Brave This Storm

Jacob Black was standing on his front porch, staring out sadly at the thick snow covering his beloved car. The roads were far too icy and dangerous to be driving on, so he would have to resort to walking if he wanted to go anywhere. With a sigh he turned to go back into his front door, when out the corner of his eye he saw a figure moving towards the house. What the hell? Jacob walked down the stairs of the porch on to the path to see that the figure was a young woman clutching a large bundle to her chest, dressed in only a worn pair of jeans, a thin cardigan and a t-shirt.

“Woah ma’am, what are you doing out in the snow?” Jacob yelped, rushing towards her.

“Am-Amelia Fish-Fisher is my grandmo-mother,” the girl managed to choke., stumbling towards him.

Jacob caught her easily, steadying her as he looked at her face. Her russet skin had a sickly grey tinge, her eyes bloodshot and strained in exhaustion, her long dark hair scraped back into a straggly ponytail. She looked like she had been to hell and back. What was she doing in La Push?!

“Amelia Fisher? I can take you to her, if you want,” Jacob offered, not liking the thought of the girl travelling alone through the woods and snow.

“Tha-Thank you,” she mumbled, a weak smile forming on her chapped lips.

“Stay there, I’m just going to get you a coat,” Jacob said with a reassuring smile.

The tall boy quickly ran inside his house to find his dad’s thick winter parka. Billy wouldn’t mind, Jacob knew that. Jacob grinned when he found it but froze at the sound of a child’s voice.

“MOMMY!”

Running back outside, Jacob gasped when he saw the woman was unconscious on the floor, and that the bundle she was holding to her chest was in fact a young boy, who was now standing by her side. Jacob ran over to them and quickly put his dad’s coat on the woman, resisting a chuckle as the little boy started hitting Jacob with his small fists.

“Don’t worry, I’m not going to hurt you or your mom. I’ll take you to Amelia’s house,” Jacob said softly, crouching down to the boy’s level.

“You not hurt mommy?” the boy asked, his face barely visible through all the layers of clothing he had on.

It was then that Jacob realised the woman must’ve sacrificed her warmth for her son.

“No, I won’t. Now climb on my back, and I’ll take you to Amelia,” Jacob said with a smile.

The boy looked uncertain but eventually climbed on Jacob’s back, wrapping his arms and legs around Jacob’s body. Jacob smiled and picked the woman up bridal style, quickly running to the house of the council member. When he reached the house, Jacob lowered the woman so she was standing upright, even though she was still slumped in unconsciousness against him.

“AMELIA! AMELIA!” Jacob shouted, pounding on the door.

Jacob could feel the little boy’s breathing on his neck while they waited for the door to be opened.

“My God, Jacob Black, what did you do now?”

A tall woman stood in a dressing gown and long nightdress, a look of shock on her face. Amelia Fisher was one of the oldest members of the council, although for being at the age of 59 she was healthy, feisty and full of more energy than most people had ever seen. She was widely respected on the reservation, and had a heart of gold.

“This girl came past me, wearing just a cardigan, t-shirt and jeans, and when I asked her what she was doing she said that she was looking for you because…because you’re her grandma,” Jacob explained.

Amelia’s jaw dropped, and the only thing she could think to do was usher Jacob into the house. It was then that she noticed the small boy on Jacob’s back.

“And who are you, sweetheart?” Amelia asked warmly.

“I-I’m Donovan Elijah Ramirez. Where is the warm boy taking my mommy?” he asked quietly.

Ramirez. Amelia knew that surname. Then it clicked – she knew exactly who this girl must be. But why hadn’t she heard of her sooner? Why didn’t she know she existed? And why was the girl here now?!

“Jacob, take the girl to the guest room, and then call a Doctor over. I fear she may have hypothermia,” Amelia ordered gently.

Jacob nodded, lowering the young boy to the floor before going upstairs.

“MOMMY!” Donovan cried out, his hands reaching out.

“Ssh, don’t worry, your mommy is safe. What’s her name?” Amelia cooed, kneeling down in front of the boy.

“M-Mariana. Mommy’s name is Mariana,” Donovan hiccupped, his mittened hands hiding his face.

Amelia’s heart softened at how helpless he looked, and opened her arms invitingly. Donovan whimpered and shook his head, stumbling backwards slightly. Amelia frowned, but nodded. Clearly there were a lot of things she didn’t know about her extended family.

“How about you take off your coat, gloves and hat, and wait on the sofa while I make us some hot chocolate?” Amelia offered.

“What’s hot choco…choco…that stuff?” Donovan frowned, looking up at the older woman as he started pulling off his outside wear.

Amelia fought not to drop her jaw. Clearly there was a lot she didn’t know about these two people.

“AMELIA! DOCTOR’S ON HIS WAY!” Jacob called from upstairs.

“THANKS JAKE!” Amelia called back.

Amelia smiled down at Donovan, who smiled nervously back. His pale skin glowed against the fire in the fireplace now that his hat and scarf were off, his dark brown eyes curious yet full of apprehension. This boy knew how to sense danger, but what Amelia was confused about was why he would have to know how to. There would be a lot of explaining to do when her ‘granddaughter’ woke up.

*

It took a week before Amelia’s new female guest was conscious enough to talk. Like she’d feared, the young woman had hypothermia. Luckily it was only a mild case, something that bed rest and lots of warm blankets could solve, and in a week the girl was able to sit up, even though that week went over Christmas, meaning Amelia had to stay at home instead of meeting with the rest of the reservation. Then again, Amelia found herself not minding too much. She’d grown attached to the new people in her house, especially young Donovan, and was curious to find out what really happened to the girl who called herself her granddaughter. The rest of the reservation were curious too, but so far only Jacob and the Doctor had seen either guest, and that was how Amelia was going to keep it until the young woman was ready.

When Amelia went upstairs on the morning of Boxing Day to check on the woman, she paused outside the door when she heard voices.

“Are we safe now mommy?”
“I think so, Donny. I think so,”
“What about Juan? Is he coming too?”
“N-No. He’s not. He can’t,”
“Oh, okay,”
“We’ll start a new life, Donovan. We’ll start a better life here. It’s safer here,”
“No more bad people mommy?”
“No more bad people,”

Amelia smiled softly and knocked on the door, before opening it. Donovan and the woman were sitting upright on the bed, Donovan curled up in her lap. The woman froze and looked up at Amelia with wide eyes, nervousness on her face.

“Am-Amelia?” she asked quietly.

“That’s right. Donovan said your name is Mariana?” Amelia smiled.

“Yeah, it is. Mariana Ramirez,” she nodded, her arms holding Donovan tightly.

“You can relax, Mariana. I just want to talk to you,” Amelia chuckled as she opened the bedroom curtains.

Mariana did relax a little, biting her bottom lip as hope flared inside of her. Now that she had recovered, Mariana looked like a completely different person. Her russet skin had a warm glow to it, her eyes big and brown and her lips plump and pink. Her hair cascaded down her back in soft waves and was a beautiful chocolate colour. As the light from the snowy outside filled the room, Amelia froze, taking in the image as she sat down.

“Y-You look just like my daughter,” Amelia stuttered, finally taking a good look at her guest.

“That’s because your daughter is my mother. She had me 21 years ago, 2 years after she left here for LA when she was 18,” Mariana said hesitantly.

“My Julia had a daughter? Why didn’t she tell me? And how do you know of me if I didn’t know of you?” Amelia frowned.

“I don’t know why she didn’t tell you but she didn’t tell me about you either. I had a friend of mine find out your address when I was 16,” Mariana said with a wry smile.

At Amelia’s eyes widening, Mariana chuckled and shook her head.

“He’s an accountant. It was totally legit. It was just…if anything happened to me, I needed a family relation of Donovan’s to take him. I c-couldn’t ever ask my mom. This is the only place that I could think would be safe,” Mariana explained softly.

“Where did you live that was so dangerous?” Amelia asked curiously.

“Before I had Donovan, I lived in Palos Verdes, in a good part of LA with my parents. After I had Donovan I had to move to Compton. It’s not the nicest place in the world, but it’s all I could afford,” Mariana said sadly.

“The last thing I heard, Julia had married a rich businessman – why could you only afford to live in Compton?!” Amelia exclaimed, having heard of the dangerous gang-ridden area.

Mariana laughed bitterly and shook her head, tears springing to her eyes slightly.

“I heard mommy talking to Gwandma Joolia once. Gwandma Joolia said I shouldn’t be alive,” Donovan said suddenly, looking up at Amelia with big eyes.

Amelia’s jaw dropped and Mariana cursed under her breath.

“Donny, what have I said about eavesdropping?” Mariana hissed.

“It’s bad. Sorry Mommy,” Donovan whispered.

Mariana sighed and kissed the top of his head, making Amelia smile. For a young woman, Mariana clearly knew how to be a good mother.

“Did Julia kick you out?” Amelia asked hesitantly.

“It’s something I prefer not to talk about, but yeah. Soiled underage goods aren’t worthy of family support apparently,” Mariana said with a fake smile.

Amelia sat in a silent shock. She never thought her daughter would sink as low as to turn her back on family members. Actually, scratch that, Julia turned her back on the reservation when she was 16 when she left for Los Angeles, and was never seen since. Never heard from since. But to disown her own daughter? That was just cruel.

“Look, I’ve been supporting myself since I was 16. 5 years in a bad area of LA makes you learn a lot. We just need a place to stay until I can get back on my feet,” Mariana sighed.

“Why did you leave Los Angeles? And in the middle of Winter?” Amelia frowned.

The tears that had been forming in Mariana’s eyes fell rapidly down her cheeks, and she shook her head furiously, clearly indicating that she was refusing to talk about it. Amelia smiled sadly as Donovan raised his hands to his mother’s face, wiping her tears away, and she stood to her feet.

“You can stay here as long as you need. I would never refuse family. Now you two get dressed for the day – I’ll start on lunch,” Amelia said warmly.

“Th-Thank you Amelia. Ever since I’ve been here, I’ve seen more kindness in a week than I have in 5 years in Compton. Thank you so much. I promise I’ll explain everything soon. I j-just can’t right now,” Mariana blubbered.

“Take as long as you need, sugar. And call me Amy,” Amelia winked.

Mariana laughed and nodded, smiling as Amelia left her and her son alone.

“This is it, Donovan. This is where our life starts again,” Mariana whispered.

Donovan just smiled as his mom kissed his forehead, making Mariana smile too. She just hoped that this upheaval would all be worth it. She just hoped she could start a new life here, for her son if no-one else. Otherwise, she was screwed.