Chapter 10
A week later. After breakfast and getting Emma on the bus Natalia headed to the Beacon with Olivia assuring her she would be there shortly. As Olivia was leaving the house her phone rang. "Yeah, I'm on my way to the Beacon right now okay? Natalia I'll be there soon, alight. I love you too. Bye."
Just before stepping off the porch she spotted one of Emma's dolls. Picking it up and hugging it to her chest she walked to her car. All plans of heading to the Beacon quickly forgotten. Without even realizing she had driven there, Olivia pulled into the parking lot of the Springfield police department.
Stepping out of her car she was suddenly hit with a wave of fear and panic. Walking back she leaned against her car taking a few breaths before walking into the police station. Some what in a daze, she looked around letting out a shuddering breath.
Officer Mallet almost ran into her. "Hey Olivia, are you alright?"
Phillip heard the two speaking and walked to the edge of his cell trying to hear better.
Mallet walked Olivia to a chair and brought her a cup of water.
"I was like on auto piolet when I left the house and I was gonna swing by the Beacon and then I saw one of Emma's dolls and I just…I was wondering how long it was gonna take him to come back and try to take my little girl away from me. And the next thing I know I'm just sitting outside the station in the parking lot trying to imagine what his face looks like."
"Why don't I have one of the guys here drive you home."
"No, no I'm, I'm good. I'm fine really." She stood to leave. "I can't, I can't do this." She stuttered as she walked away.
Phillip was yelling from his cell. "Hey Mallet, Mallet."
Olivia made the decision to take another small detour to the court house before going to the Beacon. Walking in, she found the judge she was looking for. "Hi, excuse me, I'm Olivia Spencer. I run the Beacon hotel. I understand you're the judge that was assigned Phillip Spaulding's arraignment. Which means you'll probably be presiding over his trial right?"
"I don't think this is an appropriate conversation."
"I just, I wanna help. That's all. I just wanna help. I wanna testify. I'm, I'm one of the mothers of his children and I, I, I know how dangerous he can be and I, I think he belongs in jail."
"You should speak to the prosecutor Ms. Spencer."
She reached a hand out to stop him from leaving. "I know the prosecutor doesn't decide the case. I know how the system works. And how it doesn't work and I just want to see justice served. Whatever the cost."
"I hope that wasn't a bribe or you're gonna be looking at a trial of your own."
Crestfallen Olivia left the court house desperate to find Natalia and feel safe for just a minute.
The next few days passed as normal. The girls going to work and Emma going to school. Before they knew it the day of Coop's memorial was upon them. Standing outside the funeral home Natalia and Olivia had a brief conversation before heading in.
"There strong people, and we're gonna be there to help them." Olivia stated reassuringly.
"Okay, but losing a child, can you imagine? I mean I had to go see Rafe as soon as I found out and I prayed all night and I mean just think about it…"
"No, no just, I'm not gonna lose Emma. I'll never lose her."
Natalia took Olivia's hand. "I'm sorry. I know you're worried about Phillip."
"As long as he's in jail, that's where he belongs."
Walking in hand in hand they stopped at the sight of Alan Spaulding and Buzz Cooper yelling at each other being held apart. Lizzie Spaulding was screaming, "Stop, stop, stop ENOUGH!"
Alan looked straight at Buzz. "It's alright Elizabeth. I am not leaving until you hear what I have to say Buzz."
Beth stared at Alan. "Alan, stop this."
Lillian, Lizzie's mother, joined her. "Don't you realize people are hurting Alan."
"It's not my fault." Alan fired back."
Daisy yelled at him, "oh yeah, who else?"
Alan continued, "You know something, you're all delusional."
"You're the one who's delusional." Daisy spat back.
Mallet took control. "People please. Just get him outta here, just get him outta here."
Marina Cooper shouted over Mallet. "We are trying to mourn somebody that we love."
"I'm so sorry. I'm sorry, that's why we came." Lizzie offered.
"This isn't about you it's about him." Buzz reassured her pointing to Alan.
"You know Buzz you've hated me for a long time and my family. Now you think you have a reason. Well I am not responsible for what happened to Coop." Alan stated.
Screaming ensued again. Every one screaming over top of one another. Phillip had been watching it all unfold from the side lines and decided to take matters into his own hands. Grabbing the gun from the officer standing guard next to him, he pushed him to the ground and fired a shot into the ceiling.
The shouting stopped instantly. A few people screamed and Olivia put her arms around Natalia shielding her.
All eyes turned to Phillip, "Now that I have your attention."
Frank grabbed one of his arms, Marina grabbing the other, taking the gun and handing it back to the officer. Alan yelled from the back, "Frank let him go."
Frank angrily said, "Alan stay outta this."
Phillip calmly stated, "it's alright Frank, I'm not here to hurt anybody."
"Really, well you'll have to pardon us, if it's a little hard to buy." Frank fired back.
Olivia talked from the side, "What is he doing here? He's supposed to be locked up."
Rick Bauer stepped towards Phillip, "What, what, what are you doing? I don't get this."
Blake Marler stood shooting daggers at Phillip, who was behind her husbands death.
"Blake, I'm so sorry."
Blake's face contorted with more anger, her eyes darkening. "Don't, don't you say his name. Ross loved you."
"Diaz get him outta here." Frank ordered an officer.
"Wait a minute, wait please Frank look, I'm sorry I know that I shouldn't have done that. I just, I just needed you all to listen to me. Just please, it'll only take a minute." Phillip begged.
"Yeah we know, Spaulding's good Cooper's bad and it's our fault that Coop died. We got it." Frank spat close to his face. "Get him outta here." He said again, handing him to an officer.
Alan turned to his granddaughter. "Elizabeth wait here."
"Ahh, Ahh, Ahh stay put." Mallet demanded to Alan.
"You can't keep me here Mallet."
"You just watch me."
Rubbing Olivia's arm Natalia asked, "are you okay?"
Looking into her face Olivia angrily said, "do I look okay?"
Olivia walked away. Going to a corner and staring at a wreath sent for Coop. Natalia walked up and placed her hand on her arm. "Why don't you sit."
"No, I'm okay."
"You're not okay."
"If he had stayed just one more minute…"
"What?"
"All I could think about was getting that gun out of his hands and I swear I would have shot him."
Natalia just stared at her for moment until their attention was pulled back to the front where Phillip had been brought back in. He looked at everyone gathered, "Excuse me. Um." He glanced at every one. Watched as Olivia walked closer with a death glare directed at him. He turned back to the crowd. "I'm sorry about before. I….just needed your attention. Everybody's attention." The crowd looked around at each other and then back to him. "So much going on here today, so much emotion, so much anger and I see these two families going at each other, and I get it. I understand it better then any body, but it's time for it to stop. I'm sorry about all of this. I'm sorry about what brings you here today. I know that you, all of you, loved Coop. It's fair to say that he touched the lives of everybody in this room, and what has happened to him is terrible and tragic. I'm especially sad for you Buzz. No one, should ever, have to bury a child. No one. But when you came to me, in the jail, when you, told me that you wanted to get Alan, that he had to pay, and that you wanted me to help you do it…"
"Whoa, what, what?" Alan asked.
Phillip continued over him. "…I knew that, that was just grief talking."
"I don't care what it was. Wait a minute Buzz, you approached…."Alan started.
Phillip screamed over him, "STOP, STOP, because you came to me less then two hours ago with almost the same speech! We have to stand up against these people! Remember! These, these people are us!" Lowering his voice finally he went on, "switch the names, switch the anger, the need for revenge. There's no difference. We have to stop this… before it's too late. Before it's later then it already is. Now I'm sure that a lot of you are wondering why I came back and you're worried that I haven't changed and I don't blame you a bit, but if I can just get you to see how pointless this all is, how destructive, then maybe coming back and even going to jail will be well worth it. We have a chance today, all of us, to pick which way this leads us, which road we're gonna be on. Who we're gonna be with. You know all my life, I've heard people say that Springfield is a special place, but, that's, that is not true, this place is not special, anymore then any other place. It's us, it's everybody inside this room, everyone outside those doors. We all have it in us, to make it special, but we have to make that choice. We have to want that. We have to be willing to look at somebody who has hurt us, somebody who has wounded us as much as a human being can be wounded, and say, I will not hate, I forgive, I don't fear, I embrace, I don't close my heart, I open it. I open it. That's what I wanted to say."
Buzz looked at him, "that's it, nothing about what he did, about what he deserves?"
"Buzz."
"My son is dead."
"And I can't bring him back. No one can."
"My son is dead."
Olivia walked to the back room. Natalia came in carrying their coats. "We should go."
Olivia was intently starring at Phillip. "Where?"
Following her line of sight Natalia quickly responded, "Buzz is gone, the whole family's gone, so lets….."
"I need a minute." Walking past her and towards Phillip. Olivia walked to the officer standing with Phillip reaching for his gun. "I need your gun."
"Excuse me ma'am you can't touch that gun." He pushed her back. "Please stop."
Natalia made it to Olivia grabbing her hand. "Let me officer." Then leading her to the back of the room. "What were you doing?"
"I wanted to scare him."
"Well you're scaring me."
"Well you know what, now he's gone. No one knows where he is, now I'm scared."
"Okay, no, you're right." Both women sat. "You should be scared, but you can't just go off like that, you have to think."
"No, I'm not gonna think. There's no time to think. He took my daughter away from me once before."
"Okay, Emma, so you get in trouble, you end up in jail what's gonna happen to her, what's gonna happen to us?"
Letting out a breath she wasn't aware she was holding Olivia asked, "What?"
"I'm saying that you have to start doing the right thing for Emma."
"No, no, no, what you said, what?"
"I said what happens to us Olivia? You go and do something that gets you in trouble and I can't help you. Emma is taken from me and you are in jail what then Olivia? What am I supposed to do then. When my son is in prison, the women I love is in jail, and the child I love as if she's my own is taken from me. What then? Huh?"
"You're right, you're right, I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking." Olivia took Natalia's hands into her own. "Nothing is going to happen to me. Me and Emma aren't going anywhere. I promise."
"You promise? No more Olivia, shoot first ask questions later, Spencer? You're gonna slow down and think and use that gorgeous, brilliant brain of yours? Yes?"
"Yes. I'm sorry. Forgive me?"
Natalia kissed her softly, "Forgiven. Now you're worried about him."
"Yes."
"Because of Doris and the publicity and her getting her hands on Emma's story."
"He's gonna use it against me."
"Okay, wait, I thought we didn't want to hide anything? Didn't want it to look like we were ashamed? I'm not upset if you've changed you mind, I'm just trying to get on the same page."
"No, yes, I don't know. I'm not ashamed or embarrassed or anything like that. I don't think we're doing anything wrong. But now, after seeing him, I'm just so scared Natalia. I'm so scared he's gonna do anything he can to take my little girl."
"I know, I know. Okay, let me try to fix it."
"How? What do, what do you mean?"
"I will talk to Phillip. I will make him see that there is nothing between us. Nothing." Getting up she walked to their coats with Olivia following. "You're not saying anything."
"What am I supposed to say?" Olivia responded with hurt in her voice.
"It was just an idea, and it's not a bad idea."
"You go talk to Phillip?"
"Yes."
"And you tell him that all that talk that he's hearing about us is just that, it's talk."
"Yeah, I think I can make him understand."
"Yeah, I'm sure you could."
"Why is this a bad idea?"
Olivia's voice was full of attitude. "Is that what you think? That, that everyone wants to hear? Is that what you think he wants to hear?"
"I don't…"
"I don't, I don't understand the way you think sometimes. I just…."
"Okay, I'm trying to help. I don't understand why you have to be mean. You're the one that just said you don't want him to know! So please, please Olivia, explain to me what you're problem is right now because I'm having a hard time following."
"I don't need your help, okay, it's my problem." She tried to walk away but Natalia quickly grabbed her arm.
"No, you do not get to say something like that and walk away Olivia. This is our relationship, this is our family, so tell me how this is not my problem?"
"I just, Phillip is my past, my burden, and I will figure it out. This is not something you need to deal with."
"Oh really? So your big speech about me believing in us in our family, those were just words. We aren't an us? We aren't a family? Emma doesn't concern me? You aren't my concern?"
"That's not what I meant Natalia."
"So what did you mean Olivia? Please explain it to me."
"I just meant that Phillip is dangerous and making him believe that we're not together is far from the only concern. Phillip plays dirty and I don't want you getting dragged into it. You have enough to worry about with Rafe. You don't need this too."
Calming slightly Natalia brought Olivia into a tight embrace. After kissing her cheek she stepped back. "Just like you are there when I need you and when Rafe needs you and when Emma or Ava needs you, I am going to be there too. Olivia we are partners, a team, and we are in this together. All of this. No matter what THIS is at the moment. Okay?"
"Okay, you're right. I'm sorry. I'm really sorry."
"I forgive you, again." She said with a shy smile. "I love you Olivia. All of you. Even the not so smart parts."
"Gee, thanks." Olivia smirked and bumped Natalia with her hip.
"Anytime mi amor, anytime." Not caring if there were any lingering guest around to see, Natalia took the love of her life into her arms and kissed her. Not a kiss of passion but a kiss meant to erase the feelings of pain, and loss, and doubt, and leave only the ever growing feelings of their love.