Arabella St. Claire

Chapter 4

I stepped out of the bathroom in my room when I heard frantic knocking on my bedroom door. "Coming!" I said. The door opened, and Samantha looked scared of something.  "It's mom." She said. "Something happened to her on her way home from work."   Panic ripped through me. "Is she okay?" I asked, trying to remain calm, hoping my voice wouldn't betray me.  My sister shook her head sideways; I knew right away, at that moment, that mom had died. My mom, our mom, and Jaq would never be able to remember her. I felt so sad for him; Samantha thought I was crying for the death of our mom. I was, but I said, "I also feel sad for Jaq; he doesn't have any memories of our mother; he won't remember her." Our dad came in and saw me crying because of our mother; he was holding Jaq, and he also heard what I said. 

Beau  came in the following day and asked me how I was doing, "I heard what happened." He said. "So did Pierre." I gasped, "How?" He showed me the front page of the newspaper. It stated how my mother died. A drunk driver ran over my mother.  "Whatever you do, don't show that to Samantha," I said. "She's starting to understand French now, and if she reads this, she'll start crying hysterically again."   Beau nodded.  "I just- I just can't believe she's gone," I said. "She's most likely going to find out." He pointed out. I sighed and smiled. "I better show Dad, in case he's not aware." 

I showed him the paper; he looked at it with horror and understanding simultaneously. "I don't want Samantha to see this," I told Dad. He nodded. "Neither do I, sweetheart."  He said, "But I need to explain it somehow." I heard my little brother crying, and Dad went to feed Jaq.

"We need to get to dance class," I said, determined to move forward despite the tragedy of my mother's death. Beau stood up and said, "Are you sure that's a good idea? You just lost your mom." I nodded, looking at him. "I'm not going to be responsible for watching my siblings; they have a babysitter," I told him. He looks at me and says, "They are your family; they need you now. I'm sure any minute now, Pierre will text you telling you that." I looked at him, and before I could even think of protesting, my cell phone vibrated; it was Pierre. "Fine," I said, defeated. I was taking my dance bag off my shoulder and showing Beau the text message. "Pierre has given me a few days off," I explained to Dad.  "That's nice of him." He smiled.  "He will have Beau work on other things until Thursday." He nodded as he looked at Jaq, who was cooing and laughing. "It's nice to see Jaq happy," I said, sitting beside him. "He has more of your mom's features than mine." He admitted. Then his face went the wrong shape, and he started crying. "Dad," I said, "were you aware that mom had heart problems?"  He nodded his head and smiled weakly. "It was dangerous to have children, but she didn't care." He smiled.  "Your mother was brave until the end."  "What about Samantha or Jaq?" I inquired. "If it's genetic, then they should get tested." He nodded slightly.

"Did you or mom ever tell Samantha?" I asked.  Dad shook his head, "She was planning to tell Samantha, but Jaq was born, and then..." He stopped talking and took my hand. He smiled and said, "You're growing up; I need to accept that, like Samantha." I thanked Dad, and Isabella came into the house. I explained that Pierre gave me a few days off to get my bearings.   

"Do you still plan to practice with him after dance class?" Isabella asked.  I nodded, "yeah, we have a rehearsal; it's Romeo and Juliet."  I said.  "There's one particular thing about the dance that Dad isn't fond of."  Dad looked at me as if he was saying, "Please don't rub it in."   Isabella couldn't tell immediately, so she asked, "What is it?"  I told her that Beau had to pick me up by my waist high in the air.  "It's called a lift," I explained. "Simple enough term." She smiled softly, then she looked at my dad and asked, "This bothers you; why?"  He sighs, "I'm just not used to things around here in Paris." He admitted.  "Arabella is fifteen currently; she turned fifteen a few days Before my wife died.  My wife did a lot of research before we moved here."