Ch 39

Raven's stomach had been in knots when her mother's bookstore/cafe came into her view. Gar had been holding her hand the whole time and occasionally squeezing it to remind here he was here with her. When they crossed the street wearing their holo rings and stood on the sidewalk of the cafe, Raven felt nauseous as she leaned on Gar.

"We should probably get you something to eat Rae. You haven't eaten at all."

"I just need to sit down," she said as Gar lead her into the cafe unknowingly and helped her sit down.

"I'll order something for us. You stay right here and calm down. Are you going to be ok if—

"Just go Gar, I'll be fine."

Gar left hesitantly and made his way on line. When it was his turn to order, an older version of Raven met his eyes. 'She must be Angela,' he thought.

"Excuse me young man, are you ready to order?" said the woman.

"Oh sorry yes an herbal tea with a blueberry scone and a strawberry banana smoothie," he said as he paid the woman at the counter and waited for his order. Gar placed her tea and scone in front of her and held onto his smoothie as he sat back down at the table. "Rae, I have to tell you something and you have to promise not to freak out."

"Ok," she said a little unsure if she could keep her promise.

"We're in your mom's bookstore/cafe, and I think I just ordered from her."

Raven looked to the order counter to see her mother taking orders from customers. Karen had been right. Her mom looked perfectly content where she was. 'What if I ruin that by revealing myself? What if all this time she's been happier without me in her life?' she thought and then felt her anchor's warm hand on hers.

"You'll never know until you try Rae, but I think you should eat before you pass out."

The tea tasted just the way she liked it, and the scone reminded her of her mother's baking. "She's a great cook and baker my mother. When I was little and wasn't allowed to see her, the monks would bring me meals that were made by her."

"Well that was thoughtful of her," Gar smiled.

"I think it kept her busy."

"I'm sure it was hard for her not to see you."

"I'm not so sure. I was a constant reminder of what happened to her. I'm an empath. Sometimes when I would get glimpses of her, I could feel what she was feeling. It was a mistake to use my power that way. The one thing I never knew is if she truly, unconditionally loved me, knowing what I was. That's something I would never glimpse into her mind about because I was—am afraid of the answer."

"All I know is your friends love you and I love you. You'll always be loved Raven."

Raven and Gar spent the rest of the time looking at books. Gar knew this would make her feel more calm and at ease. Every time she found an interesting book, her eyes would light up and he would smile. "How long have you been staring Gar?"

"I'm always staring Rae," he said as Raven blushed.

"Well quit it you're making me nervous," she said as she began to scan the shelves again.

"Sorry, I just like seeing you happy is all."

"I appreciate that Gar," she smiled.

"So how long until this placed closes?"

"A couple of hours," said Raven as she found a short story to read.

"Well let's find a comfy place to sit and you can read until it's time."

"What are you going to do in the mean time?"

The couple had found a loveseat in the corner of the bookstore. While Raven was reading, her boyfriend was on his phone playing games with the volume off. She smiled. 'Some things never change,' she thought, 'but it was thoughtful of him to go through this with me.'

Gar was playing a game when he received a text from Vic, and he smiled.

"Hey man, how's it going?" asked Vic.

"Rae's better then when she came in. Were waiting until closing time to talk to Angela."

"Well when you come back to my place, you'll both hopefully look forward to some of Karen's home cooking. I'll be grilling."

"Sounds awesome and thanks Vic, we really appreciate all the support."

"Well I better get back to work. See you later string bean!"

"See later Vic."

Gar smiled. It was funny how one simple name could bring him back to the beginnings of being a Titan. Life had gone by so fast, but Gar wouldn't trade it, any of it as he looked at Raven reading contently. He was with the woman of his dreams. Life couldn't be better then this. He came out of his thoughts to another text and smiled. The Titan family was getting bigger.

"Hey Rae, I got a text from Kory. She's having a baby girl," he said as he showed her the picture of Kory's sonogram.

Raven smiled. "I'm happy for her and Dick. She's always wanted to be a mother."

"She'll be great I just know it, hopefully Dick won't get too crazy," he said and then they both laughed, knowing how their former leader was. "I'm sure they'll both be fine," he said as Raven agreed with him. Putting away his phone, he sat back, relaxed and felt Raven get comfortable.

It was closing time as the couple made their way out of the bookstore/cafe waiting for Angela to close up. When she made her way outside, she locked her store, pocketed the key, and noticed the couple who had spent all their time at her place of business. "You two were waiting for me, weren't you?" asked Angela.

"We're friends of Karen. Her husband is my best friend," said Gar, "but there's something more important we need to talk about."

"I assume we'll need privacy, follow me to my place," said Angela.

Raven was quiet the entire walk only paying attention to the racing of her heart. Thank goodness she had Gar guiding her by the hand, or she was sure she would wander. Before she knew it, they were in Angela's apartment, sitting down on a couch.

"So, what is it you need to talk to me about?" Angela asked.

Raven looked at the holo ring on her finger and knew it was time to reveal herself. Removing her ring, Angela stared at the face of her daughter with surprise. "Hello mother."

"Raven?"

"I thought you were dead. Why didn't you try to find me?"

"You needed to live your life without me. There was nothing I could do for you, nothing I could give you that would make your life better, but I can see by the change in your clothing that you have become whole."

"I guess your right. I did just fine without you in my life, but it doesn't change the fact that I love you, I needed you and you weren't there. I would have tried really hard to control my emotions because it would mean you were there. That's all I needed, just knowing you were with me would have been enough, but you abandoned me."

"I couldn't be the mother you needed. Because of the way you were conceived, I couldn't allow myself to become attached. I still can't. I'm sorry Raven. I've seen what you've become, and I know what you are now. You've overcome your dark side, and you seem to have a young man here who cares a great deal about you.

Gar squeezed Raven's hand in comfort. "So that's it? You can't care for me because of who my father was. I look nothing like him. I am nothing like him."

"True but every time I would see you use your powers, I was reminded of who you came from."

"She came from you to, doesn't that mean anything?" asked Gar.

"I didn't want a child. My life was a mess before I had her, and it was a mess afterwards," she said to Gar before looking at Raven. "When I let you go to earth, it was a weight off my shoulders. I knew you would be all right. The monks had taught you well."

Gar could feel Raven shaking as he put his arms around her. "I think this conversation is over," he said as he took the crying girl in his arms, got up from the couch, watched as Angela held open the door, and he left with Raven, not even looking back at the woman who broke her heart. Rage filled him but as soon as he looked down at his girlfriend, his rage changed into sadness. He held her as tight as he could, letting her know he was still there and would always be for her.