Viraai: (Book 4) Adversity

| 8 | She’s still our Mom.

"How are you feeling now?" Kayla asks her sister, both of them sitting on Naomi's bed as they face each other after finally being able to calm themselves down.

"I'm okay now..." Naomi answers her little sister as she nods her head a few times, taking a deep breath as she feels herself finally take control of her emotions as well as her abilities. If Kayla hadn’t followed after her and helped her relax after such an episode, Naomi is pretty sure she was going to set the entire room ablaze.

“Thanks for being here,” Naomi tells Kayla as she gives Kayla a grateful smile, making Kayla nod back at her, both of them realising how much of a mess they both are despite getting cleaned up when they returned from the woods.

“Of course…” Kayla answers her sister softly just as she reaches for both her hands and grips them softly. Naomi is glad she doesn’t have to go through any of this alone and Kayla completely understands what she’s experiencing.

"Do you… think we should go see her?" Kayla asks Naomi after realising that it’s probably been about 15 - 20 minutes since they left their mother alone, and as soon as Kayla makes mention of her, Naomi begins to shake her head at Kayla’s, while still having a hold on Kayla’s hands as she looks back at her.

"No..." Naomi answers Kayla a little too quickly and Kayla can see that Naomi hasn’t yet processed that she has a half-sister, and that person happens to be the very same person they’re meant to meet with today… Alpha Allison.

"I can't..." Naomi continues as she shakes her head, and Kayla sighs softly at her sister, wanting her to try her best to understand their Mother’s position. Before, it was Kayla that was having trouble processing all this, so now it’s time for her to be there for her sister.

“I just learned I have a half-sister…” Naomi chuckles sadly as she continues to shake her head, feeling the tightness in her chest worsen, the knot in her stomach refusing to go away.

“How could she have kept that from me… how could she have kept all of it from us…?” Naomi asks as she looks between Kayla’s hazel eyes, watching as her sister’s brows crease and she looks down at both their hands, trying to find the right answer for her.

“She was probably waiting for us to be old enough to understand…” Kayla answers honestly, finally figuring out the logic behind why their Mother did what she did.

“At least she’s being honest with us now. I can tell she didn’t want to lie to us and she was doing it only to protect us…” Kayla carries on, lifting her head to look back at Naomi and finding her clinging to her every word.

"She's hurting and I don't think it's a good idea for us to leave her alone..." Kayla says softly, now being the one to shake her head as she thinks of what their Mother is going through. This is just as hard for them as it is for her… so just like they’re here for each other, they also need to be there for her.

"She's still our Mom, Naomi..." Kayla finally says and Naomi glances between Kayla’s eyes, letting out a slow deep breath once she realises that Kayla is right. No matter how much pain she is feeling, her Mother is experiencing the same thing… so now is not the time for them to leave her alone.

"Okay..." Naomi exhales and Kayla is glad she is able to convince her, smiling back at her and nodding a few times before she lets go of her hands and begins to stand up from the bed.

“Come on…” Kayla tells Naomi, watching as Naomi also stands from the bed and nods back at Kayla…

Meanwhile…

Back in their Mother’s room, is where a distraught Trina is sobbing and pacing around the room, uncertain of what to do now that her daughters have learned the truth, and now they don’t even want to speak to her. She has been crying so much that she feels her body become weak, her head spinning rapidly as shudders run through her entire body. She finds herself stumbling to the edge of her bed where she carefully takes a seat at the edge and covers her face with shaky hands, trying desperately to calm down but it’s all too much for her.

A few moments later, she hears a few knocks on her door and she slowly takes her hands from her face and stares at the door for a few seconds.

“Who is there?” She asks softly, knowing that whoever is on the other side will still be able to hear her despite how quietly she is speaking.

“Mom, it’s us…” She hears Naomi’s voice and soon as she hears her eldest daughter, she carefully stands to her feet despite feeling incredibly weak.

“Come in…” She says hopefully, sniffling and wiping the tears away from her face as she carefully watched her bedroom door open and on the other side is standing both her daughters, both of them staring back at their mother worriedly, slowly stepping into the room as they both approach her.

"Mom?" Both of them say one after the other and as soon as Trina hears both their voices, she feels her eyebrows crease as she places her hands over her chest, her bottom lip quivering as she fights to control her tears.

"Girls..." She lets out weakly and as soon as both girls hear that, they shut the door behind them and rush towards their Mother, grabbing hold of her and hugging her tightly. As soon as she feels her daughters' arms wrap around her, she breaks down once against and hugs the both of them in return, her arms wrapping around each of their torsos as they all hold each other.

"Forgive me please... please..." Trina begs them quietly and hearing their Mom sob in their arms makes them hold her even tighter as they continue to comfort her, Naomi carefully stroking her red hair as Kayla rubs her back soothingly, feeling their Mother’s body tremble against their hold.

"Mom..." Kayla tells her softly, trying to fight the tears in her eyes from hearing her Mother cry, squeezing her eyes shut as she presses her head against hers.

"It's okay...“ Naomi tells her, holding both her Mom and Kayla once she hears Kayla begin to cry as well.

"We'll figure this out, okay?" Naomi continues to say, reassuring her Mother that they’re not going anywhere after learning all this.

"We just need time..." Kayla adds in, trying to remain strong as her voice comes out thankfully without breaking.

"I understand, take all the time you need..." Trina nods at them before she begins to pull away from them, looking between them with tears still streaming down her face.

“I love you girls so much. You’re my girls, and you’re my entire world, I’ve only ever wanted the best for you…” She tells them softly as she places her hands on their faces and caresses their cheeks softly just as both girls reach for either her arm or her hand and continue to comfort her.

“We know Mommy…” Kayla is the one to answer on their behalf, giving her a weak smile to let her know that despite learning what she did today, there is nothing that will change the fact that she is still her Mother.

Once she hears Kayla’s response, Trina smiles back at her daughter, her eyelids feeling heavier than usual as she blinks a few times and exhales slowly, and it's enough for Naomi to take notice and stare back at her Mom with worry written all over her face.

“Mom…?” Naomi asks her, a small frown appearing on her face as she keeps her hands on her Mom and begins to listen carefully to her breathing and her heart rate.

“Yes, Naomi?” Trina answers, her voice coming out quiet and weak and it’s enough to confirm exactly what Naomi was thinking.

“You need to rest… your blood pressure is rising…” Naomi says softly, exhaling just as Kayla takes a step back from her Mom, worry also taking over her features.

“You’re probably light… I am feeling a bit lightheaded…” Trina answers just as he places a few fingers on her temple and sighs heavily, not wanting to hide the way she is feeling from her daughters.

“Come on…” Naomi encourages her, carefully leading her to her bed just as Kayla follows along carefully, watching as Naomi pulls back the duvet and helps her Mom take a seat, reaching down and removing her shoes for her before she lifts her feet onto the bed and begins to cover her, stepping back and staring down at her all while standing beside Kayla.

“Try to relax Mom…” Naomi tells her just as Kayla takes a few steps closer to her and wraps her hands around her soothingly.

“We can bring you something to eat then you can sleep after...” Kayla mumbles against her mother’s shoulder, just as Trina wraps her arms around Kayla and exhales slowly, being more than relieved that they are no longer upset with her after everything they found out.

“I’d appreciate that. Thank you…” Trina nods against her shoulder just as Kayla does the same and pulls away from her Mom, stepping back before giving her a small smile.

“Of course...” Kayla answers her.

She’s glad they were somehow able to sort out this mess. Obviously, they will need to speak about this at another time, when their Mother is able to handle a conversation with this much emotional turmoil, but in the meantime, she knows she can’t be upset with her. All her Mom has ever done is provide and care for her. She knows she loves her and Naomi, and has always tried to protect them… even if it meant keeping the truth from them. But now this has only made things a lot more complicated, especially if Alpha Allison is somehow involved in all of this…

It only gives her more initiative to meet up with her, and Alpha Mackenzie and Nate... seems they have a whole lot more to discuss now.