"Brie, I'm not inviting them." Roger said sitting on the bed.
"Roger, they're your parents." Brianna told him sitting at her desk in the corner of the room.
"Did you forget? My father put me in the damn hospital?" he asked looking up at her.
"Of course I didn't forget. Remember I was there. But your mom said your dad quit drinking and he's better now." Brianna told him getting up from the desk.
"I'm sorry Brie, I don't care. I don't want him anywhere near my family. I'm not gonna subject you and Hope to him." he said getting off of the bed.
"OK. We won't invite your parents. And we're not inviting mine, since my mom did what she did and I haven't spoken to my dad since he left us when I was 14. So I guess that just leaves us." she said as he stood over her.
"What about Sammie?" Roger asked looking down at her.
"I don't know. When my mom came and dragged us home, I said some things to her. I accused her of ratting us out. Her and Mark." Brianna told him looking down.
"Baby, that was a long time ago. Mark forgave you. So will Sammie. She's your best friend." he said caressing her face.
"She probably hates me." she told him as he lifted her face to meet his.
"Call her Brie. You're never gonna know unless you do." he said kissing her tenderly on her lips.
"OK I'll call her. I just wish I could find Bethany." she said as he brought her close.
"I know you miss her Baby." he said kissing her head as she wept into his chest.
"I do. I miss her so much Roger. I mean, she's my baby sister and she's the same age I was when we ran away." she cried as he caressed her hair.
"I know Baby. I know." he whispered kissing her head. "It'll be OK. I don't know how, but it will be." he said propping his chin on the top of her head.
"Thank you Roger." she said looking up as he wiped her tears with his thumbs.
"Brie, you know better than that. You never have to thank me for doing something for the woman I love." he told her smiling at her.
"I know. I'm gonna try to call Sammie." she said leaning up to kiss him.
"Are you OK Brie?" he asked holding her hands at her sides.
"Yeah, I'll be OK. I just get like that sometimes, you know that." she said smiling at him.
"I know. I wish I could make it better for you." he said as she looked down.
"Roger, we're back together and we're finally raising our daughter. That has to be enough for now. I'll find Bethany in a couple of years when she's 18. That way, she'll be out of my mom's reach." she said looking up before going towards the phone.
"I know Baby." he said smiling over at her as she picked up the phone to call Sam's house. He knew how much Bethany meant to Brianna and he wanted to find her so she could be at their wedding. For Brianna.
"Sammie? It's Brianna. Brianna McGowan." she said nervously into the phone.
"Oh my God Brie. Is that you?" Sam said happily on the other line.
"Yeah Sammie, it's me. How are you?" she asked as tears came to her eyes.
"I'm good. How abou t you? Is Hope OK? She must be getting so big." she said smiling.
"Yeah, she's almost 11 now. Listen Sammie, I wanted to call to apologize to you for blaming you for telling my mom where we were. I know it wasn't you. We still don't know who it was, but we know it wasn't you." she said wiping her tears.
"We? You mean you and Roger? Are you guys back together again?" she asked excitedly.
"Oh, um yeah, we are. We also wanted to invite you to our wedding." she said crying again.
"Oh my God Brie, that's great. I am so happy for you. You have no idea how happy I am that you two found each other again. You guys always belonged together." she said as tears came to her eyes.
"Yeah, we found each other in New York City about 9 months ago. We've been together ever since." she told her wiping her tears again.
"I missed you Brie. I really did." Sam said crying.
"I missed you too Sammie. You should see Hope. She is the spitting image of Roger. And you should see them together. Sammie, it is so amazing." Brianna said smiling as she twirled the phone wire around her fingers.
"I can't wait." Sam told her smiling bigger.
"And guess who else I ran into?" she asked laying on her bed.
"Mark?" she guessed laughing.
"Yes. I saw him before I saw Roger." she told her laughing.
"How is Mark? What's he doing now?" Sam asked curiously.
"He's great. He's a documentary filmmaker. Him and Roger were roommates in a loft in the East Village up until 3 months ago when Roger moved in with me and Hope." she told her.
"3 months ago? You guys were dating 6 months before you moved in together?" Sam asked.
"Well we were dating 6 months before we told anyone we were back together. We didn't want Hope to get her hopes up, you know?" she answered as Roger poked his head in and smiled at her. He could tell things were going well and he was really happy about it. Brianna and Sam were best friends in high school and Sam was one of the only people they trusted their secret with when they ran away.
"That was smart, but how could you doubt that it would work out? This is you and Roger we're talking about. You guys were always meant to be together." Sam told her laughing.
"I know. But we just needed to make sure. Anyway, when are you gonna come for a visit?" she asked laughing.
"Soon. Very soon. Definitely. Um Brie, you didn't ask about Bethany." Sam said smiling into the phone.
"Oh my God, Sammie. What happened to Bethany? Is she OK? What did my mom do to her?" Brianna asked bolting up from the bed.
"Bethany is fine. Your mom and your step dad treated her like crap, so your dad came and got custody of her. They moved back to the neighborhood. She's here Brie." Sam told her smiling.
"She is. What's their phone number?" Brianna asked picking up a pen and a piece of paper.
"It's 555-2519. They've been looking for you Brie. They wanted to make sure you and Hope were OK." Sam told her as Brianna sat on the bed again.
"Really? Thank you so much Sammie. I'm gonna call her now. I love you Sammie." Brianna said crying again.
"I love you too Brie. I really do. I'm gonna come visit you as soon as I can. I can't wait to see you, Roger and Hope." Sam said happily before the women hung up the phone.
"Roger." Brianna called out still sitting on the bed crying.
"What's the matter Brie? Is everything OK?" he asked rushing over to her.
"Bethany is living with my dad in Scarsdale. My mom treated her like crap too and he got custody." she told him as he knelt in front of her.
"Baby, that's great. You know where she is." he whispered taking her in his arms as she knelt on the floor with him.
"My mom threw her away just like she threw me, you and Hope away. She's an innocent little girl. All she ever wanted was for my mom to love her and she threw her away for a man." she cried into his shoulder as he rocked her back and forth.
"I know Baby, but she's OK now. You can call her and you won't have to deal with your mom." he whispered caressing her hair.
"I know. I'm gonna call her now." she said looking up at him trying to calm herself down.
"OK Baby. Do you want me to stay here?" he asked wiping her tears from her eyes.
"Yeah, can you?" she asked smiling at him.
"Of course Baby." he said lifting her up to the bed as she picked up the number Sam had given her and dialing it.
