Probably the shortest chapter ever, but the next one will be super long, because more things happen in it.

And Be the One Who Catches All Your Tears

Cheerio had to spend most of her time convincing Stevie that they didn't have to talk to his family, or anybody else that he didn't approve of. This was their baby and she should be getting out soon. Whatever she had to do to keep this baby safe, she was committed to it, and to him. "I'm going to be here for you, Cornflake. We're gonna be a family, okay?"

Eventually, she got a smile out of him. "I never in my life thought that I would ever hear that said to me and be this happy about it. I'm just so scared. Good things don't happen to me, or for me. No matter how hard I've worked or tried, everything that I touch turns to shit and I feel like maybe you're another thing on that list. Like when a bank robber in a cartoon makes it out of the bank and is dancing around with a big bag of money, thinking that all of his problems are gone, then the little doggie detective finds him and doesn't rest until he's behind bars. The robber ends up with less than what he had before the robbery. I know I don't deserve you, and I always expect to lose you, but this…" He cradled her little bump, "This is literally the most precious thing I've ever worked on. I. Don't. Know. What. I'd. Do…" He couldn't even bring himself to think about losing her or this kid. After all of his letters to cowbaby, and allowing himself to imagine them as a family - any opposition felt like torture.

"Nothing can keep me away from you, but you," she told him, and kissed him on the forehead.

.

The first day of school was stressful, but exciting. Cheerio had a chaperone, but they were plain clothes and nearby, but not hovering, as to not make her feel like a complete freak. She was signed up for honors classes and a couple of fun electives, including dance, fashion design, and creative writing. Her other classes were typical, though she felt overwhelmed by all of the syllabi. That subsided once she brought her homework back to the institution and Stevie looked over everything and declared, "Piece of cake. You've got this. What you don't get, I can easily help with," he shrugged his shoulders, "Or even do. I had to teach myself most of this." He put her paperwork in front of her, wrapped himself around her, with his hands on her belly and promised, "We can finish it like a team, like we do everything else."

Nothing in the world made her happier than when Stevie made her promises and claimed her. Whether he was calling her his best friend, his girl, his love, or whether he was calling her his partner, themselves a team… Calling her his family was the most rewarding thing in the world. And, she could be confident in it. It wasn't like the things that he said in the beginning, where he himself was confused and didn't seem to know what the hell he thought of her. Now, he did know who she was to him, and she knew it too. She was everything. They were it. She had won. He smiled and looked at her questioningly, "What are you thinking about?"

"Our family," she said. The genuine look of happiness in his eyes melted her heart.

He nodded his head, "That's all that I ever think about now," he confessed.

.

She was doing okay, up until the point that Nurse Sandy and Dr. Pepper came to retrieve her about some paperwork. She worried, a little bit, but pushed the thought away, then whenever they sat her down, and her parents were escorted in, she yelped. "Rhadja? Champ!" She didn't know whether she was excited or something else, but the look on Rhadja's face made her quickly leap to "something else" and Champ had never looked this displeased with her, in her whole life.

Dr. Pepper said, "Cheri, we brought you here, because we see something from the physical that you had to take in order to go through the high school transitional program that worries us…"

"Listen, Lady," Rhadja said to Dr. Pepper, "However you want to word this, we placed our daughter in your care, and now, we're getting contacted to inform us that she's tested positive for pregnancy. That is unacceptable and outrageous. So, give us the papers for us to sign her out, and we will be on our way. You can speak to our lawyers about any other details."

"What?" Cheerio uttered, "You're taking me home?" She wondered, half delighted, half terrified.

"We're taking you out of here!" Champ said.

"And putting me somewhere else? I'm almost out! I just started a transitional program to determine that I can be out, within a few weeks!"

"We aren't going to put you in another mental health facility. We knew that you were well when you finally asserted yourself in your letter. We thought that was the first sign of actual progress. You were too dependent. You needed to find yourself and learn to stand on your own. Then, you do this. We're bringing you to a doctor to fix this situation," Rhadja said.

Dr. Pepper said, "If everyone will please calm down…"

"I'll be sure to tell my lawyers that you said that in reference to your severe incompetence!"

"It wasn't Dr. Pepper's fault!" Cheerio tried. "I was irresponsible and I snuck around and got myself pregnant."

"You shouldn't have been ABLE to sneak around. And who is the predator? Probably that disgusting orderly with the overactive sweat glands."

"No! It's my boyfriend and we're in love and gonna be okay…"

"Cheri, please, don't say anything else…" Dr. Pepper begged. She knew that Cheerio was trying to help, but since she didn't know this was happening, she didn't know what the girl would say - just that it couldn't make anything any better, for anyone involved.

"Boyfriend?" Champ repeated. "So, it's another resident?" Now, he yelled, right at Pepper, almost directly in her face, "So, residents are allowed to just do whatever the hell they feel like doing, here?"

"If you two had visited, you'd know exactly how things work around here!" She snapped, angrily. "Stevie's family knows how this place is, but he's stuck here, ordered by the legal system. You chose to make me be here FAR LONGER than you knew that I needed to be. I'm a regular girl. I have needs. Of course, I was gonna try to have those met…"

But, Rhadja honed in on only one word of that whole cluster. "Stevie? Steven Evans, Stevie? The white supremacist who murdered someone and got over on the justice system to be cozied up in this place. That person had access and opportunity to rape my daughter?"

"That's not what…"

"Silence!" Rhadja snapped and Cheri immediately followed the order, unconsciously. SHe wished that the woman didn't still have that power over her, but it was like her tone triggered something uncontrollable and Cheerio was powerless. "Let's go," she said and got up, taking Cheri's hand.

Champ said, "Everything from here on out is through our lawyers. Expect to be unemployed for the rest of your life, within a week's time, if that."

.

Stevie looked at who he knew from photos to be Cheerio's parents, dragging her away from the place. Well, it was more like Champ was dragging her and Rhadja was walking, pretending not to notice the scene happening right behind her as he followed, with his teenage daughter practically tucked beneath his arm. She was screaming, like she was being burned alive!

"Cheerio?" Stevie rushed in that direction while Dr. Pepper spoke with the orderlies about what was happening.

"Cornflake!" She reached out towards him with grabby hands and he caught her fingertips, but just as quickly, Champ pulled her away from his touch.

Stevie felt like his world was being torn apart. What the hell had happened? Nothing for all of this time, then suddenly, they were taking her away, literally? They were actually ripping the two of them apart? They know… He tried to rush behind them, not even really knowing what he planned on doing, mostly voting on begging them not to do it, but Duncan, Mario and Bukowski subdued him and Cheerio watched them being torn in different directions, and hers far worse, to her, as she was about to lose both of them. They were never going to have their family.

"Evans. Calm down," Bukowski said, softly. Stevie was howling, crying, screaming, kicking, fighting. "Take him down," Bukowski said. Duncan administered the shot.

.

With Cheri's mental state being what it was - or rather, her recent mental history, the doctor needed to touch base with her psychiatrist, to ensure that an unwanted abortion wouldn't cause psychological damage. "Her psychiatrist allowed this to happen to her, while she was in their care!" Rhadja complained.

"The girl is threatening to sue, to call the police, to call a judge… and even though you and I both know that she wouldn't succeed, we have to consider how someone might take the fact that she spent a large amount of time in a mental institution and is claiming that forcing this procedure would cause her mental distress."

"The fact that she has the mental history that she has should tell everyone that she isn't capable of having a child!"

"We can't make the call yet. Either we need to speak to her current psychiatrist, or you have to find one to speak to her and assure me that we can move forward with this."

"She should have died, when she tried," Rhadja said.

"Rhadja!" Champ snapped.

"What kind of life do you think she'll have? She was almost free to live again. Now, she's holding on for dear life to this fetus that a real life white supremacist planted inside of her, probably coercively, I don't care what anyone says. That institution is going to be a pile of rubble when I'm done with it. They've already ruined our daughter beyond repair. Repair that they were supposed to give her."

"Look… Maybe we can appeal to the boy and he can convince her to do it. We'll reach out to him and let him speak to her about it. He's gotta know that this isn't what he wants. Some half and half out there in the world, bearing his name and bloodline?"

"Your mother is fine with it," Rhadja said.

"Is this really the time?"
"When else? You kept that horrid white woman in our daughter's life and now she's going to have a baby for an equally horrid white man!"

"You've been horrible to her. All of this can easily be traced back to her relationship with HER mother, not her relationship with mine!"

"You would blame me, just like mama taught you. We black girls are never about anything good…"

"Ummm… I hate to get in the middle, but you should both really take into consideration not exposing your daughter to this. What she needs is support and love. If you can show her that, perhaps you'll be able to convince her that an abortion is what's best for her."

Champ smirked at Rhadja, "Would you like to try that?" They stared at each other. "Didn't think so…" he walked out.

"He's acting like this is all my fault. Maybe I was hard on her and MAYBE I was ashamed of her, but you think he ever stood up to me about it? The only reason he's got a fire lit under his ass is because his baby girl had sex. Little does he know, she'd done that before. I knew. I knew everything. She used to tell me everything, but whenever she tried to kill herself, I felt betrayed. I felt like she was attacking my work. I overreacted, then I was too embarrassed to admit that I was wrong. I let her stay in that place to avoid having to deal with it. It was supposed to be a safe place for her. What happens to her, now?"

"Okay. Well, hopefully whatever is best for her is what happens."

.

Cheerio was pacing around her room, in a fuzzy pair of toe socks, so physically comfortable, but mentally distressed, surrounded by her trophies and medals, and photos and fanfare. Whenever the door opened, she turned frantically and stared at her father, entering the room with a tray, with her meal on it. She wasn't eating it though. She knew that they probably weren't above giving her something to make her lose her baby. She slapped the tray out of his hand and spilled the food and drink everywhere. Then, she folded her arms and stared at him.

He asked the maid to pick it up and send for something that she could open herself. Cheerio immediately felt guilty and began to help the maid pick up her mess, despite the woman repeating that she didn't have to do that. Champ started the conversation, "Sorry about how we pulled you out of that place."

"And not about how you left me there for two years without any sign of caring what was going on?"

"We knew that you weren't better. We were contacted each time that you made an attempt, or had a relapse, or showed signs of decline."

"And you figured, let's not support her through all of this."

"It's just that it was really painful for us to be so far away from you, but we did what we thought was best. To find out that they allowed that boy to violate you…"

"I didn't get violated, Champ."

"None of that, today. It's your dad. You can tell me anything."

"Okay. I hate Rhadja right now, and you need to back me up on this situation!"

"Why, Honey? Can you get Daddy to understand what makes you feel like this situation is something that we should support?"

"Because, Corn… Stevie convinced me that if this happens, I am gonna be a terrific mother. I'm loving. I care about people. I want what's best for others. I'm nurturing, supportive, protective, and I have a chance to be everything to this baby that I failed being to you and Rhadja. I have a chance to give this baby everything that you and her failed giving me. It is a huge goal for my future."

The maid came back with some bottles of Ensure, promising to send someone shopping for something else immediately. When she left, Cheri finished her remarks, "I'm almost three months along. I've had that much time to decide that I wanted this and that I needed to see this happen, and I've had that much time to believe in myself - to believe that I can do this and do it well. It gave me a purpose, again. I'm not going to be an olympian. I won't star on a dance series or open my own dance studio. I won't be famous or successful like you and her, but I will be the best mother that my imaginative brain can ever think up! I need you to believe that. If you take this away from me, I won't fail my next attempt. I'll slit my wrists, drink poison and jump into a lake, in that order."

He brought her to the institution to pick up her things, but she wasn't allowed to see Stevie. Just as well, because he was sedated and probably having a terrible time of it. She asked Nurse Sandy to get her on the visitors list for him, but Champ told her that they were suing the place and it couldn't happen. Sandy looked so worried at that thought, but put her on the list, just in case.

.

Rhadja had other plans. She picked Cheri up from school and had the driver take them back to the institution. "I won't tell Champ, if you don't. You should at least have a chance to say goodbye to him," she said. Cheri got out of the car and went into the building, but the staring made her uncomfortable and she turned around and rushed back into the car. "What's wrong, Cheri?"

"I couldn't go in by myself. It felt like they were all judging me," she said.

"Judging you? Oh, Darling… If those crazy people in there judging you bothers you, how on Earth do you expect to tackle all of the judgement that would come from being seen with that boy's baby?"

It didn't go the way that Rhadja expected, because Cheri nodded her head and said, "You're right! Thank you, Rhadja. You always know how to push me." She got out of the car, went right up to the desk and said, "Hi. I'm here to see Stevie Evans." They stared at her, oddly. She sighed and shook her head, "Sandy, you know that I'm not the one that is making it hard for y'all. I just want to tell him that I still love him."

"Mr. Evans is no longer with us," she told her.

Cheri held herself, "He died?"

"No… He was taken to a different facility, after the concerns arose. We aren't allowed to say anything further and have been instructed to call the police if we see you here."

Cheri nodded her head and left. When she got back into the car, she was crying. Rhadja offered her a shoulder, "Did it not go well?" She asked.

"Did you do this? Did you somehow orchestrate this?"

"Darling, if I would have orchestrated anything, it would be the castration and beheading of that trash. Why? What happened?"

"He's been moved, and they won't tell me where and they threatened to call the cops on me just for walking in." She began wailing.

"I didn't teach you to cry like this, and don't for one moment blame hormones. You're unstable because you should be on medication, and you haven't been taking them. Listen, Mother is in full support of you having a family someday. But, right now, you need your meds, you need to finish school, and you need to find out your new path in life."

Cheri sat up and gave the driver an address. "No, I need to figure out where they brought Stevie."

Rhadja remained in the car when Cheri practically jumped out at Pieces of Mercy. She got on her phone as her daughter went inside, "Champion, I just brought our daughter to a place called Pieces of Mercy, an antique and gift shop. She thinks she'll be able to find him through someone here."

"Don't keep doing this."

"You're plan wasn't working. That boy doesn't want to see anyone but her and he's never going to tell her to get rid of that baby. I need to get to him. You and I both know that I can be very persuasive. He's a fucking psychopathic loser. How hard do you think it would be for me to get inside of his head?"

"That's not what I'm worried about. I'm worried about us losing Cheri forever. She was supposed to be coming home. All that she wants is to have a baby."

"This was a courtesy call. If you think that you can get to her through tea parties and Daddy's Little Girl sentiments, try your hand. But, we are getting too near the point of no return and I need to do whatever it takes to make something happen now."

.

Cheri went into the building, nervously and hoped to see Stacie or Miss… Blind Bombshell… She really couldn't remember if Stevie ever called her by name (usually just 'my sister-in-law', which she found odd, because they technically weren't married yet and…) There she is! Cheri went over to her while she was rubbing on some book pages and said softly, "Excuse me, you don't know me, but…"

"I know you," Mercedes said. "Cheerio, right?" She asked, smiling in her general direction. "I heard that you were released! How are you?"

Cheerio sighed, "Not well. Stevie was moved. I'm not allowed to know where. I was just wondering if he's okay, and hoping that someone would get a message to him."

"Have a seat," Mercedes said, as she shut her book. "All that we know right now is that the courts ordered that Stevie be relocated to a different facility. It's actually a little bit further away, but apparently there is some kind of legal action taking place with the institution and they can't keep Stevie there anymore. He definitely wants to see you. Stacie says that all he does whenever she's tried to visit is to say that he wants to see you. But, she didn't know how to contact you."

"Is she here?" Cheri asked, so hopeful.

"I can call her and get her here," she said, reaching for her phone.

By the time Stacie arrived, Rhadja had gotten out of the car and was wandering around the shop, waiting for Cheri to finish her meeting. Stacie rushed over to the table and said, "Cheerio!" They hugged each other and Stacie looked down at her belly and nodded, "This makes so much sense, now."

Cheri touched her bump and said, "Everybody found out and ripped up our family. My parents dragged me out, literally kicking and screaming, Stevie barely had a chance to ask what was happening before the orderlies restrained him and put him under. That was the last that I saw him. The last that he saw of me was me being carried out of the place by my dad. My parents have gotten several staff members fired, and they have a lot of lawsuits against them."

"For not noticing that you were pregnant?" Stacie asked. Mercedes' head jolted at that new information, but she didn't say anything.

"I don't know any of the legal terminology. Something about failing to provide protection, neglect, maybe, sexual abuse, some other stuff. For letting me and Stevie out of their sight long enough and regularly enough for it to happen, and I recently found out that some of those times may have been recorded or at the very least observed on surveillance cameras, so they're moving forward with child pornography, sexual misconduct with a child, maybe… I just… I just wanna see Cornflake and tell him it's all okay."

Stacie sighed and nodded, "He could really use that. Let's exchange contact info, so that we can make plans, okay?"

After Cheri and her mother left the shop Stacie turned to Mercedes and commented, "Stevie calling out to see his baby."

"Literal baby."

"Not Cheerio."

"He also said Cheerio."

"This is going to be messy."

"I think we need to contact the lawyer, too."