Keep It True.

We approached the city of Minneapolis and I felt an odd sensation flowing throughout my body. I turned to see Ava's shoulders tensed up as well. We were both in an odd state of reverie and all the boys around us were acting as they normally would, but we couldn't act normal here. Our mother was somewhere around it and neither of us were quite sure how to feel about it.

We got the venue early and the boys started doing soundcheck and the world started flying around Ava and I. I think the boys were noticing the fact we were acting weird, but none of them were sure on how to ask us. I noted Garrett and John conversing stealing glances at both of us. My eyes met Ava's and I could see she conscious of their gaze on us. "It'd be weird if we saw Mom here, huh?" She finally asked what was on both of our minds.

"She's not our mother anymore," I shrugged off bitterly, I tried to keep myself busy just folding a couple of shirts even though we were done setting up.

"Liv, she carried us inside of her for nine months and gave birth to us. I mean she may not have been a good mother to us, but she's still our mom," Ava looked at me slightly appalled at what I had said, but I meant every word of it. As far as Celeste Hartford was concerned, she was just another woman in an overcrowded world.

"I disagree, and if I ever see her again, I'd probably punch her in the face," I tried to laugh off the serious cloud over both our heads. Ava widened her eyes before she let out a nervous chuckle and I rolled my eyes. "God, what'd you do Ava?" I sighed loudly, waiting for her to finally fess up.

"I, uh, found her, I called her and I'm meeting her for lunch, in like fifteen minutes. She drove something crazy like an hour and she wants to see you too. Look, you don't have to come, but I have a couple of questions for her and I think you do too," Ava spoke with pleading eyes. I bit my lip, I did have a lot of questions and I had a curiosity that had piled up over the past thirteen years, but what finally convinced me was the words that came out softly from Ava's lips, "Liv, I need you there."

"Ava, I wasn't being hyperbolic, I will probably punch that woman in the face if I ever see her again," I said. I really couldn't see her again, I didn't want to ever see her again. Seeing the person who ruined normality for us was exactly the first thing on my list.

"Livy, this is Mom. The mom who used to dance around the kitchen with us and sing yellow submarine loudly just to make us laugh! The mom who would make us brownies just because and we would have our own little tea party, celebrating nothing!" Ava tried to reason with me, but she was only remembering the good things about a woman who had many flaws.

"Yes and she was the woman who left us waiting outside after school 'cause she was already drunk and passed out on the couch, and this was the woman who would scream and blame Dad for her failed acting career and stealing her youth. We had to cry and hide in our room because if we went out, she'd start yelling at us," I reasoned right back.

That was the thing about our mother, we only had bits and pieces of memories. When things were good, they were great and we had the most fun mother on the block, but when things were bad they were below rock bottom. It wasn't until we were older that we learned our mother was not only bipolar, but an alcoholic. I felt a pang in my heart as I remembered the night we found her passed out in her bed, Ava and I sobbed trying to wake her up we thought she was dead. To this day, I had never been so terrified.

"She was really messed up, Olivia, and maybe she still is. Maybe we can help her, this is our mother," Ava said lowering her eyes and grabbing my hand. I didn't think, I just nodded my head and we walked outside to hail a cab. We figured we had already done our job for now and none of the boys would mind.

We walked into the small cafe, it was rather busy seeing at is was lunch time, but I spotted Celeste Hartford sitting with her legs crossed politely, sipping a mug. She was a beautiful woman, she had dabbled in modeling and acting, even now time hadn't changed that much. She had blonde hair strewn with gray and big brown eyes with the same shape as ours, they were kind eyes I wouldn't have guessed her eyes would be kind. I nudged Ava and nodded towards her and she frowned.

"Ready?" She asked, not even sounding ready herself, but I figured if we had to wait until we were ready it'd take another thirteen years.

"Ready," I nodded, she grabbed my hand tightly and we made our way to the table she was sitting at. My heart was threatening to pop out of my chest, she didn't look messed up or anything. I froze I didn't know what to call her so I simply just called out, "Celeste."

"Oh my god! Girls! Oh, Olivia, you're so grown up and look at your teeth, they're so straight!" She gushed standing up once she saw us. She hugged me tightly until she turned to Ava and a smirk crossed her lips. "Little Ava, you are so beautiful, my goodness you two are all grown up! You're such lovely young ladies," She smiled cupping both of our faces and studying us.

"That tends to happen after nearly fourteen years," I snapped, a fire burning from the repressed rage. She smoothed her khaki pants after clearing her throat her brown eyes showing a glimmer of regret. That made me happy, she should regret what she did to us.

"I owe both of you an apology, I really do. I hope that by God's grace that you can forgive me someday," She intertwined her fingers with a small golden cross that rested on her chest. "Anyways, Cooper really helped me clean up, get straight, you know?" She blushed before sitting back down and we followed suit.

"So what have you been up to in Minnesota?" I asked, for some reason at that moment she needed to leave us to get sober. She left our lives to be everything she could be in hers and I couldn't be angry for her. After so many years of being angry and finally meeting her I couldn't be angry,

"Oh lord, chasing after kids," She said while pulling out her wallet and showing us a family photo and she smiled proudly. "That's Riley, Marshall and Cooper Junior, they're all such good boys. All in sports, I barely have time to breathe, with that and cleaning house, PTA and snacks for hockey." She pointed to every smiling face in the picture, they looked happy. I looked at the man smiling with his arm wrapped around her and wondered what he had that my father didn't.

"So you're clean now?" I asked trying to keep the conversation growing scrolling down what I wanted to say to her in my mind. My eyes travelled to Ava who was being awfully quiet, I couldn't tell if she was pouting or about to start crying, but it wasn't the time or place to ask about it.

"Yeah, I'm in AA- I'm about to get my fourteen year chip. I found out I was was pregnant and that was the wake up call I needed," She nodded awkwardly before she fiddled with her cross again. "And thank God, CJ didn't have problems with everything I had in my system." I had to think about who CJ was, then I realized it was short for Cooper Junior, she had nicknames for her new kids.

"Yeah, thank God," Ava snapped sarcastically before she looked up from chipping her red nail polish. "How could you leave us? How could you sleep at night knowing we had to grow up without a mother?" I had never seen Ava this angry before, I wondered what had changed since not even half an hour earlier.

"Ava, honey, I'm sorry, you were in my prayers every night and I was so messed up in Arizona. I had to leave and I always thought I would be a better mother staying away from you than I ever could there messed up like that. Oh darn, I have to leave now if I'm gonna make it back to pick the boys up from school," She said after catching a glance at her watch. I didn't even notice the flashy diamond ring on her finger, as she placed her wallet back into her Gucci purse. That's what he had that my dad didn't, money.

"Oh so now you're a perfect housewife? Now that you live in butt-fuck-nowhere with your new family?" Ava spat out bitterly with her arms crossed. I bit my lip silently watching her fight back tears.

"Ava, watch your language, look I'm sorry and I'm not as exciting as you may remember, that's in my past. Why does it bother you that I'm a housewife, it's almost like you would prefer it if I was still some junkie. When you were four, you wanted to be a mommy, please don't tell me you're in one of those feminist groups now?" She asked completely missing the purpose of why Ava was upset.

"Ava, just breathe, what's wrong?" I whispered grabbing her hand under the table and she slipped out of my grip before standing up.

"Her, you're a fucking housewife?! You dropped your kids off at the sitter for a 'job interview' and you were gone forever! If you were gonna be fucking mother of the year and a housewife, then why couldn't you be that for us?" Ava finally broke, causing everyone in the cafe to stare at us and stormed out. I was worried about what she would do, if I knew anything about Ava she always did dumb things when she was upset.