Gabby was anxiously watching as Cassandra approached Raphael. Her reptilian father had taken a break from shadowing Jason, leaving Leo with the task for now. He wanted to make a run past the hospital in order to stop in and see the professor. Raph was just coming out of the man's room when Cassie decided that now was the time to make her true identity known.
"Raph, could I have a word with you?" the woman asked as she walked up to him.
"Yeah sure, Cassie." He replied.
He saw Gabby and smiled at her reassuringly. He noticed the anticipation in her face, though, and so he was mildly curious.
"Maybe we could talk in the chapel? Do you mind if I talk with you there?" Cassandra asked him.
"Nope, don't mind at all. What's this about anyway?" Raph inquired. He noticed his daughter become even more uneasy, which made him concern.
"Need to tie up some lose strings." Was all Cassandra would say to Raph's question.
They walked up the hallway and into the main corridor that led to the chapel. As they passed Gabby and Seth, Don was just walking up from taking a phone call. He noticed the pensive expression on Cassie as she led the way towards the prayer room. He nodded in her direction and then smiled at his brother.
Raph smiled back but he was totally confused why Cassandra would want to speak with him. He then sensed Don following them... He looked back at Don to see if there were any more indicators of what was going on, but his brother only smiled and then stopped to lean up against the corridor wall. Don was acting very strange and it only meant one thing to Raph. His brother knew something that he didn't – at least for now.
Once the two were seated in the pews and alone in the chapel, Raph asked, "So, what's going on, Cassie? Is this about Friday?"
She looked at him and nodded, then said, "Yes, and it's also about what happened thirty-five years ago."
That was all she had to say. The expression on Raph's face screamed volumes as he suddenly realized what the woman was alluding to. He narrowed his eyes as he concentrated on recalling the events from so long ago. Comparing that memory to what he saw and even commented on Friday started a cascade of thoughts and assumptions.
Cassandra was taking a huge chance of this turtle going completely ninja on her. She was not ignorant of the possibility that Raph might have wanted to take revenge on the one who pummeled him so many years before.
Slowly concluding who Cassandra was admitting to be, Raph looked at her through slit eyes. His breathing became ragged as he considered the possibility. The only reason why Raph never sought out the female Foot soldier who beat him up atop that New York apartment was that he was convinced she had died. If he had any doubts to that belief he would have committed his life to finding her and then dispatching her.
"Th-that was you? You're the one who beat me up?" his voice was starting to rise and there was an edge to it.
Raph knew that Don was right outside the double doors. What he was feeling in that instant was shock and then rage. And yet there was absolutely nothing he could do about it but to sit there and listen.
They were in a public setting; the staff at the hospital was very familiar with the fact that this reptilian family was in their midst. To make matters more complex, Don's generous contribution to procure Cassie's x-rays last month had helped to augment the cancer center. They were becoming well known; too well know for the moment as far as Raph was concerned. Of course, Raph was well aware that this woman was probably Gabby's mother, too.
"So tell me, Cassie – does Gabby know about this? Do Don and the others?" Raph sneered at her. He moved away from her just a little. Being so close to her was too tempting. He wanted to grab Cassandra by her neck and snap it.
"Gabby knows; I just told her a while ago. Don is also aware of my past." She replied.
Raph thought about the look Gabby had given him just before Cassandra brought him into the chapel. He thought about the knowing expression on Don's face as he casually followed along. It was starting to make sense now why they were acting the way the did.
"So you waltz into our lives to do – what? To undermine our family? To plan another attack? What?" he demanded as his voice rose in pitch.
"None of it, Raphael. I am not the same ninja…" and Cassie whispered the last words "…that I was back then. If you want to hear my story then…."
But Raph cut her off, "You expect me to believe you? After what you did to me on that rooftop? You're nuts if you think that!" he declared.
"I don't expect you to accept it that quickly but I think you should know that I didn't have much of a choice where I placed my allegiances back then." She said quietly.
"HA! You lie. Everyone has a choice, Cassandra. Even Shredder had a choice but he didn't make the right one. That's why Saki is DEAD!" Raph seethed his words loudly as if he could barely control his anger. He stood up about then and glared at her, "Don't tell me you didn't have a choice, lady; you're not talk'n to an idiot!"
Cassandra shook her head and sighed. Then she told him, "Look, what I said was true, I didn't have a choice. Saki abducted me when I was six years old. He killed my parents and then shipped me off to Japan. I was abused and tortured until I accepted my fate." Cassie paused to gather her resolve for she could see a building up of anger and fury in Raphael. "Once I accepted my situation Saki began the process of training me according to his dictates and precepts. I didn't have anything to compare them with other than what I knew of my upbringing. But because I was so young when he took me I eventually forgot my life before Japan. I became a Dragon Clan Foot Ninja of the Elite Core – and an efficient one, at that."
Raph remained quiet but he refused to sit down. He stood at the ready, almost as if he was anticipating some physical attack from her. None came, of course, but he remained alert just the same, glaring at the woman seated before him.
"Just before my encounter with you I hacked into Saki's personal computer…." Cassandra began, but Raph cut her off.
"You hacked into the Shredhead's computer? Yeah like any of his Foot soldiers would have that kind of access!" he said derisively.
"I was betrothed to him, Raph! I was seventeen and was scheduled to marry him once I turned eighteen. That was his plan and whatever Saki planned had to succeed. I had access to a lot of what was his, primarily because of my relationship with him." She said softly.
"And I bet you thought yourself pretty lucky, too?" Raph sneered.
"Actually, at the time, yes!" Cassie replied sincerely. "But what I discovered from his computer was a record of all those soldiers that he had kidnapped as children and their biological backgrounds; including mine. It was the proof that what he had told me had been a lie. He had been lying to me all the many years I had been apart of his clan. He told me originally that my parents donated me." She spat the words out as if they were poison. Cass sat there on the pew stoic and serious. She thought about all the years of abuse and brainwashing she endured and how in one fleeting moment one solitary act had unraveled her world completely.
"So, why'd you attack us then on the rooftop? Or did your hacking job happen after the attack?" Raph seemed to have mellowed a little as he listened to Cassie's story. He slowly sat back down on the pew.
"It happened before, actually." Cassandra replied and then said,"After I subdued you and went down into the apartment to take on your brothers, I saw the family photos that were in the reporter's living room. I started remember about my own family because of that. Pictures of faces I hadn't seen in years flashed through my mind while I fought your brothers. Knowing then what I knew about how I came into the Dragon clan, I just couldn't follow through with Saki's orders. That's why I fled. It wasn't because any of your family was besting me." She waited and noticed that Raph was listening a little more readily.
Cassie continued, "I renounced my allegiances to the Foot in front of Saki and the others. I was severely punished for my insubordination because of that. Saki had me raped and beaten repeatedly and then threw me in the same holding cell as your mentor, Splinter. There Saki raped me himself before adding more bruises to my already beaten body. After they had captured you and harvested some of your DNA and other biological properties from you, they forced the professor to make a compound that…."
But Raph interrupted her, "Yeah, I know the rest of the story. But I didn't realize the woman they used in that experiment was you."
He sat there spent of his anger and desire for revenge. Raph was mesmerized by Cassie's story. As angry as he had been, it all made sense that Saki would do to Cassie what she said he did.
Raph knew from talking with the few ex-Foot soldiers that had successfully made the transition back into society that one never disobeyed or disappointed the Shredder. Not with out paying a hefty price.
The fact that Saki didn't kill Cassandra for her outright insult to his organization proved that he probably did love her at one time.
"What a sick way to show someone you care!" Raph thought to himself.
"So, what was this bit of challenging Seth? Some way of – testing him?" Raph asked.
"Yes, actually. He passed, by the way. In more ways than one." Cassandra smiled now, convinced that Raphael wasn't going to kill her. She would have hated to mess up such a nice chapel.
******
Gabby waited fearfully outside the Chapel. She knew that Raph had a temper and the way that Don guarded the door told her that he was just as concerned.
At one point she heard Raphael's voice nearly shout the word 'dead' and she almost started to go inside. But Don gently grabbed her and told her it would be all right.
"Raph isn't going to do something stupid, Gabby. Just trust him to make the right decision, okay?" He squeezed her shoulder reassuringly and motioned her to stand next to him. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder to bolster her courage.
Finally, an hour later they reemerged from the room.
"So when are ya going to go back to being a redhead, Cass?" Raph asked lightly as the two of them pushed open the doors.
"Not until this business of closing the Foot down for good happens. I kind of like my low profile life." She chuckled.
Don noticed the upbeat composure of both his brother and Gabby's mom. He smiled and said, "Maybe you could infiltrate for us, then?"
"Not on your life, Don! When I was younger I could do that, but not at my age." Cassie laughed.
Gabby was so relieved to see smiles rather than hateful words being flung around. Still, she stood back, though, not sure how to react to them anymore.
When Cassandra was just her friend it was easy to respond to her. When Raph was just her dad and only biological parent, that was easy, too. Now here were both her mom and dad standing before her – and they weren't even married to each other. In Gabby's opinion these two relationships had become more complex.
Cassandra noticed her daughter's uncertainty and asked, "You okay, Gabby?"
Don watched as his niece looked at both Raphael and Cassandra. Seth was coming up the corridor and saw all of them there and that was when Gabby left the group to greet him.
"I'm so glad to see you." She whispered to him. "We need to talk – now!" and she grabbed his arm, pulling Seth back in the direction from where he had come.
Walking outside to the garden area of the hospital Gabby quickly walked him over to a couple of chairs that were around an umbrella table. She sat down in one of the chairs and Seth did likewise with its twin.
"What's wrong, Gabs? " Seth asked her. He saw trepidation but mostly he saw exhaustion on her face.
"Well…while you were in the guest area sleeping Cassie told me who she really is… she's my mom." She smiled a little and continued, "I'm happy to know that of course, but just a while ago she took my dad into the Chapel to tell him this fact and that…she was the one who beat up on him years ago." She explained.
"Well, ah, I didn't know she was the one who had beaten up on him. But, it looks like he's forgiven her. I noticed she's still alive." Seth stated and then asked. "Are you fine with it, Gabby?"
"Well, yeah, I guess, but now I don't know what to do." Gabby moaned.
"Why? You now have a mom and a dad? Sheesh, I 'd think you'd be thrilled." Seth shook his head and leaned back in the chair.
"It's just that…it's … so weird. They're not married to each other but they're my parents. I've had this fantasy all my life of having parents that were married to each other. I knew the professor wasn't my real father, I still loved him, but … Oh I don't know. It's all so confusing. I'm so worried about the professor and then stressed about getting married, and then what happened Friday and all. And now I don't know how to act around Cassie and now Raph knows who she is and that she's the one who beat him up and…." Gabby started to cry about then as she began to feel completely overwhelmed by all the different kinds of situations she was trying to cope with.
Seth went over and stooped in front of her, hugging her as she sat in the chair and cried.
"Hey, you've been going through a lot over the past few days. Heck, the past few months have been pretty traumatic for you, Gabby. I'm surprised you've held up so well for this long." He kissed her forehead as she wept.
Seth realized that she was very tired and that was probably why she was finding everything so overwhelming. He picked her up and carried her back into the hospital. Seeing his uncle he motioned to him.
Don excused himself and walked quickly over to them. He was concerned to see Seth carrying Gabby. Raph and Cassie followed him; both equally worried.
"Need to get her back home. She's exhausted." Seth explained.
Don wrinkled his brow as he looked at Gabby. She had stopped crying but was too spent to argue with Seth about being carried. She had her eyes closed as she submitted to his embrace.
Don nodded and turned back towards Raphael and Cassandra. "Seth's going to take her home. She hasn't slept much since yesterday. I'll drive them and then be back right after." He looked at Raph and said, "Maybe it would be good to find out how Leo's doing in the field. Tomorrow's D-day for Jason and I don't want any slip-ups by him."
Raph nodded and quickly went on ahead and out the hospital entrance.
Cassandra asked, "Is there anything I can do, Don?"
"Yes," Don replied, "Keep us posted on the professor's condition. I don't know how long Gabby will be home. If the doctor comes by ask him about what the administration said regarding having the wedding here."
"The wedding's going to be here?" she asked in surprise.
"Yeah…just in case the professor…" but then Don stopped and looked over at Gabby. Finally he finished, looking back at Cassandra, "Perry will probably still be here on Christmas day, so the kids have decided to move the wedding up and have it here so he can be a part of it."
Then, Don motioned towards Seth to head on out to the car for the ride back to Mike's house.
******
By the time Don had the sedan parked in front of Mike's home, Gabby was asleep in the back of the car. Seth picked her up and carried her into the house and up stairs to her room. She never woke up as he slipped her under the sheets and pulled the blankets up over her. Stroking her hair affectionately, he bent down and kissed her forehead and then left her to sleep.
Hours later Gabby woke up. She stretched and yawned. The room she was in was dark but then in the next instant she realized where she was. She was home at Mike's. Then she remembered that the last thing she knew of she had been at the hospital.
Throwing the covers off her quickly, Gabby jumped out of bed in a near panic. How'd she get home? She was confused and worried. She wanted to stay at the hospital with the professor in case something happened. Why had they brought her back home?
Nearly running out her bedroom door and down the stairs, Gabby saw Seth in the family room. He was talking with Rahab and Gaele.
"How come I'm home?" Gabby demanded as she came into the room.
"Gabs, you were exhausted." Seth explained, "You were so out of it from the sheer lack of sleep you weren't making any sense at the hospital. Don't you remember me picking you up and taking you to the car?" he asked her.
Gabby just stood there as she tried to remember. It all seemed like a dream to her. Was she that tired? Shaking her head she moved over to one of the chairs and flopped down. She rubbed her face and then asked, "Is the professor all right? That's all I want to know." She looked up and noticed that it was quite dark out. "What time is it anyway?"
"It's about eight at night and – yes – your father is okay." Seth replied. He went over to her and led her out of the chair to go over and sit with him.
"Hey, there, Gabs. You were one tired cookie!" Gaele smiled. "How're you feeling now?" she asked her cousin.
Gabby was still trying to recover from her sleepiness, but replied just the same, "Fine, I guess." She turned to Seth and asked, "Can we go back to the hospital?"
He shook his head, "Nope. Don wants you to stay put for tonight. Perry is doing well and needs his sleep. You'd just be a distraction for him."
"But I want to be there, Seth." She insisted, narrowing her eyes slightly for emphasis.
He noticed her stubbornness start to emerge. But Seth was resolute, "Maybe we can think about what day to move the wedding up to and plan around that. Plus, Mike went out with Raph to pick up a Christmas tree. They're planning on decorating it tonight." He leveled his gaze at her and held Gabby's own. He stood up from the couch and went to her, taking her by the hand and leading her, although reluctantly, out of the family room.
Taking her into the living room, Seth turned her around and wrapped his arms around her. He held her close to him and leaned in to kiss her. He felt a slightest protrusion of her belly and realized that she was starting to show.
Seth looked deep into her now smoldering eyes and told her, "I love you so much. But if you do not start taking care of yourself I will have to start making you. I don't want to do that, Gabby." He didn't see much in the way of improvement with her expression so he added, "At least for the sake of our child."
That had her attention. Gabby did a double take with her eyes and squinted at him as if she were trying to refocus. "Did you just say, 'our child'?"
Seth nodded his head and smiled, "Yes, I did. If I'm going to marry you then this baby will be as much mine as yours. But, you need to get more rest. You don't have to be at the hospital all the time. Regardless if anything should happen, being there or not won't make much of a difference. I think your father would agree with me on this one."
"Which father?" she teased."
"Both!" Seth laughed and then he kissed Gabby once more.
"Raph, could I have a word with you?" the woman asked as she walked up to him.
"Yeah sure, Cassie." He replied.
He saw Gabby and smiled at her reassuringly. He noticed the anticipation in her face, though, and so he was mildly curious.
"Maybe we could talk in the chapel? Do you mind if I talk with you there?" Cassandra asked him.
"Nope, don't mind at all. What's this about anyway?" Raph inquired. He noticed his daughter become even more uneasy, which made him concern.
"Need to tie up some lose strings." Was all Cassandra would say to Raph's question.
They walked up the hallway and into the main corridor that led to the chapel. As they passed Gabby and Seth, Don was just walking up from taking a phone call. He noticed the pensive expression on Cassie as she led the way towards the prayer room. He nodded in her direction and then smiled at his brother.
Raph smiled back but he was totally confused why Cassandra would want to speak with him. He then sensed Don following them... He looked back at Don to see if there were any more indicators of what was going on, but his brother only smiled and then stopped to lean up against the corridor wall. Don was acting very strange and it only meant one thing to Raph. His brother knew something that he didn't – at least for now.
Once the two were seated in the pews and alone in the chapel, Raph asked, "So, what's going on, Cassie? Is this about Friday?"
She looked at him and nodded, then said, "Yes, and it's also about what happened thirty-five years ago."
That was all she had to say. The expression on Raph's face screamed volumes as he suddenly realized what the woman was alluding to. He narrowed his eyes as he concentrated on recalling the events from so long ago. Comparing that memory to what he saw and even commented on Friday started a cascade of thoughts and assumptions.
Cassandra was taking a huge chance of this turtle going completely ninja on her. She was not ignorant of the possibility that Raph might have wanted to take revenge on the one who pummeled him so many years before.
Slowly concluding who Cassandra was admitting to be, Raph looked at her through slit eyes. His breathing became ragged as he considered the possibility. The only reason why Raph never sought out the female Foot soldier who beat him up atop that New York apartment was that he was convinced she had died. If he had any doubts to that belief he would have committed his life to finding her and then dispatching her.
"Th-that was you? You're the one who beat me up?" his voice was starting to rise and there was an edge to it.
Raph knew that Don was right outside the double doors. What he was feeling in that instant was shock and then rage. And yet there was absolutely nothing he could do about it but to sit there and listen.
They were in a public setting; the staff at the hospital was very familiar with the fact that this reptilian family was in their midst. To make matters more complex, Don's generous contribution to procure Cassie's x-rays last month had helped to augment the cancer center. They were becoming well known; too well know for the moment as far as Raph was concerned. Of course, Raph was well aware that this woman was probably Gabby's mother, too.
"So tell me, Cassie – does Gabby know about this? Do Don and the others?" Raph sneered at her. He moved away from her just a little. Being so close to her was too tempting. He wanted to grab Cassandra by her neck and snap it.
"Gabby knows; I just told her a while ago. Don is also aware of my past." She replied.
Raph thought about the look Gabby had given him just before Cassandra brought him into the chapel. He thought about the knowing expression on Don's face as he casually followed along. It was starting to make sense now why they were acting the way the did.
"So you waltz into our lives to do – what? To undermine our family? To plan another attack? What?" he demanded as his voice rose in pitch.
"None of it, Raphael. I am not the same ninja…" and Cassie whispered the last words "…that I was back then. If you want to hear my story then…."
But Raph cut her off, "You expect me to believe you? After what you did to me on that rooftop? You're nuts if you think that!" he declared.
"I don't expect you to accept it that quickly but I think you should know that I didn't have much of a choice where I placed my allegiances back then." She said quietly.
"HA! You lie. Everyone has a choice, Cassandra. Even Shredder had a choice but he didn't make the right one. That's why Saki is DEAD!" Raph seethed his words loudly as if he could barely control his anger. He stood up about then and glared at her, "Don't tell me you didn't have a choice, lady; you're not talk'n to an idiot!"
Cassandra shook her head and sighed. Then she told him, "Look, what I said was true, I didn't have a choice. Saki abducted me when I was six years old. He killed my parents and then shipped me off to Japan. I was abused and tortured until I accepted my fate." Cassie paused to gather her resolve for she could see a building up of anger and fury in Raphael. "Once I accepted my situation Saki began the process of training me according to his dictates and precepts. I didn't have anything to compare them with other than what I knew of my upbringing. But because I was so young when he took me I eventually forgot my life before Japan. I became a Dragon Clan Foot Ninja of the Elite Core – and an efficient one, at that."
Raph remained quiet but he refused to sit down. He stood at the ready, almost as if he was anticipating some physical attack from her. None came, of course, but he remained alert just the same, glaring at the woman seated before him.
"Just before my encounter with you I hacked into Saki's personal computer…." Cassandra began, but Raph cut her off.
"You hacked into the Shredhead's computer? Yeah like any of his Foot soldiers would have that kind of access!" he said derisively.
"I was betrothed to him, Raph! I was seventeen and was scheduled to marry him once I turned eighteen. That was his plan and whatever Saki planned had to succeed. I had access to a lot of what was his, primarily because of my relationship with him." She said softly.
"And I bet you thought yourself pretty lucky, too?" Raph sneered.
"Actually, at the time, yes!" Cassie replied sincerely. "But what I discovered from his computer was a record of all those soldiers that he had kidnapped as children and their biological backgrounds; including mine. It was the proof that what he had told me had been a lie. He had been lying to me all the many years I had been apart of his clan. He told me originally that my parents donated me." She spat the words out as if they were poison. Cass sat there on the pew stoic and serious. She thought about all the years of abuse and brainwashing she endured and how in one fleeting moment one solitary act had unraveled her world completely.
"So, why'd you attack us then on the rooftop? Or did your hacking job happen after the attack?" Raph seemed to have mellowed a little as he listened to Cassie's story. He slowly sat back down on the pew.
"It happened before, actually." Cassandra replied and then said,"After I subdued you and went down into the apartment to take on your brothers, I saw the family photos that were in the reporter's living room. I started remember about my own family because of that. Pictures of faces I hadn't seen in years flashed through my mind while I fought your brothers. Knowing then what I knew about how I came into the Dragon clan, I just couldn't follow through with Saki's orders. That's why I fled. It wasn't because any of your family was besting me." She waited and noticed that Raph was listening a little more readily.
Cassie continued, "I renounced my allegiances to the Foot in front of Saki and the others. I was severely punished for my insubordination because of that. Saki had me raped and beaten repeatedly and then threw me in the same holding cell as your mentor, Splinter. There Saki raped me himself before adding more bruises to my already beaten body. After they had captured you and harvested some of your DNA and other biological properties from you, they forced the professor to make a compound that…."
But Raph interrupted her, "Yeah, I know the rest of the story. But I didn't realize the woman they used in that experiment was you."
He sat there spent of his anger and desire for revenge. Raph was mesmerized by Cassie's story. As angry as he had been, it all made sense that Saki would do to Cassie what she said he did.
Raph knew from talking with the few ex-Foot soldiers that had successfully made the transition back into society that one never disobeyed or disappointed the Shredder. Not with out paying a hefty price.
The fact that Saki didn't kill Cassandra for her outright insult to his organization proved that he probably did love her at one time.
"What a sick way to show someone you care!" Raph thought to himself.
"So, what was this bit of challenging Seth? Some way of – testing him?" Raph asked.
"Yes, actually. He passed, by the way. In more ways than one." Cassandra smiled now, convinced that Raphael wasn't going to kill her. She would have hated to mess up such a nice chapel.
******
Gabby waited fearfully outside the Chapel. She knew that Raph had a temper and the way that Don guarded the door told her that he was just as concerned.
At one point she heard Raphael's voice nearly shout the word 'dead' and she almost started to go inside. But Don gently grabbed her and told her it would be all right.
"Raph isn't going to do something stupid, Gabby. Just trust him to make the right decision, okay?" He squeezed her shoulder reassuringly and motioned her to stand next to him. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder to bolster her courage.
Finally, an hour later they reemerged from the room.
"So when are ya going to go back to being a redhead, Cass?" Raph asked lightly as the two of them pushed open the doors.
"Not until this business of closing the Foot down for good happens. I kind of like my low profile life." She chuckled.
Don noticed the upbeat composure of both his brother and Gabby's mom. He smiled and said, "Maybe you could infiltrate for us, then?"
"Not on your life, Don! When I was younger I could do that, but not at my age." Cassie laughed.
Gabby was so relieved to see smiles rather than hateful words being flung around. Still, she stood back, though, not sure how to react to them anymore.
When Cassandra was just her friend it was easy to respond to her. When Raph was just her dad and only biological parent, that was easy, too. Now here were both her mom and dad standing before her – and they weren't even married to each other. In Gabby's opinion these two relationships had become more complex.
Cassandra noticed her daughter's uncertainty and asked, "You okay, Gabby?"
Don watched as his niece looked at both Raphael and Cassandra. Seth was coming up the corridor and saw all of them there and that was when Gabby left the group to greet him.
"I'm so glad to see you." She whispered to him. "We need to talk – now!" and she grabbed his arm, pulling Seth back in the direction from where he had come.
Walking outside to the garden area of the hospital Gabby quickly walked him over to a couple of chairs that were around an umbrella table. She sat down in one of the chairs and Seth did likewise with its twin.
"What's wrong, Gabs? " Seth asked her. He saw trepidation but mostly he saw exhaustion on her face.
"Well…while you were in the guest area sleeping Cassie told me who she really is… she's my mom." She smiled a little and continued, "I'm happy to know that of course, but just a while ago she took my dad into the Chapel to tell him this fact and that…she was the one who beat up on him years ago." She explained.
"Well, ah, I didn't know she was the one who had beaten up on him. But, it looks like he's forgiven her. I noticed she's still alive." Seth stated and then asked. "Are you fine with it, Gabby?"
"Well, yeah, I guess, but now I don't know what to do." Gabby moaned.
"Why? You now have a mom and a dad? Sheesh, I 'd think you'd be thrilled." Seth shook his head and leaned back in the chair.
"It's just that…it's … so weird. They're not married to each other but they're my parents. I've had this fantasy all my life of having parents that were married to each other. I knew the professor wasn't my real father, I still loved him, but … Oh I don't know. It's all so confusing. I'm so worried about the professor and then stressed about getting married, and then what happened Friday and all. And now I don't know how to act around Cassie and now Raph knows who she is and that she's the one who beat him up and…." Gabby started to cry about then as she began to feel completely overwhelmed by all the different kinds of situations she was trying to cope with.
Seth went over and stooped in front of her, hugging her as she sat in the chair and cried.
"Hey, you've been going through a lot over the past few days. Heck, the past few months have been pretty traumatic for you, Gabby. I'm surprised you've held up so well for this long." He kissed her forehead as she wept.
Seth realized that she was very tired and that was probably why she was finding everything so overwhelming. He picked her up and carried her back into the hospital. Seeing his uncle he motioned to him.
Don excused himself and walked quickly over to them. He was concerned to see Seth carrying Gabby. Raph and Cassie followed him; both equally worried.
"Need to get her back home. She's exhausted." Seth explained.
Don wrinkled his brow as he looked at Gabby. She had stopped crying but was too spent to argue with Seth about being carried. She had her eyes closed as she submitted to his embrace.
Don nodded and turned back towards Raphael and Cassandra. "Seth's going to take her home. She hasn't slept much since yesterday. I'll drive them and then be back right after." He looked at Raph and said, "Maybe it would be good to find out how Leo's doing in the field. Tomorrow's D-day for Jason and I don't want any slip-ups by him."
Raph nodded and quickly went on ahead and out the hospital entrance.
Cassandra asked, "Is there anything I can do, Don?"
"Yes," Don replied, "Keep us posted on the professor's condition. I don't know how long Gabby will be home. If the doctor comes by ask him about what the administration said regarding having the wedding here."
"The wedding's going to be here?" she asked in surprise.
"Yeah…just in case the professor…" but then Don stopped and looked over at Gabby. Finally he finished, looking back at Cassandra, "Perry will probably still be here on Christmas day, so the kids have decided to move the wedding up and have it here so he can be a part of it."
Then, Don motioned towards Seth to head on out to the car for the ride back to Mike's house.
******
By the time Don had the sedan parked in front of Mike's home, Gabby was asleep in the back of the car. Seth picked her up and carried her into the house and up stairs to her room. She never woke up as he slipped her under the sheets and pulled the blankets up over her. Stroking her hair affectionately, he bent down and kissed her forehead and then left her to sleep.
Hours later Gabby woke up. She stretched and yawned. The room she was in was dark but then in the next instant she realized where she was. She was home at Mike's. Then she remembered that the last thing she knew of she had been at the hospital.
Throwing the covers off her quickly, Gabby jumped out of bed in a near panic. How'd she get home? She was confused and worried. She wanted to stay at the hospital with the professor in case something happened. Why had they brought her back home?
Nearly running out her bedroom door and down the stairs, Gabby saw Seth in the family room. He was talking with Rahab and Gaele.
"How come I'm home?" Gabby demanded as she came into the room.
"Gabs, you were exhausted." Seth explained, "You were so out of it from the sheer lack of sleep you weren't making any sense at the hospital. Don't you remember me picking you up and taking you to the car?" he asked her.
Gabby just stood there as she tried to remember. It all seemed like a dream to her. Was she that tired? Shaking her head she moved over to one of the chairs and flopped down. She rubbed her face and then asked, "Is the professor all right? That's all I want to know." She looked up and noticed that it was quite dark out. "What time is it anyway?"
"It's about eight at night and – yes – your father is okay." Seth replied. He went over to her and led her out of the chair to go over and sit with him.
"Hey, there, Gabs. You were one tired cookie!" Gaele smiled. "How're you feeling now?" she asked her cousin.
Gabby was still trying to recover from her sleepiness, but replied just the same, "Fine, I guess." She turned to Seth and asked, "Can we go back to the hospital?"
He shook his head, "Nope. Don wants you to stay put for tonight. Perry is doing well and needs his sleep. You'd just be a distraction for him."
"But I want to be there, Seth." She insisted, narrowing her eyes slightly for emphasis.
He noticed her stubbornness start to emerge. But Seth was resolute, "Maybe we can think about what day to move the wedding up to and plan around that. Plus, Mike went out with Raph to pick up a Christmas tree. They're planning on decorating it tonight." He leveled his gaze at her and held Gabby's own. He stood up from the couch and went to her, taking her by the hand and leading her, although reluctantly, out of the family room.
Taking her into the living room, Seth turned her around and wrapped his arms around her. He held her close to him and leaned in to kiss her. He felt a slightest protrusion of her belly and realized that she was starting to show.
Seth looked deep into her now smoldering eyes and told her, "I love you so much. But if you do not start taking care of yourself I will have to start making you. I don't want to do that, Gabby." He didn't see much in the way of improvement with her expression so he added, "At least for the sake of our child."
That had her attention. Gabby did a double take with her eyes and squinted at him as if she were trying to refocus. "Did you just say, 'our child'?"
Seth nodded his head and smiled, "Yes, I did. If I'm going to marry you then this baby will be as much mine as yours. But, you need to get more rest. You don't have to be at the hospital all the time. Regardless if anything should happen, being there or not won't make much of a difference. I think your father would agree with me on this one."
"Which father?" she teased."
"Both!" Seth laughed and then he kissed Gabby once more.
