Drabble:85
POV:Third Person

Olena was chopping vegetables in the kitchen when her six-and-a-half-year-old son showed up. She wasn't surprised to see her son seeking her out at ten in the morning, but she was surprised to see his eyes red-rimmed.

Immediately discarding her knife, she walked over and leaned down to cup his face in her hands. Tenderness rushed through her veins at seeing the tear-streaks on his chubby cheeks and she couldn't resist pressing a kiss against his forehead. He hugged her in turn, resting his head on her shoulders, and winding his arms around her neck.

"What is it, Dimka?", she asked concernedly. "Why are you upset, sweet pea?"

Dimitri shook his head-denying-but his sniffles betrayed him. So, she decided to let him be…for the time being, knowing that after he calmed down, he'd let her know what happened. If he wanted her to know, that is. Her little boy didn't go around flaunting his grievances. His sisters, especially Sonya, could learn a thing or two from him.

Sighing, Olena disengaged herself and fetched him a glass of water, which he gulped down before brushing his sleeve across his eyes. He asked her if she'd mind him sitting with her awhile, but she knew that he was trying to compose himself. So, she led him to the table and sat him down on one of the breakfast stools, before picking up her knife again.

Not five minutes later, Dimitri offered to take over her task. He was nothing if not a chivalrous boy. She declined his offer, but told him he could turn on the radio if he liked. He did so, fiddling with the dial with his eyebrows creasing in concentration. As he flipped through the channels, Olena finished chopping up the veggies and sighing, took a seat at the table, to slather some butter onto the leftover slabs of black bread, to share with her son. She wasn't exactly tired of working or wondering what was going on in her boy's head, but pregnancy was exhausting and she needed to sit more often.

Trying to distract herself, she asked him about his sisters and he replied that they were down the street playing with some friends. His tone was light and she thanked the heavens silently that his melancholia wasn't the result of some sibling altercation. But when she asked about his friends, his tone became clipped. She sighed, wishing that he didn't play his feelings so close to his chest, that he would just complain and moan like his sisters sometimes. If only…

She was brought out of her reverie when Dimitri slid over a cup in front of her, brown powder spooned neatly into it. Looking at him, she found another cup in front of him and a toothy grin gracing his handsome face. "Hot chocolate?", she smiled, already putting the kettle on the stove. He nodded enthusiastically and picked up a piece of bread.

Olena smiled at how the littlest of things made her baby boy happy and extending a hand, ruffled his hair before kissing the top of his head. As mother and son settled down with their hot chocolate (doubling makes it taste better, Dimitri informed her conspiratorially), Karolina and Sonya came home, seeking cookies and one of their Barbie dolls. But instead of going out again, the sisters joined them at the table, partaking of the feast and helping their mother prepare lunch. In the bustle, Olena forgot Dimitri had come home crying earlier. Or that he hadn't told her why.

Later, Karolina had informed her mom that some of Dimitri's friends had thrown stones at a little puppy, ignoring his protests. And laughed and taunted him, calling him weak and babyish. But he'd held his head high (and helped said puppy limp away) and come home. She hadn't known that Dimitri hadn't come home directly but had shed a few tears in the backyard first. Neither had Olena known. But both knew Dimitri hadn't mentioned it because he didn't want to appear weak. He couldn't have been farther from the truth. They both loved him for standing up for the defenseless. Though Olena couldn't help a pang of regret and a couple of insomniac nights-knowing that in about a decade, her little boy would set out into the world to hunt undead monsters. The boy who couldn't bear to hurt a puppy would have to kill for a living. Olena didn't think she'd ever felt so unhappy.

Thanks for reading! Please Review!