A mother's advice

This. Sucks. Stuck on a desk while Samantha goes to clear her head. That sounds really fun, doesn't it? To sit on a desk and do nothing?! Lovely! Just lovely!

I throw my head back and groan really loud. "This SUCKS!!!!!"

The door opens slowly and the Butler, Daniels enters. He looks around quietly before stepping in and making his way to the desk. He straightens up his back and holds his chin high. "Miss Gains has asked me to come and collect you from her daughter's room."

He puts his glove-covered hands down on the desk, palms up and waiting for me to climb onto.

"Um... can I get a hand. My leg is kind of broken." I say.

Daniels sighs and awkwardly plucks me off the desk. It's like he doesn't want to touch or handle me. Maybe that's why he likes to wear gloves all the time. He holds his arms out and away from himself as far as he can. Yeah, he definitely has something against tinies. I don't know what it is and I don't care. It's not my problem as long as he doesn't try and hurt me then I don't care.

He walks downstairs quickly and enters Willow's office with haste. "Miss Gains."

The woman behind the desk looks up from her papers. She smiles warmly. "Ah, thank you, Daniels. Just set Ms. Mattis down on my desk and you will be free to go."

Mattis? I haven't been called that in a long time. I don't remember telling Willow my last name either. She must have found my payment documents from when Samantha picked me up. There's some personal information that belongs to me and Samantha, but it's nothing big on my part.

Daniels eagerly puts me down on the desk, bows as usual and hastily walks out. He's most likely going to put new gloves on and burn the old ones immediately. I wouldn't put it past him.

Willow looks at her papers then types something up on her computer before turning her attention on me.

"You must have made Samantha upset. She came stomping down the stairs a few minutes ago and slammed the door hard enough to create an earthquake." Willow is only exaggerating, but she's also concerned for her daughter which is something I can understand.

Willow takes off her glasses and sets them aside. "Would you care to tell me what all that was about?"

I swallow hard out of fear. A mother will always protect her child no matter the cost. I just hope it's not the cost of my life. "We... we got in an argument."

"Over?"

I wince. "Over how to treat specific people..."

Willow leans in. "Explain with more detail, Caesar. I know tinies are smarter than people think."

"Well..." should I really do this? I don't want to do it, but then again it's not like I have a choice for the matter. "I didn't agree with the way Samantha was treating you, and I kind of touched a nerve on the topic. We started to bicker than that bickering turned into a full out argument than one thing led to another and here we are." I spew it all out without taking a breath then fall silent when Willow stares at me with thought.

The woman sighs while rubbing her temple. "That girl... I'm sure you understand the weight behind that whole argument. You and Samantha have different perspectives on what a mother is and what a mother should be. And quite frankly, I haven't been the best mother for her."

I frown and grumble under my breath. "It'd still be good to have a mom."

Willow leans down even closer, making direct eye contact with me. "Something else is bothering you and it's not just the way Samantha is treating me. What's truly bothering you, Caesar?"

I bite the bottom of my lip and look away. "Maybe..." I feel a child who's being lectured by their parent. That's what is happening to be honest.

"If it's too personal to say out loud then you can keep it to yourself. But I cannot help you unless you open up." Willow says in a tender tone that only a mother can pull off.

I contemplate whether I should open up to the woman or not. Willow is a smart woman, anyone can tell with the fifty billion degrees in her office, but is it worth telling her about my past? I don't want to open up old wounds that took me so long to heal from and accept.

"It's not... I..." I accidentally let the words slip out of my mouth. I hope she didn't hear me.

"What is it? You can tell me, Caesar. I am a mother myself."

Damn it. Damn it! I don't want to talk about this! Out of all the things to talk about it had to be this topic! Why? Why this?

I can already feel the lump forming in my throat. All these emotions crawling and fighting to let my guts spilled for everyone to see.

I look up at Willow, unable to stop my lips from quivering. "It just sucks to watch how you two interact with each other. You guys avoid each other as much as possible and neither of you is willing to talk out your problems. It's really hard to watch, to be honest. I'd do anything to see my mom again, to talk to her and... to be with her. And it... it just... sucks."

There's a long pause of silence between the two of us.

"There seems to be a lot of tension built up inside you, Caesar. You're using your own point of view of what a mother and daughter should have. I agree that a mom and her daughter should have a happy and loving relationship between each other, but not everything works out like that." Willow says. She then sighs, thinking out what she should say next. "You're good at heart, but Samantha and I have a strained mother-daughter relationship at the moment. It takes time to heal-"

I cut her off. "But if you two keep avoiding each other then nothing is going to change,"

"And how long did it take you to come to terms with your mother being gone? How long did it take you to heal from those wounds?" Willow points out. She has a genuine and tender feeling resonating from her.

I swallow hard, trying to get rid of the lump in my throat but it's not working. It actually makes things harder for me to handle everything. Unwanted snot has formed in my nose and I sniffle.

"I'm only trying to get you to see things from a different perspective," Willow adds with good intentions. "Samantha and I have a different relationship than you and your mom did. We still love and care for each other, but there somethings that need to be fixed before we can take steps to fix things."

"But it's not..." I begin to realize how wrong my opinion is.

Willow isn't my mom and I'm not Samantha. I can't force my beliefs on Samantha about what a mother and daughter should do if we have different perspectives. I've never dealt with what she's been going through and she's never been through what I have.

"I know you'd like to see Samantha and I have the same type of relationship as you and your mom did. We are different people coming from different backgrounds." Willow goes on. "Healing takes time."

"It doesn't make her actions right," I said somberly.

Willow wraps her hands around me and wiggles her fingers under my body, gently picking me up. "No, but she has her reasons and so do you. Right?"

I nod, sniffling again. "Yeah,"

"Just remember, patients is key in every relationship."

I wipe my nose with a sleeve, asking what she means. "What does that mean."

A small half smirk crosses the older woman's lips and I immediately become nervous. "Did you think I wouldn't notice the kiss you and Samantha shared between each other earlier."

My face goes pale and the heat around me rises. I pull on my collar nervously. "Um... no?"

Willow cocks her head to the side. "I hope you are joking, Caesar, or I may have to rethink my opinion on you."

"Well, what's your opinion right now?" I'm scared to ask. You know what they say, curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back.

"Right now I'll say it's a good one. Until then, I'll leave you wondering."

That's crude. It's safe to say that I'm not a satisfied cat. Well, I guess it's not safe to say since I'd be dead.

"Let's change the subject," Willow announces. She sets me back down on the desk and pulls open a drawer. "A little chat is not the only reason why I wanted you down here." Willow continues to look through her drawers. "Ah! Here it is!"

Willow pulls out a small white box. It looks like the one from the other night when I broke my legs sneaking around.

"My lab sent me something we've been working on for a while." The woman has this excitement in her throat like a child on their birthday. "We finally have a finished product and I'm wondering if you'd like to try it."

I look at the box with hesitation, but ultimately decide to give this product a chance. "Let's do this."