Chapter 78- Mother's Day

The next couple days, Skye was trying to do more for Rae as per Kevin's advice. She had yet to come up with a list of things to do with Kendall, but she held back on fighting with her especially in front of Rae, even when Kendall would try to get a rise out of her. But she was working hard that Saturday to do things for her mom. Whenever Myrtle would feed Rae, Skye would excuse herself, but when she did, she would go and clean Rae's room, and if Rae wanted something from the other room, she would go get it for her.

Michael Cambias called several times and texted often wanting to know what Skye was doing and where she was. Skye was having mixed feelings about this. She was enjoying the attention, but at the same time it was making her a tad uncomfortable. But when Sunday morning came, Skye got up bright and early, set her cell phone aside, and took her gift into Rae's room.

She climbed in beside Rae and said softly, "Happy Mother's Day, Mama."

Rae rolled over and smiled when she saw Skye and sat up a bit.

Skye kissed her mother's cheek and handed her the bag. "I'm not very good at this… I haven't celebrated Mother's Day since I was a kid, and it never went well back then… But I hope you like it."

"Oh, honey, you just being here with me is the best gift I could ever hope for. I also haven't celebrated since I was very young before my adoptive parents died. But after all the years we were separated and then when I found you and we didn't get along… I didn't think it would be possible for us to sit down and talk civilly, let alone celebrate Mother's Day together like this."

Skye's eyes welled with tears. "You're getting all sappy… you better stop before I run out of here…" She smiled. "Though I kind of like being sappy with you… but you better open my gift."

Rae laughed a little and pulled out the card from the gift bag and read what Skye wrote:

Thank you for not giving up on me and being there for me. You really are the mother I always wanted.

Love,

Skye

Rae started to cry, and she hugged Skye. "You have no idea how much this means to me."

Skye pulled away and pushed her tears away. "Okay, open it already."

"Okay, okay…" Rae pulled out the tissue paper and lifted a DVD player box from the bag.

"Remember?" Skye said. "Grandma suggested I save up for it and give it to you. There's a couple DVDs in there too."

Rae lifted the DVDs and looked through them. "Where the Heart Is; Me, Myself, and Irene; and… Erin Brockovitch?"

"Yes… don't you remember that time at the Hallowed Grounds?"

"Of course, I do," Rae said. "You had checked out of your hotel and I thought I lost you forever."

"And you tried making annoying small talk with me about movies and you said Erin Brockovitch reminded you of me. I changed the subject right to my father and I never did tell you that I hadn't seen the movie. So, I want to find out what about her reminds you of me."

Rae smiled. "Thank you, this is a wonderful gift. And the biggest part of the gift is getting to spend time with my girl."

"Can we watch it while Grandma is at church?" Skye asked. "But without Kendall?"

"We can definitely watch it together, but I don't know if we can really disclude Kendall from the TV room…"

"I can bring the TV in here," Skye suggested.

"Okay, how about just Erin Brockovitch? Maybe Kendall will sleep late anyway. But we better go wish Myrtle a Happy Mother's Day before she goes to church."

"She's still sleeping. Can we just stay here, and you know… have some Mother's Day cuddles if I'm really gentle and don't touch your stomach?"

Rae smiled and wrapped an arm around her, and Skye gently wrapped her arms above Rae's abdomen and leaned against her shoulder.

Rae kissed the top of her head. "So, tell me about this Michael Cambias."

"He's this new guy I'm seeing. He's rich. He's handsome. He's charming."

"And how does he treat you?"

"Well, he gives me lots of attention."

"Okay, well I'd like to meet him."

"This is Mother's Day, it's supposed to be about you, not me," Skye said and reached for Rae's free hand.

"But you are what makes me a mother, are you not?"

Skye smiled. "I suppose that's true." She turned Rae's hand over and looked at her fingernails. "You haven't painted your nails in a while, Mom."

"Well, I haven't exactly had the energy for it."

"But you need to look nice for tonight. I'll go get some royal blue. You need to pop tonight."

Rae laughed. "I need to pop?"

"Stand out." Skye hugged her tightly, then got up and ran to her bedroom. She returned a moment later with her blue nail polish. She sat down and lifted Rae's hand on her knee and began to paint her fingernails.

FargateFargateFargate

Skye didn't look at her phone all day. After she and Rae watched Erin Brockovich, Kendall joined them to watch Me, Myself, and Irene. And it turned into a full day of movies when they watched Where the Heart Is with Myrtle when she came home. Rae and Skye cuddled for the first movie, but Skye didn't want to in front of Kendall, one of the reasons why she didn't want her to join them.

Myrtle made the Mother's Day get-together after dinner so that Rae wouldn't have to watch everyone eat in front of her. Rae said she didn't mind, but even Skye agreed with Myrtle that it should be after.

Erica, Bianca, Stuart, John, and Jax arrived at 7pm. Everyone gave their gifts to Myrtle, and Rae thanked Erica for helping her get a gift since she wasn't able to get out yet. Skye felt bad thinking she should've been there to help get a gift instead of running away. Kendall didn't utter a word to Erica even when spoken to. She pretended she wasn't even there.

Myrtle reached for Stuart's hand as she was talking to Rae and Erica, and Skye noticed. "Um, Grandma? What's the deal with you and Uncle Stuart?"

"I was wondering that myself," Erica said.

"Well…" Myrtle beamed at Stuart.

"Myrtle and I are boyfriend and girlfriend," Stuart said excitedly.

Rae and Erica exchanged a look, but Skye jumped up and hugged them both.

"Oh, I'm so happy for you!" Skye exclaimed. "I knew you would be great together. Now maybe Uncle Stuart can come live with us."

Myrtle raised an eyebrow. "I will not live with a man I'm not married to, young lady. We are taking things slow."

"Myrtle…" Erica cleared her throat. "Can I talk to you in the kitchen for a moment?"

"I have company, darling," Myrtle said. "We can talk later."

"Congratulations, Myrtle," Bianca said. "I'm happy for both of you."

"As am I," John said.

Rae chewed her bottom lip.

After a bit, the younger ones broke off and played a game of Euchre—Jax and Kendall vs Skye and Bianca. Bianca kept getting all the lone hands thus winning each game for her and Skye.

Soon, the doorbell rang, and Stuart offered to answer it. "Just relax, Myrtle. This is your special day."

A moment later, he returned to the living room with Michael Cambias.

"Skye!" Stuart smiled. "Your new boyfriend is here."

Skye had just been laughing at one of Jax's jokes and turned to see Michael staring at her.

Myrtle and Rae eyed Michael suspiciously before he finally spoke. "Hi Skye. Aren't you going to introduce me to your family?"

Skye jumped up and walked over to him. "Everyone, this is my boyfriend, Michael. Michael, this is everyone. My mom, my grandma, Uncle Stuart, Erica, Bianca, and you know Jax and Kendall."

Rae cleared her throat. "It's nice to meet you. Won't you join us?"

"I'd love to." He sat next to Rae and Myrtle, ignoring Skye for the next little bit. He was overly charming with everyone. And finally, after a half hour, he addressed Skye again. "Your family is so welcoming. Maybe we can go for a walk just the two of us?"

Myrtle scratched her chin. "Or maybe Skye can continue spending Mother's Day with her mother."

"It's okay, Grandma," Skye said. "We won't be long. I haven't seen Michael in a couple days."

She followed him outside and he was completely silent as they walked down the street.

"That was nice of you to surprise me like that," Skye said. "You seem to like my family. Maybe tomorrow we can—"

He grabbed her arms and shoved her against a tree. "Why didn't you answer your phone?"

"What?" Skye said in a shaky voice. "I—I set it aside. I was spending the day with my mom—"

"When you ignore me like that I worry," he said with his mouth not even an inch from hers. "Then you had a big gathering and didn't invite me, but you invited Jax?"

Her breathing started to speed up. "That was Kendall… Kendall invited him. They're dating."

"I saw the way you looked at him and laughed at his jokes."

"Everyone was laughing at his jokes tonight… It was nothing…"

"Why didn't you invite me?" he asked.

"I just… I just… I just wanted to make today about my mom that's all. And—and I figured we haven't even been together for a full week yet—"

He kissed her very roughly and when he pulled away, he slapped her across the cheek.

She lifted a shaky hand to her cheek.

"If this is going to work, then you need to respect me," Michael said. "Not disclude me from things and not answer your damn phone."

Her eyes started to tear up and her lip trembled a little.

He reached for her and pulled her into a hug. "I forgive you," he said. "Now dry up those tears and put on a happy face."

He kissed her forehead, then took her hand in his and walked her back to the house.