Libby rested her head on her mother's bosom, the bubble bath foam sticking to both her and her mother's skin. It had been years since the the two of them had bathed together but Emilia's instruction had been to bathe together and neither were willing to risk misinterpreting her instruction. Libby closed her eyes and she felt Leah begin to gently wash her hair.
"Mom, do you believe that love at first sight is real?" Libby asked her mother, noticing her mother's hands stop moving for a few seconds and feeling her chest heave before her hands returned to cleaning her daughter's hair.
"Is it safe to assume we are talking about James?" Leah asked, trying to hide the mix of emotions she was feeling at her daughter's question.
"Yes. As soon as I saw him I just felt this feeling that I don't really understand. I just want to be near him, I want him to talk to me, to touch my hand. I want to smell him and cuddle with him. But at the same time I'm terrified of all those things. What if I say something stupid and he doesn't like me. Or, I don't say something stupid and he still doesn't like me. Or he thinks I'm ugly or fat or boring or…"
"Sweetie, just relax." Leah told her daughter, giving up on her hair to instead envelope her in hug, "This is a bad time to have your first crush but you never really get to choose when these things happen. You can't control how he feels about you, even less so now with what is going on. But you are a wonderful girl and I think I saw a little sparkle in his eyes when you two first arrived. Just be yourself around him and if he likes you things will all work out."
"Do you really think so?"
"Normally, yes." Leah sighed.
"Things aren't the same anymore, are they?"
"No. Things are much more serious. The choices and actions we take now have much higher stakes then they did yesterday. I'm glad we finally managed to have your Bat Mitzvah before all this happened. I doubt you'd get the chance now."
"I suppose not. I wonder how Molly is going to hold up through all this."
"Do you know what happened to her? I guess I've been so worried about you that I didn't even think about her until right now. Do you think her father got custody of her? I heard Emilia talking with some other people and heard them mention that new slaves who were married to people who are still free were automatically given to their former spouse. Molly's father is white so I believe that means her mother should be with him; perhaps he got to keep her as well." Leah tried to comfort her daughter.
"No, I don't think so. Molly and I were held in the town square together and Andrea Davenport came and took her away."
"Andrea Davenport? Wasn't she one of your school friends?"
"I wouldn't exactly call her a friend. She only recently forgave me for mispronouncing her name when we were still in elementary school."
"That's a long time to hold a grudge."
"I know."