Nadine and Adele

Of Mothers and Daughters

The plan was for David and Cheryl to spend the entire weekend in the city; which was specifically devised to give Cheryl a small, and much needed, breakaway from the emotional turmoil accompanying the last stages of Nadine's illness. Also, it was supposed to provide Nadine with a little break from Cheryl. 

 Nadine loves her mother, and intends on treasuring whatever moments she has left with her before she dies. However, though only done with the best intentions in mind, Cheryl seems to hover over Nadine by constantly checking up on her. Nadine finds this to be smothering at times. But mostly, Nadine's hurt by the painstaking grief her mother's evidently suffering through these days. She can see the hurt seething in Cheryl every time she looks into her mother's eyes. And there are those times, especially at night when the house is quietly still, when Nadine can hear Cheryl sobbing uncontrollably.

At first, the proposal was met with great opposition from Cheryl; who couldn't fathom leaving her dying baby girl's side during this time. After much coaxing from David, Corrine, and even Nadine herself; it was Estelle who had finally convinced Cheryl that it would be okay for her to spend one weekend away...to think of it as a sanity break. Estelle admitted to Cheryl that if she could've, she, too, would've taken one or two herself when her beloved Joe was dying. She assured Cheryl that there was no reason to feel guilty about taking a brief moment for herself. Estelle said it would give her the opportunity to clear her head and re-collect her thoughts; placing her in a much better frame of mind, and thus being stronger for Nadine.

It took some doing on his part, but David was able to keep Cheryl from returning home their first night away. But late Saturday afternoon, Cheryl was insistent upon going back; and they had checked out of the hotel later that night.

As they pullup, the first thing they notice is all the cars parked out in front of their house. When they find a place to park and get out of the car, they can faintly hear what sounds like a party coming from their backyard. Cheryl instantly becomes livid, and rushes towards the house; while David keeps himself calm while walking behind at a leisurely gait.

Once in the backyard, Cheryl begins to hastily scan all the ongoing activity. She finally focuses upon Corrine and Nadine standing by a table full of food. Cheryl approaches them at a quickened pace; and it's apparent that she's highly upset.

She glares at Corrine. "What's going on here? A party?! You're having a party while your sister's..."

Seeing how her mother's unjustly lashing into Corrine; Nadine quickly jumps in to come to her sister's defense. "It's prom, Mom."

Cheryl immediately displays a quizzical look as she turns to Nadine. "Prom?"

Nadine explains, "Yeah...Adele's throwing me a prom here since I couldn't go to the one at school. Isn't it great?"

Corrine turns to Missy, commenting, "It's way better than our Junior Prom; huh?"

Missy agrees, "That's for sure."

Now appearing a bit confounded, Cheryl asks Nadine, "Adele? You're telling me Adele's responsible for all this?"

Nadine begins to look worried, as she feels that she may have just thrown her bestfriend to the lions. She hesitantly answers...

"Yeah...why? What's..."

Cheryl cuts her off. "Where is she?"

At that moment, Adele happens to walk up. "Hello, Mrs. Martin. What do..."

Adele's cutoff by Cheryl. "Adele; I'd like to have a little talk with you about this prom you've decided to throw for my daughter. Let's go inside a minute."

"Mom..."

Cheryl sharply raises her hand out to Nadine. "Ahh."

Cheryl heads for the backdoor, stops, then turns to look back at Adele; who's taken on one of her former subservient stances while looking down to the ground. She beckons her...

"Well; come on, Adele."

Adele begins to slowly follow Cheryl to the house; keeping a lagging distance behind.

Once in the kitchen, Cheryl leans against the sink and waits. Shortly, Adele meekly enters and slowly closes the door. She rigidly stands for a moment facing the door, and then slowly turns in Cheryl's direction; keeping her head lowered, looking to the floor. There's a brief moment of silence between them before Cheryl begins...

"Adele...you were very young when your mother died; right?"

"Yes, mam. I was three months old, Mrs. Martin."

"So, then you never experienced a real mother-daughter relationship; have you?"

Adele softly replies, "No, mam."

"I suppose then you wouldn't be able to fully understand just how it is I feel when it comes to my daughter."

She timidly attempts to apologize. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Martin; I..."

"No...Adele...let me finish."

Adele looks back down to the floor; softly biting down on her lower lip. Cheryl continues...

"I'm going to tell you something now...speaking to you as a mother who loves her daughter more than just about anything else in the world."

Adele braces herself for what she feels is going to be a severe reprimanding from Cheryl by lowering her head even further while burrowing her chin into her neck; looking like a puppy being scolded. But contrary to Adele's fear, Cheryl's look softens; and her eyes begin to tear a little. She gently cups her hand under Adele's chin and slowly raises her head to face her.

"Adele...your mother would be so proud of you, honey."

Adele suddenly looks both stunned and relieved as a small smile appears. "Really?"

Cheryl nods. "Really."

"Then...you think the prom's okay?"

Cheryl tenderly places her hands upon Adele's cheeks. "It's wonderful, Adele. It's the best prom ever."

At the very moment Cheryl takes her hands off her cheeks, Adele beams as a smile stretches across her face.

"Thank you." Then she excitedly informs Cheryl, "But wait...you haven't seen the best part yet. Come on." She takes Cheryl's hand and rushes out the door.