Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 39th cycle. Now cycle 40!

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** UPDATED WITH CYCLE 40 CHEAT SHEET ** Check it out to find out about shift days, starting in cycle 40!

This is a shift day [see above]. There will be another upload this afternoon: The Ties That Bind, chapter 2.

"Cordially Decline"
Sue & Brittany
Sylvesters Series #33 (following 'Confess on to Holiday')

Brittany had never met her grandmother. It wasn't until she was twelve years old that she realized Doris Sylvester didn't even know she was a grandmother. Sue hadn't gone into too much detail with her. All she'd said was that, beyond the fact that she hardly ever gave sign of life either way, she could never 'appreciate how special you are.'

Sue didn't want them meeting, plain and simple. It was true, Doris would never appreciate her, but there was more to it. She knew the kind of parenting her mother employed, and with a girl as precious as her own… She couldn't do it…

And it had shaped their lives ever since.

There was no margin for error when it came to a woman whose sole mission, even above being a mother to two daughters, was tracking people down with much less to go on than where it came to one girl sharing a quarter of the same genes…

It wasn't a big deal when she was small. No one would think anything of it, of her… But children grew, entered the world with school, dance classes, swim classes, three summers of soccer, motocross… One kid named Sylvester would stick out more than one named Smith or Jones… or Pierce. Grandpa Joe certainly wouldn't mind, even would be proud for his Little Bug to carry on the family name.

Brittany had chosen her own middle name. One day she'd sat her down laid out… what she felt her daughter needed to know, to understand. Maybe this was the day she'd seen her girl was wiser than she could appear. Because when she'd asked her what name she wanted to choose, for their 'secret,' she'd thought carefully, then she'd looked back to her mother.

"Susan," she nodded. "Like you. I want to be like you." She had breathed out, holding her.

"I think the name's as much as you'll want to take as far as being like me," she'd told her, not showing her tears.

Over the years their secret had gone from a novelty to being their day-to-day life, no big thinking needed… so long as her mother remained her usual absentee self, then there was no problem.

The whole thing, the wedding… Maybe it was an escape, something brighter than the dark cloud that had been hanging over their house. She guessed she'd been trying to draw Brittany back in, just a bit… Instead she'd gone and done the opposite: she'd drawn in her mother.

The whole time her mother was on school grounds, all she could think about was that Brittany was on those same grounds. What if she came to see her, dropped by her office – not that this was something she did a lot these days – and her mother saw her? She'd take one look at her, squint her eyes, and she'd know. Then she'd turn her notably… naïve… but inherently sweet and good girl, and she'd mess with her mind, her life…

It didn't happen though. Now this meant she had to have a talk with Brittany. She was staying with her this week, so she should be there when she got home. She walked through the door, closed it, took a breath.

"Brittany?" she called, waited… maybe she wasn't here, still at school or with Santana or…"

"Yeah?" she appeared from out of the kitchen. Sue looked to her, searching for her words.

"I need to talk to you about something."

"Me too," Brittany stepped up.

"Oh? Well you go first then," Sue decided.

"Kurt's dad and Finn's mom are getting married… to each other," she specified.

"Well, good for them," Sue figured this was all and was about to go on, but then…

"Kurt wants us all to be there and perform for them. Thing is it's on the same day as your thing," she explained.

"Oh…" was all she seemed able to say.

"So… I'm going to go and perform with them." She should have seen that one coming, but it still hit like her cheeks burned. "But I might be able to make it for part of yours if I leave early…"

"N-no, don't worry about it. You go, you have a good time," she nodded, willing a smile. Getting one back had just about done her in. Brittany had gone back to the kitchen and Sue had gone to check on her dress order… Blue, definitely.

It would work out better that way, she guessed, if her mother was insisting to be a part of this. Brittany couldn't be there if that was the case, so the wedding was as good of a place to stash her as any.

In the end though she just missed her. That, coupled with her mother being exactly who she'd always been, had been too much. All she could think of, looking at her, was everything she'd had to do and not do… because of her over nearly two decades… and she was tired.

When she got home, she figured she'd be alone, and she was, for about an hour. She'd sat on the couch, still wearing the blue track dress, just finding it impossible to move or think. The floor's creak had drawn her eye and there was Brittany, red dress and all. "How was the wedding?" she asked.

"Great. Well, the party, and the dance before… I kind of fell asleep during the actual wedding," she instinctively rubbed at her arm, where Santana had nudged her.

"Good," Sue nodded. She paused, leaving Brittany time to observe her.

"Are you okay?" Sue let out a breath – of course. She wasn't sure whether to tell her, but then she was tired, and Doris had no doubt high-tailed it out of Lima by then. She touched the cushion next to her and after a moment Brittany came and sat at her side.

"Your… your grandmother was at the wedding… mine, not the other."

"She was?" Brittany was surprised. Sue had never told her too much about the woman, about her part in this secret they shared, but Brittany had always seemed to understand, for what little she knew, that she was not missing much, and that it was a part of her mother's life that she didn't look back on fondly. Even now, with their state of discord, Brittany showed concern, taking her mother's hand. Sue inhaled, squeezing her daughter's hand.

"She'll be gone now to sulk back to her cave," she promised.

"She still doesn't know about me?"

"She doesn't and she never will, not if I have anything to say about it." Brittany didn't reply, and after a moment Sue looked to her. "Did you want her to?"

"No," she shook her head.

She chewed on her lip, thinking of the other day, when she had gone looking for her mother and found her in the auditorium… with her. She'd remained at the back, in the dark, but she'd watched. She could see… all these things her mother had told her about. She wouldn't pass judgment if it wasn't that, for all her lies and manipulations, she knew her mother wasn't lying about her grandmother. Looking at Doris Sylvester she'd known she was fine not knowing her. That would be her little secret.

"I brought you something," she reached in her bag, pulled out a carefully wrapped and intact piece of cake. Sue smiled. Maybe this wasn't a total loss… Maybe there was hope yet for them.

THE END

A/N: This is a one-shot ficlet, which means that signing up for story alert will not bring you any alerts.
In the event of a sequel, the story will be separate from this one. And as chapter stories go, they are
always clearly indicated as such [ex: "Days 204-210" in the summary] Thank you!