Letter

Llewelyn stopped by. That was unusual for him. He never seemed like one for surprise visits. I joined Ciel at the door.

"Hey, Llewelyn. Come in."

"It's only for a minute. I was supposed to give you this." He pulled an envelope from an interior coat pocket and handed to me. I had to ask.

"What is it?"

He didn't look at me like I was dumb for asking, but the tone said I was being a little slow. "A letter. Anyways, I have some other things to take care of." He started to leave, but turned over his shoulder to add "And Cara...congratulations."

I couldn't help smiling. Tiercel proposed. He's Tiercel's best friend. I was still on cloud nine. I still couldn't figure out why he couldn't just tell me what was in the letter. So I opened it. It wasn't from him.

"To the woman my son will marry," It was from Tiercel's mother. I knew his relationship with his family was rocky. He had said early on that he didn't want a family because of how his had been. It was a bit of a fight between us. Because I didn't know how to understand it. My family was close. Always has been. It was weird to me. I remember looking up to see if Llewelyn was still in the hallway. I kept reading.

"Out of respect for Tiercel's wishes, and pity for a mother's concern, Llewelyn has kept me informed to a certain extent of my son's basic whereabouts and condition. His last letter happened to mention the engagement. As I have my doubts that I shall ever meet you in person, or even know a name, I felt inclined to send along this letter. Don't for a moment believe I bear this anonymity in any way against you. I understand what he did, and though it took some time, I understand why he did it. I wanted to congratulate you, and to a greater extent, implore you, treat him well. Be all that there is for him and I am confident he shall return it to you twenty fold. While I certainly have no expectations for an invitation, know that I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers.

Catherine Milan"

I was touched. This woman I didn't even know was reaching out to me, asking me to take good care of her son. She still cared. Whatever had happened between them in the past, she still cared. Her love for Tiercel. I felt like I should make a case for her. I wanted to meet her. It was a big deal to me, to meet his parents.

I'd learn later what a jerk his dad could be. His dad didn't even want to try. When I tried to call and make sure he was going to come to the wedding, he kept blowing me off. But that's another story. But his mom. I just...I could feel how much she still cared about him. I wanted her to know my name. I wanted to talk to her face to face.

I did get to meet her. Tiercel was there, so a lot of the things I wanted to talk to her about were off limits. He and I got into a pretty big fight over that. I didn't talk to him for three days. Basically, it boils down to he doesn't want to be disappointed again. There's still a lot of hurt there. Maybe they can fix it, maybe they can't. I don't expect them to ever become like my family. But there's still hope for something better. I think they all want to mend it. They just don't know how yet. I guess first we have to see how things go at the wedding.