Another Life (emison)

Chapter Thirty-Five

"Mommy?"

"Yes, baby girl?"

Alison paused in her washing up duties and glanced at her daughter, who was sitting on the counter next to the sink.

Estella had a small frown on her face, one very akin to Emily and it made Alison smile. She let her daughter piece together how she wanted to say whatever it was that she wanted to and busied herself with the few dishes they'd used for their takeout.

"Mama, why do you need to help that girl?"

Alison glanced at Estella.

"Because she needs me to, Stel," she replied quietly. "She doesn't really have anyone else to talk to."

"But...why her? And why you?"

Alison stopped cleaning the wine glasses she and Emily had been sipping wine from earlier that evening and dried her hands on the dishcloth next to her daughter. She picked her up and walked to the living room.

Once they were comfortable on the couch, Alison spoke, "Are you getting jealous again, baby? 'Cause I thought we kinda cleared that all up yesterday?"

Estella shrugged. "I know you love me, Mommy. But doesn't she have her own mommy to talk to?"

"She does, but she's scared to talk to her."

"Why?"

Alison took a breath. She was coming up to those crossroads again where there were big neon signs alerting her to the possibility that this might be a little beyond her daughter's understanding.

"Because she doesn't think her mom will like a part of her," the blonde eventually said.

"Which part?"

Emily came out of the bathroom at that point, towelling her hair dry. She saw Alison sitting with Estella and felt the slight tension in the room. She raised an eyebrow to her girlfriend, who simply held a subtle hand up to say that she had things under control.

At least she hoped she did. She didn't want to scare her daughter, but she didn't want to make her feel isolated again either.

That age old question popped into her head: How much is too much?

Emily cocked her head in acknowledgement and continued into the bedroom.

"Stel," Alison began slowly, "you know that I try and tell you as much as I can, right?"

Her daughter nodded.

"Do you remember when you asked me about Emily and I said that there were some things that I thought you might not necessarily understand?"

Estella nodded again.

"I'm worried that this is another one of those things. Um, Chloe is dealing with a pretty big development in her life and she came to me because I went through the exact same thing when I was in high school."

"So she thought you could help her?" Estella asked.

Alison nodded.

"Mommy, if it happened to you, why can't you tell me? Is it a secret?"

"No, baby," Alison said quickly, smiling. "You know I don't keep secrets from you."

"You are now." The reply was almost whispered, but Alison caught it.

"Ok," Alison said, realizing that this conversation needed to happen, whether Estella understood all the intricacies or not. She needed to soothe her daughter's mind and if this was the only way to do it, then she would. She couldn't go through another ordeal like she had the previous day.