Convincing her

Diane sat on the sofa in her room and Jen stood in front of the window. She looked outside seemingly absentmindedly but her thoughts were racing a mile a minute. The snowy view outside made her experience a sense of tranquillity.

Diane silently watched Jen from the couch and even though she appeared calm, she was actually very nervous about what was to come. After another ten minutes of silence, Diane finally opened her mouth to say something.

"How is university?" she asked, breaking the suffocating silence in the room.

"It's amazing," Jen answered after a momentary pause.

"It's good to hear that you are having a good time," Diane said as she looked at her perfectly manicured nails.

"I wish I had been able to go earlier, I might have enjoyed it more, I'm older than most people in my class now," Jen said as she turned around to look at Diane who had been nervously playing with her fingers the whole time.

"I… I don't know what to say," Diane muttered barely audibly.

"I can understand your disinterest in business and that you took a step back once you saw that things were working out as the days went by. I can also understand that you only had eyes for dad, so you were devastated by his passing. But why did you do that to me?" Jen asked as she folded her arms In front of her chest. Although Diane could not see it, Jen's hands had become white from how tightly she had clenched them into fists.

"Jen I-" Diane started but was interrupted.

"No, let me finish," Jen said, and Diane kept quiet. She knew to stay silent because she knew fully that she was the one who had wronged her daughter this time. If she wanted to vent, then it was better if she did.

"I understand you lost the person that you loved even more than your own family. And that for him, you gave up everything. But mom, I lost my father. He wasn't just anyone to me, he was my father. How could you blame me? I did everything I could to bring him back! I tried everything! I just wanted everything to go back to the way it was! I couldn't even properly grieve grandfather's passing before all of these things happened. Do you have any idea how I felt when I was running around looking for ways to get dad out and getting shunned over and over and over again? I thought money would have been enough, but there were obviously people who did not want him to get out and all the connections I had from before had disappeared into thin air once dad filed for bankruptcy. I put everything on the line. My previous relationship also went to hell, just to be blamed for everything. How could you?" Jen asked as she finally made eye contact with Diane.

She felt her eyes sting, so she furiously blinked to stop herself from crying. How could Diane not notice how hard she was trying to hold back her emotions?

She stood up from where she was sitting and went to stand before Jen. She held her face that looked so much like her father's in her hands and used her thumbs to wipe her tears.

She had felt guilty after what she had done before, but that feeling was even worse now after Jen had said everything that she wanted to say.

"I'm sorry, baby, hmm?" Diane said as she too tried to control her emotions. At hearing her mother apologise, Jen couldn't hold it in anymore and completely broke down in tears.

It was not the sobbing that she normally did when she was with Lucas. What started as light sobbing turned into heart-wrenching cries. Diane could only silently embrace her and stroke her hair in comfort.

"I couldn't grieve mama, it felt like I had a hole in my chest," Jen said as she beat her chest with her fist with every word. The hands that had been folded in front of her chest grabbed onto the sides of the dress Diane was wearing as her cries grew even louder than before. Seeing her daughter cry like a wounded animal, Diane could also feel tears trickle out of her eyes. 

Jen lost whatever strength she had in her legs and started sliding down to the floor. Diane followed her down to the floor and cradled her as she cried to her heart's content.

She had cried before when she was with Lucas, but it was different now that she was with her mother. Her mother's scent, combined with the familiar feeling of being hugged by her slim arms.

Diane stayed like that for the next twenty minutes as she patiently comforted Jen, whose crying got less and less violent. At some point, she got silent while sniffling occasionally, but Diane could still feel her tears soak her dress. 

"I'm sorry Jen, mom is sorry for not being brave enough," Diane whispered with a shaky voice as she unconsciously rocked back and forth and continued to comfort Jen.

Jen had not released the hold she had on her the whole time she was crying, so Diane had been sitting in the same position for a while. Jen was finally able to get her emotions under control 

"I didn't think I would cry this hard, I made a mess," Jen said once she saw how she destroyed her mother's dress with her tears and makeup.

"It's alright, don't worry about it," Diane said as she gently tidied up Jen's hair. There was a moment of silence as Diane tried to fix Jen up while Jen obediently let her do what she wanted.

"Are you alright?" Diane asked as she searched Jen's face for any signs of distress. Jen nodded and showed Diane a small smile to reassure her.

"Are you feeling better here?" Diane asked as she placed her hand over Jen's heart. Jen nodded and held her mother's hand.

"You need to fix up your makeup, you look atrocious," Diane said with a chuckle as she looked at her raccoon eyes.

"You too, your eyes are so red," Jen said as she wiped a stray tear on her mother's cheek.

"Hurry and get up, we've left them alone for too long," Diane said as she encouraged Jen to stand up. Jen stood up from the floor while wiping her tears, but paused when she noticed that Diane was not moving to get up.

"Is something wrong?" Jen asked as she stretched her hands to help her up.

"My legs fell asleep," Diane said as she laughed at herself helplessly, lightening up the mood even more.

"Okay, let's get you up," Jen said and started making effort to actually get Diane to stand up.

*

"They should be alright right?" Jake asked Alex, who was sniffling next to him.

"Yeah, it should be alright," Alex answered as she looked towards the upper floor. 

Earlier, when Jen was crying like it was the end of the world, they could hear her, and Alex could not contain herself. Lucas had to fight the impulse to up and see if she was alright while Jake sat stiffly with widened eyes.

It had been quiet for a while, so Jake started getting impatient. He knew he wasn't the one who had the hardest time with this whole situation, but he was not used to tiptoeing around at home and being careful about what he talked about when he was with family, so it was not easy for him either.

"I'll be happy as long as they made up," Alex said, her blue eyes still shining with tears.

After another fifteen minutes, they heard the door upstairs open and then close, followed by the sound of heels coming down the stairs. Soon enough, Jen appeared before them and Lucas moved forward before anyone to check on her.

"Are you alright? How are your eyes so swollen?" Lucas asked as he thoroughly looked at her worriedly.

"I'm fine," Jen said with a laugh.

"Did you think I would eat her?" Diane said from behind her. She had changed out of her heels and was wearing comfortable flip flops after Jen insisted that she did not need to strain herself so much since they were home.

"No ma'am," Lucas said in surprise. He hadn't noticed that she was behind Jen since she walked so silently.

They all noticed that she had changed out of her clothes but were tactful enough not to say anything about it.

They all went to the living room and spent another hour talking there, with Lucas doing most of the talking since Jen had looked drained from when she had returned from her mother's room.

"I think I should go to bed, I'm a bit tired," Diane said when she saw how Jen had fallen asleep on Lucas.

"Oh, then we'll have to go first," Lucas said and subtly moved, waking Jen up.

"Make sure you come again to visit," Diane said as she walked the two of them out together with Alex and Jake.

"I will when I'm in town next time mom," Jen said as she hugged Diane, then Alex and Jake.

"You should also come visit," Diane said to Lucas with a stunning smile.

"I definitely will," Lucas said as he too got a hug from her family.

"Are you still cold?" Lucas asked Jen as they walked to the car. Jen nodded, and he unhesitantly took off his coat and wrapped it around her.

"I hope it works out," Diane commented as she watched the two interact.

"Now you should ask her directly whenever you are curious about them," Alex said as she pointedly looked at her mother.

"You… where did you learn that attitude?" Diane asked, baffled.

"From the best," Alex said and cheekily smiled at her. Now that she had resolved things with her sister, she didn't have to act restrained in front of her mother anymore.

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