**Thanks to Crystal and Psychobunny410 for the reviews, I hope everyone is
still enjoying the story, and please continue to read and review!!**
Aly ran down the stairs to the hotel lobby and out to the parking lot. She climbed up a tree and started bawling. She couldn't believe what was going on. Her father had deserted his family for drugs. Then he didn't even have the guts to talk to them in person. She felt like no one would understand where she was coming from. He was the only one who understood her as a person. She wasn't like most teenagers and didn't like to be treated like one. But lately his moods had changed so much and he never had time for them, and she knew something was up, but she never expected this.
"What are you doing up there?" She heard someone call to her.
She glanced down and there was Brock in his truck leaning out the window and calling up to her. "Nothing." She hollered down to him.
"Let me park and we'll talk about this nothing." Brock said pulling into a parking spot.
Aly was crying and wasn't about to budge. Brock walked to the base of the tree, "Aly, why don't ya come down here and we'll talk."
"NO. I'm not coming down." Aly said through her tears.
"Don't make me come up there and get you." Brock said to her.
"Try it." Aly replied snottily.
She glanced down and seen Brock was starting to climb up the tree. "Ok, ok, just get down before you fall and break your neck." Aly said to him.
Brock smiled and hopped down. Soon Aly was on the ground and she walked past him crying.
"Aly, come back here, what's wrong?" Brock asked.
"Nothing. You wouldn't understand." Aly said sitting down on the sidewalk and hugging her knees to her chest and rocking.
"Why don't you come here and tell me?" Brock said holding his hand out to her.
Aly tried to fight him back but finally he won and she wound up going to him and crying in his arms.
Brock held her and rubbed her back. He wasn't sure what to say yet, so he figured he would let her speak first.
"Did you hear what's going on?" Aly asked tearfully.
"Yeah. Yeah I did." Brock replied gently.
"Why? Why did he do this to me? Why did he do this to himself?" Aly asked pushing off of Brock. "I can't believe he would leave me like this."
"Aly I'm sure that he wasn't trying to hurt you or himself." Brock started to say but Aly interrupted him. Brock looked up and seen that Trish and Jenni were walking their way.
"He didn't even say goodbye. He didn't even have the guts to face us. He just abandoned us. I can't believe he would do this." Aly screamed at him. She was furious and the angry tears kept spilling down her face, "Not only that, but he impregnated Trish's sister while they were still together. While him and Trish were still dating. In her house mind you. What was he thinking? She's one of my best friends. We're only two years apart. What gives? And why the drinking? Why the drugs? Didn't we make him happy? Were we that bad?" Aly asked slinking to the pavement bawling.
Brock was a little taken aback. He didn't know Aly knew all about Melissa's situation. He wasn't quite sure what to say or what to do.
Jenni looked at Trish, "Dad is the one that got Melissa pregnant? I thought that you said."
Trish stopped her, "It's a long story honey, we'll talk about it later, ok?"
Jenni nodded.
Trish walked up by Aly and glanced to Brock.. He looked at her with an unknowing look, and she knew that he had to get going. Trish stepped up, she gently put her hand on Aly's shoulder, "Aly, honey. It's me. How about we talk and let Brock get to his show?"
Aly looked at Brock and in a very sad tone said, "I didn't mean to make you late. I don't want to be an inconvenience to anyone else. Obviously I was to dad." She gave him a hug and she started to walk away.
Jenni called after Aly, "Aly wait! I'm sad too."
Aly turned around and seen that her sister had tears in her eyes. "Come here."
Jenni ran over to her and held her and started crying. Hearing everything come out of Aly's mouth made everything so much harsher than the way that Trish had made it sound.
Trish's eyes filled with tears, she looked at Brock and his heart broke. He knew that this wasn't easy for Trish or the girls. He was mad that Dave had gone off and hurt her again. He was mad that she kept allowing it to happen. But he knew that he could be Trish's knight in shining armor. "Brock, you can go. I've got the girls now, we're going to be heading out too." She said trying not to cry.
Brock pulled her into his arms and held her. "Trish, I wish I could make this easier for you."
Trish sniffled, "It's ok, I have to be strong. They need me. Thanks for your help. I'll talk to ya later." She started to pull away but he held her close and kissed her on the forehead. Then he let go of her.
He watched as Trish went over to the girls. "Come on, lets get in the car and we can talk about this some more." And the three of them slowly walked to her car.
Brock cursed himself for having a house show to be at, one that he was already running late for. He got in his truck and drove off. He was going to come up with something. Trish needed him.
Trish started driving. Even though the car was silent, you could hear Aly fuming and you could see the confusion written across Jenni's face. After 20 minutes, Jenni finally spoke, "Trish, can I ask you a question?"
"Sure doll, what's up?" Trish replied.
"Are you and dad breaking up?" Jenni asked.
"Of course they are." Aly replied back bitterly.
"Actually no, now we're not breaking up." Trish replied.
"You're not?" Both girls said in unison.
"No. I told your father that he had one chance. I told him that I would stand by his side and do whatever I had to to help him get cleaned up. But if he messed up and used drugs again, then we wouldn't be together anymore." Trish explained.
Aly and Jenni were shocked. They couldn't believe that she was staying with them. "You mean, we're not losing you?" Jenni said carefully.
Trish smiled, "Nope, you're not losing me."
"I'm surprised you're still with him. He's a lucky man." Aly said out the window.
"We're lucky." Jenni said with a smile.
Trish smiled to herself. At least there was some happiness starting to spread amongst them. "Girls, I know that this is really hard, and it's a lot to take in. But now that we've been mad, and sad maybe it's time to find the happy things. Like I'm glad that I get to spend time with you guys."
"I'm happy that you're willing to take us. I bet mom's happy." Jenni added.
"Does mom even know about dad?" Aly asked bitterly, "I bet that he called her."
Trish took a deep breath, since Aly and Dave were so close, she knew that this was going to affect Aly deeper than Jenni, "No, I had to call your mom and explain everything."
"Oh god. I hope that she wasn't too upset with you." Aly said to her and patted her on the shoulder. "Mom can be a force to reckon with at times."
"Well, she definitely wasn't happy. But she was grateful that I was willing to take you guys for awhile since she's still working on getting better. But she's not very happy with your father." Trish replied.
"Will we be taking Nattie with us?" Jenni asked.
"You bet! We're all going to be on the road and we're going to have a good time. I'm going to be doing your home schooling also." Trish replied.
"Wow, this is going to be interesting." Jenni said to Aly.
Aly was kind of off in her own little world running everything through her head.
They made it to the airport and the girls slept for the whole plane ride. Trish woke them up and brought them to her house. Both girls went straight to their designated rooms and went to bed. Melissa came downstairs because she heard the girls but only seen Trish. "Hey Trish! I heard the girls. What happened with Dave?" Melissa asked.
Trish looked up the stairs at her, "How about you come down here to the table, and I can try to run my story by you and see how the family is going to take this one."
"Uh-oh, this doesn't sound good." Melissa said as she walked downstairs.
Trish brought them each a glass of juice and they sat down at the table. Trish put her head in her hands, "Oh Melissa, you're not going to believe this one."
"Ok, spill your guts." Melissa said. She wanted to know what was going on.
Just as Trish was about to start explaining everything, her cell phone rang. She looked at the number, but it didn't ring any bells. She decided to answer it anyways, "Hello?"
It took a moment for a response, but a quieter male voice responded, "Trish? It's Dave."
Trish wasn't used not hearing a booming voice from him, "Hi Dave. How are you?" For some reason, Trish didn't know what to say. She had realized a lot of emotions that she hadn't discovered within her before and she had to bite her tongue.
"I'm ok. I'm here at the facility, and they have me on something to take the edge off of the withdrawl. I'm able to call you and you're able to call me as long as I'm on good behavior." Dave replied. "How are you and the girls?"
"Well, I'm quite exhausted because it's been a long day. I'm not going to lie to you Dave, the girls took it really hard. Especially Aly. This really hit her hard. But I don't want to go into all of that with you right now. You need to focus on getting better."
"Are they going to be ok? Do you think that I should talk to them?" Dave asked. He knew that it was going to be hard, but he didn't want to hurt them more.
"I don't think that would be a good idea right now. Aly's quite resentful at this point, especially since you didn't tell them yourself. I explained why, but she's a 16 year old, she's at that age where it's kind of angst- ridden. Jenni is just very confused, and she sees Aly and Aly says things that Jenni didn't know but Aly did so then Jenni gets confused, but Jenni sees things as a 13 year old would see them. I think that they just need to cool down a bit and then it'll be easier to talk to them. Angie was outraged, but thankful that I was willing to help out. But I wouldn't call her anytime soon."
"Yeah, I was afraid of what she would say to you. I can't talk long since this is my first night, but I wanted to check in with you and let you know that I'm in here now. Here's the number you can reach me at in case of an emergency." And Dave rattled it off. "Trish, I love you."
Trish's eyes welled with tears, "I love you too Dave." And then she hung up. Tearfully she turned to Melissa, "I have so much to tell you."
Aly ran down the stairs to the hotel lobby and out to the parking lot. She climbed up a tree and started bawling. She couldn't believe what was going on. Her father had deserted his family for drugs. Then he didn't even have the guts to talk to them in person. She felt like no one would understand where she was coming from. He was the only one who understood her as a person. She wasn't like most teenagers and didn't like to be treated like one. But lately his moods had changed so much and he never had time for them, and she knew something was up, but she never expected this.
"What are you doing up there?" She heard someone call to her.
She glanced down and there was Brock in his truck leaning out the window and calling up to her. "Nothing." She hollered down to him.
"Let me park and we'll talk about this nothing." Brock said pulling into a parking spot.
Aly was crying and wasn't about to budge. Brock walked to the base of the tree, "Aly, why don't ya come down here and we'll talk."
"NO. I'm not coming down." Aly said through her tears.
"Don't make me come up there and get you." Brock said to her.
"Try it." Aly replied snottily.
She glanced down and seen Brock was starting to climb up the tree. "Ok, ok, just get down before you fall and break your neck." Aly said to him.
Brock smiled and hopped down. Soon Aly was on the ground and she walked past him crying.
"Aly, come back here, what's wrong?" Brock asked.
"Nothing. You wouldn't understand." Aly said sitting down on the sidewalk and hugging her knees to her chest and rocking.
"Why don't you come here and tell me?" Brock said holding his hand out to her.
Aly tried to fight him back but finally he won and she wound up going to him and crying in his arms.
Brock held her and rubbed her back. He wasn't sure what to say yet, so he figured he would let her speak first.
"Did you hear what's going on?" Aly asked tearfully.
"Yeah. Yeah I did." Brock replied gently.
"Why? Why did he do this to me? Why did he do this to himself?" Aly asked pushing off of Brock. "I can't believe he would leave me like this."
"Aly I'm sure that he wasn't trying to hurt you or himself." Brock started to say but Aly interrupted him. Brock looked up and seen that Trish and Jenni were walking their way.
"He didn't even say goodbye. He didn't even have the guts to face us. He just abandoned us. I can't believe he would do this." Aly screamed at him. She was furious and the angry tears kept spilling down her face, "Not only that, but he impregnated Trish's sister while they were still together. While him and Trish were still dating. In her house mind you. What was he thinking? She's one of my best friends. We're only two years apart. What gives? And why the drinking? Why the drugs? Didn't we make him happy? Were we that bad?" Aly asked slinking to the pavement bawling.
Brock was a little taken aback. He didn't know Aly knew all about Melissa's situation. He wasn't quite sure what to say or what to do.
Jenni looked at Trish, "Dad is the one that got Melissa pregnant? I thought that you said."
Trish stopped her, "It's a long story honey, we'll talk about it later, ok?"
Jenni nodded.
Trish walked up by Aly and glanced to Brock.. He looked at her with an unknowing look, and she knew that he had to get going. Trish stepped up, she gently put her hand on Aly's shoulder, "Aly, honey. It's me. How about we talk and let Brock get to his show?"
Aly looked at Brock and in a very sad tone said, "I didn't mean to make you late. I don't want to be an inconvenience to anyone else. Obviously I was to dad." She gave him a hug and she started to walk away.
Jenni called after Aly, "Aly wait! I'm sad too."
Aly turned around and seen that her sister had tears in her eyes. "Come here."
Jenni ran over to her and held her and started crying. Hearing everything come out of Aly's mouth made everything so much harsher than the way that Trish had made it sound.
Trish's eyes filled with tears, she looked at Brock and his heart broke. He knew that this wasn't easy for Trish or the girls. He was mad that Dave had gone off and hurt her again. He was mad that she kept allowing it to happen. But he knew that he could be Trish's knight in shining armor. "Brock, you can go. I've got the girls now, we're going to be heading out too." She said trying not to cry.
Brock pulled her into his arms and held her. "Trish, I wish I could make this easier for you."
Trish sniffled, "It's ok, I have to be strong. They need me. Thanks for your help. I'll talk to ya later." She started to pull away but he held her close and kissed her on the forehead. Then he let go of her.
He watched as Trish went over to the girls. "Come on, lets get in the car and we can talk about this some more." And the three of them slowly walked to her car.
Brock cursed himself for having a house show to be at, one that he was already running late for. He got in his truck and drove off. He was going to come up with something. Trish needed him.
Trish started driving. Even though the car was silent, you could hear Aly fuming and you could see the confusion written across Jenni's face. After 20 minutes, Jenni finally spoke, "Trish, can I ask you a question?"
"Sure doll, what's up?" Trish replied.
"Are you and dad breaking up?" Jenni asked.
"Of course they are." Aly replied back bitterly.
"Actually no, now we're not breaking up." Trish replied.
"You're not?" Both girls said in unison.
"No. I told your father that he had one chance. I told him that I would stand by his side and do whatever I had to to help him get cleaned up. But if he messed up and used drugs again, then we wouldn't be together anymore." Trish explained.
Aly and Jenni were shocked. They couldn't believe that she was staying with them. "You mean, we're not losing you?" Jenni said carefully.
Trish smiled, "Nope, you're not losing me."
"I'm surprised you're still with him. He's a lucky man." Aly said out the window.
"We're lucky." Jenni said with a smile.
Trish smiled to herself. At least there was some happiness starting to spread amongst them. "Girls, I know that this is really hard, and it's a lot to take in. But now that we've been mad, and sad maybe it's time to find the happy things. Like I'm glad that I get to spend time with you guys."
"I'm happy that you're willing to take us. I bet mom's happy." Jenni added.
"Does mom even know about dad?" Aly asked bitterly, "I bet that he called her."
Trish took a deep breath, since Aly and Dave were so close, she knew that this was going to affect Aly deeper than Jenni, "No, I had to call your mom and explain everything."
"Oh god. I hope that she wasn't too upset with you." Aly said to her and patted her on the shoulder. "Mom can be a force to reckon with at times."
"Well, she definitely wasn't happy. But she was grateful that I was willing to take you guys for awhile since she's still working on getting better. But she's not very happy with your father." Trish replied.
"Will we be taking Nattie with us?" Jenni asked.
"You bet! We're all going to be on the road and we're going to have a good time. I'm going to be doing your home schooling also." Trish replied.
"Wow, this is going to be interesting." Jenni said to Aly.
Aly was kind of off in her own little world running everything through her head.
They made it to the airport and the girls slept for the whole plane ride. Trish woke them up and brought them to her house. Both girls went straight to their designated rooms and went to bed. Melissa came downstairs because she heard the girls but only seen Trish. "Hey Trish! I heard the girls. What happened with Dave?" Melissa asked.
Trish looked up the stairs at her, "How about you come down here to the table, and I can try to run my story by you and see how the family is going to take this one."
"Uh-oh, this doesn't sound good." Melissa said as she walked downstairs.
Trish brought them each a glass of juice and they sat down at the table. Trish put her head in her hands, "Oh Melissa, you're not going to believe this one."
"Ok, spill your guts." Melissa said. She wanted to know what was going on.
Just as Trish was about to start explaining everything, her cell phone rang. She looked at the number, but it didn't ring any bells. She decided to answer it anyways, "Hello?"
It took a moment for a response, but a quieter male voice responded, "Trish? It's Dave."
Trish wasn't used not hearing a booming voice from him, "Hi Dave. How are you?" For some reason, Trish didn't know what to say. She had realized a lot of emotions that she hadn't discovered within her before and she had to bite her tongue.
"I'm ok. I'm here at the facility, and they have me on something to take the edge off of the withdrawl. I'm able to call you and you're able to call me as long as I'm on good behavior." Dave replied. "How are you and the girls?"
"Well, I'm quite exhausted because it's been a long day. I'm not going to lie to you Dave, the girls took it really hard. Especially Aly. This really hit her hard. But I don't want to go into all of that with you right now. You need to focus on getting better."
"Are they going to be ok? Do you think that I should talk to them?" Dave asked. He knew that it was going to be hard, but he didn't want to hurt them more.
"I don't think that would be a good idea right now. Aly's quite resentful at this point, especially since you didn't tell them yourself. I explained why, but she's a 16 year old, she's at that age where it's kind of angst- ridden. Jenni is just very confused, and she sees Aly and Aly says things that Jenni didn't know but Aly did so then Jenni gets confused, but Jenni sees things as a 13 year old would see them. I think that they just need to cool down a bit and then it'll be easier to talk to them. Angie was outraged, but thankful that I was willing to help out. But I wouldn't call her anytime soon."
"Yeah, I was afraid of what she would say to you. I can't talk long since this is my first night, but I wanted to check in with you and let you know that I'm in here now. Here's the number you can reach me at in case of an emergency." And Dave rattled it off. "Trish, I love you."
Trish's eyes welled with tears, "I love you too Dave." And then she hung up. Tearfully she turned to Melissa, "I have so much to tell you."