What Lies Beneath

It may have been the quarter tank of gas in the Prius that got Kathleen Sullivan across the bridge and into Manhattan that night, but it was the threatening feeling inside her that fueled her visit.

"Mrs. Sullivan?" Helena questioned - because from what little she knew of the woman, she was sane. The person staring back at her right now was bordering on possessed.

"Oh, of course you wouldn't recognize me! Why should you?" Kathleen said, trying to keep her nerves behind the wall of anger.

Helena glanced at the people across the street that were beginning to stare at the visitor. "Do come in, won't you?" Helena smiled as she tried to figure out which move to use to subdue the woman.

Kathleen had heard a great deal about this townhouse from her daughter and fiancée; about how beautiful it was. Stepping onto the black and white parquet floor, she was struck with how large it was inside.

"Is Eileen alright?" Helena asked, doubtful that the mother's greeting would have been that if she weren't.

"She's fine," Kathleen said and then remembered why she thought that. "Why shouldn't she be? Once again, you rode in on your white horse and gave her everything!"

Helena knew two things now – one, the woman in her hallway was very upset, and two, if Myka heard her, she would be troubled. "Please, let's sit down in here," Helena suggested and opened the door to the library. Helena believed she found an exception to Irene's rule about sitting near one another on personal matters, and she waited for Kathleen to choose a seat on the couch before taking hers in the chair at the other end. "Now, what is it that I can help you with?" Helena said, more out of curiosity than interest.

"Eileen called me before and told me how you have taken over the wedding," Kathleen said, sitting up very straight on the edge of the cushion. It took her only a few seconds to notice how much more beautiful Helena was even in person. She was impeccably dressed and wore high heels even at this late hour. Kathleen, still in her nursing uniform of white pants and multicolored smock and clog shoes, pushed her hair back in place in response to the inequity she felt.

"Pardon? Taken over? I think you've been misinformed," Helena said, still trying to figure this out.

"I don't think so," Kathleen shot back and her expression was starting to irk Helena. "You told them to have it at some castle in Central Park and in THREE WEEKS? How convenient, moving the wedding up so soon for everyone." Her words were dripping in sarcasm that made Helena arch her eyebrow.

"Mrs. Sullivan, I think there's been a misunderstanding. Your daughter and her fiancée approached me," the host said, hoping to explain.

"You think I don't know what this is?" the uninvited guest rebutted, leaning over a little closer, the smell of Helena's perfume invading her space. She hadn't been this close to Helena since the infamous dinner in Brooklyn when Helena broke the news of Eileen's true bloodline. Now, sitting so close, the nurse scanned the face for one wrinkle. The woman looked like she was put together perfectly. And, there wasn't a hair out of place. No wonder her daughter idolized her!

It had been a long day for Helena and all she really wanted was to feel the warmth of Myka's body next to hers, and this woman was keeping her from that. Still, it was Eileen's mother and she drew in a deep breath to extend her that courtesy. However, the nurse was testing her patience. Helena glanced at her phone momentarily as she considered that this was a job for Irene.

"Do enlighten me?" Helena said, mustering up all the patience she had.

"Ever since you supposedly had proof that my daughter was your relative, you've been taking her away, little by little. First, it was the ridiculous hours at work; then the impossible job of knowing when you needed the perfect cup of tea! Then, it was dangling her future at your company in front of her," the incensed mother rattled off. She got up from her seat as she continued the list. "The apartment - so she would move into Manhattan? Then, you made her go to graduate school."

"I have never made your daughter do anything!" Helena said, mentally wishing for Irene to show up and take this woman off her hands - before she put her hands on the woman.

"No, you wouldn't think so, right?" Kathleen said, standing still momentarily. "But you know she worships the ground you walk on. All you have to do is hint at what you want, and she feels compelled. Tell me, Ms. Wells," the mother said, looking directly at her host. "Would you do all of this if Eileen weren't your relative?"

Helena wracked her brain to come up for an explanation of what would cause this woman's erratic behavior. Her reply was, therefore, not really an answer to the nurse's question. "You know, Mrs. Sullivan, I know a great deal about what causes people to act irrationally, illogically, and impetuous, and yet, I simply cannot place my finger on what your reason might be."

To Helena, Kathleen should have been pleased that she was admitting that the woman's behavior had her stumped. That's not how the uninvited visitor saw it.

"This is hard for you to grasp? Maybe that's because you've never had someone try to take your child away," Kathleen divulged in a sharp tone.

Helena sprang from her chair, anger rising in her chest and leaving the distinct taste of bile in her throat. Her head tremored as her dark eyes fixed on the woman as she prepared her verbal thrashing. How dare this woman come into her home and speak down to her! She leaned in closer, her hands on her hips – set on setting this woman straight. She closed the space between them and looked at Kathleen directly. The woman's accusation was unfounded and ridiculous! But in that instant, Helena was startled to see something in Kathleen's eyes that she recognized; a look that somehow seemed so familiar to her. Peeling back the layers of this misplaced attack, Helena found the explanation. This wasn't a woman worried about Helena's influence on her child; this was a mother afraid of losing her daughter.

Helena retreated, not to avoid Kathleen, but to collect herself. She was very much aware that had her anger continued a minute longer – Kathleen would face something far worse than her own wrath. Kathleen would have to answer to a very pregnant Myka.

It was too late. The pregnant woman's heightened sensitivity was especially wired to Helena's moods.

"Mrs. Sullivan, I would love to impress you with my analytical skills and help you pinpoint the exact cause of this delusion you're experiencing, at which point I could then prove you wrong, but I fear you don't have the time," Helena said cryptically and confused the nurse.

"What does that even mean?" she asked wondering how her daughter managed to work with this woman. "All I know, Ms. Wells, is that from the very start you've done everything in your power to get my daughter to do things your way. Well, not this! Not the most important day of her life!" Kathleen asserted, feeling like she accomplished what she came to do.

Then they both heard the noise, but only Helena was confused by it. It wasn't just the door upstairs that she heard. She also heard a loud rumbling in the basement.

"Hold that thought," the Brit said, fearing one or both noises meant Myka was awake. She ran to the library door and cracked it open, and then closed it ever so slowly. She turned to her uninvited guest and said – "Too late. My dear Mrs. Sullivan, would you excuse me just a moment?" Kathleen wanted to do nothing of the sort, but Helena slipped through the door before she could protest.

"Helena?" Myka said in a sleepy voice from the middle of the staircase. "Are you okay?"

Helena prayed the crazy guest wouldn't pull the library door open as she held onto the doorknob. "Yes, darling, I'm fine. Go back to sleep. I'll be up shortly."

"Why aren't you working in the living room?" Myka asked, because that is where they were before.

"Why? I…needed something from the library, so… I went in there," Helena lied pitifully.

"Who is in there?" Myka asked, sensing Helena's nervousness, and coming down the stairs to stand by her wife.

"Funny, you should ask," Helena stalled. "It's Mrs. Sullivan, Eileen's mother? She stopped in.."

"She's upset about the wedding?" Myka asked, her deductive skills running on all cylinders. Hadn't she asked Helena before if everyone was okay with her running the event?

"She's …..obviously…..worried….," Helena scoffed and caught the look in Myka's eyes. "Darling, there's nothing for you to be concerned about. She'll be fine."

"Good, then let's go back in," Myka said, and unconsciously pushed up the sleeves on her flannel pajama top.

"I can…you needn't …," Helena said, but when Myka gave her a scowl, Helena dutifully opened the door.

Kathleen was trying desperately not to listen to the sounds of reason being whispered in her ear by her own inner voice. She was hurt, she was frightened, and she wasn't going to sit back while Helena took over another part of her daughter's life. So she answered those voices with a - Hell no!

While the trio was about to converge in the library, John Sullivan was driving his daughter and Claudia to the Townhouse. "Try her again," Claudia pleaded with her fiancée, but there was no use.

"She's not answering," Eileen said.

"Cause she's hurt! She can't answer because she's hurt!" the techie wailed, her head in her hands now worried that her boss had scorched the woman with her eyes.

"Now, now," John said, trying to be the voice of reason. "Her message said she was going there for a chat. Now, maybe, just maybe, your mother really meant a chat."

"Dad, Mom does not chat. She talks, she confers, she negotiates. Remember when she told us she was going to Mr. Stevens …..for a chat?" Eileen asked in horror.

"What? Who is Mr. Stevens?" Claudia asked, raising her head. She knew this wasn't good by the way her fiancée used air quotes when she uttered the four letter word – chat.

"My high school biology teacher who gave my paper on evolution a 'D'. Remember, Dad?" Eileen asked and there was no way her father could ever forget that. "I showed her the paper. She said – very calmly – that the man was an idiot and not to worry - she would have a chat with him. Next thing we know, the principal called us up asking to please come get my mother, whose definition of chat included standing in front of the teacher's car as he tried to get away!"

"She …was a little …upset," John said in the rearview mirror to Claudia.

"Wow, she sounds a lot like Helena," Claudia assessed. "This is so not good!"

Kathleen turned when Myka walked in the room and stood up again to greet her. "Myka, I'm sorry if my late night visit disturbed you. How are you feeling?"

Helena felt like Myka's presence was the water that doused Kathleen's fire. "I'm well, thank you, Kathleen," Myka said and Helena wondered how everyone was on a first name basis all of a sudden. "What is this about?" the lawyer asked and Helena wasn't sure who should answer that.

Kathleen felt she should explain. "Myka, I'm sorry to impose on you like this, but I needed to get some things off my chest with Ms. Wells. I really felt it was important."

Myka flopped down on the couch and Kathleen sat back down. Helena sat in the chair next to her wife. "Like what?" Myka asked and both women got the impression they weren't going anywhere until they answered.

"With all due respect, Myka, she takes over everything. Between the job, school, and the apartment, we barely see Eileen anymore. But the wedding. The wedding was the reason for us to see her and Claudia every weekend," Kathleen said.

"You know that your daughter and Claudia came to Helena," Myka pointed out.

"So she says," Kathleen answered and Helena let out a "Ha!"

"Kathleen, I know that in spite of you all looking forward to this auspicious occasion, it's a huge undertaking. The girls were overwhelmed with all the demands of trying to accommodate everyone. In frustration, they came to my wife, who as you know, can solve any problem. Even those that have nothing to do with her," Myka said, presenting her case clearly.

"They could have come to me," Kathleen said, the hurt in her voice palpable.

"I wish they had," Helena said out of the side of her mouth, but Myka was already responding. "I'm sure they feel you have more than enough on your plate, too. You and John are taking care of all the details?" Myka asked because there was no one on Claudia's side to share the burden.

"We want to! It's our pleasure to do it for both of them," Kathleen answered sincerely.

Helena looked over at Myka and couldn't help the stirring she felt inside that erupted whenever Myka was assertive. "Well, I guess that's that…," she tried, but no one was listening.

"Maybe they just thought that this was a way for no one to get their feelings hurt," Myka proposed and Kathleen thought about how the phone never stopped ringing with relatives requesting one thing or another.

"Perhaps," was the only concession Kathleen could make because of course, that wasn't really the issue.

And Helena knew it.

"Good, well I hope that settles things," Myka said, maintaining her definite tone and looking directly at the guest. Helena could sense that Myka was only a few sentences away from saying – "Okay, look lady…."

"Darling," Helena said when Myka stood up to let everyone know the visit was over. "Would you mind making us some tea?"

Myka looked at Helena to make sure she was as calm as she sounded. Then she looked back at Kathleen, a warning look in her green eyes. "You want tea?" she asked Helena to be sure.

"If you wouldn't mind," Helena said and asked Kathleen if she wanted some.

"No, thank you," the visitor said.

Myka got up and kissed Helena – the kind of kiss you use when you're letting the other person in the room know you would cause bodily harm to anyone who upset your lover. The kind that is long enough to cause the third party to look up at the ceiling because they feel like they're intruding. The kind that leaves your wife breathless and makes it hard for her to collect her thoughts.

That kind of kiss.

"I'll be right back with your tea," Myka said and left the room.

Myka didn't really believe that Helena wanted tea, but she trusted that there was a good reason she wanted her to leave the room. She lingered outside the door just to be sure.

"I'll talk to her," John said as he pulled up outside the Townhouse, but his daughter and fiancée were already out of the car and up the steps. "Oh, Jesus and all the saints! Here we go!"

"I should go," Kathleen said, feeling guilty that she involved Myka.

"We're not done here," Helena said and there was no mistaking the change in her tone. "Sit down."

When Myka came into the room minutes before, Kathleen was starting to feel foolish. Now that she was alone again with Helena, and hearing the spitfire in her tone – Kathleen was ready all over again. She sat down – and leaned forward letting Helena know she was not intimidated.

"I think you're rather missing the point of your visit, Mrs. Sullivan," Helena said, having had time to think it all through when Myka was talking.

"I made my point. I don't want you running Eileen's life," Kathleen retorted.

"From the moment I shared that Eileen was a Wells, you've been afraid that my motives have been to take her away from you," Helena said truthfully.

The mere mention of that happening sent the nurse back on her feet. "You wouldn't dare!" she spat and was ready for battle.

Myka's calmness might have smoothed over Kathleen's rage – but Helena's demeanor was stoking it all over again.

"I have had no say in your daughter's affections," Helena retorted.

"Are you kidding me?" Kathleen asked. "You have everything. You can give her everything. You practically have given her everything!"

"I have given her nothing!" Helena yelled back because the woman was still not understanding what brought her there.

Myka heard the raised voices and put her hand on the doorknob ready to reenter, but then she heard the knock at the front door.

"Your daughter has earned everything she has. Her position, her title, her future - are all products of her hard work ethic, which I would guess you might have had something to do with," Helena stated.

Kathleen heard the compliment in the CEO's statement, but she wasn't budging.

"Do you give all your hard working executives penthouse apartments and graduate degrees from the top business school?" Kathleen argued and irritated the last ounce of patience out of the Brit.

"I think I understand what is going on here," Helena shared, wanting desperately to put the woman in her place.

Myka was about to go back in when the knock came again, this time more urgently. She reluctantly let go of the doorknob to answer it. She swung the front door open wide and looked at the troupe outside. "I don't know if you're too early …..or too late," Myka said of their arrival.

"Oh my God, is my mother still here?" Eileen asked, rushing into the hallway.

"Is anyone hurt? No one's hurt, right? And by no one, I mean the blonde one," Claudia said, out of the corner of her mouth. She rushed in behind Eileen.

John Sullivan was the only one who waited to be invited in. "Mr. Sullivan, did you drive …?" Myka asked, looking back at the couple. "Please, come in."

"Thank you, Mrs. Bering-Wells," the man said as he entered the vast hallway. "You're looking well."

"Thank you," Myka smiled because you couldn't be in this man's presence and not. "It's Myka, please."

"We'll just be getting Kathleen and get out of your way. You must be tired," John said and his eyes were filled with apologies.

"I had no idea she would do this," Eileen said to Myka, thinking this was easier than apologizing to Helena.

"She's a nurse, right?" Claudia said, thinking out loud. "So, you know, on the bright side, she will know what to do if there are ….wounds, or cuts, or bruises," she blathered on.

"No one's hurt," Myka said and quickly added, "Yet."

"Let me talk some sense into her before she does something she regrets," John pleaded even though he knew he stood little chance of getting Kathleen off the ledge. He pulled his head back, hoping only Myka would hear him. As soon as he heard his wife's message, he knew what was going on. It wasn't the content of her voicemail; it was the frightened tone he heard. He knew there was only one thing that scared the woman who dealt with life and death every day. "It's because …..," but then he didn't finish. It was too hard for him to say.

At that moment though, his wife was completing that very sentence.

"You understand nothing," Kathleen responded, her anger refueled. "You want to know why I'm here?" she shouted and now everyone could hear her. "After we got Eileen, I spent nights worried sick that someone would tell us there was a problem with the adoption, or her birth parents would miraculously reappear and take her. The circumstances surrounded that event were murky at best. And I was always afraid someone – a distant relative - would try to take her. It took me years to trust that was not going to happen. And then she goes to work for you! And just as she launching into the world, and I am doing my best to let her go, she winds up with her only biological connection in the world! And the threat came back at me," Kathleen shared, unable to keep her voice from shaking now. "But she's a grown woman, capable of making her own decisions, I told myself. But look at what I'm up against," the nurse said, throwing her hand out towards Helena who sat silent, allowing the woman to talk now that she was at the heart of the matter.

"Dad?" Eileen said, after hearing how scared her mother was – all these years. Claudia turned her head, so no one would see the stream of tears falling. Myka watched as John put his arm around Eileen. "We worried, honey. You mom saw adoptions get screwed up. It scared her," he said and kissed his daughter on the head. Then he pulled Claudia into him because he could see how affected she was. She had the deepest understanding of loss out of any of them standing there.

"I know I'm being irrational, Ms. Wells," was the first rational think Kathleen said. "But I swear, I won't let anyone …," but the next words wouldn't come. The emotions collapsed inward and Kathleen knew she was fighting an old demon; not Helena.

"Mom?" Eileen said from the doorway after Myka agreed she could go in.

"Honey?" Kathleen said, overwhelmed with feeling foolish. "I am …"

"Mom, Helena was being kind," Eileen said, taking care of matters one at a time.

"I know that now," Kathleen said, swallowing her pride and looking at Helena. "I am so sorry."

Helena rose from her seat as Myka joined her at her side. "The thought that our children are moving away from us is a scary thing," the Brit spoke knowingly. "Your daughter is the strong individual she is because of all you have taught her. You have nurtured her and given her the love that has allowed her to mature into the woman she is. I've never seen a daughter more devoted to her parents. Nothing can change that," Helena spoke clearly.

Eileen hugged Kathleen, who fought like hell not to get hysterical. John pulled out a white handkerchief and openly wiped the tears in his eyes, as she held onto Claudia.

"Mom, nothing can ever change what we have. No one can ever take your place. You need to trust that. You need to trust me," Eileen said holding her mother's arms and looking into teary eyes.

"I owe you all an apology," Kathleen said, caught between her feelings.

"It's the excitement over the wedding. Come on, Kath, I'll take you home," John said as his wife walked towards him. Claudia walked over to Eileen and took her hand.

"So, that went well," the techie said, trying to keep emotions at bay.

"Yes," Helena concurred, exhausted by yet another visit from a nurse.

"I am sorry, to both of you," Eileen said. "I don't think I ever truly understood how frightened they were."

"Well, then, some good has come out of this impromptu gathering," her boss smiled.

Eileen thanked them again and joined her parents outside in the hallway. "Families, huh?" Claudia said to Helena as they followed Myka into the foyer.

"Speaking of families, Claudia. Have you made arrangements for your brother to come?" Helena asked, because that was on her list of things to take care of.

Claudia stopped in her tracks and turned back to face Helena. "Please don't say anything, but he can't make it," Claudia said, nervous Eileen would overhear. One look at Helena's disbelief prompted her to add, "Yeah, when we moved the date, he said he's swamped at work and so, yeah, I say, you know, not to worry about it." She didn't once look Helena in the eye when she spoke those words.

"Why are we whispering?" Helena asked.

"Oh, I don't want Eileen to hear that because then she'll want to move the date and all," Claudia said and then thanked Helena again and walked out.

The couple bade the group good night after Kathleen apologized to them both one more time. "Please lock that door and bolt it, lest another woman have issue with me," Helena begged.

"No one is getting to you tonight, but me," Myka said, gently pushing Helena back against the wall.

"Oh, feeling territorial are we?" Helena egged her on.

"You are a very gracious woman, Helena. I don't want people thinking they can take advantage of that," Myka said defensively. "I heard what you said to Eileen's mother. You were really so kind after what she said," Myka said, pushing the hair back on Helena's face.

"I cannot hold them accountable, Myka. They have no idea why their words would wound me so. It's not their fault," Helena said.

Myka stood back a little just so she could look deeply into Helena's eyes. "You are the strongest person I know," she said and leaned into kiss Helena hard on the lips.

"One kiss from those lips can weaken me," Helena smiled and touched Myka's bee stung bottom lip.

"Will I carry you upstairs then?" Myka suggested in so sultry a tone, that if it weren't for the fact she was already carrying someone, Helena would have taken her up on her offer.

"How do you do that?" Helena asked, staring at the very cause of her weakness.

"Do what?" Myka asked as they reached the top of the stairs.

This time it was Helena who moved into her space, taking her hands and bending to kiss them. "Myka, you wash away whatever pain the world thrusts at me. Just by your presence, I feel I can sustain anything," Helena said openly.

"Then why did you ask me to leave you and Kathleen alone?" Myka wondered out loud.

"Darling, I've seen you get upset with someone. It's not a pretty picture," Helena admitted.

Myka pulled Helena by her hand and scoffed. "I will always protect you," she said as she went ahead of Helena into the bedroom.

Helena stopped in the doorway to look at her beautiful wife, who seemed to become more beautiful each day.

"We both will," Helena heard softly in her ear – even though there was no one there.

Next up: All Helena is going to break loose.

Also: to get an idea of what John and Kathleen Sullivan might look like, see the board "Supporting Cast" on Pinterest - ManhattaniteNYC.

Many thanks.