Yannika cupped his cheek in her hand, gave him an affectionate smile that was tinged with sadness and kissed him tenderly. "Oh Carius." she said with an inflection that was equal parts amused, frustrated, and instructive; the kind only a mother can give. "I am your mother, you are my son. I love you with all my heart, just as I will love all of our children." The implication being they will have more than just one. Far more if she had anything to say about it. "But I didn't get to raise you. I wasn't there to see your first step, hear your first word, kiss your first bruised knee, or teach you your first lesson. I am your mother, but I was denied my right to be your mom. I told you I tried to keep up with everything that you did, but you didn't enter the public spotlight until you were older and by that time, when I saw the boy on the cusp of becoming a man I fell in love with you."
Her expression shifted to one of pure compassion, "I will love them every bit as much as I love you, but that's the difference Carius; I will love them, I'm in love with you. I love you as more than just my son. I love you as my partner, my confidante, and my desire. To all my children I will be 'mom' to you I will be 'mother' and 'wife'."