Moonlit Craters

(11) Reunion

Music: Feist, 1234
March 8th, 2020

*****

Hours later, full from the vegan quesadilla Adam made her, Stella sprawled out onto Howie and Adam's sofa. She couldn't remember the last time she was this full.

She also couldn't remember the last time she had to stay with them. It almost felt like being grounded. Who said one supremely bad manic episode meant that she had to stay here?

Well, it wasn't like she didn't have a history of making extremely stupid decisions.

And Howie's argument won. He'd pointed out that she had a nice, new family member to worry about. A date that she could barely remember - with luck it ended badly and she would never have to try and remember it again. Her mother's journals.

Or, in Howie's words, her abusive mother's journals. He'd spent at least a good ten minutes hung up on the fact that her grandfather gave her those journals. Howie didn't care that Richard likely did it out of the kindness of his heart. He maintained that the Montgomery patriarch should know what his own daughter did to his granddaughter, that Rachel was reason numero uno for her C-PTSD.

He only stopped the rant when Stella pointed out she didn't remember her mother. At all. Despite the atrocities her mother committed, and being the first reason she entered foster care, Stella wanted to know more about her.

He pointed out that she was completely off her schedule and stressed to the max. His trump card won the argument. Even Stella wouldn't deny that was the reddest flag for her - stress and no sleep. Medicated or not.

Which is how she found herself on his small sofa. Tomorrow, she would clean his house. The dust that enveloped her from their sofa was just unacceptable. When had she even been here last?

Definitely before Alaska. Maybe a month before they left? Goddamn, sometimes being a doctor was busy! They were definitely overdue for a good movie night, or five.

Howie swatted at her feet, forcing her to sit up. He took the middle of the sofa, wrapping an arm around her. Adam sat on Howie's other side and handed Stella a hot cup of his special Mexican coffee.

She inhaled the wonderful cinnamon smell, the hot beverage offered her more comfort than even Howie's arm could.

"Who's turn is it to pick?" Adam asked as he settled against Howie's other side.

Stella ignored the way Howie buried his nose in Adam's hair. It wasn't that she disliked Adam, he wouldn't be marrying Howie if she did, it just stirred up emotions that were better left alone. Before Adam, it had been just the two of them. Having a third person as part of their dynamic, well, it still took some adjusting to every now and again.

"Mine," she said as she pulled away from Howie. The throw pillow looked far more appealing to cuddle. Somehow, she ended back up against Howie's side.

Howie groaned.

She grinned. It was really tempting to have them watch 8 Mile for the umpteenth time. Despite the fact* that it was easily the best movie of all time, she didn't want to watch Eminem battle. No, she had something much better in mind. "Tangled."

"Mierda,*" Adam cursed. Looking at him, no one would guess he was third-generation Guatemalan. He looked very much like his white, Oregonian mother. Who raised him, and his three sisters, with his father. Who made sure all of his children were fluent in Spanish and well-versed in his culture.

Stella giggled. She knew Adam would hate it - he'd only spent all last week with his sister CiCi and her four-year-old daughter. She thought he might be well and truly tired of Disney movies by now. Yet, they were magical. And Rapunzel reminded her of Melissa. Tangled it was. The light-hearted movie would hopefully take her mind off of Luna. And, hopefully, help stem the major depressive period she could feel creeping up on her.

"You can get her back next time," Howie attempted to comfort his fiance as he put the movie on.

She thought about her choice but having to watch any of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies was worth being able to watch Tangled tonight.

Stella was almost done her coffee, or at the point where Rapunzel first smacked Flynn with the frying pan, when their doorbell rang.

As if he had been looking for a reason to escape, Adam shot up. He was most of the way to the entry before Howie or Stella realized what happened. They both shrugged it off - Adam was probably waiting for some semi-expensive computer parts to come in. Or robotics or something that needed his signature. Depending on what he was working on, he might bring it down from his third-floor workshop while they watched the movie.

"You're looking for who?" Adam asked, his voice clear from the entryway.

Howie and Stella shared a look.

"Do you mean Howie?"

Stella's ears pricked forward. Had someone used Howie's Chinese name? The one only his family and Aunti Ah Lam called him by? Adam knew what it was but few asked for Howie by that name. Curiouser and curiouser.

"Howie?" Adam called.

Howie got up to go see what the fuss was about. Stella sprawled on the sofa, trying to see who was at the door without having to get up. She frowned - the doorway blocked whoever it was from her sight.

It wouldn't be Wang Lei - he had a voice like thunder. And an attitude to match.

Li Na was a possibility; she was rather soft-spoken and would be hard to hear over this distance.

Maybe Auntie Ah Lam sent someone from the restaurant? But that was unlikely; no one ordered food and she never sent any over without at least texting Howie first.

"Who was it?" she asked Adam as he returned to the sofa.

"I don't know," he replied as he pulled out his phone. "Never seen her before."

Stella looked over as he pulled the security camera up. They normally streamed to an old monitor somewhere up in Adam's workshop, but he could make them stream over his phone when need be. He made it zoom in on the young woman.

"Do you recognize her?"

There was something familiar about the heart-shaped face and lean build. She couldn't place it, though. Stella chewed on her cheek as she contemplated who it was. It wasn't any of the workers from Auntie Ah Lam's restaurant; she knew all the workers there. And they never sent anyone new over.

Yet there was something in her facial structure that looked familiar.

No!

It couldn't be!

She was ten the last time Stella saw her.

"That's his sister," she whispered.

And she looked ticked. What brought Chyou Chang here? Did she even know that her parents were speaking to Howie again?