Clarence shakes his head, finding words hard to speak. When they do come out, his voice is strained to a whisper. "Yes, and no. Whoever gave birth to me didn't keep me. So my adoptive parents, the ones who wanted me, they, um, well, it happened when I was eleven. I just hate to think about it."

Heavens, it was complicated. He couldn't care less about whoever's names were on his birth certificate; if anything, he had completely expunged those names from his memory. The Blakelys, though, they had wanted him so they were the ones who were the real parents in his eyes. And they were the ones that he still mourned when he allowed his mind to think back on them.

Cheddar, bless him, allowed Clarence to press his face into his orange fur until he had a better hold on his emotions. Then when he relaxed he let the cat go so he could stretch out in the sun again. If his eyes were red and his face was pale, Clarence didn't care enough now to hide it. It was stupid of him to still get so riled when it was over six years ago but time couldn't heal everything.

Breath still a little heavy, he spoke again, "Yeah, I'll make sure to talk with Kris about it."

He took another deep breath. "... Basically, you're saying, 'don't make the same mistake I did' sort of thing, huh?"