Chapter 7

"You know, it was kind of sad to see her off," Antonio said wistfully as he, Talia, Bo, and John watched the door close behind Michael, Marcie, and Lily. "She was starting to grow on me. Oh, well." Antonio walked away, followed closely by Talia, leaving Bo and John.

"I have to leave town for a few days," Bo said quietly so only John can hear. "I got a call, and I think I'd better go rather than send someone out."

"Are you sure?" John asked. "I'm sure someone else would rather go for you."

"No, I think it would be easier if I made the trip myself. Can you hold down the fort for me while I'm gone?"

"Sure thing, Boss."

"Okay; excuse me; I have a flight to catch. See you in a few days, John."

"See you, Bo."

Bo gathered his things from his office and checked the address that he had printed out from his computer. "All right, Ms. Patterson, I'm going to take you back to your daughter."


"That's the Palace Hotel right there."

Lily sighed. Ever since she, Michael, and Marcie had gotten into the car, Marcie had been pointing out everything there was to see in Llanview: a bar called Rodi's, a nice looking country club, and a night club called Capricorn were on the list. "Damn, I wish I had my cell phone," she thought. "I could be texting Jade right now or something instead of listening to the tour of Llanview: the Least Pleasant Place in the Northeast."

"And here we are in Angel Square. Our apartment is right there." Michael had pulled into the parking lot outside of the building as Marcie helped Lily out of the car. She put her arm around Lily and pointed to a statue of an angel in the middle of the park. "Cristian Vega, a local artist, sculpted that. He's very talented. Maybe you can meet him soon. Are you interested in art?"

"If by 'art' you mean designing tattoos, then yes, I am."

"That's the Angel Square Diner right across the street. Cristian's mother, Carlotta, owns it."

"She makes the best paella in town," Michael added rubbing his stomach and licking his lips as if he could just taste the delicious Spanish food. "Do you want to get something to eat before we go upstairs? You must be hungry."

"Umm…no thanks, I'm not feeling well."

"Are you okay? What hurts?" Michael put his hand on Lily's forehead.

"Damn it, I forgot, he's a doctor. Now he's going to get all…'docterish' on me."

"Hmm…you don't have a fever."

"Oh, umm…"

"Just nervous, huh?" Michael gave her an understanding smile.

"Yeah…just nervous."

"It's okay, Honey. We're a little nervous too."

"But we're glad you could come home with us," Marcie smiled warmly. "Why don't we go upstairs now? There is someone who we'd like you to meet."

When the threesome went inside of the building, they were immediately greeted by a fifty-year-old woman with wild blonde hair and a bottle of vodka.

"Hey, hey, hey, M and M!" she greeted enthusiastically dancing around her desk. "I was wondering when you two would get home! Little Tike won't shut up upstairs; he wants Mommy and Daddy. Lindsay's been walking him around all day, but it did no good. I told her to use the vacuum cleaner trick, but she said it gave her a migraine." She took a swig of vodka when she noticed the girl that was standing with Michael and Marcie. "Hey, who is this cute little chick you have here? I've never seen her struttin' round Llanview before."

Lily immediately turned red and immediately hated herself for blushing. When had she gotten so shy? She looked up at Michael and Marcie, as if asking them silently to introduce her to the woman instead of introducing herself.

"Roxy, this is Lily. She'll be staying with us for a few days, maybe longer if everything works out. Lily, this is Roxanne Balsom. She owns the Angel Square Hotel."

Roxy's eyes became animated again. "Michael, Marcie, are you adopting her? That would be so awesome!" She turned to Lily and grabbed her hands. "Babe, if you need anything, just call on Auntie Roxy, okay? I own a hair salon too, so anytime you want to change your look, I'll give you a freebie: highlights, manicures…if you want to shave your head, that's fine and dandy too."

Marcie noticed that Lily started to look uncomfortable. "Umm…Roxy, we'll do that some other time. We're just going to go upstairs, so we'll see you later."

"Nice meeting you," Lily managed to say."

"You too, sweet pea. Now, where did I put my vodka?"

It was silent up the next few flights of stairs, exactly how Lily wanted it. Finally, Michael had gotten out his key out and started to unlock the door. Lily immediately froze; she did not doubt that Michael and Marcie were nice people, but how could Bo and John expect her to come live with them after only talking to them for a little while? Before Michael could unlock the door, the knob was already turning, and a blonde woman had greeted them.

"Hello!" she greeted warmly, but Lily noticed that she looked a little tired. "Tommy had just gotten to sleep," she whispered to Marcie before turning to Lily. "And you must be Lily," she continued. "Hi, I'm Lindsay Rappaport, Michael and Marcie's friend."

"It's nice to meet you." Lily felt a sense of security around Lindsay rather than Roxy so she could introduce herself.

"I'm sorry that I cannot stay and chat, but I've really got to get going," she said grabbing her purse. "RJ and I are meeting at the Palace, so I'll catch you guys later." After giving them a final wave, Lindsay left the apartment, leaving Michael, Marcie, and Lily all alone in the living room of the apartment.

After what seemed like forever, Lily heard a baby crying, and Marcie hurried into the other room to intend to him. After a few seconds, Marcie reemerged carrying an adorable baby boy. "Lily, this is Tommy," Marcie introduced holding the baby out to Lily. "Michael and I adopted him a year ago."

Tommy, who had been wailing with sobs, looked at Lily and immediately stopped crying. Lily stepped back in surprise. "The kid stopped crying when he saw me…damn it, something must be wrong with me." Tommy had begun to reach his arms out trying to embrace the teenager.

"I think he wants to say hello to you," Marcie grinned. She paused for a moment and then added, "Would you like to hold him?"

"Well, I don't know, I mean, I've never—"

"Come on, I'm sure he'll love it." Marcie gently passed Tommy into Lily's arms.

It was the best feeling ever; holding Tommy in her arms reminded Lily what it felt like to be in her parents' arms when she was little. Her father chuckling merrily, proud of his young daughter…her mother with tears of joy in her eyes after having the baby against her doctor's wishes…her brother and sister running around asking to play with their little sister. All of the memories were there, but the love was not…at least not anymore.


"May I help you, sir?"

Bo jerked to attention, noticing a short, young man at his elbow. He had arrived at Florida half an hour ago and was now standing in a shabby apartment building being approached by an eager looking man.

"Yes. Yes you can. I'm looking for a woman who goes by this name." He took out a slip of paper and showed it to the man. The man's eyes widened in surprise.

"Yes…yes she is. That's funny; she told me that all of her family has passed away. Are you a family member?"

"Well…I used to be. Can you take me up to her room?"

"Of course, sir, just follow me." The man led Bo up several flights of wooden, creaky stairs that looked as if they were going to crack with one step. Finally, they reached room 1207, the room that Lily's mother would be in. The man knocked on the door.

"Come in," a tired voice called from inside of the hotel room. The man opened the door partially, lighting up the darkened room.

"Mrs. Patterson, there is someone here to see you," the man said kindly. "He…used to be a part of your family, he says."

"What? I…send him in, Arthur, thank you."

The man, Arthur, stepped aside allowing Bo to enter the room. "I'll be downstairs," he told him before disappearing down the staircase. Bo silently entered the room, taking a good look at the woman; she had blonde hair that was twisted into many tangles and knots. Her once beautiful and flawless face was red and blotchy making her look like she had been sobbing for hours on end. Her simple outfit was composed of a T-shirt and a pair of sweatpants. Most of all, the expression on her face was anything but happy to see Bo.

"Bo," her voice managed to squeak, sounding annoyed, furious, shocked, and somewhat relieved.

"Hello, Mrs. Patterson," Bo replied with a relaxed smile on his face. "It's so great to see you again. Or should I say Tina Clayton Lord?"


"I think Tommy is down for the count," Michael whispered rejoining Marcie and Lily in the living room. "He fell right asleep in your arms, Lily."

"Ha," Lily replied sheepishly, pretending to care. She was still extremely uncomfortable, and Marcie noticed that right away.

"Sweetie, why don't I get you something to drink? You look a little pale to me."

"No, really, Marcie, you really don't have to—"

"No, I think Marcie's right," Michael interrupted. "Come on, you need to drink something. Doctor's orders." He winked at Marcie, who had gotten up and left for the kitchen. Michael leaned back and stretched out his arms, his eyes closing when his long, dramatic yawn sounded. When his eyes opened again, he noticed that Lily was sitting, hunched over with her arms folded across her chest. "You okay, Honey?"

"What? Oh yeah. I mean, I'm fine."

"You sure? I mean, you didn't look as happy when Tommy fell asleep."

Lily thought about her words for a moment. "It's just…" She heaved a loud sigh. "I really don't know how to put this in the right words. Tommy…is just so lucky. He has rocking people as his parents. Me? Sure, I grew up well. I had two terrific parents, a brother, and a sister who all loved me…but that all dissolved. My brother is off fulfilling his life's wishes, my sister is somewhere out of the country, my mother is dead, and my father…God knows where he was. None of them care about me. If they did, I'd be safe at home with them." Suddenly, her forming tears turned into anger. "I hate them," she said sharply. "They pretended to love me when all they did was hurt me. That's all they wanted to do! I hate them!"

At first, Michael did not know what to do. He had dealt with teenage girls before; heck, he had dozens going in and out of the hospital every day…but he had never been responsible for one of their lives before. How would he know how to help her, to comfort her when she needed him? Yet, something in his head told him that he could do it.

Michael put his arm gently around Lily's shoulders, careful not to startle the sobbing girl. "You're not alone," he whispered softly. "You're not alone. Honey, can you listen to me for one minute? Just one minute? Listen, sweetie." Gradually, Lily lifted her head, which felt two tons heavier than normal. "Listen to me; it does not matter who your parents are or what they did to you. People don't judge you on who your family is; they judge you on who you are on the inside? Don't let anybody define you by genetics because genes are just science. Okay?" Through tears, Lily nodded briskly. "Atta girl," Michael murmured letting Lily sob into his chest. When Marcie walked in to give Lily her glass of water, she thought she saw a tear in Michael's eye too.