THE TRUTH BETWEEN US

The air in Mariah's living room was thick with unspoken words. Beyoncé sat on one side of the room, her posture tense, hands folded tightly in her lap. Briar sat across from her, arms crossed, lips pursed in a way that signaled she was trying her best not to speak in anger.

Between them, Mariah, ever the mediator, sat on the couch, her hands resting in her lap as she surveyed the distance between the two women. It was a familiar space to her, but today, it felt foreign. Unrecognizable. She had seen her daughter and granddaughter so close—so connected. Now, they seemed like strangers.

Beyoncé had always been the one to take charge, to lead with strength. But right now, in this room, she seemed small. Vulnerable even. She had come to Mariah's house hoping for something that felt like a resolution—an end to the silence that had settled between her and Briar since everything had come to light.

But as the minutes ticked by, her body language betrayed her uncertainty. The weight of the conversation that had to happen was almost too much for her to bear.

Briar, on the other hand, was somewhere between hurt and angry, her face stoic, but the pain behind her eyes undeniable. She hadn't asked for any of this. She hadn't asked for the truths to be uncovered. She hadn't asked for her life to be upended, for secrets to be revealed.

But now, sitting in front of her mother, she felt like the most important question was why—why hadn't Beyoncé told her the truth? Why had Dwayne's existence, his presence in her life, been hidden for so long?

Mariah sighed quietly, glancing between her daughter and granddaughter. This was a situation she never thought she'd find herself in. How had things gone so wrong? Why hadn't Beyoncé told Briar about Dwayne all those years ago? And now, in the aftermath of everything, they were all standing on the edge of something fragile and broken, and Mariah could see that if they didn't take the opportunity to fix this now, it might be beyond repair.

"Beyoncé, Briar," Mariah began, her voice calm but firm. "I think we've been here long enough in silence. I know it's hard for both of you, but we need to talk. You need to talk. And I'm not going to let you walk away from this without at least trying to figure things out."

Neither woman responded immediately. Briar's eyes flicked briefly to her mother, but she quickly averted them. Beyoncé, on the other hand, simply stared ahead, the weight of her regret settling heavily on her shoulders.

After a few long moments, Briar was the first to speak, her voice tight, but the words still managing to cut through the thick silence.

"So this is it, huh? You're going to force me to sit here and listen to you tell me everything you didn't have the courage to say to me before? You think I'm just going to accept it now, like all those years didn't matter?"

Beyoncé flinched as the words hit her, but she couldn't deny that they were true. She had failed Briar. She had kept the truth from her for too long, and now, there was no taking it back. She had spent years justifying her decisions, telling herself that she was protecting Briar by keeping Dwayne's identity a secret. But now, she could see just how much damage that silence had caused.

"I know I hurt you," Beyoncé said quietly, her voice trembling slightly as she finally met her daughter's gaze. "I never meant to. But I thought I was doing the right thing. I thought I was protecting you."

Briar let out a bitter laugh, the sound harsh in the otherwise quiet room. "Protecting me?" she repeated. "You protected me from the truth. You kept me in the dark for all these years. You let me grow up not even knowing the most basic thing about who I am. And now, you expect me to just sit here and listen while you try to explain why you kept him from me?"

Beyoncé winced at the sharpness of Briar's words, but she didn't look away. She knew that this was the moment she had to face the consequences of her actions. "I never meant to hurt you, Briar. But I was scared. I was scared of what it would do to you. Scared of what it would mean for our family. I didn't know how to tell you."

Briar's eyes burned with a mixture of disbelief and frustration. "Scared?" she repeated, shaking her head in disbelief. "You were scared of what? Of the truth? Of me? You think I would have hated you for telling me? You think I wouldn't have understood? I'm not a little girl anymore, Mom."

Mariah, watching the two of them, couldn't help but feel the heartbreak radiating from both sides. She had watched Beyoncé raise Briar with so much love and care, and she knew how deeply Beyoncé had struggled with the idea of being a single mother. But she also knew that Beyoncé's silence had left a void in Briar's life—one that couldn't be filled by anything else, not even love. And now, it was time for them to face that together.

"I didn't want to lose you," Beyoncé said, her voice cracking as she finally let her guard down. "I thought if you knew the truth, if you knew about Dwayne, it would change everything. I thought you would hate me for keeping it from you. I didn't want to lose you, Briar. I didn't want to lose my family."

Briar's expression softened for a moment, but only for a brief second before it hardened again. "You didn't lose me, Mom. But you didn't give me a choice, either. You didn't let me decide how to handle it. You made that decision for me."

Mariah, sensing the emotional rollercoaster that was taking place between them, placed a gentle hand on both of their arms. She had to intervene. She had to help them find a way forward.

"Beyoncé, I understand that you were scared. But Briar is right. You didn't give her a chance to understand. And now, here we are. But we can't keep holding onto the past. You both have to decide how you're going to move forward, because holding onto all of this anger and hurt is only going to tear this family apart."

Beyoncé looked down at her hands, the guilt in her eyes so evident that it felt like a physical weight in the room. "I don't know how to fix this, Mom," she whispered. "I don't know how to fix what I've broken."

Mariah shook her head gently. "You start by being honest. With Briar. With yourself. And with me." She looked at Briar now, her gaze soft but resolute. "And you start by listening. To her. And to your heart."

Briar was quiet for a moment, her thoughts clearly swirling as she processed everything her mother had said. "I'm not saying I'm ready to forgive you," Briar finally said, her voice steady, but there was a softness to it now. "I'm not saying that we can just pick up where we left off. But... I don't want to be angry anymore. I don't want to keep holding onto all this resentment. I just... I need to understand. I need to know why."

Beyoncé nodded slowly, tears welling in her eyes as she realized that, even though things could never go back to how they were, there was still a chance to rebuild. "I'll answer whatever you need, Briar. I'll tell you everything. I'll make sure you know the truth."

For the first time since they had sat down, Briar looked at her mother with something that resembled tenderness in her eyes. She didn't say anything in response, but the quiet understanding between them was enough. There was still a long road ahead, full of difficult conversations and painful truths, but it felt like, just for a moment, the weight between them had been lifted. It wasn't fixed, but it was a start.

Mariah smiled, her heart swelling with a mixture of relief and sorrow. She knew the road ahead would be long and difficult, but in this moment, she was hopeful. Hopeful that, in time, her daughter and granddaughter would find their way back to each other, that the bond between them would grow stronger despite the brokenness.

And that, perhaps, was all she could hope for.

"Good," Mariah said softly. "Now, we just take it one step at a time."