Chapter 47: Not Going Home

Knowing what would help her mother, Rachel hummed thoughtfully to draw her mind away from its spiral. "You know how I used to joke about you being the incarnation of Jowangsin?"

"Rachel..." she mumbled with a light glare, knowing she’d said it more as a negative than a positive, but the fact she was calling her by her American name said she was calming down. "Yes, I’m strict in the kitchen, and I did put up Jowangsin’s rules on the wall, but it is a place that is sacred...where the family gathers to celebrate what life gives us..."

"I know... I think I get it now," Rachel whispered, pulling her mother in again; in a way, it was part of her mother learning to cope with Seo’s death, but she recalled her always being a bit of a hardass when it came to the kitchen, or as she put it, her space. "You know what I’d love tomorrow—or whenever you get up?"

"Hmm?"

"Some home cooking," she grinned, making her mother smile. "You always did make the best food—hands down—and you always tailored it to whatever diet I was on."

"That’s what mothers are supposed to do," she said, swallowing the lump in her throat and brushing away her tears. "Alright... How bad is it if you have military Special Forces following you around everywhere—do we need to get our lawyer involved? We will not give in without a fight!"

"Haha! No, Mom. It’s not like that...yet, at least." Seeing the fire light in her mother’s eyes gave her strength. "Here, let me explain—wait, do you need some water?"

Her mother’s out-of-place black hair wove with her head motions. "No. I’m ready whenever you are. I’m just happy I can hold you again..."

The hard part over, Rachel started from the beginning; yet, unlike with the military men she’d had practice discussing her journey, her mom was quite interruptive and became abrasive and defensive about the strangest things that threw her for a loop, such as being open with the military regarding her transformation.

Mateo remained outside the whole time, trying to stay out of her crosshairs, yet he didn’t have any of his men take the duty; it was a sweet gesture of trust, knowing none of this would be gossip.

Over the following hour, Rachel was stunned by her mother’s rebounding vigor as she honed in on so many little details, pressing her for clarification in areas like a prosecutor going for the throat; ultimately, everything led back to the same fear—being used by the military.

"You’re not telling me everything," her mother grumbled, aiming her displeasure more at the door and soldiers outside than Rachel herself.

"Eh-heh, how can you tell?" she asked, forcing a smile. "I’m being as open as I can... You’re really not that—I don’t know...upset that I killed goblins?"

Her mother’s puffy face had settled over the last hour, showing a rather dull expression. "They’re terrible monsters intent on doing people harm—no...but..."

A lump dropped down Rachel’s throat at the look in her mother’s terrifying eyes. "What I am pissed about is you putting yourself in danger against those aliens when it is the military’s job to protect you—not the other way around! Haaa. You’ve always been headstrong and combative, but you’re not a soldier, Sung... You’re a citizen and still a teenager."

Fiddling with her fingers and looking away, Rachel shrugged, feeling more intimidated by the minute with her mother’s hounding gaze on her. "I’m...figuring out what I want to do, Mom. We both know the world is going to change from this."

"Our world doesn’t need to change," her mother insisted, white hands taking Rachel’s in a firm grip, yet her eyes were as steady as she’d ever seen them. "You can still do your martial arts competition stuff, attend college...have a normal life. All that changed is you have cute ears and a tail now. Oh, which reminds me, we need to do more shopping—a complete wardrobe change. There are some small stores that should be open on the way back home—"

"Mom!" Rachel pulled away to cross her arms, mouth tight while looking away. "No—I-I can’t go home. I told you, it’s not just my appearance that changed... I don’t think I want to, mmgh..."

"Want to what?" her mother asked, worry and fear entering her vulnerable voice, making Rachel scratch her left ear.

"I don’t...think I want to continue with college, Mom—haaa, believe me, I know it’s not easy to hear—hah, it’s not easy for me to admit to you, Mom... I’m sure Dad will be pissed, but... I need to figure things out. Mom...please."

She looked up to see her mother’s bottom lip trembling, her world seemingly falling apart. "Sung... I can’t have you g-getting hurt. If you go down this path, you’ll... I can’t protect you. I know you may h-have felt some kind of way when going on that quest, b-but..."

Unable to finish her sentence, Rachel knew they’d already spoken about everything that needed to be said and scooted closer to hug her weeping mother; eventually, she managed to move them to the bed, lying with her mom to comfort her through the realization she wouldn’t be hopping in the car and returning home to put all this business behind them.

The sun’s rays had begun peeking through the window when her mother had cried herself to sleep; Rachel sat there, watching her for a while, until her father lightly tapped on the door, peeking inside. Once spotting them cuddled up together on the cramped bed, he smiled and entered, closing the door behind him.

"How’s your mother?"

Rachel sighed. "Not doing well... Can you close the blinds, Dad?"

"Sure."

He calmly went to the window and locked out the rising sun before changing the armchair’s position to sit beside the bed. "I appreciate the care you’ve given to your mother, Sung... I expect you’re exhausted, as well, given what your new friend told me."

Taking off his glasses to clean them, her father loosened his tie now that he wasn’t in public and unfastened the top button of his dress shirt; he’d already left his suit coat out front.

"Heh. I’m surprised you’ve been so patient with Scarlet, given your usual temperament."

"Haha. Thanks, Dad," she whispered, trying not to wake or disturb her mother. "I’ve seen a lot of things I was blind to recently... I think Seo’s death messed me up more than I liked to admit; I pushed people away because of it... It’s probably why I’ve been so critical of Alexa, as much as I hate to admit it."

Her father replaced his spectacles, a thoughtful frown now touching his thin eyes. "I can’t imagine this experience has been easy on you, nor the stress of whatever you shared with your mother; I’m sure I’ll get quite the tinted vision from her version, but it’s nice to see you starting to mature into a young woman. Give me the cliff notes so I can relieve you of your mother and rest my own restless heart for some sleep."

That’s Dad...no BS and straight to the point.