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Crumbling World

Disclaimer: I own nothing

A/N:

Chapter 21 (Chaos)

Spencer pulled Trina aside into the kitchen as everyone settled into the living room. Anita was on the couch with her mother and her oldest brother, while her father was in the recliner. Gary and Holly were standing behind the couch, with him several feet away but keeping a watchful eye on her.

"Trina." Spencer lowered his voice to an urgent whisper. "What do we do right now? I know you're excited to meet Anita, but this is bad timing." She knew what he was saying, and she agreed; but there was nothing they could do. It was their daughter's birthday, and they still had a party to celebrate in the evening. "We should have been done getting your father's things an hour ago…if we could direct Anita and her family from here and towards your apartment."

"Tori's over there right now." Trina breathed in slow, gazing at her mother with teary eyes. "And I'm still trying to process all of this myself. How can I help her process any of this when I haven't been able to?"

"I don't know; but we've got other problems too." Spencer removed his cell phone and handed it over to her. "Check out the two text messages I got about half an hour ago." She cradled his phone and lifted it up to her face, one text was from his grandfather while the other from his dad.

She furrowed her brow and read the grandfather's text first. "Aw, it's from your granddad. He wants to come see Tori on her birthday…" Her heart fluttered, then stopped as she realized the predicament. "He and your grandmother have driven down here and are already at a hotel, ready to be picked up?" She flicked over to his father's text, and began to pale. "What's this?"

"My dad, still in Italy, got a call from my mother." She closed her eyes, groaning as her forehead showed the signs of stress. "She's apparently in town and he told her that I was living here now; so she's trying to find me and Carly…"

The body of text from his father revealed that the man told Rebecca where Spencer was living, and that she was on her way there. Trina knew Carly wasn't anywhere nearby at the moment, since Tori said they were spending some time with Sam and Cat.

"Oh Spencer…Our daughter's about to have one hell of a birthday." This was not how she wanted Tori's birthday to go by any means. She had a cake ready, and was planning for a nice and simple party with just her, Spencer, and David. Now, literally all of the grandparents were in town, and this was about to turn into one hell of a fiasco. "At least your father's not here yet."

"Oh he's flying in later tonight." Spencer's voice was flat and he looked irritated as hell. "And so is my brother…" Trina groaned loudly and all eyes in the room turned to her, making her uncomfortable.

The largely unknown fact, at least to Carly as far as Trina was aware, was that Steven had a child while in college with a woman who would move to another country. This was before Rebecca, and as the woman wanted nothing to do with him, it depressed Steven a great deal.

Spencer had met this child a number of times when Steven tried to reconcile. The boy was born in 1975. During the time Trina knew Spencer, he often complained that his father spent more time trying to talk to his son in another country than he actually tried spending time with his actual family. This was one of the biggest problems Spencer had with him.

"Why is all of this happening? Why now? Your family, my family, what's going on that's making everyone flock to this area?"

Spencer looked at her as if she'd just asked what color the sky was. "You really have to ask? Our relatives know about Tori, they know you and I are, you know, back together and back in her life. They want to see our daughter. I don't know about reconciliation though."

She began to sweat and her mind went to thoughts of how to handle all the chaos and still do right by her daughter.

"Tori knows very little about half her grandparents and great grandparents." Trina's hand scrambled through her hair and she began muttering. "What do we do? Give her a crash course on all of them? Do we want them to know her?"

"She deserves to meet her grandparents, at the very least." Spencer leaned against the counter and looked over her shoulder. "Dare I say, even my mother…"

"Yeah, why does your mother want to see you?"

"Apparently she wants to reconcile things, and has been in contact with my dad for a while now…unbeknownst to me." She wanted to protect her daughter as much as possible, and was scared to think that all these people were going to be in the same city as her. She didn't even think about how any of them were going to react to her.

"Quick, Spencer, who are the 'good' ones?" She waved her hand in a circular motion, gesturing for him to begin naming. He raised his eyes skyward and began to count on his finger.

"My grandparents, Tyrone and Sally. Your father. We now have Anita and her mom."

"That's it? Just the four?" She jerked her head back, astonished. "What about the bad?"

"Um, well my dad's kind of on the border there. I mean, I think he means well, he's just incredibly abrasive. Still, controlling enough to be on the bad side of things. You just counted out your stepmom. My mother, of course. Then, there's Anita's father." She saw the older man raise his tired eyes up, as if he could hear their conversation. "Really, it's more of a take your pick of the litter. We can't ban them all from never even knowing their granddaughter, though."

"I know." She pushed her hands out along the countertop, her head pounding heavily. "God, I don't even know where to begin with all this." Spencer leaned over her shoulder. She closed her eyes at the feeling of his hand touching her back and massaging it. Her shoulders arched and she leaned her head back, listening to his every whisper.

"My suggestion. First deal with your mother. Your real mother. She's wanted to see you for nearly thirty years…We both thought fifteen was a long time, but that right there? You know yourself how much hell that could be. Go end the nightmare, and we will deal with the rest as it comes."

"O-Okay." She nodded and moved her hand over his, giving it a squeeze. She looked into his eyes and started to tear up. "Walk with me?"

"I'm here."

"Thank you." Hand in hand they moved for the living room. Anita started to stand up, her soft skin wrinkling as she gazed upon her daughter for the first time. Trina stopped feet away from her, standing as meekly as Tori had during their first real meeting as mom and daughter. "Hi mom. We have…a lot to talk about."

Anita raised her hand to Trina's face, gently caressing her cheek. "My little girl, all grown up. To see you…" The woman choked on her words while Holly rolled her eyes and turned away. "A dream come true."

"I…" Trina's voice trembled and she raised her hand to her neck. "Believe it or not, I know how you feel. I wish we could have known one another." She curled her eyebrows together and reached around her mom, hugging her. "Dad…never knew if you were okay, he still doesn't."

"Did he ever tell you about me?"

Her heart started to shatter as she realized the very truth of the matter. In much of the same way Holly kept Tori from knowing her, Holly must have twisted David so hard that he could never tell her.

Rather than break her mother's heart and spare her, she had to say yes; even if the knowledge of her came so recently. "He did tell me about you." She smiled sadly and closed her eyes. "About the running of the bulls in 1980." Anita smiled openly. "But…" Trina looked to the older man, who turned down his head in shame.

"He also told me some other things." Anita followed her gaze and pressed her lips firmly together. "I'm surprised, but I don't judge it. Still, seeing your dad here…but I have other questions. Greater questions. Like, how? How did you survive?"

"Barely." Anita took a deep breath, her chest and shoulders rising. "I had ten years being yanked from place to place." Anita's voice was coarse and full of anger and exhaustion. "I wanted to die. They drugged me, they did so many horrible things to me…I was ready to die."

"But you didn't."

"No." Anita sniffled and motioned to Miguel. "I saw my brother's name in a newspaper while I sat in a park. Hosting some event, not important what the event was, but his name was there…Terrified, I found someone willing to call him." Miguel smiled gently and nodded his head.

"I had just opened a local eatery," Miguel commented, "I was advertising. When I received the call that my sister was alive, and back in Spain, I had to find her."

"I was so out of it for all those years afterwards. Angry, hurting…It took even longer for me to learn to forgive my father. It still hurts, but we have done some repair."

Her father, Jose Zarida, finally spoke. His voice raspy and trembling. "I had lost the respect and the love of all five children, and my wife. When I saw that I would be alone due to my actions, I knew how badly I had caused things to become. Even today, Anita's sister Gabriella worries that I may cast her or her children away. I say that I would not; but she has reason to disbelieve as I had done it before."

Anita gave a nod to her father. "He realizes he has done wrong, he is remorseful. His health is failing him greatly, and he has done everything he could to try and repair the damage his actions have caused; but there are some things he knows he can never fix."

Jose raised a finger and looked at Trina and Spencer. "My health may be horrible, but my hearing is still sharp as ever; and I overheard your talk." Trina's eyes widened and she exchanged a nervous look with Spencer. "If you are concerned about how people who are grandparents to a child will be, especially the ones who have done horrible things…perhaps you should still even give them a chance to show you that they may still be capable of love and kindness, let it be their time to shine and prove themselves to you. If they truly feel remorse and know they have done wrong, they will do their best to do right by your child. If they are not, then it is your duty as a parent to protect your children…and that is something I failed so miserably at."

Anita dropped her gaze, then slowly looked up as if realizing something through his statement. She looked at Trina, her eyes growing larger. Trina smiled gently and spread her arms outwards. "Yeah. You've got a granddaughter." Anita's jaw hung open. "And today." Trina exhaled sharply. "Today is her birthday. Like you, her father and I are just now getting the chance to discover our daughter."

The question now was where to begin. She had to talk to all the grandparents, figure out where they stood and what they wanted. It wouldn't be easy, nor would it be without emotional setbacks.

Hearing Jose clear his through and start to cough, Trina looked to the man. She wanted to hate him, but found it hard to hate him nearly as much as Holly in this moment; but at the same time she did little more than pity him. "Please, come over here." Jose motioned with his hand and she slowly approached.

He raised his hand up, wrapping his bony fingers around her wrist. They slid down to her hand and his quivering eyes drifted into hers. "Seeing you today. I did not realize it would be this hard…even more difficult than when my Anita returned home." Trina pulled her hair over her shoulder and closed her eyes, feeling her body start to stiffen before relaxing. "I still have not found it in me to forgive myself."

"I'm honestly not sure whether to be angry with you or not." She pulled her hand away and folded her arms while turning towards where Holly was standing. "I didn't get the chance to know much about because of this woman right here. She kicked me out of my own home, all because I got pregnant. Then I found out just today she's been telling of you that I am dead."

Jose looked at Holly and Trina could see the guilt and shame in his eyes, as though looking into a mirror. Holly merely tensed up and looked away, then threw her hand up with a scoff.

"I had status in this neighborhood. I was something. Then she goes and gets herself knocked up, and all of a sudden I'm a laughingstock because I've got a teenage mother on my hands." Trina glanced over to Spencer and held her breath as his hand clenched and relaxed. Jose sighed and slowly shook his head.

"Then you missed the point."

"Yeah." Trina uncrossed her arms and moved for Spencer. "She's no longer allowed anywhere near my father or my child." Where Tori was concerned, they had some crucial work to start. As much as she didn't want this reunion to end, she had to think about her daughter.

She took Anita's hands into hers and looked into the woman's eyes, smiling bright. "It's so good to finally meet you." Anita smiled back and a stray tear rolled down her cheek.

"And you," Anita replied, "You have grown up beautifully." Anita took a breath and closed her eyes. "You have some siblings." Tori's eyebrows rose and Spencer's jaw dropped. In the back of her mind she expected this, after all her mother had gone through; but she'd not truly believed it. "My son Ramon and my daughter Carmen are waiting at the hotel we've booked…They are the reason I fought so hard to survive that harrowing part of my life, and they so want to see you as well."

Her heart skipped a beat and tears flooded over her cheeks. "I want to meet them too."

"Ramón has a son who is four years old." Trina cupped her hand over her mouth, stifling a stunned gasp. Spencer put an arm around Trina's shoulders, smiling broadly. Gary approached from the side and Anita's eyes seemed to light up when she saw him. "Oh, you are David's best friend, the one that loved all the bars in Spain." Gary chuckled nervously and ran his hand behind his head.

"Yep," he replied, "That's me all right. I know a man that's dying to see you, but uh, first thing's first I believe." With Spencer's cell phone between their hips, she could feel it vibrating with each text message coming through. "Spencer tells me there are more 'unexpected' visitors."

"Oh god." Trina pulled away from Spencer and pushed her hand up her forehead. "I almost forgot. Spencer's grandparents, his mother, his brother. Everyone in my family…" Trina sucked in a heavy breath of air and a new determination filled her eyes. "You know what? Tori did say all she wanted for her birthday was her family; so our first birthday with her, we're going to give her the birthday of a lifetime."

"What do you have in mind?"

"It won't be easy." She grabbed her mom's hands and flashed a smile. "I need your help. Will you help me try and connect all these people for my daughter?" She had the reunion from hell in mind, but how else were they going to try and do damage control? Anita smiled back and nodded slowly.

Elsewhere, Tori walked down the street with Carly. They weren't far from Spencer's house, and had spent hours just chatting. "So." Carly's grin spread across her face. "Do I get to be the first relative of yours to wish you a happy birthday?" Tori's head tilted a bit and she scrunched her nose.

"Well, you can dream that you did. Will that work?" Carly's face dropped and Tori smirked. "At like a minute past midnight last night my mom came into my room to say happy birthday. Then my dad called this morning." Carly snapped her fingers and huffed.

"Well. Fine. At least I have your first birthday present." They stopped near a stone wall that bordered someone's yard. Tori took a seat on the top of the wall and watched Carly remove an envelope from her jacket. Curious, Tori started to reach for it, but Carly yanked it away with a smile and a teasing tone. "Ah uh, not so fast."

"Aw." Her legs swayed outwards and she leaned back, her hands sliding along the wall. "What is it?"

"Now that would ruin the point of a present, wouldn't it?" Carly pinched the corner of the envelope with her fingers and started to pull back, tearing it ever so slightly. Tori gasped and reached out, wanting to be the one to open it.

"Hey! It's a gift, right? Let me open it, or are you going to torture me?"

"What kind of cool aunt would I be if I tortured my niece?" Carly laughed and handed the envelope over. "Have to have a little fun." Tori rolled her eyes and grinned while opening the envelope. "Happy birthday, Tori."

As she removed the paper inside, her heart stopped. It was the result of the DNA analysis that she and Carly had done. For that moment, everything ceased besides the tremble in her hands. "Oh my god, this…" Carly nodded slowly and turned around, locking her hands behind her head. "I've wondered when the results were going to come in."

"Of course, they came a few days ago but I wanted to save it for today."

She raised her hand to her chest and read the words with a breathy voice. "It says there was a match, a connection found." Her eyes grew and tears started to well up. "Oh my god, you really are my aunt. I mean, it isn't as if I didn't know already." Sure she was already sure Spencer was her father and Carly her aunt, but having this in her hand cemented that into place.

With an excited squeal, she jumped of the wall and threw her arms around her aunt, squeezing her as tight as possible. Carly started to squirm and laugh before pulling her around her. "I can't believe it, this is the best thing ever!" She released Carly and stared down at the paper. "I should frame this on my wall."

"Well, then Spencer and Trina will know we did that. I don't think they'd care, but I'm sure they would rather have known."

"Yeah…"

They continued to walk, but Tori couldn't focus her gaze on anything but the results on the page. Reading the words over and over again, confirming that Carly was in fact her aunt. She wasn't sure the day could get much better. "Can you think of anything else you want for your birthday, Tori?"

"Not really. I mean…I don't know." Tori raised her head up and laughed as a few thoughts passed through her mind. "You know, I always wondered what it would be like to be a part of a big family. If Mom's family were as big as they seemed to be, that would be interesting…"

"A large and normal family? Loving grandparents, parents that care the world for you. Aunts, uncles, cousins. I'd wish all of that for you."

"Yeah, chances of that are pretty slim though." She swept a strand of hair over her ears and chuckled. "Just like the chances of me having a cousin my age are slim." Carly frowned and shook her head gently. "I wish I could have that. I mean, I never had any cousins that I know of."

"Well, I mean, maybe?" Tori smacked her lips and looked across the street to a girl walking by as if looking for something. She looked similar to Carly, and about the same age as Tori was. "You know, I heard a story that my dad had a kid in college. I don't know if that's true, and Spencer hasn't ever told me anything about it."

"I get the feeling Dad hasn't told you a lot."

"Yeah." Carly rolled her eyes and frowned. "Frankly, I think your mom knows more about my brother than I do. Hell, I only found out about her and about Sasha by my own means of stumbling upon them. He's always been very private…still, he can't stand our dad for whatever reason, and he never talks about our mom."

"Understandable, with how you described your dad as being absent."

"But it's more than that for Spencer, I think. Hard as it is to say…" Tori noticed the girl watching them with a heavy brow and tight-lipped expression. "It kind of pisses me off that he doesn't tell me things. I get he's probably trying to protect me, or maybe he was trying to protect himself, but it is a little irritating." Carly stopped in the center of the sidewalk, her muscles tensing and her shoulders rising as she clenched her teeth. "Also…"

Carly turned and stared at the girl. "Why are you staring at us?" The girl's eyes grew and she froze on the spot, as if expecting they wouldn't notice her if she stood perfectly still. "Well?"

"Are you Carly?" The girl asked finally. Carly nodded and the girl started to smile. "Cool. I'm Amelia." Amelia crossed over to them. She stood about the same height as Carly, had braces and wore glasses. Her hair was up in pigtails and her face dotted with freckles. "I just flew from Italy with my dad and Grandpa. I thought you lived in the area, so I wanted to walk around and see if I could find you."

"Am I supposed to know you somehow?"

Amelia's smile faded and the girl seemed hurt. "Oh yeah, Grandpa did mention you and Spencer didn't really know about me or my dad." Tori could see where this was going and her grin returned to her face as Carly started to pale.

"Oh cool," Tori replied, "Maybe I do have a cousin close to my age!" Carly looked baffled and perplexed, and the only sounds she could make were coming out in a stammer. "Wait, does this also mean my grandpa's in town." Carly shot her a confused look, clearly not expecting or knowing anything about this.

"Oh you have got to be kidding me." Carly hung her head and raised a hand to her forehead. "Oh god…"

So some wise words from the oddest of places, seems Jose has managed to find himself in his own personal hell. I'm sure he knows his children and even his wife will never truly forget what he's done. Now we see what is to be concocted for this immensely large family.