"Family Ties" Chapter 9
Out in the waiting room Rebecca sat across from Joshua. Both hadn't said a word since Rod and Mac had gone in to see Avery. Josh looked up fidgeting with his hands .
" Thanks for calling me . I was waiting to hear from her this weekend. She told me she was going to tell your parents."
Rebecca nods, "Yeah that was the plan until..." Rebecca sighs her guilt spilling through. " I didn't have a choice, I had to tell them."
Josh gets up and sits in the chair next to her. Trying to reassure her.
" Don't worry she won't be mad. You did what was right... Now we just have to help her get through this. It's not going to be easy, she already loved that baby."
Rebecca looks up at him , sincerely. " She wasn't the only one. You really care about her, don't you?"
Josh pauses then nods, " Yeah I do... I care about her a lot."
Rebecca smiles and puts her hand over his , just as Rod looks on from the door.
Back in Avery's room.
Mac brings over a cup of water to Avery, sitting on the edge of the hospital bed.
"Are you in any pain ? Do you need anything?"
Avery shakes her head no and replies a bit coldly. " I'm okay. They gave me something before."
"You know honey your dad didn't mean what he said, he's just in shock, we both are. We didn't see this coming ."
Avery laughs sarcastically .
" And you think I did? I know what you're thinking mom. You're thinking that you would never have been so stupid- you never would have let it get this far, you wouldn't have let yourself get so far into something, that your judgement got clouded. Please don't even say it... because I don't need another lecture."
Mac gets up , her expression serious. " If that is the opinion you have of me then you don't know me at all."
Avery's emotions rising.
"How are we supposed to know you mom? You are constantly the ever perfect Mackenzie Allen, who can never do wrong, never lets anyone see her down and out. How are we supposed to know you if you hide from us too?"
Mac looks stunned. She cannot believe the words coming out of her own daughters mouth. She can blame it on the pain of her loss or even her hormones , but this is something that seems to have been building up inside her child for a long time now.
Avery's anger turns to tears.
" The entire time I was going through this ,all I could think of was how much I wanted my mom. The mom who used to kiss my scraped knees. The one who would dress us up in our raincoats and boots and takes us outside on a rainy day to jump in the puddles with us .
The one who made me feel better when it seemed like my world was crashing down..."
Mac's heart was breaking hearing her talk like that, she rushed to her side and pulled her into her arms.
"Baby I'm sorry if I've made you feel that way. I know that things have changed since I became President, but that will never keep me from being your mother and loving you... I know you must be hurting right now. I've been where you've been and it feels like the pain will never go away, but in time it does get easier."
Avery looks up at her, her face tear stained. " You have?"
Mac runs her hands through Avery's hair, sitting side by side with her on the bed.
" Before we had you I was pregnant... we had just gotten married and didn't plan it. At first it was difficult trying to accept it, we had a plan and a baby wasn't part of that plan for a while... I miscarried right before the second trimester. It was a huge blow for us. As much of a surprise as it was I let myself get excited .You make plans from the start, think about names, dream about the future, then in an instant it's gone and it hurts like hell... I know it hurts , baby . You might feel like something is empty inside you right now, but in time it will slowly start filling and you can move on."
Avery , more calm. " What helped you move on?"
Mac smiles and kisses her forehead. " I had you... and your brother and sisters you kids are my world."
There's a knock on the door disturbing their moment. Jim enters cautiously.
"Madame President I'm sorry to interrupt- Ms Calloway. " he nods acknowledging her.
"Jim what is it?"
"Ma'am the press got word of what happened, they're camped outside. You might want to make a statement."
" They'll get what they need when we're ready to talk about it. This is a family matter -not news."
Jim nods and exits the room.
