Time Makes You Bolder (Sequel to No One's A Fool)

Chapter 18

"In the end it was Lori and Joe who got me to start fighting."

"Huh?? Lori and Joe?!" Wrenna exclaimed, a mixture of surprise and confusion on her face. The rest of the younger generation in the room perked up too, surprise on all of their faces. Gabe was sitting forward in his seat, and Wolf had his mouth open, looking at Stevie.

"Oh yes. He came to see me in rehab and brought papers from his attorney. He said he was going to take custody of you if I died, and he would make sure you never saw my family again. Imagine my shock when I found out Lori had put him up to that." Stevie explained. Wrenna's mouth hung open, looking to her aunt for confirmation. Lori's face was solemn.

"I had to, Wrenna. I was desperate." Lori said, recalling the moment she had finally been honest with Stevie, about a year after rehab.

They had been talking about that time, and Joe's visit came up again. Stevie said she still wondered how Joe knew she had even been in rehab – Don and Waddy and anyone else connected to him had always denied that they'd told him. Lori took a breath.

"Stevie, Joe wasn't the one who came up with the idea for him to visit you in rehab. I was." Lori admitted. Stevie felt as if the air had been sucked out of her chest. With wide eyes, she started at Lori.

"What?" She asked, as if she'd misheard the woman.

"I called him. And then he covered for me and acted like it was his idea, so that you wouldn't get mad at me." She confessed.

"Lori, why would you do that? He scared the shit out of me. I thought I was dying., and then I thought he was going to take Wrenna too."

"I did it because I thought you were dying too." Lori snapped. "We ALL did. Mick called me crying. He said he was scared. This was after I visited, and you told me to take good care of Wrenna. I thought you were going to fucking die in that center! And Birdie wasn't going to have any parents. And all I could think-" her voice broke, and she took a moment to compose herself. "All I could think of was that if someone threatened to take Wrenna from us, maybe you would try to live. So you can be mad at me all you want, that's fine. It was a low blow – yes, I know. But I was trying to save your fucking life AND Wrenna's." She went quiet, her lips trembling, tears running down her face. Stevie softened.

"You know," she said, her voice quiet now. "I don't think you've ever told me how much it affected you. I don't think I've ever seen that or realized it until this very moment. I just... I took it for granted that you were going to take care of Wrenna. I didn't know it was traumatizing you too."

"You're my sister, Stevie. And Wrenna is my niece. And every single night I had to watch her cry because she missed her mom. I had to listen to you apologize, because you didn't think you were going to live. How could that not be traumatizing? Maybe there was another way to get through to you, but I couldn't think of anything. After that visit where I told you to think of Wrenna, and you told me Wrenna would be fine with Chris and I, I just knew I had to call him. It was my Hail Mary." She explained, still wiping her tears. Stevie stood and went to her, wrapping her arms around the woman, which brought a fresh wave of tears.

"Thank you for saving my life, Lori." She whispered. "Because that's absolutely what you did. You were right – the only thing that could have gotten me to fight was thinking Wrenna wouldn't be okay. After he came up there I woke up. I had to come back for her. I understood that. I owe you my life."

"I told you when you got back, you didn't owe me anything. You came home and mothered Wrenna. And you never once relapsed. I knew you wouldn't, I didn't even worry about that. I just wanted you to live. I wanted Wrenna to have her mom."