Mithradia’s slanted green eyes stared with incredulity at the colourful voucher in her hands, forcing a smile. "Five yoga classes at Eldergrove Mystic Wisdom Sanctuary! How... thoughtful."

Her husband, Gehmorhin, beamed from pointy ear to pointy ear. "You used to love yoga, honey, and you're having all that back pain recently. I bet if you just got back into a bit of yoga, you'd be so much more your old self again. "

Mithradia's gaze whipped up from the voucher to squint at her husband's open and earnest expression. But before she could decipher whether the barb in that statement had been intentional or accidental, her eldest child was already chiming in.

"Yes-yes-yes, Mummy!" Elysia said. "Let’s do some more yoga now already. I love doing yoga with you, Mummy."

Just like that, Mithradia knew she'd be choosing between bolting down the rest of her breakfast too hot, or coming back to it later, cold. It didn't matter that she'd had to wait for 40 minutes in bed — starving and bursting for the toilet — for the kids to prepare it for her. Giving mum a surprise breakfast was done now, as far as they were concerned. They'd had fun making it, and they'd had fun presenting it to her. That's what making mum breakfast on her birthday was all about for them, and that was all over now. Giving mum a chance to eat it as well as receive it? Totally an optional extra!

Mithradia's emerald eyes turned with a passionate longing towards her cup of still hot dawnberry brew. Her relationship with dawnberry brew seemed to have changed as much as her relationship with her husband had since having children, she reflected. No more quiet, cozy and relaxing time with either since the kids came along. She had learned to be quick and efficient with both, or go without. So, she knew she had scarce seconds to decide whether to bolt the mug of dawnberry down now and scald her mouth or hope she might have a chance to drink it cold later. Taking one more slug of the fortifying brew she'd waited so long for already, she stood up just in time to catch Valoria, her younger child, and lower her safely to the floor. Valoria's highchair had been rocking and tottering, threatening to fall as the toddler tried to climb out of it unassisted again. Meanwhile, Elysia was still chattering as she pranced around 'doing yoga' and nearly knocking over the pile of paperwork that had been hastily pushed aside to make room on the table for this birthday breakfast.

"Look, Mum, I can do a headstand now," called Elysia as her pinwheeling legs soared through the air, a whisker away from colliding with the illusion-orb cabinet, before crashing down with a thump. Oblivious to the near disaster, she pushed back up again immediately, her legs pinwheeling back the other way this time. Her second uncontrolled descent collided directly with g down her chubby cheeks. Elysia immediately knew a scolding for being thoughtless and hurting her sister was on its way. Being a bright young elf, she saw her best path to dodging it lay in bursting into tears and yowling too. "My neck hurts," she wailed.