ok, so i was actually able to get chapters 6&7 typed up in word, so i think everything got uploaded right, and if it didn't sorry, but i'm too lazy to proofread it AGAIN here. so yea. this is chapter 6... sorry it took so long!

oooohhhh yea... i don't want to get any shit about some of the stuff that comes up at the end of the chapter. you don't know me or know what i've been through, so don't tell me that i don't know what i'm talking about.


About three months later Maureen and I were sitting on the couch looking at sonograms when my work phone rang.

"Hang on a sec, Honeybear. I'll be right back." I got up from the couch and ran to the study/nursery to answer my phone. No one from the office ever called me after 5 unless it was an emergency. I grabbed the phone out of my bag and flipped it open.

"Joanne Jefferson."

"Joanne! I'm so glad I was able to reach you! This is Cynthia Burg, Alexa's aunt?" Why was she calling me? "Look, I just had something for work com up and I have to fly out to California tonight. They won't let me bring Lex, and I don't want to leave her here alone all week, so I was wondering if you could do me a huge favor? Would be possible for Alexa to stay with you for a week? I realize how awkward this may be, but I don't feel comfortable leaving her with one of my friends considering her situation."

"Well, Cynthia, I'm not sure…" They still didn't know about Maureen and I wasn't sure how this would work out. "Are you sure there isn't any other place that she can stay?" I asked her as I settled myself back onto the couch next to Maureen. "We have an extra room in our apartment, but I'm not sure if it will work…"

"Oh, Joanne, you never said anything about being married! Why wouldn't it work? If you're worried about Alexa being around other people, you don't need to worry, she'll be fine! I'd have to bring her over right now, my plane leaves in an hour. Is it okay if we're there in 15 minutes?"

She had me trapped. There wasn't any time for me to discuss this with Maureen, and there wasn't any way for me to say no now.

"Sure," I said, "see you in 15."

I hung up the phone and looked at Maureen, who was completely lost as she sat there watching me rub the bridge of my nose. "We have 15 minutes to set up the nursery so a 16-year-old can stay in it. I'll explain while we're cleaning."

Fifteen minutes later we had the stroller and partially assembled crib shoved in the corner and an inflatable mattress taking up most of the floor and a realization that we had no extra sheets, when there was a knock on the door. "I'll get it Pookie" Maureen said as she jumped up from the floor and left the room. She was almost to the door by the time I decided to get up and follow her.

"Hi, um, I'm sorry, but we must have the wrong address." Cynthia said as she glanced down at the piece of paper in her hand as I turned the corner. She glanced up at the sound of my footsteps and smiled when she saw me. "Joanne! I'm so glad to see you! For a second I thought I had written your address down wrong and I didn't know what I was going to do!"

"Well, I'm glad you found it okay," I said as I wrapped my arm around Maureen's bare waist. She was wearing a tank top the exposed part of her growing belly. "This is my wife, Maureen. Maureen, this is Cynthia and her niece, Alexa. Why don't you two come in?" I saw no change in Cynthia's facial expression at this revelation, but I saw a smirk on Alexa's face, like she had known all along. "We just finished cleaning up the nursery to make room for Alexa to sleep."

"I really need to get going so I don't miss my flight," Cynthia said as she shoved a duffel bag into Alexa's hands. "Lex has all my numbers in case anything happens, but I'm sure you guys will be fine." She gave Alexa a kiss on the forehead. "Bye Lex. I'll see you next week. Be good for Joanne and, um, Maureen, right?" She turned to us and said, "Thank you guys so much." She gave Alexa one last kiss on the head before turning and walking to the elevators. I turned and looked at Alexa, my arm still around Maureen, who was the first to break the silence.

"So… Alexa. We set up a bed for you in the nursery. You can go put your stuff in there and then come out for dinner." She pulled me over to give Alexa room to walk in.

"Thanks," she said as she walked into the apartment, kicking the door shut behind her. "So what's the situation here?"

I immediately knew what she meant and I had no clue how I was supposed to answer that. "Well, Maureen, is my wife, and, um, that's all there is to know." I pulled Maureen close to me again and realized what I forgot. "Oh yea, she's pregnant. The only spare room we have is the one that's going to be the nursery, so you'll have to excuse the mess in there."

"Okay. Whatever," she said as she picked her bag up and walked back to the open door of the nursery. After she kicked the door shut (again) I pulled Maureen down with me as I sat on the couch. I heard the door open and saw Alexa walk out with a Ziploc bag filled with medicine bottles. "Can I put these in the kitchen?"

"Sure" I told her as I got up from the couch, leading her into the kitchen. I heard Maureen get up and follow us. "You can set them right there and have a seat at the table, we were just about to eat dinner."

She threw the bag onto the counter and then took a seat the table. Maureen sat down next to her and watched as Alexa looked our kitchen. I pulled something frozen out of the freezer and stuck it in the microwave before sitting down at the table opposite of them. This time, I was the one to break the silence.

"So… I guess we're going to get to know each other pretty well this week. I don't think I've ever had a client stay with me before." I looked at Maureen and then back at Alexa, waiting for one of them to say something. I wasn't surprised that Alexa stayed silent, but it was very unlike Maureen to keep her mouth shut. None of us had ever been in a situation like this before, and we were obviously uncomfortable with it. I decided to continue.

"What medicines do you take? That seems like something Mo and I should know about." I didn't have the slightest idea why I was asking her this because I most likely wasn't going to know of anything she took.

"Well, I take Prozac, Lithium, and Ritalin every morning, except on weekends when I don't take the Ritalin. I also have to take Retrovir when I get up, and then at noon and before I go to bed. By the way, I'm HIV positive. I also have to take the Prozac again before I go to bed. My alarm is always set to wake me up at 7 because I have to take the Retrovir then, and then my watch is set for noon and then 7pm. " As she finished she crossed her arms across her chest and propped bare feet up on the table. "Anything else you need to know?"

"No, that's all for now." The microwave beeped and I got up to get the food out. "Let's eat," I said as I placed a plate in front of each of them. I couldn't help but notice the scars under Alexa's jeans as she pulled her feet down from the table and I could tell that Maureen had noticed the red lines covering her arms as she reached across the table for a napkin. I decided that now was not the right time to ask about them, and I made a mental note to do that later. The rest of dinner was pretty uneventful, Maureen and I talked about where she was going to have the baby (we finally came to the decision that the hospital would be the best place for her- the drama queen who can't stand pain) and Alexa just sat there and quietly listened.

After dinner Maureen went to take a shower, which left me alone with Alexa as I cleaned up the kitchen. She was handing me the glasses and plates from the table and I figured this would be a good time to ask her about the lines on her wrist.

"They're nothing," she quickly responded and changed the subject. "So how long have you and Maureen been married?"

"Alexa, answer my question." I was surprised at how stern I sounded when I said that. "What are those marks from?" I put down the dishes that I had been loading into the dishwasher and crossed my arms over my chest, waiting. "Alexa, I mean it. I'm responsible for you this week, and you're not leaving this room until you tell me. If you don't then I'll just call your aunt and ask her. Do you want me to do that?"

"No," she mumbled and looked at the floor as she sank into a chair. "I did them, ok? All of them. The ones on my wrists are from when I tried to kill myself. I would have gotten away with it too if I hadn't had fucked up and gotten caught. I spent almost a year in a psych ward, and now I'm here. I don't do it anymore, but I sure as hell want to.

She glared at me, daring me to scold her. I wasn't sure what to say; tonight seemed to be full of firsts and surprises for me. It wasn't as if this was a new situation for me; in fact, it was extremely familiar. I considered telling her about everything I had been through in high school, but decided against it when I remembered that I still had not told any of it to Maureen. I heard the shower go off and know that Maureen would be out here soon so that we could study the book for our parenting class tomorrow, the one we were supposed to read last week.

"I understand," I said in the voice I never used at home, the one that was only heard in court. "Just remember that Maureen and I are here to talk if you need us." She nodded and slid her feet off of the table. I turned around and continued loading the dishwasher before picking the books up off of the table and headed out to the living room to wait for Maureen. Alexa followed me out of the kitchen and headed to her room, passing Maureen who was walking down the hall rubbing lotion on her belly. Maureen came and joined me on the couch, and even though I tried to hide it, she was able to tell that I had been crying.

"Pookie, what's wrong?" She looked worried. Should I tell her? "Is there something going on with Alexa that I need to know about?"

"It's not Alexa. Mo, I don't think we should study tonight. I have a lot of things that I need to tell you."


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