3Chapter 21 What Now?
"Celia? Celia?!"
My mom's voice is distant, echoey. I can barely hear it; at first I think that I am imagining it. However, it quickly becomes booming loud. When she says it, my ears are ringing like a telephone. I want to scream at her to take down the volume, but the problem is that I can't open my mouth. It's like it has been welded shut.
"Ohhh," Mom says worriedly. "I hope she'll be okay."
There is a moment of silence, as if she is waiting for someone to respond. It is only once Singe speaks up that I realize that he is also in the room.
"This is all my fault. I shouldn't have made her force herself."
It is around this time that I regain the ability to open my eyes. The first thing that I see is my Mom's face. Her joyously relieved face.
"Ahh! She's awake!"
I sit up, exerting all effort at my disposal and possibly blowing out a joint in the process.
"Mom," I said. My words are slurred and sound like gibberish. I put my hand to my head and try again. "Mom."
Mom beams and embraces me. She sounds like she is sobbing. She pulls back and looks me in the eye, and to my relief I see that her eyes are green again.
"You scared me so badly," she said. "I almost had a heart attack!"
"Oh, so you're saying I should try harder next time," I respond. Mom nudges me in the arm, and we both laugh. I see Singe standing by the bed, smiling.
"I was worried too," Singe tells me quietly. I nod.
"Well, I am alright," I said. "It's okay, Dad."
Mom looks surprised at my choice of words. Her unease stays on her face as she looks down into her lap.
"Well, now that Celia is okay, we can talk about the elephant in the room." She turns to Singe, who puts his hands up defensively.
"Ruby, I didn't give you the potion."
"And why should I believe you?" Mom stands before Dad, her voice hurt and angry. "Why should I believe a word that you say?"
"Because he's telling the truth," I chimed in. Mom turns to me, looking taken aback. "It was me, Mom. I spiked your drink with the potion."
"Celia…why?"
I let out a long breath.
"Because I didn't want Singe gone," I said simply. Mom stares at me for a minute before turning back to Dad.
"And you had nothing to do with this?" Singe shakes his head.
"No, he didn't," I say. "It was all me. He didn't find out about it until I told him."
Mom puts her head in her hands and starts breathing heavily. Singe approaches and puts his hand, his real hand, on her arm.
"Ruby?" Mom's breathing becomes even harder.
"What I said to you under the spell…"
The unmistakable sniffles that accompany crying can be heard. Singe pulls his hand away.
"Do you want me to leave?"
Mom looks up, and when she speaks her voice is weary, soaked with tears
"I think it is paramount that you do."
Singe's expression looks hurt, but understanding. He slowly nods his head.
"Okay." With that he backs out of the room. Mom wipes her eyes.
"Oh goodness," she mumbled. She turns to me, her eyes pink. "Are you ready to go home, sweetie?"
I nod. That is the only thing my emotions allow me to do.
…
I held Theo in my hands and stared intently into his button eyes, as if that will fix anything. I hear the door opening.
"Hey," Mom says. She sits down on the bed, the frame creaking beneath her weight. "You haven't come out of your room in a while."
"No point," I said, still staring at the bear. "The only place I have to return to is the sewer."
Mom sighs.
"Well, if you are willing," she says, "I would be happy to have you move back in."
I don't move, but that doesn't mean I don't consider it. It's not like I haven't thought about moving back in with Mom. I always imagined us being extremely happy. But in those fantasies, things were different. For one thing, it was just us. Now, after all of this, that picture doesn't look terribly appealing.
"I'll think about it," I finally say. Mom shifts si she isn't facing the wall, but facing me.
"Celia, look at me." I do as I am told, and Mom gives a weak smile. "You're thinking about Singe. Aren't you?"
Just like before, the only response my emotions permit is a nod. Mom bites her lip, but I can't tell the reason why. Is she regretful? Sad?
"It's not that I don't want him back," she begins. "But at the same time, I am worried about what will happen."
"But he's changed," I protest gently. "He doesn't want to hurt you. He didn't even want to hurt you the first time."
Mom looks at me, and I see that deep sadness in her eyes again. A memory, long buried, resurfaces in my mind. Me walking down the hallway to the bathroom, passing Mom's room and hearing her cry. She never showed her tears around me. She only reserved the moments of weakness for when she thought I was looking away. She's the mother, I'm the daughter. Why should I be the one worrying about her?
"I want to trust him; I do," she whispers. She holds my hand and runs her thumb against my skin. "But I have you to worry about."
"And you were pregnant the first time," I reminded her. "You also had me then."
Mom only nods in response and turns away.
"Mom," I said. "You don't have to worry about me getting hurt. I can handle it; that's why I'm half koopa. Not half glass."
Mom snorts back a giggle. I look at her smiling, and can't help but do the same.
"Why don't you get some rest?" Mom asks me. "I don't want you collapsing again."
I nod and lie back. I close my eyes and hear my door close softly.
…
I wake up about five hours later. I look at Theo in my arms and grin slightly. It has been a long time since I've been greeted by him when I wake up. As I place Theo on the pillow, I hear the door open.
"Knock knock."
I can't believe my eyes; I can't believe my ears.
"Singe?" Singe gives me a smile.
"Hey Celia."
"What are you doing here?"
Singe's smile gets brighter.
"I'm moving in," he says happily. "She took me back."
AN: I can't believe this is finally finished.
I know I say that with a lot of my stories, but this one in particular I am really happy about. For those of you who were following either me or this story, you probably noticed there was a long stretch of time where I didn't update this story at all. The truth is, I had become severely burned out. Up until I wrote Chapter 18 a few weeks ago, I couldn't see how this story would end. It scared me; it really did. It scared me so much that I didn't want to write this story anymore. Heck, I even finished Super Koopalings Episode 7 before I finished this.
But, it's done, and I am grateful for all of you who stuck by this story during the rough patch. As always, there are a few people who I would like to give shoutouts to. Thanks so much to TheGhostlyRobot and TrimusicaDrag00n90 for favoriting and iSqueakers and esti for favoriting and following. I'll see you all next time :)
