"She may not have my eyes, she may not have my smile, but she has my heart." -Unknown
After getting off the phone with Will, Jennifer was confused. 'Why would Bee go to New Orleans?' Jennifer thought. She knew how excited Beatrice was to be adopted, 'why would she leave just three days before the adoption?'. In the beginning, Jennifer had always expected to wake up one morning and just find the children gone, but not now. Not with the adoption day so close.
As she got ready to leave, Jennifer called Penelope to let her know that she would probably need to keep Ronan for a little bit longer. Penelope didn't answer, so Jennifer left a voicemail. Jennifer headed to the airport to buy a ticket to New Orleans. A couple hours later, she boarded the plane and sat down.
Meanwhile with Ronan at Penelope's house. He woke up really early because he thought he was going home today. He didn't know about Jennifer's call yet. He excitedly bursts into Penelope's room.
"Auntie Penelope!" Ronan exclaimed
Penelope groaned as she sat up in bed with her sleeping eye mask still on.
"I'm awake. I'm up." Penelope said, "What's up, munchkin?"
"When's Mama getting here?"
Penelope took off her eye mask, checked her phone and listened to the voicemail from Jennifer. She sighed before looking up at Ronan, "It looks like you're going to have to stay a little longer."
"Why?" Ronan wondered as he walked closer to the bed and sat at the foot of the bed.
"Bee took Rylie ran away to New Orleans. Your Mama went to get Bee and bring her home." Penelope explained
Ronan furrowed his eyes confused, "But I don't understand. Why would she leave me?"
"I don't know." Penelope replied as she pulled Ronan in for a hug
Ronan leaned contently against Penelope as he thought about what could possibly have caused Beatrice to run away. The last time that she ran away, she took her with him, but that was a completely different circumstance. That was almost two years ago. They ran away because of a bad foster home, but they were in a good one now. They were going to be adopted in two days. So why would Beatrice leave?
The more that Ronan thought about it he remembered the phone call that Beatrice had gotten while they were at the park. The one that she said was a telemarketer, but Ronan hardly believed that. He saw the way that the call affected her. Who called her? Someone who rattled her. Someone from the past. Someone who hurt her.
"My mom got a phone call yesterday while we were at the park." Ronan uttered
Penelope gave a nod, "Okay. And?"
"At first she said it was a telemarketer, but she lied." Ronan added
"Did she tell you who it really was?"
Ronan nodded, "Yeah. It was Lee. Lee Gilbert."
"And who's that?" Penelope wondered
"A bad man." Ronan stated simply. He didn't like to think about Lee or what the man had done to Beatrice. Ronan didn't know the full extent of what Lee had done to Beatrice, but he new the basics.
Penelope grabbed her computer and got straight to work looking up Lee Gilbert. It only took a minute for Penelope to find out his whole life history. From birth up until now. She sighed, "Oh. Poor Bee."
Ronan just looked down, "I miss her. And Rylie."
"I know you do, but your Mama will bring them home."
Back with Jennifer after she arrived at the LaMontagne residence. She knocked on the door, which was answered by Claire.
"I'm here for my daughter and granddaughter." Jennifer spoke
"Oh you must be Beatrice's mom. Will said you were coming." Claire replied, "Please, come in. Beatrice is in the living room with Evander."
Jennifer nodded as she stepped into the house.
When Beatrice saw Jennifer, she stood up shocked.
"JJ! What are you doing here?"
"I'm here for you." Jennifer informed
Beatrice shook her head, "No. I won't go back. You can't make me."
"What happened, Bee?" Jennifer inquired, "Talk to me, sweetheart."
Beatrice's eyes filled with tears as she thought about Lee. About the phone call yesterday and what Lee had done to her in the past.
"I can't." Beatrice said as she shook her head again, "It's too painful."
Jennifer walked over to Jennifer, "It's okay, sweetheart. You can tell me. Just go as slow as you need."
Beatrice looked at Evander, who nodded. Then she looked back at Jennifer. Beatrice had told Evander about Lee, but for some reason she found it so much harder to tell Jennifer. Maybe it's because Evander is her friend whereas Jennifer is her mom. Beatrice is afraid that Jennifer may change her mind about the adoption, but she's more afraid of what her soon-to-be adoptive mother will to do Lee once she knows what Lee did to Beatrice.
Beatrice sniffled, "I got a call yesterday from an old foster father. Lee Gilbert. He was in jail for um...for molesting me, but he got out." She paused, "He...he knows about me. About Rylie. He was watching me. That's why I ran. I'm terrified of him."
"Oh baby," Jennifer let out as she hugged Beatrice, "You're not alone anymore. You should have just talked to me."
"I didn't want you to kill him." Beatrice answered as she wrapped her arms around Jennifer, hugging her back.
Jennifer just held Beatrice in her arms as she rubbed the teen's back. After a moment of silence, Beatrice finally spoke again.
"Why did you come here?" Beatrice asked
"Because when I found out you were gone, I...I felt like a piece of my heart had been ripped out of my chest." Jennifer responded, "And if you ever scare me like that, you'll be grounded until you you have grandkids."
Beatrice gave a small laugh, "Okay. I'm sorry...Mom. I love you."
"Oh I love you too, Bee. I love you more than words can say."
"I want to go home, Mom. I need see Roe and apologise to him."
Jennifer nodded, "Okay. Let's go home."
"And while you will never see a reflection of your own eyes there, you see something that's just as powerful: A reflection of your complete and unstoppable love for this person who grew in the midst of your tears and laughter, and who, if torn from you, would be like losing yourself." -Kathy Lynn Harris
Hope you enjoy. Comments are greatly appreciated.
What would you like to see happen next?
P.s. Jennifer is now seven months pregnant. I don't know if you are technically allowed to fly when you're that pregnant, but let's just pretend.