Chapter 51: Revelations

Janet Lawson rose to her feet and brushed off some dirt from her dress, smiling at the duo. They looked so shocked, she would have been offended in another situation but she perfectly understood.

She was supposed to be dead, after all.

She took two steps towards them and frowned when Lia took four steps back, pulling Fernando with her.

She couldn't help but notice how close they were and she narrowed her eyes at that. She chose to worry about that later, after she was back inside the house and not standing outside.

She raised her hands above her head and smiled. "I'm not a Ghost."

Lia eyed the woman standing before her in disbelief. This was the same woman she had cried her eyes out for and fallen into depression because of.

The same woman Jane had fought her over because she was too into herself and her needs.

"This has to be a dream," she muttered, her hands over her mouth as tears filled her eyes. "You're dead!"

Fernando tried to reach for her hand but she pulled away. He sighed and watched on helplessly.

"Darling I can understand how you feel but Princess, it's all just a mix-up. I'm here." Janet took a step forward and Lia held her hand up, stopping her.

"Don't touch me," Lia shook her head and let out a dry chuckle as tears rolled down her cheeks. "This situation is so ridiculous."

"Amelia-"

Lia glared at her. "Don't,"

Janet opened her mouth to say something but changed her mind. Fernando tried to reach for Lia's hand again and this time he had some success but she didn't come to him.

He stood behind her and leaned down to whisper in her eye. Again, Janet zoomed in on the action, questions on the tip of her tongue.

Now was not the time to start asking questions, they had to at least accept her first and get through the shock and all the different emotions they were feeling.

Lia sighed and whispered something back, the veins on her forehead popping out.

"Ame-"

"This is insane," Lia screamed, pulling away from Fernando. She waved her hands in front of his face and scoffed. "Her tombstone is lying in some graveyard at the hospital. We decorated the tombstone. Remember? It had been too bleak and boring so we added color to it."

She paused to take a deep breath and placed her hand on her head. "How is this even possible? You can't just disappear and then magically reappear whenever you feel like it."

She pointed at the gate. "I think it's best for everyone if you just disappear again so that we can go back to our lives."

Janet nodded, tears welling up in her eyes. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

Lia scoffed and walked up to her, standing in front of her, eyes blazing. "That's it? Is that all you have to say?"

Janet looked confused as she wiped her eyes. "What else do you need? You obviously don't want me back in your life so I'm just going to go back. You know, magically disappear again."

"Are you mad at me now?" Lia fired back, rolling her eyes. "You don't get to be mad at me, Janet. You are the one who disappeared on your wedding day without a reasonable explanation and then we hear that you're dead."

"There's an explanation for that."

"For which?" Lia asked, tears rolling down her cheeks. "Leaving a man at the altar or was it turning up dead?"

Janet glared at her and sniffed, wiping her face clean with her hands. "I didn't raise you to be such a brat."

"Well you haven't been such a great role model either."

Janet raised her hands to smack Lia but Fernando was quick to stop her. Janet frowned, staring at Fernando in confusion.

Was he taking sides now?

"Don't look at me like that Janet, I'm not picking any side. Lia, she's still your mother. Do you think you can-?"

Lia blinked once and then again, shaking her head in disbelief. "I can't believe this. Are you defending her right now?"

Fernando held up his hands in surrender. "I'm not defending anyone." He eyed them both. "All I know is you're feeling a lot right now and I don't want any of you saying things you'd regret."

Lia made a noise in the back of her throat as if she wanted to say something but she didn't.

She eyed Fernando and then shot Janet a glare. "Liam, please help me with my things."

She walked off towards the house and Liam ran after her, leaving Fernando and Janet alone.

"Fer, I-" Janet started, reaching for him but Fernando shook his head.

He wasn't feeling great about this either. The last thing he needed was this. "I can't do this Janet."

He stalked off in the same direction his wife had gone and sighed, scrubbing his face. This was all too much. His wife, who should have been his stepdaughter and his ex-fiancé who was now back from the dead, were in the same space.

These kinds of things only existed in movies.

"I can explain Fer." She called from behind him and he scoffed at opening the front door.

There was no explanation that could make him feel better.

***

"I made coffee," Lia announced as soon as Fernando and Janet walked through the door. "Please, make yourself at home."

Fernando eyed Janet who was already looking at him, question in her eyes. He realized what he was doing and walked away. Janet swallowed the lump in her throat and followed him, taking note of the little changes around the house.

For someone else who had never been to the house before all these changes were made, they wouldn't notice it. But she had been there, even lived there for a few weeks. Months even.

She touched the curtains and eyed the pillows as well. She didn't remember things ever being so colorful around here and why did her daughter look so relaxed and at home in Fernando's house? She couldn't remember them being so close before.

Well Amelia had never been so outspoken before so there was that too.

"Janet?"

She looked up and eyed Lia. She was calling her by her name now? Well, at least she hadn't kicked her out yet.

"Coffee?" Lia asked, ignoring the emotions playing on her mother's face. This was all too much for her and she wanted to carve out time to think, process everything.

Her mind was working on autodrive. What did her mother's appearance mean for her? For them? Would Janet want to take Fernando back?

"Lia," Fernando touched her arm and she flinched, unconsciously biting her lip.

"I'm fine." She pointed to a chair and Janet sat down, her hands on the table.

"Let's have coffee," she smiled sweetly. "We can talk after."

Fernando helped serve the coffee and once again Janet marveled at how in sync both of them were.

What else had changed apart from the curtains and the pillows? Was something going on between them? She pushed the thought away as soon as it came.

That was impossible. Fernando would never betray her like that. And besides Amelia was her daughter, she wouldn't.

The silence was long and uncomfortable. Fernando coughed and dropped his coffee mug on the table, reaching for Lia's hand.

She eyed him and they seemed to be having a conversation with their eyes. Janet took note of everything and stored it somewhere.

Lia broke away from their conversation first. She eyed Janet and sighed. "You must understand how difficult all this has been for us."

Us? Again, Janet remained silent even though she was itching to ask a lot of questions.

"After you disappeared on your wedding day, I went to an investigator and did some digging. He was the one that pronounced you dead. I should really sue him for telling lies." Lia fumed and Janet shook her head, reaching for Lia's hand.

Lia didn't pull away as Janet expected and her heart soared. They were making progress.

"Anyway, everything went downhill from there and eventually we found out about a hospital where you had been admitted." She paused to take a deep breath and reached for her coffee mug. "We found your tombstone and we gave you a funeral."

Lia pulled her hand away from Jane's grasp and she sighed.

"What she's trying to say," Fernando chipped in and Janet blinked. "We need an explanation so we can make sense of everything."

Janet nodded and sighed. "Well I was at the hospital."

"What does that mean?" Lia asked, her eyebrows raised and Fernando tapped her leg.

She glared at him and he shook his head.

"We should hear her out now."

"Thank you Fernando," Janet glared at Lia. "For someone who needs an explanation, you're not really giving me the opportunity to speak."

"You're sipping coffee in this house." Lia shot back and Janet rose to her feet.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Can the both of you just be reasonable for once?!"