"What did you just say?"

"Mommy?"

"Listen, pup; I'm not your mommy. Just because you don't have a mommy doesn't mean you can call me mommy."

"You're my mommy. It's just that this truth is unknown to you."

*

Ethlyn cried, reflecting on her conversation with Roselet. 'She told me that I'm her mommy, and I didn't believe her.' She communicated with Cinder. She didn't know how she was going to apologize to her pup. All she hoped was for Roselet to forgive her.

'The hurt she must have felt whenever I was rude to her.' More tears streamed down her face as she thought about this.

*

'I'm not...