No, that wasn't quite right, he wanted to be able to say no, to be strong enough on his own to survive the next few minutes without a hug. He was never gonna get tough enough to survive a world without Tragos if he kept falling apart and crying on women.
But the need to grab onto her was way stronger than this rationale, and he felt if she didn't squeeze him as hard as she could he might actually die.
He was way too old to keep bursting into tears but Kaden turned toward Marcie, balled both fists in her top, and started sobbing against her anyway.