A Time to Talk

Noble had been so caught up in the Cade drama last night and again just now that she had forgotten her mother wanted to talk.

She had also been rather rude to Teacher Julius. He had come to support her family, and she had barely said a few words to him.

That needed to change.

Slipping by Rain and Ford, Noble came to sit beside Lena. Next to the grandmother, Julius was staring a little too intently at the field.

Seeing Noble, he cleared his throat. "Is it normal for adults to be so…invested in the competition?"

"I would think it is usually parents who come to blows over outcomes of games, but coaches can as well," Noble shrugged.

She had only done a couple of sports before moving to the NQSC and even back then the adults always seemed to act crazier than the participants.

"It will be dealt with shortly." She assured her mentor.

"In the meantime," Lena's smile tightened, "I did want to discuss something with you. Though I hadn't really considered how loud it would be when I put off talking until today."

Noble could use her Ascended hearing to focus on her mother's words, but she could understand that the noise would be distracting.

"Do we need to go somewhere? Or are you wanting to postpone again?"

Whatever it was, Lena had brought it up a few times now. Noble was beginning to get anxious, especially feeling how nervous her mother was becoming.

"Now is as good of a time as any," Lena waved off the offer.

Julius coughed. "I'm going to see if they need help separating the coaches."

Excusing himself, he rose quickly and practically ran down the bleachers.

Noble saw Lena looking after him with a strange expression.

"Mom?"

The grey-haired woman snapped out of her reverie and smiled at her daughter.

"Sorry. I was distracted."

"You mean that grown men throwing punches on the field is distracting?" Noble glanced toward the center of the arena where the inevitable fight was being broken up.

Lena chuckled softly. "I suppose I've never been very good with timing."

Noble's attention came back to her mother. She could feel the extra meaning behind the words.

"This thing you want to discuss is important, isn't it?"

"Very," Lena said without hesitation.

"Then tell me."

"It has to do with while you were gone. We couldn't let many people know what had happened except to say you were in a Nightmare, so our worry and grieving were mostly done in private. Some of my so-called friends were very unkind, pointing out that your motherly duty should have come first before you up and disappeared."

Noble's heart clenched. "I am sorry you had to deal with that."

Her head swiveled toward Fort, who was still watching the main attraction with great interest. Had he suffered similar ridicule?

"Don't worry about the old bitties," Lena brushed her hand through the air as if sweeping them away. "They are too old school to understand the changing times. My point wasn't to complain about them but to point out that those who supported us were more precious than gold. And one person in particular carried me through the hardest times without asking any questions."

"By your tone, I'm assuming it wasn't Fort." One corner of Noble's mouth turned upward.

"Don't get me wrong, Fort is wonderful. He did his absolute best, but I couldn't have expected him to hold me up in addition to everything else he had going on. This person just listened to me, supported me, and made sure I was taking care of myself while I tried to take care of the kids and work on the continuing evacuation effort. He was there through it all without fail." Lena studied Noble's face to make sure she was following. 

"I'm glad you had someone to anchor you." The younger woman nodded. "But I am guessing this person became more than just a friend or we wouldn't be discussing him." 

Lena blushed slightly. "I tried to brush off the feelings at first. I convinced myself that they were just an extension of my gratitude to him. But now that you are back, those emotions have only grown. Your father was a good man..." 

Noble's eyes watered at the mention of Lance. She blinked back the tears and forced a smile. "If you are going to say that Dad has been gone a long time and that he would want you to be happy, I know. He would never want you to hurt. He cared about you too much to ever prevent you from moving on." 

"I could never replace him," Lena said quickly. "I don't want you to think that is what I am trying to do." 

"I would never think that." Noble swallowed. There was a pit in her stomach that she couldn't explain.

She believed what she said wholeheartedly. Her mother had been making it on her own for years. Selfishly, Noble hadn't really questioned it, assuming her mother was content to be single for the rest of her life.

Now it occurred to the professor that Lena might have poured herself into government work not just because she wanted to help humanity, but also because she was lonely. 

"I'm sorry. It is just a lot to take in," Noble admitted when she realized how long she had been silent. 

"If it helps, it has been a lot for me to process too. I don't expect you to accept it all at once. But I needed you to know. I have put off telling you for too long because I didn't want to burden you as soon as you got back." Lena looked away. 

"You are not a burden. You are family, Mom." Noble took a deep breath. 

Grabbing her mother's hand, she steadied herself. Lena's emotions were all over the place, but one thing Noble could sense through it all was her love for her daughter and genuine sincerity. 

Lena would never have shared her thoughts if she wasn't sure. Pressing her lips together, Noble forced a smile. 

"As hard as this is, it is also something happy too! I want to hear it all about it."

Noble sounded more confident than she felt. It would take a little adjustment to get used to the idea, but the more she thought about it, the more she liked the idea of someone for Lena to lean on. That was assuming the gentleman was worthy of her mother's affection. 

Blinking away the remnants of tears, Noble squared her shoulders and squeezed Lena's hand.

"So, tell me, who is this mystery man." 

Lena's blush, which had faded, came back in full force. "I would think it isn't that much of a mystery." 

The answer flustered Noble, but only for a moment. Her eyes flicked toward the railing where a grey-headed Awakened was covertly peeking over his shoulder to see if they were still talking. The moment her eyes locked with his, he looked away again. 

"The man you are dating...IS TEACHER JULIUS?!" Noble floated a little higher from the bench as her voice rose. 

"It's a little more serious than that, I'm afraid." Lena bit her lip. "We are getting married." 

The area around Noble was suddenly assaulted with the reverberating noise of a single word. 

"WHAT?!"