Hi everyone!
I did post chapter 10 but it went weird then deleted, and I don't know. So I made some adjustments and added it again, so here it is. To all the people who PM'd me, I'm so sorry it deleted, but here it is.
I'm also really sorry it took me so long to update, my internet has been off for a while and I just got the chance to update. The next chapter will probably take about a week to get up as well, and I'm really sorry for that.
But here it is (finally), enjoy and let me know what you think!
Chapter 10
Let's just say, Beth kind of...sort of...really regrets saying she could stay up that long.
With all the junk they'd eaten and how long she'd stayed up, her birthday may include her throwing up her guts and napping for half the day.
But right now, all she cared about was the sunlight seeping through the windows and hitting her eyes.
She and Andy had fallen asleep on the couches.
Which was also something she was now regretting.
Beth looked around the living room to see Andy still fast asleep, and a whole bunch of candy wrappers and chip packets spread across the floor. The TV was still turned on, with nothing playing on the screen.
If her dad were to walk in right now and see his living room, chances were that she'd be grounded for a while.
She reluctantly rolled off the couch onto all fours, and then picked herself up in a not-so-good-looking way, and stumbled over to Andy.
She hit Andy's arm lightly, not having the energy to open her mouth and tell Andy to wake up.
Again, she hit her arm, but still nothing.
Finally, she turned around and sat down on Andy's torso.
A loud yelp, followed by the young girls name being roared could be heard in the living room.
"What are you doing?" Andy grumbled, trying to make the girl go away. "I'm tired."
"It's my birthday." Beth murmured. She elbowed Andy and then closed her eyes. "Say happy birthday to me."
"Happy birthday." Andy said sleepily with a small smile on her face. "Double digits now huh? Feel any different?"
Beth chuckled. "Yeah. Totally." She said sarcastically. "I feel so different."
Andy chuckled back and lightly swatted Beth's arm. "Do you feel sick?"
She watched Beth pout and nod her head with a pained expression. "We ate soooo much crap." She commented.
Andy's eyes shot open and she eyed the girl. "Don't say crap. When your dad comes back and he here's that he'll never let me see you again."
"Pfft." Beth laughed. "I'll blame it on Aunt Zoe. Dad won't get mad at her." She shrugged. "I hope you didn't get me a cake. The next time I eat junk food I think I'll be 15."
"15?" Andy asked with a laugh. "I really think you're going to want to want junk before that. You know with cravings and hormones and all that cr...stuff."
Beth looked at Andy and then furrowed her brow. "Cravings and hormones?" She asked. "Why would I have cravings...isn't that for pregnant people?"
Andy sat up slightly and looked at Beth with her lip between her teeth. Should she be having this type of conversation with Beth? Would Sam want to do it, or would Sam want to be there if he did want Andy to do it?
"We'll talk about it another time...when your dads back." She settled on with a nod.
Beth scrunched up her face, but accepted anyway. Andy decided to lie back down, dragging Beth with her along the way. Beth was settled next to Andy comfortably, snuggling her head into the crook of Andy's neck. She wrapped her small arm around Andy's waist and sighed.
"Do you think dad's okay?" Beth asked. Her voice sounded more innocent than Andy had ever heard before. "I mean...do you think he's going to come home to us? Because if he didn't...I don't think I could deal with losing my dad too."
Andy sighed and closed her eyes. She placed a small, light kiss on Beth's head and breathed in her scent. Unlike Sam's more musky smell, Beth smelt like fruit.
These two smells had become her favourite.
"He's gonna come home." Andy said with determination in her tone. "I know he will come home. I know that he's not going to be taken away like your mom was. And I know that he's going to do absolutely everything he can to make sure he comes home."
She felt Beth nod and Andy waited for the tears.
But nothing came.
"Okay." Beth whispered. She snuggled further into Andy and sighed contently. "Do you ever think about the future?"
"What about the future?"
"Like..." Beth huffed. "You know. Maybe you and my dad getting married and maybe having kids one day?"
Andy stopped breathing for a second before she answered. "Sometimes." She admitted. "I like to think about it. It makes me happy."
"Do you think about it a lot?"
Andy nodded.
"I think you and my dad would make cute babies. At least then I'd have brothers and sisters." She said.
"You don't think they'd annoy you?" Andy chuckled. "When you're older you're going to want to be with your friends. They'll probably want to go with you too."
"I wouldn't mind." Beth insisted. "I think I'd like them. Besides..." She sighed. "I don't think I'll have much friends when I'm older either. I don't think school's good for me any more. Like...normal schools." She clarified. "I like the one that I'm at now."
"I like it too." Andy giggled. "Anyway." She said with a sigh. "We better get up. It's already midday and you're wasting your birthday away."
Beth groaned loudly into Andy's chest. "We have nothing important to do. Can't we just sleep for the rest of the day?"
"No!" Andy said quite sternly. "It's your birthday and we have to make it as special as we can with how much time is left in the day. Let's go!" She cheered. She rolled off the couch with Beth still connected to her; making both the girls fall to the ground with a thud.
Andy started cracking up laughing while Beth complained.
After some petty arguments and some whining from, both girls were ready to go.
When they got in the car Beth told Andy where she wanted to go. Andy raised a questioning eyebrow, but relented anyway.
Sam walked into the building the next morning to find James sitting by himself. He was looking through a few bits of paper on the table and drinking from a tall cup of coffee.
"James." Sam greeted.
"Marty." He said with a smile. "How are you after yesterday? A little bit of a shocker, ey?" He cackled.
Sam nodded, then sat down opposite him. He put his file back on the table. This time it only contained notes.
About a minute later, Laurie ran in with wide eyes. "Guys!" He shouted. "Hey. Uh. I may have just seen Brennan outside."
Sam opened his mouth, but words wouldn't come out. He felt mute. "What?" He choked after a while.
Laurie nodded. "Yep. He's out there talking to what's his face."
"Who the hell is what's his face?" Sam asked, getting rapidly impatient. He jumped up off his chair and started toward Laurie.
"Corey or whatever the guys name is!" He yelled back. Sam pushed Laurie aside and ran down the stairs, taking them two at a time. He sprinted out the doors and then stopped. He looked left, then right.
A second later he saw a white Camry driving away. He looked behind him and saw Laurie and James, both men looking at Sam questionably. "Okay..." He muttered to himself. He looked back to the road and watched the Camry drive. "Okay...Alright." He spoke louder this time. "We need to follow that car." He pointed to the Camry.
James ushered both men into is SUV and they began following Corey. Driving behind them lead the three men to a coffee shop. When Corey and Brennan got out, so did Sam.
"Stay here." He said. "It'll look more normal if I just go."
He waited for them to agree before following the guys. He watched Jamie and Corey talk with hushed voices. They made their way into an ally way behind the coffee shop and stood for a few minutes. Brennan waited until no one was walking to start talking.
Sam stood around the corner trying to keep out of sight.
"You get anything on him?" Brennan asked.
"Did you really murder Lisa?"
Jamie sighed and rubbed his temples. "That doesn't matter, alright?" He asked. "What matters is if you got any info."
Corey groaned before nodding. "I know that Lisa was his wife and that you mutilated her." He said. "How could you do that to Lisa? She was happy with you and you killed her? Why? Because...because she had a husband and daughter at home?" He snapped. Corey ran his fingers through his hair and sniffed, trying to keep himself calm.
"No." Brennan answered. "Nope. That's not why. The reason why I killed Lisa is none of your business."
Sam really wished he had something to record this conversation on. With witnesses and this recorded Brennan could be put away. He honestly felt like punching himself in the face.
"It is my business if I have to keep it a secret. I won't tell anyone anything if you tell me why you killed her." Corey promised. Sam peeked around the corner and saw the two of them. He watched Corey push on his glasses and scratch his forehead frustrated.
"I'm not telling you." Brennan said.
"Fine." Corey laughed. "I'm just going to drive back to the guys and tell them that you murdered her and that I know a lot more than they think."
"Okay!" Brennan yelled. "But I swear to god if you tell a soul, I will kill you like I killed her."
Corey hesitantly nodded. His face was stoic as he waited for Brennan to start explaining.
"I murdered her because she told me she was pregnant." He said in almost a whisper. Sam honestly didn't know if he heard him right.
After a beat of silence, Corey finally found his voice. "You're not kidding?"
Brennan nodded, silently letting Corey know he wasn't lying. He closed his eyes and continued. "She came to me and told me she was pregnant. The last time she came...back in August she told me she just found out a day ago."
Corey saw red. "Why the freakin' hell would you kill someone who was pregnant, and your girlfriend!" Corey screamed.
Sam's whole body had become weak, and he was already sitting on the ground, his weight becoming too heavy for his legs to handle. He was shaking his head again and covering his face with his hands.
"She told me it was his, and..." Brennan sucked in a large breath. "and I got scared because I thought she was telling me she was leaving and..."
"So you thought the best thing to do was to kill her?" Sam asked, finding the strength to finally stand up and approach them. "You killed my pregnant wife because you were scared?" The look on Sam's face was something you'd never, ever want to see.
Ever.
Bright red and teeth clenched and wide eyed. He looked really, really threatening.
"Sam." Brennan said with an evil chuckle. "What a surprise."
"You killed my pregnant wife." Sam whispered. "You freakin' bastard!" He screamed. "You murdered my wife and she was pregnant with my kid!"
Brennan let out a dark laugh. "Sam, your wife was cheating on you for 5 years. What would've happened when you found out if she was still alive?" He taunted. "You would've wanted a divorce." Brennan started. Slowly, he walked toward Sam and stood in front of him with a smirk. "Then both of your children would've had to go through their parents splitting, you wouldn't see them all the time, you'd have joint custody.
So, in a way I did do you a favour." He ended with a small shrug and unruly smile, showing off his disgusting teeth, again. Brennan's stench wasn't pleasant, and his presence was actually making Sam want to stab him in the gut.
"You," Sam spat, pointing a finger in Jamie's face. "Didn't do me any favours. You murdered my wife and unborn child. Yeah, I probably would've wanted a divorce, but my daughter wouldn't have to go through depression and she'd still have her mom."
"What about when Beth grew up?" Brennan asked lightly. "The reason for her parents divorce was because her mother cheated. Imagine what would've happened then." He chuckled.
Sam shook his head and scoffed.
This guy, a foot away from him murdered his wife, and his soon-to-be kid. Why in the hell wasn't he trying to murder the guy?
"You ruined my family." Sam said in a deadly tone. He kept his eyes on Brennan. "You murdered my wife and child, and you wrecked the life of my daughter. I will make sure you..."
"You know she was going to leave you, right?" Jamie asked. "Yeah." He chuckled when he saw Sam was at a loss for words. "She told me she was going to leave during the night so you and Beth wouldn't know."
"She wouldn't do that." Sam informed him. "The Beth I knew would never leave her family."
Brennan rolled his eyes. "The girl you knew was a totally different person to the one I knew."
Sam's brow furrowed and he opened his mouth slightly. "What do you mean?"
"Well..." He breathed. "The girl you know loved her family, stayed home and provided for them. She was kind and nurturing. But the one I knew...she loved the excitement of being on the wrong side of the law. She loved watching people die-''
"Shut up!" He snapped. "Don't try and say shit about my wife that isn't true!"
"But it all is!" Brennan yelled. "Everything I'm telling you now, is true."
"Why are you doing this?" Sam whispered with closed eyes.
Brennan groaned, then slumped back against the brick wall, rubbing his face with his hands angrily. "Because I want you to stop trying to get justice for her! She did something bad to you, she cheated on you for 5 years, Sam. Why would you try to get justice for someone who'd do that to you?"
Sam stood in front of Brennan, looking down on him slightly. "Because even if she was cheating on me, she gave me the best thing in my life, and she did make me happy. I'm not just going to stop giving a shit now."
After a beat of silence, a light bulb went off in Sam's head. "You just don't want me to bring you down, do you?"
Brennan looked at Sam with cold eyes.
"You don't want to be in jail for the rest of your life, well guess what buddy, it's going to happen."
"IT WON'T HAPPEN!" Brennan roared. "I'LL MAKE SURE IT NEVER, EVER HAPPENS!"
Suddenly, there was a gunshot.
"Why are we here?" Andy asked with raised eyebrows. "I never thought that you'd want to go to High Park for your birthday. I mean..." She chuckled a little. "You're 10 and a girl and all you want to do is go to High Park."
Beth nodded. "It was a tradition my mom and I had." She said with a shrug. "We used to come here in the afternoon and hang out. Watch people and just talk until we wanted dinner. Then dad would come get us and we'd all go out."
Andy listened to Beth carefully, feeling a smile coming on when she realised Beth was letting her in on the tradition.
"I think mom would still want me to do it even if she isn't here."
Beth looked at Andy and saw that she was biting her bottom lip. No words would come out of Andy's mouth at that moment.
"You don't have to do it with me." Beth said quietly. "I understand if you don't want to but..."
"Beth." Andy whispered. She grabbed her small hand in his and squeezed it tightly. "Thanks."
Beth gave Andy a nod, then wrapped her arms around Andy's waist. "Thanks to you too."
Andy knew if she said anything else she'd cry, so she hugged Beth back before pulling away and grabbing her hand again. They walked along the path, hands swinging together and they just...
Talked.
About anything.
And everything.
"You know." Beth sighed. "I'm really happy I met you."
"So am I." Andy said sincerely.
As the two walked through the park, they were given friendly smiles from strangers, and they heard a few 'what a lovely family' compliments thrown around it people's conversations.
It made Andy's stomach tingle.
"So Andy, tell me more about you." Andy chuckled. "What about me? You know my age and what my job is. You know that my mom died and that I have 2 stepbrothers and a step mom. You know that my dad is dead now." She shrugged. "What else do you want to know?"
"I guess I do know just about everything, huh?" Beth sighed. "Well I don't know what to talk about." She started to play with the hem of her shirt.
Andy was about to speak, but stopped when she saw Oliver walking toward them. He was walking at a pretty fast pace too. His face held a hint of worry and his eyes screamed fear.
"Oliver?" She questioned when he reached them.
He looked between the two girls.
The two girls who were now the most important girls in his life. The two who kept him sane and who he wanted to come home to.
Andy saved him. Oliver already knew that. When Beth needed help she helped them, and as far as he was concerned she had succeeded. And Beth...she was the apple to her fathers eye. In his mind Beth was the definition of perfect.
"Is everything alright Uncle Oli?" Beth asked with innocence, no longer whispering.
Oliver looked at the girls again, before finally talking. "You both need to come with me."
There it is. Again, I'm really, really sorry that I didn't update like usual, and unfortunately I'm probably only going to get one, maybe two chapters up in the next week, or maybe 2.
Thanks for reading and let me know what you think!