Who: Helena, Emily and OPEN to the Warehouse gang if anyone wishes to respond What: Emily is saying her first word! When: This evening Where: House Warehouse Warnings: Cuteness
The visit from the ghosts had been a mixed event for Helena. While it had forced her to confront Christina in a way she thought was impossible, she was glad for it. It had been one thing to finally let herself truly grieve for her daughter after one hundred and twenty years of refusing to go through the grief. It was completely another to have her daughter's ghost confront her. Helena had admittedly become accustomed to her long-lost daughter being there with her during the two weeks the ghosts had been there, and it had been more than difficult to say goodbye to her yet again. But the talks she'd had with her daughter had helped her more than she'd initially thought. She had silently accepted many things she previously hadn't. She was moving forward and allowing herself to have a life again. And for the first time in as many years as Christina had been dead, Helena's heart was finally truly opening to people again. While she'd let people in, such as Myka and Svetlana, there was still a part of her heart that was closed off as she was afraid to let it open. She was, at her core, afraid to be open again because she knew how cruel the world could be and she knew her heart couldn't take another loss the way she'd lost Christina. But as Christina had helped her realize, it would be a worse fate to not take advantage of the fact that she could have a normal life in this world.
The Victorian woman was still a complete bundle of issues, but she was at least finally letting go of Christina. She was grieving and moving through the grieving process in a healthy manner. She knew the pain of the loss would always be with her to some extent, but while it hurt to embrace the pain, it was lessening, little by little, as she let Emily into her heart the way Christina had been in her heart. As much as having Emily thrust upon her as a baby had been completely up-ending for her, Helena had once again embraced motherhood. While she hadn't physically given birth to the little girl, Helena felt the maternal bond to her. In a way, Emily was a part of her, a creation of the Janus Coin, but no less deserving of life than Helena herself was. It hadn't taken very long for her maternal instincts to reawaken, and now she had that innate sense of when Emily was about to get into something she shouldn't. Helena could have her back to the child or be fully engrossed in doing something, but the instant Emily started for something dangerous, Helena would quickly take the girl out of harm's way.
Currently, Helena was sitting on the couch in the living room, back propped against the armrest and a notebook braced against her legs, her pen quickly scribbling away, giving life to a new tale she had to tell. It was something she'd been working on writing off and on for the past couple months. As she had done with The Time Machine and The War of the Worlds, she was drawing from her emotions more than her scientific interests to write it. It was still uncertain if she was close to the end or not, she was merely letting the characters and emotions guide her pen. It was extremely cathartic to write, and Helena was glad the inspiration had come to her once again. She'd been tinkering and dabbling with inventions and helping provide anti-gravity traps to those who wanted them to an extent that she'd nearly forgotten she was, at heart, a writer. But inspiration had struck and she was heeding that call.
Even with her attention fully focused on her writing, Helena was also keeping track of Emily's movements as she played with her toys a few feet away. It was a talent Helena had once been so very good at; being able to watch someone while still engrossed in something else. But even with that, she was still taken a bit off-guard when she felt a tug at the bottom hem of her shirt. Blinking, Helena looked down to see Emily looking up at her with those big brown eyes of hers. Smiling warmly, Helena set the notebook and pen on the floor.
"Do you want up on mummy's lap?" The child responded with a smile, holding her arms out to Helena as the older woman leaned over and picked her up, setting her on her lap. "There we are, happy now, love?" Emily responded with a giggle. Helena giggled herself, leaning forward and rubbing her nose against Emily's. "You are easy to please, aren't you, love?" Emily giggled again, reaching out and grabbing a handful of Helena's hair. "Do you have mummy's hair?" Helena asked with a playful gasp, eyeing Emily.
"Mu-my." Emily said, seemingly sounding out the word. Even so, Helena blinked a bit, caught by surprise.
"What did you say, love?" She asked, wondering if she was just hearing something she wanted to hear.
"Mumy." Emily repeated. This time, a warm, wide grin spread across Helena's face, the exact type of smile that made her eyes sparkle from within.
"Yes, that's right, love. Mummy's right here." Helena confirmed, pulling the girl close and hugging her. As much as she wanted to promise she would always be here, Helena knew the nature of this world. The Seal could see fit to send her back to her death five minutes from now. And she also knew death could take her or Emily in this world. "I love you, don't you forget that, love." Helena said, pressing kisses to Emily's cheeks. The Victorian woman didn't even notice she'd said those three words out loud, but it was the first time she'd said them aloud to anyone since Christina had been alive.