EternalxInsanity: lol I don't think it means you're a bitch. You just see things Mindy's way and it's a bit of a bitchy perspective ;) Cooper don't give a shit; he's ready to take Mark out if need be (he's always looking for an excuse, although after everything that's happened over the years he really just has reasons to do it). As for Julie, she should definitely lighten up a bit but her attitude towards Mindy really has nothing to do with her wanting James. Her and James have a completely platonic relationship. What it kind of just boils down to is that Mindy is a bitch master and Julie is no bitch (well , not in the whipped variety). They are just not destined to be best buddies at this point. Souless666: Mark and Belle together? Hmmm…interesting thought but I really wouldn't think it would work out. Even if Mark started making amends Annabelle wouldn't really see him in a romantic light. She just might become less skittish around him and be able to act more comfortably (which would really actually be a feat because she really does not feel comfortable being around him without someone else there to sort of hide behind). Esha Napoleon: Thank you! NeroAnne: lol Mindy and Cooper have a unique ability to have a bitchin convo over just about anything. They're just awesome like that.
…
Annabelle stayed by Julie's side, hating how tense the situation was. Mindy and Cooper were ready to leave the hospital but before they did so, they had to make some sort of plan about who was going where and what they could possibly do about the AWOL Caroline. Mindy wanted to go back home even though that probably wasn't the best idea in the world and Annabelle already knew that Cooper was planning on going with her. That terrified Annabelle out of her mind because Caroline would go back to that house eventually, but she didn't have the heart to tell him no. He was so devoted to Mindy that making him leave her side would just cause major problems. However, there was on issue that she knew she had to speak up on, even though she was scared because she didn't feel like it was her place. "The kids…they can't stay here." Her face turned red as her nervous stutter returned and her voice faltered. "Caroline…if she gets past us she'll hurt them."
Mark nodded in agreement. "She's already done enough damage in that department. He looked at Julie. "You want to take them back to your place?"
"I would but how much longer is that going to be safe?" she replied. "James knows where I live and Caroline could find out easily enough." She stopped and thought about it for a moment, nodding when she came up with an idea. "I know people a few hours from here. James doesn't even know they exist so I doubt Caroline would even think to look there. I can take the kids there-" She stopped when she saw the look on Cooper's face. "If you've got a better idea, why don't you just say it?"
Cooper started to speak when Mark cut him off. "No. Don't do this right now. We don't have the time."
Cooper gave Mark a hateful look. "Nobody told you to get involved right now."
Mark scowled and shook his head. "The kids have to get out of here Cooper. We don't have time to argue just because you and Little Sister are feuding with Rosenberg. You've trusted Julie with the kids before and you're going to have to do it now."
"Mom knows people that can take the kids," Cooper countered. "We can-"
"No offense to her, but I trust her idiot friends about as far as I can throw a bus. We ain't waiting for them and I'm not dealing with their questions."
That only made Cooper angrier. "You're not in charge here. You don't-"
"Cooper please, just let Julie take them," Annabelle pleaded. "Please-" She stopped when she saw the look Mindy was giving her. Instinctively she cowered back and hung her head, kicking herself for crossing a boundary that she had no right crossing.
Cooper stared at Annabelle for a moment before taking Mindy aside so they could whisper back and forth. Mindy didn't look entirely pleased but in the end she nodded and kissed Elizabeth's forehead before handing her off to Julie. "You guard them with your life, you hear me?" Cooper said sharply.
"I was already planning on it," Julie replied just as sharply. She went back into the room with the sleeping kids and woke them up so they could go, which brought along all kinds of protests from them when they found out Mindy wasn't going with them.
"Mommy we want you to come too!" Thorn said as she clutched Oxa and Scarlett tightly.
"Yeah!" Scarlett agreed. "Come with and let Uncle Mark make Daddy better!"
"I can't babies," Mindy said with a shake of her head. "I have to stay here."
Amber looked positively horrified by that news. "Mommy you can't! He'll kill you, he will! He's a liar he's going to hurt you!"
"Ambie-"
"No! You can't choose him over us! You-"
"Amber come here," Mark interrupted. He picked up the lanky six year old so he could talk to her somewhere a little more private.
"Momma I want to stay here with you," Connor said as he rubbed his eyes. He wrapped his arms around Annabelle and latched on to her. "Julie can go pick up Snoopy and take him with the babies so I can stay here."
Annabelle immediately shook her head. "No baby. You have to go with Julie."
"But why?" he whined. He started stomping his feet childishly and everyone could see the gigantic fit that was brewing. "She don't need me. You need me Momma. I can protect you."
Annabelle was touched by Connor's words but she knew he couldn't stay behind. It was bad enough that Cooper was going to stay; she didn't want or need both of her babies being exposed even more to her mother's wrath. "Honey I appreciate that you want to protect me, but I need you to go with Julie and help protect the babies and Snoopy. They need you more than I do."
Connor shook his head vehemently. "No Momma, you need me more! Grandma might take you away and I don't want you to go away! I want you to stay!"
"Connor…" Annabelle hugged Connor tightly, hating that he was already crying his eyes out.
Cooper sighed and tried to pry Connor off of Annabelle as gently as he could. "Come on, don't do this," he said with a shake of his head. "I'll protect her, alright? You just need to go-"
Connor turned around and shoed Cooper away roughly. "No you won't!" he declared angrily. "You're going to be too busy protecting our other mommy and you'll let our real momma die again!"
Cooper looked positively stricken by that accusation. "Excuse me? Who the fuck do you-"
Annabelle quickly put herself in between her boys and shook her head. "Cooper don't."
"Did you hear what he-"
"I know what he said." She gently cupped his face in her hands and shook her head. "Let me talk to him, okay?"
Cooper still looked majorly upset but he backed off and let Annabelle take care of it. "Connor honey, I know you don't want to go," she said as she turned back around. She was talking as gently as possible because she knew there was a good chance of him going off again. "I know you want to stay with me. But I need you to be a big boy and go with Julie, okay? She's gonna need some help so I need you to be a good boy and help her. Can you do that for me? Please?"
Connor whimpered and whined incoherently, but when he realized that Annabelle wasn't about to be swayed, he reluctantly gave in. "Okay Mommy," he mumbled. "I'll be a good boy."
"Thank you Connor." Annabelle pulled him into her arms and hugged her tightly. "Try to be nicer to the girls, okay? They think you're mean."
"Girls are icky," he whispered loudly. "And annoying."
Annabelle pouted. "You think I'm icky and annoying?"
"You're not a girl. You're my momma."
Annabelle smiled and kissed his cheek, not catching the way Mindy looked away and bit down on her lower lip and looked away in order to fight the tears that were springing up behind her eyes.
…
The entire way back to her house, Julie could feel Amber's unhappiness rolling off her in waves. Mark had talked to her as best as he could but there was really no getting through to her. She was utterly convinced that James was going to kill Mindy and she wouldn't be swayed with the fact that it was Caroline who was causing all this pain and damage. "When we go in and get Snoopy, we should get some snacks for our trip," she said, trying to sound as cheerful as possible.
"Can I have cookies?" Tryg asked.
"I want cookies too," Scarlett said. "You can't have all the cookies Tryggy!"
"We're going to share he cookies," Julie said firmly before a fight could break out. She pulled into her driveway and put the car in park. "Okay? We-Amber!" Amber had opened the door and was taking off running. "Amber no!" She started to run after the young girl but Connor was already out of the car and going full speed, quickly catching up to her and scooping her into his arms so she couldn't run anymore.
"PUT ME DOWN!" Amber screeched. "PUT ME DOWN! I HAVE TO GO BACK TO MOMMY!"
Connor winced as she punched and kicked at him, but he easily kept a hold on her and brought her back to the car. "I'm a good boy," he said as he got back in the front seat and hugged Amber tightly. "Right Julie? I'm a good boy who won't let her run away."
Julie nodded and patted his head. "Yeah, you're a good boy."
"Can you get Snoopy and some cookies for me?"
"Okay Connor. Whatever you want. Just make sure Amber doesn't run away, okay?"
"Okay Julie. Whatever you say."
…
When Mark, Annabelle, Mindy and Cooper arrived back at the house, Mark insisted that they all stay together and check the entire house just to make sure Caroline hadn't come back. When it was determined that she was not in there, Mark started trying to formulate some sort of plan of attack while Cooper found himself in the living room with Annabelle and Mindy-which was uncomfortable, to say the least. Both women were being very wary of each other and he was caught in the middle, torn because he didn't know what to do. "So um…anyone want to watch TV?" he finally asked.
"I want some hot chocolate," Mindy said quietly. "Do you want some Cooper?"
Cooper nodded. Yeah sure." He looked at Annabelle. "Mom do you-"
"I can't," Annabelle reminded him gently.
"Oh." Now he felt completely retarded. He watched Mindy leave and head into the kitchen before shaking his head and scooting closer to his mother. "Look, what Julie said to you earlier…it's bullshit, okay? You can't believe a word that bitch says."
"Cooper!" Annabelle scolded angrily.
"Well she is! She's a jealous bitch-"
"Cooper Benjamin, you stop right there!"
Cooper instantly shut up and looked down. "Sorry Momma."
Annabelle sighed and shook her head. "It's fine, I just…I hate that argument. Having your differences and seeing someone in way that other people don't like doesn't mean they're jealous." She looked down at her lap and slumped her shoulders. "I know you love Mindy very much. It's obvious. But you can't rip Julie's head off all the time like a rabid dog and you can't keep hanging on Mindy and making googly eyes at her when she's married to your father."
That last comment threw Cooper for a loop. "What?" he said in disbelief.
Annabelle looked Cooper in the eye and shook her head. "The way you look at her-"
"What about it?"
She hesitated before continuing. "You're with Jeff honey. She's with your father. You're going to get hurt."
"I have no idea what you're talking about Mom," Cooper lied. She tried to speak again but he cut her off. "Look, maybe you should try to talk to her and get to know her for yourself. She's great, she really is. You should-" He stopped when he saw the look on her face. "Momma please-"
Annabelle's fingernails went into her mouth and she began biting at them compulsively. "I don't know if that's a good idea," she said nervously. "I…I don't know what to say."
Cooper sighed. He should have known that that was the answer he was going to get out of her. She had horrible anxiety when it came to socializing with people she didn't know very well. She had had it her whole life and it hadn't gone away after death. "Okay," he said, deciding not to argue with her about it. He would try to talk to Mindy and see if she would do anything to help put Annabelle at ease. Usually if someone took the first step and persisted enough, they could get through his mother's barriers and coax her into feeling at least a little bit more comfortable. "I love you Mom."
She smiled as he kissed her forehead. "I love you too sweetie." She gently touched his face. "You've gotten so big…"
"Yeah…I'm Big Foot," he said jokingly.
She laughed and leaned back in the chair. "Your father is bigger than you."
"Bah humbug. I'll still step on him." Cooper snuggled up to her and rested his head on her stomach. "Why does Caroline hate him so much?" He just had to ask. He had never gotten a straight answer out of James and it was bothering him now more than ever. "Why is she doing this?"
Annabelle shook her head. "Mom is just…she's full of hate. She's always been that way. Nobody knows why…she just is what she is."
"It's going to be okay though, right? I mean we'll get Dad back and make everything okay again, won't we?"
"I hope so," Annabelle said with a sigh. "But I've got a bad feeling things are going to get much worse before we manage to pull that off."
Cooper didn't say it out loud, but he had a bad feeling that she was right.
