It had been two months since Frankie had left her. She had left in the most permanent way possible and Grace had been devastated. She was no longer the vibrant, charismatic woman that she had once been; she was now a shadow of her former self. Her appearance was sallow and gaunt with eyes regularly puffy and red-rimmed. She was riddled with grief and it showed to anyone who dared to look.
She and Frankie had stopped dancing around their feelings for one another and they had eight years together. Eight wonderful years filled with love, laughter, spelling bees, birthdays, anniversaries, passionate love making and memories that kept Grace company on her darkest of days. Then Frankie had that third stroke that everyone had been praying wouldn't come and went downhill quicker than they could have imagined. She was diagnosed with dementia and six months after that she was gone.
During all of this, Brianna had merged "Say Grace" and "Vybrant", leaving Grace free to take care of Frankie right up until the end and now to mourn the loss of her. It was the brazen blonde's turn to check on her mother - since Frankie's passing the whole family took shifts to make sure she wasn't alone for too long, and she hoped her mom had at least gotten out of bed today. They were all aware of the affect that Frankie had over her mother when she was alive and it seemed to be even stronger since she had died. How life and love could be beautiful and cruel. For years, she had been envious of her mothers' love for one another but the pain she saw radiating off of the older blonde was something she had no desire to experience herself.
Entering the beach house, she made her way through the living room and up the stairs. Her mother's door was closed, as it always was and she took a deep breath before turning the handle.
Though it was early evening and the sun had yet to go down, the room was dark. Only a few slivers of sunlight managed to leak in. The all too familiar sight of a visible lump under the covers with a few tufts of hair sticking out told Brianna that today had not been a good day. But she never gave up trying to engage with her mother. It was all she could do to keep the woman from tumbling deeper into that dark abyss of sadness.
Venturing further into the room, she sat down on the edge of the bed and laid her hand atop her mother's form.
"Mom?" She questioned gently. She had become accustomed to her mother's silences. Sometimes she would respond, other times she would be completely mute.
"How are you doing today?" Still no response.
"Have you eaten?" Her only answer was a few sniffles and short, gasping breaths.
"Why don't we try opening the blinds? Some sunlight might help." Brianna quickly moved to other side of the room but before she could reach the window, a sudden outburst caused the young blonde to jump and halt her movements.
"NO!" Grace yelled, her voice hoarse from lack of use but it was filled with agony.
"No, no, no, no..." Her mother repeated over and over before she was robbed of her ability to speak by gut-wrenching sobs.
Moved by her mother's grief stricken reaction, Brianna doubled back and made her way back onto the bed. This time laying down behind the tightly coiled woman and bringing an arm around her to pull her flush against her.
She felt a lump forming in her throat and tears sprang to her eyes. She could hear the tremble in her voice as she said, "It's okay if you can't do it today. We can try again tomorrow."
She planted a kiss in Grace's hair and vowed to herself that she would get her mother through this. She just needed time. They both did.
