Family Line // B. Wayne

nine

 The door buzzed robotically and slid open. Lily looked up from the cool metal table and smiled at the woman entering on the other side of the plastic. Estella Vasquez perked up at the sight of her oldest daughter and sat down quickly. They grabbed the phones at the same time and held it to their ears.

"Hi, mija," Estella said softly. "You look so grown."

"I saw you two months ago, Ma," Lily chuckled. She was a spitting image of her mother with similar dark hair, dark eyes, and copper skin. Only a splash of freckles across the bridge of Lily's nose and Estella's aged appearance truly differentiated them.

"You look good. Tired, though. And a bit skinny. Are you getting enough sleep? Eating?"

Lily chuckled. "Yes, Ma. Promise. How are you?"

"Good as can be considered. How's Nadia? I haven't seen her in a while."

"Med school." Lily couldn't stop the smile that spread across her face. "She moved to Metropolis a few weeks ago and started medical school. She said she'll visit over Christmas break and tell you all about it. I think she was scared to leave at first, but she sounds like she's doing good."

"My daughters. One a scientist, the other a doctor. Oh god, this is every mother's dream. I'm so proud of you two. How are you, baby girl? Still working?"

"Yeah, still at Wayne Enterprises. I've been thinking about leaving though and getting my PhD. It's a crapshoot but who knows. Might be fun."

"Ay, mijita, you need to start believing in yourself."

"It would be a risk and Nadia would have to take out more loans."

Estella held up a hand to interrupt her. "You've always been so selfless, Liliana. Please choose something for you for once."

She pressed her fist against her lips and bowed her head. Lily gave her a moment to compose herself. Her mom raised her head, tears streaking down her cheeks. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I just...I didn't make it easy on you, did I?"

"How can you say that?" Lily bit out. "How can you sit there and say that when you and I both know the truth?"

"I was the adult. I was the parent. I should have done something sooner. I should have left sooner. Lily, you can't blame yourself. Please. Look at me."

Identical brown eyes clashed. "You were not the one at fault. The blame is on me. Please know that."

"Does the pain ever stop?" Lily's voice broke and she pressed her forehead against the glass. "The guilt? The rage?"

In all of her memories of her childhood with her Ma and Nadia, there was a shadow clinging to the edges that Lily refused to let in except on her darkest days. He stood there, belt in hand and venom on his tongue and rage in his green eyes. Estella met Gregory Callahan when Lily was two. He was charming and funny and brought toys for her daughters. He promised her a new life in Gotham after the death of her husband, Lily and Nadia's father.

He lied.

She hated wearing tank tops because people cast sympathetic looks on her once they saw the lines of puffy, raised skin. When Ma wasn't home and he set his eyes on Lily or Nadia, she bore the brunt of his anger with a silent suffering. Nadia learned to read Lily's face from a young age. Whenever she looked at her little sister with a tender sadness, Nadia quickly disappeared to hide in their closet, covered under a pile of blankets so she didn't have to hear the sound of the belt striking her sister's back.

When Ma was home, Gregory made her lips swell, her eyes blacken, and her arms bleed from hits. Lily would hide in her room with Nadia clutched to her chest and her dresser in front of her locked door as she listened to her Ma's sobs.