Chapter Text
Love Never Dies
“Isn’t Santa Carla beautiful, guys?” Lucy looked back towards her children — Michael, Sam and Celia.
Celia looked at the beach from her car window and said, “Nothin’ like Phoenix.”
“Oh, honey,” Lucy sighed. “I know it’s been hard moving, but your grandfather is getting old and he needs our help.”
“Yeah, Ceely, and maybe he made you another stuffed muskrat as a present,” laughed Michael. “How about that?”
“How about you shut the hell up?” Celia snapped.
“Celia, language!” Lucy told her daughter. Celia sighed irritably and looked back towards the window. When Lucy’s husband died of cancer two years ago, she met and married another man named Wyatt; Wyatt was kind and decent, but his true nature was later revealed. He would physically abuse her and the children. It took an affect to everyone, but mostly to Celia. Every time she took a beating, she became cold and distant to everyone around her and only kept to herself. After Wyatt left them for another woman, everyone thought that Celia would go back to being herself. But the abuse had made its mark.
The ‘Ice Queen’ was the name her brothers dubbed her as her title after her favorite Hans Christensen Anderson fairy tale. Celia hated it, but she knew it was true. After her father died and what Wyatt did to her and her family, Celia’s heart became like ice, and the pain became numb.
“I can’t believe Grandpa chose to live in a place with the most gang activity,” Celia said bitterly. “It even beat out Los Angeles and Chicago!”
“Well, Grandpa always did love the beach, and Santa Carla has the most beautiful beaches.”
“Hey, Mom,” said Sam, “I read that the boardwalk is where everyone hangs out. You think we can go?”
“I suppose we can,” Lucy said as she got out of the car. “Let’s just get our things inside and try getting settled.”
Celia got her bags out of the car and headed towards the house with her family. The door opened and Grandpa came out with a big grin on his face. “Hey! I was wondering when you were going to show up!”
“Hey, Dad,” Lucy said as she hugged her father.
“Ouch! My hair!” Grandpa said, patting his braid; he then turned to his grandchildren and smiled. “Hey, kids!”
“Hey, Gramps,” Celia said as she entered the house without looking back. While walking around the house, she could hear her mother and grandfather talking.
“How’s she doing?”
“The doctor said she seemed to be getting better, but it doesn’t look like it.” Lucy explained. “She’ll just shut herself in her room all day and never come out. The doctor told me that if the behavior continues… I might have to-”
“She might have to be put in a mental hospital,” Michael cut in.
“But Celia is not insane!” Grandpa argued.
“That’s what I said!” Lucy agreed. She was about to say something else, but Celia had heard enough. She went upstairs and went into the room that she always spent time in whenever she was there. Celia sat on the bed and felt the angry tears rushing to her eyes.
A mental hospital? Why didn’t Mom tell me? Celia thought angrily. Doesn’t she know I can take care of myself?
Celia laid down on the bed, curled herself into a ball and thought to herself before falling asleep, I’m not crazy. I’m not crazy. I’m not crazy…
“Celia? Sweetheart, are you ready to go?” Lucy came into the room and saw her daughter unpacking her things. “You’re just unpacking?”
“Yep.” Celia murmured, putting on her favorite hoodie and putting a dress she’d never worn before inside the closet.
“We better get going if we want to go to the boardwalk. Mike and Sam are-”
“When were you going to tell me about what the doctor said?” Celia turned to her mother. Lucy was silent. “Were you ever going to tell me?”
“I was going to tell you soon,” Lucy sighed. “And I was hoping you wouldn’t find out that way.”
“Oh, and how soon? So you can tell Michael and Sam, but not me?” Celia snapped. “Why didn’t you think that I could handle this?”
“I was scared, and I didn’t know how to tell you!” Lucy explained. “Do you know how hard it is for a mother to hear that she might have to put her child in a psychiatric facility, Ceely? I mean, some children can become suicidal if they were abused because they didn’t feel loved, and some people need to watch them to see if that happens!”
“We didn’t move here because Grandpa needed our help, I take it,” said Celia, catching on. Lucy was silent for a moment, but finally nodded her head ‘yes’. Celia then glared at her feet and sighed. “So are you?”
“No! Of course not! You are my child and my responsibility. I don’t think you’re at all suicidal, and I take full blame for what Wyatt did to us.”
There was silence.
“Do you hate me?” Lucy spoke up.
Celia thought for a moment, and then sighed and smiled sadly. “No.”
Lucy walked closer to her daughter and put her hands on her shoulders. “Good. Right now, let’s just enjoy the summer and forget about everything that’s happened this year.”
I don’t think I will ever forget, Celia thought bitterly, but looked at her mother and sighed. “All right. Let’s go.”
“Great!” Lucy grinned happily. “I promise you, Celia, that this will be the summer you’ll never forget!”