Page 43 of Moonlight Feels Right
When she arrived, her aunt answered the door, giving her a smile that looked a lot brighter than it had yesterday.
"Emmalyn, I'm glad you came."
As she stepped inside, her mother got up from the couch and came over to see her. She was wearing a pair of jeans and a sweater, looking more normal than she had in years. She was still very pale with dark circles under her eyes, but her hair had been washed and somewhat styled, and her aunt had clearly lent her mother some makeup.
She held out the flowers. "These are for you."
Surprise and joy spread across her mom's face. "They're so pretty."
"Why don't I put those in a vase?" her aunt suggested, taking the flowers from her hand.
She reached into her bag as her aunt took the flowers into the kitchen. Smiling at her mom, she said, "I also got you this candy bar. I remember sharing one with you a long time ago. I think you said it was your favorite. I hope my memory is right."
Her mother's lips trembled as she took the candy bar and stared at it. "I don't think I've had one since then. You were probably four or five."
"Maybe we can share it again. Chocolate is my weakness."
"It was once mine. But it's been so long, I barely remember what chocolate tastes like. Maybe a little later. I just had a snack."
"Of course."
"Why don't we all sit down?" her aunt suggested as she returned to the room with the flowers in a vase.
Taking the seat on the couch next to her mother, she said, "What did the doctor have to say?"
"She thinks my thyroid could be low," her mother said. "And I might possibly have an autoimmune disease, but they won't know until they get my tests back. They took a lot of blood."
"They want her to rest and improve her nutrition until we know what else might be going on," her aunt added.
"Well, I'm glad they're going to do a thorough review." She hoped whatever was ailing her mother was something that could be managed with medications and lifestyle changes.
"It felt so odd to be in a doctor's office again," her mom said. "I haven't talked to a doctor since I moved to the farm. That was so long ago…" Her voice trailed away.
Emmalyn jumped into the silence. "You can't look back, Mom. I know it won't be easy, but your health, your life, could depend on it. And I want you to have a full and long life, one I can be a part of."
She was a little surprised at the words that came out of her mouth. Her mother also looked at her in shock.
"You do, Emmy? After I let you go?"
"Well, I can't lie and say I don't have mixed emotions about us, but I am grateful you let me go because I got away from Haven, from people who weren't going to give me a chance to grow up, to be educated, to be free."
"I thought Haven would give us the family we needed. We wouldn't be alone anymore, and you would have other kids to play with. Some of that came true."
"There were other kids there, but we had little time to play. I missed out on so much in the seven years I was there. I found out how much when I went to live with Aunt Linda, and I saw how the rest of the world lived. Do you know how far behind I was in school? I had to work so hard just to catch up."
"I tried to teach you some things."
"I know you did, but it wasn't enough." She took a breath. "But like I said, I don't want to keep rehashing the past. I'm happy you're here."
"It does feel nice to be in this beautiful home with a view of the ocean and wearing clothes that are soft and comfortable," her mother admitted. "I've been unhappy for longer than I've been willing to admit, even to myself. I figured that was my penance for missing my chance to leave when Linda first came to get us."
"You're here now, Sara," Linda cut in. "That's what matters. We're going to get to the bottom of your health issues and make things right. You still have a lot of life to live."
"I'm not sure I deserve it."
"You deserve it," she said. "We all have things to work through, but we can only do that if you stay the course. I don't want you to get some medicine and then go back to Haven. What we're doing for you can't be for nothing. If you leave, if you walk away from us again, it's going to feel like the worst kind of betrayal, and it will hurt so much." Her eyes blurred with tears as she could still feel the emotion of the last time her mother had turned her back on her. "Please don't do that to either of us."
Her mother stared at her with painful emotion. Then she said, "I won't go back. I won't hurt you again, Emmy." She turned to her sister. "Or you, Linda."
