First Love

Truth

Chapter 4

       Patience and Ruth sat at the bar. Esme and Cody were upstairs in the room watching television. Patience and Ruth both had a cup of wine in front of them. Patience sighed as she leaned towards the table.

       "Is telling the story finally taking a toll on you?" Ruth asked.

       "No, it's just... bring a lot of memories," Patience answered. "I told her a short version of the story a long time ago, but this time she's older so I'm telling her more details."

       "How much are you going to tell her?"

       Patience sighed. "As much as necessary. As long as she makes the best decision for her."

       Ruth took a drink and nodded. She looked at Patience, but she looked deep in thought. Ruth smiled; she was glad she had her as her best friend.

       "Esme will never know how much you've done for her," Ruth said.

       "She'll never have to, I'm happy as long as she's happy."

       "You've been saying that since the day she was born."

       Patience smiled. "I still remember holding her for the first time like it was yesterday. I can't believe time flew by and now we're here."

       Ruth smiled. "Yeah, you cried."

       "Of course, those were some hard nine months. You cried when Cody was born too."

       Ruth smiled wider. "I love that brat more than the world."

       Patience smiled. She was proud of the mothers that they turned out to be. They finished two more cups of wine and headed back upstairs. They woke up early in the morning and headed towards their next destination, UC Davis. Once Patience started to drive, Esme couldn't wait to hear the rest of the story.

       "Continue the story!" Esme pled.

       Patience smiled. "Well... during the summer I was taking college online classes," she said.

       "She forced me to take some classes too!" Ruth said from the back seat.

       "That made a difference in our transcripts, you're welcome!" Patience laughed. "So, we got very close during the summer. We got to know each other better. He took me to some of his favorite mountain views and other places. My hiking skills got better, but I never learned to love it. There were days when I would go to the coffee shop to do some homework and he'll go with me, even if he didn't always like it." Patience smiled at the memory.

       "I have bad news," Patience said as she turned in her assignment. She and Carlisle were at the coffee shop. He looked through his phone as he waited for Patience to finish. He looked up from his phone and waited for her to continue.

       "Kelda and I are going to go visit my mom for a week," Patience said with a sigh.

       "So, what's the deal with your parents?" Carlisle asked. "You always avoid talking about them. I haven't even met them."

       "I didn't force you to introduce me to your parents," Patience replied. "Which by the way, it was really awkward."

       Carlisle laughed. "My parents loved you."

       Patience rolled her eyes and drank some of her coffee. She didn't like talking about her parents and it was because she was still mad. Carlisle stared at her. She sighed; he had the right to know.