[Plenty of people had warned her over the course of her parenthood: "Don't blink, because before you know it, they're gonna sprout maturity and take off, one day." Somehow she hadn't imagined she'd ever have to take it so literally. Yet, here this young woman stands before her, so very clearly her Rose-- plus a few years that Roxy, much to her unending dismay, had missed-- trying just as desperately as her mother to keep herself composed. Funny, how they still felt as if they had to treat things this way. No sense in this reunion being melodramatic, right? They're women, not sniffling schoolgirls.
Even if it had only been less than a day for herself, Roxy knows she's missed her daughter becoming a woman, not to mention god knew what else and there's nothing she can even do about it. She's failed her. She couldn't be there for her when she needed it, going off and dying like that.
The guardians all knew it was a possibility, but it wasn't like the kids did. It wasn't fair for them to suffer through this. There's no telling what kind of damage they took for it, either.
If it had been just the game she'd screwed up so miserably in, that would be one thing, but knowing everything Rose had put up with over her short thirteen-plus years.... It's her mother's fault she ended up this way, isn't it? As much as she loved the resemblance between them, it never occurred to her that it could hurt so much to see so much of herself in her daughter. She looked worldweary and terrified, a little bit ill...
Hung over.
Good Christ, no. This was never supposed to happen.
It isn't disappointment that begins to split cracks in her composure; it's guilt. This is what being abandoned and left with a horrible set of genes gets you. She can't blame Rose for being bitter with her.
Even knowing the staggering probability of Rose giving her the cold shoulder, it can't stop the woman from throwing her arms around her and squeezing her tight. There's no use in keeping herself together anymore; it's been too long. Rose would already be able to feel how violently her shoulders are trembling with the futile effort of keeping back her tears. Now that she's here, now that she's hugging her little girl again, nothing else even matters.]
I-- [Her breath hitches, squeezing the girl tighter.] I a-am so, so sorry, sweetheart.
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Even if it had only been less than a day for herself, Roxy knows she's missed her daughter becoming a woman, not to mention god knew what else and there's nothing she can even do about it. She's failed her. She couldn't be there for her when she needed it, going off and dying like that.
The guardians all knew it was a possibility, but it wasn't like the kids did. It wasn't fair for them to suffer through this. There's no telling what kind of damage they took for it, either.
If it had been just the game she'd screwed up so miserably in, that would be one thing, but knowing everything Rose had put up with over her short thirteen-plus years.... It's her mother's fault she ended up this way, isn't it? As much as she loved the resemblance between them, it never occurred to her that it could hurt so much to see so much of herself in her daughter. She looked worldweary and terrified, a little bit ill...
Hung over.
Good Christ, no. This was never supposed to happen.
It isn't disappointment that begins to split cracks in her composure; it's guilt. This is what being abandoned and left with a horrible set of genes gets you. She can't blame Rose for being bitter with her.
Even knowing the staggering probability of Rose giving her the cold shoulder, it can't stop the woman from throwing her arms around her and squeezing her tight. There's no use in keeping herself together anymore; it's been too long. Rose would already be able to feel how violently her shoulders are trembling with the futile effort of keeping back her tears. Now that she's here, now that she's hugging her little girl again, nothing else even matters.]
I-- [Her breath hitches, squeezing the girl tighter.] I a-am so, so sorry, sweetheart.