Free You Get What You Pray For by E.N. Joy Page A

nice to sleep in my own bed.”
    â€œYou sure you don’t want to stay?” Lorain asked, absolutely certain of what Unique’s answer would be.
    â€œNo, but thank you so much,” Unique replied. She then stood up. “I’m going to head on out.”
    â€œLet us walk you out,” Lorain said, leading the way to the foyer.
    Unique stopped off in the great room and grabbed her purse and then met up with Lorain and Eleanor by the front door.
    â€œThanks again for dinner, Gran,” Unique said, kissing Eleanor on the cheek.
    â€œAnything for Grandma’s baby.” Eleanor hugged Unique.
    â€œSo good seeing you, Mom,” Unique said to Lorain, hugging her.
    Eleanor watched observantly as the two women embraced.
    Lorain released Unique and then went and opened the door. “See you in the morning.”
    â€œOkay. Have a good night.” Unique exited the house, and Lorain closed the door behind her.
    Lorain briskly turned around, intent on heading to the shower and then to bed, then abruptly stopped in her tracks. Eleanor was standing in her path with her hands on her hips.
    â€œIt’s a shame when mother and daughter embrace and it’s as awkward as the wife having tea with the mistress,” Eleanor said.
    â€œOh, for Pete’s sake, what are you rambling on about now?” Lorain said.
    â€œYou mean to tell me you didn’t see that? Feel that? The two of you act like you don’t even know how to be around each other anymore. It’s like you both are walking on eggshells. I don’t know who created that distance between you two, but somebody needs to tell me what’s really going on. It’s like you both got something on the tip of your tongue and it’s stuck there. Do I need to knock somebody upside the back of they head until it comes flying out?”
    Lorain listened to her mother and then exhaled. She breathed for what felt like the first time since she’d turned around that evening and caught sight of Unique sitting at the kitchen table with the twins. Lorain opened her mouth, but no words came out. She wanted to talk. She’d been wanting to talk . . . to her mother . . . to anybody. But instead she’d kept it all bottled up. Well, her mother was continuously shaking up that bottle, and now Lorain was doing all she could not to pop the cap on her emotions and have them explode everywhere. But all the strength she thought she possessed—all the strength she’d used to keep all her emotions in the closet by pressing both hands against the closet door—had vanished. The door had flung open, and now here she went, crashing to the floor.
    â€œOh, Mommy.” Tears spilled out of Lorain’s eyes like milk in a full glass turned upside down on purpose. She ran into Eleanor’s arms and cried over the spilled milk.
    â€œBaby girl, what in the world?”
    Eleanor was caught off guard by her daughter’s sudden emotional outburst. She hadn’t seen her so torn up since the boys’ funeral. Since then, Lorain had done an excellent job of walking around with her head held high and a smile on her face, like nothing could bring her down. Even though Eleanor had sensed that it was all a front and that one day Lorain would break, she hadn’t expected it to happen at this moment, and so abruptly. But the one thing she had always known, though, was that she would be there for her daughter whenever the dam did break.
    â€œMommy’s here.” Eleanor wrapped her arms around her daughter and allowed her to weep.
    Lorain sniffled. She would have been drunk from the tears on her tongue if the salt from the liquid was an intoxicant. She cried a nice size dam.
    â€œThere, there now,” Eleanor said, patting her on the back. “Let’s go sit down and tell Mommy all about it.” Eleanor had to practically peel Lorain’s arms from around her. Lorain was holding on to her like a prayer she