Shore Leave

First's... Again

Day Eleven

It had been a full week since they came home from the hospital and everything seemed like it was going alright until two days ago. Mia's memories seemed to come to a screeching halt. Before she was getting little flashes or she would say something, but it had been two days since Ailis had seen any of her Mia trying to peek through. Mors was wanting to go back to school, missing some normalcy and Mia asked to go with them to drop him off at school. The drop-off had gone well, but Mia was just staring out the passenger window on the drive back. Ailis glanced over a few times in concern.

"Hey, how ya feeling this morning?" She asked gently. She was really trying not to worry, reminding herself healing wasn't always linear.

"I'm alright, how are you more importantly?" Mia asked.

"I'm craving Dutch Bros," she answered with a smile. "It's a newer coffee chain, and sometimes we'd go after dropping off Mors because it's on the way and neither of us like getting out of bed at six am to take him."

"Yeah, sure, do I get anything without caffeine there?" She asked.

"Yeah I got you covered," Ailis said.

"Thank you. Beth sent me an IM yesterday. My parents keep calling the hospital trying to get my number."

"We can change it again if you'd feel more comfortable. Can I ask you something?"

"What's up?"

"Would you really go with them? If you for some reason don't get your memories back?" She asked softly. "Because you don't have to."

"I wouldn't leave you trapped in a marriage- I am not the person you married and if they don't come back then-"

"Then I help you set yourself up in Seattle and just get you to fall in love with me again," Ailis said, swallowing down the fear. "It only took me one night, I think I have a good shot. I'm not trapped in this marriage, I'm here because you're my soulmate. I may not believe in God much but I do believe in souls, and with or without your memories you're still Mia," she glanced at the woman. "You left your family because they were bad for you, and while I do selfishly want to keep you around, this is also me trying to respect the decisions you made for yourself. If- if something happens and you really decide you don't want to be with us anymore, I'll understand that, but you can't go back to them."

"What did they do? Rae said that she wants you to tell me," Mia asked. "What could they have done that was so terrible?" Ailis took a few moments, trying to get her thoughts.

"A little bit before your confirmation, honestly I'm guessing right after you lost your memories, you had the realization that you were a lesbian. It was a rough one, and then you decided from there that you didn't want to get confirmed. You didn't come out right away, just slowly coming to terms with it and exploring it. I think maybe your parents caught on or just freaked out about you changing your mind, and that's when they started pushing you toward Ken. He was ten years older than you, a volunteer at the church you guys went to. You entertained the idea for them and let him take you on a few awkward dates. You even slept with him just to be really sure. Shortly after that, you moved to San Diego, needing to get away from them so you could figure yourself out. You didn't cut them off yet, just kept that at arm's length. You were going to school for coding and billing, and one night you went out and met a sailor woman in a bar," Ailis smiled at her, clicking her tongue and pointing at herself.

"You got pregnant with Mors, and your parents lost their shit. You weren't sure how they heard about it, but you think someone told them. They hired a private investigator to find you. Then sent Ken to San Diego and gave him your address so he could marry you and 'make you a proper woman' in the eyes of the church. You kept rejecting him even though your parents put more and more pressure. They'd all convinced themselves Mors was Ken's child and that you were going to be his proper little Catholic wife. You managed to hold them off until Mors was born, and you got the paternity test done proving the kid wasn't his, it was mine. It caused a huge fight. Your parents were pissed that you got pregnant, and tried to double down on the marriage to Ken, going as far as to start planning the wedding and setting it up with the church. That started another fight where you ended up coming out and telling them I was a woman, which only angered and confused them. That's when your father spilled the beans," Ailis looked over at Mia sadly. "Once you two got hitched, your father would become a very wealthy man, getting a massive shareholder stake in Ken's businesses, nearly half from what you told Rae. They were selling you to Ken for a business deal, he wanted a wife, and they wanted wealth. That's when you cut contact, blocked them, even changed your number, and moved again. I'm sorry, Mia," Mia took a few moments.