Two High IQ's Make One Great Romance

There were already flowers on the grave when we arrived. They were there every year when we showed up, and we never had any idea of who put them there, but it was a subtle reminder of things that never changed. My Dad layed out the blanket a few feet in front of her headstone.

Amelia May Aigen

The letters on the grave never changed either.

We said our prayer quietly and my Dad brought out the food that he had prepared. It was her favorite meal: home-made macaroni and cheese, barbecue chicken, and mashed potatoes.

"You look just like her." My Dad said, like he always did on this day.

"I know."

Aunt Lucy wrapped her arm around my shoulder and squeezed me. "She was a beautiful woman, inside and out. I wish you could have known her better."

"I only remember some things... small things...."

"She was wonderful." My dad kissed his fingers and lightly placed them on her headstone.

The rest of the day was nice, like it always was. We joked and laughed and just had a good time in my Mother's memory. It should have been a sad day, and sometimes it was, but we couldn't help but be happy when thinking about my mother. The only thing really tragic about her death was the fact that she took her own life, and no one really knew why.

The sun was setting and we were packing up our things to leave when my phone began ringing in the car. I rolled my eyes and immediately got angry. Everyone knew that I was off limits today. I grabbed my small phone and saw that Spencer was calling.

"What?" I asked, trying not to sound too terribly annoyed.

"Piper..." He was crying. My face immediately changed and I was more worried than ever.

"Sweetie what's wrong?" I walked back out to the cemetery, away from my Father and Aunt.

"It's my Mom... she's having some sort of psychotic break and the nurses are worried for her. I can't get out there... Piper, I'm scared."

My hand rushed to my mouth and my heart started to break for Spencer. I knew that his mother was in a mental institution because of her schizophrenia, but I never knew the extent of her illness. We've discussed her at length on many occasions, but mostly just about the guilt that he felt for putting her in the care of other people.

"I'll go check on her, is that ok? Does she know who I am?" I asked, thinking of the only way that I'd be able to help.

"Yes. She knows about you... but I uh..."

"I'm not judging your mother, Spence. I know that she is very ill. She needs someone at least somewhat familiar to come see her."

"An unfamiliar face might be frightening to her."

"Spencer, I'm checking on her." I looked down at the time on my phone and sighed. "I've got a little while before I'm sure visiting time is over. I'll be there in less than an hour."

Spencer sniffled. I could tell that he was trying to pull himself together now. "Ok. Thank you." He hung up before I got a chance to say anything else.

"Who called you? Everyone knows that you're busy today." My Dad asked as I approached them.

"It was Spencer. I've got to check on his mother, she's having a schizophrenic break right now and apparently it was a bad one. I'll take the car when we get home."
My Dad and Aunt only nodded solemnly and we climbed in the car.

XXXXXX

The drive to Bennington Sanitarium was the most nervous drive of my life. Here I was, about to check on my boyfriend's mother, who was severely mentally ill. If I didn't love Spencer so much, I was sure I would have made someone else do this.

The check in was extremely strange. I told the doctors that I had come to visit Diana Reid, and they all rushed around trying to check who I was, and if I did in fact work for the FBI like I had told them. I showed them my badge, but they must not have gotten many FBI agents other than Spencer.

After a long wait, I was finally allowed to visit Diana. I was instructed not to scare or upset her in anyway, because she was particularly fragile today.

She was sitting in a chair by a window, gazing out onto the stars.

"Diana?" I asked, approaching her slowly. She turned around quickly and I immediately saw the resemblance between Spencer and his mother. She was tall and lanky with thin blond hair and a frazzled expression.

"Who are you?" She asked, angry.

"I'm Piper Aigen, Spencer's girlfriend. He uh.... wanted me to come see you." I sat down in a chair across from her. Once she understood that I was, in fact, dating her son, her face lit up.

"Oh, Piper!" She beamed. "I've been waiting so long to meet you. I never thought that it would be in these conditions."

"Well Spencer was worried about you today and I'm visiting family in Vegas, so I came in to see you. I just want to make sure that you're doing alright."

Diana relaxed and leaned back in her chair. "It's just like Spencer to worry so much. I told him that I was fine, but of course he didn't believe me." She took a book from a small shelf from next to her and handed it to me. "Would you give this to him when you see him next? It's his favorite." I could tell that she was not 'completely there.' There was something in her eyes that told me that while she was speaking to me, her mind was somewhere else.

"Sure. Are you feeling okay?" I asked as I sat with her. She nodded slowly.

"I don't know why these doctors think something is wrong. I've been taking my medication. I just got a little flustered today... isn't that normal?" She started getting a little upset again, and I saw the nurses started to stand in the corner of the room.

"Yes, yes. It's fine." I put my hand up to stop the nurses from approaching us. Diana didn't need a handful of people fussing over her. If she was like Spencer, she would want to be left alone when upset. "You know... Spencer talks about you all the time. He misses you so much."

Diana's gaze went back out into the night sky. "I miss him too. He's told me so much about you, in his letters, of course. He said that he thinks you're the one." She looked over to me as I blushed.

"He told you that?"

"I'm his mother, dear, of course he told me."

"Wow." I giggled like a little girl, thinking of how Spencer bragged about me to his mother.

"I can see why he loves you too, you are just the type of person I imagined my son with." She reached over and lightly squeezed my leg. I was blushing at this point. "I haven't known you more than two minutes, but I can see just the type of person that you are. You're smart, caring, and witty."

"I don't know..." I said, feeling foolish. I wanted to change topics, I didn't like being the center of attention in this scenario. "Well I didn't come here to talk about me. Spencer was really worried about you today, and he just wanted me to make sure that everything was fine."

Diana turned her attention back out the window, suddenly cold. "I'm fine. I don't need anyone checking up on me." I was shocked by her answer. How could she have gone from being so sincere to so cold in less than two seconds? Oh, right, schizophrenia.

"Oh, alright. Well... if you want to get to bed soon that's fine." I started to rise. She nodded, looking at me briefly and then down at her hands.

"Don't forget to give Spencer that book."

"Ok."
I wanted to hug her and act as if we were going to be close, but I knew that it was difficult for even Spencer to get any sort of emotion from his mother sometimes. I walked from the hospital, feeling both ecstatic and terrible about meeting Diana. She seemed to love me at first, and then turned desperately upset when I didn't want to talk about myself. But Spencer had told me before that she was not always this way. She was a loving and normal person in her younger years, but old age and stress had really impacted her illness.

My father was waiting up for me when I got home. "How is she?"

"Fine, I suppose. The nurses said that she's doing better since her incident earlier today. She seemed to like me..." I shrugged. "I've never had experience with anyone who was mentally ill before."

"I'm sure you did fine. Did you guys talk about Spencer?"

"For the most part," I paused, "I think I'm going to go to bed. It's been a long day. I love you." I kissed my Dad's cheek and began walking towards my old bedroom.

"I love you too baby."