My shelter from the storm

Chapter 8

Anita

After spending the last hour in the tub thinking, I had to tell Amelia the truth. She's smart for her age and understands more than you'd think. This lie has been eating at me and I can't live with it anymore.

After collecting the courage to talk to her, I walked out to the living room where they were all watching a movie. Amelia was the first to notice me and came to give me a hug. "I didn't mean to upset you," she says feeling bad and it made me feel more guilty.

"You didn't upset me, but I need to tell you something, something you probably won't fully understand. I was going to wait until you were older, but this has been eating at me and I can't keep lying to you," I choke quietly and the three adults watch in sympathy. I sat with her straddling my lap and looked into a pair of eyes that matched my mother's and mine. "I'm your sister, not your mother..."

"I know," she says quietly, unfazed by what I just said. That's until I saw tears fill her eyes. "I heard you talking with Daddy a few weeks ago when she came home from work during a storm. I just continued calling you Mommy because you're the only Mommy I have."

I take her in my arms as she breaks into uncontrolled sobs and tears fall rapidly down my cheeks. "I'm so sorry for lying to you Amelia. It just hurts so much to talk about them and I didn't know how or if I'd ever tell you," I say in a wavering whisper.

"Can I still call you Mommy," she sobs looking up at me.

"Of course sweetie, honestly it would be weird if you called me Anita," I say as I laugh through my sobs. I tuck a strand of hair behind her ear and say in a choked whisper, "Our mother's name was Amelia. I had a twin named Avery and our brother was James Junior or JJ for short because Mom got confused calling for him or Dad.

"They were killed during a thunderstorm but we survived. The man responsible tried to kill Raven by running her car off the road," I choke quietly and feel Raven take my hand from next to me. I shutter a calming breath and squeeze her hand. "It's why I'm scared of storms and have nightmares."

Amelia touches the scar on my chest and asks curious, "Is that why you have this?"

Too emotional to speak at the moment, I nod vigorously. She lays her head on my chest and I hold her as close as possible. I shutter a relieved breath and kiss the top of her head. All the guilt I once felt, vanished.

I look down at Amelia after a few minutes and she was asleep, holding onto me. I look at Raven with relieved eyes and she reaches over to wipe my tears. "Feel better now that she knows the truth," she asks quietly to not disturb Amelia sleeping.

I nod lightly and she pats her lap, indicating for me to lay down. Holding onto Amelia, I lay my head on a pillow she placed near her right leg. Her fingers lightly comb through my hair and I let out a content sigh. The movie that was playing when I came down was now off, leaving the room in silence. Lexi was sitting in the arm chair next to the L shaped couch while Raven's parents were on the loveseat on the opposite side of the L shaped couch.

The relief from the guilt left me exhausted and Raven's fingers were soothing me. "Get some rest sweetheart, we'll have dinner when you wake up," Charlotte says with a light smile and I close my eyes.

Raven

Anita fell into immediate sleep and I couldn't blame her. Her emotions have been attacking her since my accident and I'm sure they overwhelmed her talking to Amelia. I can't imagine how she felt explaining something Amelia already knew because she overheard us talking a few weeks ago. The guilt in Anita's eyes brought me to tears when Amelia admitted she already knew the truth.

My heart wretched when Amelia asked to continue calling Anita Mommy because she was the only mother figure Amelia has known. Watching Anita fight back her emotions broke me. Seeing the relief in her eyes when Amelia accepted the truth made me feel relieved too. Keeping Amelia in the dark about everything has been crippling Anita, but she was protecting her from the danger that came with the truth.