Title: Study Leave
By: lewis771750
Challenge: Endings/partings/farewells
Rating: G
Disclaimer: Not mine, Jerry and the people at CBS would never be quite this twisted:) But it is all just for fun, honest.
Spoilers: No
Words: 825
AN: With the recent news about Jorja being back, I feel a bit more relaxed about writing this sort of story. There isn't going to be any voyeurism this time, (what anitchka wants blood too?), but it is an ending or farewell story.

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The three of us were sat together, knowing this would be the last time we could say that for some time. Lindsey was a young woman now, a heartbreaker just like her mom. Catherine and I had aged quite gracefully, but also grown together, emotionally and physically we intertwined quite naturally. There were still conflicts and disagreements of course, like any couple. They were few and far between nowadays, and we had never gone to bed still angry with each other, a piece of advice from my dad that has proved its worth so many times over the years.

All of us were a little tearful, the emotion of the moment threatening to overtake us. I wasn't about to let that happen if I could avoid it, so I tried to strike up a conversation.

"It's not like it is going to be forever you know," I started. "It will be a change, a disruption to us all, but it it's not like it will be the end of the world. Email, telephones, web-cams and everything – it won't be the same as being here, being able to hug and touch each other – but at least we can keep in touch easily, see each other regularly. Just think what it must have been like for the first people to come to Nevada – a letter a year if they were lucky."

I could see both Catherine and Lindsey relaxing as they thought about this. In the grand scheme of things this wasn't a big deal, the changes when I'd moved in, when we had to tell the guys at work that we were a couple, they were much more likely to have flown out of control, this would only be for a few months at a time, during college term-times.

"But it won't be the same Sara," Lindsey started, her voice cracking and breaking into a wail at the end of the phrase. When she had regained some control she carried on: "I want to be able to hug you, to have you hug me. I want the pats on the head when I get a problem right, the pats on the back when I have a problem that I can't solve and nor can you. They aren't going to be there any more." She collapsed into tears again.

At my side I could feel Catherine tense up again. Things had never gotten really bad between her and Lindsey, but during the early teens rebellious phase that Lindsey had gone through it had become me that Lindsey turned to for advice and comfort. Somehow it had stayed that way ever since. Mother and daughter were now able to hug each other again without Lindsey pushing her away, but I was the main point of physical contact for Lindsey within our family. It was an old pain, but it still hurt Catherine to be reminded of it this blatantly, this verbally.

This time, shocking us all, Lindsey turned to Catherine; putting her head in her mother's lap she sobbed her heart out. Catherine put her hands on Lindsey's back, comforting her, trying to just respond to her daughter's need, but her reflexes were rusty and she wasn't really comfortable doing this any more, too used to being pushed away.

This time Lindsey stayed there, and gradually Catherine relaxed back into comforting Lindsey. She looked at me and, as always, I could read all her eyes had to say; the feeling of joy that she could comfort her daughter again, tempered by the sadness that was causing Lindsey to need it in the first place.

After a few minutes Lindsey had recovered enough to sit up and move away. But, as she did so, she smiled at her mother and hugged her, saying thank you for being there. She smiled at me too, a bit tremulously, but clearly she was aware of what a big change she'd just made in her relationship with her mother.

Catherine swallowed, gathering her courage.

"Lindsey, you've known for ages this was going to happen. We all have. I don't know where you got this engineering talent from, but MIT is the best place in the country for your study, and to MIT you should go. In two weeks you'll have lots of new friends, and we'll still be here for you when you need us." Lindsey nodded, knowing and accepting the truth in her mom's words, but tonight, the last night before she left, the emotion of the moment had got to her.

At my side Catherine relaxed again. She was still upset, but knew it was time for Lindsey to fly the nest. She also knew that this time the nest would remain for when our daughter needed support, unlike when Catherine had left home. As she relaxed I relaxed against her, holding her gently to me. There would be more tears, but we would all survive this change.

***