Hello! Keep R & R'ing! You keep the reviews coming, I keep the chapters
coming! Sound like a good deal? I'm running out of prewritten chapters and
time free to write new ones, so my updates might slow slightly...however,
reviews are an incentive, LOL. Thanks!
Frank opened his eyes, yawned, and stretched. He looked at the clock next to his bed - it was 6:00. He turned to Chris, who was still snoring in bed next to him. He elbowed him gently in the ribs three times until Chris sat up and rubbed his eyes.
"I'm up, I'm up," he mumbled, scrubbing his hands over his face. He let his eyes adjust, and then looked around until his eyes fell upon Christina's empty bed. "Hey, where's Christina?" he asked groggily.
Just then, Christina emerged from the bathroom, looking radiant. She had showered and her brown curls were tied back into a messy knot, her makeup was flawless, and she was clad in a white crochet halter and camel suede skirt.
"How long have you been up?" Frank asked, standing up and listening to his joints crack. Chris followed suit. "Oh, not long," Christina lied. Her stomach had woken her up at 4:10, but she'd showered, snuck some vitamins, and felt much better now.
"Okay, then. Chris and I will get ourselves ready, and then we'll start looking for Julie," Frank said as he went into the bathroom. Christina sat down on the bed and her gaze fixated into space. "You all right, Christina?" Chris asked, sitting down on the corner of the bed and gently touching her shoulder.
Christina turned to look at him, her big blue eyes looking so much like Julie's that it was eerie. Equally disheartening was the amount of concern that lie within her eyes, like she had a big secret that she was dying to tell someone, but she simply couldn't, and for a moment, they both thought that she might let it slip. Instead, she said,
"Do you think we'll find her?" Chris smiled sympathetically, and tousled Christina's hair. It brought back a rush of memories from her babyhood. "I don't know. I hope so. Gosh, your mom's story is such a long, complicated, beautiful one." Now it was Chris who seemed distant. The warm touch of Christina's hand brought him back. "Will you tell me, Chris? Please. I don't know anything of her, just that she was my biological mother. That's not nearly enough. We've got time."
"Okay, I'll tell you," Chris said, and then as Frank showered, he poured his heart out to his would've-been daughter, telling her all about how much he loved Julie, about her affair with Frank, about how she kidnapped Christina, and how she gave her up. It was as difficult for him to tell as it was for Christina to hear.
After Frank and Chris exchanged places, Christina told Frank about what Chris had said. Frank then gave her his version of the story, and both sides gave Christina the same bottom line - that Julie was an incredible person, a devoted mother, and the shape of the hole that the three of them had in their hearts. *
Ricky tenderly wrapped her arm around his daughter, and pulled her into a hug. Comforted by his touch, Sascha dried her eyes.
"I can't believe this. I mean, it's so strange. I always felt.....connected to you somehow. I mean, you were nice to Ana and me, but there was just something different about you and me. And now I know," she said incredulously. "I have so much I want to ask you, so much I want to ask you about."
"Well," Ricky said, eyeing the clock on the wall. "It's late, and I bet your mom is worried about you. So why don't I give you a lift home, and then we can go someplace tomorrow and talk more, okay? This is enough for you to handle for one day."
Sascha nodded, and walked out of the Recovery Room with Father #2.
*
Alison closed her door behind her, and was startled by Jamal, who had dozed off on the couch. She smiled, and then walked over and kissed him on the cheek. His eyes fluttered open.
"Oh, you're home, 'bout time, Ali," he said, sitting up and tucking a lock of her hair behind her ear. Then he looked around.
"Where's Rave?" he asked. Alison's smile faded.
"She's at Lucy's. She's going to stay there for a couple of days," she said. Jamal looked confused.
"Jamal," Alison said, "we've got to talk."
*
Chris, Frank, and Christina were once again in the car. Frank, the mastermind, had proposed that they go to some local place and ask about Julie.
"Good idea, Frank," Chris said, and began looking for the right place. Christina, who was curled up in the backseat, straightened up and popped her head up front again.
"Yeah, but what if she's changed her name? Or gotten married or something? I mean, she told you guys she was dying. She must not have wanted to see you anymore. I don't think it's going to be as easy as strolling into the supermarket and asking for Julie Devlin," she pointed out.
Chris and Frank exchanged impressed, but concerned glances. "She's right, Scanlon," Chris said. "So now what?" Frank set his jaw, thinking.
"I don't know. I guess the best we can do is to ask for Julie Devlin, and see how far that gets us. We'll save making a Plan B until we're sure we'll need one."
"Okay. Well, let's set Plan A in action," Chris replied as he turned into the drive of a welcoming place called The Backlit Corner.
"You think this place is even open? It's barely ten," Frank said, observing the scant car in the parking lot. Chris shifted the car to Park, and turned off the engine. "Well, somebody's here," he pointed out, gesturing to the car. "Maybe it's the owner or something. This way we can ask about Julie without getting a lot of suspicion."
Frank nodded, and gripped the door handle. Then he turned to look at his daughter in the backseat. "Ready for this?" he asked.
Christina wasn't sure she was ready. But she nodded anyway, and got out of the car. As she crossed the parking lot, she mulled the irony of her situation. She was about to find her mother as she was about to become one. She subconsciously placed her palm over her stomach, and wondered if the fluttering feeling was her baby, her nerves, or both.
*
"Good morning," Karen said as her daughter entered the kitchen. Sascha chose not to acknowledge her mother. Instead, she past her and settled herself on a kitchen chair, her legs tucked up underneath her. She spread the photos of herself and Ricky out on the table in front of her, and rested her chin in her hands.
Karen approached the table, coffee mug in tow, and pulled up a chair across from Sascha. "Judging by the hour Ricky brought you home last night, I'm assuming you talked a lot," she said, tracing the rim of the mug with her finger.
Sascha didn't lift her eyes from the picture. "Yeah, well, there's a lot for us to talk about, wouldn't you say?" Karen grimaced.
"Sascha," she began. "Considering my mother wouldn't tell me anything, not even who my own father is," Sascha cut her off, biting her words curtly.
"Sascha," Karen tried again. She realized dismally she didn't have anything to say for herself. Instead, she looked at the photos on the table. She picked one up, looked at it, and smiled. "This was taken the day you said your first word," she said.
"Oh, so now you want to talk?" Sascha seethed, not missing a beat. Karen calmly replaced the picture, smile fading. She squinted her eyes, trying to remain that way. "Sascha," she said for the third time, "I understand that you're upset, and that's fine. But I am your mother, and you're not going to treat me this way."
Sascha jumped up so fast she knocked her chair over and sent the pictures flying. "How do I even know you're my mother? You've been lying to me my whole life about who my dad is! Maybe everything else is a lie, too!"
Karen stared down into her coffee, and a tear of guilt dropped in and made tiny splash. Shamefully, she looked up at Sascha with tear-filled eyes.
"If there is one true thing, Sascha, it's that I love you. And you dad, Frank, loves you too. Don't forget that. Don't act like blood is the only thing that matters here, because it's so much more than that."
With that, Karen stood up and walked back into her bedroom, leaving Sascha alone. Now she was the one feeling guilty. She'd gone too far, and she knew it. Sighing heavily, she righted the chair, and began to pick up the pictures. As she stood up with them in her eyes, her eyes fell upon the picture on the fridge. The one from Labor Day. She saw how happy everyone looked, and she wondered to herself, Will it ever be like that again?
*
"No way," Jamal said, his eyes wide with disbelief. "That God- forsaken leech found his way back here after Livvie blasted his butt to hell." Alison nodded somberly.
Jamal shook his head, confused again as another thought invaded his head. "So what has this got to do with Raven staying over at Lucy's place? You think she'll be safer with a slayer or something?"
"See, that's the other thing, hon," Alison said, striving to sound calm. "Now, I know you don't especially like my talking about Rafe, but it's absolutely necessary, I swear."
"All right, then, shoot." Alison took a deep breath, and prepared to tell her story for what seemed like the millionth time. "You know Rafe was a slayer? And Lucy was a slayer? Well, it's kind of in Raven's genes-" "Wait, wait, wait, wait. Hold up. Are you trying to tell me that Raven is..is a slayer?!" Jamal asked incredulously.
"Well, she's a hybrid, but that's the best we've got to work with this time around, with Rafe being gone and all." "What do you mean? What about Lucy? She's a slayer, why doesn't she do this?!" Jamal demanded. "Jamal, Lucy's not a spring chicken anymore. Her powers have faded, and she can't take Caleb on, not this time," Alison explained.
"Then why don't you get the man upstairs on the phone and have that angelic ex of yours flap his wings down here and choke Caleb with his halo or something?"
"Ha, ha, ha, Jamal. That's hilarious. But you know as well as I do that Rafe's used all of his Get Out of Heaven Free cards. He's not coming back, he's not here, and Raven is. She's going to do this." "But that bastard killed Rafe once upon a time, and he almost killed all the rest of us! No way, I'm not gonna let her do this, Ali, and I know you don't want to either." "He has Jack and Eli."
Jamal paused, taking in what his wife had just said. "He what? He as in Caleb? Caleb has Jack and Eli? What do you mean he 'has' them? Has them where?!"
"I don't know. Livvie came here and said that Jack and Eli were both gone, and Caleb has them. We know that. He wants Livvie back, and they got in the way of his 'master plan'. You know he takes out anything that gets in his way," Alison said.
"Oh yeah?" Jamal said. "So what's he gonna do to a sixteen-year old slayer?"
*
It's only a matter of time, now, my sweet Olivia. Your mortal family is gone, and since Slayer #1 is dead where he belongs and Slayer #2 is well on her way, we have no more interruptions. All I have to do now is claim you for my own again. Get ready, my Olivia. I'm coming for you soon.
*
Frank opened his eyes, yawned, and stretched. He looked at the clock next to his bed - it was 6:00. He turned to Chris, who was still snoring in bed next to him. He elbowed him gently in the ribs three times until Chris sat up and rubbed his eyes.
"I'm up, I'm up," he mumbled, scrubbing his hands over his face. He let his eyes adjust, and then looked around until his eyes fell upon Christina's empty bed. "Hey, where's Christina?" he asked groggily.
Just then, Christina emerged from the bathroom, looking radiant. She had showered and her brown curls were tied back into a messy knot, her makeup was flawless, and she was clad in a white crochet halter and camel suede skirt.
"How long have you been up?" Frank asked, standing up and listening to his joints crack. Chris followed suit. "Oh, not long," Christina lied. Her stomach had woken her up at 4:10, but she'd showered, snuck some vitamins, and felt much better now.
"Okay, then. Chris and I will get ourselves ready, and then we'll start looking for Julie," Frank said as he went into the bathroom. Christina sat down on the bed and her gaze fixated into space. "You all right, Christina?" Chris asked, sitting down on the corner of the bed and gently touching her shoulder.
Christina turned to look at him, her big blue eyes looking so much like Julie's that it was eerie. Equally disheartening was the amount of concern that lie within her eyes, like she had a big secret that she was dying to tell someone, but she simply couldn't, and for a moment, they both thought that she might let it slip. Instead, she said,
"Do you think we'll find her?" Chris smiled sympathetically, and tousled Christina's hair. It brought back a rush of memories from her babyhood. "I don't know. I hope so. Gosh, your mom's story is such a long, complicated, beautiful one." Now it was Chris who seemed distant. The warm touch of Christina's hand brought him back. "Will you tell me, Chris? Please. I don't know anything of her, just that she was my biological mother. That's not nearly enough. We've got time."
"Okay, I'll tell you," Chris said, and then as Frank showered, he poured his heart out to his would've-been daughter, telling her all about how much he loved Julie, about her affair with Frank, about how she kidnapped Christina, and how she gave her up. It was as difficult for him to tell as it was for Christina to hear.
After Frank and Chris exchanged places, Christina told Frank about what Chris had said. Frank then gave her his version of the story, and both sides gave Christina the same bottom line - that Julie was an incredible person, a devoted mother, and the shape of the hole that the three of them had in their hearts. *
Ricky tenderly wrapped her arm around his daughter, and pulled her into a hug. Comforted by his touch, Sascha dried her eyes.
"I can't believe this. I mean, it's so strange. I always felt.....connected to you somehow. I mean, you were nice to Ana and me, but there was just something different about you and me. And now I know," she said incredulously. "I have so much I want to ask you, so much I want to ask you about."
"Well," Ricky said, eyeing the clock on the wall. "It's late, and I bet your mom is worried about you. So why don't I give you a lift home, and then we can go someplace tomorrow and talk more, okay? This is enough for you to handle for one day."
Sascha nodded, and walked out of the Recovery Room with Father #2.
*
Alison closed her door behind her, and was startled by Jamal, who had dozed off on the couch. She smiled, and then walked over and kissed him on the cheek. His eyes fluttered open.
"Oh, you're home, 'bout time, Ali," he said, sitting up and tucking a lock of her hair behind her ear. Then he looked around.
"Where's Rave?" he asked. Alison's smile faded.
"She's at Lucy's. She's going to stay there for a couple of days," she said. Jamal looked confused.
"Jamal," Alison said, "we've got to talk."
*
Chris, Frank, and Christina were once again in the car. Frank, the mastermind, had proposed that they go to some local place and ask about Julie.
"Good idea, Frank," Chris said, and began looking for the right place. Christina, who was curled up in the backseat, straightened up and popped her head up front again.
"Yeah, but what if she's changed her name? Or gotten married or something? I mean, she told you guys she was dying. She must not have wanted to see you anymore. I don't think it's going to be as easy as strolling into the supermarket and asking for Julie Devlin," she pointed out.
Chris and Frank exchanged impressed, but concerned glances. "She's right, Scanlon," Chris said. "So now what?" Frank set his jaw, thinking.
"I don't know. I guess the best we can do is to ask for Julie Devlin, and see how far that gets us. We'll save making a Plan B until we're sure we'll need one."
"Okay. Well, let's set Plan A in action," Chris replied as he turned into the drive of a welcoming place called The Backlit Corner.
"You think this place is even open? It's barely ten," Frank said, observing the scant car in the parking lot. Chris shifted the car to Park, and turned off the engine. "Well, somebody's here," he pointed out, gesturing to the car. "Maybe it's the owner or something. This way we can ask about Julie without getting a lot of suspicion."
Frank nodded, and gripped the door handle. Then he turned to look at his daughter in the backseat. "Ready for this?" he asked.
Christina wasn't sure she was ready. But she nodded anyway, and got out of the car. As she crossed the parking lot, she mulled the irony of her situation. She was about to find her mother as she was about to become one. She subconsciously placed her palm over her stomach, and wondered if the fluttering feeling was her baby, her nerves, or both.
*
"Good morning," Karen said as her daughter entered the kitchen. Sascha chose not to acknowledge her mother. Instead, she past her and settled herself on a kitchen chair, her legs tucked up underneath her. She spread the photos of herself and Ricky out on the table in front of her, and rested her chin in her hands.
Karen approached the table, coffee mug in tow, and pulled up a chair across from Sascha. "Judging by the hour Ricky brought you home last night, I'm assuming you talked a lot," she said, tracing the rim of the mug with her finger.
Sascha didn't lift her eyes from the picture. "Yeah, well, there's a lot for us to talk about, wouldn't you say?" Karen grimaced.
"Sascha," she began. "Considering my mother wouldn't tell me anything, not even who my own father is," Sascha cut her off, biting her words curtly.
"Sascha," Karen tried again. She realized dismally she didn't have anything to say for herself. Instead, she looked at the photos on the table. She picked one up, looked at it, and smiled. "This was taken the day you said your first word," she said.
"Oh, so now you want to talk?" Sascha seethed, not missing a beat. Karen calmly replaced the picture, smile fading. She squinted her eyes, trying to remain that way. "Sascha," she said for the third time, "I understand that you're upset, and that's fine. But I am your mother, and you're not going to treat me this way."
Sascha jumped up so fast she knocked her chair over and sent the pictures flying. "How do I even know you're my mother? You've been lying to me my whole life about who my dad is! Maybe everything else is a lie, too!"
Karen stared down into her coffee, and a tear of guilt dropped in and made tiny splash. Shamefully, she looked up at Sascha with tear-filled eyes.
"If there is one true thing, Sascha, it's that I love you. And you dad, Frank, loves you too. Don't forget that. Don't act like blood is the only thing that matters here, because it's so much more than that."
With that, Karen stood up and walked back into her bedroom, leaving Sascha alone. Now she was the one feeling guilty. She'd gone too far, and she knew it. Sighing heavily, she righted the chair, and began to pick up the pictures. As she stood up with them in her eyes, her eyes fell upon the picture on the fridge. The one from Labor Day. She saw how happy everyone looked, and she wondered to herself, Will it ever be like that again?
*
"No way," Jamal said, his eyes wide with disbelief. "That God- forsaken leech found his way back here after Livvie blasted his butt to hell." Alison nodded somberly.
Jamal shook his head, confused again as another thought invaded his head. "So what has this got to do with Raven staying over at Lucy's place? You think she'll be safer with a slayer or something?"
"See, that's the other thing, hon," Alison said, striving to sound calm. "Now, I know you don't especially like my talking about Rafe, but it's absolutely necessary, I swear."
"All right, then, shoot." Alison took a deep breath, and prepared to tell her story for what seemed like the millionth time. "You know Rafe was a slayer? And Lucy was a slayer? Well, it's kind of in Raven's genes-" "Wait, wait, wait, wait. Hold up. Are you trying to tell me that Raven is..is a slayer?!" Jamal asked incredulously.
"Well, she's a hybrid, but that's the best we've got to work with this time around, with Rafe being gone and all." "What do you mean? What about Lucy? She's a slayer, why doesn't she do this?!" Jamal demanded. "Jamal, Lucy's not a spring chicken anymore. Her powers have faded, and she can't take Caleb on, not this time," Alison explained.
"Then why don't you get the man upstairs on the phone and have that angelic ex of yours flap his wings down here and choke Caleb with his halo or something?"
"Ha, ha, ha, Jamal. That's hilarious. But you know as well as I do that Rafe's used all of his Get Out of Heaven Free cards. He's not coming back, he's not here, and Raven is. She's going to do this." "But that bastard killed Rafe once upon a time, and he almost killed all the rest of us! No way, I'm not gonna let her do this, Ali, and I know you don't want to either." "He has Jack and Eli."
Jamal paused, taking in what his wife had just said. "He what? He as in Caleb? Caleb has Jack and Eli? What do you mean he 'has' them? Has them where?!"
"I don't know. Livvie came here and said that Jack and Eli were both gone, and Caleb has them. We know that. He wants Livvie back, and they got in the way of his 'master plan'. You know he takes out anything that gets in his way," Alison said.
"Oh yeah?" Jamal said. "So what's he gonna do to a sixteen-year old slayer?"
*
It's only a matter of time, now, my sweet Olivia. Your mortal family is gone, and since Slayer #1 is dead where he belongs and Slayer #2 is well on her way, we have no more interruptions. All I have to do now is claim you for my own again. Get ready, my Olivia. I'm coming for you soon.
*