The Prices I Pay ((MIKE ZACHARIAS X ERWIN SMITH X OC))

Chapter 25

The sound of heavy rain beat against the windows as Silica absentmindedly packed Lucas' baby bag. It had been a week since Brutus was sent to Mitras, and Silica had still neglected to go through with any of her plans in regards to meeting her father. Her mind had been racing with thoughts of him so often that she had grown numb to them, and busied herself with distractions to avoid them altogether.

"Mama?" Amelia's voice put a stop to Silica's thoughts, and she looked up upon hearing her knock on the open doorframe. She had a parcel hugged against her chest.

"What is it, sweetheart?" Silica asked, brow perked as Amelia inched slowly into the room.

"I know you've been busy and all, and I didn't wanna stress you out," she began, and as she spoke Silica stopped what she had been doing to grant Amelia her full attention. "But... um..."

Ama trailed off as she stopped in front of her mother, and without saying another word, she held out the paper-wrapped package in her hands. Silica didn't say a word as she looked down toward it, and tentatively took it from her.

"What is this?" Silica asked. The parcel was lightweight and plush, signifying that whatever was inside was made of fabric.

"Just open it." Amelia said adamantly as she scuffed the bottom of her shoe against the floor. She still didn't look Silica in the eye.

Silica pursed her lips at that, and without anymore questioning, she untied the string that kept the parcel closed.

"Amelia Jane, what the hell is this?" Silica choked down the angry bubble that formed in her throat, and her grip tightened on the trainee uniform that sat in the package.

"I got fitted for the uniform a few weeks ago," Amelia explained quickly. There was a waver in her voice when Silica looked at her; bewildered. "No one approached me, I went to Erwin and I made him swear not to tell you, so please don't be upset with him!"

"Why would you fit yourself for this now?" Silica threw the uniform on the bed and placed her hands on her hips. "There's still a year —"

"Six months," Amelia cut her off, and the gesture made Silica suck in a deep breath of air to steady her temper. "Six months until I have to go off to training camp. I had to do it now and I had to do it on my own because I knew it would be hard on you... but I had to tell you about it eventually, so..."

"Your gear..." Silica said quietly after a moment of silence. The look on her face was hard to decipher.

"What?" Ama asked timidly.

"Your gear," Silica repeated. "Have they... assigned your gear yet?"

"Um, no, but that's the next step." Amelia chewed on the inside of her lip.

Silica was quiet again as she turned back to packing Lucas' bag. "I'll take you in for that, then."

"Mom...?" Amelia leaned to the side to try to catch her mother's eye, to no avail.

"We'll talk about this later," she said. Her tone sounded hard. "Mike will be here for Lucas any minute."

"Oh, um..." Ama looked down after grabbing her uniform from the bed. "Okay..."

Silica didn't look up as Amelia scurried into the hall, and kept her hands busy when Ama turned to offer her mother one final glance before disappearing down the stairs. Once she was sure that Ama was out of earshot, she slowly stopped what she was doing to shut the bedroom door.

She rested her hand on the knob and stared at the floor, and the tight feeling in her chest continued to coil as she stood there. The hot sensation of tears stung her eyes, and before she was able to stop herself, she was falling to her knees with her face buried in her hands. The sobs that wanted to rip their way out of her were choked down, and her body trembled so horribly she felt as though it may never stop.