“It was a deal I was forced to make,” Holly said to her son.

It had been a week since the first visiting session. Leo stared at her. His eyes were only a little wider than they were a few seconds ago. He was saving himself for the finality of what his mother was going to say.

But then Holly just stopped talking.

“Ok, well, what was this deal then?” Leo said to her. After the usual hello and how are you, he was attempting to start with where they had left off at the last visit.

Holly took a breath in and then another as if she was trying to draw energy from them, and hoping that she would get some guidance on what to say next. For there was still so much more to tell her son.

The timing, she thought. Utter nonsense, that this has all come up right during the time that Leo is in juvie.

And the next thought was that if only she could have predicted this might happen to him then she would have told him before. She was probably fooling herself on that one.

But could she have predicted that he might do a stint in juvie? Was it written in the stars, and she just chose to ignore it?

Leo was having a hard time being patient. It was slow going with Holly dragging her feet in the thick mud. And he wanted answers. Now, and not later. He feared they would run out of visiting time on this overcast Saturday morning. The rain trickled down the windows and stale air hung between them, somewhat heavy and unwilling to leave.

“Well what then?” The palms of his hands were now held on either side of himself and they faced upward. He sat in the plastic chair with the scratch marks on it.

Holly knew it was not going to get any easier. And so she finally just gave in. She looked around the room first, and then her voice dropped several decibels as she said her first admission.

“We had to leave quickly. Flee, rather.”

Holly stopped talking again.

Now Leo’s patience was really being tested. And her talking practically in a whisper was really annoying. Just finish, he said to himself. Just keep talking.

Holly started up again, finally, after a long silence. A little louder now, but just basically a louder whisper.

But the dam had broken. There was no going back now. She knew Leo deserved to know. And her voice was riding the wave that was giving into a force that was quickly becoming irrelevant. The crest of the wave held her ultimate strength, and she knew to take full advantage of this wave because it was there to help her.

“You were born on Rillarok, she said.

“What?”

“What does that even mean?” Leo said.

“You were born on the planet of Rillarok and we had to leave,” Holly said matter of factly.

“We had to hide on the other side of the planet for a long time, and then ultimately we had to leave.”

“They found us.”

Leo stared at her. There was too much to process. His thoughts were swirling in several opposing directions. He didn’t even question whether what she was saying was really true. He knew she would not withhold something like this and then finally tell him.

Where to begin.

“Where is Rillarok?”

“It is in the eastern corner of the next universe,” Holly said.

“Rillarok has known about Earth for many centuries. Once the stargate opened, a few came here,” she continued.

“Um, ok. And what was the deal that you were talking about, then? The one you were forced to make?” Leo responded.

“Well the deal was...”

“Visiting time is now over. Please exit the building and line up at security,” came over the outdated intercom. The voice was jarring.