Dawn shook her head as though she was trying to shake the lingering sadness away. "I didn't mean...I just...he helped me so much I just..."

Clover smiled. "And he is helping me dear." Releasing her grip on her daughter's shoulders, the old gal made a wide reach over the table for her teacup, struggling just a bit to close the minuscule gap between her finger and the ear of the mug for a brief moment before successfully taking it into her hooves. "My night terrors have grown fewer and farther since I started with Doctor Gnu." She continued, reaching for the teapot. But before she could grab the handle, Dawn was on it herself, taking the dainty little sheep-themed teapot into her hooves and gesturing to her mother to allow her to pour. Clover nodded, and as her daughter began to pour she continued.

"Granted, the nightmares did...erm...pick up a little bit after reading certain..." Clover coughed into her hoof awkwardly. "...passages from the book."

Dawn winced, her expression a mixture of pure shame and guilt as she topped off the refill of her mother's mug.

"Again, I...I'm sorry Mom..." She muttered meekly, averting her remorseful looking gaze away from the older ewe beside her.

Clover shook her head briskly. "Nonsense Dear. You shouldn't feel guilty for speaking the truth." The matronly mammal took a ginger sip of her refreshed apple tea, letting out a pleasant sigh while savoring the soothing libation now sliding down her throat. "Besides, the nightmares have already started to recede again, and with my session on Monday, the good Doctor can help reinforce the strides I've made so far in dealing with my episodes." The middle-aged mammal bequeathed her daughter a warm smile. "The techniques he's taught me so far in regards to coming down and pushing through have helped quite a bit." Clover winced slightly, averting her gaze. "Despite outward appearances."

Taking another deep sip of tea, the deep green-eyed gal placed her mug on a new coaster, taking the briefest moment to dust the frilly cravat that sat neatly atop her neckline free of whatever pastry crumbs had accumulated within its folds.

"But as I said, it's not an instant fix." Clover smiled pleasantly. "Though it does get just a little bit easier to deal with each session." Her smile widened, eyeing her daughter wryly. "And the night light I have in my bedroom helps quite a bunch. Even if it does make me feel like a little lamb at times." Clover offered Dawn a rather muted chortle, hoping to earn at least a smirk from her diminutive daughter, as well as ease her fears.

However, her self-deprecating half-joke appeared to fall flat, for Dawn winced. Still, her little lamb at least appeared to accept the assessment, and she returned to her oversized hunter-green armchair, or more aptly, what Clover had to assume was Vernon's armchair (in which case ' hunter -green' was an apt color). Her little yearling took a moment to carefully refill her own tea before continuing the conversation.

"Well, that's good then." Dawn smiled back at her senior. "I mean, I've been there of course...I know it's a process..." The younger ewe chuckled softly. "I guess I'm just a little eager is all...Dr. Gnu has helped me so much, and I'm just..." She blushed slightly, averting her gaze."...I just really want that for you too."

Clover smiled at her daughter warmly.

"I know dear, and I appreciate it, I really do." The elder ewe scooped up a fresh elderberry scone, taking a particularly greedy bite out of the warm, fluffy pastry and delighting in the sweetness. "Honestly, I thank the gods each day for the fact that you and your mate want anything to do with me, let alone actually wanting to help this old lady lamb." Clover chuckled softly.

"Aww...Mom..." Dawn cooed. "Of course I do! I love you!" The petite sheep replied sweetly. "Vernon does too!" The ewe shook her head dismissively. "And you aren't _'that'_old." She added with a small snicker.

Clover maintained her grin, the barest hint of her teeth now visible behind her lips. "I love you both too dear." The elder ewe swabbed a stray tear from the corner of her eye. "I'm honored you've allowed me to be a part of both of your lives despite all I...well, despite it all."

Now it was Dawn's turn to pull her mother into a gentle side hug, the pair embracing for a few moments before Dawn drew back to her seat, taking another withheld bite of her own scone, sinking into the oversized cushions.

"You know, I say Doctor Gnu helped me out a great deal in regards to my recovery, and don't get me wrong, he definitely did. As did Don, my parole officer. The little lamb frowned softly before letting out a few light, cooling exhales over the surface of her tea; she seemed to grow wistful. "Even if I only had the pleasure of knowing Don for the briefest of moments in the grand scheme of it all." The timid taleteller uttered before finally taking the tiniest sip of her tea. Clover could see her daughter wince in pain when the tea made contact with her tongue. It was clear she burned herself again but managed to keep her tongue inside her muzzle this time around. "That said, while I don't wish to undermine Don or Atticus, I certainly can't overstate just how much of a massive impact having Vernon come back into my life played into that recovery as well."

Clover closed her eyes & she nodded in agreement.

"Having someone like Vernon to lean on, to back me up..." Dawn giggled softly, a subtle blush forming on her muzzle as she spoke fondly of her mate. "He helped me work through so much just by being there. By actually listening to me..." The little lass rolled her eyes. "That is when his heart wasn't taking over the thinking for his head."

Dawn and Clover shared a snicker. By this point, Clover knew all too well that her son-in-law tended to lead by his emotions first and foremost, which (while absolutely adorable and heartwarming to the elder ewe) would often trip the poor wolf up in the long run.

"Well, sometimes love makes us act...just a little foolish." The elder ewe tittered.

Dawn sighed warmly. "He helped me feel noticed, he gave me someone to trust when I thought I couldn't trust anyone anymore..." The swooning sheep continued, clasping her precious mug tightly to her breast. "He made me feel...really loved." Dawn closed her eyes, her lashes fluttering dreamily. She shuddered at whatever fond memories she seemed to be conjuring up in her infatuated state.

"For the first time in my life...I felt, and still feel...really and unconditionally...loved." The amorous animal cooed softly.

Clover did her best to stifle the urge to sniffle at the smitten sheep sitting across from her. To see her daughter filled with such joy made her own heart swell with love and happiness to the point where it nearly felt like it was going to burst. Despite all her self-proclaimed failings as a parent and everything her wretch of a husband had done, her darling daughter had somehow managed to steer herself out of the tempest that had been beset on her by all sides via life itself as it dealt her tragic hoof after hoof. She had pulled herself back from the brink just before the maelstrom could swallow her whole, as it had done with her father and grandfather before her. Well, not truly 'by herself', but with the help of a few mammals that truly cared about her well-being, and the devoted & unconditional love of her best friend turned-husband. With them by her side, cheering her on, she had found the strength to right her ship just shy of being dashed upon the jagged reef beyond the point of redemption, and finally plot a course toward more serene shallows. Despite everything, her little Dawnie had finally found the happiness Clover knew her daughter deserved.

"Vernon helped me _'sort'_through a lot of my baggage more quickly than I would have been able to work through on my own." Dawn added, taking a small sip of her tea.

"And the fact that Vernon also turned out to be Mr. Right? Surely that played a part as well?" Clover replied with a giggle.

Dawn's blush intensified, the ewe shrinking into her shoulders as she let out a titter of her own.

"W-Well...I mean..." The little caprine squirmed in her seat, biting her lower lip impishly. "It definitely didn't hurt!" She giggled.

Clover tittered softly before taking another sip of her brew, clasping her mug with both hooves in a way similar to that of her daughter.

"Having a few truly good mammals in your life who truly care about you can work wonders for one's mental health and road to recovery." The elder ewe brought back her soft smile. "Aside from my dear friends at the mini-mall, I've been beyond fortunate to not only have my daughter come back into my life, but I've also gained a wonderful new son-in-law in the process." She continued, her smile broadening. She shifted her gaze away shyly. "Not to mention being given the opportunity to mend my friendship with Dorian and be welcomed into his wonderful family as well."

Clover wiped another tear from her eye with a hoof nail as she sniffled softly.

"Having all of you come into my life, and be there to support me has been a big help on my own road to recovery."

Dawn's own smile was practically beaming.

The middle-aged-mammal raised her mug to her lips, closing her eyes as she prepared to take another sip. However, she stopped just shy of the lip of her mug, cracking open a single eye.

"Of course, having a mate who loves you more than life itself is a whole different level of support." She chuckled, completing the sip.

Dawn shrank into her shoulders, her muzzle flushing a deep crimson once again as she bashfully shifted her gaze away from the elder ewe.

Clover shook her head, her smirk remaining fixed on her muzzle. "It really is the best thing one could hope for."

Her diminutive daughter nodded softly, her gaze momentarily trailing down to the mug gripped tightly in her hooves before returning to meet her mother's gaze.

"He really is..." The little lamb sighed dreamily. "That and more..."

"I'm so glad..." The elder ewe replied tearfully, her smile remaining all the while. "I'm truly happy you...found that kind of love, the both of you." She continued, letting out a wistful sigh. "Finding one's soulmate is no small task, but when you do, it's..." The golden-aged-gal took a moment to compose herself and not sob. "It's truly beyond words."

Clover offered her daughter a rather weak shrug. "Well, beyond my abilities anyway. However, I'm sure a writer of your caliber would be able to properly describe it..." The composed caprid smirked. "In fact, I believe you wrote a three-hundred-plus page thesis on the matter that hits the nail pretty well on the head." The matronly mammal giggled.

Dawn's blush remained with her body continuing to shrink deeper into her armchair.

"Mooom..." The little lamb protested weakly.

"I can't think of a mammal more deserving of having that deep, all-encompassing sort of love in their life than you dear." Clover cooed. "You've more than earned it."

With that, a quiet stillness fell over the pair; Dawn seemingly caught in her own flustered thoughts while her mother took another delicate nibble of her scone. The silence hung for a few moments, just long enough for Clover to register that her daughter's demeanor had shifted in the brief silence that had settled between them. But not long enough to question why her daughter was now nervously tapping her hooves together before the littler of the lambs broke the silence. Instead, the elder ewe found herself mid-gulp of her delicious apple tea when Dawn decided to speak up.

"Don't-Don't you think you deserve it too?" Her diminutive daughter asked sheepishly.

Clover opened both eyes, her deep green irises falling on her daughter as she managed a _'mhhph?'_through her drink.

"Y'know...true love, I mean?" Dawn continued. "A mate of your own maybe?"

That was enough to catch the sweltering beverage in Clover's throat, the older Ovid quickly snapping her mug to its proper coaster as she began gagging on her tea. The shock regarding her daughter's sudden & bold suggestion had resulted in inhaling a portion of the blistering brew deep into her chest. She fell into a rough and ragged coughing fit, desperately trying to force the liquid out of her lungs.

"Mom! Are you okay!?" Her dismayed daughter spat, ejecting from her seat.

Clover held out a hoof in Dawn's direction, the other balling into a fist raised close to her muzzle; a series of sharp painful coughs continued to wrack her delicate frame.

"I-!hack! I'm f-fine! sputter!_Clover managed to wheeze between fits. "W-Wrong pipe, just-._hakegh!" Another sharp, scraping cough broke her statement in two. "Give me a...a m-moment!'

Despite her protest, Dawn's muzzle remained twisted up in a mixture of concern and fear. The small sheep remained frozen in a position somewhere between sitting and standing. Held back from rising any further thanks to her mother's protesting hoof, but still too anxious to sit back down.

It took Clover about a minute or two to work the bulk of the offending fluid out of her lungs, her frenzied coughs slowly tapering off like the aftershocks of an earthquake. Each fit grew a little weaker, and a little more spaced apart until the usually calm and composed chilver was able to comfortably breathe again. Wiping the searing tears from behind her lenses with a hoof nail, Clover glanced at her daughter in mild disbelief.

"You-You can't be serious Dawnie..." She managed to sputter, a few lingering coughs spilling from her muzzle as she eased back into her seat.

"Why not?" Dawn mused. "You can't tell me my...f-." The timid taleteller paused briefly, breaking away from her mother's eyeline while she nibbled her lower lip. "My father-" She continued, clearing her throat in a clear attempt to brisk past being forced to use the _'f'_word. "Was your soulmate, right?" Dawn reached out for her tea, stopping shy of taking it back into her hooves. She was seemingly unsure if she should pick it up again, momentarily eyeing her mother with wary caution as if waiting for another coughing spell before deciding she had indeed made it through the worst and ultimately picked her brew back up.

Still taken aback by the turn of the talk, Clover found herself unsure of how to answer her daughter's question, or even whether it was rhetorical or not. Not by virtue of being at a loss for words, but moreso because it was a question she'd prefer not to answer...at least, not now.

"So why not start looking for your actualone?"

Clover laughed, partially out of relief that the question hadn't expected an answer. She did her best to try to stifle her amusement behind a hoof and failed miserably.

"O-Oh Dawnie-." A few barely audible coughs slipped from the elder ewe's lips in between her snickering. "I-I can-." Clover shook her head dismissively. "Me? Dating? Preposterous." She continued. "I...I'm too old to be dabbling in the dating pool these days...far too old." The older Ovid flicked her hoof dismissively in her daughter's direction.

Dawn furrowed her brow, the shrimpy sheep's cheeks puffing outward slightly and her lips curled into a pout. This did little to stem Clover's own laughter, seeing reflections of her daughter's younger days in every fiber of her body language.

"Saying you're 'too old to date', now _that's_what's ' preposterous'!" Dawn huffed in reply, crossing her arms.

"Oh come now dear." Clover tried her best to stifle her lingering giddiness, a few errant titters escaping her muzzle while she tried (partially in vain) to compose herself enough to face her diminutive daughter's proposal more seriously. "I've been out of the scene for so long, I don't even-..." She shook her head dismissively. "I wouldn't even know how to st-..."

The elder ewe rested her tea mug back on its coaster, placing both hooves on her knees as she tried to compose her thoughts. She had been decidedly placed on her back hoof by the rather unexpected turn this conversation had taken, and for every knee-jerk statement she sputtered awkwardly, she served to embarrass herself further. She needed to find a way to shut down this line of questioning, lest she find herself caught up in a different flavor of panic attack soon enough. Clover let out a somber, tired sigh.

"Dawnie dear..." The middle-aged mammal began. "I know you want to help your old mother out, but this..."She shook her head again. "Even if I was willing to consider dating, it's just..."She placed a hoof on the bridge of her snout, squeezing with her thumb and forefinger. She continued to try and string the flood of anxiety-laden thoughts into a coherent explanation. "It's too soon sweetie..."

Bracing her upper arms with her hooves, the stately sheep began to rub them up and down anxiously; her gaze trailed away from her daughter's own.

"Those memories...they're too raw..." She shuddered softly. "Too vivid to even begin to want to chance-."

"Mom..." She heard the small sheep to her side utter in concern.

"I can only barely begin to even grasp what you went through..." Glancing over her shoulder, she just barely caught sight of the little lamb seated nearby in the tail end of her own uneasy tremble.

"I mean...he was..." Dawn shook her head. "To be his mate, his wife, and what he did to you..." Her diminutive daughter closed her eyes, letting out a somber sigh. "No mammal should have to go through what you did."

"What we did..." The chilly chilver replied, continuing to warm her upper arms although the stiffness of her pale lavender suit jacket was making that harder than she anticipated.

"It's still different." Dawn replied. "He was your mate. He shouldn't ha-." The smaller of the sheep stopped herself, her concerned expression shifting to something closer to worry as she turned her gaze toward the floor. "I don't want to-..."

Clover frowned. It was becoming evident that her doting daughter's hesitation was more than likely fear of triggering another one of the elder ewe's episodes; digging too deeply into old wounds in the process of trying to comfort her mother.

"It's...okay dear..." Clover muttered reluctantly, torn between continuing the conversation so as to not shut her dear daughter down and wanting it to end more than anything despite that. "Plea-Please, say what you need to say..."

Her dainty little Dawnie sighed. "I just...you have the opportunity to replace those bad memories with new ones...betterones." She replied meekly, albeit with a little emphasis. "Not to be reductive, or callous, but don't you think that would help you better weather the storm of dredging all that up if you...if you had a mammal to lean on in the same way I am able to lean on Vernon?"

Clover offered a weak chuckle, shaking her head softly. "Honestly dear, even if I could...muster the cour-." The elder ewe stopped herself short of digging herself a deeper hole, the soft dismissive shake of her head growing brisker as she placed her hooves back on her knees and gripped tightly in an effort to brace herself. "I think I've already had my shot at love. I've made my peace with being alone...at least in that aspect of my life." The golden-age gal admitted glumly. "I think it will be better for my mental health if I just embrace being an old maid."

"Mom..." Dawn replied, almost in a chiding manner. She shook her head. "You can't tell me you don't deserve your own happiness." The timid taleteller rebutted, placing a comforting hoof on her mother's own. "If you believe it for me, you have to believe it for yourself."

"Dawn dear-."

"What harm could there be in just dipping a hoof into the dating pool and taking a look?" The shorter sheep cut Clover off, offering her mother a small, hopeful smirk. "Even if you don't go on a single date, you could maybe make a new friend or two at the very least?"

The elder ewe chuckled weakly, placing her other hoof atop her daughter's and patting it gingerly.

"Sweetie." She let out a long, slow exhale. "Finding love, that love that you found in Vernon...it's...." She shook her head dismissively. "At the end of the day, it's a great remedy, but it's not a panacea. It's not a cure-all."

"Mom-".

"I'm broken Dawnie." Now it was Clover's turn to cut her daughter off. "I'm shattered glass, trying my best to pull all my little pieces back together and reforge them into something that can at least function without cowering at the slightest sound in my own apartment." She continued, her deep emerald eyes shimmering with a sheen of fresh tears as she spoke. "Despite knowing..._he's_gone...knowing, I'm truly safe." The morose mammal whimpered. "It's so easy for me to simply slip back into the mental state of a...of a slow, wounded, weak little prey, always within range of his hoof, just praying for the pain to just end, and I-..." Clover's breath hitched in her throat as she tried to stifle a sob."I know it's irrational...It's completely nonsensical but sometimes..." The elder ewe's whimpering voice dropped to that of a pained whisper. "It still feels like he's around me...the weight of his shadow hanging over my every waking moment." Her throat felt dry, a lump forming that only served to stifle her speech that much more. She battled to force it back down with a hard, painful swallow. "I can feel his piercing yellow gaze bore through me from every dark corner..."

Dawn was crying now. A silent stream of steady tears fell from her wide, lime-green eyes that remained fixed on Clover's own. It was clear to the somber senior that her daughter wanted to interject, to say something to comfort her mother. The look on her face said as much; her eyes filled with concern and worry as she had taken to clutching both of her mother's hooves in her own, squeezing them tightly. Yet despite that desire, it appeared the little lamb (now sidled up to her) was afraid to speak. Or perhaps, she was at a loss for words.

"I don't know if I'll ever be fully free of those feelings, of that shadow. E-Even with Dr. Gnu's help." Clover inhaled sharply, forcing another sob to die in her throat before it could breach the surface. "I'm not sure if I..." The elder ewe trembled softly, once again feeling those cold hooves claw up the back of her spine...the presence of the mammal-whose-name-she-dare-not-speak felt increasingly closer to her. If I put myself out there, in this state...I could-." The chilled chilver swallowed hard, her throat growing dryer by the minute. "Lamb Sakes, I could end up getting wrapped up in the hooves of...another maniac..." She whimpered. "Worse yet, I could end up putting my trauma on someone who doesn't deserve that, because of my issues, and I-."

With that, Clover felt pulled into another deep and powerful hug; her beloved little Bellwether squeezing her mother with all her might, nuzzling into the elder ewe's cheek affectionately.

The green-eyed old gal was quick to give in to her Dawnie's embrace. She needed that hug now more than ever, the affection-starved sheep greedily gripping her daughter close as she did her best to rein in her own tears.

"I'm sorry Mom...I didn't want to-to hurt you.." Dawn whimpered into the matronly mammal's shoulder. "I jus-."

"Y-You didn't sweetie, you could never..." Clover replied, stroking the back of Dawn's head affectionately, squeezing up against her cheek. "I-I know you just want what's best for me and...I'm sorry I'm such a mess..."

"It's okay...Mom..." Her doting daughter replied through her sniffling. "It's-It's okay to be a mess." The ewe managed a sob-choked laugh despite herself. "Sweet Cervidwen's hooves, I know I still am in a lot of ways..."

Clover managed a weak chuckle of her own. "I suppose we all are in a way..." She admitted.

"I...I just want you to be happy." The small sheep sobbed. "What I have with Vernon...you deserve it too..." Dawn continued, rubbing her face into the elder ewe's shoulder. Clover heard the telltale_'flop'_of her daughter's glasses hitting the floor, however, this time they were chosen to be ignored entirely.

"I kn-know love isn't a cure-all..." Dawn shuddered as she spoke. "I just don't-" Clover could feel her distraught daughter rub her eyes into the fabric of her suit jacket. "I...d-don't want that...miserable tup to keep holding y-you back from finding something better!"

Drawing back from the embrace slightly, Dawn looked her mother square in the eyes, the worry on her muzzle still apparent, but now laced with a seriousness Clover wasn't sure she was entirely prepared for.

"I don't want his ghost to chain you down like an anchor...to pull you into the darkness and muck, despite him being dead and gone..." The sheep huffed. "His bloated corpse rising to the surface of the water every time you start to pull away from his grip, refusing to let go."

Clover winced, that familiar tightness in her throat growing as she began to feel her heart rate rise.

"D-Dawnie". Clover whimpered, rubbing under her lenses with a hoof.

"You deserve love! _Real_love!" Dawn added, sniffling sharply. "At the very least, companionship!" Her daughter was growing adamant now, her hooves gripping the elder ewe's shoulders more firmly as if to emphasize her point.

Seemingly noticing her more assertive turn, Dawn blushed slightly, averting her gaze with an ashamed expression drawing across her muzzle.

"At-At the very least I feel like you should bring up the idea of dating with Dr. Gnu...to see if maybe it would be viable down the road..." Dawn muttered softly. "You shouldn't deny yourself the possibility of finding something truly wonderful for any reason other than feeling that you're well and truly not there yet." Her devoted daughter added timidly. "Please..., don't give up hope..."

Clover let out a soft sigh. Her head sagged slightly and she let out a rather dull chuckle. For the briefest moment, she considered joking to her daughter that one of the first lessons the good doctor had instilled in her was to recognize when someone was pushing her around, and simply shut out the source. Of course, there was a good chance that would send her little lamb into a flustered flurry of tearful apologies & outright groveling for forgiveness. Besides, it was more than likely that Dawn had heard the same sort of rhetoric from the distinguished wildebeest herself during her early sessions and was very likely quite fearful of crossing into that overly pushy territory. Still, it was becoming increasingly apparent to Clover that there was only one way out of this conversation, even if it would be a halfhearted promise, and one that most likely wouldn't be kept. The flummoxed female decided to take the path of least resistance, especially if it meant putting her distraught daughter's mind at ease.

Clover started with a dull chuckle. "Alright dear, I promise the next session I meet with Dr. Gnu, I will broach the topic of dating..." The elder ewe relented, offering her little girl a tepid smile. "But don't be too disappointed if he advises against it."

Dawn beamed through her tears, pulling her mother back into a tight hug.

"I just-I just didn't want you to take it off the table altogether." Dawn laughed through a few stray sobs. She rubbed her nose. "That's all I was asking...don't give up on yourself..."

Clover's smile grew more genuine and she nuzzled the shoulder of little Dawnie's deep blue cable knit sweater. "Dawnie..."

"I believe in you Mom, and I'll never give up on you..." Dawn sniffled softly.

Clover felt her chest swell with love, and with it she could feel a surge of renewed tears trying to claw their way to the surface. It took an immense amount of willpower, but somehow, by the grace of the gods, Clover managed to force it back down.

"And I'll never give up on you Dawnie...I never did after all." She replied sweetly.

Shunk-thunk! Shunk-thunk!! The sudden, and rather loud clattering of the front door knob caused both sheep to nearly jump out of their wool, breaking the hug abruptly. They both turned their gaze to the door at the end of the living room.

Another click, another clack, and then the pair heard what sounded like a pair of keys hitting the floor.

"Sweet Sawgrass!" The exclamation, like the keys hitting the floor, was muffled by the door. Still, the voice was instantly recognizable.

Dawn let out a giggle, placing a hoof over her muzzle in a halfhearted attempt to stifle it.

"Puppy's home!" The small sheep announced to her mother in an almost sing-song yet hushed tone, not even attempting to hide her mirth.

Clover nodded briskly, letting out a giggle of her own. "We better clean ourselves up a bit. I don't think either of us wants to set that pup to worry should he see us all teary-eyed and blotchy..."

Dawn nodded, quickly scrambling her glasses up off the floor before pulling a few tissues out of the box on the coffee table. Passing one to her mother, the pair shared a knowing glance before balling up the tissues into a pointed clump and dabbing the tip into each of their tea mugs before swabbing under their eyes. Sure it was an admittedly desperate move which would definitely leave the pair smelling of cinnamon apple tea for the rest of the day, but Clover knew there was no time to make a mad dash for the kitchen sink and back before the wolf entered the apartment.

A_'Flop', mixed with a _'Klink', followed sharply by a muffled "Teeth to tails!", and the elder ewe assumed that the wolf had managed to drop his keys a second time. In that moment Clover mused that perhaps she and her daughter had underestimated the time limit they were actually working with, causing her to snicker softly to herself.

Dawn slipped her glasses back onto the bridge of her snout, letting out one final sharp sniffle as she seemed satisfied with her clean-up efforts.

"I'll stall him...It'll give you a bit of extra time." The little lamb said with a snicker. Then she began to make her way toward the door.

Dawn was about halfway to the door when Clover heard the key finally click in the lock, and quite quickly the door swung open to reveal the large, lumbering wolf standing in the door frame. From what the middle-aged-mammal could make out in between her continued efforts to dab away the swelling around her eyes (and her significantly lower vantage point on the sofa), the wolf seemed to be carrying a few grocery bags in one arm, and what seemed to be an assortment of rough looking packages in the other.

"Honey Lamb, I'm home!" The wolf announced cheerily, making a brisk pace toward the kitchen.

"Welcome home, Wolfy!" She heard her daughter's giggling reply, despite her being blocked out by the adjourning armchair.

The bemused matron watched the wolf summarily plop the grocery bags on the counter, followed swiftly along by the toppling of the many packages he had in his other paw. As the rectangular parcels spilled sloppily onto the breakfast bar, the canine continued chirpily chatting.

"Got a whole heapin' helpin' o' good stuff from the Green Meadow Market fer ya Darlin'." Vernon chuckled. "Includin' a few pounds worth o' free turf clover burgers compliments o' that manager of theirs." He unceremoniously plopped his keys down on the breakfast bar, and smirked to himself. "And a few choice fish cuts from Neptuna's Bounty fer me o' course."

Clover watched the towering timber make his way out of the kitchen, and in one sweeping smooth stride, she saw him dip behind the armchair before seeing him rise again with her diminutive daughter wrapped up tightly in his arms. The wolf continued to twirl slightly, kissing the giggling girl in his grip, the pair momentarily dancing across the dining area as much as they effectively could before slowing to a stop. The pleased parent watched the budding young couple press their foreheads together, gazing lovingly into each other's eyes as Dawn caressed Vernon's face with an affectionate hoof.

"Love ya, Lamb Fry." Her hunky hubby cooed softly.

"Love you too, Sheepdog." His petite partner giggled sweetly.

Drawing back from her mate, the little lamb cocked a curious eyebrow. "'Free turf burgers'? Now what's the occasion?"

The large lapdog offered his mate a cheesy grin. "Well, the manager wanted to heap on a little more of an apology fer how he acted when y'all first started shoppin' there...and wouldn't take 'no' fer an answer when I tried to put him off it."

"Really?" Dawn replied, wrapping her arms around her mate's neck; she smiled back up at him. "That was surprisingly kind of him...I mean he still was giving us the stink eye even after the whole 'Last Night' case." The ewe scratched her chin thoughtfully for a moment. "I wonder what made him change his tune?"

The caring canid snickered. "I'm thinkin' you bein' a famous author probably pushed him over the edge." He offered a shrug. "Afraid o' getting' bad press, or hopin' to win a free advertisement out of us more than likely. Still, expect a few more from him over the next few visits..."

Dawn drew back, her muzzle scrunching in confusion.

"He wants to give us more? Why?"

The devoted dog redirected his eyes slightly, maintaining his cheesy smirk, all the while seeming playfully reluctant to divulge the story. "Welllllllll..." Vernon drew out his words, clearly quite amused with himself. "When I said 'I tried to turn him down', what I actually meant was I told him to 'prep a few more of those freebies fer us down the road, and we may consider actually fergivin' him'..."

Clover, amused, watched her daughter feign a look of shock, giving the wolf a toothless, playful slap of disapproval on the tip of his snout.

"Puppy!" Despite her best efforts to appear as though she were seriously scolding the mischievous mammal, the ewe's tittering betrayed her. "Y-You're terrible! You can't do that!"

"I can and I did!" The lupine announced cheekily, stealing another quick kiss on the tip of the snout of the little lamb in his arms. Dawn shrank into her shoulders, her muzzle flushing crimson. "It's the least that grizzled ol' tup can do after the way he was actin'..."

"Puppy..." Dawn chided, but it was a halfhearted effort, and the short sheep's attention was quickly drawn to the pile of packages rather than being wasted on continuing the act.

"Are those-?"

"Yep, those are most of the books..." Vernon nodded briskly. "Most o' what I couldn't pick up myself, I got shipped back from the rest o' the family. Save fer Yuri and Ada o' course..." His gaze shifted down and away from his mate, ears sagging a bit. "O'course I knew there was no way in Hel er' Hades he was givin' that kinda valuable ribbin' material up once he got his paws on it..." The worried-looking wolf shook his head.

"Oh Puppy..." Dawn cooed sweetly, giving her mate a tender kiss on the lips. "I'm sorry...I really am..."

"What can ya do?" Vernon replied, frowning softly. "At least we got most o' them misprints back I guess...so, silver linin'."

Clover watched her diminutive daughter shrink into her shoulders, wincing sharply. Her guilty gaze began to scan the room in an effort to avoid meeting Vernon's own.

"A-Actually...about that misprint thing-."

"Hey, is that Ma?" Vernon's attention had drifted and the formally dour dog immediately perked up at the sight of his new mother-in-law.

Clover shrank slightly from the sudden attention, offering her sizable son-in-law a meek wave.

"Hello Vernon Sweetie," Clover replied, a warm smile crawling across her muzzle.

The elder ewe watched Vernon gently place Dawn back down and begin to make his way over to her. As he passed the armchair she previously sat in, the blur of his rapidly wagging tail came into view. It whipped against the seat in a clumsy, excitable flurry before the colossal canid took a seat beside her, grinning ear to ear.

"Howdy Ma." Vernon chirped gleefully. "How ya doin'?"

Clover blushed slightly, twiddling her hooves with a bit of nervous anxiety. She wasn't afraid of Vernon in the slightest, and she had quickly come to love the bighearted goof of a wolf almost as much as her daughter did. However, admittedly, sometimes being next to a mammal so much larger than herself dredged up just a little anxiety by virtue of reflex alone.

Seemingly picking up on this, the sweet-natured sheepdog's ears drooped slightly. He offered her a timid smirk.

"S'alright if I hug ya?"

Clover smiled broadly back up at the wolf, opening her arms up and inviting him into her grasp.

"Of course Vernon. Honestly, I could really use a Puppy hug right about now."

Vernon's tail wagging returned to a blistering pace & his smile grew wide enough to reveal his fangs.

"Happy to oblige Ma." The perky pup replied, leaning down and wrapping his comparatively massive arms around her. He was just shy of pulling the elder ewe into his grasp when the wolf appeared to hesitate, drawing back slightly. His former smile had faltered, giving way to a frown as a look of serious concern overtook him. His ears had drooped to a full sag, and his tail had grown listless and still.

"V-Vernon, are you ok-?"

"You uh...Y'all didn't...er..." Vernon seemed to grow increasingly flustered as his green-eyed gaze drew downcast. "I mean...I know y'all sent it back, but it looked like it was opened and taped back up...so er..."

Clover furrowed her brow quizzically. "The book?"

The worried wolf let out a soft whine, nodding weakly in response.

Now it was Clover who was feeling nervous, the golden-aged-gal blushing softly, diverting her sights down to her now fidgeting hooves. They had released Vernon and found their way back into her lap.

"I m-mean I did read it bu-."

The hesitant-looking hound let out another whine. The terror in his eyes only seemed to intensify, the orbs wide and desperate as they seemed to be begging- No, _pleading_with her to take the words back. His fearful gaze lingered for all but a moment before the worried wolf recoiled from the half hug and hunched down into himself, placing his muzzle in his now cupped paws.

"Did-Did you...I mean-?" She could hear the woeful wolf audibly gulp. He seemed to be struggling with himself internally just to muster his courage enough to even ask his question. "Y-Y'all didn't read tho- those...parts-?" The petrified puppy eyed her nervously, which only caused Clover to shrink that much further into the sofa at her back.

"Did ya?"

Clover did her best to stifle a hard gulp of her own, watching the once towering mammal, who had just moments ago been filled with such vim and vigor, crumple to a groveling, defeated heap by her side. The elder ewe found herself torn, on the one hoof the last thing she wanted to do was lie to her dear son-in-law. Even if she had, regrettably, already done as much to her own daughter when this topic had come just a few minutes ago, it hadn't been nearly as dramatic of an affair. Whereas the crestfallen canid to her side had already taken the mere prospect of her reading that portion of the book so much worse than Dawn had. Lamb sakes, how would he take it if she admitted she had read it? Surely being honest now, would not only draw her daughter's ire from revealing she had lied earlier, but it would more than likely crush the softie of a sheepdog entirely. It was something the cautious Caprine just couldn't bring herself to do, and so telling the truth was strictly off the table.

But on the other hoof, there was the very real fear of having such a lie easily seen through by the miserable-looking mammal, which would only serve to make things that much worse if he sniffed out the truth of his own means. She had already been filled in on the supposed 'Hunter intuition', as Dawn had mentioned earlier in their conversation. And if it was as good as Dorian said it was during their time spent catching on the day of the tithe, there's a good chance Vernon would see right through her facade, and it would risk critically damaging the trust they were trying to build with one another.

Still not fully confident of the choice she decided to go with, Clover did her best to remain composed and caring as she prepared to lie to the wolf. Though where the conversation could go from there left her very anxious.

"No Vernon." The female fibbed. "I made sure to skip past those portions." She added, giving the wolf a gentle reassuring pat on his shoulder now that she could reach it with the wolf in his hunched, downcast state.

Vernon turned to look at her, hope appearing to shimmer behind his wide emerald green eyes & he let out an almost pleading whine.

"R-Really?"

Clover nodded, putting on the best poker face she could muster.

"Of course dear." The older Ovid offered him a weak smile.

The worried wolf's expression took on a vague skepticism beneath his hopeful optimism, and Clover was sure he was scanning her for some sort of tell for the briefest of moments before she suddenly found herself pulled into the tightest full-body hug she had experienced since the night of the tithing ceremony.

"Aww Ma, I'm so happy to hear that!" The wolf cried joyfully, giving Clover a big smooch on the side of her head. Doing her best to meet his hug in equal fervor, the middle-aged-mammal reached her arms as far as she could around his midsection. However, they barely managed to curl around his back, let alone meet behind the broad-backed pup she called her son. Clover let out a slightly strained, uneasy chuckle as she patted the wolf's back affectionately.

"There there..." She cooed softly, wincing guiltily. She was fairly sure that the only thing that had saved her from being sniffed out was that her sorrowful son-in-law had simply been looking for the preferred answer despite his gut instinct suspecting there was more to Clover's admission than met the eye.

"I've been so stressed since I passed them things out...so it helps a bit knowin' y'all didn't read that stuff...'specially since...well yer Dawn's Ma..." The wolf admitted sheepishly, continuing to squeeze the senior. "I mean, yer my Ma now too, so there's that but-I mean-."

"Now, now Puppy." Vernon's other half chimed with a snicker. "Much as I'm sure my mother appreciates the affection, I would like her back in one piece if it's at all possible."

Clover felt her inlaw suddenly relinquish her of the embrace, leaving her reeling momentarily. She became awash with a vague sense of dizziness whilst the blood began to flow back to her extremities now that Vernon had released her from his vice-like (albeit very affectionate) grip. Placing her hoof to her temple, she did her best to steady herself and take in the scene. Her daughter was now standing beside the other armchair, arms crossed, leaning against it with a satisfied smirk on her face.

"Oh Darlin'!" Vernon stammered, his attention ping-ponging back and forth between his mate watching from the sidelines and the still-swimming sheep that had been formerly smothered by his enthusiasm. Vernon's ears sagged slightly, the wolf offering a shy smirk. He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

"I'm sorry, I hope wasn't intrudin' on nothin'..." The worried wolf admitted bashfully.

"Of course, you weren't Sweetie." Clover reassured the hovering hound before sneaking her daughter a sly smirk. "And I'll have you know I can't get enough big Puppy hugs. I'm entitled to at least a few as his mother-in-law after all." The chilver raised an eyebrow. "I can't have you monopolizing such a precious resource now, can I?" She chortled.

Dawn rolled her eyes, though her smirk betrayed her true feelings as she made her way over to her loyal lover's side, placing a hoof on his knee and gesturing for the massive mammal to lean down to her level. The wolf was quick to do so, receiving a kiss on his nose for his trouble that set his tail wagging loudly against the sofa cushions. Patting Vernon on his cheek lovingly, Dawn looked back toward her mother with a small, cheeky smile.

"Oh, we weren't discussing anything major Puppy. I was just encouraging my mother to consider dating again." Her grin grew the barest hint of smugness to it, eyeing her mother.

The consternated chilver let out an annoyed huff of her own and she crossed her arms.

"Dawnie..." Clover put on her best authoritative tone, yet despite her efforts, the lilt of a distinct whine bled through her words. "I thought it would have been implied that such topics were to be strictly contained to the realm of a mother-daughter talk-"

"Aw, that's a swell idea!" Vernon said cheerfully, only to immediately retract into his shoulders and flashing the two caprines a timid smile. "I-I mean I don't want to step on any toes er' nothin'... overstep my boundaries I mean."

Clover let out an exasperated sigh, placing a hoof to her forehead. "No, no, it's alright Vernon. I just...was hoping this conversation was settled already is all."

"Relax Puppy, my mother and I already discussed this. She said she would talk to Dr. Gnu about the idea when she feels ready." The smaller of the sheep reassured her hulking hound. "Though I'll admit, I was curious about what you thought about the idea. And I'd be lying if I said I thought it wouldn't be more constructive for my mother to hear that from you rather than me paraphrasing your words later." Dawn snickered. "At least she wouldn't assume I was putting words in your muzzle."

The now bewildered-looking pup traded glances between the two sheep in his sights, looking uncertain as to whether he should add anything more to this conversation or not. He let out a sigh, gripping his neck in clear discomfort with his gaze drifting up and away from the assembled duo surrounding him.

"Well...I mean I wouldn't wanna pressure y'all er' nothin' Ma..." The anxious architect admitted. "I ain't really sure if it's my...place to chime in on this."

Clover rolled her eyes slightly, still somewhat vexed that the conversation returned to her non-existent love life, but amused by the emotionally earnest wolf doing his best to navigate through the admittedly touchy topic.

"It's alright Vernon," Dawn reassured him, patting his knee gingerly.

"Well...I mean, I ain't really...I don't wanna mince words I guess." The clearly uncomfortable canid scratched his neck absentmindedly, studying the fragments of popcorn ceiling above him. "I just...iffin' ya want my two cents, I'll just say y'all deserve much better than that louse of an ex-husband you had, Ma." He winced. "O'course don't rush into nothin', but don't take it off the table er' nothin' either..."

"That's what I said." His miniature mate added matter-of-factually.

The exasperated elder ewe let out a sigh, shaking her head. "Dawnie, I already promised, I will talk to Dr. Gnu about this." She chuckled softly. "I swear it."

Dawn gave her mother a half-lidded gaze, emanating a giggle. "I know, I just figured if you had to promise Vernon too, it would make it a harder promise to break."

Clover tutted and she rose to her feet, shooting her devious daughter a halfhearted glare. "Well, I think if my own daughter is done hustling her mother, I believe it's time I make my way back to the store." The elder ewe retorted with a snicker, slipping her phone out of her pocket and quickly checking her face to confirm the time.

"Mutton chops, it's ten past one?! I'm already ten minutes late to reopen, and it will take me at least twenty minutes to get back to the South Meadowlands..."

"Thank the gods you're your own boss Mom, or you'd really have something to worry about." Dawn chortled.

Clover picked up her mug, quickly slugging down what little of her apple tea remained before picking up the uneaten half of her scone.

"Well, if we're done teasing this old culler ewe for the day, I really must be going." The older Ovid tutted for a second time and slipped the strap of her pale blue purse over her shoulder.

"Aww...Mom, you know I'm just kidding..." The little lamb whined, a genuine look of guilt crossing her muzzle.

Clover snickered softly. "I know dear. Now come on." She continued, placing the half-eaten scone in her mouth and holding it in her teeth. She gestured for the couple to bring it in for a hug. "Onff laff hugff befff I goff..." She barely managed to utter through the flaky pastry before both her daughter and son-in-law wrapped herself in a big, warm & all-encompassing group hug.

"I Luff you boff". Clover uttered as best as she could through the tarty treat still gripped between her teeth.

"I love you too Mom." Dawn replied, nuzzling into her mother's cheek.

"Love ya Ma." Vernon added, snuggling into both sheep as best as he could manage thanks to the size difference.

The family of mammals held like that for a moment, basking in each other's love and affection for as long as they could savor the moment before reluctantly breaking, allowing Clover to make her way toward the door.

Taking the elderberry scone from her lips, the elder ewe looked back one last time at the lovely family who had unquestionably chosen to allow her to be a part of it. Clover let out a contented sigh, smiling warmly back at the couple.

"I'll see you both soon, okay?" Clover spoke. "Maybe we can set up a nice dinner out, just the three of us."

"We'd love that Ma." Vernon replied with a grin, his tail whipping into a happy blur with his reply.

"Be careful on your way back Mom." Dawn replied, wrapping her arms around her mate's hip and nuzzling into it as she watched her mother prepare to leave. "You never do know what kind of mammals you'll run into on the subway."

"And be sure to text er' call us once y'all get back to yer shop." Vernon added with a wave, his other paw patting Dawn' woolly head poof. "Let us know ya made it back okay."

"I most certainly will." Clover replied with a warm grin, making her way into the hall. "Take care, you two!"

The cheery chilver had only managed to close the door about halfway when a sudden thought popped into the back of her mind. It was something she had been wanting to touch on during the tea but it had largely escaped her at the time, and before she had fully registered exactly just what little tidbit of advice she had been holding onto for her daughter during their little discussion, it was spilling from her muzzle.

"Oh Dawnie, before I forget again, I wanted to suggest that if you don't already have one, you should pick up a heating pad." Clover added with a weak smile. "My side of the family has always been of more '_fragile'_stock instead of the usual robustness and heartiness most mammals expect of a ewe. And I found that a heating pad always helped me when I felt _'saddlesore'_after being intima-ma..."

Clover froze as she realized just what she was saying, shrinking reflexively. Dawn's muzzle flushed beet red and her eyes widened in mortified shock. Vernon wasn't doing any better, the tips of his ears pulled sharply downward by a phantom weight, muzzle hanging open in a horrified gape as the realization hit him just as hard as his mate.

_'The book! That was from the book!'_Clover cursed herself in her mind. _'The part about riding Vernon like an old western ostrich rider, and being left saddle sore!'_The increasingly clammy chilver began to feel beads of sweat forming on her brow, remaining frozen, mortified at the full weight of what she had absentmindedly uttered. _'Oh gods! Sweet Cervidwen's Hooves! How could I be so stupid? All that tip-toeing and lying just to spout off just shy of being in the clear! Stupid, stupid old culler you!'_The voice in her head spat.

"Y-y-y-y-y-y-y-..." Vernon was stammering, now dropped on his knees. Dawn simply looked at her mother in pure disbelief, mouthing what the elder ewe thought to be something to the effect of 'I can't believe you!' before quickly turning to her mate and trying her best to head off the emotional meltdown both she and Clover knew was coming.

"P-Puppy Love, it's-it's not that bad, really it-!"

"You DID read that part!?" The woeful wolf whined loudly.

Clover was blushing intensely, quick to avert her gaze.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean- I couldn't- I'm so, so sorry Vernon, I'm so sorry Dawnie!" She stammered, but Vernon only seemed to crumple into himself that much more, now leaning forward onto the floor, muzzle and face buried into the carpet as he gripped the top of his head, appearing to claw at it with frustration. "I-really...I should-..." Dawn fired her Mom a quick and well-deserved scowl before continuing to try to calm her mate down.

"Puppy, please Puppy...it's okay, it..."

"I should be going!" Clover finally managed to announce. And with that, she quickly slammed the door shut behind her, separating herself from the scene of the meltdown now taking place. It wasn't a clean getaway, not in the slightest, but with no chance to defuse the situation, and the overwhelming embarrassment & guilt that was strangling her, it was best she cut and run rather than make the situation worse.

"AWoooooooOOOOOOoooooo...wooOOOooo....wooo...."

She had only taken a few steps down the hall when she heard one of the most woeful, mournful howls she had ever heard reverberate through the walls of the apartment complex. The sound was barely muffled due to its sheer amplitude, and that made it all the more painfully clear. It had come from behind her, from her daughter and son-in-law's apartment.

Clover shrank into her shoulders shamefully, her muzzle flushing crimson. Her previous slow, creeping stride turned into a speed walk as she made a more determined B-line for the elevator. She could hear more howling now, more distant, but definitely in the building somewhere. It was clear the other residents of wolfish descent had heard the poor pup's cry, and were replying in kind with their condolences. The last thing she could make out, barely audible compared to the howling while she waited anxiously on the elevator doors to open, was what sounded like a very muffled _'Everything will be okay!'_from the direction of the pair's apartment. Yet despite the reassurance Vernon's concerto of woeful wolfish wails persisted, and with them, Clover found herself aggressively pressing the elevator button again and again. Glancing back over her shoulder, she caught sight of a few apartment doors cracking open, the neighboring tenants inside poking their heads out into the hall with looks ranging from mild curiosity to outright annoyance. The fearful female snapped her attention back to the elevator panel, returning to her panicked pressing. She heard one of the nearby neighbors groan loudly. "Dumb wolves!" The voice uttered, earning a shameful wince from the senior desperately trying to shrink into herself.

When the doors finally opened, the older Ovid practically threw herself inside, quickly stabbing the _'close door'_button with a hoof nail. After what seemed like an agonizingly long wait, subjecting her to deeper & deeper guilt with each cry from Vernon's muzzle within her earshot, the doors of the metal chamber came to a close and effectively snuffed out the sound.

Clover let out a sigh of relief, pressing the _'ground floor'_button before shuffling to the back of the elevator and leaning against the rear wall. The elder ewe briefly inspected the now mushed scone still clutched in her nervous hoof, choosing to lamely toss it to the other side of the elevator now that her stomach had soured. Gripping her upper arms, the elder ewe found herself slipping slowly down the wall until she found herself seated on the floor. Letting out a long, slow exhale, Clover turned her gaze up toward the ceiling, staring aimlessly at nothing in particular. She began to wrack her brain for how best to make up for the mess she just caused.

"I hope Vernon likes antiques..." Clover muttered to herself dumbly. "...if he does, I'm going to have to open a pretty big line of store credit in order to have a shot of moving past this faux pas anytime soon..."