She saw nothing unusual about Charlie's sudden change in emotion or what the mention of her mother did to the girl. The change in her tone or the little way she excused herself to get a drink was lost on her. As far as she knew, Charlie just had a weird way of talking and often needed something to drink. If she had thought about it a little, she may have assumed that all these things were signs that Charlie was just nervous around her.
But one didn't usually brush a stranger's hair if they were nervous. Hair brushing was an act of comfort. That was what Rosemary believed. The actual brushing was anything BUT comforting but the agreement in doing it was. Or something like that.
Frankly, the subject of mothers was putting her off-kilter. She had never known her own mother, or her father for that matter, and had never had any sort of mother figure to lean on. Anything female she got from watching the other girls at home or by watching movies. There had been a time where having a mother was very important. It had been all she could think about. Why didn't she have a mother and everyone else did? Even Royce had his parents, as spineless as they were. What was wrong with her? Didn't her own mother want something to do with her? Or had she been killed? Rosemary had spent many nights wondering about her mother. Since no one knew anything about her, there was no one to ask anything about. With no answers in sight, there was no use in the questions. So she didn't know who her mother was. It wasn't her mother who took care of her and raised her. It wasn't her mother who braided her hair when it got too long or made her apple cider when she was sick.
She didn't need a mother.
But damnit, she still wondered what it would have been like to have one.
Which was why she was disappointed to hear about Charlie's own lack of a mother. Disappointed for only a moment because suddenly she was feeling something else. It felt like Charlie had wrapped a ribbon around her, tied her up with a bow and then went ahead and wrapped herself up in the same ribbon. Because peanut butter on a stick, there was something they had in common.
"I didn't have a mom. I had uncles." She said quite easily. And she did miss her uncles. Daniel and Mark were probably worried about her and she really should get in contact with them. But what would she say? It had been so long by now. Maybe they wanted nothing to do with her anymore. The cookies in her stomach weren't settling well with her now and the two cookies Charlie had given her lay untouched in her lap. She hated feeling home-sick (or guilt) so she thought of something quick to change the subject off families.
"So if my brother asks you out, are you going to say yes?"