Chapter 37: Mother and Daughter
Miriam was in the middle of her morning coffee when she heard the doorbell ring.
Frowning, she began to wonder just who could be at her door at 10 in the morning, but nevertheless, went to answer the door.
When she opened it, her jaw dropped.
"Hel…Helga? What….what are you doing here?"
The younger blonde stared intensely at her mother.
"Miriam…uhm….hi. I need to…I need to talk to you about something. Can I come in?"
Miriam stared right back at her daughter, bewildered at the sight in front of her. Helga never just randomly dropped by like this. Whenever she wanted to come over, which had been a few times since agreed to begin to try and reconcile, it was usually to drop something off, pick something up, or stop by for a quick chat, but she had always called her mother beforehand. This was totally out of the ordinary.
She shook her head, snapping her out of her thoughts.
"Uhm…yes. Yes, of…of course! Come on in!"
Helga stepped inside, and Miriam shut the door behind her.
"Do you want anything to drink Helga? I just made a pot of coffee."
Helga nodded.
"Water with ice would be fine, and…thank you."
Miriam went to the fridge to prepare her daughter's glass of water.
A moment later, she came back to the living room, and handed the glass to Helga, who took a long and hard gulp.
"So, uh…ah….what brings you here, Helga? Not…not that I'm not happy to see you, it's just that, I'm very surprised."
Helga snorted.
"Then that makes two of us," she smirked, "I never thought I'd be here…doing this, either, but I wanted to tell you something."
Miriam sat down on the couch, and Helga copied her estranged mother.
Then, the young blonde took a deep breath, preparing herself for what she was about to say.
"I'm…I'm only going to say this once, so, listen good. I'm the type of person, where, even though someone may be driving me up the freaking wall, even when I've held so much resentment towards someone, I still give credit where credit is due."
Miriam's eyes widened. Just where was Helga going with this?
Helga cleared her throat before continuing.
"I give credit where credit is due, Miriam. And….well…what you did for Arnold…for me…for us…well, it was…I…just wanted to thank you. ""
"…Helga?"
Helga held up her hand, silencing her mother. The unspoken message was, "shut up, this isn't easy for me. After everything that's happened, the least you could do is listen."
Helga continued with her speech.
"I just wanted to thank you, for everything that you've done during these past six weeks. I know I'm probably bad at showing it right now, but trust me when I say that it meant a lot to us, me and Arnold, but especially me. So, I guess what I'm trying to say is…what I want to say is…I've come to tell you that your trial has ended. I'm finally willing to give you a second chance."
Miriam's jaw dropped when she saw her daughter at her door step, but this time, she was sure it hit the floor. A physical force seemed to hit her like a thousand bricks, but strangely enough, the feeling was not unwelcome.
"You wanted to be there for me, and you proved that you could be. What's more, you respected my boundaries. I can't say we'll exactly have a normal relationship, nor can I say there won't be some tension between everyone involved, but I am willing to try and work on it, and move past it, just like you."
Tears welled up in Miriam's eyes. She could scarcely believe the words Helga was saying. A part of her thought desperately, "please, please GOD, let this be real," but the other part of her was claiming that it was only a dream; a hallucination of what she desired most. If that were the case, then she didn't want to wake up.
Helga took another sip of water. With each passing moment, her throat felt parched. It was like a desert in an unbearably hot sun.
"I also wanted to tell you something. Something that I've kept hidden from you for months now, and even though I think, when I tell what it is, you would understand why…I'm ready to tell you now. Arnold and I are getting married, one week for today. We were going to get married earlier, but his accident postponed it. And, I wanted to ask you…I wanted to tell you that…I want you to be there. I don't have a formal invitation or anything, so I'm inviting you myself, in person. I can send you the information on where it is, and what time is starts, but…I want you to be there…to see me get married."
By now, Miriam was sobbing. Screw persona space and cold, yet sweet personalities. Caution to everything she knew be damned.
With wreckless abandon, she threw her arms around her daughter and openly wept for joy. Joy that her daughter was getting married, joy that was she was allowed to see such a happy occasion.
Joy that she was finally welcome back into Helga's life.
Helga's eyes widened at her mother's sudden gesture.
Nevertheless, she herself allowed a small and simple smile as well, and hugged her mother back.
By now, Miriam was openly sobbing. She no longer cared, caution abandoned, space be damned, the joyful woman threw her arms around her daughter.
Next up is the wedding chapter and then an epilogue!