Invited

Forty-Two - Chevelle

"Things seem to be going okay now. There's been a lot happening in a short period of time," I said. "Beyond all of what I shared about...
Wicken..."

The leader of my small support group, Brandi, nodded. "And that was dramatic enough, as it is."

I relayed parts of the story of going home to Earth. I gave a glossed over version of what had happened to Timber. It wasn't my place to tell everything. In order to understand my feelings, I had to share at least part of it. I never thought I'd dig the support group thing, to be honest. Therapy always sounded weak and for people who couldn't get a handle on their lives. But being able to talk stuff out to ears that were unbiased and just wanted to listen without any kind of opinion was helpful. My mom was there, but she promised she wouldn't say a word no matter what she heard come out of my mouth.

When I finished talking, I felt a weight lifted off of me.

Delia, the closest thing to a female friend I had on the ship, whistled. "I don't know how you can do it. And you're pregnant? Eesh. That's a lot of stress. Is that healthy?"

"Probably not." I'd been thinking the same thing. Was the stress healthy? If it wore me down when I was normal, what did it do to me with a baby growing inside of me? What did it do to the baby itself? At the same time, could I turn my eyes away from everything? Just move on with my life? That seemed wrong to me. In fact, that would probably be even more stressful. Deep down, in the back of my mind, I would always hate myself for not trying.

"I wish there was more we could do," Brandi said. "I've been trying to think of ways to help, and I'm coming up dry."

I gave a weak smile. "It's the thought that counts. Things are getting a little easier at least because I'm not in the apartment alone. Along with Timber, I have Nathan."

"Oh, Nathan," Zoe, another regular of the group swooned. "I've met him."

Raising an eyebrow, I shifted my gaze toward her. "That so?" I'm not sure how I felt about him having girls swooning over just the mention of his name. No way I would tell him or Timber about it.

"We had a date," she said. "He was quite the gentleman."

"It's not fair. You always get the nice ones," Delia pouted.

I almost pointed out how most of my other situation wasn't all too fair either. She'd gotten paired up with a jerk, so I understood her issues. For whatever reason, the two had decided to try and make their companionship work. If I was her, I would have kicked him to the curb a while ago. I got this vibe that maybe they were in love with one another, only they didn't want to admit it.

Part of me wanted to ask more about the date. It couldn't have been bad if Zoe was giddy at the mention of his name. The only reason I wanted to know anything was because I wanted to understand the guy better. Was he only a complete jerk to me? I could handle it to a point, but there was little he'd done to show me a redeeming side – not outside of taking care of Timber, that is.

She could gush another time. It was my mom's turn to talk.

"Thank you for letting me sit in on your group," she said, her voice quiet.

"Of course," Brandi said. "You're welcome to join us anytime. How are things going for you? I know it has only been a few days."

Mom nodded. "They're all blurring together, the days. I've been having a hard time adjusting to the way the days pass. It doesn't quite line up with my natural clock."

"That's normal. You'll get used to it after a few weeks."

"How can I request for a different living arrangement?" Mom asked.