little bird // r.keene

xi. mom.

Robby and Wren sat together on fold out chairs in the garden of his mom's rehab center. Daniel and Johnny had been right, as soon as Wren told him what happened and about how his mom wanted to see him, he had wanted to go immediately.

They waited two days, emailing Shannon on Wren's phone to let her know when they were coming and so there they were. Sitting side by side with a table in front of them, an empty chair on the opposite side of the table for Robby's mom, who was yet to arrive even though she lived there.

The whole scene set Wren's teeth on edge, anyone could recognise Robby, both of their faces had been on the news.

The guilty and the hero. How far from the truth Wren knew it was.

But also, she couldn't help but see that this was the kind of place her father ought to be. The tranquillity, the resources, the support it provided for people with all sorts of problems with their lives.

She knew Leo could use it.

Though he would never go by choice. And until he wanted to, until he was willing to try and pull himself together and pick up their pieces of his shattered life, Wren just hoped he stayed away.

Robby looked over at Wren and noticed she began to clench her fists on her lap, digging her nails into her palms so he reached out and placed a calming hand on hers. Her gaze snapped to him, letting him know he pulled her out of a swirling train of thought.
"It's going to be okay."  He told her and she bit the inside of her mouth.

"I don't like this." Wren confessed, looking out behind them, towards the gate to see a tall women with sandy brown hair walking towards them, "Is that her?" Robby looked over and saw his mom, he stood and Wren mirrored his actions but remained still when Robby went to hug her.

"Oh, my boy, Robby, I'm so happy to see you." She gushed, placing her hands on his shoulders, smiling.
"I'll give you two a minute." Wren said gently and went to walk past them but Robby held out an arm for her.

"Wait, mom, this is Wren." Robby glanced between them both, "Wren, this is my mom."  The women looked at each other and Shannon stepped forward, a small smile plastered on her face.

"So nice to meet you, Wren." She leaned in and wrapped her arms around Wren's shoulders, Wren tensed up slightly at the display of affection but found herself awkwardly placing her arm on Shannon's back to return the gesture. "Thank you so much for taking care of him." Shannon whispered lovingly in her ear before pulling away.

"Nothing he wouldn't do for me." Wren glanced at Robby and her gave her a knowing look. A loving look. A look Shannon didn't miss. "I'll let you two catch up." Wren told them both and made her way out of the gate to stand just outside behind a wall that overlooked the parking lot.

She thought about taking out a cigarette but reassessed since she was in a place all about giving up things like that. So instead she began to fiddle with her lighter in her hands, flicking the zippo open and shut.

Shannon seemed nice to Wren and she knew she cared about Robby, the uncontained joy on her face when she saw him told Wren that. But still, she couldn't push from her mind when Wren had showed up at Robby's apartment with Daniel and there was no electricity and he was living off cereal.

She couldn't picture it being the same woman. But Wren cast that thought away, everyone had done bad things, things they regretted, herself included. Wren knew she would be a hypocrite to judge Shannon on that and so didn't.

Suddenly, she found herself wondering what her own mom was doing at that very moment... They hadn't spoken in months and months. Not a postcard, or a letter, not even a call or a text. Screw the time gap between LA and wherever her mom was in England but that was just that, Wren wasn't even sure where in England her mom was.

That was how little they spoke at all in the weeks before she moved abroad. They had been close when she was young, going to play mini golf and movies on rainy days. Playing cards in diners and helping Mr James stack books, her mom lifting her up when she couldn't reach the shelves.

But in those last few months before she left, her mom became more distant, more cold. Maybe it was to make leaving easier. Maybe it was because Wren was growing up and was beginning to look more and more like her father in her mothers eyes.
Which she found to be an ironic theory since she thought her father hated her because she looked like her mother. But that was all it was: a theory. Mom simply drifted away, literally and metaphorically and Wren didn't even know why. It bother her even more that she wasn't even desperate to find out.

She had learned to look after herself because of her parents and sometimes she thought she was better off for it. But then, sometimes, on those bad days that everyone gets, Wren wanted to be hugged and looked at like Shannon had looked at Robby.

But she knew, deep down, that asking for something like that was simply asking for too much.