Always

13

Holly emerged from the lavish closet with a selection of dresses for the young lady to try on, having told Beyoncé as much as she could about the occasion the 12 year old was about to attend Holly had agreed to let her choose her dress... to an extent. If Mr or Mrs Knowles found out that the young Lady had chose it instead of Holly then there would be all hell to pay and Holly hadn't been in the mood for it that today. So, she chose three dresses and gave the girl the opportunity to pick one of the three. 

"Holly?" Beyoncé turned to look at the woman and smiled brightly, "What will you be in my wedding?" She grinned a little before throwing herself onto the bed and taking the dresses from Holly's hands looking over them. Feeling the fabric pretending to be some sort of professional in the dress deciding business. 

"I don't know, Honey but we have so much time until then" She kissed Beyoncé on the forehead and winked briefly, "You can get married whenever you want but make sure you have your life sorted out first because men are not the most important things in the world. People who believe that are just stuck in the past and have nothing better to offer. We're not Dog's, we don't need to swear loyalty to a master from the moment we're pronounced female" Beyoncé looked up at Holly with a little bit of confusion, of course the young girl didn't dedicate every moment of the day to becoming the perfect wife but it was a very big part of what her parents had been teaching her. For Holly to go almost completely against that scared her, it made her think she really knew nothing about the world. "The thing about life is to always work toward something and be better than before, keep moving and keep striving for greatness and that does not necessarily mean striving for a husband, although... companionship can be a great thing" Beyoncé sighed and shook her head a little, 

"So I shouldn't aim to find a husband?" She asked wearily, 

"Whatever happens will happen naturally, one might just fall into your arms any second; men come and go the same way women do. People lie and abuse but the right person will be out there for you but your priority list shouldn't be topped with this person... it should be topped with you. What do you wand? Where do you want to be? Why? Who do you want to be? As an Individual what impact will you have on the world?" Beyoncé smiled and nodded her head agreeing with Holly and her logic, despite it's contradictions it still made a lot of sense to the young girl while her mother's targets just confused her. Why did she need to cook for a man anyway? Couldn't he do it himself? Why did she need to wash his clothing? They were nice things to do for someone and could become completely normal and routine but they weren't mandatory in any way. "You have so much more time, don't worry if you get married at 79 because I'll be there" She joked lightly, 

"You better be" Beyoncé held up her smallest finger and interlocked it with Holly's. 

  Beyoncé  POV

I paced up and down in the waiting room of the hospital waiting room. The floors were white tiles matching the white walls with there bulletin boards  but the small couches were blue and uncomfortable. The reception area was full of people so I gathered it was a busy night for the hospital and so things may be going slower than wanted but that didn't calm my nerves at all, the doctors rushed in and out of the rooms all sprinting past us and Holly's been in surgery for hours now but we've heard nothing. My hands were shaking, my breathing was fast, my eyes were in so much pain from all the crying and I was hot. Burning hot. So hot that I began to feel cold. 

Holly

She needs to be okay, she can't not be okay. It's impossible. It's wrong. That's not how things were supposed to happen, she was supposed to be fine and live to be a hundred years old still telling me the things she told me when I was 5 or when I was 9 and even in my dreams when I was 18. She's my mother. I don't care if she didn't give birth to me and I don't care if she's white and I'm black. She's my mother, never in my life have I been so certain about anything like I am with this. Holly Winters is the woman who raised me and cared for me and held me when I cried, she gave me foundation and the strength I needed when I couldn't get it from anywhere else. Even if she was still so young when I was born, even if she was just doing her job, even if she hated working for my family I don't care because she's mine. She can't leave me.