You've Got To Save Us Charity Stones read and reread her daughter's letters. She'd lost track of how many times she'd scoured those pages, searching for some sign of hope and pushing away the feeling that she was wrong. If she was honest, she'd been wrong for a very long time. But Charity was in no place to admit that just yet. Each of the letters, the first addressed to "Mom and Father" and the second just to "Mom" offered similar stories with slight, very important differences. It seemed Evelyn had done what Charity had long wanted to do and long wondered how to do: escaped.
It wasn't long until Mathias would arrive home from work and Charity's chest tightened at the idea of having to confront him. Of course, she planned to avoid it as long as possible. She would tell him that Evelyn wasn't coming home for Christmas, that part was inevitable, but she wouldn't tell him any of the rest. It was up in the air anyway. Evelyn hadn't expressed any set plan of action from anyone at Sonora and until there was, Charity didn't want to get her hopes up. She had more than just herself to think about, and now more than just herself and Evelyn, too.
She folded the second letter, addressed only to herself, into her pocket when she heard the front door open. Mathias entered the dining room a few minutes later and kissed his wife on the cheek. Whatever else was true of him, he certainly loved Charity, and she loved him. She hated that fact, but it was true. And as she thought of him being taken away from her, she made a decision. One that she knew would alienate her from her daughter.
"Evelyn wrote," Charity said as Mathias set his briefcase down and sat in a chair beside her. "She's made friends at Sonora and one of them invited her to stay over for Christmas break, so she won't be home until June."
Mathias had bent over to remove his shoes and looked up, surprised. "Well, that's good. We can have some more time without her around, then," he said.
Charity swallowed hard. "She's been doing well in school, I guess. Her magic's really come into itself." She wondered if Mathias realized that the only things he hated about Evelyn were the things she'd gotten from Charity herself. "I'll have to write to her about... well you know."
"No," Mathias responded sharply, surprising Charity. He didn't usually take such a tone with her and now it was her turn to look up. Her eyes had fallen away from his face for fear of what she might find there, but now she searched his expression.
"What do you mean 'no'?"
"I mean exactly that. She'll find out when she comes home in the summer." Mathias pushed himself away from the table and carried his shoes into the mudroom.
Charity was quiet for a moment, considering her husband's words. She hated the idea, but if it meant it bought her time to make their home a reasonable place for Evelyn to come back to and to get Mathias' anger sorted out, then maybe it wouldn't be so bad.
"If we don't tell her, she'll 'find out' when she meets him...."
"Exactly, and won't that be special? Maybe if this one isn't such a failure, then Evelyn will have something to inspire putting in some actual effort now. Might as well wait," he finished with a dismissive gesture and Charity knew there was no point in arguing.
She thought of writing to Evelyn in secret but there was no way to do so without either telling her that her father didn't approve of the action or letting him find out when Evelyn wasn't surprised to meet her baby brother in June. Charity closed her eyes against a wave of nausea that had nothing to do with her pregnancy.
"You're going to have to be nicer to her," Charity murmured.
Mathias scoffed. "Be nicer to the little weirdo? What for?"
"Just put on a show? What happens if she tells somebody at school that you don't get along well and it gets back to your boss?" Charity was dangerously close to saying too much but thought it was a risk worth taking. "You used to be so close and if her powers have developed now there's no reason to be so harsh to her anyway."
Mathias considered this for a moment, surprising Charity with his thoughtfulness. "I suppose that's true," he said. "I hardly know her anymore. It's not too late to get the weird out of her if I get involved again. Tough love seems to have sparked some magical abilities, maybe it'll make her a little more normal, too. Merlin knows she didn't want to go to Sonora but I was firm on that and look how its turned out."
Charity nodded, feeling nervous. She hadn't expected Mathias to concede so easily but he was nothing if not strategic. Callous, cold, and calculating were also fair descriptions, though. Maybe that was part of his strategic way of thinking. She didn't think she wanted to be strategic if that was the case, although she felt like manipulative might apply to herself.
"You could write to her," Charity added. "Let her know you're happy for her?"
Mathias grumbled something about how busy he was with work but conceded with a sigh. "If you really think it will help. You make a good point about my boss and I wouldn't be surprised if Evelyn complained about me. She's always whining."
Charity, who had hardly ever heard Evelyn complain, said nothing.
"But don't tell her about the baby," Mathias told her again. "She'll have to come home and meet him. Surprises are good for children and it'll teach her what it means to have responsibility thrown at you. Maybe it'll keep her from making the same mistake we did, huh? At least this one's planned."
Before Charity could say anything else, Mathias left the room, and she felt more alone than she could ever remember feeling before. Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad thing if Evelyn told somebody who made Mathias leave after all. She rebelled against the idea just as soon as she'd thought it, and her jaw locked against the possibility of giving up on her husband. She looked down at her growing stomach.
"You're my only chance, little one," she whispered. "You've got to save us."