"Except that when they discovered you here, they treated you differently than they treated Charisma. If I hadn't known better, I'd have thought you were a long lost sister finally returned to the fold. And even though the boys didn't come out to say Hi when Kay and her family arrived, it was clear she was part of the family as well. You greeted Kay like the long-time friend and confidante she has been to you; Charisma's sisters-in-law acted like Kay was one of them; the Tagherty kids came and took Kay's kids back to the playroom as a matter of course; and Mama sent Lee to join the rest of the male contingent, and he made it clear he knew what was expected of him." She paused. "Brianna, Charisma's not a stupid woman. It wouldn't take a lot for her to come to the right conclusion about the two of you."

Brianna bit her lip thoughtfully, then shrugged as nonchalantly as she could manage. "Kay was never something I hid - not when we were together and not since we broke up. She was a wonderful lover, Saphira, and she's been an even better friend. I don't regret the time we had together. I'm sure we could have been very happy if things had worked out between us, but they didn't. They couldn't have - not with the way I felt about Charisma... still feel, truth be told. So I certainly don't begrudge the love and family Kay has with Lee. More than anything, I want her to be happy."

"And I am, Sweetie," Kay assured her as she caught the tail end of the conversation. "However, you may want to go talk to Charisma. She... well, I don't think she's angry at me."

"No, I'm sure she's not," Brianna replied tiredly.

"You want me to...?" Saphira started to offer, but stopped when Brianna shook her head.

"No. This is my problem to solve."

"Are you gonna tell her why you left?"

"Only if she asks the right question."

************

Kay picked up the silverware and followed Charisma into the dining room, feeling her stiffen though her motions to set the table never ceased. She laid the placemats slowly, taking her time to ensure each one was perfect before moving on to the next one. She made it all the way around the table before Kay cleared her throat.

"Is there something I can help you with?" Charisma offered stiffly, turning enough to see Kay in her periphery, but not enough to look her full in the face. Kay noticed the lack of any sort of address and wondered if Charisma felt better by not calling her by name.

"Can I help?" she said by way of starting a conversation, holding up the silverware she had carried in.

Kay could feel Charisma's struggle warring between good manners and her true desire. Charisma took a deep breath and good manners won, though Kay was curious how close the race had been. "Of course," she said after a long moment of silence. "Would you like to set the plates as well? I usually create some sort of napkin animal to decorate the table a little bit."

"I never could get the hang of that. I just fold mine and hope for the best."

Charisma finished folding and held it up with a flourish. "Stupid parlor tricks," she muttered. "I learned when the boys started having kids. It was something to amuse them at a grown-up table," gesturing to the myriad of silverware and dishes at each place. "Mama insisted that we and they learn to eat correctly from a very young age. I agree that it's important for a child to grow up learning proper etiquette - I'm just not certain they need to start quite so young."

"So no kids' table, huh?"

"No... but you already knew that, didn't you?" her voice bitter.

"Yes, I did. But you knew that as well," framed as a statement, garnering a jerky nod of agreement from Charisma. "May I ask what I did to earn your disdain?" Kay asked in a calm voice. "Please don't try to dissimulate for me. I read people for a living."

"Don't!" Charisma said harshly. "Don't read me or psychoanalyze me or whatever it is that you do. Just please leave me alone," she added resignedly.

"Then answer my question, please Charisma," bringing Charisma's head up with a snap when she dropped her title and addressed her familiarly. "I think I deserve to know what I've done to antagonize you. We've hardly been introduced for an hour."

Charisma sighed. "It's not you. It is any number of mitigating factors and you just happened to fall into the crosshairs. I apologize for making you feel uncomfortable."

Kay smirked. "I'm not the one who's uncomfortable here, Charisma - you are. And I do believe that any number of realizations have put me at the forefront of your issues today, but I still think you've chosen to dislike me on a personal level without even giving me a chance."

"I see. Should I ask what brought you to these conclusions?"

"I told you - I read people for a living. Ask your brothers... ask your mother-in-law. They know who I am and what I do. And Charisma... I'm very good at what I do, so let me tell you what I know just from having met you an hour ago. You're jealous - you're jealous of what you think is between Brianna and me, and you're jealous of what you've missed while she was out of your life. Maybe you ought to sit down and figure out why that is."

Charisma stared at her, neither acknowledging nor denying Kay's words. Kay saw the look of agonized confusion in Charisma's eyes and softened, understanding for the first time why Brianna had been forced to walk away from the woman she loved so much she had never forgotten.

"Senator... Charisma - Brianna is my friend, and she's been my friend for twenty years. She's a very special woman, and she's very dear to my heart. I would do a lot for her, and I'm asking you as her friend - be careful with her. She hasn't been truly happy in a long, long time." Charisma opened her mouth as though to interrupt and Kay shook her head. "You don't have to like me, but I want you to understand that I know her as well as you do... maybe better. Don't hurt her again."

"I didn't hurt her to begin with! She's the one who left me!!"

"Did you ever ask her why?"

"Yes! She refuses to tell me until I ask the right question. But I don't know what that is!"

"Then consider things carefully, Senator Tagherty. I think you do know, and when you're ready to be honest with yourself, you'll know what to ask," Kay said as she put the last piece of silverware into places and turned to leave the room.

"Why do you care?"

"I told you - Brianna is my friend. I just want to see her happy." This time when Kay turned to leave, Charisma let her go.


-- Part 2 --

Chapter LX

Charisma watched Kay leave and took a deep breath, then she headed out the other door of the dining room and down the hall to the playroom where the men and the children were currently entertaining each other. She leaned against the doorjamb and simply watched the activity for a moment.

For the most part, the men were gathered around in a big circle talking - news, sports, jobs and occasionally making a comment directed to one child or another - while still keeping an eye on the various activities taking place throughout the room.

The kids had mostly broken down into groups by age and temperament, and Charisma was pleased to see that Adam fit in well with his cousins and their friends even though he was most definitely the youngest among them. Harley, Hunter's oldest, was keeping a special eye out for him, but the rest didn't just dismiss him because he was so young.

At the moment, he was sitting in front of Harley between his legs and playing some sort of racing game on the big screen television. Adam's squeals of excitement made Charisma smile and forget everything but his joy. When a girl she didn't recognize - obviously one of Kay's children - came and sat down next to them, Adam offered her the controller, but she smiled at him and shook her head. Instead she pointed out something on the screen, and Adam nodded his head frantically, before trying to do whatever it was that the older girl had shown him.

Renee, Rocky's middle child and one of the twins, got up from her place on the floor where several of the children were involved in building... something. When she saw Charisma lounging in the doorway, she squealed and ran over to hug her. Charisma smiled and returned the hug fervently, feeling better from the unabashed adoration in Renee's eyes.

"Hey, Sweetie," she said as she straightened, brushing a lock of hair from blue eyes. "What are you guys building?" motioning to the mass of blocks on the floor and ignoring the raised eyebrow looks she was getting from the other adults in the room. As a rule, the girls stayed in the kitchen until dinner was called - the boys went in after dinner to take care of the clean-up. Mostly they didn't cross paths too much until dinner was finished. So seeing Charisma here now set off more than one alarm bell.

"Everything all right, Princess?" Patrick asked when all the adult eyes turned to him. Charisma nodded her head, but kept her eyes on the Legos taking up one huge corner of the room that Renee had led her to.

"Everything's fine, Daddy. I got the table set and realized I hadn't even gotten a hello from some of my nieces and nephews, so I thought I'd come rectify that oversight posthaste."

"You talk funny," offered another kid she didn't know, and she raised an eyebrow at his outspokenness. Then Renee punched him in the arm, and the boy glared at her. "What'd ya do that for? She does talk funny... like a teacher or somethin'."

"Aunt Chari isn't a teacher - she's a Senator. She makes laws and stuff."

The boy's eyes widened and he looked at her with awe. "Do you really?"

Charisma smiled and nodded, liking the kid in spite of herself. "I do indeed... at least sometimes."

"Good!" the boy nodded fervently. "Can you make a law that says I don't always have to be nice to my sisters?"

Charisma took a seat on the floor and reached for a few of the blocks closest to her, carefully putting them together as she considered her answer. "Well, I don't know...." looking at him and then glancing at Renee with a raised eyebrow.

"This is Robert." Charisma nodded her thanks.

"I don't know, Robert. Wouldn't the world be a much better place if we were all nicer to each other?"

He sighed. "I s'pose so. But they drive me crazy," rolling his eyes and shaking his head wildly. Renee laughed and Charisma chuckled. "Always wanting to play my games and stuff," giving a long-suffering sigh. "And Mom makes me share."

"Well, I'll share a secret with you, Robert - brothers and sisters drive each other crazy. But you do learn to appreciate them as you get older. Who knows... you may even end up liking them at some point." Robert looked at Charisma like she'd just grown two heads. She simply smirked and tousled his hair before she handed Renee her completed Lego figure.

"Wow! Thanks, Aunt Chari."

"Anytime, Sweetie. Now I need to get back to the kitchen before Gramma decides I've absconded to warmer territory." Renee wrapped an arm around Charisma and got another hug before Charisma rose and moved away from them towards Harley and Adam.

"I'm telling you, Rennie - she talks funny... not like real people," Robert whispered loudly.

"Robert," Renee groaned dramatically, drawing snickers from the adults scattered around the room. Charisma stopped beside her oldest nephew and put a hand on his shoulder. "Everything all right, Harley? Adam's not too much trouble, is he?"

"Mama! Adam good boy!" Adam insisted, scowling at her. "Love Harley."

Harley blushed, but met Charisma's eyes squarely. "Adam's fine, Aunt Chari. Mich and I were just giving him some driving pointers."

"Mich?"

The girl beside him turned to Charisma and held out her hand. "Hi, Senator Tagherty. I'm Michelle Williams."

"Charisma Tagherty," Charisma responded automatically, accepting the girl's hand and shaking it briefly. "It's nice to meet you, Ms Williams."

"You can call me Michelle, you know. I'm not a Senator yet."

"Do you have political aspirations, Michelle?"

"I would like to be the first female President," she stated unequivocally. "But for now I'm happy to be my class president." She shrugged. "We all have to start somewhere, right?"

Charisma smiled. "You're absolutely right - we do." She hesitated, then plunged ahead, hoping she wasn't cutting off her nose to spite her face. "Look, if you're really interested in politics, maybe you could come clerk for me one summer when you get a little older. It would give you a taste of what politics is really like."