Rita stood in the front yard of the Lance's house. She knew Tom wasn't at home. For she needed to tell this Sue at first, she was glad he was still at work. Their reaction was something Rita couldn't imagine. Her 20th birthday was only 1 month away and now this had to happen. She sighed as she walked around the house. She entered through the backdoor."Mom?" she yelled, as she didn't find her mother in the kitchen.
"Upstairs."
Rita went upstairs, finding Sue in the bathroom where she cleaned the washbowl.
"Sweetie, what are you doing here? You should be at college." she said to her, placing her hands on her hips.
"Mom, you know I don't like it you call me 'sweetie'. I am too old for this."
"Oh, I forgot. Sorry, Rita. Now, you haven't been here in weeks. Is something wrong? Your father already worried about you."
Rita turned her head away. This was harder than she expected it to be. She turned back to Sue when she felt her hand on her shoulder.
"Uhm, yeah, there's something I need to talk to you about, but not here."
"Okay, we can go downstairs. I have some ice tea in the kitchen. I'll go fetch it and then you can tell me what's bothering you."
While Sue moved to the kitchen to get the ice tea, Rita went to living room. She was sitting on the couch, playing nervously with her fingers, when Sue entered the room, carrying a tray. She placed it down on the couch table and sat down next to her daughter.
"Mom, I've made a decision and I want to ask you... if it's okay." Rita began.
"What decision, honey?"
"Uhm, yeah... Mom, you're going to be a grandmother." she blurted out. Sue's mouth dropped open.
"You, you are pregnant? Rita Lee, you're 19 years old!"
"I am sorry, mom. I don't know how this could happen, I mean I've always been careful."
"You've already made up your mind, haven't you?"
Rita nodded, "I want to keep this baby."
"Do you know that this is a huge responsibility? You are at college... How will you do that?" Sue shook her head, "How far are you?"
"2nd trimester."
"2nd trimester?" she exclaimed. "You could have told us earlier."
"Mom, try to understand me. I first had to decide what to do now. I didn't know how you would react if I told you."
"Okay, then tell me what you're going to do now. Is the baby's father going to help you?"
"Before you start saying anything, please let me say the whole thing." Rita began. "I didn't tell the baby's father that I am pregnant and I want to keep it that way. There are things about him that you don't know and that I didn't know about when we dated. I don't want this baby to get involved in that. I figured that I could hide my pregnancy till summer break. The baby will be born shortly before college begins in autumn, so nobody will know anything about it."
"And what then, honey? A baby needs all your attention, night and day."
"That's the part I thought you could help me with, you and dad."
For a moment silence filled the room. Sue got up, pacing the floor. What should she tell her little Rita? That they wouldn't support her? Then she had to lie.
"I have to talk to your father about that, you know that. Let me think about that for a while, okay?"
"Okay." Rita stood up and approached her mother. "Mom, there's another thing I wanted to talk to you about, concerning my name."
"What's with your name, honey? It's a beautiful name."
"I don't want the baby growing up with the last name Fontana. Its name should be Lance - and mine, too."
Sue hugged her daughter close, "Rita, it will be a honor for us. Rita Lee Lance, that sounds pretty."
"Thank you, mom."
Rita sat on the couch watching tv when Tom came home.
"Oh, a rare visitor!" he smirked as he saw her. "Hello honey. Where's your mother?"
"Hi dad." she greeted him. "Mom's in the kitchen preparing dinner."
Tom disappeared in the kitchen. Rita turned the volume of the tv down to be able to listen to what was going on in the kitchen. The only thing she could hear after about 20 minutes was a loud "WHAT?" coming from her father, followed by a "Rita Lee, would you please join us in the kitchen?"
Rita rolled her eyes and sighed. She turned the tv off and went to the kitchen. Her mother was working at the stove whereas her father stood right in the middle of the room, staring at her.
"Young lady, what's this with you being pregnant?" he asked.
"What's this with me being pregnant? Uh, what is the word you don't understand, dad?"
Ouch, this was the wrong answer.
"What I don't understand?" he shouted. "Rita Lee, you're 19 years old, you're too young for a baby. You're going to college... And how the hell could that happen?"
Rita already had decided she would take this the funny way, "You know, dad, there are flowers and bees..."
"I know how this happens," he interrupted her, "but how could that happen to you?!"
"I had this boyfriend and we liked each other and then things happened..."
"His name." Tom demanded. "His name, Rita."
"Sorry, I can't tell you." she replied, shrugging her shoulders.
Now Tom was completely in rage, "Rita Lee, I always thought you were a reasonable young girl. These things only happen to other people not to people like us!"
"What are people like us like, dad? I am not a girl anymore, I am almost 20! So, now you're disappointed in me. Just tell yourself it wasn't your fault. I am not your real child, so what? I am 'other people's daughter'!"
"That's something I didn't say. You're like my own child and you know that. I just don't want you to throw your life away. You have your whole life ahead of you. There are still so much adventures waiting for you... don't throw that away, honey."
"I am not throwing away anything. Good, I made a mistake and I will have to deal with that my whole life, but this baby didn't make any mistakes. It's an innocent child. It shouldn't be punished for something I did. Daddy, I want this baby. The first time in my life I am trying to take the consequences of a mistake I made. You've always be there for me, solving my problems. I decided alone. I made up my mind. If you don't support me, I will find a way to raise my child alone."
Tom shook his head, "No, Rita Lee, we will support you, but I want to make sure that you really thought about that. It certainly won't be as easy as you suppose it to be. Do you know what raising a child will cost? And college?"
"I have my grant for college. And for supporting my child, I decided to work after school."
"So, let's say you work from 6 to 10 in the evenings, when will you have time for your child then? We can't be there all the time to support you."
"You're thinking only about you, dad."
"No, I am not only thinking about me or your mother, I am thinking about you and your child. Honey, remember, what was it like for you when you were young? What was it like to come home, being alone until your father would come back late in the nights, drunk? What was it like to be raised by completely strangers after he died? I remember this little 7 year old girl with those sad green eyes. I always thought you wanted to make it better. Think about it."
"I can make it better, dad, I know it. I swore myself that my child would have a happy childhood. When I was very little, the happiest times I had were when I was together with my father... or with you two. I had nobody except my dad, but my child will have a mother, a grandmother, a grandfather and an uncle, Michael. There will always be someone. Do you think it was an easy decision? No, definitely not! It would have been much easier for me to say that I didn't want that child, but that wouldn't be fair. This child has a right to live. It has the right to laugh, to smile, to be loved, to be admired, to explore the world, it just wouldn't be fair. Dad, please, try to understand me. This is my child, your grandchild we're talking about here."
Tom shook his head. Without saying anything, he walked out of the kitchen. Rita watched him stopping in the door frame. He remained there for a moment before he turned.
"This is a huge responsible and believe me, I know it certainly wasn't an easy decision you made, Rita." He approached her. "If you really want to do this, I will support you. I am proud of you." Tom pulled his daughter into a big hug. "Not about what you and this guy did though, but about the decision you made."
"Thank you, dad."
After a long talk that lasted past midnight, everything seemed to be arranged. Rita would keep her baby. She would move back to the Lances' house when summer break began. The baby would be born, she would go back to college, but would live at home. Sue would take care of the child while Rita was studying.
Rita was at home, decorating the nursery. The room once belonged to her foster brother Michael, but as he left the house years earlier, it would be the baby's room now. Rita was painting the wall light yellow when she heard the phone ringing downstairs. She rushed downstairs as fast as she could.
"Hello?" she answered the phone.
"Am I speaking to Ms. Lance?" a female voice asked on the other side of the line.
"Yes, Rita Lance."
"Ms. Lance, this is West Palm Beach Medical Center. Your parents had a car accident."
"What?" Rita exclaimed, even before the woman could go any further. "Are they okay? Please, are they okay?"
"I can't talk to you about their condition on the phone. Is it possible for you to come here as fast as you can?"
"Sure, sure. I am on my way."
20 minutes later Rita rushed into the hospital searching for her parents. She was seated in the waiting room. The minutes went by, slowly it was almost an hour that Rita waited there. She paced the floor, imagining the worst already. She needed a rest right now, she knew, but the fear she could lose her parents was slowly driving her crazy. After a while, she noticed that the baby inside her began to get fussy. It kicked her as hard as it could, forcing her to sit down.
"Little one, please, take a rest in there. Please, you're kicking me too hard." she pleaded, placing a hand on her belly, but the baby wouldn't stop.
She jumped up when she saw a doctor approaching her.
"Ms. Lance, I am Dr. Jackson." he introduced himself. "Please, may I have a little talk with you?"
Rita nodded, sitting back down in the chair.
"What's wrong with my parents? What's wrong with them?"
"I am sorry, Ms. Lance, we did everything we could. Your mother died on her way here already, your father made it into surgery, but flat lined. I am very sorry."
"NOOOO!" Rita screamed. She buried her face behind her hands, tears streaming down her cheeks.
"Ms. Lance, if there's anything I can do for you, please let me know."
"No, no thank you."
Rita, still in a shock with tears streaming down her cheeks, stood up. She staggered for about a yard before she doubled over in pain. Dr. Jackson caught her arm just in time before she eventually broke down.
"I need some help!" he called outside on the corridor. "Call Dr. Patson, obstetric ward!"
He lead Rita back to the chair. She was barely conscious.
"Ms. Lance, can you hear me? Can you hear me?" he asked her, checking her pulse.
Rita heard a voice calling for her from far. She nodded slowly before she drifted into unconsciousness.
When she woke up, she saw her father's cousin Megan sitting next to her bed. She was holding her hand in hers. Moving her head she saw that she was hooked up to an IV.
"No, don't move, honey." Megan said.
Regaining all her thoughts slowly, she remembered what had happened. She broke down after she was told about her parents. Her free hand wandered up to her belly. Her baby was gone.
"Megan, my baby!" she cried, trying to sit up. Megan gently pushed her back down.
"You need to rest, Rita. Everything's all right."
"No, my baby, my baby!"
Megan moved the chair closer to the bed. She brushed a strand of hair out of Rita's forehead.
"Stay calm, honey. Your baby was delivered by c-section about 4 hours ago. You know she was born 5 weeks premature."
"I have a girl? How is she? Tell me, how is she?"
"She's in an incubator, but she's healthy."
"I an incubator?!" Rita exclaimed. Again, she struggled to sit up, but she soon realized she was too weak. "Megan, I can't lose my baby. She's all family I have left after..."
Rita broke out in tears. Megan pulled her close, rocking her in her arms like a little child.
"Shhh, you won't lose her." she said soothingly. "I saw her earlier. She's a little beauty, Rita."
"Can I see her, Megan? Please!" Rita pleaded as Megan wiped the tears out of her face.
"Tomorrow, honey. You need to rest now. I will stay here with you. Try to sleep a bit."
Rita yawned. As she realized that sleep was more powerful than all her attempts to see her baby daughter, she closed her eyes and slowly drifted back to sleep.
Rita blinked when the sun fell into her room the next day. Her eyes searched for Megan, but the room was empty. She pushed the sheets away, trying to sit up, but eventually doubled over in pain. She fell out of bed, landing hard on the floor. She got unhooked from the IV. The needle in her arm twisted and blood trailed down her arm. Unable to get back to bed without any help, she hit the button next to her bed. A moment later a nurse rushed into the room, finding her on the floor.
"Ms. Lance, what did happen?" she asked, helping her back into bed.
"I want to see my baby." Rita replied.
The nurse placed a pillow behind her back when she noticed the trail of blood on her arm.
"You pulled your IV out!"
"It's nothing, please, I only want to see my baby. I want to see my daughter."
"You're in no condition to go anywhere right now. You need to rest. Maybe tomorrow."
"No, no, you don't understand, nurse." Rita struggled hard to free her arm. "I need to see my baby now. She's all I have left of family, please!"
Rita tried to hide the pain she had. Her body was aching all over. She felt as if she was run over by a truck.
"I will talk to your doctor, but you have to promise me you won't try something that stupid again." the nurse suggested, smiling a little.
"Okay."
It was late afternoon when Megan wheeled Rita's wheelchair into the N.I.C.U. In a small room she stopped for a moment. There was something she needed to talk to Rita about before she showed her her daughter.
"Honey, we need to have a little talk before we go in there." Megan uttered, turning down to Rita.
"What? What?"
"First of all, when we go in there, I don't want you to be scared, okay? Your baby is hooked up to several different machines."
"I know. The nurses told me already." Rita replied. "I think I can handle that."
"Good. Second, the doctors and nurses have been trailing me all day because she doesn't have a name so far. You need to choose one."
"I first have to see her. I don't want to give her a name that doesn't 'fit' her."
Megan smiled a bit before her mimic turned back to extremely serious.
"Third, this is the most serious part of our conversation. What will you do now?"
"What do you mean?"
"Rita, you go to college. I know your mother accepted to take care of the baby while you were at school, but now, what will you do?"
Rita shook her head, "I don't know. I want to keep my child, but... I have to quit college and find some work so that I can support her and me."
"I thought about it a little, Rita. What do you think about coming with me to Ft. Lauderdale to live with me?"
Rita's eyes opened wide. She should leave Palm Beach to live with Megan? Megan went on further, "I think I could move things a bit with my job so that I can work from home most of the time. This way I could help you with the baby. You could finish college then."
"You mean we really should come to Ft. Lauderdale with you? I mean I don't know... I can't ask you for that, it is too much."
"Honey, you never have to ask for anything, always remember that. When I come to you and ask you if you would like, it's okay with me. So, do we have a deal?"
Rita smiled and nodded, "We have a deal, Megan."
"Good."
Megan kissed Rita on her forehead. Then she wheeled her into the huge room, stopping by a unit that was standing in the middle of the room. A small clown was sitting inside the unit next to a tiny, rosy figure.
"I took the liberty to bring her some company." Megan said, indicating the clown in the unit.
Rita moved closer, touching the plastic that was separating her from her daughter. The girl stirred, moving her arms into a more comfortable position for her.
"My daughter..." Rita whispered. Her eyes filled with tears.
"Look, you can open this little window here. Put your hand inside. She needs to fell her mother is with her."
Rita hesitated for a moment, but when Megan had opened the window, she slowly put her hand inside the incubator. She reached for her daughter's hand. Placing her index finger in her palm, the girl immediately closed her hand, not wanting to let her mother go.
"She feels so warm. Look, Megan, she opens her eyes."
For a moment, the baby opened her eyes, staring outside the incubator. She yawned, then drifted back to sleep, her mother's finger still in a tight grip.
"Megan, what do you think if I call her Cara?" Rita asked, turning away from her baby daughter for a moment.
"That's a lovely name, honey."
"Cara Sue... to honor mom..." Rita's voice trailed off, but she could fight the tears welling in her eyes. She wished her parents would have seen their little granddaughter. She wished her real father, Donald Fontana, would see his granddaughter.
"Now, Cara Sue Lance, welcome to the world!"
End Of Chapter 1
Standard Disclaimer: The characters of Rita Lee Lance/Fontana, Sue Lance, Tom Lance and Donald Fontana belong to Stephen J. Cannell and USA Network. However, the characters of Cara Sue Lance and Megan Lance belong to me.
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