"That must be hard," Brianna said softly. Charisma cut her eyes over and raised a brow in question. Brianna just shrugged. "I just remember going to visit and the fun we had. If I miss it, having had it for only the four years we were in college together, I can't imagine how you must feel."

This time Charisma turned and met Brianna's eyes with her own, and she held them for the longest time, searching. Brianna never flinched or backed away and finally Charisma dialed down the intensity of her gaze. She shrugged.

"It is hard sometimes," looking around at the rest of the table. "Are any of you from a large family?" watching Esmeralda, Saphira and Ruby all nod. Charisma chuckled. "Then you'll understand what I mean." She turned back to Brianna. "I do miss it... and them, but at the same time, sometimes I'm glad to be far enough away that they can't just stop by on a whim," seeing Brianna's eyebrow go up in query. "C'mon, Bri... don't you remember the times we had to duck out on the boys to keep them from driving us crazy?"

Before Brianna recovered from her surprise at the familiarity of Charisma's address, Adam decided it was time for his presence to be acknowledged again.

"Mama!!" grinning through the food that covered his face. Every head swiveled in his direction and Saphira laughed out loud at the sight.

"My word, boy - are you somewhere under all of that?" Adam laughed and made as if to jump down from his chair, only to find himself caught and held by Brianna's hand. "Br'anna!!" he complained, twisting to see if he could find what was holding him in place. Before he could complain any more, Charisma and Saphira both stood.

"If you could just point me to the bathroom...." walking around the table intending to remove him from the chair. She idly noted that Brianna's grip didn't loosen despite Adam's best efforts. Saphira reached for him and he lunged when Brianna let go of him at Saphira's nod.

"If you'll trust me, I'll clean him up."

"Are you sure?" Charisma asked. "He can be a handful."

"More than Es is?" blue eyes twinkling. And though she knew what Saphira was doing, Esmeralda couldn't let the remark pass unchallenged.

"I know where you live, warrior, and you have to sleep sometime," seeing Saphira's eyes widen in response. "Don't think I don't know this is just a ploy to get you out of dish duty."

Saphira tried to protest, but could only sputter incoherently as laughter rippled around the table. Even Adam, who had no idea what the joke was, laughed uproariously. When things calmed marginally, Charisma held up her hand.

"If you really want to try and clean him up, I have another outfit in his bag in the closet." She looked around the table at the rest of the women. "Lesson learned the hard way. It might be easier than trying to get all the food out of what he's wearing now."

Saphira nodded. "That'd be fine, Charisma." She looked at Adam. "C'mon, buddy - what say you and I go get clean and then we can go play."

Adam threw his arms around her neck. "Go, Horsie!!" he cheered, causing more laughter. Saphira took it in stride and galloped off towards the bathroom. An awkward silence settled in the room, and Esmeralda felt compelled to break it.

"Well, since our chief bottle washer has managed to skip out on her duty for the moment, I'm thinking maybe we should adjourn back to the living room and leave this for later," glancing around at the untidy kitchen. Brianna and Charisma traded looks and then shook their heads in tandem.

"Mama would kill us," Brianna murmured. Charisma nodded her agreement.

"No kidding - and she can find us," smiling when Brianna snorted. Esmeralda crossed her arms and tilted her head in question.

"What are you two muttering about?"

"You remember the mama thing we were talking about earlier?" waiting for Esmeralda to nod her head. "If we leave the kitchen looking like this, *her* mama will find us and do something drastic to all of us. And she CAN find us, you know."

"How would she know?" Ruby asked. "It's not like she's here and none of us are going to tell her."

Brianna and Charisma both snorted. "You don't know my mama," Charisma volunteered after a moment's hesitation and Brianna nodded her agreement vigorously. Ruby and Esmeralda exchanged looks, then shrugged.

"All right," Esmeralda relented. "Um...." But Brianna broke in before she could even finish her thought.

"Es, if Ruby wants to put the leftovers away, I can wash while you dry and put the dishes away."

"What about me?" Charisma demanded.

"I thought you needed to get Adam's clean clothes to Saphira."

Charisma rolled her eyes. "It won't take *that* long. I'll be back before you get started."

Brianna bit her lip. It wasn't supposed to be this hard... or this awkward. Then Esmeralda's voice cut in. "Charisma, if you'd like to dry, I can put the dishes away." Charisma nodded and Brianna sighed in relief.

"I'll be right back," Charisma said before leaving the room. No one saw her lean against the wall for a moment, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath before she headed down the hall towards the coat closet.

"You okay?" Esmeralda asked Brianna when she saw her grab onto the back of a chair and close her eyes. Green met green and slowly Brianna nodded.

"Yeah," she said softly. "I didn't realize...." she started, then stopped speaking. Instead of encouraging her to continue, Esmeralda simply squeezed her arm lightly in understanding. Then she turned to find Ruby emptying out the refrigerator and threw up her hands in exasperation.

"RUBY!!"

Ruby turned around and looked abashed at being caught, but didn't stop what she was doing. Brianna looked between Ruby and Esmeralda and then settled her gaze on Esmeralda.

"Should I even ask?"

Esmeralda shook her head. "C'mon and let's get started, and I'll explain it."


Chapter XXXVI

Kent made his way down the hallway to Charisma's study. He felt a little weird going into her sanctuary without an invitation. After all, it wasn't like he had any business in that room except to snoop. But his curiosity had been raised by what he'd witnessed earlier and he knew himself well enough to know he'd find no peace until he got an answer to some of the questions he suddenly had about a great many things.

He realized that the door was unlocked - something unheard of when he was home and he wondered if it was locked against him specifically or if she hadn't bothered because Adam was with her and there was no possibility of the child getting into places he wasn't allowed.

Kent figured that was most likely the reason, but it still served to niggle at the back of his mind nonetheless. Then he pushed the door opened and crossed into Charisma's private study.

He took a good, hard look around the room he seldom entered more than simply to bid Charisma goodnight. So he took the opportunity to really check out the one place in their house that represented Charisma Tagherty more than any other.

The desk was neat... clean - a large monitor taking up one side of the desk and a custom made set of mini-shelves that held the different documents she was reviewing on the other. In the center was a blotter, but it was free and clear of any writing - not even the hint of a doodle on it. Between the monitor and the shelving was a single picture of Adam in a silver frame.

His glance moved on, noting the eclectic art that hung on the walls - pieces she'd had since before they had met. Kent wondered at their significance, but since he didn't recognize them, he figured they might have been the work of a starving artist she'd stumbled on when she'd traveled to Europe after college. He didn't know much about that trip... only that she'd gone and spent three months touring around before returning to Washington to begin her political career immediately.

He continued his visual tour, recognizing the painting over the fireplace as the one he'd given her on their wedding day. He thought back on that with a wry twist to his lips. Would he, knowing what he knew now, still have married her? He liked Charisma... loved her even, and he admired many things about her. But aside from the son that they shared, did they have anything in common anymore?

Kent moved over to the sofa and dropped onto the cushions, sighing in soundless relief as his body automatically relaxed into its decadent softness. He hadn't realized he was strung so tightly. He let his eyes travel around the room again, grateful for the soft muted colors that allowed him to unwind a little more. There wasn't much else remarkable about in the room - a few file cabinets that had been crafted to fit the dйcor and the furniture.

The furniture was plush, but sturdy - a change from the formality that had previously occupied this room. Now the furniture could be considered rough and tumble - stuff that was comfortable for any guests Charisma needed to entertain here and yet sturdy enough to survive hard use by a young boy. Only the coffee table that was placed between the long sofa where he was currently ensconced and the two chairs that sat opposite him didn't fall into that category.

That, he remembered clearly, had been his mother's gift to his wife. It was a family heirloom and befitting a United States Senator. Charisma had been thrilled to accept it and had immediately made it part of her home office. It was quite the talking point, and many of her colleagues had commented on its history at one time or another.

Now, though, the only thing he could find interesting about it was the leather covered photo album he'd glimpsed at very briefly earlier. This time, however, he wasn't quite as anxious to open it and delve into its secrets. In the back of his mind Kent knew that unwrapping this particular mystery would probably change his life. There had to be a reason Charisma kept this locked away from the light of day. He wondered if it tied in to her recent sadness and decided it most likely did.