Chapter 12 When Lightening Strikes

Charlotte was watching the storm through her bedroom window. The lights were off and her daughter was cradled against her body. Charlene's little eyes were finally shut after a sugar rush caused by Montgomery and her ice cream treats.

She stroked the little girl's hair and watched the blue lightening flash against the dark sky. She was waiting for Cooper to come back with his clothes. That's what he decided was the most useful thing to bring over first. Now she wished she hadn't let him go. The storm was just awful.

Suddenly, a pounding noise that sounded vaguely like thunder assaulted her ears. She realized after a few seconds that it was someone at her door. Quickly and without disturbing Charlene, she slipped out of the bed and made her way to the front of her house. She had thought it was Cooper at first, but he had been using the key since she gave it to him.

The knocking became more persistent and she found herself becoming slightly annoyed at this late night visitor.

"Hold your horses! I'm comin'."

She opened the door and the wind forced it back. The door banged against the wall and moved back and forth with the wind. She steadied it with both hands and squinted through the dark to see Violet on her front steps, drenched with rain and shivering.

"Violet?" she asked uncertainly.

"C-can I come in?" Violet shivered and wrapped her arms around herself.

"Yeah, sure." When Violet didn't move she frowned. "Well, come on. You'll catch your death out there."

The therapist nodded and stepped past her silently. On closer inspection she could see that those wet tracks on Violet's face were from tears not rain drops.

"I-is Cooper here?" Violet shivered again.

"He'll come soon. Let's get you into some dry clothes. You're making a mess on my floor."

Violet nodded.

She began to lead the Violet to the other guest room, the one right across from her bedroom, but the therapist wasn't following. She turned around to see Violet still in the front hall, clutching her arms to herself, dripping wet and staring at the floor.

"Violet," she said softly. "Come on." It was the same gentle tone she used with Charlene sometimes. Violet looked at her this time and followed behind her silently.

In the guest room Charlotte handed Violet a towel and a clean pair of old scrubs she sometimes used as pajamas. The scrubs got a small smile out of Violet.

"Now you just get under the covers and I'll get you some…tea." Charlotte cringed inside. She was not used to being nice, especially to someone who is…or used to be her mortal enemy. She made a quick exit and turned on the electric kettle in the kitchen. As the water boiled she pulled out her cell and dialed Cooper's number.

"Hey Char, I'm almost done here."

"Well, that's great, but…ah…Violet's here and I'm pretty sure she's cryin' and though it pains me to say this, she really does need you."

She heard him sigh. "What happened?"

"I don't know."

"You don't know," he asked disbelievingly. "Didn't you ask?"

"No. I'm not good at this." She huffed. "She's your friend."

"Our friend," he corrected. "We live together now. We share everything. It's the moving in rule."

"That's not a real rule," she grumbled. The water finished heating up and she quickly put together a cup of tea.

"I'm going to be there soon. Just talk to her till I get there. Love you. Bye."

"Cooper, wait I-." He was already gone and the tea was already made. She might as well see what she could do about Violet.

0oo0oo0

Violet was curled up under the blankets. It felt weird being here, in her house. Now it was Cooper's house too. How could everything change so quickly?

Pete. Why did he leave? She was heartbroken. They had a spark of a relationship before she had found out she was pregnant and this evening when he came to her she thought it could work. Them being together. He had been so caring, so gentle…

There was a knock at the door and she swiped a hand under her eyes in an attempt remove any tears that still clung to her cheeks.

"I brought you some tea," Charlotte said.

Charlotte set the tea on the nightstand and then looked at her expectantly. An apprehensive look crossed the blonde's face when all Violet did was look at the cup. She picked up the cup and sipped the tea.

After a few seconds Charlotte sat on the edge of her bed. "What happened?" Charlotte asked quietly.

Her lip quivered and she felt like she was going to cry again. "I slept with Pete," she said in a rush of words.

Charlotte rolled her eyes. "I know that. That's how you got pregnant in the first place."

She put the tea down. "No, I slept with him today. He came over after you left and he was so kind and then he kissed me and I kissed him and then-."

Charlotte put a hand up. "I don't need any visuals. So you slept with him, then what?"

"He left and he said that he was sorry, but he couldn't do this." She flopped back down on the bed. "I thought," she whispered. "I thought that maybe he…" Her face crumpled and tears spilled down her cheeks.

"He loved you," Charlotte finished for her.

She nodded. "I'm tired."

"Go to sleep then," the blonde told her. She may have been going crazy, but Charlotte's southern accent sounded kind of comforting just then.

She closed her eyes and stayed still as Charlotte pulled the covers up to her chin.

"Goodnight Violet."

0oo0oo0

Charlie had fallen into a fitful sleep as soon as her momma had left. In her dream, though she didn't know that it was a dream, she could see Granddaddy in front of her. She called out to him, but he took off in the opposite direction and she chased after him.

Since she didn't know it was a dream, her body didn't either. In the world outside of the dream she had climbed off the bed and navigated herself to the back door. She opened it in her sleeping state and walked out into the middle of a violent raging storm.

No one noticed that she had left. No one knew that she was a sleepwalker.

0oo0oo0

When Cooper came home the house was dark and colder than it had been before he left. He dragged his two heavy and now wet suitcases into the house. He had more in the car, but he decided he would go back for them later. He squinted in the dark, making out the outlines of furniture and nothing else.

"Electricity went out," said tired southern voice. A flash of lightning. Charlotte was standing in front of him.

He jumped and clutched his heart. "Shit!" Had she been standing there the whole time?

"She's sleeping." He assumed she was talking about Violet.

"Yeah," he said stepping closer to her. He didn't like being blind. Lost in the dark. He reached out and gripped her forearm. He felt better now.

"Scared of the dark?" she asked with a wicked smile. The lightning flashed again casting Charlotte in a sinister light.

"I-I don't know." He shook his head and backed away. "I don't like storms, I guess." He took another step back, but Charlotte's hand grabbed his and their fingers entwined. He looked down at their clasped hands. Her small dainty one in his large one. He felt safe now.

She smirked. "Didn't know you were such a baby."

Cooper grinned at her and then jumped as a crack of thunder permeated the stillness of the house. She jumped too. "Who's the baby now?"

Even in the dark he could see Charlotte rolling her eyes. "Go see Violet. She's in the other guest room."

He let go of her hand reluctantly and did as Charlotte commanded. In the guest room he found Violet curled up in a little ball. He wondered how Violet had known to come here. He hadn't told her that he was moving in with Charlotte. And what's even stranger was that Charlotte let Violet stay in her house. Didn't they hate each other?

"Cooper?" Violet said sleepily.

He climbed onto the bed and made himself comfortable. Violet instantly moved closer to him and rested her head on his chest. "What happened," he asked while stroking her wild curls.

And she told him. Somewhere along the way the tears started again and he was just waiting for her to gain control of her voice.

"I hate him," Violet finally said.

"No you don't."

She sighed. "It's even worse. I think I love him." She sniffled. "But he obviously doesn't love me back." She started to cry again. Her body wracked with sobs and Cooper could feel her shaking with emotional pain.

"Oh, Vi, it'll be okay. Shh. Everything's going to fine."

"Not it won't. I'm pregnant Cooper and I'm alone! Nothing is ever going to be okay."

"No, it will. I promise. I'll find a way to make it better."

She didn't respond.

0oo0oo0

Charlotte was panicking. Actually she was more than panicking, she was freaking out. She couldn't find Charlene anywhere. She searched in every room and then she went on to the kitchen and found the back door open. The wind banged it against the wall and the rain splattered against the kitchen tile.

Why would she go out in the middle of a storm?

She had to find Charlene. She could get hurt out there or worse. She closed her eyes tight for a moment and tried not to be so scared. She couldn't lose Charlene again. She rushed to the room where Cooper and Violet were currently occupying and threw open the door.

They were cuddle up together and that made her mad as hell, but it wasn't important right now.

"She's gone! Charlene's gone out into the storm!" She yelled. She ran out and slipped on a pair of sneakers before going out the back door. She was vaguely aware of Cooper following behind her.

Thunder clashed, rain pelted into her eyes and the wind ripped across her face. The lightening kept flashing and she kept running. She ran past a few houses and then across a grassy field saturated with water. Mud got onto her shoes and clothes, but she neither cared nor noticed. She could see someone standing under a tree in the distance.

"There she is!" Cooper yelled behind her. She could barely hear him.

She was almost there now. Something like relief filled her body and then the unthinkable happened. Lightening flew down from the sky and stuck the tree her little girl was standing under. There was a crash and a splintering of wood and she gasped when the old oak caught on fire. An instant cloud of smoke formed and obscured both the tree and her daughter from view.

"No!" She cried and then ran even faster. "Charlene! Charlene!"

Be okay. Be okay. Please baby, be okay.