Chapter Eight: What You Did
Three days later, Paige was able to go home. She visited Avery at Manny's house every day. The worst part of her day was waiting for Manny to get home from work. Social Services had a rule that she could only visit her daughter when her guardian was present. After six long weeks, she got the phone call she was waiting for. Dr. Butler decided that she had suffered from post traumatic stress syndrome, and the only reason she wouldn't get better would be if Avery didn't come home with her. Everyone noticed that Paige was more upset than ever when she didn't have her daughter. So, when Avery was 5 months and 1 week old, she was able to go back to her mother.
"Manny, I'm so thankful that you watched over her while I got better," Paige said, hugging her.
"Don't worry about it. That's what friends are for," Manny told her. She had thrown a party for Paige and Avery, but everyone else had gone home. "So, are you glad that you're finally done with the psychologist?"
"Actually, I'm not done. Social Services informed me that it is mandatory for me to either attend a support group for teen mothers, one for depressed people, or go to Dr. Butler twice a month. I chose the last option," she explained. I go on the first and last day of every month for a year, maybe longer if he thinks I need to."
"That blows. Well, at least you're not being forced into a support group," Manny pointed out, but then looked at her watch. "I should probably go to bed now, I have school in the morning," she said, rolling her eyes.
"Goodnight Manny," Paige said.
"Night. And I'll miss you Avery," Manny said to the sleeping infant in her car seat.
"I'm sure she'll miss you too," Paige said, and left. Manny yawned, stretched, and went down to her room. The twins were already asleep in their cribs. And of course, Chris was asleep, stretched across the bed. Manny changed into her pajamas and pushed him over a little. She climbed into bed and snuggled up close to him. When he felt her body against his, he woke up a little, put his arm around her, and fell back to sleep.
"I love you," Manny whispered in his ear and closed her eyes.
"How was your first night with her?" Manny asked Paige.
"It was great, it almost seemed like the first time I brought her home from the hospital," she replied.
"Oh my gosh Paige, I completely forgot to tell you something."
"What is it?" Paige asked.
"Chris and I are getting married!" she squealed.
"What? When?" she asked excitedly.
"Well, I told him that it wouldn't be until after we graduate. It will make things too complicated if we do it now," Manny explained.
"Yeah like Haley and Nathan on One Tree Hill."
"Paige! That's television! Although, you do have a point there. I love that show," Manny said, laughing. "Shoot! I have to go. It's almost time for me to be at work. I'll talk to you later. Bye!" she said, hanging up the phone.
"Did I hear you right?" Jimmy asked from across the room. "You're getting married?"
"Yeah, we are."
"Congratulations," he told her.
"Thanks, but I really have to go to work now! Don't forget, Chris will be home soon, and Jason and Heather took the kids on a trip for the weekend, so they won't be back until tomorrow night," she said.
"I know. It sucks that they're making you work on a Saturday," Jimmy told her.
"Yeah, but it's only this one time. I told Jessica that I'd work for her because she's sick," Manny said, and walked toward her kids. "Bye babies, mommy loves you," she said, kissing them both on top of their heads. "Bye Jimmy! Thanks again for coming on such short notice!" She ran up the stairs and left for work.
Jimmy looked at the clock. It was ten on a Saturday morning and he was babysitting. He wished he was playing basketball instead, but he loved spending time with Lily and Lucas. "Oh man you two; I can't believe your mommy is getting married. I really like her a lot. I'm only telling you this because you can't talk," he said to them. As if on cue, both babies started to cry. "Okay, who's hungry?" he asked them and brought them upstairs to feed them.
About an hour later, when they were both fed, Jimmy brought them into the living room and put a video on that Manny told him they liked to watch. They soon fell asleep and he just left the video on and held them. A few minutes later, Chris got home.
"Hey man," he said to Jimmy. "Thanks for watching them today. Do you need a ride home?"
"Nah, that's okay. I think I'm gonna walk down to the courts and play some basketball," Jimmy said. "Thanks anyway." He handed the twins to Chris and left. Chris brought them downstairs and put them both in their cribs. He took the baby monitor with him and went upstairs to take a shower.
As he was getting out of the shower, Chris heard Lily crying on the monitor. He threw some boxers and shorts on, and made his way downstairs. When he got to the bottom of the stairs, she stopped crying. He thought he could hear a voice on the monitor, so he turned it up. He was walking into the kitchen when he heard it again. "It's okay baby. I'm right here," someone said. Chris' eyes widened. He didn't know who it was, but it definitely wasn't Manny. He ran down the stairs to his room.
"What are you doing here?" he asked angrily.
"She was crying. I knew you were ignoring her," Craig said to him. He was standing next to Lily's crib and holding her.
"Put her down and get out!" Chris yelled. "Or I'll have to…"
"You'll what? Call the police? And what are you going to tell them?"
"That you're violating your restraining order."
"That would work, but I'm actually not. I have every right to be here. The restraining order says that I can't be near Manny. It doesn't say anything about the babies. And look, Manny's not here, she's at work," Craig smirked.
"Put my daughter down!" Chris yelled. Craig actually listened, and put Lily back in her crib.
"Now what Chris?" he asked. "You gonna come after me?" That was exactly what Chris intended on doing. He started towards Craig, but stopped when Craig pulled something out of his pocket.
"No Chris. Don't take another step. I'll use this, and say it was self defense. Works every time," Craig said, pointing the gun at Chris. "Of course, I intend on using it anyway."
"Is that why you came here Craig? To kill me?" Chris asked. He was getting very nervous. Craig took a few steps towards him, and he backed away.
"This is all your fault Chris. You destroyed my chance with Manny. We had something great until you came along. If it wasn't for you, those babies would be mine," he said, motioning towards the cribs. "And if you die, I'll be their father."
"That will never happen Craig. No matter what you do, Manny will never love you!" Chris yelled. Craig laughed.
"After what you did to her, you think she loves you?"
"We're getting married," Chris said.
"Yeah, for the babies' sake. I know what you did to her after they were born. I even know where you went, and I know what you did there. After I kill you, I'll tell her what you did and she'll come running back to me," Craig explained.
"You don't know what you're talking about!"
"Oh I don't? Let's see. You went to New York City and stayed with your friend. What was his name?" Craig pretended to think. "Oh yeah, Mike. And you were with that girl. I know what you did with her, and I'm going to tell Manny. She'll hate you so much and be glad that you're dead!" Craig spat. Chris looked at him with a blank face.
"You followed me?" he asked.
"That's not important," Craig answered. Just then, Lucas started to cry. Craig turned around for a second to see what was wrong, and Chris knew it was his only chance. He lunged at Craig and tried to grab the gun away. Surprised, Craig turned and noticed that Chris had missed. The two were struggling, and Chris was trying to get the gun away from Craig. After a minute, the gun went off. The shot rang through the air and Craig's eyes widened. He watched as Chris fell to the floor. Chris tried to get up, but clutched onto his knee where the bullet hit him. Craig lifted the gun again, aimed, and shot Chris, who fell back against the floor.
Craig ran up the stairs, out of the house, and kept running until he got home. He hid the gun in his bedroom and sat down on the bed. "I did it!" he yelled victoriously. "I killed him!"
"Craig, what are you talking about?" Angela asked as she appeared in the doorway. "Who did you kill?"
"Oh hey Angela. I didn't know you were here. I was just playing a video game," Craig lied.
"Oh. Well Daddy told me to tell you that we're going shopping for stuff to make dinner with."
"Okay, I'll see you later," Craig said. She left the room and he let out a sigh of relief. He lay down on his bed, staring up at the ceiling. "I'll be with you soon Manny," he whispered to himself.