The Link

Chapter 17 - Sam

Rose joined us three days later. She was a day late while trying to find someone take care of her house while she was gone. It would be difficult to describe the happiness in Natalie when the car pulled up. Her whole face glowed, and I enjoyed the forceful kiss she gave me before running out to meet Rose.

"I think I'm done with driving," Rose said sternly as she climbed out of the driver's seat. She moved like someone older, lacking confidence in her physical abilities. Her words and eyes were as sharp as ever, but I could see her body was less so. Natalie ignored it and smothered her with a hug. Rose smiled at me over Natalie's shoulder. All her blustering about not wanting to be seen as weak had faded away. I knew she was exactly where she needed to be. Exactly where Natalie and I wanted her to be. Teegan gave a yelp in my arms, reaching out to Rose. Her private welcome.

"I'm glad you came, Rose," I said, smiling as I struggled to keep Teegan from jumping out of my arms. Rose separated from Natalie and enclosed my head in her hands.

"I'm glad I'm here," Rose said, then kissed my cheek. She then repeated the process with Teegan, who sent out a blast of pure joy. I saw Natalie bite back a laugh at the emotion. We shared a very pleasant look, knowing that the bond was growing stronger in both of us. It should have scared us. Instead, it seemed natural and was comforting.

"Oh!" Rose said, "she missed me." Her hands were still cradling Teegan's face. I saw Rose's face flush a moment later, and her hands dropped quickly to her sides. "And you two have gotten a lot closer," she said quietly. Her grin told me it was expected and not a bad thing in her mind.

"We have," Natalie admitted, taking Rose's hand, "very close."

"Good," Rose said nodding her head, "that means Teegan has a family. Every child needs a strong family." Memories of my drunken mother invaded. I cast them away and replaced them with Rose's confidence. There was no reason I needed to repeat the past. Natalie's strength would never allow it. I would never allow it.

I handed Teegan off to Natalie and gathered Rose's luggage. Rose was home, and by the way she was slowly walking, her last home. She never wanted Natalie, or me for that matter, to see her deteriorate. I smiled and promised myself I would remember her as I first saw her, vibrant and the smartest woman I had ever met. The disease will do what it will, but it would never infect my memories.

Rose was a skilled taskmaster. The course I signed up for, college algebra, was designed to be taken at your own pace. It was a lie. It was taken at Rose's pace. I have to admit, I started the course thinking I was a complete scholastic idiot. There was little I remembered from high school math, and I let the frustration grow. Rose refused to let me falter and even used guilt to drive me harder. She always smiled when she laid it on thicker than motor oil.

Natalie, bless her sexy heart, would whisper things in my ear to keep me motivated. Rose's guilt, Natalie's promises, and the need to be strong for Teegan all merged into the motivation I needed to gain the necessary confidence. I was three-quarters through the course when I realized that Rose wasn't on my case anymore. I found I missed it, so I slacked just to hear her softly remind me of my duties.

It was childish of me to desire the attention. My upbringing was so starved of it; I found I craved it from Rose. Somewhere along the line, she recognized my need. She replaced her now unneeded badgering with leaning over my shoulder and verbally acknowledging what I was doing. For the first time in my life, I was the teacher's pet. It didn't matter to me that I was her only student. For the first time in my life, I felt not stupid.

We were snowed in the day I received my first complete grade. A link to my report card came in my email. I stared at it for a good while before I clicked. I knew what it had to be, the results from the tests and homework only pointed to one grade. The final had felt so incredibly easy. Still, I was nervous and refused to let anyone know it had arrived.