The greens.

Contrition

Brisa smirked. "What did he look like? Was he cute?"

"Bri! girl have you not seen your uncle?- wait never mind you haven't." Buttercup snorted before continuing. "Well, cute would be a violation for him. He's just hot-"

"OooOOh-

"Ok, I'll stop."

"NO!" Her aunt's life was seriously undiscovered. Brisa needed to know why her aunt was so anti love.

"Well... he has such gorgeous green eyes. Dark ones. They compelled nature even. You don't have to view scenery when you look into them." Buttercup paused to give a small shy smile.  "I didn't need to go outside to see plants, I had those to look at. But then again he had such black luscious hair that fully contrasted life."

"He seems like some sort of mysterious biker model."

"Oh darling, you ain't kidding."

"Was he fun?"

"Yeah such a sweet soul." Brisa couldn't help but admire how nicely her aunt was smiling, all flushed and red. "Y'know sometimes he'd be sweeter than your dad, but he always held such a hard façade on the outside. It was tough initially to melt into his icy surface, but then again we were both like that." The way her aunt was rambling about her uncle was really wholesome. All her life Buttercup only kept to herself. So it always made the teenager wonder.

"You two are really alike then." Brisa noted with a smile.

"Mhm, I guess it's a counterpart thing." 

"You must have really loved him  huh?" 

The grown green clad woman shifted in her spot and took a sip. "Still do kiddo, I don't know where he is or how he is or who's he with, but I hope he's okay and happy."  The same hint of sadness was laced in the puff's voice again. Under her mumbles, Brisa didn't almost catch what she said. "Even if it's not with me.."

Brisa felt her chest ache at those words. "He's a jerk for leaving you." She grumbled.

A pained chuckle. 

"Same, both of us walked away from each other before it blew into something damaging because we were too stubborn to discuss about the matters of our child. But we both knew we would end up physically hurting each other. It's in our nature."  Buttercup choked out, having the need to shove it off her chest after all these years.

Child?! 

Brisa's throat clogged up, her mind whirring. Just then, her aunt let out a sigh, letting her fingers rest on her stomach. Where maybe a loving bump would have grown. Where a tiny baby could have filled the void in her empty life.

"They'd probably be 13 by now." Buttercup abruptly cut in. "Bri, you would have loved them." Hot tears filled in the blue eyes; she didn't know why. Never has she ever been told this.

Brisa somehow managed to choke out the words. "Y-you're pregnant?"

"Used to be once."

Rage swarmed her chest. "And he left you because of that?! What a jerk! I'm sorry, but I hate him even more now. Why aunty! Why would you give them away?" A tear fell from her blue eyes, but she quickly eradicated it. Why Buttercup was so composed right now honestly worried the blue puff's daughter.

Oh.. her eyes were glossy too.. It must pain her as well.

"He.. didn't leave me because of that.. he got angry because he thought I aborted it. He believed the rumours going around and just lost it. T-trust me, he's a good guy, he would have supported me if I kept it or not. He was just furious that I didn't share the decision with him and that I killed a part of him. I tried explaining it to him, but he wouldn't listen and let his emotions get to him. We got into an heated argument and we just... stormed off. Haven't heard from him since." 

In shock, Brisa silently clamped a hand over her mouth. She would have had a cousin... her cool aunt would have made a cool mother..

"Why would you abort it?! I know it's your choice but... why hasn't anyone told me about this? Actually I don't expect them to."

Her aunt's levelled voice coolly cut through. "I didn't abort it sweetheart."

A tear dropped, "You gave them away, didn't you?"

A heavy sigh broke out and she was about to fall heavily. "N-no... I had a miscarriage. I got shot in the stomach while I was doing my job.."

'I had a miscarriage'

'I got shot in the stomach'

Buttercup spoke again, emotion filling her voice. Yet her face completely stoic and dry. "Please.. don't tell your mom or anyone else. There's a reason why I didn't tell them. I don't need questions to prod me about bringing up the past." She exhaled downwards. "I wouldn't be able to tolerate this or tell them the real reason on why Butch left... everyone's questions would.. break me.."

Finally Brisa started to notice some visible reactions from the usually hard core puff. 

She was shaking.

her bottom lip trembled.

She was about to cry...

"I'm wondering why you trust a kid like me over your sisters..."

"You don't ask heart breaking judgemental questions."

"Oh." That's all she could muster.

"You make up for my lost baby in a way.. I feel like I can let it go when I'm with you. Almost like you temporarily lift my problems away." She started playing with the threads of her trousers. "I didn't really have any reason to keep going, but when your mom passed me the small blue bundle to me, your face... that welcoming gurgle and smile... gave me a bit more to keep going for..."

And she understood her aunt's incoherent babbling. Her green eyes lulled with unshed tears.

With a shaky, but teary laugh, the woman digressed the conversation. "Eh, enough about me, do you want to get ice cream and play monopoly like the old days?"

Selfish brat. She was trying to go off track.

"No aunty BC, if I'm being honest with you, you really need a shoulder to cry on. And you're welcome here." In hope, she opened her arms wide for her aunt. Brisa waited for her rude remark on how it wasn't needed. Although, that never came.

"C-can I?" The 38 year old desperately looked at her, looking so vulnerable and broken like a small child. Buttercup threw her heaving body into her arms.

It wasn't weird having a 38 year old sobbing hysterically in the arms of a 17 year old.

You can only take so much.