Priestly squeezed Faith's hand tightly, whimpering a little in his sleep.
"It's ok," Faith whispered, leaning down and pressing her lips against Priestly's forehead.
His eyes shot open, and for a second, mother and son stared at each other, both with matching confused expressions on their faces.
"Mommy?" Priestly's voice was small, almost a whisper.
"I'm here," she told him, moving his hair from his face. "I'm right here."
He sat up, still holding onto her hand, and peered at her in the dark. "Were you watching the whole time?"
Faith shook her head. "I got about an hours sleep, but you've been restless for awhile now."
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. You must be so tired, and I'm so sorry!"
"Shhh shhh," she whispered. "It's ok."
Taking them both by surprise, Priestly threw his arms around Faith's shoulders and buried his face in her neck. He pressed his nose against her skin, tears soaking through her shirt.
"I don't understand any of this," he cried. "How he could take me away from you and teach me you were my enemy. And I don't get how you can forgive me, you can be so nice to me. I don't get why this is so hard."
Faith rubbed his back soothingly. "I can't tell you what he did what he did. He had his own agenda, but the reasons behind it, I don't know either. And I can forgive you because you made a mistake. You weren't to know, you trusted the wrong person, Priestly, but you're not evil."
"I feel evil," he sobbed. "I feel so evil and like a traitor and guilty and I just can't understand it."
"That's normal," she told him gently. "I felt the same way, sometimes I still do. It's crippling and it's hard and it won't ever go away completely, but it will get easier."
Priestly was quiet for a long moment, the silence broken only by his crying.
"Do you remember what I was like? How soon was I taken away?"
Faith smiled sadly, glad he couldn't see the look in her eyes right now. "Right after you were born. I... I had some health complications, so you were taken away to be bathed and fed, and then... that's when you were gone."
"You have no memories of me?" his voice was stricken.
"I have some," she replied. "You used to kick like a bandit. And you always protected me."
"What do you mean?"
"In fights with demons and vampires, on the job..." Faith pulled back and wiped the tears from his cheeks. "Anytime I was in trouble, you'd lend me a power, I guess. You'd make sure no one could hurt me."
Priestly managed a smile at that. "Really?"
"Really," she confirmed.
"So... I'm not evil? Not completely?"
"No," Faith told him. "There's hope for you."
"Thank you for not giving up on me."
"Well, that's my job," she smiled. She gently lay him back down against the pillows. "Get some sleep, Priestly. We'll talk more in the morning."
He nodded tiredly. "Thank you, Mom."