perstephanie7713, I'm glad you've gotten interested! I'm not entirely sure how much I want to write for this story but I hope you stick around until it's finished. :)
brooke-ella1990, I appreciate your kind words! I feel sort of bad you may not like where the Regina storyline is going after I've introduced it but remember, it's all just my way of maintaining some form of originality without making every character totally different from the show.
As always, thank you all. I appreciate reading your thoughts and opinions. Oh I just want to mention, the Switched at Birth cast are back on set filming in TWO WEEKS! So stoked, January (when the show is expected back on air) couldn't come any sooner.
Unable to focus on my work, I found myself staring at the clock more than usual. Time seemed to go by so slowly but then again, it always does when your eyes are glued to it. I couldn't believe I had been here for seven hours and not a single confrontation, argument or cold shoulder was had. Mom and Daphne were in and out of the house all day, dad was working and Toby had classes. Instead of getting reacquainted with this home, I isolated myself in my old bedroom. Upon entering, I feared what it looked like. I could easily picture a pastel wallpaper to cover the divided red and white coloring, light see-through curtains and at least one enormous plant to give it that natural, homey feel that mom evidently started incorporating all over the house lately. I was surprised and elated to see it was, more or less, exactly how I left it. The notebooks I left in my desk were there, filled with colorful scribblings that would eventually find themselves plastered all over various walls in town, and this old bookshelf that I found, fixed and revamped still carried the books I left behind. Turning towards the side of the desk, I noticed these dark red wheels and smiled at the memories. It was my first skateboard. I remember it perfectly, Toby was trying to turn me into "the greatest female pro skateboarder in the universe," at least according to him.
Picking up the old board that now had scratches and was visibly worn, my hand wondered down the deck and over the gel wheels.
"I can't do it, Toby!" I cried. I was frantic and unsure of myself. "What if I fall?"
"Bay, people fall down no matter what they do."
Well gee, thanks big brother. How comforting. I looked up to see him walking towards me and as I felt him place his hand on my shoulder, I listened to every word he said because it would turn out to be the best advice I've ever had. "People will always fall down, it's not the falling down part that hurts. It's when you look back later and know you never tried."
How a nine year old like Toby had so much wisdom, it was mind blowing but I'm glad he said it.
Putting my left foot on the center of the board as he instructed, I used my right foot to push myself forward. In the blink of an eye, I did it. I really did it. I couldn't believe I had managed to attempt my very first time skateboarding and I didn't fall. "Toby! Toby, did you see me?" I caught him with a wide grin and he caught on, giving his best to insult me.
"You're proud of yourself for that? Really, Bay?"
I didn't care what he said, I tried and I didn't fall. I learned in that moment on that very day, if I put my heart into something, there's nothing I can't do. And besides, I knew he was proud because I saw him smile. We spent the entire day practicing together. How to effectively move on smooth, solid ground, how to master a turn and then came the tricks. Mom and dad came outside every so often to observe our fun and to take snapshots to savor for later. Bringing myself back to reality, I wondered if we still had those old photographs. As I was about to dig up some old boxes in my closet, I heard mom call for me from downstairs.
"Yeah, I'm here! I'll be down stairs in a sec." Sliding my shoes back on, I slowly drudged down the steps and made my way into the kitchen where I saw mom and Daphne with enough grocery bags to make five different families happy and hunger free for at least a week. "Need some help?"
"No, it's alright," Daphne intervened, taking the box from my hands and placing it back on the counter. "We've got it."
I lightly spun her around by the shoulder and explained that I was only trying to help. She mumbled something I would have heard if mom hadn't entered the room talking. "Oh Bay, perfect! If you could do me a favor, that would be great." She slid some more bags to Daphne, carefully taking out each item and organizing them in piles. She eyed me and Daphne, asking if everything was okay and I nodded.
"Yeah, what is it?" She didn't seem to hear me what with being so caught up in a discussion about the produce aisle with Daphne. "Mom!"
"What? Oh right." Yeah, now she remembers... "Bay, could you ask the boys if they're hungry?"
I didn't know I was a messenger. "What boys? Where are they?"
"Toby, Wilkie and Emmett. They brought a friend over, I'd like to make them something now instead of waiting. Thanks hun."
Something in me snapped. I didn't quite know what just yet but the fuel erupted a fire inside my chest and I didn't hold back. "Why can't Daphne do it? You had to call me down just to be your messenger? She's so perfect, she's got it all under control. Her ears don't work, now her legs gave out?" Obviously no one heard a single thing I mumbled because I didn't get yelled at or even a glare. Maybe next time I should scream my words at the top of my lungs. Maybe then they would listen to me.
Making my way towards Toby's garage, assuming that's where they were since I was never told, I heard Wilkie's obnoxious laugh echo through the door so I gave it a light knock. After getting the permission to enter, I watched them continue their card game for a moment before interrupting. Given their gamble-filled history, I was shocked to see that instead of poker, they were building a card house. Wow, talk about boredom.
"Yo, mom wanted to know if you guys are hungry." I didn't plan on asking this quickly but even I was getting bored.
"Is she going out?" Toby asked, never taking his eyes off the card house.
"No, she just came back from the store. They brought a shitload of bags so I'm sure there's at least a little variety."
"They?"
"Uh, yeah. Her and... Daphne." I paused.
"Please, please tell me there's hot pockets and cheese sticks!" Wilkie blurted out, rather loudly at that.
Emmett laughed, signing that he need to incorporate other foods into his diet. "You're always eating that shit, now you're making Kathryn stock up?"
"Why not? I'm here quite a bit, it's a second home. My taste buds get sick if I don't give them cheesy, greasy, meaty goodness."
I could have made a dirty joke out of that but I avoided the thought. "Cheese sticks and sauce-filled meat-pockets if they're available. Check." I dully noted. As I was heading back out the door, Wilkie grabbed my arm and started to ask a favor.
"You're a writer girl, person now," he mentioned jokingly, "want to help us out with this?" He pointed at an open notebook covered in words and rhymes, I was assuming it was a song in the works. I was hesitant at first, I mean, writing news or reporting a story was a lot different than penning the next Billboard Top 100 hit but I figured what the hell. It couldn't hurt to try, could it? Absorbing each of the words and wondering when they started to write darker music, I started to erase some things and replace them with my take.
"Look", I pointed to the changes. They all started to talk and work from my revisions, changing bit of what I wrote but keeping a large portion of it.
"You're amazing, you know that?", Emmett touched my hand before signing his praise. "We've been trying to figure out how to improve this for at least an hour."
I smiled and stretched my arms, "glad I could help. I'm going to go inside now, okay guys?" They were all too distracted with their newly revamped song to hear me but I didn't mind. In fact, it made me very happy to see them so appreciative. Finding a bench outside the garage door, I made myself nice and cozy before deciding to head back inside. When the hell did they get a bench out here? I could hear the boys already playing their new song, getting the feel of how it would sound live and then abruptly stopping to make little tweaks and notes. It all became silent for me after I noticed Daphne and mom through the large window in the kitchen. They were dancing and laughing while singing along to some tune I never would have listened to. It was a visual like this that would bring tears to my eyes. Maybe I missed how mom and I would do that stuff, maybe I missed how close I had become with Regina. Maybe I just missed her entirely. The confusion always sends me on edge and it's in those raw moments that I can't contain the emotion I usually fight so hard to keep in. The boy with the deep blue eyes and dark leather jacket found his way to my feet, giving me a confused, pained look. I moved my legs so that he could sit and he placed my legs over his lap.
"What's wrong?" I felt his thumb stroke little circles above my ankle and even though I'd rather ignore his questions, I didn't want to fight with Emmett of all people.
I wanted to tell him. God, I wanted to tell someone so badly, for once have someone feel sincere and sorry for what I'm going through. He was persistent though, I could tell by the way he moved his open hand towards my knee and back down again. "It's a long story," I blurted, hoping he would be uninterested to hear more. He gave me the signs for "keep going" and I did. No holding back, no lies.
Instead of orally talking, I made good use of my knowledge of ASL and signed a short version of the story. "Things were fine in Paris, in the beginning anyway. Regina and Angelo grew closer, I met so many relatives. He told them a lot about me, they said he sounded so excited for them to meet me," I smiled at the memory, but it always fades quite quickly. "A few months in, it all got really weird." I strained my eyes, avoiding eye contact with the boy that always managed to read me like an open book. "Regina started working a side job at some department store and she wouldn't ever miss a day. Even if I needed her or if I was really sick. She'd stay out for hours at night, even after the store had already closed." I opened my eyes to Emmett's touch, wiping away one of the damn tears that escaped while they were still tightly closed shut. Trying to keep the story short, I told him how Regina and Angelo started having a lot of fights. For reasons I wasn't quite sure of, she started drinking again and I guess it got the best of her. Angelo never stopped drinking but it never affected him the way it did to her. "Things would get physical. He wouldn't lay a hand on her but she'd sometimes slap him or try to shove him. One day, we were all in the kitchen talking about some lie she told him about me. Regina and I had gotten really close, fuck Emmett, I even started to call her 'mom'! She was getting deep into something, always hanging out with this guy at work..." I paused, reflecting on the discussions. "This guy was bad news, I just know it. Anyway, after she shoved Angelo into the counter, I pulled her off and called her a drunk. I winced at the name, knowing it would hurt her but I needed her to see how she was hurting me every time she drank. She left that afternoon and I didn't see her for another three days until she came back with a cop to grab some clothes."
This short version of the story really wasn't short what with the confusion and complications so I didn't even try to hold back the tears or avoid further eye contact. I looked at Emmett, I'm sure my face was covered in black stains from my mascara but for the first time in years, I looked deep into those eyes of his and remembered why I fell for him. He mentioned how Regina was never like that with Daphne, never once had she appeared that way when they were kids. He pulled me in, intending to give me the longest, warmest hug he could give but I had to pull away. I hated myself for it but I made it this far, I had to say when I needed to say. Not even Toby knew this, I couldn't just shut this off without getting it out first. "She made all of these promises to me about how she'd come by every morning after Angelo had left for work, she'd help me with things around the house... She never came by when she promised and for the first two days she'd arrive hours late and she smell like an ashtray and to top it off, she'd yell at me. Whatever was bothering her, she just changed into an entirely different person. It was further than just alcohol. I could feel it, you know? The only time she came home early was when Angelo told me to call her and let her know he left her a little money." Reaching up for Emmett's hand, I held it close to my chest and squeezed on. "I haven't spoken with her in 15 months. She just took off one day, only days after promising me that we'd be a family. She needed to do what she had to to make a better life for us but that we'd all be a family some day. Today's her birthday," I blurted out, trying not to laugh. "She's insane. Completely crazy. Just a few weeks ago, she got 5 cell phones in a family plan and signed up for it using MY address. My address, is she serious? Did she really expect me to pay that? I just got the first bill a day before I got here, it was for five hundred dollars. She's crazy."
Emmett moved forward in an attempt to hug me again but I pulled away. Clearly frustrated, which was odd coming from him, I wasn't finished. "She isn't doing well, Emmett. It worries me. She was living in a homeless shelter only a few months ago. Don't even ask how I know that, I stumbled across the news unexpectedly but I talked with the owner of the program and she confirmed it. It broke my heart. How does a person like that manage to purchase five iPhones? I think what gets to me more than anything though is that I just can't figure out why. Why did she do this? Was it me?"
I expected Emmett to hug me now, but instead, he asked if Daphne knew about this. Do you ever get so angry you just start laughing so you don't punch a person's face in? That was nearly me right now.
"You think I never tried to tell her? Really?"
Clearly taking a couple of steps back when his facial expression did a one eighty, "I just needed to ask. Daphne never told me any of this."
"That because she probably doesn't know or she really is a bitch and just doesn't care."
"How could she not know if you told her? There's no way she'd hide this, even if she hated Regina." He was clearly as lost as I was.
"I texted her asking if she could e-mail me. I said it was urgent. She never got back to me." I fiddled with my hands. "I know her cell phone number is still the same so it's not like she didn't get it. She chose to ignore me."
"But if it was serious, why would she blatantly do that?"
"Emmett, please!" I was frustrated and the sharp way I signed showed it if my face lacked the proper emotion. "Between Daphne thinking I stole her mother, her being angry with her already and then all the shit between you and me," I got lost in those eyes again but I couldn't forget. "She feels that she has plenty of reasons to ignore me. It would explain the way she's acting with me here" He started to sign but I waved my hand. "That's not all. I e-mailed her a week after no text response. I didn't get into it as much as I did with you but I told her Regina was gone. She left and that I hadn't heard from her in weeks after she took off that one night. Still, I never heard from Daphne." I wanted him to hold me now... Make me forget. It's all I could think about.
"Hey, you two" I saw mom approach us on the bench. "Bay, it's been like an hour..." she lingered on the last word, and then it hit me.
"Oh, right! I'm sorry, I was helping them with a song and then Emmett and I were... Talking." I looked over at him, hoping he could look optimistic and not liked I just told him he has one day to live. Luckily for me, he got the hint almost immediately.
"Sorry Mrs. Kennish," he stood up, "it was my fault."
Mom smiled and signed to call her Kathryn, noting that she's already told him he can call her that. I guess I'm not the only one around here who learned to sign. He nodded and told her everybody was hungry so she promised to have something done soon. Emmett looked down at me and started to sign but I was zoning out. Everything felt so cold and if I ever felt alone, it was now. I've never really gotten into it except with my friends back home... Home. I miss France right now. But even then, a good ninety percent of the time, I only told them about Regina when I was getting drunk. I couldn't control my mouth when I had some happy drinks racing through my blood.
"Bay," he got down on his knees, running his hands up my arms. "You need to talk to Daphne if it's really bothering you. You tried to tell her, she chose to ignore you." I wanted to stop looking at him but I couldn't. More because he moved his hands towards my face and made me look at him. Instead of signing, he paused between each word and mouthed "It. is. not. your. fault."
Yeah... How did you guys like chapter 4? I personally wouldn't write Regina any other way than how they've written her character on the show. I love how she's strong and independent but I've always toyed with the idea of just how much more screwed up things would be if she wasn't able to overcome everything she has. As I mentioned earlier, this is my take on putting a spin on the show and this is why it's called fanfiction. Because I'm wondering, what do you guys think will (or hope to see) happen during the new episodes? I've got so many theories, only a few more months though until we find out. I'm kind of hoping SAB will dominate ABC Family and will knock Secret Life out of the top spot because my God that show is annoying. Sorry, rant rambles. Anyway, let me know what you guys thought on this newest chapter. :)
