Chapter 36- Nobody Puts A Baby In A Corner

Leila sat on the front porch of her first home in Chicago. Her eyes blurred with the flashes of red coming from the ambulance and paramedics. Her friends where surrounding her, comforting each other. But she shrugged off each set of arms that wrapped around her, only wanting the pair that would never hold her again. She was beyond tears now. She just sat there watching the scene play out before her eyes. She saw Casie holding Andrew like a baby. Being his twin brother, this is hitting him pretty hard. Pete's mother, father and sister where nearby, talking to the police. Joe and Andy were embraced in a fierce hug, while Heather and Danielle were crying behind them. She was barely aware of the neighbors that were standing outside, watching. Soon, Patrick's parent's showed up, giving their support. Cara and Patrick were cutting their honeymoon short to rush back. She hardly noticed when Casie had left Andrew to his mother, and came to join her side.

She just sat down next to Leila, in silence. Casie had known Leila too long to know to force her talk about things. When she was ready, she would talk.

"Leila, honey," said Patrick's mother. "Perhaps you should go change? Get some fresh clothes on?"

Leila jumped at the sound of her voice. She stared at her for a long moment, trying to process what she had said. Her brain was having a hard time working. Leila held her hands out in front of her. They were covered in blood. She let her eyes follow up her arms and then to her shirt. It was absolutely saturated with drying blood, and it was becoming stiff. Pete's blood. She felt it coming. Her eyes were stinging, and her bottom lip was quivering. She felt a churn deep in her stomach. That was all it took to break the wall she had put up. Tears leaked out of her eyes.

"I'm pregnant."

Casie gasped and Mrs. Stump took a step back, her hand on her throat. Casie placed a hand on Leila's shoulder.

"What?"

"I'm pregnant! And Pete's gone! He promised to be there to help me! Oh God! What am I going to do?" Leila screamed, burying her face in Casie's neck, throwing her arms around her neck.

Everyone had stopped what they were doing to stare at her. Even the police turned to stare sympathetically.

"When did you find out?" Casie whispered.

"Today…" Leila sniffed.

Casie just held onto Leila tightly, tears forming in her eyes. She couldn't understand why this was happening. Pete was a great guy, and he was slain by some vicious woman. She always disliked Ashlee, but she never imagined she was capable of murder. And to take away the father of an unborn child was another act of evil altogether.

"She meant it to be me. I was who she was after, not Pete. I should be laying there, not him! It's all my fault! He saw what she was doing! And he pushed me to the ground, out of the way…" Leila yelled out, muffled by Casie's shirt.

"No, Lei, it's not your fault. He did what he had to do to save you, as you would him." Casie soothed.

"You know what his last words were? 'Take care of our baby. Give it everything it wants. Spoil it rotten. Promise it'll know who its father is.' And then he told me he loved me, and asked me to sing with him. And that's what we did, right up till… And then I laid down with him, and sang… Oh God, Casie, what am I going to do?" she whimpered.

Casie couldn't control her tears anymore. They were falling freely down her cheeks. She looked around to meet the eyes of Andrew, blood-shot and puffy. It had been a long time since she had thought about them being twins. She knew them both so well, that their personalities made them seem so different. But now, she found it hard to look at him. He was a living reminder on what they just lost. She heard car doors slamming shut and looked up to see Patrick and Cara running up to the house.

Cara's make-up ran down her face, creating tear tracks. Patrick was beyond bearable to watch. You could see the heartache on his face, as clearly was it was Leila's. Patrick ran up to Mr. and Mrs. Wentz, falling in their arms. Cara went to Andrew, pulling him into a coddling hug. Casie disentangled herself from Leila, handing her over to Mrs. Stump. Casie ran to Cara.

"Oh God, Casie! What is going on?!" Cara demanded.

"It's Ashlee. She tried to kill Leila, but Pete pushed her out of the way, and…" Casie murmured. Cara's hand flew to her mouth. "And that's not all… It's Leila… She's pregnant. Just found out today."

"Oh my God…. How can this be happening?" Cara cried, tears flowing from her eyes again. Patrick flew to her side.

"She's…. pregnant?" he gasped. He felt his knees weaken. He looked over to see Leila, drenched in blood, in his mother's arms. He let his eyes wander to see the coroner's arriving. The driver got and walked around back, opening the hatch. He disappeared for a moment, and reappeared pulling a stretcher. Patrick groaned, and ran to Leila.

Leila jumped again, feeling another set of hands. She looked around to see Patrick sitting next to her. She flung herself in his arms, with a renewed flow of tears.

"Patrick, what are we going to do?" she croaked.

Patrick patted her hair, willing his tears away. He was about to open his mouth when the Coroner walked up.

"Would you like to see him before we take him?" he said in deep, gruff voice.

Leila sniffed and nodded. She looked to Patrick, and stood up, holding out his hand.

oo

A Tragedy in the Music Scene

The world is suffering a terrible loss today. Music mogul and entupunor, Peter Lewis Kingston Wentz III, bassist of mega hit Fall Out Boy, was gunned down by his ex, Ashlee Simpson. Wentz and long time girlfriend, Leila Depp, got into a confrontation with Simpson at the Wentz's home in Chicago. Simpson was aiming for Depp, but Wentz pushed her out of the way at the last second.

The world grieves today. We will all remember Pete for his lyrics and crazy stage antics. The music business has really lost a star.

Peter Lewis Kingston Wentz III
June 5th, 1979 – January 1st 2009

oo

Everyone arrived at the funeral home early on the day of the funeral. The weather reflected everyone's moods. It was dark and rainy, with thunder clapping every so often. Friends from all over arrived to pay their respects. Leila smiled and nodded at the right moments. She was living in a fog, going along in a daze. Her parents arrived the day before, and she was feigning a calm exterior. She didn't know what else to do. She hated attention, and didn't like people seeing her cry. But while she was smiling on the outside, she was dying on the inside.

She stood near the casket, with the rest of the Wentz family and Joe, Patrick and Andy. She hadn't even looked at Pete, lying there. She didn't know what they dressed him in. She just knew the casket was solid black. A color Pete loved.

She was getting tired of standing up, greeting everyone. So she excused herself, and went to the sitting room. She took a chair in the far corner of the lobby, watching everyone as the filed in and signed the visitation book. She saw Casie and Cara sitting quietly together on a couch across the room. They were crying silently on each other's shoulders. She let her eyes roam over the room, landing on Heather and Danielle. Heather had her arms wrapped around Dani's shoulders, and she had her arms around her swollen belly. Both with tears streaming down their cheeks.

She saw bands of all kinds flocking in to see Pete. Leila couldn't stand it anymore. She tucked her legs underneath her in the chair, and put her hand in her hands. She let her mind wander to the first time she saw him. It was the concert in Birmingham. It seemed like such a long time ago now. How him and Patrick ran to catch them, for Patrick's sake. Their shirt making, and when she heard the break up of him and Ashlee. And when she showed up at his hotel, and how Leila had punched her in the face. She then remembered the fatal car accident they were in. That was when she realized how she felt about him. He was on his deathbed then. But he woke up, came back to her. This time was different. He was gone, forever. Leila shook her head; she couldn't think about that now. Their first fight came swimming up in her mind. And how they made up. Flying to Chicago to stay with his parent's. She didn't realize the tears had begun to leak from her eyes.

The first and only Alabama football game. He actually enjoyed himself. Then their second big fight. She had left him. It was the biggest mistake of her life. She returned though. And Ashlee had come back then. Leila thought she had seen the last of her then. And of course, their first Halloween. It was a great night. To their first time. It was the best feeling she had ever felt. And the lengths of that magical night he had gone to make her happy. Then the great time they had at Christmas. Cara's wedding cropped up. Wedding. She would never marry the man she loved. Her happy ending was stolen away from her.

She didn't realize she was choking out sobs, until a hand landed on her knee. She looked up to see blue eyes behind a set of silver rimmed glasses.

"Josh!" she choked out, and flung her arms around his neck. She stood up, helping her to her feet. He wrapped his arms around her, and she cried on his neck. His hands rubbed up and down her back, soothing her.

"As soon as I heard, I took the first flight. I'm so sorry," he whispered. Her arms tightened around his neck.

"How am I going to do this without him?" she gasped.

"I know you, Leila, you're strong. You'll get through this."

"I'm so scared, Josh. I… I'm… I'm pregnant!" she murmured.

She heard Josh intake a deep breathe. Leila pulled back to look Josh in the face. Josh saw the fear in her green, wet eyes.

"I don't know what to do…."

"Oh, Leila," Josh pulled her close again. "You'll be just fine. You have a great family, and awesome friends. I'll do whatever I can to help you."

"Thank you Josh."

"Leila. Little Leila, from high school, is going to be a mommy. This might not be the right time, but I am very happy for you." Leila gave him a watery smile.

Casie then came up to talk to Josh and Leila sat back down. She watched on as Casie and josh caught up a bit, then a man in a navy suit came out, announcing the funeral was about to start. Leila left Josh with her parents, and joined the group inside by the casket. She stood beside his parents, and kept her eyes on the floor.

A preacher started talking, but she wasn't really listening. She heard the sniffs, and silent sobs, but didn't register them. She had looked in the casket. Pete looked like he was asleep. She broke out of the line, walking up to the casket. She felt eyes on her, but she didn't care. She was drawn to her love lying there. She reached the edge of the casket, and she placed her hands on the rim, staring down at Pete.

They had dressed him in his favorite Clandestine hoodie, and she saw the top of a pair jeans before it disappeared in the casket. The shirt he was wearing, she noticed with a shock, was the one he had made with her. His hands were crossed on his stomach. She moved a hand to place it on his. Her thumb grazed where the tattoo he'd gotten in honor of her. She felt the hot tears rolling down her face, but she didn't care anymore. How could she go on without him. He had done some much for her. He'd even given her the gift of life. A hand moved to her stomach. She noticed his hair was in his usual disaray. Her hand left her stomach, and came to rest on his head. Her life with him flashed before her eyes again. It broke her heart in half to think that was never going to happen. She was burying half her heart today.

She leaned down a placed a kiss on his cheek. Then she moved her lips to his ear.

"I will always love you Pete. No matter what. I will take excellent care of our baby. Like you said, spoiled rotten. I don't know how I'm going to go on without you. But I have someone to live for. Well, I have plenty but, I will always have a part of you with me. Our child. And I will always wear you like a locket. Good-bye my baby."

She straightened up and turned to face her friends and family. They all had tears rolling down their faces. The preacher said a prayer, and the friends filed out to take their seats in the church. The only ones left were Mr. and Mrs. Wentz, Andrew and hilary. Leila turned to walk behind Casie when a hand stopped.

"You're family Leila. You made Pete the happiest we ever seen. You walk with us." Mrs. Wentz said, dabbing her eyes. Leila nodded weakly and took her hand. Andrew came up behind her, taking her other hand. She tried to smile, but she couldn't find the energy. Andrew seemed to sense that and squeezed her hand.

The filed out and saw all their friends sitting in the pews. Leila met Josh's eye, and he gave her an encouraging smile. She just nodded, unable to smile. They took their seats in the front row. Soon after a song started playing. "In the Arms of the Angels" by Sarah McLachlan. Leila laid her head down on Andrew's shoulder.

"Spend all your time waiting, For that second chance, For a break that will make it okay, There's always some reason, To feel not good enough, And it's hard at the end of the day…"

Leila sat there, fresh tears forming in her eyes. She heard a racket coming from the hallway she just left. She looked up to see the casket rolling in. She could the cries and sobs coming from all around her. She had her eyes glued to the box that was holding her life.

Patrick sat on the opposite side of the family, where the pallbearers sat. His band mate, his best friend, his brother was rolling in. Dead. He still couldn't believe it.

"In the arms of the angel, Far away from here, From this dark, cold hotel room, And the endlessness that you feel, You are pulled from the wreckage, Of your silent reverie, You're in the arms of the angel, May you find some comfort here"

The song drifted to a close. The preacher stood up and said a few words. Joe couldn't understand a word that was said. His head was in the clouds. His "bro" was gone. Stolen. A solitary tear rolled down his face.

Casie sat behind Leila and the family. Cara next to her side, arms wrapped around her. She was in total heartache right now. Everyone in the room was. Pete was everyone's friend. He was funny and loved everything.

Songs were being played, instead of people speaking. The music said much more than anyone could. During each song, people grieved. Grieved hard. Cries of anguish and sorrow filled the room. The final song come through the speakers.

"Drink down that Gin and Kerosene, And come spit on bridges with me, Just to keep us warm. Light a match to leave me be."

Leila gasped at the song. Her hand flew to her throat, grasping at the locket that Pete had given her. She started shaking.

"Keep quiet, Nothing comes as easy as you. Can I lay in your bed all day? I'll be your best kept secret, And your biggest mistake. The hand behind this pen relives a failure every day."

Casie released Cara and placed her hands on Leila's shoulders. She could feel the sobs shaking through her. Casie began crying hard, while Cara rubbed soothing circles on her back.

Andy, Patrick and Joe all stood up and headed towards the casket, each of them placing a hand on the black, shiny top.

"I'm gonna miss you, man. We'll take good care of your family, and Leila." Joe said through a sob.

"You're child's going to be a crazy as you.. we'll make sure of it. I don't know what else to say to you, but you'll always be in my heart." Andy said softly.

"There's no Fall Out Boy without you, man. I'm sure the rest of us agree. We can't continue this without you, and we will not replace you. I love you, dude. You're were always there for us." Patrick murmured.

"So wear me like a locket around your throat. I'll weigh you down. I'll watch you choke. You look so good in blue."

A/N

Again, I cried…