Millie

Chapter Seven- Oregon

I arrive back in Oregon with Veda and Norman a month later, with my sanity somehow still intact, a rather nice tan from our summer outdoors, and a growing bond with a sister I didn't even know existed until a few months ago.

Veda had really changed since the day at her door, four weeks ago. With every day that passed, stuck together in that camper, she grew to trust me and let her guard down inch by inch. She had begun to listen more, and ask questions about her Mom without that seeded hatred she had for her on day one. It became obvious to me pretty quickly that Vedas dad had been controlling, and that he absolutely hated my birth Mom, and wanted her children to hate her too. Whether that hatred had been birthed because she died and he felt she left him and let him down... I don't know... but it had certainly been present long enough for Veda to hate her second handedly too.

I had changed also. Four months now since the break with Wren, and I had taken the time to look within and ask questions of myself. What did I want to do with my life? Who was I without being who my Mother had wanted me to be? Where did I come from? Who is Millicent Dawson?! And of course... Will Wren and I ever make good on that forever kiss... the one that got paused, and pinned up on the not now but hopefully later board?! I was manifesting the life I wanted, and that included a job I loved, a home that was mine, and if I was lucky... finding Wren again.

My mothers house stood proudly on the hill top, and as I drove up the street and the familiar slope I felt a sensation of returning home, a warmth in my belly and a light flickering in my eyes. For once in my life...I wanted to be here. I had missed the familiar, and if I was honest... I had missed my mother too.

The last time I had seen my mother was when she came into Oklahoma to show me around a couple months ago. She flew in on a Friday, and stayed with me until the Monday. Apparently staying longer would have been detrimental to both her allergies and her mental health. My mother was allergic to Norman, and also to the past it seemed. My
Mother in Oregon was small but mighty, take no prisoners and confident as hell. My mother in Oklahoma had been quiet and emotional, with a lack of confidence I had never seen. Oklahoma stripped away her tough exterior and left the little girl within, exposed. She hated it, and I disliked seeing her this way too. It made her human though, and I liked knowing inside my mother was just like all of the rest of us. Painfully human and flawed.

Moira Dawson, the Mom, she took me around and proudly showed me where her and her sister were from. She took great pleasure on sharing with me, all of the things that she had longed to. When my Mom talked about her twin sister, she came alive... and the twinkle in her eyes was something I'd never want to forget.

Moira Dawson the Professor... she was out of there and back to her home and her books as soon as she could be. She didn't have time to walk too far down memory Lane.

I think it did us good though, to be stuck together for some time, and to-talk and to share. To just be together with no distraction but Norman, and as an adult woman, spending time with my Mom... I needed it. It was therapeutic.

As I pull into the drive now though, I am not seeing windows open, or her classic red convertible in the driveway ahead of me. The windows are half covered by the blinds and the drapes are drawn upstairs.

"This is ... insane" Veda observes, with her neck craned out the window gazing upward. "I bet it's haunted"

"It is" I reply as I cut the engine.

"By who" she asks.

"Moira Dawson" I throw back "only she's a poltergeist that's very much alive"

"I can't wait to meet this bitch" Veda muses.

"Language" I remind her.

"Yeah Yeah" she talks back as she steps out of the vehicle.

I take off my shades and step out of the drivers side, slowly making my way up to the front doors. I take my key out of my pocket and push it into the lock. With a twist and a wiggle it opens up to the dark of the usual bright foyer.