"Bri... it's not critical if it hurts you to remember," Charisma offered softly. Brianna opened her eyes and gave Charisma a sad smile.
"It does, but I think it's good to remember. I think it's time these memories were purged. Maybe it will eradicate the pain and we can replace them with happier thoughts."
"If you're sure...."
"I am." Brianna scrunched up her forehead. "It was right before finals and I couldn't focus on anything. So I called Mama O. I didn't know whom else to call. I mean I had made a few friends in law school, but it wasn't anything serious at that point. We were all still feeling our way around the whole law school thing and worried about projects and grades and it was just a whole lot of craziness at the time."
"You did make friends, though... right?" Charisma broke in unexpectedly.
"Oh yes," Brianna assured her. "It got easier after the first semester - we had time to do more than eat sleep and breathe the law. I think they use that semester to weed out all the candidates that see big bucks without seeing all the work that goes into it."
Charisma dipped her head in acknowledgement. "I think all the programs beyond a bachelor level tend towards that. Saves a lot of grief if you get out early."
"Saves a lot of student loan debt," Brianna agreed wryly. Charisma laughed, then waved her hand in a 'continue' motion.
"I'm sorry I interrupted. Please go on."
"Where was I?" Brianna asked, rubbing her forehead. "Oh yes - calling Mama O," she responded before Charisma had a chance to react. "I needed someone to talk to before I blew every chance I had of earning my JD to holy hell. So I picked up the phone and dialed Okasa without even hesitating. I don't remember what we talked about anymore - settling in, my studies, the family - I'm sure they were all part of the conversation at one point. I do remember - near the end of the discussion - she mentioned you and told me how you were doing. She knew I needed to know, I guess, but she also knew I was too proud and too stubborn to ever ask."
"What did she tell you? Do you remember?"
"Just that Washington suited you and you seemed to be winning friends and influencing people already... even as a Congressional aide."
"I was, you know. And I made sure to get pictures with all of them... for two reasons."
"Which were?" Brianna asked when Charisma let the silence drag on. Charisma smirked and Brianna rolled her eyes.
"The first was of course for my own benefit - so I could show my brothers that I really did meet Presidents and foreign dignitaries and lesser political beings like Senators and Congressmen."
"And the second?"
"I knew I'd need them for that tell-all book you would write about me someday."
"Uh huh," Brianna drawled out so slowly Charisma despaired of her actually finishing the word. "And you were so sure I'd write that story... despite everything that had happened?"
"Yes," Charisma stated emphatically. "You promised, and I knew that despite everything, you'd keep that promise when the time came. Of course, I have to become President first."
"Never say never, Ri."
Charisma shrugged. "We'll see. I'm not always sure I want it anymore. Adam changed a lot for me."
Brianna held her gaze for a long moment. "I guess he did," was her only comment.
Charisma looked down at the albums and realized they hadn't even turned a page yet. "Good grief - at the rate we're going, my son will have graduated from the Naval Academy before we get done."
"The Naval Academy?" Brianna asked. "Should I ask where that came from?"
"It's Kent's dream for Adam. He always wanted to go, but he didn't qualify scholastically. Adam may not want that for himself, and when the time comes, he'll choose his own path. But for the time being, we can use Kent's dream for him."
"It's a nice dream," was all Brianna said.
"Shall we?" Charisma asked readying the sheet to turn the page. Brianna did the same and bobbed her head, and together they moved to the next picture... and the next memory... in their books.
************
There had been a lot of laughter and a lot of tears as they slowly made their way across Europe through their memories. They were almost halfway when they reached Rome and Brianna shivered in pure reaction when she saw the photo Charisma had in her album. Charisma looked up in concern, then grimaced when she noticed Brianna's unnatural paleness. She rapidly closed the book and set it on the table, then slid Brianna's from her lap. A moment later, she was chafing Brianna's cold fingers between her warmer ones.
"Oh God, Bri... I'm so sorry. I didn't even think...."
Brianna blinked and took a deep breath, then she squeezed Charisma's hands lightly as she met her eyes. "It's okay, Ri. I should have realized you might have pictures of the Coliseum - it is an impressive structure, after all."
"Yeah, but I should have remembered how you reacted to the real thing when we were there and taken that picture out or something."
"Charisma, it's all right. I didn't even think about it; and I certainly didn't expect to react that violently to a photograph."
"Are you all right now?"
Brianna nodded. "I think so. It was like I was there again." She shook her head to clear the thought. "I like it here much better."
"Me too. You want to keep going or do you need a time out?"
Brianna cocked her eyebrow and smirked. "You are such a mom. A time out?"
Charisma chuckled. "At least I didn't offer you the time-out chair," motioning to a kid's size chair next to her desk. "I'm pretty sure you'd be more uncomfortable than Adam is when he sits there."
Brianna looked at the chair and then back to Charisma. "I'm pretty sure my knees would be up around my ears," recognizing Charisma's tactics and appreciating the effort. "How about a bio break and maybe a snack stop before we start again?"
"Sounds like a plan. Meet you back in here in fifteen?"
Brianna wasn't gone that long, but Charisma had removed the Coliseum picture from her album and had snacks out on the table by the time Brianna made it back in the room.
"Better?" she asked solicitously, though a smile graced her features as she noted the color that had returned to Brianna's face.
"Much, thank you. Now where were we?"
Charisma opened her album once more, to a picture of the two of them at the Vatican. A lovely old nun had offered to take their photograph in front of the Pieta. They had been appropriately somber for the picture, in deference to the older woman's serious devotion as well as the stunning beauty of the work itself.
"Is it wrong," Brianna asked in a hushed voice, "that I found that to be the most amazing thing about the Vatican?"
"I hope not. I felt much the same way... as though its sheer simplicity was much grander than the obscene displays of wealth."
Brianna's eyebrows flew into her hairline at Charisma's tone of disgust. "I thought you were a good Catholic."
"I am a recovering Catholic. I have found parts of the religion that do not mesh with my faith. So I don't practice that religion anymore... except to attend holiday mass with the family when we're there. It keeps Mama happy, and I don't think it hurts anything."
"Oooo-kaaay," Brianna drawled slowly, letting her nod communicate that she did understand the intent of what Charisma was saying even if she wasn't quite clear on the details. "So any other pictures of Rome in that book?" she asked.
"Of course," Charisma said with a smile. "Augustus' tomb, the Baths, the Spanish Steps...."