Brianna, who had heard Adam's thump when his feet hit the floor, had risen from her chair and moved towards the bedroom door. She reached it just as Adam jerked it wide, and she willingly let herself be tugged into the room at his urgent behest.
"Br'anna fix - help Es," he commanded pointing a finger towards the figure crying on the bed. Brianna felt her own eyes welling up, but she nodded and walked to Esmeralda's side, taking a seat on the bed and rubbing the other woman's back in the only gesture of comfort she could offer.
She noticed Adam move to a corner of the room and wondered what held his attention. Then without any visible cue, he came back around to stand beside her, and Brianna smiled down at him gently.
"Es okay now?" he asked with a voice full of concern.
Brianna cupped his face in her free hand. "I think she will be, Sweetie. Can you go ask Mama to come in here for a minute? I promised her...." But before Brianna could finish her explanation, Adam had taken off in a little boy run to find Charisma. Surprisingly, though, he didn't yell - he just ran.
In another moment, Charisma was being led back into Esmeralda's room by her son's hand, and they were being followed by Okasa, Patrick and Kent at a much more sedate pace. Brianna chanced to wonder where Kay was, but before she could ask, Charisma volunteered the information.
"She had to take a call."
Brianna nodded her acceptance of Charisma's explanation and turned back to Esmeralda who was still crying. Charisma picked Adam up with a groan and walked back to where the rest waited in the doorway.
"Son, I want you to go with Daddy and Gramma and Papa for now, okay? I promise, Brianna and I will take care of Es, but ...."
"S'okay, Mama," Adam said, patting her face. "Love Es."
Charisma smiled and tilted Adam towards Kent, who immediately shifted to lift Adam into his arms. Adam went willingly, and Charisma and Kent exchanged small smiles before Kent turned and walked back towards the living room. Patrick followed him without a word. Okasa hesitated a moment.
"Is there anything...?"
"I don't think so, Mama. If there is...."
"... you know where to find us." Okasa patted Charisma's arm. "Good luck," she added before she too walked back to the living room to wait.
Charisma closed the door and turned back towards the bed, but she didn't approach it. From where she stood, she could see that Esmeralda was no longer wracked by sobs and though there still appeared to be tears sliding down her cheeks, she was talking to Brianna in quiet tones. Charisma leaned against the door and crossed her arms over her chest, content to wait.
************
Brianna had kept up the soothing motion on Esmeralda's back, not sure what else to do. She'd spared a glance at Charisma and the rest when they'd stopped in the doorway, tacitly recognizing Charisma's explanation of Kay's absence before turning back to Esmeralda. She felt more than saw Charisma removing Adam from the immediate area, focusing her attention on Esmeralda. Though she felt the shudders subsiding, Brianna continued to rub Esmeralda's back slowly, hoping to contribute a sense of calm to Esmeralda, if not actual peace.
When Esmeralda was able to get her hiccups under control, she rolled over just enough to meet Brianna's eyes. "Thank you," she offered quietly. "I...."
Brianna shook her head. "No need for thanks, Es. I can't begin to imagine what you're going through right now."
"You don't have to, Brianna. You've already been there... in a manner of speaking."
Brianna shook her head. "Not even close, Es. It doesn't even compare. At least I could have confronted Charisma. It wasn't like she was gone from me completely."
"But she was, Brianna. Oh, maybe not in a permanent way like death." Tears rolled down her face but Esmeralda didn't break down again. "But she was still completely out of your realm."
"Maybe... but it was my own choice, Es - she wasn't taken from me."
Esmeralda smiled sadly and shook her head. Brianna didn't want to believe what Esmeralda knew to be true and there was no way to convince her at the moment. "Well, thank you anyway, Brianna. You and Charisma have been godsends to me... but especially now."
"I for one am glad I could be, Es," Brianna said, clutching one of Esmeralda's hands in her free one and simply holding it. She turned and caught Charisma watching them from the door and motioned her over with a wrench of her head. Charisma pushed off the door and circled to the other side of the bed, taking a seat and covering the hand Brianna still held with one of her own. Brianna didn't move, but it took everything in her not to flinch or jerk away from the unexpected touch. Charisma squeezed lightly, and kept her eyes locked on Esmeralda's face.
"Thank you," Esmeralda repeated quietly. "I told Brianna - you both have been godsends in my life, but especially now. I don't know how I'll ever repay...."
Charisma shook her head. "Don't let Mama hear you say that. There's no repayment needed when it comes to family... old or new."
"Then as family, I'm gonna say something, and I want you both to let me have my say without interruption. Then I want the two of you to go and take the rest of the family and go home for today. I promise you'll all be welcome to come over again tomorrow, but I need to be alone for the rest of the day... please."
Brianna and Charisma exchanged looks, then turned to Esmeralda and nodded simultaneously. "Would you like us to ask Ruby to come with us as well?"
"Is she sleeping?"
"She was."
"Then no. As long as she's resting, she's fine here. But I may ask her to call you if she starts stirring around."
"She'll be more than welcomed, Es," Charisma said, and Esmeralda nodded her acceptance. Then she took a deep breath and spoke softly.
"Brianna, I know you're angry - you're angry about the situation you and Charisma are in; you're angry at Charisma for allowing it, but you're mostly angry at yourself." She held up a hand and shook her head before Brianna could interject. "Charisma, you're scared - you're scared of what people will think... of what this will do to your career.... But mostly you're scared you can't be what Brianna needs you to be." She paused for breath. "I want you both to think about something - I want you to understand one thing regardless of what you do with your anger and your fear." Esmeralda tilted her head up to look at the ceiling, blinking rapidly to keep the tears from spilling down her face once more. She took another deep breath and shook her head. "As badly as I hurt right now... as much as I miss Saphira, the only regret I have is the time we spent apart. Not that it was my choice or hers to be separated, but the time we missed together is my one regret in sharing my life with her. I didn't have all of her that should have been mine. Don't let anger and fear rob you of what you should have - it will only leave regret in its wake."
Esmeralda closed her eyes when she finished speaking. Brianna gently withdrew her hand from beneath Charisma's and stood, and Charisma slowly followed her from the room. Esmeralda sighed. She'd done what she could and far more than she should, and she imagined there'd be hell to pay for it eventually. But she couldn't make herself care about the possible consequences, and at least she'd given them their best chance... finally. It would be up to them to take it... or not.
Chapter XCVI
"Ruby? What are we doing here?" Opal asked for the rest, looking around at the waiting room they'd been placed in as soon as they'd arrived home. The call had been unexpected and without warning had jerked all of them out of their attempts to make themselves scarce from the house they shared with Esmeralda and Saphira. They knew they couldn't stay while Brianna and Charisma et al were there trying to offer Esmeralda support as she grieved her loss of Saphira. Ruby shook her head and scrubbed a hand over her tired face before running it through her hair.