Finding Her Way in a Storm Ch. 13-21

Lisa and Kaia had been amazingly supportive the whole time leading up to Jonathan's funeral. The single mother had clung to Skyler's side without actually seeming clingy. It was one of those instinctive sorts of abilities that most mothers possessed whenever their children, or in this case, girlfriends, were in distress.

And Kaia, well, she was indispensable to both Grace women. It had been Kaia who'd gotten a copy of Jon's death certificate for the life insurance company and arranged with the agent to expedite the process. She was also the one who'd handled the homeowners claim, filling out all the necessary paperwork and acting as a proxy for the grieving widow. All Bree Ann had been required to do was to sign on the dotted line.

There were several prominent members within the church who owned construction businesses. Kaia got with them after they'd made it known they were willing to help and gave them the go-ahead to clean up the debris that remained from the house Bree Ann and Jonathan had shared with their daughter.

When Skyler had cried to Kaia the night before the remains of her home were to be plowed up and removed, it was Kaia who picked through the rubble the next morning to search for mementos and keepsakes she might want.

Skyler had cried for hours when Kaia returned all dirty and cut up with a box full of treasures. There were family pictures of all three Grace family members posed together and several of Skyler and her father alone.

In one, Skyler and her father were sitting together on a grassy bank by a pond. Skyler was only eight in the picture, and it had been her first fishing trip with her dad. They both had fishing lines in the water and held poles in their hands, but neither seemingly paid attention to their bobber. Instead, Skyler was looking up at Jonathan, who was clearly talking to her. The expression on her face was one of awe and wonder as she attentively took in her father's words. Just beyond the bank, a late summer setting sun shone like orange fire lighting the two of them in a heavenly glow.

Bree Ann had once asked Skyler what her father was telling her in the picture, but her daughter had only offered a secretive smile in return. It had clearly been a memory that her daughter wanted to keep as her own.

Kaia had also found a locket that Jonathan had given Skyler when she was starting middle school. It had been engraved with the inscription, "Never forget that you're my heart."

The chain was too short for her now, but Lisa had taken it the next day to a jeweler and had him place it on an elegant new chain.

There was no viewing for her husband. Jonathan Aaron Grace was laid to rest in a private affair limited to just family and a few select friends. That was the way he'd wanted it to be. Despite his job's public nature, Jonathan had never liked the spotlight preferring that the focus remained on the God he'd served his entire life.

The church did hold an elaborate memorial for Jonathan that drew more than two thousand people from within the community and surrounding counties. Despite his modesty, Bree Ann's husband had been an important man to the people he served. And the effect he'd had on many lives had been profound.

For more than a week following the funeral, a steady stream of well-wishers had made their way to visit with Bree Ann and Skyler. Lisa and Kaia tried to do their best to stay hidden in the background at first, but Bree Ann would have none of it. Even then, there were rampant rumors and speculation within the community regarding the relationship between the two women and Skyler. The myriad of supposition and conjecture had nothing to do with their sexuality, of that there was no doubt. It had far more to do with who was with who? And the more salacious the rumor, the quicker it seemed to gain traction.

And Bree Ann had done nothing to quell the mindless gossip when at various times, she introduced both Lisa and Kaia as Skyler's girlfriend. Those comparing notes afterward likely found themselves more confused regarding the situation than when they'd first arrived.

After that first week, though, the word was put out that the mother and daughter needed privacy to grieve and reflect. Kaia's home quickly became a no-go zone, with the four women and Macey spending countless hours talking. No one subject held sway more than the others, at least at first, the various topics producing tons of laughter and more than a few tears.

Kaia had resumed her evenings working during the week. So, on a Thursday night, when Lisa announced that she needed to take Macey shopping for new clothes, Skyler and Bree Ann had been left to themselves for the first time since before the storm.

The two women sat at Kaia's little kitchenette table drinking latte's from the expensive new coffee machine Lisa had splurged on. Bree Ann had sat studying her daughter, trying to decide whether it was finally the time to impose herself into her daughter's love life.

"What?" Skyler asked, her coffee cup pausing inches from her mouth.

Bree Ann had bitten at her bottom lip, knowing what she wanted to say but unsure the best of ways to word it. It wasn't that she thought Skyler would be mad; Bree Ann simply didn't want to put pressure on her daughter so soon after burying her dad.

"When are you going to tell her?" she finally said, at last, deciding that direct and concise was her best avenue of approach.

She'd watched as Skyler had set her coffee cup back down on the table without taking a drink. She'd stared down into the creamy concoction and said, "Tell who what, Mom?"

"The who would be Lisa, and what would be the fact that you're in love with her."

Skyler had looked up at her mother then. There had been a clear hint of surprise in her eyes at first, but that look had quickly melted into one of defined resignation.

"How long have you known?"

"Since maybe a month before the storm. I could see it in the way you looked at her and constantly had to be touching her whenever she was around. It was evident in the way you'd light up whenever we talked about her or when you knew she was about to be at the house. But I think mostly it was in the way you finally relaxed and stopped worrying over the whole situation. I think subconsciously you knew the truth already, and that leaked out into how you were approaching things. Your dad could see it too, you know?"

"He could?" Skyler asked, sounding genuinely surprised.

Bree Ann had laughed, knowing that Skyler had seldom thought of her father as cognizant of what was going on in his daughter's life. He'd always had his head buried in preparation for a sermon or some sporting event on television. But Jon had always been alert and amazingly keen to the things happening in the periphery of his life, and even more so when it came to his deeply loved only child.

"Oh, yes. Lisa had come to drop Macey off and pick you up, and the two of you had fawned all over each other about how good you thought the other looked. Your dad's eyes never left the ballgame on television, or so I'd thought, but the minute you two were out the door Jonathan had asked me how long it would be before the two of you moved in with Kaia."

Skyler shook her head and gave a sad shrug, and said, "I didn't know, not for sure. With Kaia, it had been instantaneous, almost like being struck by lightning. One second, I'd been this majorly dissatisfied and unfulfilled straight girl, and the next, I was questioning my sexuality and utterly consumed with thoughts of her.

With Lisa, though, it snuck up on me, which I know sounds silly because it was the purpose behind us beginning to date, to start with. It's like I'd unconsciously gone into this expecting it to fail, so when deep feelings for Lisa developed, I was always trying to quantify what they really meant. I kept telling myself that I was only a "little in love" with her and that there would have to be some kind of defining moment for me to know I loved her as much as I did Kaia."

"And when did that come?"

Bree Ann stared out the back window by the door leading out onto the patio. There was a gentle breeze blowing through the trees out back, nothing like the raging wind of that night.

"When the tornado sirens had gone off, and I'd thought of the two of them alone with Macey...I love you and Dad so much, Mom. But it was in that instant that I knew...if this was going to be it...if I was going to die...then I wanted to be with the two women I desperately love when it happened."

Bree Ann watched as her daughter picked up her mug and took a deep sip of her latte. She was such a beautiful young woman and would one day make a fantastic mother, but in that glance, Bree Ann could still see tiny hints of the young girl she'd once been.

"So, back to the original question, when are you going to tell her? They both deserve to know. I can see it's on both of their minds but neither of them wants to bring it up after all that you've been through."

Skyler nodded her head and said, "I was so numb to things at first that I just couldn't deal with anything else emotional. And even once I felt strong enough, it just didn't seem like the right time until we'd buried dad and had some time to let the rawness go away. I wanted my telling them to be a happy thing and not anti-climactic to everything else going on in my life.

But I know that your right; it is time I made it official and quit leaving the two of them hanging in the wind. I just want to do it the right way. I want it to be something that they both remember."

Bree Ann had gotten on the phone that night with the friends that owned the cabin in North Georgia that she and Jon had always used. And although it wasn't yet peak time for the changing leaves, there was usually a decent bit of color by now.

The next morning she'd called the three of them in for breakfast, and once they were all comfortably seated, suggested each pack a bag. Bree Ann had explained that she'd gotten them access to a rather fancy mountain cabin for the weekend and wanted the three of them to get away. Macey could stay with her Mimi, and the two of them would take care of one another just fine, but she thought it would do the trio a world of good.

Kaia had called in sick, and by two o'clock that afternoon, the three of them were pulling out of her driveway in Lisa's luxury sedan with Kaia behind the wheel.

It was nearly three hours later when Bree Ann had first heard from her daughter. They were traveling up a winding mountain road to the cabin and wanted to thank her again for the gesture. She'd reassured them that it was her pleasure and told Lisa not to worry about her daughter. She'd then made Skyler promise to let her hear from her if anything of importance happened.

It wasn't a terribly subtle hint, but that had never been one of Bree Ann's defining attributes anyway.

Bree Ann heard nothing from the trio that Friday night, something she took as a good sign. Saturday morning, a very sleepy sounding Lisa called to check on Macey at about ten, but Bree Ann didn't hear from her daughter again until the following day just before lunch.

"Hey, Mom, it's me."

Bree Ann had felt her heart soar at the lighter sound in her daughter's voice. Skyler hadn't sounded so carefree since before that night of the storm.

"Hey, sweetie! What have you girls been up to? Are you having a good time?"

"Oh, mom, it has been almost magical. The mountains are beautiful! We went hiking yesterday. Kaia almost walked Lisa and me into the ground. We had to keep reminding her that she wasn't in the Corp anymore. And we got your bottle of champagne, which Kaia and Lisa wanted me to thank you for, along with everything else."

"Tell them I said they're very welcome, Skyler," Bree Ann replied to her daughter before asking in almost a sly manner, "And was the champagne drank in celebration of anything in particular?"

Bree Ann heard the sound of giggling at that, accompanied by her daughter squealing playfully, then the sound of muffled voices. It was a moment before order seemed to be restored, and Bree Ann heard her daughter's voice again.

"Sorry, Mom, but I was being accosted by two very gorgeous women who can't seem to keep their hands off me this morning, and to answer your question, yes, we were celebrating."

"Ooooh, so were they excited?"

"Very!" Skyler replied before adding, "I'm so happy, Mom. Lisa swears that I was smiling in my sleep last night."

Bree Ann was so thrilled by the giddy sound in her daughter's voice. She would maybe never understand the attraction, but the fact that her daughter now had two women to share her life with was comforting.

And that thought had brought Bree Ann a hint of sadness as the realization her life partner had been taken far too soon hit her. But the mother in Bree Ann forced her to push the grief she felt aside. Those mental regrets could be dealt with later when her daughter didn't need her support.

"I'm so happy for you, sweetie, and you know that your dad would be too."

"Do you really think so, Mom?" Skyler replied, her voice sounding hopeful that her father would have really approved.

"I know so, honey. Right now, your dad is looking down on us both and smiling. Your dad never wanted anything more than to see you be happy, and he and I realized that it would take Lisa and Kaia both to make that happen."

"They do, Mom, they really do!" Skyler replied. The phone went momentarily quiet before a more serious sounding Skyler said, "We've all been talking, Mom, and making plans."

"What about, honey?"

"Our future, Mom. And we all agree that we really, really want you to be a part of it."

Bree Ann's heart had swelled, her husband's words from that final coma dream coming back to her. If her girls needed her, she would be there for them no matter what.

"That sounds great, honey. We'll talk about it when you get back, okay?"

"I love you so much, Mom. You're absolutely the best."

The two had said their goodbyes then, with Lisa jumping on the phone to check on her daughter. Kaia followed her with assurances that the trio would be back safely before dark. Both of Skyler's partners in life had ended their portion of the call by telling Bree Ann how much they loved her.

Bree Ann had hung up the phone and looked down into the smiling face of Macey, who looked up at her with something akin to adoration in her eyes. The newly widowed woman had lifted the child up and kissed her neck, causing Macey to squirm in her arms as she laughed.

Not everything since that morning had been easy. Having to leave the home town Bree Ann had built a family in had been a bittersweet pill to swallow. At first, Bree Ann had felt that she was abandoning Jonathan and the life they'd carved out together. But in a moment of youthful wisdom, it was Skyler that reminded her that her dad was always with them wherever they went as long as they kept him in their hearts.

Kaia had no problem selling the home she'd updated and completely refurbished. With all of the visitors that had gained access in the time since Jonathan's death, word had gotten around quickly about the quality of the job she'd done. So when she finally did put it on the market, a bidding war had ensued quickly, and Kaia ended up accepting an offer for twenty-thousand over her asking price.

Bree Ann deposited the check from her homeowner's insurance and put the lot the Grace family home had lived on up for sale. It hadn't yet sold by the time they'd boarded a plane for California, but Bree Ann had little doubt that it would.

Church members held a goodbye party for the four women and Macey. Some of those who still had bitterness in their hearts over Jonathan and Bree Ann's acceptance of their daughter's lifestyle were conspicuous in their absence. But Bree Ann was okay with that. She hadn't wanted to deal with their false smiles covering thinly-veiled hostility and hate anyway. They could take that up with God when the time came.

California had been an adjustment for a middle-aged woman who'd spent her entire life in the deep south. The people were friendly enough, the weather always pleasant, and Bree Ann had even found a church she was comfortable attending.

And the new home that Lisa had purchased them was just perfect for everyone. It had a total of five bedrooms and four and a half baths with a large kitchen, a sizable family room, and a decent-sized laundry room that sat just off the three-car garage.

Bree Ann's room was off the oversized kitchen and was really more spacious than what she needed, an argument that had quickly been shot down by her three girls. Her bedroom was large enough to hold a California king with a room full of bedroom furniture, so it seemed quite empty with just Bree Ann's queen-sized bed and chest of drawers. Her one concession to extravagance was a lighted reading area that sat in one corner of the room. Bree Ann had stocked it with a stiff old Queen-Anne type knockoff to sit in while she read but had returned home one day to find it replaced with a tasteful leather rocker courtesy of Kaia. Rather than argue with her new daughter, Bree Ann had merely given her a hug and then walked away to hide the tears leaking from her eyes.

Bree Ann's suite had a rather large bathroom, along with a deep walk-in closet that adjoined her room. Both exceeded the ones she'd shared with Jon. It was really ostentatious compared to Bree Ann's needs, but the girls insisted.

The bedroom across the hall and just off the family room had been smartly converted into a toy room for young Macey. The three women had quickly filled it with more toys than the child would ever need.

The other three bedrooms and baths were upstairs. The master suite where Kaia, Lisa, and Skyler slept was at the far end of the hall from the top of the stairs. While the room itself was only slightly larger than Bree Ann's, that's where the similarities ended. The three women's bathroom was large enough to have its own zip code. It had a large sunken hot tub, a completely separate one person clawfoot tub, and an extensive glass-enclosed steam shower that was expansive enough to hold a ping pong table. Bree Ann didn't even want to imagine the antics the three of them got up to inside that shower.

Macey's room was just one door down from the master suite. The three of them had spent way too much money decorating it in a Disney princess theme and outfitting it with expensive baby furniture the child would soon outgrow. That left one final room for guests or, as Bree Ann was quick to point out, more grandchildren.

The backyard was spacious and green, with ample room for expansion of the house should the family outgrow the current dwelling. There was sufficient room for outdoor parties of both the adult and child variety, even if they did choose to put on an addition.

Everything was perfect.

But it wasn't home.

Still, this was her new role in life, and with Skyler, Kaia, and Lisa all with plans that would take them outside the home, that left Bree Ann as Macey's primary caretaker. Now that her child was old enough, Lisa wanted to return to her career. The beautiful brunette had already accepted an offer for a part-time position at a firm inside the city. Yes, she could afford to just play the role of full-time mother but wanted to keep her skills and connections inside the job market sharp for when Macey was finally grown.

Kaia had done lots of soul-searching and taken an in-depth look at the San Diego job market. She'd found that she was considered underqualified for most positions that caught her eye and refused anything that would take her away from her family for an extended time.

Skyler and Lisa had finally offered a suggestion that they thought would suit her needs. Why not take the remaining funds she'd made off the house she'd remodeled back in Georgia, infused with a little cash from Lisa, and start looking for another property to flip here in San Diego? Kaia would have to study the local market for building guidelines, preferences, and tenets while also getting bonded and insured. But the job itself would wholly suit her needs as well as offering her the freedom she sought to be with her family.