Season 4 Episode 19
"New Battles To Fight"
Eli had no other choice but to do what his Dad told him. Judy, noticing something was going on, said to Lily she was going to get a coffee, and followed Rick and Eli outside. When she left the room, they were already arguing - but not yelling - in the hall. "How could you do this? How could you help Grace on something like that?" Rick was asking, but he wasn't giving Eli a chance to answer. "And you knew Jake wanted the girl's custody. And you should know this would only help him, unless you're an idiot. Which I'm beginning to think you are." Rick said, as he paced around Eli. Judy was keeping a distance from them. Eli, seeing his Dad had apparently finished, began, "Dad, I know there's nothing I can do to make up for this. But you have to understand me. You don't know how Grace was happy. She was happy like I had never seen before." Rick is not touched. "Save your words, Eli. It's done. And it's not me you should apologize to, it's Lily." He says. "I already did." Eli says. He can barely face his Dad. "Good. Just don't expect us - or at least me - to trust you again." Rick says, and gets back to Lily's room.
Soliloquy Eli has his face on his hand. He raises his head and says, "Great. That's all that I needed."
Eli stands there in the hall for a while, reflecting on what has just happened. Judy approaches him, and says friendly, "I think you should go home." Eli nods, "I've also sensed that." Judy tries to comfort him, "You've made a mistake helping Grace, that's true, but this is not your fault. Your Dad is just nervous, you'll see. As soon as the situation with Jake is resolved, everything will be back to normal." Eli smiles and says, "Yeah. I guess you're right." He leaves. He goes home and there's a message from Karen in the answering machine. "Eli, honey, this is your Mom. Call me, I need to talk to you. Also, Jessie is worried that she hasn't heard from you or your Dad today. So, call us as soon as you can, please." Eli, however, erases the message and decides that he'll call her later. He certainly doesn't need another one of his mother's lecture now.
Meanwhile, at the hospital, it's the moment of the truth for Lily and Grace. After Rick, Judy and Zoe left - Lily asked for some time alone with Grace - Grace began to try to explain herself, "Mom, please forgive me. I know I've hurt you, and everyone else, and I know I screwed things up. But I was following my heart." Lily looked at her daughter adoringly, remembering of all the times she had told her to go for her dreams and never let fear rule her. "Oh, honey, I know that everything that happened in the last couple of months must have been so tough on you, and I... I don't have doubts that he must have been supporting you all this time, but, this can't happen. You know that, Grace." Grace doesn't want to argue with her mom, because she really needs her now, but tries to stand for her feelings. "Mom, I know he's not the guy I'm supposed to date, but who can tell what's right or wrong? And why can't our love be true, just because he's older than me?" Both Lily and Grace were trying to fight back tears. "We can't fight this battle now, dear," Lily said, running her hand through Grace's hair. "Fact is, now your Dad knows about everything, he's trying to get your custody, and this is going to court! You're a minor, and Mr. Dimitri could get arrested. You know all that." Grace holds her mom, and cries with her head lying on Lily's chest. "I don't want that to happen. I prefer to die." She says, between her tears.
Soliloquy Grace is also crying. "I can't stay away from him, I can't! Oh, my God, I have no other choice."
A little later, Rick has arrived home. Eli tells him about Karen's message, and asks him to call her to see what she wants. "I'm leaving to pick up Jessie now. She'll be staying here for the next couple of days. And you, call your Mom and begin to take care of your own problems." Rick coldly answers. Eli is hurt by Rick's reaction, but he doesn't want to get into another argument. Rick leaves and Eli decides to call Karen.
Soliloquy Eli has a cordless phone on his hands, "She's my own mother! She gave birth to me, why does talking to her feels like a torture?"
"Hi, Mom. It's me." Eli says as Karen picks up the phone. "Oh, hi, honey. Your Dad was just here. He seemed very upset, is something wrong?" Eli is not sure what he should say, so he tries to escape. "There were some problems around here today." Karen realizes Eli won't talk more about that, and quickly changes the subject to the one she had on her mind. "Well, I called you because I wanted to know how is your job at that Internet company going."
Soliloquy Eli defines pretty well the situation. He has the same cordless phone on his ear, and suddenly, after hearing something on the other side of the line, he drops it slowly while saying, "Oh, no."
Eli looks terrified as he remembers he didn't tell Karen he got fired for arriving late three days in a row. He wasn't that upset, because the job - assistant to the assistant of the webmaster - was pretty dull. But now it was time to face his Mom. If it wasn't enough that Rick was barely looking at him. "You know, Mom, I didn't get a chance to tell you, but I'm not working there anymore." Karen looks angrily disappointed on the other side of the line. "Eli, are going to go through everything again?" She asks. "No, Mom, I'll get another job, don't worry. Lily is coming home next week, so things will calm down around here." He said, and thinking about Grace's situation, smiled sadly. Karen also smiled sadly, as she thought about Jessie's situation. "I also want you to consider college for next year." She said. Eli sighed. This was going to be worse than he thought. "We'll see, Mom." He says, and sounds bored, which Karen notices. "I hope you're listening very carefully, Eli. Or you get a job and starts taking it seriously, or you're going to college." Eli is starting to get really annoyed. "Alright, Mom!" He says, in a louder voice. "I won't allow you to keep this meaningless life you're having," Karen adds. She starts to talk again, but Eli interrupts her, "There's someone at the door. I have to go. Bye." He hangs up quickly, giving her no chance of saying anything else.
The week we have left for the custody hearing goes by very quickly, full of events for the Mannings and the Sammlers. After more than two months, Lily finally leaves the hospital, and although she's not totally back on her feet yet, she's almost there. Grace and Jessie didn't have a chance of meeting their beloveds Dimitri and Jessie again, so it was a hard week for them. Especially for Grace, who had to deal with the guilt of "helping" her Dad on the custody situation. At least, Lily let her call Dimitri once and tell him that she was fine, and that they would have a chance to meet - at Lily's presence - to talk better about what happened. Jessie, however, was struggling to get news about Katie - she hadn't heard from the girl since that awful call on the night that everything came up. Katie didn't show up at school either, which had made Jessie's situation even more painful. She learned that it wasn't Grace who told Karen about her romance, as she thought, but Henry. And she and Grace were surprised to see that they were both going through a somehow similar situation - a forbidden love. They felt close for the first time ever.
And the day on the custody hearing finally arrives. Everyone is going to be there - including Rick, Eli, Jessie and Judy. When they are beginning to leave, Lily stops everyone and says, "I know that what I'm going to say is stupid. But I just want to tell you two," She says looking at Grace and Zoe, "That I love you more than I love myself. And this will never change, no matter what happens today." Lily wants to go on, but Grace interrupts her, "Please, Mom, don't even think about that. It's not going to happen." She holds Lily's hand and Lily kisses her forehead. Lily then gets Zoe by the hand too, and they all head to the court.
TO BE CONTINUED...
"New Battles To Fight"
Eli had no other choice but to do what his Dad told him. Judy, noticing something was going on, said to Lily she was going to get a coffee, and followed Rick and Eli outside. When she left the room, they were already arguing - but not yelling - in the hall. "How could you do this? How could you help Grace on something like that?" Rick was asking, but he wasn't giving Eli a chance to answer. "And you knew Jake wanted the girl's custody. And you should know this would only help him, unless you're an idiot. Which I'm beginning to think you are." Rick said, as he paced around Eli. Judy was keeping a distance from them. Eli, seeing his Dad had apparently finished, began, "Dad, I know there's nothing I can do to make up for this. But you have to understand me. You don't know how Grace was happy. She was happy like I had never seen before." Rick is not touched. "Save your words, Eli. It's done. And it's not me you should apologize to, it's Lily." He says. "I already did." Eli says. He can barely face his Dad. "Good. Just don't expect us - or at least me - to trust you again." Rick says, and gets back to Lily's room.
Soliloquy Eli has his face on his hand. He raises his head and says, "Great. That's all that I needed."
Eli stands there in the hall for a while, reflecting on what has just happened. Judy approaches him, and says friendly, "I think you should go home." Eli nods, "I've also sensed that." Judy tries to comfort him, "You've made a mistake helping Grace, that's true, but this is not your fault. Your Dad is just nervous, you'll see. As soon as the situation with Jake is resolved, everything will be back to normal." Eli smiles and says, "Yeah. I guess you're right." He leaves. He goes home and there's a message from Karen in the answering machine. "Eli, honey, this is your Mom. Call me, I need to talk to you. Also, Jessie is worried that she hasn't heard from you or your Dad today. So, call us as soon as you can, please." Eli, however, erases the message and decides that he'll call her later. He certainly doesn't need another one of his mother's lecture now.
Meanwhile, at the hospital, it's the moment of the truth for Lily and Grace. After Rick, Judy and Zoe left - Lily asked for some time alone with Grace - Grace began to try to explain herself, "Mom, please forgive me. I know I've hurt you, and everyone else, and I know I screwed things up. But I was following my heart." Lily looked at her daughter adoringly, remembering of all the times she had told her to go for her dreams and never let fear rule her. "Oh, honey, I know that everything that happened in the last couple of months must have been so tough on you, and I... I don't have doubts that he must have been supporting you all this time, but, this can't happen. You know that, Grace." Grace doesn't want to argue with her mom, because she really needs her now, but tries to stand for her feelings. "Mom, I know he's not the guy I'm supposed to date, but who can tell what's right or wrong? And why can't our love be true, just because he's older than me?" Both Lily and Grace were trying to fight back tears. "We can't fight this battle now, dear," Lily said, running her hand through Grace's hair. "Fact is, now your Dad knows about everything, he's trying to get your custody, and this is going to court! You're a minor, and Mr. Dimitri could get arrested. You know all that." Grace holds her mom, and cries with her head lying on Lily's chest. "I don't want that to happen. I prefer to die." She says, between her tears.
Soliloquy Grace is also crying. "I can't stay away from him, I can't! Oh, my God, I have no other choice."
A little later, Rick has arrived home. Eli tells him about Karen's message, and asks him to call her to see what she wants. "I'm leaving to pick up Jessie now. She'll be staying here for the next couple of days. And you, call your Mom and begin to take care of your own problems." Rick coldly answers. Eli is hurt by Rick's reaction, but he doesn't want to get into another argument. Rick leaves and Eli decides to call Karen.
Soliloquy Eli has a cordless phone on his hands, "She's my own mother! She gave birth to me, why does talking to her feels like a torture?"
"Hi, Mom. It's me." Eli says as Karen picks up the phone. "Oh, hi, honey. Your Dad was just here. He seemed very upset, is something wrong?" Eli is not sure what he should say, so he tries to escape. "There were some problems around here today." Karen realizes Eli won't talk more about that, and quickly changes the subject to the one she had on her mind. "Well, I called you because I wanted to know how is your job at that Internet company going."
Soliloquy Eli defines pretty well the situation. He has the same cordless phone on his ear, and suddenly, after hearing something on the other side of the line, he drops it slowly while saying, "Oh, no."
Eli looks terrified as he remembers he didn't tell Karen he got fired for arriving late three days in a row. He wasn't that upset, because the job - assistant to the assistant of the webmaster - was pretty dull. But now it was time to face his Mom. If it wasn't enough that Rick was barely looking at him. "You know, Mom, I didn't get a chance to tell you, but I'm not working there anymore." Karen looks angrily disappointed on the other side of the line. "Eli, are going to go through everything again?" She asks. "No, Mom, I'll get another job, don't worry. Lily is coming home next week, so things will calm down around here." He said, and thinking about Grace's situation, smiled sadly. Karen also smiled sadly, as she thought about Jessie's situation. "I also want you to consider college for next year." She said. Eli sighed. This was going to be worse than he thought. "We'll see, Mom." He says, and sounds bored, which Karen notices. "I hope you're listening very carefully, Eli. Or you get a job and starts taking it seriously, or you're going to college." Eli is starting to get really annoyed. "Alright, Mom!" He says, in a louder voice. "I won't allow you to keep this meaningless life you're having," Karen adds. She starts to talk again, but Eli interrupts her, "There's someone at the door. I have to go. Bye." He hangs up quickly, giving her no chance of saying anything else.
The week we have left for the custody hearing goes by very quickly, full of events for the Mannings and the Sammlers. After more than two months, Lily finally leaves the hospital, and although she's not totally back on her feet yet, she's almost there. Grace and Jessie didn't have a chance of meeting their beloveds Dimitri and Jessie again, so it was a hard week for them. Especially for Grace, who had to deal with the guilt of "helping" her Dad on the custody situation. At least, Lily let her call Dimitri once and tell him that she was fine, and that they would have a chance to meet - at Lily's presence - to talk better about what happened. Jessie, however, was struggling to get news about Katie - she hadn't heard from the girl since that awful call on the night that everything came up. Katie didn't show up at school either, which had made Jessie's situation even more painful. She learned that it wasn't Grace who told Karen about her romance, as she thought, but Henry. And she and Grace were surprised to see that they were both going through a somehow similar situation - a forbidden love. They felt close for the first time ever.
And the day on the custody hearing finally arrives. Everyone is going to be there - including Rick, Eli, Jessie and Judy. When they are beginning to leave, Lily stops everyone and says, "I know that what I'm going to say is stupid. But I just want to tell you two," She says looking at Grace and Zoe, "That I love you more than I love myself. And this will never change, no matter what happens today." Lily wants to go on, but Grace interrupts her, "Please, Mom, don't even think about that. It's not going to happen." She holds Lily's hand and Lily kisses her forehead. Lily then gets Zoe by the hand too, and they all head to the court.
TO BE CONTINUED...