Harutyun Jr. was crying his lungs out as his mother Adrijana pushed him in the cart as they were walking the grocery store.  To any onlooker she looked negligent and apathetic, letting her baby cry like that. But she had spent four hours getting him dressed,  trying to find the right sensory fabric for him to not just tear off his body and run away.  She had fed him three bottles of dhampir sang-formula, and so he was well-fed and dressed; it was just this grocery store that he didn’t like.  

It was a long day, she had her cop face on, and her weapon holstered on her hip. Too done with humans to really play the  damsel mother for their sake.  Harutyun Jr. was overstimulated on a sensory level, too many pulses and smells and  energies all washing over him. Even with his headphones on, and the layers of clothes to help dampen the input signals.  

Glancing at his face, his lashes all clumpy with tears, he was only two, and already the world was too much. She wanted to shield him as much as she could from anything and everything, but she couldn't. It wasn’t healthy for him anyway. But when she looked at him, and caught his eyes, he stopped crying and sniffled soft almost puppy sounding whimpers. He reached up, wanting to be held. She pulled him from the cart and balanced him on her non-holstered hip.  He buried his face in her shoulder and sighed softly. 

“Are you all cried out now?” She asked softly and kissed the top of his head.  

“Mom-Mom-Mom,” he mumbled.  

“Yes, I’m Mom-Mom-Mom,”  she kissed his head again and he cooed and nuzzled against her.  He heaved a tired sigh. His eyes drooped, ready to fall asleep,  “Mom-Mom-Mom," he repeated again and again.  And it was at that delayed moment that Adrijana realized it was the first time he’d said anything, let alone called her that.