Our Home and Native Land

Talia followed Rachel expecting it to be a simple matter of pointing out a drawer or something. But it wasn't. She suddenly felt a little guilty that Rachel was going through some effort for her. "Oh no...it's alright..." she said quietly. The offer of the picture made her feel somewhat awkward. She didn't really want to say no but she also didn't want to be rude. The girl looked at the picture for only a second before speaking up.

"You were a wrestler?" she asked in genuine surprise. It had never crossed her mind that the tiny mother of three was once a wrestler not too much different than Cassie. In fact, the red hair, height, and age reminded Talia of...herself. Somehow, it was a form of reassurance to Talia that everything would be alright. If Rachel was there then, maybe Talia could be where she was now in twenty or so years. She suspected Rachel never did anything like she did, but that didn't really bother her all that much.

"I can do this myself. I don't plan on doing anything fancy. It's just a little something anyhow." She rolled out the paper until it was more than enough to wrap the box and cut across it with the scissors. "But thank you." Talia laid the box onto the cut out paper and wrapped first one side up and over, then the other, and taped over where the second overlapped the first. "For everything...you've been such a gracious host...even though you didn't have to be."

"Only a little."

It was a story Rachel had had to tell before, once to each of her children, a few times to nosy friends. She didn't ever go out of her way to bring it up. "I was a valet. Not even a manager, just a pretty face there to cheer on my big, strong man. It helped pay the bills, and I was an art student at the time... It was so much more exciting than waitressing could ever be. But you probably know that." She gave her a knowing smile.

"The promotion I worked for started to hire on some female talent, and they pushed me to wrestle a few matches and try it out. That was never the plan, and I really had no business inside the ring, but I gave it my best shot. I was oh-and-three when Marc rescued me from my sorry fate by giving me Nicky." She glanced at the picture once more before putting the album away. "The crowds loved me, though. If you want them to love you, it's mostly about haircare. And be nice, and smile... It looks like you already do at least one. Isn't that funny, three redheads under the same roof?"

She leaned up against the cabinet while Talia worked. She looked tired, but she looked like she was used to acting like she wasn't. "Oh, I don't know how good of a host I've been. I feel like I should've done something special with you by now, to get to know you, but it's..." She drifted off, and a faraway look came over her face. "I guess I'm not as unphased as I thought... by you beating up my daughter."

She looked at Talia with sympathy more than anything else, for Talia and for herself. "I was there, though, I spent my time in and around the ring. I know how these things work. I think you made a mistake, and one led to another. You probably felt stuck. I couldn't decide if I wanted Cassie to break every bone in your body, or if I wanted you to come here so I could... Be a mother to you. I know that if your positions were reversed, I would still love Cassie just as much, and I would know that she needed help."

Talia continued to wrap the box as Rachel spoke. She folded the sides of the present and taped over them as well. She was careful not to look up at Rachel as she did so. As much as she felt she could relate to her, the experience with Jacob only made her fear everyone had just been too nice to display their true feelings. But as she finished wrapping the present, Talia began to suspect it wasn't going to be that way with Rachel. She felt a certain comfort from the way she spoke. It seemed very motherly.

Her eyes slightly watered as she wrapped a ribbon around the box lengthwise. Everything Rachel said conflicted her on the inside. She knew she had to leave. But she didn't want to. She knew people didn't like her here. But she knew they'd be willing to support her. She wrapped another ribbon widthwise as Rachel spoke about the matches between Cassie and herself. Her heart skipped a few beats as the shorter woman spoke. It had to have been the first time someone other than Cassie or Jacob even mentioned it. Part of her expected that the twenty-three year old in her would suddenly pull her over in a headlock.

But Talia knew better about the mother by then. She intertwined the two ribbons on the top of the box and pushed it slightly towards Rachel as if it was a peace offering of some sort. Her voice choked up when she tried to speak and nothing came out. But she coughed and cleared her throat. "How does it look?" she asked quietly and coughed again like something was in her throat.

"Beautiful." Rachel smiled. "More and more beautiful."

She lingered for a moment, as if she might say something else, and then bowed her head and left.

Talia sniffled when Rachel left the room. Her gaze drifted down to the box and she let out another cough. Then she sighed and looked around to make sure no one else was around. She picked up the box and quietly walked back through the house to the bedroom where all her stuff was it. She placed it on the bed as she looked down at her stuff. She scratched her head and began packing it up. Even after Rachel's motherly chat, Jacob's words still held strong in her head. She didn't want to be a burden to anyone by staying. And she didn't want to a burden to anyone by leaving. After throwing a few things into her bag, though, she suddenly stopped and sighed. She didn't know what to do.

On the next bed, Cassie stirred from somewhere inside her blanket-cocoon. She pawed at the blankets and pulled them down just enough to make a hole through which she could look at Talia.

"Whatcha doin'?" She asked sleepily. Other than making her peep hole, she hadn't moved a muscle, and she was almost invisible. She was a master of blanket-den camouflage, like any good bear.

Talia spun around, making sure to knock the present off the bed and behind her stuff. She then kicked her bag up to the bed as if trying to hide it as well. It was like Cassie caught her doing something bad. She stared at the opening in the sheets and bit her lip. She sulked backwards and sat down. She wasn't sure how much Cassie had seen so she had to assume she'd seen it all.

"Umm...just straightening this place up..." She stuttered. "Have a good nap?" She asked as she subconsciously looked to her side at the present trapped between her bed and bag. "Hey...so...I think I'm going to go home."

"Yep."

Cassie always had good naps. All naps were good. She was a master of napping, like any good bear.

"What? No you're not." There was more rustling from under the blanket pile as Cassie changed positions. "You just got here! Where would you even go? Don't be a bum. We didn't even do anything yet!" She protested.

Talia couldn't help but smile. For some reason, she was comfortable enough to find the way she wrapped herself amusing. She tried to force a straight face but for some reason her face wasn't working. "I was thinking of just going back home for awhile...probably my moms place in San Diego." She let herself fall backwards to the bed so she was looking at the ceiling. "I miss all that...I miss my family." It was one of the things she remembered from her time with Cassie.

"I know we haven't spent much time together...but whether you've realized it or not you've already done so much for me." She did a tough sit up to look at the pile of sheets that constitued Cassie. "I kinda just want to get my life in order, you know? You've showed me how great it is to have the support of loved ones...and I don't have that." She somehow kept the smile on her face.

"And I think it's because I pushed everyone away. It's not too late...I want to spend time with my parents and family...while I still can." She looked over at the wrapped box again and smiled. It probably wasn't time just yet. But she wanted to give it to her anyways. "You have a wonderful family. Truly." Admittedly she was envious of all of them. Even Jacob. She wished she had a Jacob who would defend her all the time. "I need to be around mine...even if it's not quite the same."

A long silence passed without any sign of life from under the blanket pile, long enough that Cassie could've fallen back asleep. Talia would have inevitably reached that conclusion, were it not for a single audible sniffle.

"Okay," she said, and that was all.