Through Love Alone

21: Mother Dearest

"Clara, this is Bizzy, my mom," I prompted.

"Hi Clara, It's nice to meet you," Bizzy said, taking her hand.

"It's nice to meet you too," Clara smiled.

"Alright, I'm gonna go get us some drinks. Clara, do you want anything?"

"No thanks," she replied.

I quickly hurried to the kitchen, leaving Bizzy and Clara in the living room together.

I returned to the edge of the living room to hear the two talking. I decided to listen in for a moment before making my presence known.

"I like art class. That's my favorite," Clara said.

"Oh, well that's nice. Well, you mentioned you had a new teacher. Why did you have to get a new one?"

"Oh, um. Well-" Clara started to explain.

"Here you go Bizzy," I quickly interjected, handing my mother her drink.

"Addison, do not be rude. We were having a conversation."

How was it only twenty minutes of her being here and I already wanted to shove her head into the pillow.

"Oh, I heard. Has Clara shown you her artwork? It's amazing! It's hanging up in my room if you'd like a tour of the house," I offered, attempting to quickly change the subject.

"I would love that," Bizzy replied, surprisingly pleasantly.

"Alright then," I smiled. "Clara, do you want to show her your room first?"

"Sure," she said, standing up to leave the way.

*

A little while later, we made our way down to the beach to get some fresh air. Although, I have to say, I needed air less than I thought I was going to. Bizzy was very good with Clara, and it was kind of nice to catch up with her and hear what she's been working on.

I watched from our towels as Clara made her way down to the water in her pink bathing suit, leaving just Bizzy and I up on the sand.

"So, Clara's very sweet," Bizzy started.

"She's incredible."

"Yes, she is. She reminds me a bit of Archer when he was little. Very quiet, but very polite. I tried to raise you two well like that," she added.

There was a moment of small silence. I just watched her look out over the ocean.

"But you will never have raised her to be the person she is. Yes, you're here now. But I just think- I don't know. Isn't it a bit too late to be considering herself your child. She doesn't even call you mom. I mean, she's lovely. Really Addison, she is. I just don't understand why you would choose to adopt. Much less adopt when you're all alone."

I didn't know what to say. I knew it. It was too good to be true. The extra shoe had to drop at some point.

"You know what Bizzy. Taking in Clara and being her mom is the best decision I have ever made. And it was a decision. I chose this. I chose this for myself. And I know that now is the right time because what better time than right now? I have waited and waited for my prince charming to come. But he's not coming. I have myself. And that's no thanks to you. All I can do is give Clara the best life possible. And I am her mother. I am more her mother this past month than you have been to me in years."

"Well then, I suppose I should go."

"Yes, yes you should. Go say goodbye to my daughter," I demanded.

She nodded, walking down to the water to say her goodbyes to Clara. I immediately headed into the water with Clara. We splashed until sunset. Just Clara and I. My kid.

*

It wasn't until Clara went to bed that I could finally let it all out. My tears silently spilled out onto my face, as I stared unmoving at the ceiling.

I finally composed myself, reaching over for my cell phone, and pressing the only contact I knew could truly comfort me in such a situation.

"Mer?"

*

Clara POV:

Bizzy left early yesterday. While I didn't know why she left, I honestly wasn't bothered. She wasn't terrible to me, just not someone you would think of as a loving mother. Definitely nothing like Addison.

I'm working on getting dressed to go out shopping with Addison today. She said that it was special Christmas shopping. I've never been before, so I'm super excited. I pulled out my red sweater to put on, since red is supposed to be festive I think. I'm mostly excited to get to pick out things for my friends though. I've never gotten to do that before. But this year I can get gifts for Sofia, and Addie, and Amy, and Emily, and Cora, and Scarlett. I just want them to know how much I love them.

*

"Alright, we're here," Addison said happily, as we pulled into what looked like an outlet mall decorated with many Christmas lights.

"Wow."

"Pretty right?"

"Very," I replied.

"What do you think? Should we get cocoa first? It's good juju," she said, smiling back at me.

"What's juju?" I asked.

"It's like good vibes. Good luck. Just good stuff," she laughed.

"Well then we should get some!"

"Alright then," she laughed, getting out of the car.

When we stepped out of the car, the sounds of Christmas music immediately filled the area. Addison's face immediately lit up, and mine did too.

"Amy told me you love Christmas," I smiled.

"I certainly do," she winked.

We stepped first into a small bakery. It was nice and warm inside, and smelled lovely. It smelled kind of like Meredith. Lots of cinnamon. I think that's a holiday smell.

"Look at that," Addison laughed, pointing to the small gingerbread house in the display case. "Isn't it cute?"

"Yea," I smiled. "Cora and I actually made those last year on Christmas. Well, she mostly just ate the icing. But I made one!"

"Do you want to make one again this year with Cora? I'm sure that's something we could arrange."

"Really? Definitely!" I replied, excited.

"All right then," she smiled.

*

We spent some time drinking our cocoa in the bakery, before traveling out to do some real Christmas shopping. The shops were all similar to the bakery: small and festive. But each one was a little different. There were stores with anything you could imagine: cookware, books, baby clothes. There was a store just for clothes too, and for jewelry. We even went to a store just for candles!

Addie helped me to pick out gifts for all of my friends. She was quite good at coming up with gift ideas! I picked out a squishmellow for Amelia so that hers and mine could be friends when she came over. We even got her a teeny tiny record player. I think it's very cute.

We continued to shop around for a bit, when I came across a gold bracelet with an "A" charm in the middle. It immediately caught my eye, and I think Addie would love it.

"Can I get this too?" I asked her.

"Oh that's so pretty! Is that for Amelia?"

"No, I want to get it for you mom."

A/N: I hope that the sweetness was appreciated after the Bizzy ordeal! I'm really loving writing the little sweet moments. I'm curious: where do you guys work? I just started back at my lifeguarding job for the summer today! Hope you guys have a great weekend!