Chapter 11: Everything Changes
Ashley was laying on her bed going over her notes for that Friday's biology exam when Kimberly walked in. "Hey," Kimberly called to her, making her look up, "Mom wants to talk to us." Ashley closed her notebook, sliding off the bed to follow her sister downstairs.
Mary was waiting anxiously as the girls walked downstairs. "Everything okay?" Ashley signed. Mary gave the girls a gentle smile.
"Sit down," she insisted as she sat in the chair and the girls sat on the couch across from her, "You know how Pierre and I have been getting quite serious."
Kimberly nodded and Ashley watched as her foster mother held up her hand to reveal the ring. "He asked me to marry him," she informed them.
"Mom, that's great!" Kimberly said happily, embracing her.
Mary hugged her daughter back before pulling Ashley into her free arm. "We'll be moving to Paris in a few weeks," she informed the girls. Hearing that news suddenly made both smiles fade.
"Oh…" Kimberly said in disbelief.
"You will love Paris," Mary insisted as she started rambling on.
Ashley sat back on the couch, thinking over what she was saying. "Don't you worry, I will talk to your social worker and see what they say about bringing you with us," Mary assured the girl, "There's no possible way I will leave you behind." Ashley gave her a small smile and nodded and Kimberly gave her hand a gentle squeeze.
Two weeks later, Ashley was punching the targets on Tommy's hands as hard and as fast as she could. Ever since their lesson started she wasn't holding back. Whenever he tried to talk to her, she wouldn't answer and she just kept throwing punches and kicks in his direction. "Ashley, stop," he told her, grabbing her shoulders. Ashley was breathing heavily, sweat was pouring down her face and her hair was stuck to her head. "What's going on?" he asked. She shook her head slowly, her lower lip trembling before she threw her arms around Tommy's neck and the tears started falling. "What's the matter?" he asked as the girl started to cry. He rubbed her back when Kimberly walked in fighting her own tears.
"Tommy, we need to talk," Kimberly informed her boyfriend.
"I'm kinda busy," Tommy pointed to Ashley.
"That's what I have to talk to you about," Kimberly replied.
Tommy stared at her quizzically as Ashley kept crying. "My mom got engaged and…she decided that she was moving to Paris," she explained, her voice shaking, "And she wants me to go with her of course and she tried to talk to the courts…"
"Ashley can't leave California," Tommy murmured as Ashley let out another sob.
Kimberly looked at the ground, wiping her eyes as Tommy pulled her into his free arm, holding both of them in a tight hug.
When Tommy came home that night, Mrs. Oliver smiled at her son. "Hey, sweetheart, how was class?" she asked, kissing his temple.
"It was a class," Tommy replied.
Mrs. Oliver frowned to see something was on his mind and sat across from him. "What has made your heart heavy?" she asked. Tommy looked at her and let out a breath and explained to his mother the situation. Mrs. Oliver listened to her son, seeing the heartbroken expression on his face as he spoke about his girlfriend leaving but distraught at the idea of Ashley being lost in the system. "She can't leave California, mom. It violates the custody agreement since Kimberly's mom is only a foster parent," Tommy explained.
"So they will be placing Ashley back into the system," Mrs. Oliver concluded.
Tommy nodded his head slowly. Mrs. Oliver thought things over and saw her husband enter the house. Standing up, she walked around the table and kissed the top of Tommy's head. "Let me talk to your father," she murmured before leaving the kitchen.
Later, in the living room, Tommy walked in to see his parents sitting on the couch. "Have a seat, Tommy, we'd like to talk to you," Mr. Oliver informed him. Quizzically, Tommy sat down across from his parents. "Your mother has explained the situation to me and as unfortunate as it is, there isn't much we can do about Kimberly since legally that is her daughter we can't interfere," Mr. Oliver explained.
"But?" Tommy asked slowly.
"But, with Ashley, there may be something we can do to help with her," Mr. Oliver replied.
"We still have our fostering license, we still renew it every few years as we are supposed to," Mrs. Oliver stated.
Tommy's heart started to race a little bit at what they were saying. "We have already talked to Kimberly's mom and Ashley's social worker. They are in the process of going through the courts to transfer custody to us," Mr. Oliver put in.
"Really?" Tommy asked.
"As long as things go smoothly, we will have custody of Ashley within the next couple of weeks," Mrs. Oliver replied.
"Yes!" Tommy exclaimed, before he embraced his parents tightly.
They hugged their son back with smiles on their faces. "I always wanted a daughter," Mrs. Oliver quipped.
"This is great, Ashley's going to be thrilled," Tommy replied, releasing them.
"We'll get the extra room ready for her," Mr. Oliver stated.
Tommy couldn't help but feel relieved that Ashley still had a home to go to after all.
Two weeks later, Ashley was sitting in her social worker's car as the courts had instructed for the transfer. She was staring out the window wondering where she was going to be sent now. She had only known the Harts' home since her dad's death. The idea of living with a bunch of strangers terrified her. She hadn't signed a single word since Mary had informed them of her engagement and subsequent move. She had never felt so unwanted in her life. She wiped a stray tear from her face and let out a deep breath. "Don't worry, Ashley, I'm sure you'll fit in just fine here," the social worker told the teenager.
They drove for a few minutes before they turned a corner that Ashley recognized. She sat up with a quizzical expression on her face. She recognized the house when the social worker stopped and got out of the car. "Come on," the social worker told her firmly. Grabbing her duffel bag that was on the floor, Ashley got out of the car.
She knew this street all too well. Why was she at Tommy's house? Then she saw the little sign that hung up on the front gate to the house. It read 'Welcome, Ashley!'. Tommy and Kimberly walked out of the house, making their way over to the confused girl. "My parents made the arrangements, turns out they still had their license to foster children," he commented smiling at her, "This way at least you're with people you know."
Ashley's duffel bag dropped to the ground and the tears started to fall. She jumped up, wrapping her arms tightly around Tommy as he hugged her back. Kimberly was watching with tears in her own eyes, trying to stop herself from crying. Then what happened next, made everyone stare and freeze in disbelief. "Thank you," Ashley said quietly. Now Kimberly was crying.
"She spoke," Kimberly said emotionally.
Tommy hugged the girl tighter fighting back his own emotions. She finally spoke and her first words in nine years were to thank him. "Come on, let's show you your new home," Mrs. Oliver said smiling after dabbing her eyes. Tommy set Ashley back on the ground and Kimberly grabbed her duffel, taking it inside.
They led Ashley upstairs and Mrs. Oliver opened the door to show the girl her new room. Ashley's mouth dropped at what she saw inside her room. First, she had her own room finally. She knew Tommy and Kimberly told them a bit more about her likes, because they had a mixture of everything she liked. The walls were painted a soft yellow. "And my dad put in a skylight so you can see the stars," Tommy commented as he pointed up.
Ashley looked up and saw the skylight with a smile. She saw the starburst bedding and ran her hands over it. She saw that there was a model of the solar system in the corner and she stood up to examine in. "That took me hours to do," Tommy commented.
"I ended up finishing the rest," Kimberly answered.
"It's beautiful," Ashley signed smiling.
She looked at them. "It's perfect," she signed before she hugged them both. She started going through the books when she spotted a book she had never seen before. Reaching into the shelf, she pulled it out and smiled to see that it was her dad's science book that he had written. Reaching into the shelf again she pulled out another book titled: Rewrite the Stars. Turning to look at Tommy, she raised a brow at him and he shrugged.
"I heard that interstellar romances are the "in" thing this year," he commented.
"Funny," she signed.
"Nothing is more romantic than two people from completely different worlds falling in love," Kimberly commented as she wrapped her arms around Tommy's waist.
"I think that's the only way I will be in a relationship," Ashley signed.
Kimberly rolled her eyes as she walked over. "Don't judge it before you've tried it," she insisted.
"Fine," Ashley signed with a sigh.
Kimberly kissed Ashley's cheek and smiled, knowing that everything was going to be just fine.
That night, Tommy and Kimberly were sitting in Tommy's truck, sitting on a hill that overlooked the city. The date was bittersweet, knowing that by the end of the week she would be on a plane heading to Paris. She was trying not to cry as she leaned into him more and more, but then tilted her head up at him and their eyes locked onto each other. "Kiss me," she whispered. Not needing any sort of encouragement, Tommy kissed her. She kissed him back, wrapping her arms around his neck. Pulling back, she bit her lower lip as she stared up at him. "Can we move this somewhere else?" she asked, suddenly nervous.
"What did you have in mind?" he asked.
"The bed of the truck?" she suggested.
They got out of the truck and Tommy walked around to the back, opening the tailgate. He helped her up and Kimberly grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him close. They kissed again, this time her knees moved apart and pulled him even closer if it were possible. She reached down and started to pull his shirt from his pants, but he pulled back. "Kim…" he started to say.
"Please?" she said softly, trying to not start crying all over again.
Tommy contemplated what she was asking, he nodded and they moved up onto the bed of the truck. Their kisses were heated, their hands were everywhere as she pulled his shirt up and off. His kisses moved down her neck and his hands moved towards her skirt. Just as things were beginning to heat up between them, Kimberly suddenly stopped and she let out a shaky breath. "We can't," she told him, "This isn't how I pictured this." Tommy stroked the hair from her face and kissed the tears that were on her cheeks.
"I love you," he whispered against her cheek.
She hugged him tightly around the neck. "I love you so much," she answered. They were laying there silently, staring up at the stars. Tommy's hand was resting on her hip, his thumb moving in circles through her skirt.
"We don't go all the way, but I do want to do something for you," he told her.
"No, Tommy, you don't need to do that," she answered.
"I want to," he insisted, "Unless you don't want to then, I'm not going to push it."
Kimberly bit her lower lip, but she nodded after a minute mulling it over. "Yeah," she replied. He moved her so she was resting on a blanket he had in the back. He moved her skirt up and she felt her panties slide down her legs. His lips moved from her knees and then moved further up to her thighs. She let out a shaky breath, then let out a gasp when she felt his mouth on her womanhood. Her hips arched up, but then she whined as he moved them back down.
When he brought her to an orgasm, she cried out and gripped his hair. He moved back up, resting his hands up by her head. "You're beautiful," he murmured, making her smile.
"You're incredible," she replied, making him smirk.
They shared a kiss and held onto each other.
The next day at the art exhibit, Ashley walked in with Tommy as Kimberly was talking to Mary with Aisha's parents. "What's going on?" Ashley signed.
"I have no idea," Tommy replied as they walked over.
Kimberly looked at them beaming brightly. "I'm staying!" she announced happily.
"Really?" he asked.
Kimberly nodded her head excitedly before he wrapped his arms around her waist, hugging her tight. Once he released her, Ashley and Kimberly embraced happily.