A soft smile came over Elizabeth's lips as she looked down at her sleeping daughter. She giggled as the sound of Martha softly snoring filled her ears. With everything that's happened, she enjoyed these small moments with her daughter. They managed to reach book 8, before Martha had passed out on her lap.
"Still my big baby," Elizabeth told Martha while brushing her daughter's hair out of her face. She noticed how soft her hair was compared to other times, along with a fruity smell. "I see your finally using that conditioner I told you about." She said shaking her head a little.
As she sat there with Martha resting on her legs, Elizabeth looked down at her daughter's finger nails. She noticed how the green nail polish had chipped away from the ordeal. Her hand gently caressed the sleeping girl's cheek, before placing a hand on her head.
"You were right to leave as early as we did," She confessed to her sleeping daughter. "I'm thankful for how you handled it. Way better then me." A sigh left her mouth as she thought about Edward's words still ringing in her ear.
"Was it might fault?" She asked herself as she laid her head on the back of the couch. Her eyes looked up at the blank TV as she looked at herself. As she stared at the blank screen, she found herself avoiding her on eye contact. "I just wanted them to be safe. I wanted my son to be safe." Elizabeth thoughts began to question themselves about her own actions.
"Are you alright, mama?" Martha asked in a groggy voice as she rubbed her eyes. She sat up blinking as she realized the sun was nearly down. Her attention then went back to her mom as she felt her worry and how her heavy her hand was. "Are you okay?"
"Oh, sweetie. I didn't mean to wake you like that," Elizabeth told her seeing her daughter with some of her black hair in her mouth. "I'm fine. Just thinking."
"Oh." Martha said before reaching down between the couch cushions.
For a few moments, Elizabeth looked at her a little puzzled. She watched as Martha pulled out a small bag of jelly beans. She looked at how intact the bag was, and at the fact of how calm her daughter was by pulling out the candy from nowhere. Her mouth opened a little as she was confused but decided to just giggled at her daughter.
Martha tiled her head a little at Elizabeth. She wasn't sure why she was giggling at her. Without thinking, she moved the candy bag closer to her mother. "Did you want some?"
"Sure, sweetie." Elizabeth softly said as she opened her hand to take some of her daughter's offerings. When she felt Martha had poured a good amount, she closed her hand. After popping two into her mouth, Elizabeth patted her leg.
Taking the initiative, Martha rested her head on Elizabeth's lap. She could hear her own breathing as she felt how warm Elizabeth was. As she laid sideways eating someone of her candy, she felt Elizabeth rub her head again.
"Sweetie?"
"Yes, mama?"
"Do you think....I'm a bad mother?"
Without hesitating, Martha raised her head up looking Elizabeth in her eyes. A look of pain and worry painted the girl's face as she wanted to know if she did something wrong.
"Why would you ask that?" Martha asked her voice lingered with sadness. "Did I do something wrong?"
"Martha.." Elizabeth said a little shock to hear the worry in her daughter's voice. She felt a warm sensation come to her eyes, but she closed them and shock her head. She then placed a hand on Martha's face to guide her to look her in her eyes.
"Sweetie. You did nothing wrong." She reassured her as she moved the hair out of Martha's face and wiped away her forming tears. "You have nothing to worry about. I'm just...worried about myself with LuLu. I feel like he doesn't trust after everything that happened."
"Oh." Martha said feeling Elizabeth warm hand wiping her face. "But you are a good mom. He just needs time." She told her as she went into to give her mother a hug.
"I..."Elizabeth hesitated to finish her words as she felt Martha's tight hug. She held onto the candy in her hand in order not to drop a single piece. Her hand rubbed the top of Martha's head as she sighed. "Alright then. Thank you, my big baby."
Elizabeth held her daughter for a few moments, before pulling her back. She ate a few more jelly beans as she straightened her legs out.
"Then let me ask your opinion then?" Elizabeth asked as she looked at her daughter. Her face began very serious as she looked into Martha's eyes with her yellowish-orange ones. "And I want you full honest opinion."
Martha straightened up as all the emotions left her body. Her eyes narrowed and became green as she was fully listening to Elizabeth's words.
"Yes, ma'am. I'm ready."
A few hours had passed, and the door nob began to jiggle. Laughter could be heard as both Lucas and Amay finally got the door opened up. Amay was on Lucas's back from being bored of walking and wanting him to carry her. Both had a big smile on their face as they entered the house trying to quit down.
"Heyo!" Lucas called out as he moved inside the house and closing the door behind him. He had a hard time moving, since Amay kept moving on his back, and held onto him tight. "Alright. Time for you to get off me." He told her as he crouched down.
"Fine." Amay playfully said as she got off his back. "But I still win and you know what I want?" She reminded him with her poking finger.
"Want what?" Elizabeth asked as she came into the main hallway.
The area went silent as Elizabeth, Lucas, and Amay stared at each other. The tense between them became dense enough to cut as all three didn't know how to feel about each other.
"Well...Lucas lost a bet." Amay started to explain.
"Over what?" Elizabeth said tilting her head as she folded her arms. Her attention moved from Lucas back to Amay a few times.
"Who can eat the most ice cream?" Lucas piped up. "And I lost."
"Oh....so how was work?"
"Oh right." Lucas hesitated when she asked. He was sure if she seen the video or not, but decided to assume she didn't. "Well..I quit earlier today."
"Really?" Elizabeth's eyes went fully wide by hearing her son say that. "Is everything alright? Did something happened?" She asked taking a few steps closer to them.
"Everything is fine. Just had some issues with the company and my boss, but everything is fine now. Nothing to worry about." He told her while sticking his hands out to keep her back.
"Oh..Okay.." Elizabeth said stopping in her tracks. She hesitated for a moment before speaking again. "Look....I wanted to apologize for my actions on that day. I might have over reacted."
"Might is an understatement," Amay muttered as she still remember Elizabeth's words from that day.
"Right...but you still should have done something to reach our attention. We could have-" Elizabeth said as she took another step forward.
"So your still blaming us for what happened?" Lucas asked. He took a step forward to place himself in front of Amay. His anger began to show as he stood his ground. "Are you really sorry?"
"No..I..mean..I" Elizabeth began to spatter. She stopped and took a deep breath. "I am sorry. I just think-"
"I figured." Lucas muttered as he exhaled. "Look...just forget it." He said as he took a step forward and started his walk towards the stairs.
"LuLu..I'm.." Elizabeth fumbled on her words as she tried to step towards her soon, but stopped. She closed her mouth and avoided her eyes as Edward's and Martha's words repeated in her head. All she could do was watch her son head up stairs. Her eyes then met with Amay's.
For a brief moment, both of them locked eyes with each other. All the memories they shared seemed to play out between them. There very friendship was fading away, and now stood as strangers to one another. Amay was the first too break eye contact with her. She slowly started to make her way up the stairs.
"Amay..?" Elizabeth called to her. She watched as she stopped in place. "I'm....."
Amay hesitated for a moment as tears slowly began to fill her eyes. "Is this it?" She thought as her hand began to shake. Her eyes began to move back and forward and she gritted her teeth. Yet, her body loosened as regret and longing filled her, when she heard Elizabeth just sigh.
"Can you please check on him for me?" Elizabeth asked her. Her eyes looked away from Amay as she couldn't bring herself to say it. She watched as Amay slowly continued up the stairs and turned the corner.
With a long sigh, Elizabeth began to walk towards the basement door wiping away a tear.
As Amay turned the corner and was out of the view of both Elizabeth and Luca, she felt weak in her knees. She managed to hold herself up thanks to the wall. Her heart ached as tears continued to form in her eyes. She sniffed a little and furiously began to wipe away her tears. She cleared her throat a little as she continued to walk towards Lucas's room door. When her hand came close to it, she hesitated for a moment. She slowly took in a deep breath and sighed as she opened the door to his room.