Through The Eyes Of A Mother.
Chapter VII: Alone.
She stood in the same spot all those minutes after Rachel left. What could she do to send that torment away? Hadn't they suffered enough already? Laura knew a happy ending was very improbable for their story and despair was drowning her soul. Only Jean Grey could decide if their lives would remain the same or be changed forever and the foster mother of Rachel already knew what her choice was.
She finally walked out of the bedroom and down the stairs to go to the living room: she knew what needed to be done. Picking up the visiting card she had never even touched before, she looked at it and searched for the courage to do what she didn't want to do.
Laura sat down on the armchair and picked up the telephone to dial Jean's number. As she waited for what seemed to be forever, she resisted the urge to hang up; she was not ready to let that stranger control her family's life.
"Hello?", the mutant's voice answered from the other side of the line.
"Dr. Jean Grey?", she asked, fully convinced she couldn't go back now. "This is Laura Roberts"
"Oh…", Jean's voice said, clearly surprised.
"I've thought a lot before deciding to call you, but I think you should talk to Rachel again and listen to what she has to say", Laura continued, sounding firm, although her soul was breaking.
"But… why didn't she call?", Jean asked hesitantly, still shocked.
"She doesn't know I'm calling you. She isn't even home right now", the foster mother paused, thinking twice about what she was about to do. "I know where she might be and maybe… you should go to her", she finished, immediately regretting her words. Where was she leading Rachel's life to?
She watched as people walked by but she didn't see them; there were many things far more important to think about. Rachel wished she could run away from everything and everyone, but she didn't have the courage to do it. Even if she had, she knew she would regret it: her parents were still the most important people in her life and she would never leave them behind.
The park was almost empty as not many people visited it during the week and Rachel was glad for it. Her loneliness was the only thing she needed at the moment; she just couldn't think straight and for a long time with people around her. The calm silence in that place was only interrupted by the soft chirp of a bird and Rachel felt she could spend the rest of her life trapped in that moment, with no future ahead of her.
She didn't notice her arrive until she was sitting down next to her on the bench. The girl didn't need to look to know who it was and she wasn't surprised by the visit at all.
"What are you doing here?", she asked calmly, still not looking at Jean Grey.
"You know why I'm here", Jean answered, trying to hide the emotion in her voice.
"I don't want to live with you", Rachel stated after a short silence and turned her head to look at her mother. "I don't know what you expect from me after all these years, but I can't change my life just because you remembered I exist"
"I never forgot you existed. I just couldn't find you earlier. Rachel…", Jean paused; that name was still unfamiliar to her. "I told you I'm a mutant and what my abilities are. Those abilities kept me from finding you as a baby and someone else had to do it for me, but that's a different story", she continued and then paused, taking in a deep breath. "The important thing is that mutations are genetic and…", Jean fell silent, knowing the truth would only hurt her daughter more.
"Are you saying that… I'm a mutant as well?", the teenager asked after thinking about what her biological mother had just said.
"Yes", was Jean's answer.
"But… I can't be", Rachel stated, trying to remember if there was anything uncommon about her.
"You inherited my abilities", the mutant mother replied. "But I blocked them when you were born so I couldn't look for you after that night. I thought you would be happier as a human, but I regretted my decision"
"I am happier as a human", the daughter said, looking Jean in the eye for the first time. At this point, she believed everything the woman had told her, but she still didn't accept it. "I want to continue that way. Please, let me live my life the way it is now"
"Laura and Ted are not your parents and they will never understand you as well as I can understand", Jean Grey stated as she saw that being a mutant didn't change the girl's mind.
"The fact that they raised me for fifteen years makes them my parents; it makes them understand me and know me better than anyone in this world", Rachel replied, standing up from the bench.
"I don't want to force you to come live with me, but I can't leave you with them", the mutant said as she stood up as well.
"Then you are forcing me to go live with you", was the teenage girl's last words before she started walking away from her.
"Tomorrow", Jean finished with no compassion in her voice. That single word made Rachel stop abruptly, but it didn't make her turn around. After a few seconds, she finally walked away until she was out of her mother's sight.
Pain stabbed her heart as Jean watched her daughter leave and she finally gave in to her tears. Now more than ever she felt there was no return to what she had done and she would have to carry that guilt for the rest of her life. Why couldn't she have thought clearly the night her baby was born? Today, that baby was a teenage girl who wanted nothing more than to keep Jean away from her. It was too late…