Chapter 5: Your Mother Was a Fine Woman

"A fairytale, a myth. That's what she was. Something you had never seen before. It hadn't mattered what room she entered, or where she was coming from, the eyes turned to her, the room went silent, except for the slight whisper of,

"That's Rose Hathaway….

"She's killed people."

"Abe!"

"Well? I'm not trying to sugarcoat their mother. She's done some nasty things for the sake of her safety and the safety of others. She never ever supported it, but only did so in dire situations."

"Well, move on."

"Right."

"We had written notes to each other for a while before we met."

"Oh, do not even try to fuck around."

"I don't know what you are talking about."

"This pervert over here was a teacher in Russia and was posing as a student for a class project!"

"Well, Rose has always been unconventional."

"She was such a beautiful baby. I wasn't around enough to see her grow. Her mother did most of the grunt work and from what I've heard there wasn't much work put in. But, Rose was the type to prevail. She was the kind of person that you couldn't say no to. Not like the Daddy's girl kind of giving in, but the like oh shit this is pretty serious kind of giving in.

"I don't think many people ever did say no to Rose. Despite anything she may say about things not going her way, the universe just tipped in her favor when it needed to most."

"Oh, I just remembered. When we first got together, she was stabbed!"

"Yes! I totally forgot. By some crazy girl in their highschool. Honestly I still question their credibility."

"How does someone forget their daughter gets stabbed-"

"Hush Ivan."

"When she gave birth to you two, it was such a normal day. Rose was almost embarrassed. There was no crazy story. We were at home and her water broke. I had just finished getting everything settled and unpacked. We got in the car and drove to the hospital with relatively no traffic. We checked in, our doctor was already on duty and everything went so smoothly. She thought of it as a miracle, and knew that you were going to bring amazing things to the world."

"She was a really good swimmer."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, she used to compete as a kid but of course that didn't last long. Too aggressive with others."

"Not surprising."

"Not to say your mother was a bad kid, but she was just a handful. And one who didn't take shit from anybody. Kids get their feelings hurt so easily anyway. That's not her fault."

"Well she was a great woman. After highschool she just went up from there. Although there are some pinches down the road. A lot of people were not extremely happy that she got pregnant and wanted maternity leave. It happens everywhere, you know? But she didn't give them much thought. She refused to work for your first year. There was no debate."

"She ate so much!"

"Yes, ever since I've known her, her appetite never changed. It was so much worse when you were still in her belly."

"I once saw her eat two dozen donuts alone."

"She worked out a lot though. Always kept in shape."

"She was given a lot though. Even though actual parenting wasn't involved, she had her own space and a cleaner that she grew incredibly close to. She had a couple of kids of her own I think and they would sometimes eat together."

"She named you after her friend Mason who died when they were in highschool. He was a victim of a shooting that happened in Orlando, Florida."

"I remember Mason. He always came with her on her trips. Either him or Lisa, or both."

"Lisa and her were inseparable. When Rose decided to move away, it was a big deal."

"Oh, yes. A big deal. Rose may come from a wealthy background but Lisa comes from old money. No matter what recession happens they will have money locked away somewhere safe to protect them for a couple of generations. Lisa doesn't like to talk about it much about it when I was around, but I'm under the impression that those girls never kept anything from each other."

"I'd have to agree. Although Rose was occasionally hesitant, she would inevitably ask for the advice of Lisa."

"Yeah, I'm not surprised they moved after Rose died. Lisa loves you guys, but seeing you would just be a reminder. Not in a bad way. You just have a lot of Rose's features and mannerisms."

"All in all Rose was great."

"A fantastic, almost perfect woman."

"One thing she used to hate was rose-themed stuff. Anytime she received something that had roses on it she'd throw it away. She thought it was too cheesy."

"In all honesty, we can give you a lot of information on Rose as an adult. She grew into someone that was feared, loved, and revered. I bet you could go anywhere in the world and someone there has heard of Rose in some way."

"Okay, I get that Mom was pretty great, but she's not some kind of urban legend."

"I'm sorry, are you the Rose expert all of a sudden?"

"Too soon."

"Lisa knew her more as a kid. Maybe when she comes for your graduation you can ask her some questions."

"I remember Mom, and I remember her being gone for work and sometimes, I feel like I'm gonna start forgetting stuff as I get older. Like, it's been so long that I can't remember every single little thing about her, and it scares me sometimes."

"Losing Rose was probably the hardest thing for us, Ivan. But never forget your love for her, and she will never go away. Even when you maybe can't remember everything, you just know that feeling she gave you."

"Rose was a fiery soul that was gonna be let loose on the world, but I guess they just weren't ready yet. But in the meantime, she left little pieces of her soul in each of you. And one day, when you grow, you will create the amazing fire that she sparked."

I know its been a while but I hope you like it.