Chapter 37: Roses
Breathless silence had invaded Hazel's room as the three women stared at each other. The tension was so thick, it could have been cut with a knife. Currently, Mac was rather glad however, that Mrs. Morgan did not have one on her person. The look in her eyes was familiar, but it hurt more than it usually did. Because this time it wasn't just about her. It was about Hazel. Mac's heart beat painfully in her chest, while her racing thoughts tried to come up with some sort of damage control.
"Well, Doctor, if there is a good reason why you are kissing my daughter this way, I would really love to hear it," Olivia spat, locking her arms before her chest. "If not, I would like you to leave now."
"Actually, there is a very good reason, Mrs. Morgan," Mac said, before she could stop herself. She felt like she might faint of terror, but she just pushed on.
"I seem to have fallen in love with your daughter."
Olivia's mouth stayed wide open for a moment, before she caught herself.
"How can you dare say such nonsense?!" she pressed out, staring at Hazel, who had stayed silent and seemed to have shrunk back into a little girl in the last five minutes. Mac looked at her lover again, wishing she could wrap her into her arms and make the pain go away. But she could not. Not without making things worse for her. This was her mother after all, and losing one's mother left a huge void one's life. Elizabeth knew that better than anyone.
She briefly tightened her fingers around Hazel's before finally letting go and walking past the angry Nemesis in the door frame, her head held high. Only when she had slammed the door shut behind herself, did Mac dare breath again. The tears however she battled back with resolve. There was no time for them. She needed to get Phryne married and then run back to Melbourne, praying that Hazel would be able to work things out with her family. Mac's heart tightened at the idea that their brief adventure into happiness was over already. She would have been content, she realised with a start, to hide away for the rest of her life. But making her sacrifice her family on the altar of their love was not something Mac was going to ask from Hazel. 'Never', she swore to herself, walking down the hall with her fists angrily shoved into her pockets.
X
Mother and daughter were still staring at each other in silent defiance.
"How could you?" Olivia asked, close to tears now that the enemy was not listening anymore. "This is going to destroy your life, if you keep going. Don't you understand?"
Hazel seemed to be waking from a dream, when she finally found the gift of speech again.
"No, you don't understand! I've been battling this for 20 years, mother. I am tired of fighting it. I am tired of hiding! I am tired of other people telling me how to be happy. Because I was happy five minutes ago, before you decided to waltz in here and scare the woman away that I love!"
Her voice had rose almost to a scream on the last sentence, drawing another spectator in from the hallway.
"You don't mean that!" Olivia exclaimed, paling.
"I do," Hazel said, raising her chin.
"What's going on?" Iris's voice asked from where she had stuck her head through the door.
"Your sister here has decided that she loves a woman!" Olivia said, her voice skipping dangerously close to hysteria.
Iris closed the door firmly behind herself, locking eyes with Hazel, who looked like she was about to explode.
"Yes, I know," she said calmly. Had Hazel not been standing in the middle of the room red faced and trembling with tension, it might have been funny, how their mother's jaw dropped. "And I personally consider the Doctor an incredibly good choice on Hazel's part," Iris continued, "she is quite a catch you might say."
A tiny wink accompanied her words towards her sister, who smiled a barely visible smile.
"Have you both gone insane?" Olivia whispered. "How can you encourage this behaviour, Iris?! You of all people need to understand, how important it is to marry a good man!"
"I, mother, understand that my sister is not like me. A tiny little fact, that you seem to have missed," Iris said coldly, stepping into the room and wrapping a protective arm around Hazel, who was still shaking.
"I will not accept this for my daughter," Olivia said, standing her ground.
"Well, mother. It isn't your decision," Iris said, levelly. "Hazel is in love, with a good woman. And if you decide to spoil this for her, we are through."
Olivia opened and closed her mouth, staring at her daughters, who both seemed to have succumbed to madness.
"I can't just accept this," she repeated.
"Then go!" Hazel said, wrapping her arm around her sister for support. "Because I am not giving her up!"
Speechless, Olivia Morgan turned on her heels, slamming the door shut so forcefully the windows shook in their frames. When Iris glanced at her sister, she was crying.
"Are you all right?" she asked, wiping a tear from Hazel's face.
"No," the woman admitted, breathlessly. "But thank you."
They embraced tightly, both panting as if they had just fought a battle. Which in a way, they had.
"She'll come around," Iris whispered, while she held onto her sister.
"What if she doesn't?" Hazel asked, after she had gotten the sobbing out of her system.
"Then she is much stupider, than I had ever thought," Iris said, pulling a handkerchief from her pocket and handing it to her sister.
"I think it's time you fixed your make-up or your Doctor won't recognise you," she smiled. "And I believe we are expected at a wedding."
X
"I don't think I can ever forgive her," Sophie said, taking the offered drink from her brother's hands. "It's unbelievable that she would kill Abigail. For this... man nevertheless." She shook her head, causing her white hair to fly. "Dear God."
John Robinson sat down in the chair opposite his sister, nervously glancing at his watch.
"I'm sorry, John. It is the your son's wedding day and I keep going on and on about this."
He smiled.
"Don't be. I have missed talking to you for so many years. What happened must have been a terrible shock for you."
Sophie smiled thinly, taking a sip from her glass.
"I am quite sure, you mixed alcohol in there, Johnny."
"I might have. Honestly, I am probably more nervous than the groom," John laughed.
"You don't think it is the right decision for them to marry?" Sophie asked.
John stayed silent for a moment, slowly swirling the water in his glass in a circle. Then he looked up.
"Actually, I believe Jack is a very clever man to hold on to his Phryne. That woman is quite something. A damn good detective and well off too."
"Phryne? I see you are embracing your daughter-in-law already," Sophie grinned. "I do hope it is not about the money though?" Miss Rucci asked, shuddering at the memory of what greed had done to the two girls she had raised. But John shook his head.
"Jack doesn't care for it much, but I will admit that I'm glad he won't have to worry about where his next meal comes from for the rest of his life. My boy has picked a harsh occupation."
"I am coming to believe, his takes after his father a great deal," Sophie grinned, raising her glass. The same moment, another woman stormed into the library, pouring herself a drink with trembling hands and knocking it back in one fluent movement. John stared at his sister-in-law astonished.
Sophie rose, gently touching her brother's wrist. He nodded.
After the door had closed behind the woman, he walked over to Olivia, who was currently about to drain her second glass.
"I would ask if you are all right, but I think I know the answer," he joked, leaning against the bar and taking the decanter from her hands.
"What happened?" he asked, when she just stared at him blankly.
"My daughter has decided that she is a lesbian!" Olivia blurted out, taking the whisky back from his hands and stubbornly pouring herself another drink.
"And you believe that that will change, if you fall over drunk at my son's wedding?" John asked, a little harsher than she had expected.
"You don't think I have a right to drink myself into oblivion when Hazel is content on destroying her life and Iris is supporting her?!"
John retreated, sitting back in his chair, and folding his hands on his lap.
"You do as you seem fit, but I hope you don't mind, if I think you an idiot!"
Olivia stared for a moment down on her glass, then set it down and turned to face him.
"I can't let her destroy her life," she said. "It's... I've seen what people out there do to them, John! They won't do that to my girl!"
"Right now, you are doing it," John said calmly. Olivia gasped for air.
"I thought, you would understand," she said stiffly.
A thin smile appeared on her brother-in-law's face.
"I do. But while you missed the obvious over the last few days, I have learned some things, my dear. I almost lost my son, because I decided I knew better what he needed than he did. And, surprisingly, I was completely and utterly wrong, which was a rather embarrassing lesson really."
Olivia sank into the armchair opposite of him, her anger deflating. John took her hands between his and looked into her eyes.
"If you had to choose between her daughter being happy or miserable, which one would it be?"
"It's not that easy!" Olivia exclaimed, retreating. John smiled.
"I beg to differ. You have seen it in her eyes, haven't you? Don't lie. You're terrible at lying, it runs in the family."
His sister-in-law opened her mouth, then closed it again.
"What do I do now?" she asked, after a long moment of silence.
"I would recommend an apology, possibly some grovelling. I can give you some hints on that if you need," John said happily, draining his drink and getting to his feet. "But not right now, because Jack is getting married in half an hour."
Olivia Morgan still sat in her armchair, deep in thought, when he turned to the door.
"If you let this wedding go ahead without talking to your daughter, I will not only consider you stupid, but also a coward," he smiled, getting no answer. "And I would hate to do that."
Outside John rubbed his palms together and smiled. His work here was done, now it was up to them.
X
Phryne almost stumbled down the stairs and had to be caught by the ever-caring hands of her companion. Her feet seemed to have forgotten how to walk or possibly it had something to do with the pudding in her knees. When she reached the bottom of the stairs she drew a deep breath into her lungs. She would be just fine. Just wait a few minutes longer, walk out there, say her vows to Jack and then they just had a meal and a dance to get through. She couldn't remember how to dance anymore.
"Miss?" Dot asked.
"Yes, Dot?"
Dorothy smiled, making Phryne suspect that it hadn't been the first time she had attempted to talk to her. Aunt P stormed through the door and Miss Fisher's heart sank. Hopefully nothing had gone wrong. But Mrs. Stanley smiled.
"Everything is going perfectly, Phryne. Vicar Bailey is already outside, your groom has just arrived with his best man. And you look just wonderful."
She pressed a kiss to her niece's cheek, and Phryne wondered who had replaced her aunt with this very pleasant woman, while Dot dutifully wiped the lipstick off her with her handkerchief.
"I am actually marrying him," Phryne whispered towards Jane, after her aunt had hurried off to save the world somewhere else.
"I know," Jane winked, pressing the sweaty hands of the bride. The same moment Mac stepped through the door.
"Are you ready, Phryne?" she asked, a happy smile painted to her pale face. "I believe your groom is getting impatient."
"Almost," Phryne said. "Could you leave us alone for a moment, please, girls?"
Dot and Jane shared a look and obediently took the next door, that lead into some stuffy dining room, most people had forgotten about.
"Was there anything you wanted to talk about?" Mac asked her old friend, after watching the girls retreat.
"Yes," Phryne extended a hand, cupping her friend's face. "What happened to you?"
"I don't know, what you mean," Mac answered, lowering her eyes in the hope that she wouldn't burst into tears right before her friend's wedding ceremony.
"Mac!" Miss Fisher said impatiently. "I don't have time for your nonsense."
"I decided that it is better for Hazel and I to go separate ways," Mac choked out. "Her mother caught us and she just went silent."
"Oh, Mac."
The doctor found herself in the tight embrace of a very emotional bride and allowed herself to just hold on for a long moment, fighting back the tears.
"But I don't want to ruin your wedding," she finally said, struggling free. "So lets just forget about this right now and get you married, all right?"
Phryne didn't get around to answering, as in the same moment, someone stormed down the stairs, the skirt of her dress floating behind her.
"Mac!" Hazel exclaimed. "I couldn't find you anywhere, I almost thought you'd left."
The way she threw herself into the Doctor's arms told Phryne, that Hazel had no intention at all to go separate ways. And the way Mac caught her, convinced her also, that the resolve was not engrained quite as deeply, as her friend had tried to make her believe.
"Is your mother...?" Mac left the sentence hang in the air, after she had resurfaced from embracing her lover. Hazel shook her head, sending her dark locks flying.
"But don't worry, she will come around," she parroted Iris's words.
"Are you sure?" Mac whispered, meaning more than Olivia's change of mind. Hazel answered with a firm nod.
"Absolutely!"
She pressed a kiss to Mac's lips and shot a smile at Phryne.
"I'll see you after the ceremony. Good luck."
Elizabeth looked after her lover with silly smile on her face.
"Dot, Jane! You can stop listening at the door," Phryne called. "I think we are ready now."