Chapter 20: Over

Throughout the ride, no one had dared to speak a word, each too occupied with their own thoughts and fears. Back at home, Alex had slammed the door open in Justin's face, still mad at him for the slap, while Justin had quietly entered, looking down at the ground with guilt and regret. He still couldn't believe he just slapped his precious little son. His son meant the world to him. But at that particular moment, he just… snapped. He was angry at Jonathan, and he was angrier at himself, and it all came out like that. He wished he hadn't done that, wished that he could take it back, but… Sigh.

Amelia and Jonathan followed them inside, shivers of trepidation running down their spines. They sat down on the couch quietly, but had the good sense to sit away from each other, or Justin would have lost his mind again. Alex sat down on the love-seat, while Justin stood at one end of the room, staring outside the window.

For a few minutes, all they could hear was the sound of Justin's annoying Captain Jim Bob Sherwood clock ticking. Alex chewed on her bottom lip, waiting impatiently for Justin to speak.

"How long?" That was the first question Justin asked since the encounter back at the road. His voice was calm now, firm, restrained, yet pained, broken, frustrated. On one hand he was blaming himself for being such a worthless parent, and on the other hand he was feeling guilty for being such a worthless son. On one hand, the fact that his kids were… it was killing him, and on the other hand, the fact that they did the same thing to their parents…. He could just die in shame.

"Always…." Jonathan replied softly, snapping his father out of his thoughts. His voice quivered at first, afraid that his father would react again, but then his eyes darted to Amelia and his tone cemented. "I've always loved her."

Justin's eyes glazed over. Maybe Freud was right after all. If someone asked him how long he loved Alex, he would have said the same thing. But that didn't mean their children could….. "Did you guys….." he trailed off, choking on the words. Even the images made him feel sick, and the images of what he did to Alex made him feel even sicker. Gosh, will he ever be able to look at her the same way again?

"No, no, no." they said quickly, shaking their heads for emphasis.

Justin sighed in relief at hearing that answer, but frowned when another fear entered his mind. "Would you have?"

Jonathan answered that with a "no", while Amelia answered at the same time, with a hesitant "probably", wincing a second too late.

Justin sighed. Everything was just the way for them like it was for him and Alex. How could he not see it before? How could he have not known this was coming? But he was an adult when they had started dating, and Alex was almost an adult, mature enough to know what she really wanted and make her choice. And they had never looked back after that. Their kids were just…. kids. Did they even realize what they were doing? He sighed at himself, and took a seat beside Alex, rubbing his forehead with his hands. "Do you guys realize that what you are doing is wrong?"

"It's not wrong." Jonathan said calmly, but resolutely. His eyes were fixed at his father's face for a while, till he fell on his knees in front of Alex. "Aunt Alex, look, I'm really sorry. I didn't want any of this to happen. Neither of us did. We didn't want to hurt you. But it happened. And now we're sorry. But this isn't wrong. We are doing nothing wrong. She's my cousin. I can marry her, it's not illegal. And if we have kids, there's a really small chance of birth defects. I've looked it all up in the internet. Trust me, it's nothing wrong."

Amelia whimpered when she saw her mother look so sad, but at the same time, she couldn't help but feel glad that Jonathan was fighting for her, for them.

Alex chuckled bitterly. God, if only they knew what they really were!

"Go to your rooms. Your own rooms." Justin ordered suddenly. "NOW!"

The kids knew better than to protest. They cast one last forlorn and pleading look at Alex before they stormed up the stairs and into their rooms, ready to sob their hearts out.

And then the awkward silence returned again. Alex bit on her lip one more time, waiting for Justin to speak. Justin kept tracing random patterns on the table with his finger absent-mindedly, too afraid to say it out loud. "We failed…." He finally breathed out.

His words were so sudden, it startled Alex. She sat up with a start, staring at him. It scared her how she couldn't read what he was thinking. All his emotions seemed to be jumbled all together, nothing displaying on his face. As for her? She didn't even want to think anything. She just wanted to close her eyes and pretend like none of this was happening.

"I hurt him…." He breathed again, his voice thick with unshed tears. "I can't believe I hurt my…."

"It's ok, Justin." she whispered, speaking for the first time since they returned home. "You didn't mean to. I'm sure Nathan will understand once he calms down….. And I'm sure you'll understand them too, right Justin?" she asked, looking at him hopefully. He had to understand. They had done the same thing, after all. If he didn't understand, he'd be the biggest hypocrite alive. She knew by then that she understood. She was still in shock, a bit hurt, a bit upset, a bit angry even, but she wasn't against this relationship, wrong as it was. Justin would understand too, right?

He nodded, swallowing as he braced himself for the hardest part. "We have to tell them. They need to know."

Alex howled. "I know, I know. But how? How do we tell them that we…."

Justin rubbed his forehead again. "Come on…."

Within half an hour, the kids were seated in the living room couch again. The look in their parents' eyes had changed now. It told them that they had made up their final decision. The anger and sorrow had now given way for guilt and regret in their eyes. Justin kept staring at the ground, while Alex kept looking everywhere except at their faces. They could only hope this was good news.

"We've thought about it, and we've decided that you guys can be together." Alex whispered softly, holding her breath for the sighs of relief that followed. "But you guys need to know some thing before you decide if you want to be together." Her voice trembled as she spoke.

"We've already decided", Amelia said, smiling. "Thank you so much mom. We are so-"

"-Justin and I", Alex interrupted, raising her voice over Amelia's. Her eyes closed as she struggled to get the confession out. She almost wanted to back out and let Justin do this, but he was so broken already, she was afraid this would hurt him in a way that would be irreparable. She had to be the one to do it. Her lips rustled against each other in her quest to get them to open. "We're", the words got stuck, they refused to come out. Don't think Alex. Just say it. She took in a deep breath. "We're dating. You're our kids. Justin is Emmy's father, and I'm Nathan's mother." Alex blurted out quickly, squeezing her eyes shut more tightly so that she didn't have to see their reaction. Kind of like how a rabbit closes its eyes so that it can't see its predator and thinks that the predator can't see it either.

The room was filled only with the sound of the clock again, all heart-beats and labored breaths seemingly discarded, as the kids processed the new piece of information, and the parents waited for their reaction.

"But you are…." Jonathan gulped, looking at his parents' faces in confusion. "You're siblings, right?"

Alex nodded sharply. Her hands were already shaking with fear. She just wanted Justin to hold them, but who knew how the kids would react to that now?

"And that means that Amy and I are…." Jonathan's eyes widened as he came to the unbelievable conclusion. "Siblings?"

"We are so sorry" Alex pleaded, breaking down into tears. "We didn't mean to. We just fell in love. Just like you guys….."

"Why didn't you tell us that before?" Jonathan demanded, pushing aside all the other questions that he always had in mind for the day that he would meet his mother. He still couldn't believe it. Alex was his mother? She had been right in front of his eyes all his life, and he never even knew? How could they keep a secret like this from them?

Alex whimpered. Again, she wanted to back out and let Justin do this, but Justin was leaning against the wall for support by then, and she couldn't break him more. "We're sorry. We didn't know how to tell you. We're so twisted, so…." she choked.

"Sick." Jonathan completed bitterly, getting up from his seat. With Alex still sitting, his figure hovering over her was intimidating. "You guys are sick! You…. You destroyed our lives! I…. I hate you!"

"Jonathan…." Alex pleaded.

"You…. You are traitors! You cheated us! You cheated everyone! You!" He yelled furiously. Now he was exploding. Every word he said was like a bullet to each of their chests. His words were aimed at both his parents, but his eyes were fixed on his mother. "I don't even want to see you guys again! I was better off on my own before! I don't want a mother! I don't have a mother! You've only caused problems ever since you moved in! You destroyed my perfect life! I want it all back! I want you to go away! I don't want to see you ever again! I HATE YOU!" he yelled, storming up the stairs and into his room, slamming the door behind him and locking it.

Alex slid to the floor, her tears finally drying out as she stared blankly in front of her.

That's when Amelia broke out of her trance. "You're my father….." she finally breathed out, having remained silent through all of this, as if she didn't hear what just happened between her mother and her brother, and stared at Justin in a dazed state. "I spent my whole life hating you? I thought you didn't care about me? I…." she shook her head, images of all those times when Justin was there for her coming back to her. She ran up to him and hugged him tightly. The word was sticking at the tip of her tongue. "Daddy!" She whispered softly. It felt so good to finally be able to call someone that.

…

I HATE YOU! Alex closed her eyes. I don't want a mother. I don't have a mother. A tear-drop escaped her eyes. I want you to go away! I don't want to see you ever again. A sob escaped her lips. Now what was she going to do? Was Jonathan ever going to forgive her? Or would she really have to move out? The world seemed to be whirling around her, shattered everything. This was not how it was supposed to be….

….

Justin closed his eyes and breathed in, feeling a tinge of relief at the fact that his daughter didn't hate him, like he always feared she would. "I'm sorry…." He whispered softly. The sincerity showed in his tone.

"You were always there for me", Amelia continued, ignoring his words, as if she didn't even hear him, as if she was in her own little world. "And I always kept wishing bad things for you. I always wanted to… I am so sorry, daddy. I'm going to fix everything, I promise."

Justin laughed bitterly. Gosh, he wished they could do that! He wished it was that easy! "Nothing can be fixed." The words came out like it was a sharp knife lubricated with poison. "Everything's broken already. We are already….."

"Over." Alex completed for him.

A/N: Phew! Too much drama, eh? But we need a miracle to break the curse, remember? We're almost there people. Just one more chapter and then the epilogue. Please review up and tell me what you think! :)

P.s. if anyone cares, I uploaded a Dalena vs. Justin/Selena analysis video at my youtube. The link is in my profile. Go check it out. Okay now I'm done shamelessly promoting myself :P