Chapter 27:
We were sitting at the table that night, having the dinner Linda prepared for us. There was a tension that Anna and Linda were oblivious to. They had a lot more things to talk about than I thought they would have. Brittany was sitting next to me, playing with her food and not really eating. She and Jake weren't making eye-contact, they weren't even looking at each other's direction.
"So, how come you're living here?" Anna asked her aunt. "Not that I have a problem with it." She added quickly and Linda sighed.
"They took my house so I didn't have anywhere to go when I got out of prison." She said, looking down at her plate.
"We don't have a problem that you're staying here." Brittany immediately said and looked back at her sister. "Anna?" She asked. I thought that if this happened to Brittany a few months back she wouldn't even ask about her sister's opinion. But she should and I was glad that she was doing it at that moment. And Anna seemed to realize this too because she smiled at her sister.
"Of course not."Anna said and patted her aunt's hand that was next to her. Linda smiled appreciatively at her two nieces.
"I'm so glad that I've found you two, I honestly thought that I didn't have any family. Yesterday this house was empty and today…" She trailed off and gestured to the table that we were sitting at. It was obvious that she started getting emotional again.
"Well, there's another family member that you haven't met yet." Anna said and looked at her sister expectantly. Brittany immediately perked up at the mention of her daughter. She looked in her pockets to find her phone but she didn't have it with her so I gave her mine. She smiled at me and took it to shuffle on it to find pictures of little Alice before giving it to her aunt.
"This is Alice. She's three." She said while her aunt took my phone to look at the picture of me and Alice sitting on the floor and drawing on the coffee table together. Linda smiled and shook her head.
"No, this is you when you were three." Linda said teasingly and Brittany smiled.
"Yeah, I know. She's perfect." She said proudly and I rolled my eyes. I put my hand on her thigh to get her attention and when she turned to me I arched my eyebrows challengingly. She leaned in to whisper in my ear. "It's different being full of yourself and being self-aware." She said and I nodded sarcastically. But both Brittany and Alice wereperfect to me so I didn't say anything back.
"So, I take it you gave birth to her." Linda said while giving my phone back to my girlfriend. "I know how this works." She said and gestured between us. She clearly meant she knew how two women can have a child together. I cleared my throat and frowned but didn't turn to look at Brittany. But I heard her clearing her throat too.
"I…we…" She trailed off while giving me my phone back, still not making eye-contact.
"They met after Ali was born." Anna explained what we clearly couldn't. Linda arched her eyebrows in surprise and nodded slowly.
"You just seem like a family." Linda commented, looking at me.
"Yeah, she's not mine." I mumbled.
"Legally." Brittany added and I turned to see that she wasn't looking at me.
I was surprised to realize that I didn't know who was more afraid to assume things. I wasn't going to lie and say that it didn't scare me to have the responsibility of a child. But at the same time I loved Alice like she was mine, and I would take that responsibility a thousand times, especially if I had Brittany by my side. I wasn't sure if Brittany was ready or wanted to share her daughter though.
"Well, she's precious." Linda said, noticing our obvious discomfort.
"She is." Both Brittany and I said at the same time. We both turned to look at each other and I sighed when I looked at my girlfriend's expressionless face. It was like things kept coming up to make her shut down. But she grabbed my hand and brought it on her lap, letting me know that everything was fine.
The rest of the dinner went by quickly. It was obvious that Brittany started to get more nervous because after dinner she was supposed to talk with her sister. But Anna had no idea so she kept talking with her aunt about anything and everything. Jake was quiet but it didn't surprise me, so I decided to talk to him while Brittany would talk to Anna.
When dinner was over Brittany stood up and quickly left the kitchen. I frowned confused but didn't follow her. I helped Linda clean the table, although she told me not to. After a few minutes my girlfriend came back, holding her packet of cigarettes. I sighed and continued helping Linda.
"Anna." Brittany called, her voice shaky. "Can I talk to you for minute?" She asked and I heard Anna letting out a long breath before both of them left the kitchen.
After we finished cleaning the kitchen I went in the living room to see Jake sitting on the couch and playing on his phone. I went and sat next to him.
"Hey, kid." I greeted him.
"You know it doesn't bother me when you call me that." He said while throwing his phone on the couch next to him and I shrugged.
"I know, but it's still fun." I said and he hummed amused. "So, are you ok? You were really quiet at the table." I commented.
"Yeah, everything's fine." He said and I frowned.
"Jake, you're studying law." I told him pointedly and he frowned confused. "You have to learn to talk if you want to have a successful career. Do you know how many times I said the biggest bullshit and people believed me because I said it with confidence? It's really important to learn how to convince people that what you're saying is right. To show that you aren't afraid of your own words." I told him and he sighed.
"Are you talking about Brittany?" He asked me and I shrugged.
"Although you don't really know what's going on, you were right. And just because she glared at you you regretted what you said. This isn't how it works in the courtroom or when you're negotiating with clients. People are gonna glare at you and threaten you and accuse you and insult you. People's lives and money will depend on you, you have to learn to defend them. How are you gonna do that when you can't even defend yourself? Brittany is nothing compared to what you're gonna go through if you become a lawyer one day." I said and he huffed.
"Yeah, right. Maybe she's nothing to you, but certainly she's something to me." He said looking away from me and I frowned.
"I don't think you're listening to me when I'm talking to you." I said and he looked at me again. "Just think what I said, Jake." I said and he nodded, frowning skeptically.
"So, you're telling me that you weren't intimidated by Brittany when you met her?" He asked me then and I shrugged.
"I was but it's different for me because I'm in love with her. But you aren't, or at least I hope so." I said teasingly and he narrowed his eyes at me.
"Believe me, I am not." He said pointedly and I rolled my eyes. I thought that whoever got to know Brittany would immediately fall in love with her. Jake was just unlucky because he happened to fall for Brittany's sister and that meant that the only side he would see of her was the protective one. I just pitied the guy or the girl that would fall in love with little Alice.
"I hope you didn't misunderstand what I told you. I didn't tell you to go against Brittany just because she's giving you a hard time. That would be a big mistake. What I told you is when you're saying something to someone then support it, man." I said and punched his shoulder.
"Alright, man." He answered with the same tone and I punched him harder.
"Respect your elders." I said sharply, but I was joking.
"You are pretty old." He told me and I punched him even harder, this time making him grab his shoulder in pain.
"What did you say?" I asked challengingly.
"That you're pretty." He said defensively, rubbing his arm.
"Ok, I thought you said 'old'." I told him and he sucked his lips inside his mouth so he wouldn't laugh.
"No, you just heard that." He said and I nodded amused.
"You're getting better but you still need to work on it." I said teasingly, referring to his ability to convince people with his words.
"I have a good teacher." He told me and I chuckled.
"Of course you do." I said arrogantly and he rolled his eyes. "So, are you staying here tonight?" I asked him then and he shrugged.
"Probably. Anna didn't want at first but she's doing great with her aunt and now she's talking with Brittany so I think if we stay here it'd be the best." He told me and I remembered that Brittany would tell her sister that their parents didn't die in an accident but they were actually murdered.
"You have to be there for her, ok? It's difficult for both of them." I said and he nodded, although he still didn't know what I was really talking about. Just then Anna came in the living room. She seemed like she had been crying and I sighed.
"Remember what I told you, kid." I told Jake and he nodded. I stood up and left the living room, squeezing Anna's arm when I passed her and she smiled weakly at me.
I went outside to find my girlfriend sitting on a chair, smoking and staring at the garden. I went to sit next to her but she grabbed my arm and pulled me so I sat sideways on her legs.
"Hey, baby." I whispered in the silence and she smiled her perfect smile at me. "You ok?" I asked her and she nodded, leaning forward to connect our lips. I could smell and taste her cigarette but it didn't bother me so I deepened the kiss, cupping her cheeks to keep her where she was. I had spent the day with her but I was still missing her when I wasn't by her side. After a few seconds she pulled back and sighed. She pecked my lips one last time before leaning back on her chair.
"Where have you been?" She asked me, while her free hand started going up and down my thighs.
"I was with Jake." I answered and put my arm around her neck. She nodded while taking a drag from her cigarette.
"What's up with him?" She asked me.
"Nothing, I just gave him some legal lessons." I said and she hummed while the smoke came out of her nose. "So, is everything ok with Anna?" I asked her then and she shrugged.
"She didn't say anything, San. I told her that our parents… that it wasn't an accident. But she didn't get mad, she was shocked and then she started crying and then she left." She told me.
"That's not good." I mumbled and she nodded her agreement. "She'll talk to you again, maybe she was that shocked that she couldn't think of anything else. Give her some time." I said and she hummed.
"Ok." She whispered. She looked ahead of her again and sighed. "Those are the Pierce family trees." She said and gestured to four tall cypresses that were in front of us. "The first is my dad's, the second's my mom's, the third's mine and the last one is Anna's. The third is the tallest because whenever my dad was making me water them I was getting bitter because I was bored to do it and so I was putting in mine more water." She said and I chuckled.
"You're something else." I commented and she shrugged, smiling weakly.
"Is it late to call your mom?" She asked me then and I pulled out my phone to see that it was nine in the evening.
"Nope." I said and scrolled through my contacts until I found her and called her. I put it on loudspeaker so we could both listen.
"Hola!" A tiny voice squealed and I chuckled while Brittany smiled amused.
"We're gonna be talking in Spanish in front of you and you won't understand a single thing." I whispered to my girlfriend she rolled her eyes.
"I really don't need to be between you two." She told me and I sighed before kissing her lips. She kept proving to me that she trusted me with her daughter and wanted me to be in Alice's life, effectively making my heart expand inside my chest. But I quickly pulled back from her lips again. "Why aren't you sleeping, Ali girl? It's late." I said then and little Alice giggled.
"Because abuela said that I can stay a little bit longer if I don't tell you." She said and I shook my head.
"We need to introduce filter to her." I whispered at Brittany and she nodded chuckling.
"How much do you miss us, baby?" Brittany asked then.
"To the sky and back." Alice immediately answered making her mother smile.
"Who do you miss more? San or me?" She asked then making me huff at her. But she just shrugged, still smoking her cigarette. Alice hummed like she was thinking about it.
"Tana." She finally said, making Brittany widen her eyes.
"So, you don't love me anymore." She said pretending to be hurt and Alice giggled.
"I love you mommy, I love you Tana. I miss you both." She said making us both smile at how seriously she said that.
"We love you too." Brittany said looking at me.
"Yes, we both love you sweetheart." I added and Alice giggled.
"It's time for bed now, baby." Brittany said and Alice sighed sadly.
"Ok. Night night." She told us.
"Goodnight and sweet dreams, Ali girl." I said and Brittany said the same. There was some shuffling before I heard my mother's voice.
"Brittany?" Maribel called.
"Yes." My girlfriend answered.
"How are you, honey?" She asked and my girlfriend blew out the smoke from her mouth but before she could answer, I beat her to it.
"I'm here too." I said bitterly and Maribel clicked her tongue.
"Be quiet, Santanita." She scolded me and I pouted. But my girlfriend kissed the pout away.
"I'm ok, Maribel. I found my aunt again, but it's a long story." She said.
"That's great, mija." Maribel said enthusiastically and Brittany nodded, although my mother couldn't see her. "You'll tell me about it when you'll come back." She said then with finality, not leaving any choice to Brittany. I didn't think that my girlfriend wouldn't tell her anyway.
"Of course." Brittany said.
"Well, we're gonna sleep now. Take care of one another. Alright, Santanita?" She asked.
"Oh now you remembered me." I mumbled and Brittany nudged my shoulder with her chin so I would look at her and she looked at me pointedly. "Ok." I sighed.
"Alright, goodnight." Maribel said and hung up after we said 'goodnight' too. Brittany finished her cigarette and threw it in the glass of water that was by her side. She patted my thigh, gesturing for me to get up but I didn't.
"Why are you smoking?" I asked her and she frowned.
"Does it bother you?" She asked me and I shook my head 'no'. "Then what's the problem?" She asked.
"The problem is that it's not healthy. You're a dancer, you should know that." I said and she hummed.
"How long have you known me?" She asked me and I frowned confused.
"About five months." I answered anyway because I wanted to know where she was going with this.
"And in those five months, how many times did you see me smoking?" She asked then and I narrowed my eyes in thought.
"Lots of times." I finally settled.
"Like every day?" She asked and I shook my head 'no'. "Every other day?" She asked then and I shook my head again. "Once a week?" She asked and again I shook my head 'no'. "Once a month?" She asked and I sighed.
"Ok, I got the point." I finally said and she nodded.
"It's not a habit, baby. But sometimes I just feel like I need it. Before Ali was born I was smoking so much more but I quit because of her." She told me and I sighed.
"Yeah, but if you need it then it's like you're addicted." I said.
"No, if I needed it more often and if when I needed it and couldn't have it I got angry, then I'd be addicted." She said and I sighed.
"Ok, you know better." I said and pecked her lips. I didn't want to argue about this with Brittany, she wasn't a child, she knew what she was doing. She patted my thigh again so I would get up and this time I did.
"Let's sleep. I'm tired." She told me, while standing up and so I grabbed her hand and tugged her inside the house and upstairs.
After we showered we fell in bed and Brittany shuffled down the mattress and tucked her head under my chin, something she did whenever she wanted me to hold her. I figured she was thinking about the next day and that she had to go to her parents' grave. And so I hugged her tightly against me and tangled our legs together to remind her that I was there for her. When I felt her breaths even out, I let myself fall asleep too.
…
When I woke up it was still night. Brittany was still tucked under my chin but I was thirsty so I carefully disentangled myself from my sleeping girlfriend and got up from the bed. I grabbed my phone to see that it was three in the morning. I sighed and left the room.
I went down the stairs and in the kitchen. I grabbed a glass and then opened the fridge to grab the bottle of water.
"Santana?" A voice called from inside the kitchen.
"Shit!" I said startled and poured the water all over the place. I turned around and saw that the light coming from the fridge made me able to see Anna sitting at the table. "You scared the shit out of me." I said and she chuckled but then turned serious again.
I turned on the light in the kitchen to see that she had been crying. I sighed and quickly cleaned up the water from everywhere and then poured a glass for me before putting the bottle back in the fridge. I went to sit next to her and studied her face for a few seconds while sipping from my glass.
"What's wrong?" I asked her, although I pretty much knew already.
"Do you know how my parents died?" She asked me and I let out a long breath before nodding. "Do you know the truth or do you know what I knew all these years?" She asked me bitterly.
"I know the truth." I told her and she nodded once. She wasn't making eye-contact. Her eyes were glued on her hands that were on the table.
"Are you mad?" I asked her and she nodded. "Why didn't you tell your sister?" I asked then and she huffed.
"Because I can't." She said and I frowned confused.
"Why not?" I asked back and she shrugged.
"Because I can't tell her anything. She doesn't even know that I know. I mean she has to know it but she didn't say anything." She mumbled.
"I don't know what you're talking about." I said honestly and she sighed.
"I'm talking about where she found the money to raise me, I'm sure you know about it." She told me and I nodded slowly. "I can't tell her that I miss how she used to sit and listen to me talking about nothing in particular, and then she would reply with something equally insignificant and many times silly. I can't tell her that I miss hearing her talking about equations and theorems that I don't understand but I was listening to it anyway because it was important for her. I can't tell her that I miss the way she was teasing me about everything I'd say. I can't tell her that I miss her. I can't talk to her. I was scared that I was pregnant and I needed her. I couldn't tell Jake but I couldn't tell Brittany either because she would kill me." She told me while her red eyes filled with tears again. My eyes widened.
"You're pregnant?" I asked her.
"No." She immediately said. "I thought that I was but I wasn't. I was just scared." She said and I sighed relieved.
"I don't think she'd kill you. I think she'd understand because she's been through that too." I said and she shook her head.
"I just can't talk to her." She mumbled again.
"Why not?" I asked again softly.
"I can't tell her that I'm mad at her for not telling me how our parents really died because it'll come out like I'm being ungrateful for everything she did for me." She told me and I sighed while I shook my head. Brittany was right having suspicions that Anna was feeling guilty about all of this.
"Anna." I said and covered her hand with my own so she would look at me. "Every person makes their choices in life. And when your sister chose to do whatever she did it was because she loved you. And she still does. And I'm sure that she wants you to get mad at her and she wants you to tell her how you feel. Because the only thing she ever wanted was to take care of you, she wants you to be happy and have everything you want." I said softly, patting her hand and she sniffled. "I'm sure she wants to sit and talk with you about nothing and be so annoying like we both know she can be. And you can both be blondes together and talk about shit that me and Jake don't really understand because we're actually smart." I said then teasingly so she would laugh. And she did, making me smile.
"Why are you so racist?" She asked me and I rolled my eyes.
"I'm not racist, you're just blondes." I said and she huffed. "Go to sleep, tomorrow is a new day. It might be difficult but it's also an opportunity for a fresh start." I told her while standing up. She sighed and nodded at me. I turned to leave the kitchen but Anna spoke up again.
"Hey, legal stuff?" She called and I rolled my eyes at the nickname before turning to see her again. "Thanks." She told me seriously. I smiled and nodded at her before turning to go back to my girlfriend.
…
Linda, Jake and Anna were standing by the gravestones of George and Lysanne Pierce. Brittany and I were far away from them, sitting on a bench under a tree. It was peacefully quiet, the only thing you could hear was the birds chirping. Brittany was sucking her pierced bottom lip inside her mouth, her nostrils flared because of her effort not to cry, and she was staring ahead of her.
"At their funeral, my grandma was standing above the grave and she was screaming at my dad to get up and show everyone what a strong man he was." She told me quietly. I arched my eyebrows, shocked by how much the death of a loved one can affect a person. "She kept blaming my mom for it because she wanted to go camping, like it was her fault that they got killed." She said frowning and I sighed.
"It wasn't her fault. The one that everybody should blame is the killer." I told her and she nodded at me. I was glad that she could clearly see who she had to blame. It wouldn't be the first time that the ones staying behind blamed those who were gone. But that would be wrong.
After a while that we stayed there, sitting in silence, the others left telling us that we would see them back home. Brittany was clearly hesitant to go to the grave so after a few minutes that she didn't move I nudged her shoulder with mine.
"Go ahead, baby. I'll be right here." I told her and she sighed. She looked at the gravestones and then back at me.
"Come with me?" She asked me and I frowned.
"Britt, I think you should do this alone." I said and she frowned too.
"I will, I just want my girlfriend with me." She told me and I sighed. If you had someone with you then you weren't alone but if that was what she wanted then I would go with her. Besides I promised that I would be there for her. I stood up and turned to look that she wasn't about to stand up too. She was still holding my hand so I tugged her to follow me.
We slowly made our way to the grave. Brittany sat cross-legged on the grass and I sat next to her. She was facing the gravestones and I was facing her. She was staring at them for many minutes. Maybe half an hour. But I didn't push her this time. I couldn't really get the words out of her. I was pretty sure that she was there with me only physically and not mentally, that was why I was startled when she grabbed my hand and brought it on her lap. But she still didn't say anything for a few more minutes.
"I'm sorry." She finally said, her voice shaky. Her eyes finally filled with tears and her free hand rubbed her forehead. "That I didn't come here for so long. I was just…I couldn't…" She trailed off and swallowed thickly. She started breathing unevenly and so I squeezed her hand for comfort. "I miss you so much." She whispered as new tears ran down her cheeks. "Lots of things happened since you…since I last saw you. And the most important is that I have a daughter now. Everyone keeps telling me that she looks just like me so I have to believe them." She shrugged and I smiled weakly while I brought her hand up to my lips and kissed it before letting our entwined hands fall on my lap. "It's just unfair that you're not here to see her." She managed to get out before she started to fully cry.
I sighed and dropped her hand so I could hug her sideways and held her against me while she hid her face to the crook of my neck. Brittany kept crying and mumbling that 'it's fucking unfair' and that she loved them and missed them. I felt my heart breaking when she said that at some point all she wanted was to go find them.
"But I wouldn't do that to Anna." She said, pulling back from me. She sniffled and wiped away her tears with her hands. "And then I fell pregnant and had Ali and then I met Santana too, so I can say that I'm happy now." She said, making me sigh in relief. "I took care of Anna, I hope you're not disappointed in me about how I did that." She said then. I leaned in and kissed her temple and she leaned in to my touch. "I don't know how to tell you this dad but…I'm in a relationship with a woman. I know you wouldn't like that at first but when you'd realize that I've never been happier you'd like her too. Actually you'd love her. And you'd love her even more because she's a lawyer too. The best. I'm pretty sure she was born to do that." She said and looked at me proudly, making my heart start beating faster inside my chest. She didn't seem to have anything else to say so I grabbed her hand to bring it on my lap again and leaned in to kiss her cheek.
"Talk to your mom." I whispered against her ear and she turned to me frowning confused.
"In German?" She asked me and I nodded. She bit her pierced bottom lip and studied my face for a few seconds before turning back to the gravestones.
"She's something else, mom. I love her so much." She said and turned to look at me again. I couldn't understand what she was saying but I figured she said something about me because she was looking at me like I was the center of her world. "I didn't really want to be in a relationship at first but now I promise that I'll make everything that I can to keep her in my life. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for her, I wouldn't even open my mouth to say a word if she wasn't holding my hand right now. She makes me happy just by existing and I can't imagine what it'd feel like not having her with me for the rest of my life. And I promise to show this to her every single day from now on. She loves Ali so much and Ali loves her back, but I don't know if she'd want to make her hers. I'm actually afraid to ask." She said then. I recognized Alice's name so I figured that Brittany was telling her mother something about her daughter.
"I'm thinking to ask her to move in with us. It might be early but I can't imagine waking up and the first thing I'm seeing is not her beautiful face. I know what you'd say to me right now. You'd tell me to stop being a coward and tell her how I feel and what I want. And I'm sure she's the only person that would understand." She said smiling and sighed. I sighed too because she seemed to be happy. "I love you." She said then, looking at me.
"I love you too." I whispered and she leaned in to leave a soft kiss against my lips. She pulled back and looked up at the sky.
"I know that you're not in this grave but you're up there watching us and protecting us. I promise I'll be coming here more often and I promise I'll bring Ali one day too." She told her parents. She closed her eyes and let out a long breath, sounding that she was relieved before standing up and tugging my hand so I would stand up too. She turned to leave but I didn't follow her, I looked back at the gravestones and sighed.
"Well, I don't know if you dislike me Mr. Pierce but Brittany and little Alice are the most valuable things that I have. And I promise you that I'll love them and protect them for the rest of my life." I said and let out a long breath. "Although I don't really believe that you dislike me." I whispered then before leaving too.
Brittany was waiting for me not too far away and when I reached her she arched an eyebrow at me.
"What was that?" She asked me while entwining our fingers.
"You heard me?" I asked her she shook her head 'no'. "Good." I breathed and smiled teasingly.
"What did you say?" She asked me.
"Legal stuff." I said and she hummed. It was obvious that she didn't believe me but she didn't ask anything else either. So we started to make our way back home. "So, how are you feeling?" I asked her then.
"Hungry." She replied and I rolled my eyes. It was good that she was hungry because it meant that she was fine, and the night before she certainly wasn't. But that wasn't what I was really asking.
"Anything else?" I wondered and she shrugged.
"Nope." She told me and I huffed while I squeezed her hand. "Ok, I feel…" She trailed off and looked up at the sky. "Relieved." She breathed, making me let out a long breath too. "I'm good." She shrugged.
"Are you though or are you just saying that?" I asked and she shook her head 'no'.
"I feel lighter, like a weight was lifted from my chest. Crying feels good." She whispered.
"Yeah, it does. And you're allowed to cry whenever." I shrugged and she nodded. I was sure that that wasn't the last time she would cry about her parents. But I believed her when she said that she was good. She looked good and I was relieved because I insisted that she would feel better after coming to their grave and it actually happened.
"I still miss them though." She said then and I sighed.
"Of course you do and you always will. But you're gonna learn how to live with their memory, honey. That's what they want from you and Anna. To remember them and be happy, right?" I asked and she nodded while she turned to me.
"I love you." She told me, making my heart skip a beat once again.
"I love you too." I managed to say before she covered her lips with my own.
…
When we got back home my girlfriend immediately guided me to the back of the house where there was a room with a table football in it.
"It was my dad's favorite game. Anna and I used to play but I always won so I got bored of her after a while." She told me while searching for something on it. When she found the small ball she waggled her eyebrows up and down at me. "Anna!" She shouted and after a minute or two Anna came in the room. She arched an eyebrow when she saw what mood her sister was in. She looked at me and I shrugged at her and so she looked back at her sister. "Do you want to play or are you afraid?" Brittany asked and Anna rolled her eyes.
"I'm not afraid of you." She retorted and my girlfriend snorted.
"Well, you should be." She said and gestured for her sister to go opposite her.
"Well, I'll leave you kids alone to play." I said and looked pointedly at Anna and she swallowed thickly before nodding at me.
"Stay." Brittany told me, oblivious to the fact that Anna wanted to talk to her.
"I have a phone call to make." I said and she frowned.
"But it's Sunday." She told me and I shrugged.
"Your girlfriend's a successful lawyer. What do you want me to do?" I asked her and she rolled her eyes, clearly not believing me, before returning her attention back to her sister. "Ready?" She asked and when Anna nodded they started playing so I left the room.
...
Anna and Brittany stayed in their little room until lunch. I had spent my time talking with Jake, he was actually a really funny guy. We talked about his studies and what he could do after he would get his degree. We also talked about his behavior towards clients and other attorneys. I knew those things because of my uncle so I figured that I could help him since he didn't have anyone else. When Linda called us for lunch we went in the kitchen to find the two sisters sitting at the table opposite each other and staring at each other. But when my girlfriend noticed me she stood up and came to me.
"What's up?" I asked her and she shrugged.
"We'll be right back." She said to the others and tugged my hand so I would follow her out of the kitchen. "What did you say to Anna?" She immediately asked me.
"Nothing." I said too quickly for her to believe me.
"Tell me." She demanded frowning.
"What did she say to you?" I asked her and she cleared her throat.
"She asked me why I didn't tell her about our parents and I told her it was because she was a kid and she wouldn't understand and when she asked me why I didn't tell her when she grew up I told her that I didn't want to talk about it then and she got mad and left the room." She told me in one breath and I stared at her.
"Ok." I said slowly.
"Yeah, then she came back half an hour later and practically had a breakdown in my arms. She even told me that she knew that I was a prostitute. I mean, I knew it already but it was different hearing her saying it." She whispered and bit her bottom lip.
"But are you two ok?" I asked and she shrugged.
"I don't know, San. But I think we will be." She whispered. But she looked unsure.
"Baby, think about it. If she feels like that then it means that you raised her right. You taught her to be grateful and have actual feelings." I said and smiled. She let out a long breath and nodded. "I'm so happy for you and proud and I love you." I told her and she smiled back before leaning down to kiss me.
I thought that everything would be fine. I wasn't expecting any miracles, like my girlfriend being just fine by visiting her parents' grave one time. But she would be fine as the time would go. She already looked so much better.
And she would be fine with her sister too. Because they were honest with each other and both of them knew how the other felt. Communication was really important and I believed that they would have that in their relationship. And I was sure that Brittany and Jake would be fine too, because he loved Anna so much and Brittany knew it.
I mentally compared Brittany when I had first met her and Brittany after talking with her sister that day. I just had to say that I was so fucking proud of her because she had been through so much but she managed to go from that guarded person to openly talking to her sister and me about how she felt. After that day I thought that I would never love her more.