Dominique could not breathe s she stared at her mother. It seemed her lips were still moving but her words fell on ears that could not comprehend.
“Your father is dead. It happened some time during the night. I found him in the workshop this morning. Evidently, he had been ill.” Dominique was still trying to process the information but was shocked at the dispassion in her mother’s voice. How could she be so cold? She hated her mother in that moment.
Closing her eyes, Dominique summoned a picture of her father in her mind. He was tall and strong, wearing his old leather apron. How she loved that apron, smelling of a musky combination of leather and wood. In her mind, she reached out to him and he reached back with that familiar smile, the one that told her she was everything to him, that she was beautiful and loved. She reached for and held his hand just long enough to take in every detail, every line and callous, every wrinkle and freckle, the shape of his nails. Tears streamed unchecked down her cheeks as he told her wordlessly in that instant that he would be with her always. He told her there was nothing to fear, and that all would be well. She knew with a sense of certainty that they would see each other again but for now he was gone. Her heart broke as he pulled away from her and walked into the most beautiful light she had ever seen.
A wave of warmth enveloped her. She had never felt as much love as she did in that moment. Unaware of how she looked to her mother, who had stepped away from her, Dominique fell to her knees. With her own arms wrapped around her small body, she sobbed. The pain that seared through her heart threatened to literally break her in two and she thought perhaps she, too, might die.
As she lay on the cold floor, knees tucked up under her chin, a tingle ran up and down her spine. This familiar feeling heralded a connection for her. Spirit was calling her as her angel, Therese, gently caressed her prone form. “You must be strong now, Dominique. We will take care of your beloved father. He is happy and reuniting with his Heavenly Father, along with all those who have gone before him. But you have work to do and it will not be easy. Our earthly lessons are never easy, little one. But I will be with you as you make your way. Be not afraid.” As the warmth and presence of Therese faded away, Dominique’s sobs started to subside and she was able to breathe again.
Rene, her mother, although initially taken aback by Dominique’s visible reaction to her visions, now gathered herself. Coming menacingly close to Dominique’s tear-streaked face she whispered coldly, “Your father may have played along with your blasphemous behavior but I will certainly have none of it! You are a demon child and while your father refused to do what was right – mark my words – I will make sure the Church drives the evil out of you.” Turning on her heel, Rene went about the business of pretending to mourn a husband she had never really loved.