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Tabitha sighed at the sight of her niece as she entered the waiting room at Stoneybrook General, clad in the frippery of formalwear, it was clear that the inferno at the Porter manse had interrupted Sharon's homecoming dance; in addition to reportedly claiming both of her in-laws' lives.
"Sharon," she said softly, approaching her and her boyfriend warily. Rita and Charles had insisted that the Spier boy was one of the worst sorts, but she'd never known if they'd meant status wise or criminality wise. Judging by his appearance, the boy's only crime was being poor. "I came as soon as I could."
"My parents are dead," she said in response, eyes less deadened to the world than one would expect. Thankfully, they were barely visible through Sharon's sunglasses. Tabitha didn't much care for optics, it was true, but she didn't think it would bode well if the news that her burnt to a crisp parents were in the morgue had filled Sharon with joy instead of sorrow.
"Yes, do you know what that means?"
She shrugged. "That I don't have to move out to California?"
"She understands that her parents are dead, Mrs. Porter," her companion interjected. "It's truly an unfortunate loss."
"It is?"
Tabitha sighed. "Yes, Sharon, certainly it is in public. You are coming home with me," she declared.
"Sharon's younger sister survived the blaze, Mrs. Porter. We were going to remain here until we got word on whether or not she was being released." He extended his hand. "Richard. Richard Spier."
"The hospital has reached out to Marjorie," she informed the two of them. "She was getting on a flight here; she called me from a payphone in the airport. There is no need for either of you to assume responsibility for a seven year old."
"I'm not stupid, Aunt Tabby," Sharon scoffed. "Mom and Dad made it very clear that in the event of their deaths, I would only inherit assets, not the care of their precious miracle. I just didn't think it was appropriate to just leave her here, and everyone knows at the dance," she added, "so Richie said that it would be a terrible idea to go back. I just don't have anywhere else to go–"
"You're staying with me," she repeated, hoping the second time got it through Sharon's head. "We can discuss your future later, once we've all had some rest."
"If you say so." She rose to her feet. "I'll go with you, if Richie can spend the night."
Tabitha did her best not to give in to the next sigh that threatened to escape. Esmeralda was such an easy child to deal with in comparison to Sharon. It often seemed like her niece's head was off in the clouds. "Fine," she found herself agreeing. "He can come home with us, at the very least, and contact his parents and see if they're okay with him spending the night…in a separate guest room," she added. "What is this about California?"
"They said that I was going to be forced to apply to schools out there," Sharon said dully, linking her fingers through Richard's. "That they'd sooner die before they let Richie and me be happy together. I didn't think that they meant it!"
"I hardly doubt that they meant it literally," she informed her as they made their way out of the hospital. "That's only an expression, Sharon, and the fire probably happened because one of your parents fell asleep smoking a cigarette, knowing them." Tabitha could only imagine that Rita and Charles had been intoxicated, their typical state, especially given that Sharon – whom they considered to be a problem – was off at the homecoming dance with the boyfriend whom they loathed.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes." Tabitha was getting a headache. "Why on earth would you blame yourself?"
"The last time Marjorie was in town, she said that my decisions were 'killing our parents'," she explained. "I didn't want them to get hurt, I just…I really love Richie. I don't see why that's so wrong," she sniffled. "Just because his father's the mailman?"
"Sharon, we don't need to talk about this here," he insisted. "No one expects you to decide your entire future on the day you won homecoming queen and lost your parents."
"Why not? No one can stop me now." There was a hint of bitterness in her tone. "I don't go to Marjorie in the will. I'm too damaged. Everyone's ashamed of me, you know that."
"I know that my family's lack of money isn't a reason for them to be ashamed of you. That's what I know, and that I love you, regardless of what people think. Like I said earlier, there's no need to do anything outlandish."
They'd settled in Tabitha's car. She hesitated to ask, but ask she did "...Sharon, what does he mean, outlandish?" She dreaded the answer.
"I wanted to run off and come back married and pregnant," she said after a moment of silence. "What could they have done to me? Cut me off? I don't need a college degree. Richie's the one who has dreams, and plans," she added dreamily, while Tabitha was trying to restart her heart at the thought of Sharon, seventeen, married, and pregnant. "He's really smart. He wants to be a lawyer." She twisted a lock of hair around her finger. "So I decided against it, even though it was an awesome idea."
"It was a terrible idea," she stammered. "You're a senior in high school!"
"Yes," she sighed. "Richie wants to wait until he's in law school to do all of that stuff."
"I didn't say that I wasn't against the marriage," he added. "But, you know, perhaps not to spite your entire family."
"I see no issue with your relationship," Tabitha settled on, mainly because she feared who Sharon would fall in love with next. "But, the two of you need to be smart, regardless of whose parents are alive and whose parents are dead. Is that clear?"
Sharon nodded. "You're saying that you agree with my Richie. He's first in our class, you know."
"I was unaware."
"It's fine, Mrs. Porter. I'm aware that my positive attributes weren't likely to ever come up in conversation."