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"Would you like more tea, dear? Or coffee? Or water? Juice?" Catherine asked gently as she scanned their cabinets, looking to grab anything she could find.
"I'm alright, but thank you," Willow responded, mustering the best smile she could handle. She knew she wouldn't be able to stomach anything since Catherine called her to the kitchen, she knew this was it.
Just by her body language and her expressions, she could tell she wasn't the only nervous one in the room. Catherine held secrets Willow wanted, words she needed to hear, but it wasn't easy to just say them all.
She'd be rehashing old memories and stories she hadn't heard in ages, Willow could tell she was a little on edge, yet she wasn't sure how to soothe her. Cedric noticed both of them being nervous, wishing he could comfort both of them from his spot at the table.
"Well," Catherine held a hot red mug in between her hands, sitting at the spot in front of them. "Let's get into it, shall we?"
On the outside of the four people in this house, she appeared normal, as if this were just any boring conversation people had together. But, with the circumstances, Willow knew she wasn't fully prepared.
Willow nodded, folding her hands in front of her. Cedric threw his arm around the back of her chair, pressing his hand against her back for comfort.
"You know, I didn't want to be the one to tell you this since it's not my place to, I hate to disrespect your mother, but I also don't think it's fair to you. It's not fair that your father gets to treat you like this when she swore she'd never do the same to her own."
Willow's eyebrows knitted together in response, staring at her as she shook her head, and then took a long sip of her tea.
"It's no secret that your Aunt was in a similar boat as you, yes?" Willow nodded her head. "When that happened, when they disowned her, it gutted your mother. Tore her apart, it was all she talked about for a while."
"She never understood how they did it so quickly and how they'd just let someone they all loved go like that. That was until they nearly did it to her. You remember how I told you in my letter that your father wasn't the first man she loved?"
Willow nodded again, but slower this time. It was as if time began to slow as Catherine took another slow sip as if she were taking it all in one second at a time.
She knew what she was about to say would change a lot for her, was she ready? Would she understand? Would it be too much?
She no longer had a choice. Cedric was her choice.
