All Roads Lead Here (Laurinah)

Chapter Three

Times have changed and times are strange
Here I come, but I ain't the same
Mama, I'm coming home
Time's gone by, seems to be
You could have been a better friend to me

- Ozzy Osbourne

***

Three hours before Her...

Dinah's zooming past the booths, taking everyone's orders as fast as she can without pressuring the customers at all. It's just her luck that Clara needed her during the lunch rush because apparently, her daughter's on her way here to town. Almost a week of Dinah waiting and helping Clara prepare and decorate her house, all the while calming and reassuring the woman's nerves whenever she gets a little overwhelmed and hysterical at the thought of her daughter – who she had been estranged to for years – coming to live with her.

And now finally, today is the day.

The day of her daughter's arrival. In three hours exactly...

It's odd but Dinah somewhat felt excited to meet this girl – a girl that had no idea Dinah existed at all – but is the reason why Dinah spent an entirety of her weeknights in Clara's house, preparing for her arrival. It felt like Dinah is meeting a celebrity, or royalty.

This chick better be worth it.

The door bell chimes and in comes Ally, who is luckily available to take over her shift.

"Ally!" Dinah says in joy, finally releasing the breath she didn't realize she was holding. "Thank you , thank you, thank you! Sorry for dragging you here on such short notice. Clara just needs someone with her right now... and you know."

Ally pats her hand and smiles that smile that everyone in town loved. She takes out a box from her bag and hands it over to Dinah. "It's really no big deal, girl! These are Clara's favorite brownies, maybe it'll help her calm down some. Send my love to her, okay? Now, get your big ass outta here!"

Ally playfully slaps Dinah's behind, which earned a squeal of surprise from the younger girl and some laughter and a playful wolf whistle from some of the customers who had seen their exchange. Dinah laughs cheerily along with Ally. She really did love everyone in this town; they were like one big family. And today, they are all going to have to welcome a new addition to their family.

Dinah takes off her apron and shoves it into Ally's arms, then kisses the older girl's cheek whilst murmuring grateful words.

She runs out of the Diner and straight to Clara's. Dinah's out of breathe and her heart's pounding so loudly that she could hear it drumming through her ears, she feels herself shaking in anticipation – why was she feeling this way? Dinah didn't quite understand it yet but she definitely knew that whatever she's feeling right now isn't just because she's running.

***

Twenty minutes before Her...

Dinah snatches Clara's cup of coffee from her hands once again.

"That's not gonna help you, Clara," Dinah scolds, pouring the coffee down the drain. She goes straight to the coffee maker to throw the rest away so that Clara wouldn't be tempted to get another cup, which Dinah will just eventually take from her again.

"No!" Clara stops her. "She... She likes coffee."

Dinah freezes, then composes herself and places the kettle back on the table. Clara's daughter is still a sensitive subject and if Dinah were to be completely honest, she sometimes got annoyed at Clara because the woman had to come to terms with her emotions; her daughter's going to live with her for god's sake!

Really, Dinah had no clue – nothing – on Clara's daughter. No background. No pictures. Not even a name. Clara refused to disclose any information at all... just that the daughter is living with her for whatever unknown reason.

The mystery of it all added to the suspense and increased Dinah's anticipation to meet this girl that she had grown accustomed to calling 'the daughter.'

"Hey," Dinah approaches the anxious woman and holds her hand tightly. "Clara, it's going to be alright, okay? You're daughter wants to live with you! That's a good thing, yeah? Don't you think so?"

"I know she hates me Dinah. I haven't seen or spoken to her for six years. It doesn't even feel like she's my daughter anymore – I don't know anything about her. I don't even know what she already looks like!"

Dinah rubs Clara's palm in an attempt to calm her.

"I just feel so guilty. I feel like a terrible person, no, I am a terrible person."

Dinah vigorously shakes her head. "Nope, not to me you're not! You might not have been a good mother to your real daughter but you have been like a mother to me. And if you are the person I've known for the past three years – which is a good ass person with a kind loving heart – then I'm sure your daughter will find it in her heart to forgive you."

Clara grins widely, the tips of her eyelids brimming with grateful unshed tears, and suddenly, her arms wrap around Dinah's frame tightly. "Thank you Dinah. You mean so much to me, child."

Dinah hugs her back.

They were quiet for sometime before Clara looked at the younger girl like she wanted to spit something out, and she did eventually.

"Dinah, have you forgiven your mother?"

Dinah freezes. She realizes that Clara must've only been asking this question to reassure herself, not to offend Dinah in any way. She gulps, a cold feeling engulfing her whole system at the mention of her mother.

"I do... I realized that I have forgiven her, because she's still my mother, Clara. That's a mother's bargaining chip. I'm positive your daughter feels the same."

Before Clara could respond, the sound of a car arriving on the driveway interrupted them and then followed by a weak honk, but enough to catch their attention. As if their talk hadn't happened, Clara's hands immediately turn cold.

Five minutes before her...

She rushes to the window and gasps. "Dinah..."

"Yeah?" Dinah stands next to Clara and spots a plump dark haired man step out the car.

"It's my husband. Oh god, she came here with Mike," Clara says weakly. "Dinah, I think you should go for now."

"What?" Dinah exclaims. "I'm not leaving you, you look like you're gonna faint!"

"I'm fine. Just... please? You can leave through the back door, don't let them see you." Clara almost pleads to her and although Dinah feels a tad bit disappointed that she isn't there to witness the family's reunion, Dinah thought it best to give them some privacy.

So she gives Clara a hug and a pat before leaving through the back door.

A minute before her...

Dinah circles the backyard, jumps over the hedge and into the neighbor's front yard. She decides at first to keep going, but her curiosity gets the better of her so when Dinah gets to the other side of the street, she turns around in order to just get a glimpse of Clara's mysterious daughter.

On the other side, Mike is there, Clara's husband according to her. They are already almost to the door, so really all Dinah could see are their backs but she couldn't be mistaken.

A second before her...

There she is.

Dinah's heart suddenly plummets to her stomach, not in disappointment but more of sadness, because there's Clara's daughter – the back of her black-haired head visible, and she's wearing this cheetah coat – and she's unmistakably being pushed by her father. In a wheelchair.

Clara's daughter is in a wheelchair.

***

Here's another chapter! I'm trying to get as much chapters out as I can before school starts. Drop a comment or vote 'cause it makes me a happy kid :)

Have a great day, reader :D

- Nicole