Chapter 16

Jamie pulled into the large, circular driveway of Erin’s childhood home and stopped behind the familiar silver Mercedes. "Did you know your sister was going to be here?"

Erin shook her head. "No. I talked to her on the phone last night and told her we were going to do this today. She didn’t say anything about being here though."

They were let into the house by the housekeeper and led to the patio, where Danielle, Bridgett and Brad were discussing the gardens.

Danielle beamed when she saw her daughter in the doorway. "Sweetheart, I’m so glad you came by today." She hugged her youngest child. "It’s not very often that I have both my daughters here at the same time. Come and sit down. Aren’t you going to introduce me to your friend, dear?"

Erin’s nerves started to kick in and she asked with a stammer in her voice, "Where’s Dad?"

"He got called down to the office. He may or may not be several hours, as he put it. Can I get the two of you some lemonade?"

Erin’s suddenly parched throat, screamed yes, but she simply nodded.

"Ma’am," said the housekeeper who appeared in the open door. "I’m sorry to bother you, but there is a call for you and they said it was urgent."

"They always say it’s urgent. I’ll be right there." She turned back to her family. "Excuse me, I’ll be right back."

"Bridgett, what are you doing here?" asked Erin.

The red head squeezed her sister’s hand. "Brad and I thought you could use some moral support."

"Thank you Bridgett," said Jamie.

"Yeah, thanks sis. I didn’t mean to sound angry. I guess I’m just nervous."

"It’s okay, I understand."

Danielle fluttered back onto the patio several seconds later. "Well, that was a complete waste of time. I’m going to have to educate those women on what constitutes urgent." She took the seat next to her blonde daughter. "Now where were we?"

Erin took a deep breath. "Mom, I told you I was in a new relationship. Well, I’m totally in love." She smiled every time she thought about the beautiful raven-haired woman. "For the first time in my life I feel complete. I want you to be happy for me."

Danielle was slightly confused at her daughter’s choice of words. "Of course I’m happy for you dear, why wouldn’t I be?"

Erin reached for the comforting hand beside her, a gesture not unnoticed by her mother. "Mom, this is Jamie. The person I love more than anything else in the world."

Jamie gave her most charming smile. "It’s nice to meet you Mrs. Casey."

Danielle was momentarily stunned, but remembered her promise and returned the handshake. "It’s nice to meet you as well...Jamie."

Smiles broke out all around and Erin released the breath she was holding.

"I can tell by my daughter’s face, how happy she is. I guess I have you to thank for that."

"I love your daughter, Mrs. Casey and all I ever what to do is make her happy."

The older woman smiled. "I’m glad to hear that, dear and please call me Danielle."

They spent the next hour getting to know one another. Every now and then Danielle felt a pang of disappointment, not in her daughter, but at the things she herself would miss out on, given her daughter’s revealed lifestyle. She had wanted to plan the perfect wedding like the one she had given Bridgett. And she would miss seeing her baby have a baby. Danielle didn’t care about the reaction of her society groups or the church, although she knew they would be strong ones. She was proud of her youngest child and no one would make her feel otherwise.

One down and one to go, thought Erin. She was unbelievably relieved and happy at her mother’s immediate acceptance of her relationship with Jamie. Given her parent’s love for one another, could her father’s reaction be any different? She and Jamie had gone for a short walk, waiting for Timothy Casey to return home. By the time they reached the pool, Danielle informed them that Erin’s father was in the study and in a particularly good mood over a new business venture.

Erin removed her hand from Jamie’s, just before they entered the room. The dark haired woman understood and waited right outside the door. Danielle and the Nelsons soon joined her.

"Dad?"

The big man stood from behind his desk and crossed the room. "Sweetheart, your mother said you’d come for a visit. I’m sorry I wasn’t here sooner." He enveloped her in a hug.

"That’s okay Dad. I have someone I want you to meet."

"Yes, it’s about time you brought this young man home. You mother told me about him weeks ago. I want to make sure he’s good enough for my little girl."

"Dad, that’s what I want to tell you. There is no man. Um...I am in love and I have found the person I want to spend the rest of my life with."

"I’m not sure I know what you’re saying Erin."

The blonde stepped back to the open double doors and reached out a hand. She led the nervous woman back inside. Erin took a hard swallow. "Dad I’d like you to meet Jamie… the woman I love."

Jamie stepped in closer to her lover’s side. Her smile immediately dropped. She was glad Erin couldn’t see the expression beneath the graying beard. Erin felt the tall woman tense up and started to move them back. The other three adults stepped into the doorway.

Oh shit, thought Brad with one look at his father in law.

Danielle moved next to her daughter. "Maybe we should let your father be alone, dear."

Just a few seconds ago, Erin had been nervous; now she was getting angry. Angry because she couldn’t see for herself what her father was doing and angry at his absolute silence. "No! Dad, say something."

"This had better be your idea of a cruel joke, because if not, don’t you ever call me that again."

"This no joke...Dad. I love Jamie and we are together forever. So you’d better get used to the idea."

The disturbed man turned his back on the group for several seconds then turned back, seeming a bit more at ease. "I need to speak with Erin alone," he said, calmly, but sternly.

"No," said Jamie. "I don’t want to leave you to face this alone."

Erin hugged the brave woman. "It’s okay sweetheart. Just let me talk to him." Jamie gave her a quick kiss and was gently pulled from the room by Danielle and Bridgett.

The author heard her father return to his desk and shuffle through some papers. "What are you doing Dad?"

"I’m looking for the name of the doctor who treated you, after the accident."

"Why?"

"I’m going to sue him for malpractice. Then I’m going to get you the best specialist in the world. That blow to the head obviously left some lingering brain damage."

As ludicrous as it was, Erin knew her father was absolutely serious. "I do not have brain damage and I am as sane as ever."

He continued to go through his messy desk drawers. "Oh, yes, you do. Because you weren’t perverted before that happened." His demeanor remained calm, but strained. "Don’t worry, I’ll pay off that person in the hall, she won’t cause us trouble, I promise."

"Dad stop." He continued muttering. "Stop! Stop! Just stop!"

"She’s obviously perverted too."

She yelled and moved toward him. "Don’t you say that! You have no idea what you’re saying. You don’t understand. Just stop and listen to me. I love her, we love each other and there is nothing wrong with that!" She was now in his face. "You’re just being to foolish to realize it!"

Jamie was pacing behind the closed doors, rattling off her fears "I don’t like this. We should just leave. She doesn’t need this kind of pain."

A loud crash sounded behind the big doors. Jamie burst into the room and saw Erin sprawled across the floor, a broken table and crushed vase beside her. "Erin!" She yelled for her as she jumped over the couch that was in her way. "Don’t move baby, I’m here. You’re gonna be okay." Jamie saw the bruise forming on the beautiful face and the slightly swollen lip.

Erin groaned and rolled onto her back. "Jamie?" She subconsciously felt around for her glasses that had been knocked off. "Sweetheart, I've got your glasses, but you don’t need them right now. Are you hurt anywhere?"

"No," she sobbed. "Just hold me."

Jamie gathered the small woman into her arms. "I got you. I got you," she murmured and gently rocked the trembling body.

Erin’s mother knelt near by, but her daughter seemed to only need one person. But she needed some contact with her child and stroked her soft blonde hair. "You hit my daughter?" asked Danielle, when she finally got past the initial shock.

"It was an accident," he said, unconvincingly as he moved back behind his desk. "You obviously lied to me. She is not my daughter. She is an abomination and I want her out of this house. Bridgett, I don’t want my grandchildren anywhere near… them."

Bridgett was appalled at her father's behavior and her Irish temper exploded. "Stop calling them that! And as for my children, that is up to Brad and me to decide who is in their life."

His head snapped up to meet her. "I guess I know what kind of a mother you are then."

Danielle wanted this situation over as soon as possible without any more violence. "Timothy, just calm down."

He jumped to his feet. "Don’t you tell me to calm down, woman! You knew about this didn’t you? Don’t tell me you accept this," he said disgustedly.

Jamie was seething and what she wanted to do was give the bastard everything he did to Erin, only ten fold. But her heart was breaking for the small, trembling woman in her arms. She knew where she was needed the most. She continued whispering words of love, trying to block out everything else. She had tried to pick her up and get her away from the hostilities, but Erin was too terrified to move.

Danielle left her daughter and marched over to the man to answer his question. "Yes, I accept this and I’ll tell you why. Four years ago I sat by a hospital bedside, and watched as my unconscious daughter fought for her life. I was so afraid that I would lose her forever. I begged God to give me my daughter back and when he did, I made him and myself a promise, a promise to love her even more than before and to cherish her second chance at life."

Timothy shoved a stack of folders into his briefcase and stood. "Well, I won’t stand for it in my house." He moved toward the door.

"This house is mine too and my daughter is staying here as long as she wants," said Danielle. "You on the other hand are free to leave anytime you please."

Bridgett was shocked to hear her mother talking this way to her father, shocked, but loving it.

"Do you know why God gave her back?" he asked. "He didn’t want her kind of filth in heaven. When they decide to leave, I’ll be back."

The only thing that kept Jamie from pummeling the pompous ass was the death grip Erin had on her arm.

"Another thing..."

Brad jumped up and grabbed Timothy’s suit lapels. "I think you’ve said quite enough. Did it make you feel like a man, hitting a defenseless blind woman because she said something you didn’t like? Well, I’m about to say something you won’t like, but you won’t you get the chance to hit me. You will never be allowed to see my children ever again, because I won’t have them influenced by an ignorant, windbag, bigot. Now do us all a favor, keep your big mouth shut and just leave."

A sneer broke through the facial hair and gray eyes shot daggers at the couple huddled together on the floor, but Timothy Casey turned on his heels without another word. The sound of a slamming door followed his angered wake.

The shock slowly faded from everyone in the room except Erin, her wounds were the deepest.

Danielle returned to her daughter’s side. "Let’s get you upstairs to bed dear and I’ll get you an ice pack for your face."

Only Jamie caught the barely discernable nod. "Come on sweetheart, I’ll help you."

Together they stood on shaky feet.

Bridgett hovered over her sister too, but Brad urged her away. "I think she just needs Jamie right now, honey."

Bridgett turned in her husband’s arms and cried. "I can’t believe he did this. I never thought he...he never even spanked us as kids. Oh God, Erin."

He rubbed her back, soothingly. "Your sister is strong. She’ll be fine. This was a shock to all of us, but we will get past it."

At a snails pace, Jamie helped Erin up the stairs. Halfway up, she stumbled. "Easy," said Jamie as she picked up the lithe body and finished the climb. She followed Danielle down the hall and gently placed the small woman in the middle of the bed. Jamie pulled off her lover’s shoes and covered her with a quilt from the foot of the bed.

Erin still hadn’t said a word, because of the pain from her face and more importantly from her soul. Jamie was livid as she sat and watched her shiver, but her need, to pull the woman she loved, back to reality was stronger then anything else in the world. She slipped off her own shoes and lay down beside Erin, holding her, careful of her injury. She whispered words of love and comfort and soon felt the body in her arms begin to relax.

Danielle turned the corner and stopped at the sight of the two women cuddled closely on the bed. The moment of surprise left as quickly as it came. She realized she would have had the same reaction if it were a man holding her daughter that was just the old fashioned way she was brought up. But as she got closer and heard Jamie’s words and saw her daughter’s reaction, Danielle knew this was a match made in and blessed by heaven. She crossed over to the other side of the bed. "Here, sweetheart, this will help with pain."

Jamie held the cold pack to the bruise covering a large area of the beautiful face.

"Thanks mom," Erin said in a hoarse voice.

"Honey, I’m so sorry. I certainly never expected this."

Erin shrugged her shoulder. "It doesn’t matter. As long as I have the rest of my family I’m happy." Her words weren’t quite convincing to either her mother or Jamie. The two women exchanged concerned looks, but both also knew time was needed to heal these freshly made wounds.

Danielle laid a comforting hand on the woman who loved her daughter. "I apologize for the things he said to you Jamie."

"Don’t worry ma’am, I’ve been called much worse."

"Well I won’t stand for it. I knew he wouldn’t be pleased, but I never thought... I can see that you make my daughter happy and that you love her. That’s what’s most important to me."

"Me too ma’am."

"I’m old enough," she laughed. "Ma’am makes me feel even older. Please call me Danielle. Maybe someday you’ll even want to call me Mom."

"Thank you Danielle...for everything."

The older woman studied Jamie for a few seconds, her brows drawn together, trying to form a memory. "Were you the limo driver from a few weeks ago?"

Jamie grinned wryly. "Yes, that was me."

"My husband made an even worse second impression, didn’t he?" She shook her head in disbelief once again at his behavior.

Erin lay there, her face half-frozen and hurting. She listened to the words passed between her mother and her lover and thanked God that they at least seemed to be forming something of a bond. Since meeting Jamie, her life had definitely changed, hitting some highs and lows and not all because of the tall beauty. But even after the afternoon’s fiasco with her father, one of the lowest points of her entire life, she knew that survival was possible, as long as Jamie was by her side.

Danielle leaned down to kiss her daughter’s uninjured cheek. She brushed aside a few wisps of golden hair from her forehead, as she had done so many times as a child. Even though Erin was a grown woman, to Danielle she would always be her baby. Skinned knees had graduated to life threatening injuries. Loneliness replaced being teased by other children, when she just didn’t fit in. But there is never a time in someone’s life when they don’t need their mother’s love and comfort. Danielle now realized she had to share her place in Erin’s life, but no matter what, she would never do anything to lose her daughter’s love. "I’ll leave you two alone for awhile. Get some rest sweetheart. I’ll be back to check on you later."

"Thanks Mom. I love you."

"I love you too honey."

Jamie lay back on the bed and felt Erin snuggle deeper into her. She took the silent moments to look around, taking in the room’s pristine condition. The colors of white, yellow and purple meshed together in a bright and cheerful way, but Jamie thought humorously, that it reminded her of an Easter basket. There was a white dressing table, which held several unusually shaped bottles, long emptied of perfume, and now filled with colored waters. Combs and hairbrushes, needed by a teenager with much longer hair, sat on a shiny silver tray. A tall bookshelf covered half of one wall and on it, sat rows of books whose spines told of the diversity of interests of the room’s occupant. A modest teddy bear collection filled three corner shelves. One small, rather flattened, brown bear caught her interest. She could just picture a little Erin, hugging the well-loved toy and crawling in to bed, maybe telling the silent companion a five-year-olds version of a bedtime story. She smiled as she continued stroking the arm around her waist. Trophies sat atop a huge oak bureau and more framed school certificates hug on the nearby wall. Everything a normal child would have, filled that room. Things Jamie wished she had been able to have so she could share joyful memories with her love, instead of only having terrors to tell. Since meeting Erin, she felt normal for maybe the first time in her life. Jamie kissed the temple next to her face. "I wish it was under better circumstances sweetheart, but I am glad I got to see this room. It fits you."

"It fits who I was at sixteen."

"Oh, I don’t know. Every now and then I see that sixteen year old rear her pretty head and giggle with unbridled excitement."

"I do not giggle," said Erin, indignantly.

"Sure you do, especially when I lick that spot on your lower back, you know the one just above..."

"Yes I know! And you’d better be glad I’m not sixteen when you’re in that mood."

"Oh, I’m glad you’re not sixteen all the time. I absolutely love the age you are at the moment and always will."

Erin took the blue bag away from her face. She sat up and folded the multi-colored quilt. "My grandmother Casey made this for my twenty first birthday," she said with a fond smile. "She moved back to Ireland a few years ago. I miss her."

Jamie studied the intricate patterns. "It’s beautiful."

"Yeah. There is one patch in particular that I have always loved." She felt around the edge, coming to the four corners, explaining to Jamie what to look for. "See how the colors blend to create a pattern."

"It looks kind of like a whirlpool," the dark haired woman observed.

Erin tried real hard to remember the piece. The image was still quite vivid, but she wondered how long it would be before it faded all together. "Yeah. She said it represented eternity and my place in line. Gramma told me to take off this square and use it to start a new quilt and then give it to my granddaughter."

Jamie put an arm around her shoulder and kissed her. "That sounds like a wonderful tradition."

Erin nodded, but then her smile once again faded and she lay back on the pillow. "Why doesn’t he love me?" Her voice was a very faint whisper.

Jamie closed her eyes at the pain-laden voice. She once again pulled the golden head to her shoulder. "I think he does sweetheart. He just doesn’t understand you."

"No! If he loved me unconditionally, like a parent is supposed to, he would accept who I love."

"I always thought I would be the one to hurt you this much," said Jamie, solemnly.

"I never once thought that."

"No one has ever had as much faith in me as you have."

"No one ever took the time to look inside you and see your true heart and soul. And no has ever loved you as much as I do."

The darkness Erin lived in was made harsher by her father’s belligerent reaction. The loss of a parent or a parent’s love is a wound that never quite heals. There are reminders at every turn your life takes and returning the anger and hatred only serves to damage your own soul. The only sane option is to forge ahead, no matter how difficult that may seem. But it wasn’t just her that would suffer; she dreaded the affect this would have on her mother. The pain of watching the spouse that you have loved for 35 years, brutalize and verbally abuse your child must be indescribable. She knew their marriage would probably never be the same. And her own children; if she were ever blessed, they would feel the absence of a grandfather. Their cousins would still know his love and attention, but they would have to stand by watching. She couldn’t bear to think of their tears. Her announcement had touched many lives besides her own and if she let it happen, the guilt could destroy her relationship with Jamie. But she wouldn’t let that happen. Jamie was the most important thing in her life, the thing that brought completion to her very soul. Above all, Erin was an optimist and a tiny spot in her heart still held hope that she and her father could someday salvage a relationship and she may even be able to forgive him...but she would never forget.

The ride home from her parent’s house was a long and silent one. A strong hand held hers, transferring the love Erin so desperately needed. After spending just an hour resting in her childhood room, she wanted to leave, telling her mother that it would be quite a while before she would be able to return. Her mother promised to call her every other day and she vowed never to let more than two weeks go by, before visiting her. If anything good came out of the tragic day, it seemed that her relationship with her mother had been strengthened. They had always been close, but the bond seemed even tighter as she walked out the door of the house she had grown up in.

Erin stated over and over again that she was fine, but that was far from the case. Her silence and lack of appetite, when Jamie mentioned dinner, were glaring symptoms of her heartache. Jamie was at a loss of what to do. But no matter how much support and comfort she offered, she knew only time would lessen the hurt.

The long silent moments gave Jamie time to think about her parents. What would they have thought about having a gay daughter? Would they have accepted Erin as the woman she loved? She could only speculate. The heart, that Erin had so recently uncovered, spun a perfect scenario of unconditional love and understanding. But her, still somewhat, cynical mind dismissed the fairy tale and re-placed it with looks of disappointment in the eyes of her mother and father. Eyes that she could barely remember, voices that no longer spoke in her dreams and personalities that the child she was, never truly came to appreciate. But she wouldn’t totally give up the idea that they would still have loved her, no matter what.

Jamie placed a kiss to a sleeping forehead and extricated herself from the entwining limbs. Artemis rose to all fours and whimpered as the dark haired woman neared the door. "You stay here and keep and eye on your mommy. I’ll be back in a little while."

She trudged, barefooted, down the carpeted stairs and through the darkened living room. Being only five in the afternoon, she wondered what happened to the sun of the earlier day. Opening the sliding door and stepping out onto the lower deck, she saw the low hanging, gray clouds and the rough surf, pounding the sandy shore below. Great this is all she needs, thought Jamie, knowing her lover’s aversion to thunder storms. She returned to the house, secured the door and went to close the kitchen window. Jamie grabbed a fast sandwich and hurried back to the bedroom to provide comfort from the coming storm. She had called in sick for her evening shift, not baring the thought of leaving Erin in her fragile state. Seeing the current weather, made her even happier about her decision. She hated driving in the rain and she knew Erin worried about it to, even though it had only happened twice in the time they had known each other.

Jamie slipped back into the warm embrace of her sleeping lover, or so she thought.

"What time is it?" asked the lips that touched her, softly.

"It’s a little after five," said Jamie. "I thought you were asleep."

"I woke up when you left a few minutes ago."

"I’m sorry."

"Don’t be," Erin said with a small stretch. "I won’t sleep tonight if I don’t get up now."

Jamie gave Erin’s back, soothing rubs as she prepared to give more bad news. "I hate to have to tell you this, sweetheart, but there is a storm headed our way."

Erin sighed slightly. "I don’t care. I have a safe haven now." She rolled over onto the long body beside her. "Why do I feel a shirt here and jeans here?" she asked, when her hands encountered the items.

The roaming appendages made it slightly hard for Jamie to form a coherent thought. "Well, I..."

The head popped up from her chest. "Wait a minute. It’s after five? Why aren’t you at work?"

Two hands caressed the author’s face. "I couldn’t leave you alone. My heart has been breaking for you, all day. I wanted...needed to be right here."

Erin smiled for the first time in hours. She placed a small kiss over the breaking heart. "I love you Jamie Shea Sheridan. Thank you. I’m so glad, you are here." She pulled the thin material from the waistband below her. "But you still have way to many clothes on."

"Ahh...sweetheart I don’t think you’re really up to this."

The blonde gave her a sad little smile. "You’re probably right. As much as I love you, I can’t make love with you right now." She put her face level with Jamie’s. "But I could use some TLC and some more cuddling."

Their lips met in a promise of future passion, but current protection, comfort and most of all love. Jamie engulfed the smaller body in a tender hug. "Are you hungry yet? You haven’t eaten since breakfast."

The head against her shoulder nodded. "Yeah, a little."

"You stay here and I’ll go make you something," Jamie said, with a little pat to a firm behind.

"You are spending more and more time in my kitchen," Erin observed. "You’re not too bad at that cooking thing."

"No… I’ve just got a thing for the cook."

A loud clap of thunder rattled the window and the author. "I think I’ll go with you," Erin said with a small chuckle. "But you may still serve me," she added regally.

"Anything for you, my Queen."

The thunder was short lived and had moved on, leaving behind a steady rain. An hour after consuming a light meal, Erin’s bathroom glowed with soft candlelight. A mound of foaming bubbles concealed two reclining bodies in the obscenely large sunken bathtub. Fingertips soothingly traced the wet, muscled legs that surrounded the smaller woman. Determined hands released the tension in the smooth shoulders and neck in front of Jamie.

"Do you want to talk about it?" asked Jamie, cautiously.

Erin leaned back against her living headrest. "Nothing to talk about really." She sighed. "I can’t do anything to change his mind. I just have to live with it and without him." She paused. "I just...I never expected the violence, that’s what hurt the most and I don’t mean physically. I could have taken his disappointment, his distance, but when he hit me..." Erin shuddered. "Especially when I couldn’t see it coming." Salty tears dropped into the cooling bath water.

Jamie murmured, as she rocked the crying child in her arms. "I know, honey. I know"