The Ultimate Chance-Chapter 159

Chloe’s family was nothing like Mabella expected. When she mentioned people who were not her family but who had been important to her, she thought they were going to meet godparents of some sort. She didn’t expect Chloe to drive into a community she knew was inhabited by retired and mostly terminally ill old people. It was pretty much like a nursing home, except the doctors and nurses who spent time taking care of them were volunteers.

As soon as they arrived, an elderly woman ambled over to them, balancing on crutches as her left leg was in a cast. That didn’t stop her from speeding over and throwing herself into Chloe’s arms.

"Careful, Rose." Chloe’s heart almost leapt out of her chest. "You will give me a heart attack one of these days."

The elderly called Rose didn’t look concerned in the slightest bit, urging them towards one of the houses.

The neighborhood was big, with bungalows lining the perimeter and a humongous yard in the middle of the houses, which Mabella assumed was for the residents to take walks. She also guessed from the position of the bungalow they were led to that each of them had a backyard as well.

When they arrived, Rose yelled into the house, "Chloe’s here!"

"Chloe’s here?" A woman who looked to be around the same age as Rose croaked, and it morphed into a coughing fit. She hurried out of her room just as they entered the living room. Just like Rose did earlier, she pulled Chloe in for a hug.

Chloe took Mabella’s hand to introduce her. "Meet my family, Mabella. This is Rose, and her twin sister Lily. Lily, Rose, this is my girlfriend Mabella."

"It’s nice to meet you." Mabella smiled, realizing the two elderly women indeed looked identical. And just like Rose, Lily’s leg was in a cast. Except, it was her right leg. Mabella tried not to laugh in amusement.

It didn’t escape Lily’s scrutiny, who laughed along. "Growing up, there was never a fever or flu that only one of us caught. Rose would usually catch the flu first. She liked to play in the water. When I took care of her, I would usually catch it too, then she would have to take care of me."

Mabella laughed. These two were amusing. "So, you had the same accident?"

Rose huffed out a laugh. "She thought she was still the rock climber she used to be when we were young. Tried to conquer a mountain and it’s a miracle she broke her leg instead of her spine."

Having assumed Rose was the first one to get into an accident, she asked, "and...what about you?"

"I tried to show her how it’s done." Rose said, and they all burst into laughter.

"Would you like some tea? I just baked a fresh batch of buns." Lily offered.

"I’ve already had lunch. I’ll just have some tea, no buns for me." Mabella replied.

Chloe chuckled, lowering her voice. "I told you to save some space for dessert, honey."

Mabella flushed, because she did have dessert before they left.

"Lily’s meat buns will have you wishing you didn’t eat all week."

"She exaggerates." Lily said as she brought a tray, but she looked happy with the compliment.

Although she didn’t need crutches like her sister did, Lily’s injured leg had a slight limp and she was clearly putting more pressure on her good leg. It made Mabella uncomfortable to sit and watch her serve them with an injured leg.

As if reading her mind, Chloe eased her mind. "Don’t worry. Lily would be offended if we offered to help with anything related to food."

The buns were indeed as delicious as Chloe said they would be. They were stuffed with spicy minced meat, made with an assortment of spices she couldn’t quite place but which blended in together to form the best filling she’d ever tasted. The buns were soft and baked to light brown perfection, then sprinkled with a sauce that tasted a little sour, which she guessed was Lily’s secret recipe.

While they snacked and had their tea, Lily and Rose prodded about Mabella.

"Tell us about your family, dear." Rose asked.

"Rose," Chloe scolded.

Lily chimed in. "We have to make sure our girl is not putting herself in danger again. And we need to know where to find you if you pull a stunt like that Shirley did."

Rose scowled. "I always knew she was up to no good, that one. What happened to her, anyway?"

Mabella didn’t like the direction this conversation was taking. All she knew was that Gabe took care of Shirley, but it didn’t take a genius to knew how exactly he did it. So she steered the conversation back to her. "My family lives in South Imperium...well, my mother and sister do. My dad lives here in the north. My brother too."

"What do they do?" Rose pried more.

"They are...businessmen." She trailed off. That was not a lie. But she was also a D’Aboville and everyone knew about them knew how shady they handled their business. Especially Damon, who was known to use any means possible to his advantage and was rumored to have several skeletons in his closet. That rumor was true and she knew it.

She also knew if there was any chance to get on these two women’s side, she needed to be honest before they found out on their own. Not that it would matter who was on their side and who wasn’t, but it was already bad enough that her parents would never approve of her relationship. They were still stuck in the old era of homophobia where they believed a woman had to marry a man and bear children for her life to be complete. Rose and Lily clearly didn’t care about any of that. As long as Chloe was happy.

So she added, "actually, I’m a D’Aboville."

"A what?" Lily raised her nearly completely gray brows.

"Like Damon." Chloe chimed in. "Mabella is his sister."

Rose looked a little skeptical while Lily shrugged. "Well, she seems like a good girl."

Rose added, "we like you, but that doesn’t mean we would ever forgive you if you hurt our girl."

"Of course." she held Chloe’s hand under the table and squeezed it. It was a relief that Chloe had people who cared about her.

When they left the bungalow, she asked Chloe, "you never talked about Rose and Lily in our sessions."

Chloe shrugged. "This place feels like my sanctuary. Back then you were just my shrink. I didn’t want to tell you anything too personal."

Mabella nodded at the unspoken implication. She was just her shrink back then. But now, she was way more important.

They spent the rest of the day visiting the other bungalows. Chloe was loved by pretty much the entire community. They were all happy to see her, and there was even an eighty-something year old man with alzheimer’s who thought Chloe was his daughter. She played along, even calling him ’dad’. It was surreal seeing this sweet side of Chloe.

By the time they left the community, the backseat of Mabella’s car was full of bags of snacks given to them by the kind residents. She plucked a bun from the box Lily had stacked some buns in for her, and took a bite.

She turned to Chloe who was driving and glancing at her. "What?" she mumbled.

"You look beautiful munching into that bun." Chloe chuckled. "I forgot to tell you, my agent landed me a job in Hustace. It’s for a jewelry brand."

"Okay," Mabella drawled, realizing there was more.

Chloe gripped the steering wheel, unease creeping in. "She thinks it will take a week. The brand owner has a lot of requirements. And I have to leave tomorrow."

Mabella leaned over and kissed her cheek. "Don’t worry about me. A week isn’t that long. Besides, we will keep in touch when you have the chance."

Chloe blinked in surprise. Sometimes she forgot just how understanding Mabella was. It wasn’t that she wouldn’t miss her, but she knew her career was important and didn’t want her to make her feel bad about leaving. If she had just told Shirley she was leaving for three days, the latter would have whined all night about it.

"Where were you all my life?" She joked.

Mabella playfully swatted at her. "Oh, don’t. I’ll still be mad if you don’t call or text."

_____

After driving Chloe to the airport, Mabella had the rest of the day to herself. It was Sunday and she didn’t have much planned, so instead of drowning in work like she usually would, she was more eager to drop by her brother’s.

Avery was the one to open the door and she was pleasantly surprised to see her.

"Mabella! It’s so nice to see you. Come in!" She stepped out of the way and added, "It’s been so long. What’s keeping you on lock down?" she smiled when she remembered why Mabella moved out. "Or should I say, who?"

Mabella smiled. "I’m not on lock down. Where’s Angel? I brought him some toys."

As if she had summoned him, the little boy ran down the stairs and right into his waiting aunt’s arms.

Avery watched them with a smile. "Are you staying?"

"I was hoping to play with Angel for a while, yes."

Avery sighed in relief. "Thank God. My sitter canceled last minute and I can’t get anyone else right now. My friend called me for a picnic and Angel doesn’t want to come along, and Damon has to catch up with some overdue..."

Mabella cut her off. "Hey, it’s okay. Go to your picnic."