Darian drove up to his mom's bakery in no time, parking across the street and jogging the rest of the way there.
He was not surprised to see his mother waiting for him at the entrance, waiting impatiently.
"Welcome baby, I was starting to get worried when you wouldn't show." She pouted, stepping out to hug him tight.
Darian made a face. "We just spoke mom, I had to hang up cause I was about to park."
"Can't I miss my baby?" Her pouting intensified, leaning back to look up at him
Darian just shook his head in amusement, letting her lead them in. "Of course you can."
He was relieved that she managed to keep her excitement in for him, he wasn't a fan of social situations in general and when he was the center of attention, that made it doubly worse.
So his sweet mother, the goddess bless her, had directed him to a cozy corner and implored on him to wait while she got the tea and snacks, turning down his offer of help every single time.
Heather had simply waved at him from over the counter and he made a mental note to say hi properly to her before he left.
"For some reason, we don't have a lot of patronage." His mother let him know without the slightest bit of worry. "But we did get a lot of orders for today so there's most likely a fair at Paper District." She guessed fairly accurately.
"But that's swell because now I can take a much deserved break to sit with my son and discuss important matters, Heather says she'll handle the shop." She added as an afterthought, her voice sweet.
Darian watched his mother hurry away, her hair falling esthetically out of her bun, wearing a flour stained apron which reminded him of his childhood.
His mother had never really changed, she had always been the one constant in his life and he found himself coming to look for that stability often, it was one only his mom could provide.
Her reaction to his announcement made him realise how long she wanted for this, how much she really wanted and needed to hear this from him.
It was not like she used his relationship status to measure his self worth or he had ever felt pressured by her to get into a relationship.
Hell, he could have told her that he was aromantic and asexual and she would not have batted and eyelid but she knew him well, she was his mother after all.
He could tell that her biggest fear about him was to be imprinted upon or traumatised by his father's actions because while DD and Dream only had to deal with an absent father, he had to put up with neglect and the occasional psychological trauma.
He knew that she feared that that would make him jaded and not believe in love which was a valid thought and he might have but he had learned to stop caring about his father early.
The werewolf had just been someone he couldn't wait to grow old enough to trade blows with and by the help of the goddess of the beautiful moon, beat his ass up.
He was just really, really picky.
Dia made her way back with the tray of snacks, carefully arranging it on the table before settling in.
"Thank you, mom." He appreciated it gratefully when she handed him the tea and clicked her tongue at him to try the muffins, saying.
"...Heather made this batch with so much love when she heard you were coming over."
It made him smile widely, tasting the snacks and giving his approval.
"So you're really going on a date?" She finally asked in an almost fragile voice, her eyes rounded as she stared at him, both of her hands wrapped around her small cup of jasmine tea.
"I wouldn't come all the way here to lie to you, mom."
Dia looked thoughtful at this. "That's indeed true." She affirmed, her smile brightening up the bakery again.
"I'm so happy for you." She reached across their seats to pinch his cheeks. "You do know it's perfectly normal to want to be alone, I just want for you to find some sweet company…"
"It's fine mom, you can ask who it is." He gave her the go ahead, knowing that as much as she meant well, she was rambling so much because she did not know how to ask who it was.
"Then who is it?" She blurted out, lights in her beautiful brown eyes.
"Don't you want to try and guess who it might be?" He asked, enjoying her enthusiasm.
"Jaxon?" She asked expectantly, not looking surprised when he affirmed, more like just incredibly happy.
"Of course you can have tonight off, that's a valid excuse if I've ever seen one…"
Then knowing the kind of person her son was, she carefully drifted away from the topic, he always came to her if something was wrong and beyond his capabilities, it was one thing that she would not doubt.
Sometimes she feared that he idolized her far too much and so worried about his romantic life but Jaxon was an absolute sweetheart.
She was well aware of the rivalry happening between the both of them and the Head Warrior and she was having the time of her life with all the happenings.
She did not worry too much over them though, things would straighten themselves all out in the end, they always did.
So she smiled at her precious child and lightly pinched his cheek again, although he still looked grumpy for the most part, she could tell that he was very relaxed and that his guard was down.
She was so proud of herself to still have that with him that it made her tear up every time it happened.
"So tell me more about this mission that Alpha Virgil is sending you off on…" She invited, pouring them another relaxing cup of tea, the sweet scent filling the space in between them.