When Kitsune got home that night she told Alopex and Tigerclaw about the incident with Blanche at the store and they weren't happy with the salamander, but they decided not to worry Leona with it since she had enough to worry about.
Right now Kitsune and Leo were cuddled up on the sofa as Alopex rushed around; Tigerclaw had already left for work and now it was his wife's turn, but she was very reluctant with it.
"You will call me if there's anything, right?" She asked her mother for the hundredth time that morning.
"Mom..." She whined.
"Yes, well, better to be safe than sorry; you could go into labour any day now." She reminded.
"Mother, I have got at least another month yet before the baby's born so will you please stop worrying!?" She snapped. Alopex just sighed before leaving. Once she was gone Kitsune turned to her granddaughter.
"It's understandable that she's anxious." She soothed before grabbing her bag. "Now, I know you probably got one of these but I made this just for you, now bare in mind that it's a rush job." She said and handed her granddaughter a wrapped up gift.
The turtle opened it and gasped.
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"You knitted this yourself?" She whispered as she held up the soft blanket.
"Yes, I thought white would be more appropriate since you doctors could tell if the baby was a boy or a girl. You can use it for wrapping the baby up in when you get back from the hospital, especially since the baby is due for the middle of winter." She explained.
But Leo held the blanket close as tears welled up in her sapphire eyes.
"Oh sweetie, what's up?" Kitsune asked as she held the teen close.
"I-I don't know, Gran; it's just, with everyone buying stuff for the baby and... I packed my bag for the hospital today and it's just that it's all getting a bit close, too fast." She sniffed as the tears threatened to spill. "You've seen how nervous and excited my Mom and Dad are and I just don't think I'm ready for this."
"But haven't you been going to those antenatal classes at the hospital?"
"Yeah and they've been really good but there's just so much to take in like if you put the baby in the wrong position they could die and all that just about feeding and sterilising and I'm just so scared that I'll not be the perfect mother the baby needs, what it deserves; maybe things would have been better if I had found out about this fucking pregnancy sooner so I could of done something about it!" She sobbed.
Kitsune stood up from the couch and knelt in front of her granddaughter.
"Listen Leona, there is no such thing as a perfect mother. Take me for example; when I found out I was pregnant with Alopex my parents ordered me to termagant my pregnancy and my boyfriend, her father, dumped me and refused to even acknowledge me and when I refused to have an abortion my parents threw me out with a bag of clothes and a small amount of money and I've never seen them since. I left my village and gave birth in an ally in the city. I then lived in a run down apartment and had to put your mother to sleep in a draw next to my bed; it was a comfy draw." She joked.
This got a teary chuckle out of Leo.
"I had to work washing cars for a living so a I could send my daughter to school and I use to steal food so she could eat, even if I went hungry. I won't lie to you Leona, it was tough painful and exhausting, and at the time a small part of me regretted not having an abortion when I had the chance, that way I might still of had my parents with me as well as my boyfriend, a warm bed and food in my belly; but look at us now. I'm one of the wealthiest people in Japan and I have a beautiful daughter who is happily married and she has a gorgeous daughter of her own." She said as she rubbed Leo's cheek.
"Basically Leona, I could of taking the easiest way out and lived an ordinary life, but instead I loved my daughter and that's all a mother can do; love their child. No matter how many fights, laughs and cries you might have, as long as you love that baby everything with be alright, and unlike me, you'll have your family behind you every step of the way."
Leo finally broke and she grabbed her grandmother into a tight hug as she sobbed loudly into her chest.
Kitsune smiled softly as she wrapped her in a protective embrace...
