Chapter
14
Mariah
woke up not knowing where she was. She expected to be in her hospital room and
was afraid when she realized she wasn't, but she remembered that she had been
discharged from the hospital the day before and was back in her own home. She
was finally sleeping in her own bed.
Mariah
lay back thinking about what happened last night. She and Brian returned from
the beach and on the way they picked up Chinese food and a movie to watch.
Brian helped her unpack as well. He left around 11 so she would be able to get
a good night's sleep. Mariah smiled at the memory. She hadn't had so much fun
in a long time.
Mariah
heard the front door open and she quickly ran downstairs.
"Hi
sweetheart!"
"Mom!"
replied Mariah. "How are you? What are you doing here?"
"I
couldn't make it back yesterday and I felt so bad, so I came back today to
spend some time with you. I can't stay too long.
"That's
great Mom, it's so good to see you!" Mariah gave her mother the big hug.
Mrs.
Henson staggered backwards as her daughter came plunging into her arms.
"I
can't stay too long though, I have to leave in 2 days."
"Mom,
why can't you just stay in one place?"
"Mariah,
you know about my job, I just can't stay in one place."
Mariah
knew about her mother's job all right. She hardly saw her mother, but her mom's
job was what was paying for her to be able to go to college.
Mariah
told her mother about everything, about Selwyn and Brian.
"Sounds
like a fine young man." said Mrs. Henson with a smile.
"He's
great, Mom. I hope you get to meet him before you leave."
"Me
too." replied Mariah's mother.
They
spent the whole day together. They went to the mall to shop for new clothes for
Mariah, and they went to the theatres to watch a movie. By the time they
returned home, both were exhausted.
After
they had finished watching a movie they rented, Mariah's mother grew quiet.
"Mom?
Something wrong?" inquired Mariah.
"Well,
honey...I've been thinking...well, I think..." she took a deep breath,
then said, "I want to sell the house and move to Los Angeles."
"Why?"
cried Mariah.
"Because
we don't need such a big house, and I'm hardly here. I'm usually in Los Angeles
for business most of the time. I've even got a rented apartment there provided
by the company. So I figured we might as well move up there."
"But
Mom, I don't want to move. I want to go to school here, all my friends are
here."
"Well,
honey, I'm going to leave that choice up to you. You're old enough to live on
your own now. I can leave you this house if you want or we'll get you a nice
condo or apartment. You live close to the beach. Just like you always wanted."
"But
Mom, I won't be close to you anymore," replied Mariah in a quiet voice.
"I
know honey, but as I said the choice is up to you. If you stay here, I'll come
back to visit as often as I come back to visit now. So, it won't really change
anything. The only thing changed is that you'll have your own place to live and
this house will be sold."
Mariah
kept quiet, thinking long and hard. She finally said, "I want to stay here
Mom."
"I
thought you would, Mariah. That's absolutely fine with me."
"The
only thing is, can we keep this house? Like you said, it's no different from
anything right now, right? Only thing is, you'll be living permanently in Los
Angeles."
"Well,
I see your point. I guess we could keep the house, but don't you want to live
closer to the beach, a place smaller than this so you can manage?"
"No
Mom, I grew up here. I don't want to give it up. Besides, I'll feel like I'm
leaving Dad behind if we sell this house." Mariah's voice began to
tremble.
"I
understand. We'll keep the house then."
Mariah
and her mother sat up a while longer talking about the changes that were going
to happen. Mariah realized though, that things wouldn't be that different from
what it was now. Her mother was gone so often that it made sense for her to
move to Los Angeles where she usually works, but now Mariah really felt like
she was on her own.
***
