Hello, me again! Sorry I cut the previous chapter off at such a cliffhanger; I was just SO TIRED from work and had to lie down. Well, I did so and am up again. So, here's chapter 7!
Disclaimer: Same as always.
New Beginnings, Ch. 7
Ryan looked at her wearily, "What, you suddenly suspect him?"
She shrugged, "I don't know anymore…not after last night anyway. Please Ryan, just show me the tape."
"Daddy I want to go," Theresa said, beginning to cry again.
He picked Theresa up, "Are you sure you want to see this?"
She nodded, "I just don't know what to believe anymore," she said quietly.
"Fine," he said after a few moments. "Kids, we're going back inside; mommy and daddy have to…talk," he said as he took them out of the car and followed Gabi back into the house. He set the kids in the family room and had Gabi follow him to the den so they could watch the tape without Theresa having to relive it. "You're sure you want to see this?"
"Just play it," she said, bracing herself for the worst.
He stuck the tape in the VCR and pressed 'play.'
Gabi's face turned from wonderment to pure horror. "Oh my G-d…not my baby," she whispered, on the verge of tears.
Ryan, who had never actually seen Rob hit Theresa, was even shocked. "Oh dear Lord," he said to himself.
When the tape finished, Ryan pressed 'stop' and the two just sat there, unable to come up with anything to say.
"Damn him," Gabi said under her breath after a minute. "How could I have been so…so…stupid!" She stood up and paced around the room, tears coming down her face. "He has been hitting her all this time and I have been defending him!"
Ryan watched her for a moment, "I…I guess if I was in your shoes I would probably do the same thing," he said after another moment of silence.
"Ryan…he has been hitting her! I feel like such a fool for falling for all of his excuses," she said, sitting back down. "Please Ryan, please forgive me," she said as she covered her face with her hands and cried softly.
"That'll take a while I think, but since Rob is going away for quite some time, I'm sure that you will get that one weekend back for visits," he offered.
She looked up at him, "I don't deserve to see them," she said, still crying. "Not after what I did to our daughter. The judge is going to see that and so is…" She was interrupted by the door. "Oh no, he's back." She stood up and walked into the hall where she saw Rob hanging up his jacket.
"Hi honey," he said as he moved in for a kiss.
"Don't you 'hi honey' me you bastard!" She nearly yelled.
"Whoa, what are you talking about," he asked, eyeing Ryan who had walked out of the den.
"I know what you have been doing to my daughter and I want you out…NOW! I don't ever want to see you, hear from you, nothing!"
"You will not talk to me like that," he said as he walked towards her, a menacing look on his face. "Besides, we have a daughter. What will the judge say about that?"
"He'll say that you will never see her again," she yelled. "I won't have you do the same thing to her as what you have done to Theresa."
He looked at Ryan who had just gotten off the phone. "Who the hell do you think you are, coming into my home, feeding these lies to my fiancé, turning her against me?"
"I think I am about to be quite satisfied," he said as there was banging on the front door. Ryan went to answer it; there were several policemen on the other side. Ryan told them where Rob was.
"You are under arrest for child abuse, Mr. Cramer ((just realized I didn't have a last name for him!))," one of the officers said as he handcuffed him. "Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law."
Rob looked at Ryan and Gabi, "This isn't over…"
"Shut up and get the hell out of my house," Gabi said.
Once he was gone, she ran into the family room and scooped Theresa up in her arms. "Oh honey, I am so sorry," she said with tears in her eyes. "I love you more than anything, you know that, right?"
Theresa simply nodded and for the first time in a very long time, gave her mom a meaningful hug.
Two Months Later…
Rob had been sentenced to 5 years in jail and had a restraining order put out against him by Gabi.
Ryan had gone back to his lawyer and had him give back joint custody to Gabi, which Theresa was actually happy about.
Ryan and Gabi had decided to try out family therapy, which would not only help Theresa to get past what had been done to her, but help Ryan and Gabi's relationship as well. Both of them knew that they were never going to get back together, but they did know that things were going to go much more smoothly after a lot of therapy and talking.
Michael had even started to warm up to his new sister. He still didn't like not being the youngest, but got used to the fact that he was a big brother now.
Theresa was glad to have him out of her life for good and to be able to see her mom more often and spend more time with her than she had in a very long time.
Things definitely began to improve for the Montez-Evans family; slowly but surely.
THE END
Fin. That's all! I didn't want to write anymore for this story; it's way too depressing. I'm trying to decide whether or not to write a sequel to "And Baby Makes Six," that basically kind of starts off where that left off (with Troy and Sharpay and their family that is). Should I? Please let me know.
Thank you very much for reading this!
