Gabriel, the sole recipient of his mother's tender love and kisses, was not unused to the gentle way she handled him as she gently removed the caked up mud from his bad, and lay a wet kiss on his forehead. If only she were dirty too, so that he may show such attention to her own body. Instead his hands simply rested on her hips, which was once a natural handhold for him, but now it felt very different. He just wished he knew what was happening to him, so that he could put it into words and tell his mother of these changes.<br/><br/>Thankfully, she made her own subject, though it was a peculiar one. "Mother, I would love to have you at my side, but your days are exhausting enough as they are already. I fear that if you were to join me in the forests, we would only have hare and venison for our table, with no bread or corn," he said, perhaps misconstruing her question.