Greta Holt closed the door to her house and flipped on the lights unenthusiastically. She was grateful for the warm colors that flooded her senses after being covered in black all day but that was diffused when no one greeted her at the door. Her shoulders slumped and she sagged her way up the stairs so she could flop down on her bed. She stared up at her ceiling with her eyes glossed over, thoughts in other places than her house.
She let out a breath she was holding in and thought back to the funeral with the boy named Luis there. As much as she hated seeing him cry, it was better for him to know the more plausible option now then it would be to let him believe his brother was still alive out there. She felt a stab of sympathy for Lance. Based off of the letters that Katie had sent her, the boy was a good soul and full of passion. Even if they didn't get along sometimes it sounded like he was a good friend of Katie's, and Greta respected him for that. It was hard to earn her trust, much less get Katie to even make friends in the first place so the fact that he was able to was… well it meant a lot.
Greta didn't even hear her phone buzzing until it was on its third ring. She sat up and glanced at the name. It was an unknown number. Luis. She thought to herself.
The grieving mother quickly answered the phone, expecting to hear Luis voice, but she got an older, feminine voice instead. It was kind but firm with a spanish accent, and it was filled with more sorrow then Greta could ever imagine.
"Is this Miss Holt's residence?" the voice asked.
Greta took a breath before responding, "y-yes, this is Greta Holt."
"Oh good! I'm Rosa McClain, Luis's mom." She said, "I was wondering if I could talk to you."
Greta blinked for a second, "of course," she hesitated for a moment before asking, "If you don't mind, are you alright?"
A short laugh came from the other side, it sounded rusty, as if it hadn't been used in a while, "Why I was calling to ask you the same thing."
Greta knew that Rosa couldn't see her while they were on the phone, but she still attempted a weak smile at the sympathy that came from a woman she'd never met, "I wouldn't say alright," she sighed, "but I am getting there."
"Yes, I understand." Rosa took a breath, "losing Lance was like losing a part of myself."
There was a silence of understanding that passed between the two women, "I couldn't imagine losing my whole family,"
Without any warning, Greta began to cry. She sobbed on the phone while Rosa, no doubt, was saying sympathetic words to help with her loss.
"Your daughter was incredibly smart according to Lance. He would often talk about how Pidge would make her own technology in the garrison that surpassed the tools they were given."
Greta smiled, sniffing away some of her tears, "Yes, Katie would talk about what positive person Lace was. She said that he would try to persevere through any assignment, no matter how long it took him or how much he struggled with it."
After that, both women were crying on the phone but it wasn't as sad as it used to be. There was something kinder to it, almost fond. They knew each other's situations and were able to console each other for it. Greta believed it was the first time she'd felt a little more at peace then any other time since her family disapeared.
After they both finished crying Greta smiled a little, "Thank you for calling me." she whispered, her voice a little raspy from the sobbing session.
Rosa's voice was warm, a mother to the core, "I would call for anyone who had just lost a child. If you want to, you can call me anytime you wish to discuss anything."
Greta nodded, though she knew Rosa couldn't see her, "I think I will."
They said a few goodbyes before hanging up. They both had realized how much more at peace they were, now that they had talked to someone who truly understood what they were going through. Even though that was the first call, it was clear to both of the mourning mothers that it wouldn't be the last
Rosa was washing dishes, four months after Lance's funeral. She could feel herself getting better after every Wednesday night talk she had with Greta. They would share motherly stories about their missing children and talk about how much they loved them even though it was highly unlikely that either of the children were coming home. The only thing that was helping them get better was how each person had such an understanding of the other's feelings. They could practically read each other's emotions the minute one of them said anything.
The rest of the family saw her progress, yet they still treated Rosa like she was made of porcelain. Luis wouldn't talk about Lance, only filling the space with small talk, making sure that his Mamma was doing okay. Veronica was busying herself with her engineering and wouldn't let anyone tell her Lance was dead so she simply kept to her room unless someone wanted to talk about space-crafts. The twins, Maria and Marco, seemed to have let go of Lance by now, playing with their toys like nothing had changed. Rosa's sister, Sophía, was out of the house at work with the children's grandfather, Abu, and Papa wouldn't talk to Mamma about Lance because their views were so different. She considered talking to Abuela about it but her mother was always stargazing now, seeing if her beloved grandson would come home one day. She did not like being disturbed when she was searching the skies for an alien ship.
So, Rosa was left to her own devices when thinking about Lance. She would do all of her regular duties when thinking about him, sometimes it made her cry, sometimes it made her smile. Today she was smiling. She was remembering how Lance was drew a picture of the whole family in space when he was younger.
"Why are we in space?" Rosa had asked her nine year old son.
He smiled a toothy smile, "Because in space, we can build a giant house so the whooooooole family can fit!" he waved his arms around like he was flying on a plane, "And I can explore space and bring you back the coolest photos and space rocks!"
Rosa had smiled and taken the drawing from him, "well that sounds just perfect doesn't it."
Lance nodded and beamed up at her, "I can become the best pilot in the galaxy and Veronica could engineer the best spaceships! And you guys could all stay happily together in the big house."
That made Rosa so happy in the day. She had put the drawing into safe keeping just to make sure that nothing would ever happen to Lance's dream. She would be the most supportive mother in the world.
A sudden phone call took her away from her thoughts. She dried her hands from the dish water and quickly answered after realizing it was Greta. But it was a Monday, she shouldn't call for another two days.
She heard an overly happy voice come from the other side of the phone, "Oh Rosa! It's amazing! It's a miracle! Its-"
Rose cut her off, her chest blooming with curiosity and hope, "whats a miracle? What is it?"
A short breath came from the other side of the phone, it sounded like it was containing excitement, "My husband and son came home!" Rosa smiled, a little disappointed but still ever so happy for her friend. That feeling must be amazing.
"I'm so happy for you!" she smiled into the phone.
"But its not only that!" Greta paused, leaving Rosa's curious ears to dread every second of waiting, "They brought messages, all of the missing children- everyone- is alive!"
Rosa's mind froze. Her eyes grew wide and she almost dropped her phone. Hold on. Don't get to happy yet. Make sure you know for sure that you heard properly.
"Wh- what?" she could hear her voice sound so breathless and hopeful on the phone.
"Your Lance is alive. I have the video message to prove it." Greta responded, she sounded absolutely radiant.
A smile split Rosa's face in two. Her eyes began to fill with tears and she sunk to the floor. He was alive. He was alive and sending them a message. She heard a true and pure laugh escape her mouth as she hugged her phone closer to her ear. Lance is alive.
"He misses you, according to my husband. I haven't seen the message but he started crying when they mentioned you…" Greta's words were drowned out my Rosa's explosion of happiness and relief that burst from her bosom. She couldn't stop smiling, or crying, or laughing that relieved and exsatic laugh.
"I'm going to text you the message. I haven't watched it but it sounds like it was recorded from about five months ago." Greta continued.
"Thank you." Rosa responded. She'd never felt so happy in her life, "thank you, thank you, thank you."
A contented sigh went through the phone. Rosa knew that Greta had done the exact same routine when her Husband and son had returned, "We will see them again Rosa. Don't give up any hope."
They said goodbye to each other and Rosa simply waited for the message to appear on her phone. A few minutes later, a ding sounded, alerting Rosa that the video was here. She scrambled to pull it up on her phone and sank to the floor, pulling her knees to her chest as she watched the video, all of her attention on Lance's face.
"Uhh… Hey guys." a small smile
"I know that you have no idea where I am, you're probably worried sick, but I just wanted to let you know I'm okay" He looked fondly into the camera
"I miss you."
"A lot"
A breath
"Mamma I just want you to know that I'm okay. I'm in space." He rubbed the back of his neck
"It's a little hard to explain… but I'm defending the universe now."
"It can be dangerous, but It'll all be worth it when I come home."
"I hope you guys have been okay without me."
"Take care of abuela, tell the twins I'm okay."
"Make sure you tell Veronica that if she isn't trying to get into the garrison anymore that I'll whoop her butt when I'm back." casual smirk
"Mamma, I'm going to come home. I would never leave you." He began to get teary
"I miss you guys so much-" tears streaming down his face
"I will come back and see you again, no matter how hard I have to fight- I just- I love you guys so much- I can't wait to see you again- I just want to come home- please know that I love you and miss you."
A deep breath
Wiping tears away
Small, genuine smile at the camera again
"I can't wait to come home. Just don't give up on me yet."
"See you soon."
End call
notes: So I don't really know how this works :/. This is my very first fanfiction and I'm still learning how to use this website but I'm glad that people are liking the story so far! A lot of you really wanted me to add the video call in there and it was my plan from the start so I decided to make it now! Originally, I was going to make it so that Matt Holt was sending the tapes through the mail until I remembered that this was in the future and they could probably get it to be a video like on a text message, so this was how it ended up. I hope you enjoy this chapter :)