Anna walked back to her room with her mug of hot tea in her hands. As she walked past Robin’s room, she heard a noise. She paused, then quietly opened the door. The moonlight shined down on Robin and Anna saw her daughter curled in the fetal position crying her heart out.

She quickly put her tea on the dresser and ran over to Robin. “Robin, what’s wrong?” she asked with worry and concern etched on her face and lacing her voice.

Robin looked up at her mother. “It isn’t fair. She didn’t even want a baby. It was a careless mistake, a moment of passion and she gets a baby and I do the same thing and get a death sentence,” Robin cried.

Anna instantly got on the bed and pulled Robin into her arms. She stroked her daughter’s hair and back.

“Shh, oh, Robbie,” Anna crooned. Anna was at a loss as to what to say. She too wanted to cry at all that her daughter had lost. It was a real possibility that in her lifetime she would have to bury both of her daughters. She shuddered at the thought. She refocused her attention on Robin. She kissed the top of Robin’s head. “Mummy’s here. I’m right here, baby.” She rocked her daughter while gently humming to her.

“I hate her.” Robin removed herself from Anna’s embrace. “I hate her,” she yelled.

“No you don’t, luv.”

“YES, I DO,” she insisted. “I hate her with all that I have and am.”

“You don’t hate Brenda. You hate the fate that robbed you of giving birth, of creating a life with Stone. Rage against the injustice of it all, but don’t blame Brenda; it’s not her fault.” Anna looked directly into her daughter’s eyes. “You love your sister. A sister not of blood, but of something greater: love. Your bond has been tested and has made it through love, heartbreak, betrayal, and the horrors of death.”

They sat in silence for a few minutes, both calming down.

“I don’t know if I can live in the house with them,” Robin said in a whisper.

Anna lifted Robin’s chin. “Yes, you can and you will. It won’t be easy for either of us, but we’ll make it through with shining colors.” Anna shook off thoughts of Leora. “That little girl is counting on her Auntie Robbie to teach her things that only you, Robin Scorpio, can teach her. Through her, the lessons that your father and Filomena taught you and their parents taught them can live on.”

Anna’s speech brought on another torrent of tears. Anna held Robin until she fell asleep. She laid Robin down and tucked her in. Then she scooted to the other side and got underneath the covers herself. Just as she was about to drift off to never-neverland, she heard Robin speak.

“Am I a horrible person for thinking and saying those things?” she asked, unsure.

“No, luv, it just makes you human,” Anna replied. She opened her arms and Robin fell asleep in her mother’s loving arms.