Labor of My Love

Five

The rest of the morning passed in awkward silence, except for the occasional scrape of a fork across a plate. Often Rae would look up to see Daniel looking at her, and she'd quickly drop her gaze and try not to worry about the fact that she felt her face heat up. When she really thought about it, Daniel scared her. The way he watched her as if he was waiting for her to remember to do something she had forgotten to do made her constantly on edge.

Finally, she couldn't take it anymore, and she made up her mind to pull Evelyn for a girl-to-girl talk.

"Hey, what's going on around here?" Rae asked in a low voice after pulling her aside.

Evelyn gave a short laugh. "What do you mean?"

"Something's off, and it has to do with me. Please, tell me why I'm here," she persisted.

Evelyn glanced around the corner of the doorway to make sure that there was no one else around. "Look, I'm sorry... I- I know it seems weird, but I promise we're not trying to hurt you. Nothing's probably going to happen, alright?"

Rae glanced around. "I'm not convinced."

Finally Evelyn gave up and huffed, "I'm going for a walk. Care to join me?"

"No," answered Rae, tone suddenly turning icy. "No, would not care to join you."

Evelyn shrugged. "Suit yourself then."

Rae stood silent as Evelyn pushed past her, out of the hallway and right through the front door, not bothering to put shoes on.

As the door slammed shut behind her, the room quieted down noticeably. So much for getting answers, Raegan thought to herself glumly as she stepped around a pair of small leather combat boots in the entryway. But off to the right, a strange murmur reached her ears, and slowly her eyes grew with the realization that she and Evelyn may not have been the only ones in a private conversation.

Normally Rae would have left them alone and minded her own business, but under the circumstances, she decided it was only fair that she got a few questions answered. Curiosity wrapping around her conscience like the tendrils of a vine across a tall trellis, and she couldn't resist the urge to listen in and know what was said on the other side of the wall.

Slowly, Rae crept across the wooden floor, gingerly placing the toe of her foot down first in case one of the wooden floorboards decided to creak and give her away. As she pressed herself up against the side of the thin door, she heard the voices of none other than Martha and Daniel, and by the sounds of it, they were not in agreement over something.

"I can't believe you, Martha. I mean, really, just look at her! A pathetic, lost, wandering and impulsive child," Daniel hissed.

Then in a similar hushed tone, Martha responded, "Last I checked, I was the one running this House, not you. I we may have found our girl, and don't you dare ruin this chance, as it could be one of your last."

Rae's pulse quickened as she realized they were talking about her, and before she could stop herself, she let out a small but audible gasp. The voices in the other room suddenly went silent, and Rae covered her mouth with both hands and froze, barely daring to breathe.

After a pause that seemed to last for an eternity, the conversation continued when Daniel's angry voice rose above a whisper, and he snapped, "I refuse to accept her! I refuse to lose her like we lost Rosalyn."

"What happened to Rosalyn was an accident. We all knew she wasn't the one, we all knew she would fai-"

"No," Daniel cut her off. Rae could tell he he was trying to sound strong, but there was an unmistakeable waver in his voice. "Don't."