Making It Up As We Go Along

19. The Scarlet Witch

Elizabeth's POV
The entire ride, I texted Ashley. I had no clue what I had to do to get Nellie to talk to me, to get her to care about me again. Although Robbie and my sister kept telling me it was the right thing to do, I felt like I should have just kept it hidden from her. I was scared, frankly I thought she would never talk to me again and that she would ask to be adopted by someone else.

Robbie tried to be there for me, I know he was trying. My thoughts just kept unwinding, however, and I needed to get it out of my head.

"Robbie? If it's okay with you, I'm gonna call Ashley." I tell him, grabbing my phone.  "Yes. Do whatever you need Lizzie, keep in mind Nellie is  taking a nap right now, so, try to keep it down a little." I nod and call Ashley.

A: Hi Lizzie, how are you doing?
Me: Not great. Like I told you earlier, she hasn't talked to me.
A: Lizzie, I'm so sorry. You did the right thing though.
Me: *sighs*
A: Lizzie, come on. She's going to talk to you at some point. Maybe ask her some questions, get a conversation started?
Me: Ashley, are you sure?
A: Of course I am. I'm your older sister, I know what you need to do.
Me: I want to do something to engage her, something she'll like, maybe talk to her about something she likes?
A: She likes WandaVision right? Talk to her about Wanda.
Me: I can't talk to her about Multiverse, now that she's mad at me she'll spoil the entire movie on social media and I'll loose my job.
A: Then talk to her about other Wanda things. You've been playing her for seven years, you definitely have some stories to talk about that aren't related to the new movie.
Me: You just gave me a good idea Ashley!
A: Yes, you're taking my advice?
Me: I'll stop at a comic shop and buy her House of M!
A: Lizzie! You can't just buy her love.
Me: Uh huh.
A: Lizzie, come on sis. That'll just make her happy to read it, then she'll ignore you again.
Me: I'm going to get her House of M, Ashley, and you're not gonna stop me.

I hang up and tell Robbie to stop for lunch.

"Lizzie, I really think you should listen to Ashley. She knows what she's doing." Robbie advises. "She knows what I'm doing? Ashley's never been in my situation Robbie!"

"Lizzie, what do you mean situation?" "No one I know has ever had to deal with their own child hating them! Ashley never had to deal with getting a child back and then having that child hate you."

Robbie rubs my shoulder and looks me in the eyes. "Lizzie, babe.  First, she doesn't hate you. Second, I'm not saying you can't get her House of M, but, just know that buying her love won't do anything."

I eat some curly fries that Robbie got me with my wrap for lunch and then go into the Comic Book shop that was conveniently located next to the restaurant.

I walk in and can feel the guy at the counter's glaze fixated on me. I ignore it and go over to the Marvel section to find the Scarlet Witch comics. I find the House of M series and grab them. I then fish my credit card out of my bag and walk over to the counter.

I see that two teenage employees had joined the guy at the counter when I get there.

I hand the guy my credit card to pay for the comics, but he resists it.

"Mrs. Arnett, you can have them for free. You bring her to life, so, as a thank you from us, have it for free." The guy says. "No-no, I can't possibly do that."

"Of course. We are all fans of Wanda, go ahead." I nod. "Thank you sir." I drop a $100 bill into the tip jar and smile at the three.

"What's your name sir?" I ask him, wanting to thank him by name.

"Michael. This is Bella and Caitlin." He said, motioning to the girls. "Well thank you Michael, Bella and Caitlin. Thank you so much."

Michael asks me to sign some of the Scarlet Witch comics, which I happily do. Before I head out, Caitlin turns to me.

"Elizabeth, thank you for everything you do. Honestly, you and Paul got me through High School. You guys helped with my mental health so much and now I'm going to college  for theatre and writing. So, thank you. Also, when I graduated, I got a vision tattoo." Caitlin tells me. "That is amazing. I'm so happy for you, best of luck." I hug the two girls, who were surprisingly close in age to Nellie and then head out.

I get into the car and hear Robbie and Nellie singing along to 1957. "Sorry to stop your karaoke party, but, I'm back."

"What took you so long Lizzie?" Robbie asked, him and Nellie turning towards me. "Well, the workers there loved Wanda, so, they asked me to sign some of the comics. That's besides the point, though. Here Nellie, this is for you."

I hand the girl the comics and she looks back at me with a shocked expression on her face.

"Mom, you didn't have to do this." "I know-I wanted to."