AN: Be sure to read the author's note at the end. Thanks to all of those who have left wonderful reviews. I appreciate it so much.
Chapter 22
It had been a week since the assault, the press conference was over and Elizabeth had said her peace to Andrada. Things were getting back to normal in the office, although she did feel that she let Nadine down by not coming forward. However, Nadine didn't know about her past. Elizabeth wondered if that would change Nadine's opinion. After talking about it with Henry, she had decided to tell the kids. Henry was understandably apprehensive, but didn't argue, letting it be her decision.
Sleeping was tough. She hadn't made it through the night yet. The nightmares were intense and once she woke up, she rarely went back to sleep. Last night though was the best yet, sleeping four hours straight. She knew what to expect and she was getting there. It just took time.
Elizabeth was pushed the stack of briefs away from her and leaned back in her chair. She was drowsy and thought about asking Blake if he could get a 20 minute catnap worked into her afternoon schedule. There was a knock at the door. "Come in," she said. Blake stuck his head in. She chuckled. "It's like you have this sixth sense. I was just about to ask you if there was room in my schedule for a break."
"I'm sure I can arrange that, but there is someone downstairs waiting to see you. She isn't on your agenda for today though." He gave her a look that she didn't think she'd ever seen before.
"Okay. I'm not following."
"She says she's family and she would like to see you, but I know your file forward and backward and there's no mention of her." Blake looked extremely uncomfortable. "Should I send her away?"
"Who is it?" Elizabeth asked, now a bit curious herself.
"Darla Adams," Blake replied. It was as if a ton of bricks landed on Elizabeth's chest. "Ma'am?" Blake shifted uncomfortably as he watched the color drain from Elizabeth's face.
She took a deep breath within a couple seconds, she was back to normal. She said, "Send her up. I'll see her in here. Bring fresh coffee, please."
Blake was still for just a moment, wondering if he should ask this woman's connection to Elizabeth and given all that she'd been through this week, was it a good idea to see her. Elizabeth's immediate reaction has him on edge. Elizabeth caught the worry on his face. "She's an aunt I haven't seen in nearly 30 years. I think I'll need that coffee right away if you don't mind Blake."
"Of course, ma'am." Blake disappeared and back with a fresh pot of coffee within a couple of minutes. He filled her cup and set it at her desk.
She eyed him. "Do you just continually make coffee so you have it at the ready should I need it? Because my coffee maker at home takes at least 10 minutes to make a pot."
"It's part of my ninja assistant training," he said, raising his eyebrows before disappearing out of her office.
She paced in front of her desk wondering what would bring Darla out now. She'd been a little concerned when she was first nominated for Secretary of State, but when the woman hadn't surfaced, Elizabeth sort of forgot about her.
"Ma'am?" Blake appeared in her doorway. "Ms. Adams to see you."
"Thank you Blake," she said, motioning the young man to pull the door closed. "Hello Darla. I have to say that it was a shock to hear that you were here. Have a seat." Elizabeth motioned to the seating area. "Can I get you a cup of coffee?" she said, stepping over to pour one without waiting for an answer.
"I came to check on you Lizzie." Darla said softly.
Elizabeth stopped mid-pour. "What do you mean?" she asked, her back to her aunt.
"It happened again, didn't it?" Darla asked. Elizabeth's hands trembled as she finished pouring the cup of coffee and willed her them to be steady while she handed it to Darla.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Elizabeth said.
"Lizzie, I've followed you and Will. I've seen it all. The commendations, the newspaper articles, the TV interviews, the treaty signings, the hearings, the press conferences. The one the other day wasn't like the others. I've only seen the look you gave the Philippine president one other time. He didn't break his nose in a boxing match, did he?"
"No," Elizabeth whispered, her head down. She had no idea it was that obvious. Who else knew? She'd threatened Andrada with exposing him, but if everyone already knew, her threat was empty and she couldn't protect anyone.
"Are you okay?"
"Getting there," Elizabeth answered. "Why did you come?"
"I'm not sure. I saw the press conference and I saw you and I just knew. I felt compelled to check on you. I know that you haven't thought of me, but I've followed everything you and Will have done. I've been watching from afar, keeping an eye on you so to speak. Do Henry and the kids know?"
"Of course Henry does. The kids don't know yet, but after this, I made the decision to tell them. If nothing else, I think the girls especially may understand why I was so over the top about some things."
"I hope you're seeing someone." Darla said.
"Someone? A shrink?" Darla nodded. "No, I know the drill by now. I haven't seen anyone in forever, well, except after Iran. That messed with me a little, but I'm fine now."
"I'm glad. Well, I know you're busy and I won't keep you. I'm glad you're mostly okay. I wasn't sure you would even see me, so thank you. Please tell Will that I said hello and I think of him often, well the both of you." Darla pulled herself to stand and started to move toward the door.
"Do you still live in the house?" Elizabeth asked, although as the question left her lips, she was unsure why she asked.
"I put it up for sale the day I buried the bastard. Once I left the police station that day, I never went back. I had some friends go and get my personal things and I sold the rest. I bought a small house outside of Arlington and split the remaining money between the other girls that came forward. I knew it wouldn't fix anything, but I wanted to acknowledge that I believed them and I felt like I owed them something. The only thing is that I'm sure there were others and I feel bad for them." Darla had tears in the corners of her eyes. "But I can only try to repair what I know about." She walked out of the office. Elizabeth was rooted to her spot for a long moment.
Finally she came out of her trance and stepped out of the office and speed walked her way to the elevator, catching Darla as she stepped in. "Do you think I could have your number? I'd like to invite you over for dinner sometime. I'd like you to meet my family."
Darla openly wept as Elizabeth entered her number into her phone. "Don't feel obligated. Once you think about it, you may change your mind."
"I don't know how soon it will be. I still need to talk to the kids, but maybe in a couple weeks, okay?" Elizabeth found herself getting teary eyed. "Thank you for coming by Aunt Darla. It means a lot to me." Darla gave her a small wave as the elevator door slid closed.
As she walked past Blake's desk, she said, "Blake, I'm going to need that break right now. Unless the world explodes in the next 30 minutes, please keep everyone away."
Elizabeth walked into the house that night at a fairly reasonable hour. She dropped her briefcase against the wall and kicked off her heels sending them flying into the door of the coat closet. She started to shrug her coat off, but Henry was at her back, helping her. "Hey babe. I didn't expect to see you this early." He hung her coat up and spun her around to give her a hug.
"Henry, it's 7 o'clock. I hardly call that early."
He chuckled, "It's been after 8 every night this week." She shrugged, conceding the point.
"Kids home?" she asked.
"No. Stevie is still at work, Ali's at a study group and Jase is at Piper's. Are you hungry?"
"Yeah, but I want to tell you something first." She led him to the couch and sat down beside him. "Someone very unexpected showed up to see me today."
"Hmm. who?" he asked, wrapping his arm around her shoulders.
"Darla." Henry gave her a blank look. "My Aunt Darla."
Henry blinked his surprise. "What did she want?" His tone was almost accusatory.
"She came to check on me." Henry wrinkled his forehead in confusion. "She knew Henry. She knew it happened again."
"How?" Henry asked in disbelief. Elizabeth explained everything that Darla had told her.
"She told me she never went back to the house and sold everything in it and bought herself a small house and then divided up the rest of the money to give to the other victims that had come forward. She was telling the truth. I had it checked out."
Henry pulled back to look at her better. "What are you thinking?"
"That maybe once the kids know, we invite her to dinner or something? I'm not sure. She said I didn't need to and she was just happy that I was willing to see her, but I realized I have this hole where my family belongs and I've never acknowledged that until today."
"That will be a lot for the kids to take in and then to bring her here after you tell them who she is. I'm not sure how that will go." Henry was still on the fence about telling the kids about her past, fearful of how they would take it. Bringing her aunt to the house after telling them seemed like an especially bad idea.
"Let's wait and see then. I understand where you're coming from," she said and pulled herself from the couch. "Is there anything left to eat?"
Two Saturdays passed before Elizabeth could gather all of the kids, but now she and Henry sat near each other in the wingback chairs facing the three kids sitting on the couch. "If we could hurry this little family meeting along, I told Piper I would try to come by later," Jason said.
"I'll do my best to rush through this so you can get to your social engagements in a timely fashion," Elizabeth said, with both a hint of sadness and sarcasm, which Jason picked up on.
"Sorry," he said. She nodded.
"I've called you guys together because I wanted to tell you a few things, things that I thought I could gloss over and never have to address with you. The events of the last couple weeks have changed my mind and I've decided that my story is really part of your story as well, especially for you girls."
Ali shot Elizabeth a worried look and Elizabeth did her best to ignore it. It was Ali that Elizabeth worried about the most. She was quiet and didn't like to rock the boat. She was a people pleaser. And, she went through a phase in high school where she desperately wanted a boyfriend. Elizabeth had been quick to counsel her and she hoped that Allison had been on the lucky side of the statistics.
"I've told you guys a lot of stories from my childhood and a lot of stories about your dad and I, but there is a five year gap, that I've never really mentioned," Elizabeth said.
"The period of time after your parents died." Stevie said.
"Yes, but there was more to it than that and something that happened a couple weeks ago brought that back," Elizabeth said.
Stevie gasped and when she made eye contact with her eldest, Stevie said, "It's Andrada. I knew something happened."
"Andrada's cool." Jason threw a few air punches.
"He sexually assaulted me," Elizabeth said flatly.
Jason stopped a punch mid air, all of the color draining from his face. "He did what? How can that happen? You have bodyguards for Christ's sake."
Elizabeth shot a look at Alison before answering Jason. Ali looked stunned. "DS agents don't usually go into meetings with leaders. They secure the area and then stand outside. They were outside the door when it happened." Henry had hold of Elizabeth's hand and felt her squeeze it harder.
"Mom, are you okay?" Ali asked, her voice just above a whisper, like she was afraid to know the answer.
"Physically, I'm fine. He grabbed me. Reflexively, I punched him and was able to get out of the room. Matt, Frank and Blake got me out of there immediately."
"You were the one who broke his nose?" Jason asked. Elizabeth nodded. "Good, and I'm sorry I said he was cool. What he did was not cool at all." Elizabeth, nodded, acknowledging his apology and looked at the girls, getting ready for what was going to be the outcome of the next few questions.
"And emotionally?" Stevie asked. "How are you?"
"That's a little harder to answer." She bit her lower lip while she thought about it. "What happened to me a couple weeks ago brought back a lot of very painful memories, things I thought I had long since buried."
Stevie moved off the couch and sat at her mother's feet landing her hand on Elizabeth's knee. Ali stayed in her spot and tucked her knees to her chest, her forehead resting on her knees. Elizabeth squeezed Henry's hand and nodded toward Ali. He immediately moved to the couch, scooting Jason over so he could sit between them. She caught Henry's gaze. "Thank you," she mouthed. He nodded. Jason seemed unsure about the sudden change in the girls' mood, but given his previous misspeak, he sat quietly.
Taking a deep breath, she started her story. "When our parents died, Will and I found ourselves in a predicament. Both sets of grandparents had passed away and my mom was an only child, so the only option for family to take us was Dad's only brother and his wife. We had met them, but weren't close. They were very wealthy and had no children of their own. Their house was enormous and cold and unfriendly and it was very hard for me. Will and I handled Mom and Dad's death differently. He was just go, go, go. He never stopped to let himself think. Will made friends quickly and was gone all of the time."
"I was sort of introverted to begin with and after their death, I became even more withdrawn and rarely spoke, or left my room. We'd only been there a couple weeks, when my uncle started coming into my room and he would hold my hand or rub my back while I cried. It seemed a little weird and it made me uncomfortable, but I ignored my feelings. As soon as the next semester started, Will and I were sent to boarding school, but each time we returned, my uncle went a little farther." Elizabeth paused, hoping that all three would catch on without her actually having to say it.
Ali's head popped up, and started to speak, anger in her voice, "But you've always told us never to ignore our feelings, if it feels wrong it is wrong, and to come tell someone no matter how uncomfortable it might be."
"Why do you think that is, Noodle? My mom never had those conversations with me." She sighed. "Part of it was the time I think. I don't know that any of my friends talked about that with their mothers. No one ever said anything if they did. After going through what I went through, I swore that I would do everything I could to protect you, equip you, and raise you to have a strong enough voice to be heard even if no one wants to listen."
Stevie had leaned in and was wrapped around Elizabeth's legs with her head laying in Elizabeth's lap. She gently stroked Stevie's hair.
"Mom? How long did it last?" Stevie asked.
"Until I was 19."
Stevie's tears finally forcibly pushed their way out of her eyes. "That's a really long time."
"Yeah, baby it was," she agreed.
"What finally made him stop?" Jason asked.
"Well, I had a restraining order put on him at one point, but he came back after that and your dad saved me from him. At that point, I was finally strong enough to press charges and he ended up committing suicide while he was being detained."
Ali looked up. "Dad? You knew."
Henry looked over at his daughter. "Not immediately, but eventually I knew all of it."
Jason shifted uncomfortably. "What Jase? What do you want to know?"
"How much further?" Elizabeth gave him an unsure look. "You said that when you came back from school he went further."
She swallowed hard. "It was steadily escalating actions until he finally raped me when I was 16. After that, it was varying levels of depravity that I have no desire to go into."
Jason launched himself off the couch and headed through the kitchen, out the back door. "I got him," Henry said, standing. Alison looked like she was about to lose her anchor and Elizabeth rubbed Stevie's back. "Let's sit together." Stevie let go so Elizabeth could move to the couch and then Stevie sat next to her.
"Mom, I'm so sorry. I can't even wrap my head around it. I don't think I could be as strong as you. I don't think I could do it " Stevie leaned into her shoulder, tears streaming down her face.
"I never felt strong. And there was a time that I definitely thought I couldn't go on. I was ready to end it all and then your Dad showed up with a cup of coffee and told me that he was falling for me and after I kicked him out, I couldn't go through with it. You know he was there every step of the way. He was always quick to tell me that he didn't have anything to do with my healing, but particularly after recent events, I don't know that would've ever made it to where I am today without him. "My wish is that both of you find someone as wonderful and supportive as your father."
"You were going to commit suicide?" Ali asked.
Elizabeth closed her eyes. "I had already tried and failed. It was after something particularly horrific happened and I just didn't think I could go on." Tears streamed down her face as she remembered that day, the scarf looped around her neck standing on the chair, when the knock came at the door and he called her name. "I don't know that he realizes just how close I was. He quite literally saved my life." She paused. "Twice."
Stevie pushed up so she could see Elizabeth. "Twice?" she asked.
So told them of her fight with Henry and moving into the dorms for Christmas break and how her uncle had been waiting for her when she entered the building. He'd ushered her upstairs and into Becky's room, cornering her on the bed where he told her all of the things he planned to do before he killed her. "And he's holding the knife up and my only thought is that I won't ever get to see your dad again and then he's kicking the door in."
"He really kicked the door in?" Ali asked.
"Really. And he threw my uncle to the floor and there was a scuffle and I just watched the scene play out like I was outside of myself. Your dad had him pinned to the floor choking him and I called the police. I really thought that your dad might kill him. I know he wanted to and there was a part of me that wanted him to, but I realized that if he did, he would be the one to end up in trouble, destroying his life because of me. The police came and during the interview they told me that they wanted me to press charges, not just for violating the restraining order, but for rape as well. They had been investigating him and several girls had come forward. I, by far, had the most compelling and provable account of what had happened. With my statement, they were able to arrest him and he ended up hanging himself rather than go through a trial."
Ali snuggled into her side. "Is it really bad this time?"
"It's getting better. The nightmares were really bad at first, but now I am able to sleep at least half the night. It just takes time. I'm doing okay."
"How come you didn't call Andrada out? Tell everyone what he did?" Stevie wanted to know.
Elizabeth sighed. "There were, there are, a lot of other things at play. There would be international ramifications involved with coming forward. I must have credibility with nearly every country in the world. The fact is that for every nation that would applaud me coming forward there would be four openly opposed. I don't like it. I don't agree with it, but in many cases it would impair my ability to do my job. Whether I like it or not, I'm the Secretary of State before I'm a woman and that is what it is. However, Andrada and I had words after the press conference and he knows what's at stake, and he won't cross me again."
"It's not fair," Ali said.
"No. It's definitely not," she murmured, pulling both girls a little closer.
Henry made it outside to find Jason pacing the driveway. "How are you doing Jase?"
Jason turned around to face his father, a look of complete bewilderment covering his face. His hands flew to the side, "How am I doing? Are you freaking kidding me? That has got to be the dumbest question you've ever asked." He continued to pace. "Why did I need to know this? I didn't want to know. I don't want to know, and now that it's there, I can't get it out of my head." He stopped in the middle of the driveway and turned to look at Henry. "Why would he hurt her like that? Why would anybody hurt someone else like that?" Jason pressed his hands to the side of his head. Tears fell uncontrollably. "That's like Uncle Shane or Will doing that to Stevie or Ali." Henry stepped closer and pulled Jason to him, hugging him tight, and letting him get it out. After a bit, Jason pushed Henry away.
"There's no way to justify that kind of evil." Henry told his son. " It just exists. When your mom and I very first lived together, as roommates, I spent a lot of time thinking about that. Nights were always the worst because she'd have nightmares and I couldn't do anything to help. She was entirely too vulnerable to have me close and it nearly killed me to hear her sobbing and not be able to comfort her. I prayed so much those first several months, those first couple years really, that God would heal her heart and her mind, and slowly it happened. It took a lot of therapy and a lot of love, but eventually it happened."
"I just feel so sorry for her. Like that shouldn't have happened," Jason said.
"No. She is the last person in the world you should feel sorry for. Your mother is single handedly the strongest person I know. She has overcome things and faced adversity that I pray we will never know. She doesn't need your pity-only your acceptance of the situation and maybe extend a little grace while she works through this latest trial." Henry pulled his son close again. "Are you better?"
"I was a real jerk talking about how cool Andrada was. I shouldn't just buy into what's on TV. I need to apologize for that." Jason stared at his shoes.
"I think your mom understands, but you do what you think is right. Do you think you're ready to go back inside?" Jason nodded and Henry slung an arm around his shoulders pulling him along.
When they walked back into the living room, all of the girls were on the couch. Jason could tell they'd been crying, but they all looked calm now. Elizabeth caught the movement and looked up giving Jason a small smile. "Jace?" He crossed the room and knelt before her, barely giving her time to untangle her arms from the girls before he wrapped her up in a hug of his own.
"I'm so sorry that happened to you and I'm sorry that I was acting all dumb about Andrada. I know that had to be hard to listen to knowing who he really was. I love you."
Pressing a kiss to the top of his head, she whispered, "I love you too, and it's okay. I'm going to be just fine." Still wrapped in Jason's arms, she said, "While I have you all here, there's one other thing I'd like to talk to you about. You have a Great Aunt."
AN2: Confession time-when I started this story, I had no idea that it would take the dark turn that it did, but once that happened, I knew I was going to include Andrada and I knew the ending. This chapter was supposed to be that, but surprise, my brain threw in Aunt Darla and now you get another chapter which is going to be the real ending. I apologize for dragging this out. I don't mean to.