BreeTico – A little too blunt at times, don't you agree? :P

The Significance Series belongs to Shelly Crane.

23: Secrets Revealed

"Mom?" I called out as I stepped inside the house. I'd stood on my old front porch for a while, trying to decide one whether or not I should just go in or if I should knock first. It reminded me of watching Derek just walk into his grandparents' house without so much as a bat of an eyelash. It should be the same for me. Heck, some of my belongings were still here in the upstairs bedroom, after all. I'd finally decided to use the key still around my key ring – it now had Derek's house key attached to it, a physical reminder that this wasn't my home anymore.

"Mom?" I tried again, stepping into the living room. I looked up the stairs but didn't see her at the top, so I ventured into the kitchen.

"Emily!" She exclaimed from the other room. I barely managed to keep myself from calling back a reply. I couldn't see her, so there would be no way to explain away how I'd known she said my name. Unless I wanted to come clean about having my hearing returned, that is. I thought hard about how to school my face into a neutral expression. I was pretty sure that I managed it right when she came around the corner. She had a tube of lip gloss in hand. "Hi, honey!"

"Hi," I said back with a smile. I didn't know what it was, but I expected her to look different. She'd cut back on my hours when it came to the music shop. I went from seeing her every day, all day, to seeing her every now and then. It was weird. She looked the same with her dark hair and bright blue eyes. She even looked like she'd dressed up a little bit, wearing a dress that made her look ten years younger and heels that made her several inches taller.

She came forward and gave me a warm hug, pecking a kiss on my cheek. When she pulled back, she was grinning like I'd just told her wonderful news. She quickly signed to me, her lips pressed into a thin line as she grinned a little ruefully. "I forgot to text you, honey." Her fingers moved a little faster, and she signed out, "I meant to, I really did, but I lost track of time and…." She paused, her smile breaking out even wider. "Do you remember that man across the street, the one who owns the coffee shop that Xavier always goes to?" She asked.

I nodded. "The one with blonde hair?" I asked. He was about my mom's age, maybe a few years older, but nowhere close to fifty. He looked like the nerdy type of guy, sort of like Xavier. In any case, he was a far cry from my dad. "Yeah. What about him?"

"Remember how I said that I went to high school with him? I mean, he was a senior when I was a sophomore, so I didn't know him very long, but I do remember him. He was class president," she informed me. Her eyes twinkled as she talked about him and her high school years, when she and my father had been the it couple. "Well, he came by the shop today. And he asked me if I'd be interested in dinner tonight. Dinner!" She exclaimed.

"What happened to Cal?" I asked. I realized that I hadn't heard anything about him in a while. He and my mom were never very close, though.

"We decided to go our separate ways. He got a job offer in Cleveland that he just couldn't turn down, and I wanted to stay here. Besides that, we were drifting apart. I thought I texted you to let you know. But it wasn't anything really big. Cal and I are still good friends." She paused, and then added, "Jimmy's just a friend right now, but what if it turns into something more?" I grinned back, but I knew it was completely fake. I wanted to be happy for my mom, being asked out on a date. She had never been this happy about a date with Cal. They were an awkward couple, really. Cal had sort of been my mom's rebound from my dad. But I couldn't help but feel a pain that almost ripped through me. It was like what I'd felt when my parents told me that they were getting a divorce. Although the two of them had been separated for years, my dad had never moved on to another person as far as I knew, and my mom had been with Cal, with whom her relationship was more platonic, like mine with Xavier's. And even though I knew my parents weren't getting back together, it still felt like she was betraying my dad. I hadn't felt it with Cal; maybe it was because I knew that it wasn't going to last with him.

I set my purse down on the nearby table. "That's great, mom," I said. "He seems really nice."

"Oh, he is." My mom replied, signing and speaking at the same time. She added, "But he won't be here for another thirty minutes or so, so you should sit down. I feel like I haven't seen you in a long time." She turned her back and shuffled off to the kitchen. I started to follow her before realizing that she'd only gone in there to grab a handful of candy from the jar she kept in the center of our dining room table. "Jimmy's always been a nice guy, even when we were in high school. He spent his study period and his free period in the computer science class. That's how I met him. You know how I am with computers."

I just nodded. My mom was impaired when it came to technology, anything except for her bubble shooting game that she loved so much. It was a miracle that she managed to text, but she did it because it was the only way to contact me when I wasn't in the same place as her. Although it had been rare that we were ever that far away from each other, it had certainly been helpful. Mom grinned at me and dropped the candy into my hand. I just smiled back. Whatever I was feeling deep inside was weird and pointless, and I hated feeling it.

I leaned back in my seat and unwrapped one of the pieces. It was a miniature piece of chocolate, my favorite kind. I popped it into my mouth as my mom started talking about all of the ways she'd had trouble with the computer when she was a sophomore and Jimmy had helped her. Jimmy, she said, had never acted like she was a dumb bimbo, because he was just that nice.

Discomfort bubbled inside me. I had never sat down with anyone and talked about boys or relationships. Before I had my accident in sixth grade and I was still friends with Bailey, we'd talk about what boys we thought were cute, but that was the extent of our interest in them. At that age, we'd dreamed of dating the guys that graced magazine covers and sung our favorite songs. It was funny, looking back, that Bailey knew she had no intention of dating anyone (or, at least, she wasn't supposed to.)

With one chocolate completely melted and gone, I reached for the next piece in the pile sitting on the coffee table. Unwrapping it, I tossed the wrapper on the counter as my mom continued to talk. She wasn't even paying attention to see if I was watching her. She was that into this Jimmy. My heart was pounding at the idea of my mom finding someone else, loving someone else, marrying someone else and moving on with her life. It wasn't an altogether bad thing it was just… not what I expected.

In my purse, across the room, my phone started ringing. I'd forgotten to turn it back down to vibrate. Before I could stop myself, I stopped watching my mom's hands as she spoke and instead turned to look at my purse. In my head, I was already expecting it to be Derek. And with that thought floating through my head, I stood up and headed towards my purse.

"Emily?" My mom asked from behind me.

"Yeah, hold on," I replied, picking up my purse. I dug for my phone, thinking that there was no good reason for all the crap I had to be in my bag, when I realized what exactly I'd done. I froze, my phone and the high probability of Derek calling no longer the first thing in my head. My heart started to pound a little harder as I turned around and looked at my mom.

She was staring at me with her eyes as wide as dinner plates. She looked like she'd just seen a ghost. I bit down on my lip, and she said, slowly, "You heard that?"

"Um," I started. "Yeah, yeah I did." I looked down at my phone, squinting to see the name. It was Derek. He was probably feeling my internal discomfort with the fact of my mom dating, and he'd called me. Since I didn't answer his call (really, he should have known better) he was probably panicking. I quickly pulled it out and opened a new text message, sending off a quick note saying that I was okay. I added that I accidentally let my mom know about my hearing.

"Emily!" She exclaimed, jumping up. She came forward, moving incredibly fast in her high heels, and wrapped her arms around me in a tight hug. It nearly knocked my cell phone out of my hands. She pulled back and exclaimed, "Oh, my God! It's a miracle! All those doctors said that you would never be able to hear again!" She brushed my hair behind my ear and peered at it, as if she was going to see something that would tell her that my hearing had returned. She knew as well as I did that all of the damage had been internal. "What's it like?" She whispered.

My gaze met hers. Her bright blue lantern eyes, as my dad had once referred to them, were eerily bright with unshed tears. "Don't cry," I said suddenly, "you'll ruin your makeup and make Jimmy wait." She gave a giggly laugh that was thick with tears. It made me start to tear up. I ran my fingers under my eyes. "It's… weird. I didn't even realize it until my cell phone rang." The lie was surprisingly smooth in such an emotional moment.

Around her smiles, I could see the question forming deep in her eyes; a crease deepening in between her eyebrows. "Why was your cell phone off vibrate, anyway?" She asked.

Once again, the lie was easy, falling off my lips. "It must have accidentally hit the volume button in my purse or something." I motioned to the bag. "There's so much stuff in there."

My mom grinned. Whenever I was younger, I always used to complain that I could never find her packet of spearmint gum in her purse around all of the lip gloss, hand sanitizer, and other useless items that she had stockpiled in there. "Never mind that," she said, reaching for her own purse. She withdrew her own phone and said, "We've just got to call Dr. Baird! When we first went to see him, he said that the chances of you regaining your hearing were slim to none. Think about what he'll say when I tell him that you beat all the odds! We'll have to make you and appointment and everything." As she continued to speak, she was already looking up Dr. Baird's number. A part of me wanted to reach out and tell her not to bother, but it would be strange if I said something like that. I needed to be just as surprised as she was.

"What about your date with Jimmy?" I asked.

She waved me away, too excited about the fact that my hearing had returned to that she had all but forgotten about Jimmy. At least I knew that when it came down to it, she would always choose me over someone else. "Hello, yes? Dr. Baird? I'm so sorry to call you out of the office." She said. I turned my back on her and slipped to the back door. I let myself out and went to sit on the edge of the back deck. Derek's number was my speed dial number two. I wasn't exactly sure when his number had replaced my mother's in speed dial hierarchy, but it had.

I put the phone to my ear and rested my chin on my hands. I waited impatiently for the ring. It went on for about a minute before I heard, "Emily?"

"Derek," I breathed a sigh of relief. Looking over my shoulder at the closed back door, I hurriedly whispered, "My phone was turned up, and I forgot that I wasn't supposed to hear it and she's calling Dr. Baird now." I explained in a rush.

I didn't know if I'd spoken too fast, but he seemed not to have any trouble figuring out what I was saying. I didn't know if he was just that aware of the fact that his fiancée (the word gave me shivers) had a bad habit of talking in a rush when she nervous, or if he really was just that attuned to me. I knew that it was possible to read each other over distances, and he could easily get a lock on me. There were moments when he'd checked up on me.

"It's okay, baby," he said calmly. "It was going to have to come out eventually, right? I mean, did you intend to pretend to be deaf for the rest of your life?"

He already knew the answer to that. I glanced down at the mutualizing tattoo on my wrist. It was still there, still beautiful. There were times when I thought that I was going to look down on it and it would be a smudge, like magic marker that had started to wash off. "No," I whispered. "I just… I wanted to plan it out, you know. I didn't want to be literally surprised like that."

Derek gave a low chuckle that, despite our physical distance, warmed me to my heart. "It'll be okay. Let her call the doctor. The miracle of it all will wear off," he said in a soothing voice. I took a deep breath and let a tiny grin touch my lips. Derek always knew what to say to make me feel better. "But that's not why your heart rate suddenly picked up, was it?"

Oh, yeah. Jimmy. "Sorry," I said. I glanced over my shoulder again. I didn't know how long my mom would be on the phone with Dr. Baird. I didn't want her to come looking for me and find me having a supernatural conversation with Derek. I already felt like I was lying to her enough. "When I got over here, my mom told me that she had a date with the guy that owns the coffee shop down the street from her store." I explained. "I don't really know why I got all freaked out about it."

In my mind's eye, I could practically see Derek lean back in whatever chair he was sitting in. He was supposed to be at Johnny and PJ's, practicing once again for their set, which was in a few hours. We'd worked it out so that after brunch with his family, I could go to dinner with my mom, and then he'd pick me up on the way to the band's venue before they played. I was throwing a kink in the plan, but I honestly didn't feel too bad about it. I did want to spend time with my mom, but Derek was more pressing in my mind. He would always come first for me.

"Is that a bad thing?" He asked.

"No," I said with sudden conviction. "No, it's not bad at all. It was just… unexpected."

"I wish I could say that I understood it completely and totally, but I get it to an extent. I can feel all of your emotions, remember?" He asked. He must have been in a place that he deemed safe to talk about our supernatural Ace relationship. Maybe he was even sitting out on Johnny and PJ's back porch.

"You sure know how to woo a girl," I said offhandedly.

"It's in the job description," he answered without missing a beat. I stifled a laugh and glanced over my shoulder for the third time.

"I don't know how long she'll be on the phone." I told him.

"Do you need me to come pick you up? You know I don't mind spending time with you," his voice was teasing, but I knew he was being serious. If anything, it started to hurt us to be apart from each other. My mom might be worried about the "clingy" attachment Derek and I had to each other, but it was where both of us felt safest.

"Probably," I admitted. "Tell Johnny, PJ, and Tank that I'm sorry." I told him. I loved having him by me, and I knew that he loved having me by him. But I was starting to think that his friends were worried that they were never going to see him without me glued to his side ever again. I'd heard Tank make a side comment to his companion, or whatever that girl was called, after he'd had a few to drink. He'd murmured to her, not very quietly, that Derek was getting "wifed up." At the time, he had no idea how true that was. Looking down at my left hand, I wiggled my fingers, trying to imagine what kind of ring Derek would buy me. I wondered what it would feel like on my fourth finger.

"They won't complain," he replied. "Just give me a call, and I'll be right over."

"Thanks," I said. "I love you."

"I love you, too, sweetheart."

We hung up and I clambered to my feet. I stopped outside the back door and peered in. My mom was standing at the month-by-month calendar she had hung up on the kitchen wall. I could just barely see her as she penciled in my appointment with Dr. Baird. Before my accident, I'd been scared to death of doctors. After, I'd gotten used to it. But it had been years, and the familiar anxiety settled deep in my stomach. I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself so I didn't alert Derek, and gently twisted the doorknob.

"Thank you so much, Dr. Baird." My mom said. She drew the phone away from her ear and turned to grin at me. "He fit you in for an appointment tomorrow afternoon. I'll cancel your shift for tomorrow; Debbie can take over for me, and Xavier will be there."

"Who's Debbie?" I asked.

"Hmm?" My mom glanced at me and then shrugged. "Oh, she's this friend of Xavier's that I hired. Both he and Jimmy recommended her. She works at the coffee shop the other half of the time. Jimmy says she's been a seasonal employee for a couple of years now. Her mom's gotten sick, and Debbie's hoping to earn some extra cash for the doctor's bills." Mom explained. She didn't seem bothered by the fact that she'd, in a way, hired my replacement.

My mind was just filling with unwanted dread.

"I hope tomorrow afternoon's okay with you. Silly me, I was so excited that I forgot to ask." She said. She motioned for me to take my seat again. "I'm still so excited about the fact that your hearing has returned. It's just a miracle! I don't know what to say."

"It's pretty shocking," I replied, trying to keep up the enthusiasm in my voice. My mom wasn't lacking in any at all, and I didn't want to seem that I wasn't excited that my hearing "miraculously" returned. I was just… used to it by now. I was already back to taking it for granted.

"Okay, okay," she said, collapsing into her chair. She reached for one of the chocolates she'd previously bought me. "Let's pick up right where we left off, okay? Oh, this is so exciting!" I grinned. I wished she would just calm down. I'd been ecstatic when I realized that Derek had returned my hearing to me, but it was sort of hoped. I had an idea that his healing touch would fix whatever was internally wrong with my ears. What had been more exciting at the time was our ascension. And at that time, I'd been borderline exhausted, so it had failed to make that big of an impression on me. My mom, though, was a different story. "How are Derek and his family? Is everything going okay there?"

"It's great, mom." I said. A sudden smile burst out on my face. I was thinking about the way Derek had gotten down on one knee and asked me to marry him, right after showing me my name in beautiful script over his chest. I wondered what my mom would think about the tattoo. I wasn't going to tell her about the proposal; we'd decided that we were going to have an Ace wedding, and then we were going to invite her to the reception. Derek's family was going to have to pretend that they were just as surprised but our "elopement" as my parents were going to be. I decided not to say anything about the tattoo just yet, in case she thought that it was weirdly obsessive or something. "I really do like him. In fact, mom, I love him."

Mom grinned. Her eyes were tearing up again. I reached behind me and grabbed a tissue out of the box, handing it to her. She laughed shakily and dabbed at her eyes. "You're just growing up so fast, honey," she said. "Your hearing is back, and you love someone…."

Just as she was saying the words, the doorbell rang. My mom looked up sharply and said, "Oh, that must be Jimmy. I forgot he was coming." She climbed to her feet and balled up the tissue, tossing it in the nearby trashcan on the way to the door. I heard her undo the locks and then she exclaimed, "Hi, Jimmy!"

Even though I was still a little uncomfortable at the prospect of my mother dating, I couldn't help but give her back a slight smile. My mom sounded just excited to see Jimmy as she was to find out that my hearing had returned. With the grin still on my lips, I dialed Derek's number.

# # #

"I've got an appointment with Dr. Baird tomorrow," I said as I slid into the passenger seat. I immediately clasped on to Derek's hand. His warmth rushed through me, and I leaned back against the seat. "We're not all that different from regular people, are we?" I asked. One of my biggest fears was that I was going to go see Dr. Baird and he would somehow find out that I wasn't as human as he thought I was. I was an Ace, now. Aces didn't need doctors, since their significant could heal them.

"No, he shouldn't notice at all. All of us had to go to doctors before we found our significant," he said. "You should be fine." He didn't say it out loud, and I didn't know if he meant for me to hear it in his mental tirade either, but I heard "and if he does notice something, you can use your ability to persuade him that it's nothing at all." I gave him a sharp look. He just shrugged. "I'm sorry, Emily, but you were given your ability for a reason."

"I know," I sighed. "But that doesn't mean that I want to use it against people that are only trying to help me," I glanced out the window, where my mom was being let into Jimmy's car. He was holding open the door. He even gave me a short salute, and I forced a smile back at him. "I don't want to be the type of person that only looks out for herself. I don't want to make my mom or anyone else I care about do something they don't want to do."

"You won't," Derek said confidently. "Your heart is too pure for that. Remember, I've seen the deepest recesses of your mind." He winked, and I couldn't help but give a little tiny laugh at that. "You wouldn't do a single thing to hurt anyone. I know you'll only use your ability when you need it." I nodded, thankful that he was able to make me feel better with just a few words.

I sighed, glanced at the clock, and said, "We've got to hurry up. You've still got to practice one last time before your set. And warm up and stuff, right?"

"There's plenty of time," he said. But as he said it he put the car in drive, motioned to my mother and Jimmy out my window, and drove off.

Short chapter. Sorry I haven't been updating lately, and I'll try to update more often. I'm going off on a vacation for the holidays in the next week and won't be back for another one, so hopefully I can get something out in the next few days for you guys. If not, you'll just have to wait. So sorry.

Please excuse any mistakes. As you guys know by now, I'm a lazy writer. Editing has never really been my forte when it comes to my own work.

Leave me a review, and check back! Thanks. Peace (: