Failure of Glory

Chapter 10

Her moment was cut short when the doorknob began to jiggle. Jolie pushed herself up out of her seat and in front of the mask in an attempt to hide it. She splayed her hands out to cover as much as she could and put the most innocent-nervous looking smile she could muster.

Naomi walked in rubbing her eyes, expecting to find Aaliyah messing with her older sister's things. When she walked in and saw Jolie in the most unnatural standing position she had half the mind to turn around and go back to bed but instead she gave her a small smile, wanting to know what she was up to.

"Hey mom," Jolie said slowly. "What uh... what are you doing here."

The clouds in Naomi's mind instantly began to clear and the sound of her daughter's voice. She had expected to be ignored or sent out of the room and here she was starting a conversation.

"Um well." She walked towards her cautiously, afraid that Jolie would make her leave at any moment. "I saw the light on. I didn't expect you to be in here," she said honestly.

Naomi's brows furrowed as she scanned the room, trying to make sense of this system that her daughter loved so much. All she saw was a mess but as her eyes landed on her daughter she saw her in the calmest state she's ever been, despite her awkward stance. She carefully stepped over the piles of metal and wires to stand in front of her daughter so that she could take in her workspace as well.

Naomi loved that her daughter had finally found something that put her mind at ease. She had seen how tense her daughter could be, she had been there for all of the monsters under the bed and anxiety and the scary voices in her head. Then one day she picked up an old engineering book and it all flew out the window. There was no room for monsters or anxiety or scary voices in her head because her head was filled with dozens of solutions to one problem. Her head was filled with science and math and it was sparking but it was good.

Naomi tried to peer around Jolie's body to catch a glimpse of what she was working on but Jolie angled her body to further block Naomi. Naomi squinted suspiciously at her daughter and tried to go the other way, only for Jolie to block her again.

"What are you doing," she interrogated, leaning in closer.

Jolie thought about her answer, thinking that telling her the truth was the worst possible choice. "Dancing," she said but it came out as a question. Jolie swerved in front of her mothers view once more.

"Jolie," Naomi warned. "Move... now."

"Ok, alright. But before I do, you have to promise that you won't tell dad."

Naomi nodded in response and Jolie moved out of the way, the mask under the lamp light now on full display. Naomi gazed at it in amazement, she had yet to see Jolie's first mask and she was so incredibly proud that her daughter created something out of practically nothing. Naomi looked down to the discarded wires and scraps of metal on the ground, she couldn't comprehend how those became this wonderful thing in front of her.

"Listen don't-don't get mad okay. I know that I'm not supposed to be in here and I know that you guys think that this is a waste of time but for once-"

"I don't think that this is a waste of time," Naomi interrupted.

"What," Jolie breathed. This whole time she had thought that her mother shared the same views as her father. Jolie's eyes pricked with tears as she saw the sparkle of pride in her mothers.

"In fact I'm-" She took a deep breath. "I'm very proud of you."

A smile broke out across the young girl's face. She couldn't believe the words she was hearing and she was ready to sob but this situation was already a lot and she needed it to release some tension. "Proud of me for going behind your back?"

"I'm glad you did," she whispered. "I mean look at this. I've heard you talk about your mask before but this is better than anything I could have ever come up with," Naomi praised, picking up the mask.

"Well it isn't exactly done yet." Jolie pulled the mask back from her mother and placed it in the middle of them. She held her closed palm out to her mother, Naomi looked at her in confusion. Jolie opened her hand to reveal the last peace; the pebble. "Would you like to do the honors?"

"Oh no, I couldn't. What if I mess it up," she queried.

"Well if you messed it up now... and I mean no offence by this, you'd have to be pretty stupid," Jolie laughed, hoping her mom wouldn't take it seriously. "Just stick that piece." She pointed to the piece in Naomi's hand. "In that square shaped space." she pointed to the back of the mask.

Naomi took a deep breath and bent down to be level with the mask. She didn't want to ruin the mask and lose the progress that she had made with Jolie. With bated breath she pushed the small piece in until it clicked.

"Nothing happened," Naomi worried.

"Just wait," Jolie chuckled at her mothers shaky state. Jolie bent down with her mother and pressed the twin buttons before pulling her back up straight. "Now watch."

The girls watched in amazement as the lavender light began to form the circle around the mouth piece. While Jolie watched her creation come to life her mother stared down at her, tears forming and falling. She was so incredibly proud of little Jo Jo but it also became abundantly clear that in two weeks she would lose her sweet girl forever.

As Naomi watched the circle come to its end Jolie stared up at her with tears of her own. She was so incredibly happy that her mother finally saw things the way that she did. She recognized the light that shone in Jolie's eyes whenever she was engineering but it also became abundantly clear that in two weeks she would make the hardest decision of her life and possibly lose her mother forever.

And as the lavender light completed its circle they both had a new understanding.

The pebble had made its ripple.

AUTHORS NOTE- not gonna lie I teared up writing this scene. It was really important to me that Jolie and Naomi cleared the air before all the big stuff happened.