Chapter Thirteen

The house was silent, with the kids off at school, Jay at the shop, Johnny at work, and Susannah off at a meeting to promote Ava G, it left Ava all alone. There wasn't much for her to do on her clothing, she was all caught up on orders and other projects, and, for the first time in a long time, she had free time. Deciding to make the best of it, Ava began to clean. It had been a long time since she had last cleaned the house, and it was due for a good scrub from top to bottom.

Moving from room to room, a large black trash bag in her hands, Ava collected the trash from the cans in each room. She walked into Bradin and Derrick's room and picked up their can. Dumping its contents into the bag, something slipped between the small bit of space between the bag and the trash can. Stooping down to pick it up, Ava gasped.


"You're kidding me, right?" Nikki asked, an eyebrow arched in question.

"No," Marie shook her head, the breeze coming off the water catching her hair and tossing it about her face. Bradin shook his head as he listened to his sister and girlfriend talk about some random book. They had been going on for the past half hour.

"How can you not think that Louisa May Alcott is one of the greatest author's of all time?" Marie continued, "I mean, Little Women is a classic."

"True," Nikki said, "but that was her only book that was popular, nobody hardly even knows about her others."

"That is so not true." Marie argued.

"Can you two please stop." Bradin cried, throwing his hands up in the air. The two girls turned to look at him. "You have been going at it for thirty minutes, please give it a rest." Marie smirked and caught his lips in a quick kiss.

"Are we not paying enough attention to you?" She asked in a voice that she would have used if she were addressing a child.

"No," Bradin said, wrapping his arms around Marie's waist and pulling her flush against his body, "you're not." He dropped his lips on hers, and kissed her passionately.

"Uh, would you two quit, you're making me sick." Nikki pretended to gag. Bradin pulled away from Marie and looked at his sister.

"Then don't watch." he smirked before kissing Marie once more.


Ava paced the living room floor, the pregnancy test box in her hand. She stared at it, as if waiting for it to come alive and bite her. The front door opened and Susannah walked in.

"Ava what's…" The blonde held the box out to her friend.

"I found this in Bradin's room." She said. Susannah took the box from her and stared at it.

"This is a…"

"Uh huh." Ava nodded. Susannah looked at her as if she were crazy before turning her attention back to the box.

"You don't think he and Marie…are having sex?" Susannah whispered the last word, as if she were afraid someone would hear.

"It's the only answer, isn't it?" Ava resumed her pacing, this time with Susannah watching.

"You're gonna have to ask Bradin about this."

"Don't you think I know that? But how, do I just walk up to him and ask if he and his girlfriend are having sex? I've never had to deal with this before Susannah. Maybe I should get Jay or Johnny to talk with him." Ava babbled as she chewed on her fingernail, a nervous habit that she picked up as a child.

"Ask Jay or Johnny to talk to who about what?" Jay asked as he came through the back door. Susannah handed him the box.

"Oh," Jay said, his eyes widening slightly.

"Did you know Bradin was having sex?" Ava asked him. Jay shook his head.

"No, if I had known I would have told him to use protection, which it's obvious he didn't think of."

"Maybe it's not even his." Susannah suggested.

"Oh, and whose is it then, Derrick's?" Ava said harshly. "I'm sorry Susannah," she apologized quickly at the hurt look on her friend's face, "I just don't know what to think of this, that's all."

"Did you find the test?" Jay asked. Ava nodded.

"It was negative."

"Well that's good." Her business partner sighed.

"Jay you have to talk with Bradin, he has to know not to take risks." Ava said.

"Whoa, hold up now." Jay threw his hands in the air, "Why do I have to talk to him about this?"

" 'Cause Bradin looks up to you, he'll listen to what you say. Not to mention it would mean more coming from a guy than from his aunt." Ava replied.

"Fine, I'll talk to him." Jay sighed.

"Talk to who about what?" The three adults turned to see Johnny come in. Jay tossed him the box.


Marie leaned against Bradin, resting her head on his shoulder as they walked behind Nikki through the front door of his house. Immediately, Marie knew something was going on when she saw all four of the adults in the living room. Eight eyes fell on Marie and Bradin, taking in her head on his shoulder and his arm around her waist.

"What's going on here?" Bradin asked, a questioning smile on his face.

"Nikki, would you excuse us." Ava stood and faced the two teens. Nikki looked from the adults to Marie and Bradin, a question in her eyes.

"Uh, sure." She said, clearly confused, before hurrying up the stairs. Marie looked up at Bradin.

"I should go." she said, turning towards the door.

"No, Marie, this concerns you as well." Ava said, her voice stopping the teen mid-step. Marie turned slowly back around, a lump rising in her throat, which she tried to swallow, but couldn't. Something was going to happen, she could feel it deep down, and it wasn't going to be good.


Sitting on the couch, Marie's hand in his, Bradin looked up at the four adults who stood before them, serious expressions on all their faces.

"What's going on you guys?" he asked. Johnny stepped forward, a box in his hands.

"Bradin, your aunt found this in your trash today." Bradin gulped when he saw what was on the box. He looked at Marie. She was staring at the pink and white box, her eyes wide in horror. It was obvious she hadn't thought of anyone finding it. She looked at Bradin, her eyes were glazed over with fear.

"What's that?" Bradin tried to sound casual and nonchalant, but it didn't work.

"You know very well what it is, Bradin." Ava snapped. "How could you think of having sex without protection. It's a good thing the test was negative, or you and Marie would both be in serious trouble. Not just because you did something irresponsible, but because you would have a baby to raise."

"Aunt Ava, it's not what you…"

"We're sorry," Marie jumped in, cutting off Bradin's words. "We didn't think that the condemn might break." Bradin stared at Marie like she had grown another head. She was blatantly lying to his aunt and her friends and she was doing it very convincingly.

"It won't happen again." She continued, "We learned the first time not to take any chances."

"Well, that's…that's good." Ava said, nodding her head slightly. Bradin continued to stare at Marie. Why did she lie? Marie glanced at him, telling him silently that she was sorry for getting him into this mess. He looked away from her and shook his head. Biting his lip, he sat in silence as the adults talked, or tried to talk rather, about safe sex and how they shouldn't really be having sex at all as they were only teenagers. He listened without really hearing the words they said. The only thing running through Bradin's mind right then was why hadn't Marie taken the chance to tell them about her stepfather? If she had just told them then she could have been free of him, free of all the pain he caused her. Why didn't she say anything?


It was a short chapter, but I hope you all liked it. I want to thank everyone who answered my questions about age and gender last chapter. It was nice to know who is reading my story. Please review this chapter and tell me what you thought. I promise there will be more action in the next chapter.

Caitlin: It's nice to hear that there are girls out there who have hte same belief as I do. I don't consider myself a role model, but it's nice to know that you do.

jessefan0409: I don't mean to make people cry, but it's nie to know that my story touches you that much.

Ally B, Summerland Chick, Charliechaz, Mel, Sprite Sweetheart, Haylie, darkdestiney2000, and Dramagrl: Thank you all so much for reviewing. Your thoughts and encouragment are what keep this story going.