Chapter Eleven: As Long As I'm With You

Manny woke up and stretched. She made her way downstairs and found her husband lying quite uncomfortably on the couch. Oddly, she was in a good mood and jumped on top of him, waking him up. He looked into her eyes and smiled.

"I really missed you last night," she told him and kissed him. "I don't ever want to fight again."

"I'm so sorry Manny. I shouldn't have blown up like that. What can I do to make it up to you?" he asked her.

"You really did hurt me," she said.

"I know, and I never meant to. Give me another chance. I want to make it up to you anyway I can."

"Make love to me," she said and kissed him again. Manny pulled her shirt off and Jimmy did the same. They tried to shift positions and ended up in a heap on the floor. They both burst out laughing and stood up. Jimmy ran his hands up and down Manny's arms and kissed her.

"Gross!" they heard someone yell. Lucas was standing at the bottom of the stairs, and closed his eyes. "Get a room!" Manny laughed and put her shirt back on.

"You can look now," she told him. "I'll go make some breakfast, and then we have to go pick Lily up from Paige's."

"Can we go see Jon today?" Luc asked. "Please?"

"Of course," Jimmy told him. "We'll get your sister and then go."

Manny went into the kitchen to make breakfast but Jimmy stopped her. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close to him. He kissed her, slipping his tongue into her mouth and they made out for a few minutes. Luckily for them, Lucas stayed in the living room to watch TV. Jimmy lifted Manny up onto the kitchen counter and they continued to make out.

"I love you," he told her when they finally pulled away.

"I love you too," she said. They make waffles and sausage together and called Lucas in. All three of them ate quickly and Jimmy went upstairs to get Bella. Manny fed her and they were off to pick Lily up and visit their son.


"No!" Paige screamed as she looked at her mail.

"What is it?" Jake asked, suddenly appearing at her side. The girls were all outside, playing for a couple more minutes until Manny and Jimmy arrived.

"It's a summons. Jake, he's suing us for custody!" she cried into his shoulder.

"WHAT?" he yelled, ripping the paper from her hands. "He wants joint custody," he sighed in disbelief.

"That can't happen," Paige said. Jake's shoulder was wet with her tears. He pulled her face up to his and kissed her.

"It won't."

"Anyone home?" Manny called out as she entered her friend's house.

"We're in here!" Paige yelled. She dried her tears and hugged Manny.

"What's wrong?" Manny asked.

"Matt is suing us for joint custody," Paige sighed. Manny's face went blank as she had another flashback of her rape.

"You okay?" Jake asked, waving his hand in front of her face. Manny had to fight back tears.

"I'm fine. I was gonna ask you two if you wanted to go visit Jonathan, but you need to work this out," she told them.

"I'll go get her for you," Paige said and walked away.

"I'm really worried about what this will do to her," Manny said to Jake.

"So am I. I have to come up with some kind of plan. Matt cannot win any custody at all. We don't want Avery ever knowing about him. He's a horrible person, and she shouldn't have to deal with having him as a father," Jake explained. "We have to prepare ourselves for the worst."

"Don't worry; I'm sure you'll think of something." Just then, Paige returned to the living room with Lily, who was carrying all of her stuff.

"Did you thank your Aunt and Uncle?" Manny asked her.

"Yes mother, like a bazillion times!" she rolled her eyes and hugged Paige and Jake before following her mom out the door.

"See you later!" Manny called to them as they left. "And good luck!"


A week passed and Paige found herself sitting at the trial. She was scared out of her mind that she might lose her daughter. Manny and Jimmy agreed to watch the girls for the day. Paige felt bad because it was the same day that Jonathan was getting out of the hospital, but she couldn't help it.

"I don't even want to hear this," she whispered to Jake who was sitting next to her.

"Don't worry. With the rape and statutory rape charges, they won't grant him any custody at all," Jake assured her. They held onto each other tightly underneath the table.

"Mr. Oleander," the judge addressed him. "Considering your past with Mrs. Morgan, I will not grant you joint custody of Avery Morgan." Paige breathed a sigh of relief.

"We did it," she whispered, kissing Jake softly.

"However, I will grant you weekly visits, every Sunday. The visits will be supervised and last two hours long," she said. Paige began to cry and Matt's lawyer spoke up.

"Your honor, although it was my client's actions that caused his imprisonment, it is not his fault that he has not been able to recently spend time with his own daughter. I ask that the visits be at least three days a week," he said.

"Your client was released from prison two years ago. He's had plenty of time to seek out his child. My decision stands. The visits will last for a period of one year before joint custody is discussed. This case is adjourned."

"What are we going to do?" Paige asked, burying her head in Jake's chest.

"I'll fix this, I promise," he told her.

"See you next Sunday," Matt whispered in her ear as he walked by. He smirked at her when she looked up at him with a tear-stained face.


"Manny!" Paige cried as she walked into the house. Manny ran up to Paige, saw the tears, and threw her arms around her.

"Jimmy? Can you bring all the kids outside so we can talk?" she asked her husband. "I'll take Isabella." Jimmy handed the baby to Manny and ushered all the kids into the backyard.

"He gets supervised visits every Sunday for two hours!" Paige blurted out. "We have to do something. Avery doesn't even know who he is. I'm not having my family falling apart. She'll hate me for not telling her! She's too young to even begin to understand!" she yelled, still crying.

"I think I have an idea," Manny said, all of a sudden.

"What?" Paige instantly stopped crying and looked up. "This has to be permanent."

"You have to leave," she told them.

"What do you mean?" Jake asked. "Like move? The police will find us and they could take Avery away if they knew we were running."

"Not if you left the country," Manny whispered.

"You think we should move to the States, don't you?" Paige asked.

"The police can't follow you. The law here is different than in the States. You could leave and they can't take her from you. I think it's the only chance you have to keep your secret safe. Now, we have a week to work this out. I'll ask Jimmy to come with me to your house and pack up everything. You guys should all stay here. The girls can stay in Lily's room, and you two can take the guest room. Pick a state to live in and try to find a house to buy. Jimmy and I will rent a moving truck under our name so no one is suspicious. This is your only chance," Manny finally finished explaining.

"Do you want to do this?" Jake asked Paige.

"I don't care where I go, as long as I'm with you," she replied.

A/N: So I just realized that I never gave Jake a last name, so my friend and I decided on Morgan.