Chapter Ten
Revelations
Maddie groaned by the sound of the clock, burying her head in her pillow. She didn't want to get up, she wanted to just keep lying there and die. Nothing was worth it without Esteban. But she knew she had to get up and go to work. She had to, because she needed the money, and getting fired would do her no good.
She got out of bed and threw on her bathrobe. She went into the living room, dragging her feet behind her. Yesterday night was clear in her mind, and she knew she would never forget it. It was the day her heart broke, and the dreams she had for her future shattered into a million pieces.
After crying her eyes out last night, she had slowly gotten into bed, resting her head on the pillow that smelled so nice of Esteban. Eventually she had fallen asleep, but she had no idea what time it had been. She felt angry at London. It was her fault, she was the one who had told Destiny about their marriage. She knew Destiny had probably sneaked it out of her, but seriously… London could be so dumb!
Maddie eventually got ready and headed off to work. It was the first time in a long time she didn't walk beside Esteban, their fingers linked together, and it felt wrong. She didn't say goodbye to him outside the Tipton with a peck on the lips either. She just made her way inside, headed for the staff's lounge. She collided with Mr. Moseby though, because she didn't look where she was going.
"Madeline!" Mr. Moseby said, hurriedly grabbing her before she fell, "What is going on? You should look where you're going, the hotel is full of guests, and…" when he realized she didn't answer him, and didn't even flinch, he paused and took a better look at her. She had tears in the corner of her eyes. "Madeline…" he said, immediately feeling fatherly feelings for the young girl, "What's going on, are you okay?"
"No…" Maddie cried, and so the tears fell once again. Before she knew what she was doing, she had wrapped her arms around the stunned manager, and was sobbing uncontrollably.
Mr. Moseby looked around, as a few of the guests stared at them, along with some of the staff members. Carey made her way towards them, and she managed to remove Maddie from Mr. Moseby, and lead the girl to the couch, where she enveloped her in a big hug, letting her cry it out. She didn't know what was wrong, but she knew it had to be big. Maddie was a sensible girl, but this was… weird.
"Cody…" she whispered, looking at him, "See if you can find Esteban, maybe he knows what's wrong."
"He's not here…" Maddie managed to choke out, as she removed herself from Carey and leaned back in the couch, drying her eyes in the sleeves of her shirt.
"What?" Carey asked, aching an eyebrow, "Something wrong?"
Maddie stared at her, letting out a deep breath, "They took him." She whispered.
"Who took who?" Mr. Moseby asked, trying to get to the bottom of things.
"The INS." Maddie said, locking eyes with him, "They took Esteban. They're taking him back to Peru. They came last night."
"Oh my God, Maddie!" Carey said, quickly hugging the girl again, "Are you okay, honey?"
"No…" she whispered, "What am I gonna do without him, Carey? They just got there, and I didn't even get to say goodbye… He didn't even know how much I loved him."
"Of course he did." Carey assured her, padding her back.
"No," Maddie replied, her voice hoarse, "We were in the middle of a fight because I had lunch with Trevor, and… Esteban was mad, and then we started yelling…"
"Don't worry, honey," Carey told her, "He knew you loved him. I just don't understand how the INS found out about your marriage. I mean, now it was real."
"It was London." Maddie said, letting out a deep breath, "I know she didn't do it on purpose, but couldn't she just have kept it to herself? She ruined everything. I'm gonna yell at her the minute I see her, if I'm not careful."
"Don't do that," Carey said, "I'm gonna go speak to London right now, and make sure she knows what she's done. Do you think you need to go home, or something?"
"I can't!" Maddie shrieked, "I'm gonna clean myself up, and then go work. I need to money for the apartment, and… yes, that's what I'll do."
"And what?" Carey asked, "You said 'and'? What's the 'and'?"
"Nothing…" Maddie whispered, "I'll tell you soon… When I'm ready and there's not so many people around us."
"Okay…" Carey said, arching an eyebrow, "I'll be waiting for that tale."
--
Three days later, Maddie got a letter from a divorce attorney (spell?) , saying that Esteban had signed the divorce papers, and was now back in Peru, where he belonged.
She just stared at the papers, not believing what she was seeing. How could he sign the papers? How could he do that to her? Didn't he love her? Didn't he trust her enough to believe that she'd find a way to get him back? Didn't he have that faith it her?
She threw the papers on the kitchen table, and made her way out of the condo to get to work. She was not going to sign those. She refused. No matter what, she was gonna stay married to him. She loved him, so it was the right thing to do.
As she walked along the pavement, she let her fingers linger on her stomach, hoping everything would work out okay. She couldn't believe she was in this position, and of course her parents had nothing to say about it at all. They didn't give a shit, the only people who cared were the people at work, but they also cared a lot.
She clocked in and went to change, before opening the candy counter. The morning she broke down, Carey had actually talked to London, and London had actually apologised! Maddie her forgiven her immediately after that, because London wasn't one to apologise.
Everybody (well, herself, Carey and Mr. Moseby) had been trying to get a hold of Esteban since he left. It just wasn't possible. Apparently, the village he lived in was so far away from the civilization that they had nothing. Maddie didn't even know the name of it, but she wanted to at least speak to him. She needed to! She was miserable without him right now.
She sold some candy and a chocolate, but not much else was going on right now. It was a boring day, and she wished she could curl up in bed and eat ice cream instead. She couldn't even recognize herself. She usually wasn't like this. She was a strong girl, but then again… she was very fragile, and apparently broke easily.
Carey made her way towards the counter, watching Maddie carefully. She had no idea how to act around the poor girl. She still hadn't told her that other thing, and frankly, she wanted to know! She stopped before her, waiting for Maddie to realize her presence.
"Oh, hi Carey." Maddie said, trying to muster a smile, but it didn't go very well.
"Hi Maddie," Carey said, letting out a deep breath, "How are you holding up?"
"It's okay, I guess…" Maddie sighed, leaning against the counter, "I got a call from my lawyer last night who said I need to sign the papers, and I told him I didn't want to. I tried to find Esteban too, but it's useless. I feel sick all the time, and I'm so tired I just want to sleep."
"I'm sorry." Carey replied, mentally smacking herself. It was one of the only things she said to Maddie these days. It was almost everything Maddie heard. People kept telling her how sorry they were, and Carey couldn't help but think that Maddie must be ready to stuff something down someone's throat by now, "I wish I could help."
"You're trying to find Esteban; that's help enough." Maddie said, "I really appreciate it, Carey. It means a lot to me."
"And you mean a lot to me, Maddie." Carey said, looking her deeply in the eye, "I want you to be happy. We all miss Esteban too! It's not the same without him."
"No, he really did brighten up the place…" Maddie said, getting a lost look on her face as she looked around the lobby, imagining Esteban carrying a huge pile of luggage.
"He did." Carey agreed, biting her lip slightly, "But now, Maddie… Is the time to tell me what the other thing was. I need to know. I'm curious, and I want to help you."
"I can't tell you…" Maddie said, "It's too horrible. I can't even tell my own mom and dad, Carey."
"I see you as my daughter, Maddie." Carey told her, taking the young girl's hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze, "You mean the world to me. And I want to help. I'm not here to judge you, whatever it is. Just tell me, okay?"
"I'm pregnant." Maddie quickly said, staring at Carey, as the older woman's face fell, and all the colour drained from her face. Her eyes went wide, and she looked at Maddie, her jaw hanging open too. Maddie blinked and retired her hand from Carey's, "See? I shouldn't have told you."
"Oh my God!" Carey exclaimed, when she had finally gotten her voice back, "Maddie, I had no idea… Are you okay? How far along are you? Esteban is the father, right?"
"Of course he's the father!" Maddie said, "And I'm about two months along, I think. I haven't even gotten it together to find an OBGYN yet. I can't handle all this on my own Carey. I have morning sickness all the time, and I have to work so hard to make money, and with a baby here in 7 months, I just…"
Carey quickly took her in for a hug, as tears started streaming down her cheeks again. No wonder she had seemed over emotional when she was pregnant too. Everything was happening so fast, and Carey couldn't believe it. Was Maddie… her little girl… pregnant? She felt so many motherly feelings for her, that she didn't know how to respond. All she knew was that she had to help her. She would let her move into their suite if she needed a place to stay.
Maddie pulled away, embarrassed, "I'm sorry…" she whispered, brushing her tears away, "I'm just… mood swings." She tried to stifle a laugh, but it didn't work, "I found out about this two days before they took Esteban. I had digested the news, and was gonna tell him when I got home from my lunch with Trevor. But before we got that far, the INS came, and I didn't have a chance. Now he's gone and I'm pregnant and alone."
"No." Carey said, brushing her hair away, "You're not alone, honey. You have all of us. And if you can't stay in your apartment, and if your parents don't want you back, you can always stay with us. I'm already on the pull-out-couch, but we'll figure something out."
"I want to stay in the apartment." Maddie replied, "Besides, there's so many memories of Esteban there, and I want the baby to be close to its father. I want to be close to Esteban too. And we simply can't be 5 people in your suite. Thanks for the offer though, I love you Carey."
"I love you too." Carey assured her, "And I'll help you with this. When you get off, we're gonna find the best OBGYN, and make an appointment. I'll go with you to all your scans. I'll talk to Moseby about getting a raise, and we'll see what we can do about baby things and clothes and all. I'll even go with you when you tell your parents."
"Thank you so much, Carey!" Maddie said, getting a new bash of pregnancy tears in her eyes. She let them fall and hugged the older woman tight. She was so happy to have someone like Carey in her life. It was nice to know someone cared for her that way. And Carey would make the best Godmother in the world for her baby once it was born.
So, another chapter done. Funny thing about the baby-business. Plenty of you actually suggested that Maddie should get pregnant, that way there would be more reason for Esteban to stay in the county. But the whole point of it was, that Maddie was not supposed to find out about it until he had left. I've been leaving hints here and there about her being pregnant, and some of you mentioned them.
I just started 'high school'. It's not exactly high school (hence the '' around it), but it's the closest thing to what it is, that you guys would know. And yeah, I'm gonna try to update as much as possible, but maybe I'm gonna get busy now, we'll see. I'll update at least once a week. And you know what, I'm gonna try to update regularly, like before, 'cause I know I won't be able to keep myself from writing anyway.
I don't own The Suite Life of Zack & Cody.
Thanks for the reviews from last chapter, I'm gonna ask you to review again, please?