That has to be Sarah. The startled realization lingered in Brooke’s mind when the youth had turned back to look at her. She knows who I am. She knows that I’m Sam’s lover. The executive gazed over at Sam’s mother wondering if she also knew her role in her eldest daughter’s life. More determined than ever, Brooke pulled all of her calming resources to the surface and let her mind think of the upcoming conversation as a negotiation more than anything. Maybe if I can stay in that executive role she won’t see me as the lover.

The silence in the house was insurmountable until the sound of a door closing came floating down the stairs from the second floor. Only then did Mrs. Moleson turn back to the tall woman and speak her mind. “Well, obviously something is wrong if you’re here about Sam. She doesn’t live here. If you have an issue with Sam about your sister, I suggest that you talk directly to her. She’s her own person. She made that decision years ago and I’ll not have her and her lifestyle affect Sarah in any way.”

“Mrs. Moleson, Sam is fine. She hasn’t done anything except to befriend my sister and quite frankly, the rest of our family.” Brooke watched as the glare from the small woman never wavered. “I just wanted to discuss the upcoming holiday with you and your husband.”

“And I suppose Sam is the reason for that?”

“No, Ma’am. She has no idea that I’m here.”

“Now Dear,” Samuel tried to ease his wife’s harshness. “You can’t think she’s done…”

“Done what…?” The reddish blonde hair glistened under the light as she turned to face her husband. “I don’t care to know what she does with anyone and I’ve told her that myself.” Mrs. Moleson jerked her head, letting her glaring eyes try to penetrate the tall woman’s façade before her. “Get to the point.”

Keeping her voice as soft as she could, Brooke met the stare with grace and elegance in her reply. “Sam doesn’t know that I’m here. This was my choice to come.”

“And…” Samuel moved closer to his wife, letting his arm hesitantly move to her waist. “…exactly what is it that you want to speak to us about?”

“My sister C.C. and I were talking and she asked me for my help in arranging a Christmas present for Sam.” Brooke could see that her words were not affecting the woman the way she would have liked them to. “I’ll be frank with you. I know that there is some animosity between you and your daughter.”

“You’re damn right there is. Don’t even think that I’d know what she wants. I don’t know that child any more. Sometimes I think I never knew her at all.”

Brooke attempted to be diplomatic. “I don’t know the circumstances and it’s none of my business but…”

“You’re right, it’s not.” Mrs. Moleson moved away from her husband as the anger visually rose to her face.

“Ma’am…please…” worried eyes darted from one parent to the other. “Just let me explain and my visit will make much more sense.”

“Elaine,” Samuel edged closer to his wife, “Let’s hear her out. What harm could it do?” He looked at the stewing woman, then glanced over to Brooke and nodded for her to continue.

“Thank you, Sir.” Brooke kept her voice soft, hoping to get her full thought out before being interrupted. “Since the beginning of the new college year, Sam has spent a great deal of time with my family. What I do know is that it would mean the world to her if she were able to come home to her parents and sister to visit over Christmas. C.C. mentioned this to me the other day…” Brooke looked earnestly at the people before her and continued. “…And since she has classes making it impossible for her to get away, I offered to come speak to you, myself.”

“Did she actually say that?” Mr. Moleson looked eagerly to Brooke. “My daughter, I mean.”

“Yes Sir, she did.” Blue eyes gazed directly into his searching green. “I heard it myself.” Brooke watched as the man gazed over to his wife with sorrow-filled eyes. “As I said before…”

The harsh tone of the small woman’s voice cut through Brooke’s words like a knife. “If she thinks I’ll let her back in here, she’s crazy…” Elaine’s brow wrinkled up more as she tightened her arms to her own chest. “Humph…I know she’s crazy already.”

“Elaine…” Samuel cautioned his wife. “Let’s not go there.”

Brooke took a small step forward. “Look, I don’t know all the details of the rift between you and your daughter, but I know that she’s a good person who loves her family deeply.” The tall woman looked directly at the man slightly to her right, “A daughter who misses her father terribly. She’s my sister’s best friend, and above all, she’s still your own flesh and blood.”

Elaine had turned away when she saw the intentional plea to her husband. She waited for the words to stop before shaking her head and pivoting back to pin Brooke with her gaze. “And I take it you know about daughters?” She said it sarcastically.

“That depends, Ma’am,” Brooke didn’t back down. “I am one of four and being years older than C.C., I know how trying they can be.” She shifted her weight just slightly, as if taking a different approach to the subject. “Is there anything so terrible that you wouldn’t want to spend the holiday with your own daughter? After all, she loves you, Mrs. Moleson.”

The spitfire of a woman stood firm in her resolve as she questioned the woman. “And because of that I’m supposed to expose Sarah to Sam’s reasoning?”

“Sarah’s been exposed to Sam longer than just one day, Elaine. What would it hurt?” Samuel tried to reason with his wife, waiting to see if she would consider any type of communication with her daughter.

“May I ask what the problem is with Sam visiting her family?”

Pent up emotions started to bubble through to the surface as Elaine spoke her mind. “I lost control of one, I’m not about to lose it on the other one.” She turned her gaze to Brooke, asking her point blank. “Would you let your sisters around a lesbian, knowing that she’s trying to make them one too? Or didn’t she tell you that little tidbit about herself?”

Brooke never blinked. Instead she just stated the facts. “Actually, Ma’am, I am one of four sisters. One of which happens to be a lesbian.”

“Oh, so that’s why you’re here…your sister is one also.” Elaine’s face became more angered looking. “I should have guessed as much.”

“No Ma’am. I can assure you that C.C. is as straight an arrow as they come.”

Elaine laughed out loud. “Straight arrow, huh? Not when Sam’s done with her.” The woman turned on a sickeningly sweet smile. “Or is there something that your sister hasn’t told you about?”

The executive fought to hold in her emotions. “I have nieces and nephews and there is a new baby on the way. Everyone is very open around each other in my family, but sexual preference is not made into an issue.”

“Don’t tell me that the…the…one is the one pregnant?” Elaine’s eyes opened wide with aghast.

“No, Ma’am, I can assure you she’s not.” Brooke sighed, noticing that Samuel seemed to be studying her figure rather intently. “Mrs. Moleson, Sarah won’t turn into a lesbian from being around her sister. But I can tell you that she will probably grow to resent you for keeping them away from each other.”

Fire began to flash in the small woman’s eyes and before she could say anything, Brooke kept up her barrage of reasoning.

“What I’m saying is that as large as the family is, there is one lesbian and many children around with one on the way. Sexual orientation is not an issue. It has nothing to do with who you are just because of who you love.”

“May I ask you one question?” Samuel’s hand nervously played with the change in his pocket.

The soft-spoken words gathered Brooke’s attention and she turned to look directly at Sam’s father. “Yes Sir, anything?”

“Are you and all your sisters close?”

“Very, we try to spend part of every weekend together. We talk to each other almost every day. Once a month, all of us girls get together with our parents for dinner. Just like when we were growing up.” Brooke chuckled softly, “No spouses or children allowed.”

“And their sexual orientation hasn’t bothered you…or influenced you in any way?” He looked hopefully into Brooke’s face, waiting for the answer.

“No, Sir. I can tell you with all honesty that any of their preferences hasn’t influenced me one bit.”

Samuel looked over to his wife. “They’re sisters, Elaine…we can’t keep them apart forever. What’s one day going to do?” His eyebrow twitched hopefully as he made his plea.

“Please Mrs. Moleson, you said that you’ve lost one daughter, don’t push away your other one by denying her a relationship with her sister.” Brooke paused, seeing the woman look away, muttering something inaudible under her breath. “Sam’s done nothing wrong. She deserves to know her family again.” She looked to Samuel, her eyes pleading for any help in ascertaining an affirmative answer. “She wants to know her family again.”

The sound of a foot tapping on the vinyl tiled floor rose out of the electrically charged silence. Elaine’s eyes darted back and forth from one adult to the other as she weighed the outcome of the debate in her head.

Seconds stretched into minutes and, in an attempt to tip the scales in her lover’s favor, Brooke threw out her ace in the hole. “Sam’s always welcome with my family, but we can’t replace her own.”

Elaine’s cold gray eyes threw a chill out in Brooke’s direction as they darted one final time to her face, then to her husband’s, before she spoke. “Alright,” she glowered, “but it’s on my turf and my conditions.”

“Conditions?” Brooke asked slightly puzzled. Damn, what happened to the unconditional love of a parent?