CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
1 Week After Rescue
"So you're just going to move to Pasadena, forget about college, Stanford, Lilly, and play house with that little Jonas punk?" Dad demanded a few days after my shock revelation and Joe's agreement to try and adopt Lorraine.
"I'm not abandoning college, Dad, it's still two months away, and if I don't go this year then I'll apply next semester or next year." I sighed, sure it was a shock, but couldn't he see that looking after Lorraine was something I wanted to do? I wanted to look after her, and raise, comfort her after her nightmares, I wanted to be responsible for her. "And Lilly understands." I'd been a bit sad when she said she was going to be staying with her Mom and little brother for a few days until they had to go back to Georgia, but I understood she needed to be with her Mom and she'd be back in a few days, just like Lilly understood that I wanted to be there for Lorraine. "I'm not abandoning anyone. And you know how I feel about, Joe, Dad."
"This is a huge responsibility, Miley; it's not just a week, or a month or until you're done." I clenched my fists, nice to know my own father had such faith in me. "It's for the rest of her life, the rest of your life. What are you going to do when she's not a perfect little Angel anymore? When she defies you, or argues back, or when that little Jonas skips out because it's too hard, leaving you alone with a child?"
"Joe's not going to leave,I'm not going to get bored with Lorraine, and anything else that happens we'll deal with it. Just like you and Mom did with me and Jackson." I listed, though I did have an inkling of fear of what if Joe did leave? What if I wasn't enough for him and he left?
"But, you're only just eighteen, Miley. Don't you want to grow up? See the world? Finish school? Fall in love? How do you expect to do that with a four-year-old and a Jonas following you around everywhere?" Dad tried argue a new point just like he'd been doing for the last week.
"I'll be nineteen in five months, Dad." I rolled my eyes, I wasn't a baby. "And I have seen the world, I've spent the last six years seeing the world and living in a glaringly bright spotlight, did you ever think I might want some quiet and normalcy?"
"So you think running off into the sunset with some little singing punk and a four-year-old will bring normalcy?" Dad snapped and I groaned in frustration. He shook his head as if he were disapointed in me. "And I alwas thought Jackson would be the one to make some stupid decision like this."
"Look, Dad." I tried not to lose my temper. "This isn't a mistake, and I'm going to do it; whether you like it or not. So you can either support me or push me away." And with those parting words I left.
"Still not on board?" Jackson was sitting outside when I got there, waitside my barn/room.
"I just want him to support me." I frowned, sinking down so i was sitting next to my big brother.
"I support you, Sis." Jackson said, "I know I'm not Dad, but still."
"I love you, Jackson." I smiled, half-hugging him.
"Yeah, yeah, don't go spreading rumors sayin' I'm a good brother or something." He rolled his eyes, but higged me back. "So what's the plan for this whole adopt the kid and move in with the Jonas thing?"
"That's pretty much it." I shrugged, I guess I could have given more thought to it before I went to Joe with the idea. "Adopt the kid, and move in with the Jonas in Pasadena."
"Why Pasadena?" Jackson asked, cocking his head.
"The boys live there and I want to stay close to them." isighed, which was another reason Dad was so against me moving to Pasadena, honestly it wasn't too far from here; I was going to be closer in Pasadena than I would at Stanford. "It's not like I'm giving up on my dreams."
"What about Royce and the triplets." Jackson snickered and I rolled my eyes.
"I was fifteen." I defended myself petulantly.
"Which is Dad's point." Jackson pointed out, since when did Jackson become the voice of reason? "He still thinks of you the same; as the little teenager who insisted she was gonna marry a guy named Royce. He doesn't want you to grow up."
"I get that." I did, I had to by now after hearing it from everyone in the last week. "He might not want me to grow up, but I am, I did. I'm not a little kid anymore."
"He knows that, but he doesn't want to accept it."
"God. When did you get so smart?" I teased.
"You may have the talent, Sis, but we both know I've always been the brains." Jackson grinned, it was true though; he knew how to expertly divert attention, he didn't have a father-son day in four years because he made himself look like a dispointment, and Dad didn't know what it meant, but he purposely got every question wrong on his SAT's the first time he took them. Jackson was genius, but more importantly, he was a good big brother.
T
1 Month After Rescue
"You have a home inspection to see if you would provide a safe caring environment for a child this Saturday." Mr. Sotenham - the lawyer Joe and I had hired to help us adopt Lorraine - told us. "Incidentally, do you have a home that would be considered a safe and caring environment?"
"Just gotta move in." Joe shrugged, like it wasn't a big deal. Maybe it wasn't, I don't know. Dad still wasn't happy about it. I don't know that Jackson was happy about it, but at least he was supportive. And Lilly was going to move with us until she went to Stanford in the Fall.
"You haven't moved into the house yet?" Mr. Sotenham asked, scandalised; I think he was pretty skeptical about Joe and I adopting and raising Lorraine successfully, but he was being paid to help so he didn't really care one way or the other.
"Well, we had to find one, and the sale only just cleared." Joe defended, looking sheepish. "And it had to be close to the boys."
"Well, you better get moved in and make it look homey and caring within the next three days." Mr. Sotenham said as if it were obvious. "Any unecessary setbacks are only going put that innocent little girl through more hassel that she doesn't need."
"We know." I whispered, the hospital had kept Lorraine as long as possible, but after a week they'd had to release her and for the last three weeks she'd been with childrens services. A week after rescue - the reason for Lorraine's release from the hospital - had been the funerals. I think that's when it really hit home for the kids; that they wouldn't see their parents again, and Lorraine wouldn't see her siblings. Carter had locked himself in his room for three days straight, Sean had become practically mute, and I couldn't even imagine what the little ones were going through - I was 10 when my Mom died, I had three years on Will and six on Lorraine, and at least I had my Dad still.
"Look, the courts aren't fighting you, there are no other family members fighting for custody, you both have good standing, Lorraine has a history with you; as long as you don't screw up the inspection everything should go fine and Lorraine will be legally yours. The only problem you might encounter are the fact that you've only be dating for a month, you're not married, and one of you is eighteen." Mr. Sotenham said candidily, well gee, is that all? The way he said it made it sound like a lot. "But if you can make yourselve look like a stable, caring environment for a four-year-old then I can argue the rest, okay?"
I
So, I guess Joe and I are moving in together. We'd only been dating a month and we were living together and adopting a child. It seemed a little fast, but it also seemed like the best thing; not just for Lorraine, but for us. I mean, on the island it had been about survival, but in the last month I'd fallen in love with Joe; the way he smiled, his endearing brown teddy bear eyes, the way he could make me smile even when I didn't want to. I somehow even found it hot when he got violent and angry.
"You want it?" Joe asked from where he was standing next to me. We were at the door to the master bedroom, both of us holding boxes of our things. Today was the day we were actually moving.
"Do you?" I offered, trying not to blush, on the entirety of the last month we'd never talk about the fact that we were moving, did that mean we were moving into one room, or seperate rooms?
"I, uh, I d-I don't... Know?" He made it sound like a question.
"Just share." Lilly suggested on her way past with a box of her things. "You know you want to." She sang in my ear so only I could hear. I flushed and looked down.
"Oh, Hell no." Jackson followed my best friend. "No way is my baby sister sharing a room with some guy." He turned to Joe after a second. "No offence, Dude." Joe just shrugged, not caring. Jackson and Joe actually got on really well.
"I'll be down the hall." Joe decided, stepping away with his box.
"Don't you want this one?" I offered, gesturing to the master bedroom.
"Uh, n-no, I'm good." He blushed in that endearing way he does.
"Better this way." Jackson commented, taking a box into the master bedroom. "If you use the comunal bathroom he could just walk, now he's gonna have a hard time explaining it if he does."
"Jackson." I swatted his arm, idly wondering if the red would ever fade from my face. Because, oddly enough, I didn't really mind if Joe walked in on me in the shower.
"Hey, I may be cool with this, and him, but you're still my kid sister and I don't want to think about anyone putting the moves on you." Jackson defended himself, dropping the box on the floor. "Plus, when Dad finally comes around to this whole thing happening do really want him to slaughter your boyfriend for deflowering his little girl?"
"Trust me, Joe can take care of himself." Hanson had only just been moved out of intensive care last week.
"As long as that applies to everything then he should be fine." I followed my brother back out to my car to get more boxes. Hmm... The picture in my head of Joe 'taking care of himself' wasn't at all unappealing to me; especially since I knew exactly what Joe looked like in all his hardened glory.
"Just help me move in, we have an inspection tomorrow." I rolled my eyes at him.
"Gonna be hard to sneak into bed with him all the way down the hall." Lilly passed us on our way back into the house. "No more teddy bear that hugs back."
"Good." Jackson humphed.
"Dude, I am not a teddy bear." Joe grumbled, following after Lilly, seemingly able to talk more now.
"Whatever you say, Mister Cuddles."
"Only Miley can call me that." He whined like a 4-year-old. Great, I'm gonna have a literal four-year-old and Joe the four-year-old.
"Sure thing, Mister Cuddles."
It took until after midnight to get everything moved in, assembled and unpacked, ready for the inspection tomorrow. Including a room for Lorraine all set up and ready for her. God, I don't know what we'd do if we were denied custody. Lilly was already in bed, and Jackson had crashed in one of the spare rooms with his girlfriend Sienna. Now I was laying in bed wide awake. Just like I had for the last month. Joe really did a umber on me on that island, I could barely sleep without him next to me.
I groaned in frustration, it was almost two AM, I got out of bed. The plan was to sneak into Joe's room - Lilly was right, he was big teddy bear - but I heard noise downstairs. We had a gate around the property - part of the reason we chose this one - but the paparazzi had been absolutely crazy over the last month, surrounding us every time we went out in public, especially when it got out that we were moving in together and trying to get custody of Lorraine. I swear I'd seen mine and Joe's faces on the news more in the last month than I'd actually seen him. As I stepped through the doorway to my new room my fingers wrapped around the baseball bat Jackson had insisted I keep for self protection. The noise was the TV playing some late-night infomercial.
"Joe?" I lowered the bat when I recognised the back of his head slumped on the couch. He instantly stood up and turned around at my voice.
"What are you doing?" We both asked at the same time.
"I couldn't sleep." I muttered, blushing, the unspoken 'without you' was clear as day between us.
"Me either." Joe half smiled wryly. "What's with the bat?" He raised an eyebrow.
"I thought you were a paparazzi." I leant it against the wall and walked over to him. "And you can't exactly speak, you were watching infomercials for hair growth." I pointed out.
"I thought it would put me to sleep." He pouted in that adorably sexy way he does. Then again just about everything he did was either adorable, sexy, or both to me. "So much for that whole sleeping thing we're supposed to do, huh?"
"Yeah." I yawned, sitting on the couch with my feet tucked under me with Joe's English Bulldog Winston sleeping next to me. "I kinda wish Jackson and Sienna went home." Because we both knew that was most of the reason one of us hadn't gone to the others room earlier.
"Let's go upstairs." Joe supressed a yawn too. "I'll stay until you fall asleep." He offered, but I shook my head.
"I'm already comfy." I sighed contentedly, already feeling better now that I was with Joe. I felt my eyes start to droop and he chuckled, sitting next to me.
"Okay, Baby." His soft voice coed in my ear, gently guiding me so we were both laying on the couch, me half on top of him. "I love you, Beautiful." I smiled sleepilly. We hadn't actually said the words to each other out in the open, but when we were together like this, or when either of us was yelling at someone standing in our way it was almost like a catchphrase.
"I love you, Joey." I mimicked back to him, feeling his hand tracing soothing patterns on my back before I slipped into sleep.
N
1 Year After Rescue
"Lorraine." I called to the now 5-year-old little blonde girl.
"Hmm?" She was sitting on my bed with one of her dolls.
"You ready for kindy?" I asked, finishing brushing my hair.
"Uh huh." She smiled, nodding her little blonde head. Joe had left for the studio already, working on his second solo album; the first one had been a huge success since it was released just after the crash.
"Good girl." I praised, , grabbing my shoes, my keys and my handbag. "Joe's gonna pick you up this afternoon, okay, Princess?" I brushed her hair away from her eyes and she nodded. "Don't forget to give him a big hug and tell him happy birthday."
"'Kay." I absently straightened her little skirt. I hated that she was only five and she had to wear a uniform to kindergarden - they had to wear a uniform from the toddler room upwards - but it was a private, secure kindergarden that was safe from the paparazzi. But, the bright side was that it had the same play and learn program as any other kindergarden except for the uniforms, and Rai was safe. I slid my sunglasses on and handed Lorraine hers, after a few months the press had eased off a bit, but with Joe's birthday and both Joe and I working on new albums it had doubled recently. Lorraine skipped out to my car with her backpack and jumped in the back, humming to herself. The first couple of months had been hard because she'd been so sad and we hadn't known what to do, but now she was a happy, thriving little girl.
"Have fun, Rai." I kissed her forehead after I walked her to her room and signed her in.
After I dropped Lorraine off I had to go to the studio for a couple of hours, then I had to go get the cake Sienna and Jackson made for Joe, then we were doing cake and presents ad a small party t our place with the kids, Jackson and Sienna were going to watch Lorraine for us tonight, and then Lilly, Joe and I were going to a club for a more grown up party that some of Joe's celebrity friends had organised.
"You're late" Dad admonished when I walked into the studio. Our relationship wasn't exactly the same, and after the initial gratitude and then resentment Dad felt for Joe, it had simmered down to a general dislike for Joe and the situation. Though at least he didn't take it out on Lorraine, or express it in front of her.
"I'm on time." I checked my watch. Right on time. I don't think my relationship with my Dad would ever be the same as before the crash, but it had taken three months before he stopped fighting against and just accept it as inevitable, after that we'd worked to get to an amiccable place.
"Well, if you're leaving early today then you should have been early which means by being on time you are late." Dad reasoned and I rolled my eyes.
"It's Joe's birthday, Dad, can't you just... Not hate him for one day?" I requested, slightly pleadingly. Last year on his birthday Dad didn't evem show up, Hell, he barely even let me out of the house to see Joe.
Y
"Happy birthday." I hummed as Joe and I danced under the chandelier at the club. Cake and presents had been shared, then Lilly had helped me squeeze into a tiny - and sexy - little black dress, and now we were at a club for the 'public' celebration of Joe's birthday.
"Definately." Joe agredd, smiling down at me warmly. He'd barely taken his eyes - and hands - off me all night, even when the other celebrities pulled him away for a photo op. "I love you, Milo." He brushed a stray lock of hair from my face and tucked it behind my ear.
"I love you, Joey." I threaded my fingers through his mess of black curls and pulled him down to me for a kiss. It hadn't taken us long; only a week after the courts granted us full custody of Lorraine Joe had set up a romantic dinner for us and we'd both admitted it for the first time when we were both conscience and actually talking to each other.
"Come here." Joe murmured, checking his watch before he looked up at the cieling. I frowned in confussion, but let him lead me three steps to the left. "You are the best thing that has ever happened to me." He licked his lips. "You make me not angry and violent, you always know the perfect thing to calm me down or make me smile." In the back of mind I was deftly aware of the thumping music screeching to a stop, and a bright spotlight finding us. "You make me feel all fuzzy inside, and every morning when I wake up next to you I know that I want to do that for the rest of my life." I had a vague idea in the back of my mind, but it was computing properly. "The best gift in the whole world anyone could ever give me would be if you said yes." He dropped to one knee and pulled out a small, velvet jewellery box. "Miley, I love you." He opened the box and looked up at me hopefully. I could hardly breathe. I bit my lip, trying not to cry because what I knew was happening was finally computing to the rest of my brain. "Will you marry me?" I opened my mouth and tried to form the words, but no sound came out. Joe knelt in front of me, his hopefull brown eyes becoming doubtfull and scared. People started to whisper, hissing little sounds all around me. "I-" Joe started to pale, his shoulders slumping, his hand lowering.
"Yes!" I finally got the word out and his head shot up. "Yes! Yes, of course, Joe." Joe jumped up and kissed me happilly.
Okay, so the plan for this chapter was clearly 1 week, 1 month, 1 year.
I know this is updating out of order, but I'm struggling with Camp Rock Year Three, chapter 7 right now.
1) Favourite part?
2) It would have been out earlier but my stupid computer kept shutting down and erasing the last part.
3) Thank-you sincerely to everyone who has read and reviewed this story.
4) Hopefully I'll have either Camp Rock Year Three, chapter 7 up by the end of the week.