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John's mouth fell open as he slowly sank onto the couch next to Allison. He watched as Brian chose the chair next to the fireplace and pulled Augusta onto his lap. Andy sank down on the couch's arm just behind his wife. John's gaze wandered over to Andy.
"I told you man, you didn't listen." Andy stated placing his hands on Allison's shoulders. "I don't mess with her when she is pregnant."
Brian coughed out a laugh, Augusta elbowed him in the ribs, Andy squeezed his wife's shoulders, Allison sighed heavily and for the second time that evening, John couldn't stop himself from smiling.
"Now," Allison began "this all goes back to that Christmas. I guess you could say it goes back to that first detention, because if it hadn't been for detention, none of this other stuff would have happened. But since I have a short supply of nerves at the moment I'm going to start with that Christmas. Andy would be back from school just before Thanksgiving." Allison gently caressed Andy's lame knee. "Brian would be home from school within the week, hiding his little secret we now know as Augusta. You, Claire and I were working or taking our classes while we waited for everyone to return. Claire had finally gotten her parents to agree to the two of you moving in together. Well, her father had consented. Do you remember that?"
"Of course I do, Sporto's knee finally gave and his dad was pissed. You guys spent the better part of that time getting Andy's records transferred to University of Chicago, while I build the ramp for the wheelchair."
"Well what you didn't know was that Claire was having a hell of a time with her mother. Mrs. Standish was constantly belittling Claire, threatening her, cussing her; you name it Mrs. Standish was all over it. She was pissed as hell that Claire had stayed in Shermer and with you. Personally I think she was more pissed at Mr. Standish for always siding with Claire. What Claire didn't know was that things between your parents and things with you and your dad were heating up. I never told her about the many times you crashed in my room because your dad's drinking was completely out of control and I never told you the abuse Claire was getting from her mom. For God knows what reason, I kept my mouth shut. I thought that all of this would blow over by the time the New Year rolled around and the two of you were out of your parent's houses. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't regret keeping those secrets. Some many times, I have thought that if I had just opened my mouth, I could have stopped all of this from happening." Allison finished with her eyes closed and a tear slipped down her cheek.
"Ally, none of this was your fault, none of it." Andy whispered as he kissed the top of her head, wrapping his arms around her chest.
"Oh, I know. But still……"
"Allison, I appreciate the trip down memory lane but can we get to something I don't know? I knew that Claire's mom was giving her hell; she told me."
"No, John. She may have told you some of it, but she didn't tell you that her mother was starting to get physical. Claire's dad was spending a lot of time in the city then and her mom starting taking out all of her displeasure on Claire." Allison untangled herself from her husband and with a grimace, leaned forward and Andy automatically started rubbing her lower back.
"What are you talking about? I would have seen it, I would have noticed. I saw Claire everyday and I never saw a single bruise. Even when we were…even when we were intimate, I never saw a thing that indicated anything was wrong."
"You saw it; you just believed what Claire told you." Andy stated. "You told me about the bruise on her hip, remember? Claire told you she had walked into the dining table and you believed her. I didn't catch a clue until Ally let something slip. When she did, I couldn't believe that you believed Claire. I thought that if anyone would put two and two together, it would have been you; you lived it everyday."
"I believed Claire, why wouldn't I? Her parents were abusive, at least not physically. Any time her mom was giving her grief, she just blew it off as the normal state of things. What reason would she have for lying?"
"I assumed she thought the same thing I did, just a few more weeks and she would be free. She asked me to not say anything, just as you had, and that she didn't want to burden you with anything that, in her words, 'was nothing and in a few weeks, I won't even have to deal with her anymore'. I think the two of you were just so wrapped up in getting away from your own private hells that you didn't want to do anything to jeopardize it. What would you have done?"
"I would have handled it, Allison. Her mother was nothing but a bitch and if I had known she was doing anything like that to Claire, I would have handled it." John replied, anger darkening his brown eyes.
"Claire knew you would react like that and she didn't want to take the risk of something far worse happening. The exact same reason you never told her about your dad getting worse. She had already told you that if you showed up with one more busted lip, that she was calling the cops on him. You were both trying to protect the other and for some strange reason, you were trying to protect your parents."
"Ok, fine Klepto; Claire and I had definitely struck out in the communication and overprotection departments. That still doesn't answer my question; what happened? What happened to her that she couldn't come see me while I was spending some quality time with Shermer's finest? What was so bad that caused her to leave me high and dry when we were supposed to be 'starting a new life together'?"
"John, everything came to a head while you were being taken in by the police. As soon as Claire heard that your father had finally beaten your mother into a coma and that you were now responsible for his death, she risked life and limb to get to you. She knew that you needed her. She knew that you did not intentionally … ah… kill your father. She knew that after your mom had passed out, that Mr. Bender had just turned his attentions to you. She knew all of this because as hard as you tried to hide this part of your life from her, from all of us, she knew that this would happen. She feared it; had nightmares about it. Only in her nightmares, you weren't the one going to jail; you were the one going to the morgue. She was terrified that your father would get the better of you and end up killing you. She prayed that you, that both of you, could just hold out until January." Allison drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. Andy turned her face to his and she gave him a smile while shaking her head.
"Brian and I were on our way to the police department when Allison called." Andy took over, trying to mask his concern for his wife. "I dropped Brian off at Claire's house and I went to the station. Brian, in his infinite wisdom pointed out that my crutches would only get in the way if we had to suddenly pack Claire up and get her out of there. He had jumped out of the truck before I could even reply."
"Andy had given me a rundown of what had been going on and Mrs. Standish was pulling her best Joan Crawford that night; she had locked Claire in her bedroom. When I got there, Allison was trying to get past Mrs. Stanish, who was just swinging away at her with a broom. It was totally out of hand." Brian took over, speaking with care in hopes that John wouldn't loose his temper and would actually listen. "We snuck around to the back of house and threw rocks at her window to get her attention. We were trying to talk Claire into climbing down the trellis. There was a good five minutes of us going back and forth but for some reason Claire was too scared. Mrs. Standish must have heard us or she caught a clue or something because she busted into Claire's room and drug her away from the window. When Allison and I got back inside, Claire was lying in a heap at the bottom of the stairs."
"Forgive me for sounding like a jackass but isn't this all just a bit too Dynasty? I mean, come on, Claire's mom wouldn't have pushed her down the stairs. That is just a little too much to believe and why didn't Claire just climb down the trellis? She had done it thousands of times." John asked a bit incredulous. John watched as his old friends stared back at him, not really knowing what to say. They were still hiding something, something that they were not comfortable in revealing. "What? What the hell was going on?"
"I was pregnant." Claire whispered from the bedroom doorway.
John's entire body went stiff. It was almost as if he hadn't heard her correctly. He turned to look at every person in the room before he focused his gaze on Claire.
"Pregnant?" He strangled.
"Yes, pregnant." Claire crossed over to John and sat on the floor at his feet. Her large brown eyes, swimming with tears, held his for a minute before continuing. "I was pregnant and I was scared that if I fell, I would hurt the baby; our baby."
"You were pregnant? Why didn't you tell me? How long had you known?" he whispered.
"I was going to tell you once we moved in together." She held up her hand when he began to interrupt her. "Let me finish, please; just hold on to your thoughts and feelings for a minute and let me finish." She could see his struggle to do as she asked. "I didn't want you to find out while you were still at home. I knew you, John; I knew what would run through your head, just as I can guess what is going on in there right now. I knew how you would react, just like I know that all you want to do right now run. Running away and anger had always been your defense mechanism, your tool to survive and I'm willing to bet that it still is. A baby would have scared the shit out of you, you would have felt trapped. All you would have thought about was how you, not we, but how you now had to take care of a child. You would have knocked yourself down and automatically thought of yourself as your father; a worthless no-good drunk who got his kicks off of belittling people and crushing any chance of hope they might have. I would have never been able to reach you because you would have only seen it as you turning into your father. He would have said something to the effect that you were useless, that you would end up a bum and worthless father. And what is worse is that you would have believed him. You know I'm right."
John didn't say anything but Claire had seen the anger deflate as he listened. Her heart swelled as he took her hands into his and nodded his head which she took it as a sign to continue.
"I wanted to tell you in a safe place, a place where you would feel protected and free. I wanted to tell you in a place where nothing but possibilities would appear. I wanted to tell in a place of happiness and joy. I wanted to tell you in place where you, John; not your father, but you would be able to digest everything and realize that the baby could have been a good thing; a new start for us both. A place where you would realize you would be the best thing to ever happen to that baby." Claire reached up and brushed a tear off of his check. "You know I'm right."
John nodded again pulling in a strangled breath, his eyes holding hers as a silent understanding passed between them. John jerked Claire against him, squeezing her as if he was trying to absorb her. When he opened his eyes, John saw Brian wipe his eye and lean down to Augusta, kissing her softly on the temple. Andy was still rubbing Allison's lower back, all the while whispering words of love into her ear as tears streamed down her face. His whispers were the only sound in the room, filling the room and bringing a sense of peace to the entire group. John watched as Allison whispered something back to Andy and then nods her head.
"Ok folks, I hate to break things up here but I think that John and Claire should be able to figure the rest of this out on their own. Brian, Augusta, could you two go to the house and release our babysitter and if you would, sit with the children until my parents can get there? It appears the newest Clark is going to make his début tonight." As Andy spoke he had risen from the couch and was slowly lifting Allison to her feet. Just as she was standing, Allison felt the rush of water down her legs.
"Fuck." She whispered.
"Ok, so this may need to be a little faster than we thought." Andy's statement set the room alive. Brian and Augusta headed for the door as Claire got to her feet, stilling holding John's hand. "I hate to do ask this but I need someone to bring Allison's bag to the hospital."
"We will bring it to you once your parents arrive." Augusta yelled over her shoulder, the door slamming behind her.
"John, how about helping me get Ally to the car? Claire, will you give Dr. Conrad's service a call and let them know we are on our way?"
As if everything was finally sinking in, John's panic filled eyes shot to Andy's face. "What? What do you want me to do?"
"Help Allison and Andy to the car" Claire stated giving him a little shove. "It's going to be fine John; we have all been through this before."
"Well I'm glad to know that everyone else is so experienced, but this is my first." He hissed, placing his hand on Allison's elbow. "I wasn't here for the other ones remember?"
"Well you are going to be here for this one." Allison replied as a contraction gripped her small frame. "And if we don't hurry, you might be delivering it!"
Allison threw a smile at Claire who stifled a laugh. Grabbing her keys, she hung up the phone and headed out the door. Even with all of the emotional drama going on, she was able to smile. There was going to be another baby; another baby for everyone to love and cherish. Another life would be joining their club; The Breakfast Club. Memories of the library washed over her as she locked the front door.
Who would have thought we would have made it this far? Six years of John missing and we are all back together again. If I had known that the detention eight years ago would have been so life changing, that I would have met John and overcome my own insecurities, I would have skipped school a lot sooner.
"May I suggest something?" She asked as John closed the passenger door to her car. John's famous smirk showed up and Claire just laughed, shaking her head. John looked at her expectantly. "I would like to suggest that we put the rest of our conversation on the back burner until after the birth. Having been through this before, I would like to enjoy myself, while Allison is screaming and cussing her way though bringing us all another baby. I promise that if you can just wait until tomorrow, I will answer anything and everything you throw at me."
"Sure, but only if I get a speaker directly into the labor room. I am pretty sure that hearing Klepto push a bowling ball out of her twat is going to be the best entertainment I've had all year."
Claire laughed and put the car into gear.
They arrived at Allison's room just as she was situating herself in the bed. Andy was rapidly talking into the phone, his back to door. Claire entered the room making a bee line for Allison; John just stopped.
Would this have been me and Claire? Would we been as calm as they are? Would we have had more than one? Would we have made it? God! There is so much that I want to know. I'm starting to wish I hadn't agreed to Claire's suggestion. I want some answers and I want them now. I want to know what happened after she fell. Obviously, she lost the baby. I mean there wasn't anything around the apartment that screamed I'm a mom. How come she didn't come see me, come tell me what had happened?
With his usual Bender determination, John walked to Claire, gripped her arm and pulled her back out into the hallway.
"I can't."
"You can't what…. Owe!" she asked, her eyes wide as she looked at his hand on her forearm.
"I can't wait. I want to know. I want to know now." He replied, his face determined. "I deserve to know now."
"Well, I'm sorry John" Claire started, pulling her arms out of his hand. He noticed that she was getting angry. He could always tell because a flush would slowly rise from her neck, kissing her cheeks and her eyebrows would shoot together. He had gauged this one wrong; again. "We agreed not thirty minutes ago to put this on hold. You nodded your head, even joked, before we left the house and agreed that this could wait. And now you want to hash out six years standing in a hospital hallway, while my best friend is in labor? I know you have questions, John. Well guess what asshole, so do I! But unlike you I am willing to wait for those answers. It's been six years; one more night is not going to hurt a damn thing!"
"You are willing to wait? Six years hasn't been long enough for you? That is so typical of you Cherry. Let the world stop turning until you are ready to deal. Everyone else has to hold their breath while the princess makes a decision; damn what anyone else wants!"
"Hey you shit! I have been dealing for six fucking years! What the hell have you been doing? You want answers? What about my questions? Can you answer my questions? Can you tell me what the hell you have been up to since you were released? Don't give me an ultimatum John; especially when it has double standards."
"Hey, guys, not here ok?" Augusta begged, popping up next to them. John flinched in surprise as Claire turned on her heel and entered Allison's hospital room.
"Where the fuck did you come from? You always sneak up on people? What the hell are you, a fucking wood sprite? You aren't even supposed to be here, you're supposed to be watching the brats."
Augusta sighed, rolled her eyes and pulled John down the hallway to a waiting area. She saw Brian step off the elevator and pointed him down the hall to Allison's room. He gave her a brief smile and disappeared.
"Mr. & Mrs. Clark arrived at the house about five minutes after us. We hopped back in the car and were about ten minutes behind all of you; Brian was just parking the car." She explained, pulling John down into a chair next to her. She looped her arm through his and began to pat it softly. "We thought it might be a good idea to be here since Andy & Allison will be a little too busy to referee you two. Who knew that we would be right? So….how have you been?"
John, shocked, looked down at the brunette, who had fixed him with another fabulous smile. "What the fuck have you been smoking and why the hell do you sound like you just stepped out of Gone with the Wind?"
"Oh, I don't smoke anything. This is just me, part of my Southern charm. The accent comes out a lot more when I'm nervous."
"You nervous?" he asked raising an eyebrow.
"Well of course I am. I've never met you; heard lots, but never met. The first time I do, it's a screaming match that puts my relatives to shame and that is saying a lot, let me tell you. Believe it or not this night ranks up there with my cousin Annabeth's engagement party. It would have been fine except that Chris is from New Hampshire. You know that's north of the Mason Dixon line, right?"
John's eyebrows shot to his hairline. Am I really having this conversation?
"Actually the only person that had a real problem with the engagement was my Great-Great-Granddaddy Miles. Old Glory still runs deep in his veins and we usually just ignore him but he became pretty vocal. The engagement party was a splash. Everything was fine, people were mingling, eating food; and then he came out in his wheelchair with the shotgun. Annabeth was mortified! Imagine having your great-great-granddaddy act like the War for Southern Independence never ended. Poor Annabeth was so worried that Chris' family would think she was related to a bunch of backward hillbillies." Augusta rambled in one breath.
"You are crazy! Where the fuck you from?"
"Oh come on now John; that is just my family, not me. If anyone can understand that, I think it would be you." Augusta replied with her head bent, casting him a cautious gaze through her lashes. "Georgia." She stated with a defeated sigh.
"What?" John almost squeaked. Bri has picked one crazy chick. I can't even keep up with her.
"I was born in Georgia, just outside of…."
"Augusta." He stated, as her previous words sunk in. With a slight chuckle, John moved his arm on the back of her chair and stretched his legs out to the row of chairs in front of them.
"Ok Gus, so how much of that was true?"
Augusta giggled and leaned against his side. "Almost all of it; the wheelchair give me away?"
"Nah, it was the Great-Great-Granddaddy Miles. You people from the South eat too much fried chicken and drink too many mint juleps for anybody to be a great-great anything." He replied with another chuckle and kissed the top of her head. "But I got your point Gus."
"Hey, hey, hey! What the hell are you doing, Bender! That's my wife; you get your own." Brian joked drawing their attention. He was casually leaning against the wall with his hands in his pockets.
"Hey, man, I would be hard pressed to find a woman as good as Gus. She has great diversionary tactics, we could have used her in detention." Augusta's cheeks pinked as she smiled at Brian. "How's Allison?"
"Man, you don't want to know. The nurses started doing things that….I just had to leave. I don't know how Andy can stand to be in there." Brian replied as he came to sit on the other side of Augusta.
"Just wait until it's your turn." She giggled into his ear. John let out a loud chuckle. Brian paled.
"Three hours later and she is fully dilated and in active labor." Claire stated as she joined the group. "They are going to start pushing now."
"What the hell was all the stuff before active labor? Klepto really has a mouth on her."
"Didn't need that speaker, did you?" Claire smiled. "I'm gonna get some coffee. Anybody want? Four coffees coming up."
Claire headed toward the elevators and pressed the down button.
Brian slapped Bender on the arm and motioned for him to follow.
"Go" he mouthed. "Apologize."
"I didn't do anything." John mouthed back.
"Like hell! Go!" came the voiceless response.
John glared at Brian and noticed Augusta looking up at him, her face just as resolute. Muttering and cussing under his breath, John rose and went to join Claire at the elevators.
"God, I am so glad things weren't like that with us!" Brian exclaimed seconds after the doors closed on his old friends.
"Amen brother! They are exhausting. How the hell did they make it a year and a half? I swear tonight has been like a really bad movie of the week." Augusta stated as she folded herself into her husband's arms.
Pulling her tight, Brian kissed the top of her head. "Pure determination is what kept them alive. After the arrest and the miscarriage, I guess that determination just died. Claire became a ghost and Bender shut us all out. If either had just talked to the other, they would have made it, but it was like they both just fell back into their old personas. Almost like all that time together never happened and they were both just on their own; Claire to deal with the baby and Bender to deal with his arrest and death of his dad. Things really went to hell in a hand basket. It took Claire a couple of weeks to get out from under her father's thumb and John had been transferred, almost immediately, to some youth holding facility in a town called Murphysboro. After two months at the detention center, John spent another six months at another facility before his mother was finally able to tell the cops what really happened. They ended up charging John with self defense and let him go with time served. By that time, Claire's dad had taken her to Europe."
"It is just so senseless, Brian. What would have happened if her parents hadn't interfered? Do you think they would have made it?"
"If there hadn't been a baby, I would definitely say yes." He replied as he ran his hand up and down her arm. "With the baby, I have no idea. John still had so much hate against his parents and against the world. Claire was breaking through that hate but…."
"Why did he hate his mother? Did she beat him too?"
"No. I think John hated her because she had the power to remove them both from his father, but she wouldn't. He didn't understand why his mother stayed; didn't understand why she let her father beat him. He couldn't process a lot of things, but then again no one really cared about some kid whose dad let his punishments get a little out of hand."
Augusta kissed his hand as she heard the venom in his last words. "Claire did. Claire cared and so did Andy and Allison and you. You all cared."
"Well it didn't help anything did it? Bender still got beat to hell, still lived with the fighting and the drugs. He always walked around waiting for the other shoe to fall. He still had to deal with all of the unfair stereotypes that society put on him, the prejudice and disgust." Brian hissed, balling his fists up. "And oh how we cared. We left him; just abandoned him. It was like him being in jail was just too much for us to bear. So we just said fuck it and moved on."
"Oh baby, no. No you didn't." Augusta whispered, almost cooing. She moved to straddle Brian's lap and took his face into her hands; his handsome, wonderful face that she had fallen in love with on sight; that lit up her world with just a smile. God how she loved him! "No baby, you didn't just move on, I know you didn't. You have all told me how you tried to track him down, how Allison and Andy drove down to Murphysboro but he refused to see them; none of you moved on, Brian. This was just the hand you all were dealt and because of their nature, their personalities, John and Claire decided to fold. Neither realized that if they had just put aside their hurt and pride and anger, that together they would have had a full house. You, Andy and Allison were just the ladies in waiting. You were there to pull them together whenever they couldn't see straight. Unfortunately, you were all dealing with life, growing up, trying to find yourselves; I think the arrest and the miscarriage hit all of you hard. Hell, the five of you weren't even out of your teens and you were dealing with crap that most adults never experience! If anyone moved on, it was John and Claire and after tonight, I think it is plain to everyone that they haven't moved on." Augusta's green eyes searched Brian's crystal blue ones.
She gave him a weak smile and rubbed her thumb across his cheek. Brian returned the smile with a weak one of his own and pulled her to him for a kiss. When their lips touched, Augusta sighed and wrapped her arms around his neck. Their tongues met as Brian moved his hands under her jacket, rubbing her back and pulling her closer. When it ended, he kept her close in a hug, thanking whoever was listening that he had found Augusta. Laughing to himself, he heard her whisper as she played with the hair at the nape of his neck.
"What? What are you laughing about?"
"I'm just wondering when the hell she is going to have that baby so we can get out of here, I could use more than just a hug and a kiss."
"Why is my Dr. Strangelove feeling a little frisky? Does he need his lab assistant…." Augusta stopped her sing-song reply as she opened her eyes and saw Claire and John standing behind them. "OH! MY! Well…."
Augusta pulled herself away from Brian who had frozen when he heard John clear his throat.
"How long have you two been standing there?" he strangled as he turned to face them.
"Since 'bad movie of the week'." Clair answered astonished. "I forgot my purse."
"She forgot her purse….and my….my wallet is in my coat….at the house." John responded at the same time, the shock obviously showing in his face. Brian rose to his feet and rounded the row of chairs to stand next to Claire.
"Guys, listen….I didn't…..I didn't know you were there….I didn't mean to….."
John held his hand up as Claire spoke. "You're fine Brian, you're fine and you are right." Claire took one of his hands and reached for Augusta's. "You are both right. John and I have a lot to discuss and I think that maybe hearing what you said will help us both keep our tempers in check. It really is fine, Bri; Augusta. It was something that we both needed to hear."
"Cherry's right Big Bri, everything is fine." He gave Augusta a mischievous grin and she automatically blushed. "So Dr. Strangelove, what exactly have you and the lovely lab assistant been working on?"