The next morning, we woke up quite hurriedly, took a bath together and then I started making breakfast for my dear to go to his job.
On the way, my daughter woke up while Monica kept sleeping.
"Mornin'" She yawned. "Oh, you're quite in a hurry, huh?"
"Hahaha, it got a bit late…" I giggled innocently. "Dear, how are you feeling today?"
"Good, why?" She wondered.
"N-Nothing, I was just asking." I smiled. "I just sometimes remember when you would wake up all gloomy and silent, and I was always so worried…"
"I'm fine. It is how my face looks like…" She said with a giggle. "You're always worrying too much about everything mom, calm down."
"Maybe you're right…" I sighed. "Ah! About your high school, I think you should be able to start going in about two weeks from now."
"Nice, so I got more breaks!" Elena celebrated.
"Hahaha… You better study well dear." I said. "It is a prestigious and expensive place. I want you, well, I hope that you get good grades. I'm not asking for anything out of the ordinary. I think that just a few B should be fine!"
"B? I'm not settling for something so pathetic, mom. At least A+." My daughter winked back at me. "Leave it to me!"
She had grown so confident and energetic lately… I suppose it is a combination of many factors, including our relationship, which has finally grown to the point we've fully connected again and become one with one another, and the other must be her lovely, lovely girlfriend!
"Heh, I knew why you're so happy nowadays~" I smiled while drinking some coffee. "Mark, can you guess?"
"Geez, I wonder why it could be!" Mark laughed a bit too, playing along.
"T-That's…" My daughter blushed, quickly realizing what we meant. "Well, today we'll go out with her, Elisa and Monica."
"Oh! Where are you girls going?" I wondered.
"To the park, and then to the karaoke, maybe we'll end it in some restaurant or fast food." She shrugged. "We just want to hang out."
"Alright, I guess then have fun? I hope you don't thread through dangerous places. Okay?" I asked her.
"Nah~" She shrugged. "It's alright mommy."
"I'm glad to see you two talking so openly now." Mark smiled. "Elena, you're a good daughter. Take care of your mom." Mark kissed my forehead. "She's literally an angel now, haha. See ya!"
"See ya dear! Take care!" I waved my hand. "Oh! Make sure to greet the coworkers for me! And Jenny!"
"Sure!" He quickly walked outside the house and went into his car, moving to work.
Once he left, there was a lot of silence…
"So, about what I talked earlier…" I said. "I'm sorry…"
"Eh? Why are you sorry now?" My daughter seemed genuinely worried.
"For failing you before… I didn't notice the signals and all. Maybe I was always too worried, always being too dumb, maybe too dense as well." I sighed. "Were you being silent before because of this?"
"I-I… Well, a bit. It was a combination of a lot of things but… None were your fault, mom." She said. "It was just my own thoughts, my own things… But we got through it, right?"
"Still, it was my fault for not being able to make you feel comfortable to talk with me." I said. "Was I not someone safe for you to talk about these things?"
"Not at all, I knew that you would love me no matter what, but I felt bad myself…" She sighed. "I didn't know what was right or not, and I didn't know if I loved Anna for real or it was just other feelings. It is confusing and kind of awkward to explain… But I never really blamed you for anything, mom. I think you should move on."
"You think so?" I sighed, as she suddenly moved her chair close to mine and hugged me tightly.
"Yeah, you even worked hard to meet me in game and all… Hahah, it was a lot of fun! I never thought that you would have gone so far just to talk to me again, and well, see my other side." She smiled a bit. "You're a pretty amazing mom, you know? I'm lucky to have you at my side."
"Elena…" I felt like weeping, as I hugged her and kissed her forehead. "Thank you for saying that, you don't know how much it means to me… But still, I'm sorry for failing you when your father died, I… I was so sad too; I couldn't comfort you enough."
"You did all you could, you are also a person of your own too… I knew how sad you were, and because of that, I didn't want to see you sad again. Maybe… Maybe that's why I became colder and tougher, so I could protect you and make you feel like you didn't have to worry about me. But that ended not working as I unconsciously wanted." She said. "I am the one that has to apologize this time… Sorry.
I also should eventually apologize to grandma, grandpa, and my aunts too. They're all nice people…"
"They know you changed already, last time we went to visit them, they were all very happy to see you being much more talkative and interactive than before." I smiled.
"A-And sorry about running away back then… I was so dumb, I'm sorry… I made you worry so much." She sighed. "You even talked to the cops and all… Ahhh, I feel so ashamed."
"No, no, don't worry about that… Things resolved just fine! Right?" I said. "And… I guess I gave you the feeling of insecurity around our family that made you run away back then…"
"I-It wasn't that it was just me being dumb, mom…" She sighed. "Sorry for being so dumb."
"You are not dumb, you're a smart girl!" I smiled, hugging her and kissing her cheek. "Mommy will always forgive you and love you, no matter what! And I'll be there to have your back too!"
"I'll do my best to take care of myself too then, I can't just always rely on you…" She said. "I'll grow stronger too. So we can survive in this weird world…"
Gabriel had just woken up in that moment.
"It sure is weird, isn't it?" I giggled a bit.
"Yep…" She nodded. "Very."