"Dad I'm home" Jessie called out coming through the door. "Marc got me a puppy" sure enough she held the small dog close in her arms as she made her way in the house. John made his way out of the kitchen where he had been cooking and his gaze immediately went to the dog Jessie held in her arms. He made a face and looked up at her.
"It's a little fru fru girly dog" he said plainly. Jessie laughed and came over to kiss his cheek. She nodded her head.
"Well you know I AM a girl and all. It's not like I was gonna get a rottweiler or doberman or something" Jessie sat on the floor and began play with the small dog. Trish came from the kitchen and her gaze went to the dog.
"AWW" she squealed "she's so cute. What kind is she? What's her name? How old is she?" she fired off questions as she sat down beside Jessie and began to coddle the puppy.
"Well she's a malti-poo which is a mix of a maltese and a toy poodle. Her name is Muffin and she is 6 weeks old. She was just weaned from her mommy" the little puppy climbed up on Jessie's lap and flopped over on her back to have her belly rubbed. Jessie laughed and obliged the pampered dog.
John took the chance to look the dog over. It looked to be about 3 lbs. It was covered in longish fur that was mostly white but the end of one floppy ear was a dark grey color and the other ear was totally grey and the grey also covered the area around the eye and top of the head. It had a long tail that had a grey tip and seemed to be constantly wagging. John wasn't too interested in playing with the puppy like the girls were so he went back into the kitchen to finish breakfast.
Randy woke up with a smile on his face. Alexis had stayed in his arms all night long, he hadn't slept as good as this in a week. He leaned over and kissed Alexis and felt her wake up and start responding to the kiss. "Hey handsome" she said looking up into his blue eyes, eyes she oft got lost in.
"Hey gorgeous" Randy said stroking Alexis' hair. He was deeply in love with her and was happy that he had her back where she belonged. "Ready for breakfast?" Randy asked Alexis, kissing her again. He glanced at the clock and saw that it was after 8 PM "make that dinner" he said kissing Alexis' cheek and pulling her in his arms. It was like he couldn't get enough of kissing her and touching her. Before he could say anything else his cell phone rang. Randy got out of bed and went and got it. Alexis admired his naked form as he stood there talking. Randy turned around after hanging up with whoever was on the phone and Alexis saw tears of frustration in his eyes.
"Baby what's wrong?" she asked getting up out of bed and going over to him, wrapping her arms around his waist and looking up at his face.
"They want Jessie to testify at Josh's trial. They said that it could possibly be the difference of him going to jail for a long time and him getting out on probation or work release" Randy said sighing heavily.
John hung up from talking to Randy and dialed his parents house his brother Sean answered the phone "where are mom and dad? I need to talk to them".
"They're not here man; they, Matt, Dan, Steve, and Marc all went out to eat. I ate before I went to work so I didn't go. They left like 20 minutes ago why?" Sean asked, wondering why John was calling at 8:30 at night since it was unusual for him.
"Man I got a letter from the detectives who handled the case against Josh. The trial is next week and they want Jessie to testify. I was hoping I could get mom and dad here so when I tell her it'll be a bit easier" John sat down on his bed and rubbed his hand over his face. He wasn't looking forward to telling Jessie and wanted someone there for support.
"Wow. Well I'll make my way over there and I'll leave a message on mom's cellphone to come over that way when they get done" John said his agreement and hung up the phone. Trish came in at that moment and sat down beside him.
"Honey did you get them?" she asked putting her hand on John's back and rubbing it. John shook his head and sighed. He laid back on the bed and pulled Trish with him, he kissed her forehead before talking.
"I got in touch with Sean and he's going to call mom's cell and leave a message and he's coming over. I'm just hoping that Jessie doesn't take the news too badly" John and Trish laid there for a few more minutes talking quietly about the situation before they went back out where Jessie was sat on the couch watching A Walk to Remember. She looked over at them when they entered, an accusing look on her face.
"What's going on?" she asked "something's up what is it?" John looked at Trish, knowing that he couldn't put it off any longer he had to tell Jessie what was going on. He came over and sat down beside her, Trish sitting on the other side.
"Babygirl" he started "I uh I got a letter in the mail last night. It was from the detectives that handled your case after Josh shot you" he saw Jessie shudder at the mention of Josh's name and he knew telling her wouldn't be easy. "Next week is when his trial begins and they want you to go testify against him" Jessie got up abruptly and turned to face John, tears in her eyes and a pleading look on her face.
"What?" she gasped out "Daddy I can't. He, he did things, Daddy I can't face him I can't tell total strangers what happened to me. It's too hard I can't. Please don't make me". John got up and put his arms around Jessie, this whole thing was killing him and all he wanted to do was grab her up in his arms and tell her it would all be alright and she'd never have to face Josh again or think about what happened to her, but unfortunately he couldn't.
"Babygirl you have to. If you don't give your testimony then Josh could go away scot free and be out there and who knows what would happen" Jessie pulled away from him and looked at him with a look that made John's heart shatter into a million pieces.
"Daddy you wouldn't let him do that though. He couldn't get to me. Daddy I can't do this" John went to grab her arm but Jessie pulled away and ran out of the house. John knew better than to go after her, knowing that she wouldn't talk to him anyway. He sat down on the couch beside Trish, silent tears making their way down his cheeks. Trish didn't know what to say so she just wrapped her arms around John and hugged him to her, silently trying to transfer some of the strength in her body to his knowing that he would need lots of it for the next week or more.
Sean was turning down the road that lead to John's house when he saw a person fly by his car going the opposite direction. He looked in the rearview mirror and saw that it was Jessie. He made a U-Turn, thanking God that there was no one else on the road, and followed her. She went to a park that was about 4 blocks away from the house and Sean saw her sit down on the swings, head down shoulders shaking with sobs. Sean parked his car and slowly walked over to where she was. He squeezed into the swing beside her and put his hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him and the look on her face broke his heart.
"Uncle Sean" she cried out, throwing herself into his embrace. He almost fell out of the swing at the force but planted his feet to prevent it. He held her in his lap a few minutes, slowly swinging the swing a bit, rubbing her back in a soothing motion. "They want me to go testify against Josh" Jessie said finally somewhat under control "they want me to face him and tell strangers about what he did to me. How am I supposed to do that, Uncle Sean? How can I be expected to go through that and not have a nervous breakdown? If I have to see him again who knows how I'll react".
Sean collected his thoughts and slowly spoke, voice conveying assurance that he didn't feel at the moment "Jessie-Bear" he said using a nickname that he had only used once, when Jessie was over at his parents house and she had gorged herself on hotdogs and was puking her guts out "you can do this. If you don't then he'll go free. Do you want that? Do you basically want it to seem like you're saying its ok that he did those things to you? Do you want it to be like he could go and do what he did to you to other girls?".
"But Uncle Sean how can I do it? I can't do it alone" Sean grasped Jessie's chin lightly and made her look him in the eyes.
"Jessie you won't be alone" he said sternly "I'll be there, your dad, your uncles, Gramma, Pop, Randy, Alexis, Trish, Marc, who knows who else but Jessie-Bear you won't be alone. If at anytime you feel like the weight is too much to bear then there'll be someone there to share it with you or if you need someone to lean on there'll be someone there or a shoulder to cry on. Baby you will NOT be alone. I WILL NOT allow it. And excuse my language but your dad damn sure won't allow you to go through this alone. Honey it WILL work out and it WILL be ok. I PROMISE and I NEVER break my promises. Never. Every promise I ever made I have seen through. Ask your dad I still have a scar on the back of my head where I promised him if he asked this girl he had a crush on out that I would jump off the roof of our house, we had these thorn bushes and needless to say it cut me to pieces and I still have a scar from it. But it shows that my promises are my word and I never go back on my word" Jessie laughed lightly and hugged Sean. She then pulled his head down and looked at the back of it. Sure enough he had a small, jagged scar.
"Why'd you promise Daddy that you'd jump off the house if he asked that girl out?" Jessie asked, laughing a bit. Sean smiled and laughed as if he was remembering what happened.
"He was 14. He liked this girl alot but he didn't have the guts to ask her out so I told him if he did it I'd jump. Of course like any 'loving'" Sean added a bit of sarcasm when he said this "brother he agreed. I didn't actually think he'd do it but to my complete shock he did it so I kept my word and jumped". Jessie and Sean talked a bit more and then they went to Sean's car and Sean drove them back to John's house. Jessie noticed a few more cars in the drive way and wondered who they were. She followed Sean in the house and saw her uncles, grandparents, Marc, Randy and Alexis. She briefly wondered how Randy and Alexis got there so fast from Atlanta and made a mental note to ask. As soon as she stepped in the door all eyes were on Jessie.
"You ok babygirl?" John asked Jessie. She nodded. Sean pulled her over to a space on the floor and sat down with Jessie on his lap.
"Hey sweetie. I came as soon as I could" Randy said leaning down and hugging Jessie. She hugged back and when she pulled back she asked the question she'd been dying to ask.
"How'd you get from Atlanta to here so fast? It couldn't have been more than 3 hours since dad called you" Randy got red in the face and looked away from Jessie and mumbled something "what?" Jessie asked.
"I hired a pilot to fly Lexi and I back here and I rented a car and skimmed a few 'pink' lights" Jessie got up and smacked Randy in the shoulder.
"You dip I can't believe you" Jessie smacked Randy with each word. He tried to dodge her but it didn't work "you could have hurt your pregnant wife and future baby" Jessie smacked him some more and Randy managed to run behind Alexis who was almost doubled over in laughter.
"That's my girl always sticking up for what's right" John said, a proud smile on his face. The rest of the night everyone gathered together and talked about the impending trial.