A/N: Sorry for the delay. Our new foster to adopt baby has some medical needs that took up most of my time the last couple of weeks. Hope you all enjoy and thanks for reading.
Chapter 118
The jury had been in deliberation for well over five hours. Dinner had been delivered and consumed and still they just couldn't agree.
"I cannot commit to a guilty plea. Mr. Cooper's version of the events seems to be just as plausible as the Spencer-Rivera family's." Said juror number seven. He was a nice-looking man in his mid to late forties. No wedding band, but there was a light tan line around his left-hand ring finger, he was smug, and completely full of himself. He was the type of man that would want to defend a scumbag like Frank Cooper, thinking woman were possessions and not human beings. The others thought that perhaps he had a preconceived disliking for Olivia since he only seemed to want to point out her bad qualities of ripping apart marriages, and breaking hearts, refusing to even listen to anything positive about the woman. At one point the woman to his right was pretty sure she heard him mumble, "she got what she deserved," under his breath.
"How can you possibly believe that load of crap. That man put that family through hell. And to abuse a woman the way he did…" Juror number three countered. An older man with a well-worn wedding band proudly sitting on his left hand. The man had mentioned in no uncertain terms what he would do to anyone who dared touch his wife the way Mrs. Olivia Spencer-Rivera had been abused.
"See, this is exactly what Mr. Carter was trying to point out about that woman. She is praying on the fact that you are women or married men, manipulating you into feeling sorry for her and refusing to see the truth. Olivia Spencer is no innocent woman; she is viper poised to attack at any moment. I have no doubt that she attacked Mr. Cooper without cause and he was merely defending himself." Juror seven all but screamed.
That's when it clicked for the jury foreman. This man had a personal vendetta against Olivia Spencer-Rivera and allowing her abuser to walk would be his revenge against whatever Olivia had done to him. It was clear by the way he spoke of her. He wasn't quoting facts from the trial; he was lashing out from personal anger towards the woman.
Clearing her throat, the foreman looked juror number seven straight in the eye. "I have to ask; do you have some sort of past with Mrs. Olivia Spencer-Rivera?"
Juror seven swallowed hard and then schooled his features. "Of course not. That's absurd."
"Are you certain?" The foreman asked. "You sound awfully bias against her. As if you have some sort of personal vendetta with her." The woman with deep blue eyes and auburn hair in her late fifties asked, fake sweetness dripping from her voice.
"I assure you I have never met that vile woman before in my life." The man said, averting his eyes.
The foreman cleared her throat and then stood, walking to the door she peaked her head out and spoke with the bailiff. It didn't take long for judge Anderson to summon the foreman to his office. She explained how she and most of the other jurors felt that juror number seven had a large bias against Olivia and that he alone was holding up deliberations. She asked that the judge remove him.
"Removing him now would be cause for a mistrial Mrs. Foreman. It would be better suited to attempt to get him to vote as the rest of you have. If a decision cannot be made, he will be removed and we will motion for an alternate, however, if the prosecution or the defense fights against it, a mistrial is a huge possibility."
"Yes your honor." The foreman bowed her head and made her way back to the deliberation room. Once inside, she spoke with conviction. "Juror seven, the rest of us have made a clear decision on all charges in this case. Are you willing to change your vote to match the rest of us?"
"I am willing to vote with you on everything except for home invasion and the assault against Olivia Spencer-Rivera. Change it to breaking and entering and change your vote on Mrs. Olivia Spencer-Rivera and we will call it a day."
Before the foreman could speak, all eleven of the other jurors were up in arms. Juror number eleven, a tall lengthy woman of about thirty-five was the first to speak. "You are wanting to lessen the charges that are the most severe. You want to dismiss what that man did to not only a woman, but a woman with a major health problem. He could have caused her to have a heart attack, he could have killed her. From the evidence we saw, she is very lucky to still be alive. How can you dismiss that?"
"I don't believe a word that woman said. Didn't any of you listen to all of testimony against her?" Juror number seven spat at them.
"Yes we did." Juror number five spoke up. "We also listened to what was done to her for her act to the way she did. Most everything that was said against her also had an explanation as to why."
"There is no reason why she would knowingly rip apart happy marriages. Tricking drunk and married men into her bed." The angry man shouted.
"Those accusations were never brought up. What would make you think she's ever done such a thing?" the foreman asked calmly. She had a feeling this man did in fact know Olivia, and now she had an idea of what transpired between them. "And furthermore, even if they are true, grown married men should know better than to get into bed with a woman who isn't their wife, no matter how drunk they are."
The man just sat there with his mouth gaping open like a fish out of water. He hadn't meant to say that. 'Damn it' he thought. Now what was he going to say. As his mind whirled, trying to come up with an excuse for his outburst, the other jurors all spoke around him. All of them now certain he did in fact know one of the plaintiffs personally. However, they couldn't allow him to admit it, if he did, it would lead to his dismissal and a possible mistrial.
Before juror seven could think of anything to say, the foreman spoke again. "Juror number seven, we care not for your personal feelings about Mrs. Olivia Spencer-Rivera, we only care that justice be served. That is our job. To survey the evidence and make a fair and just decision. I ask that you truly look inside yourself and make certain that you are making decision based on facts and what is right in this case."
Olivia was hurting more then she had been lately as she sat on the couch with her family that evening. It had been a month since the incident and she was really hoping the worst of the pain was over and she would be able to return to her actual bedroom with her wife soon. Dr. Rick had said that around four weeks she should start to see a real difference. She did notice a difference. She could now walk without her cane for short distances. The physical therapy was really helping with that, what little she had squeezed in during the trial, but her speech was still not much better and now the pain was back with a vengeance.
Natalia noticed her wife wince in pain as she readjusted herself on the couch and was instantly at her side. "Baby, what is it? Are you hurting?" She asked, worry etched all over her face.
"I'm fine!" Olivia snapped.
Natalia's face changed from worrisome to hurt at her wife's harsh tone. And she wasn't the only one to notice Olivia's attitude. Rafe, Ava, Sam, Doris, and Emma all turned to look at the green-eyed woman. Olivia ignored their stares and insisted once again that she was fine, pulling away from her love. Hating herself for causing the sadness and hurt she could see in her wife's eyes. She reached out to reassure her, but Natalia simply shook her head and stood to walk into the kitchen, claiming she was checking on the cookies she and Emma had made, which everyone knew were on a timer.
"I'll go talk to her." Doris said as she got up from the floor where she had been cuddling with Emma.
"No." Olivia protested as she grabbed her friends arm and used it to help herself up from the couch. "I got it." Doris went to help her walk into the kitchen, but Olivia shook off her arm and slowly walked to find her wife on her own. She knew she had been short with Natalia and needed to explain.
Entering the kitchen, Olivia saw that Natalia was nowhere in sight. Leaning on the table for support, she looked out the back door and just barely caught a glimpse of her wife walking down the back stairs. As fast as she was able, she headed for the door, throwing it open and stepping out into the cold February air.
"Natalia." She called after her, but her wife didn't even turn her head, just kept walking towards the big tree out by the barn, that was nearly done being renovated for Ava. "Natalia!" She called again louder, making her way slowly down the back steps. "Are you r-really going to m-make you're still h-healing wife with a heart con-condition chase after y-you, in the c-cold, without a c-coat!?" She yelled, with a hint of a smile, knowing that would get her wife's attention.
As she predicted, Natalia quickly spun around. "Olivia! Get back in the house, you shouldn't be out here without a coat, and without you cane, Olivia!" She admonished without making a move to walk towards her, just standing next to the tree she had hit and screamed at so many times in the last month.
Olivia continued to slowly make her way towards Natalia, almost stumbling, but able to catch herself. She looked Natalia in the eyes as she made her way to her. "Well, you w-wouldn't come back to me, s-so I had to come t-to you." She proclaimed as she made her way to within a foot of her wife.
As Olivia wavered on her feet, Natalia couldn't stop herself from reaching out and steading her, even though she wanted nothing more than to watch the stubborn woman fall on her face. Instead, she wrapped her arms around her, both helping to hold her up and also keeping her somewhat shielded from the cold winter wind.
"Olivia, what are you doing out here?" She asked, voice completely exasperated.
"I'm sorry." Olivia muttered between chattering teeth. "I didn't m-mean to sn-snap at you."
Natalia tightened her hold and rubbed her hands up and down Olivia's arms. "Then why did you?"
"I…I don't k-know. I just…" she trailed off, not really knowing what she wanted to say.
"You just what?"
"I guess I j-just thought it w-would be better by n-now."
"What would be better?"
"All o-of it."
"What do you mean Olivia? You are getting better. You're stronger every day, and you just walked from the house to here, without any help, and without your cane. So, what isn't better?" Natalia pushed; irritation still present in her voice.
Olivia's voice rose slightly. "This Natalia! I s-still can't stop st-stuttering. And Rick, R-Rick said most of the p-pain would be gone b-by now, and it's not. It's w-worse. I w-want to go back to o-our bed. I want to b-be in our room. I w-want to walk up the damn st-stairs and put my own k-kid to bed. I want to s-say one fucking sen-sentence normally. I w-want…"
Natalia was beginning to understand. Olivia wasn't upset at her, or anyone else's for that matter. She was angry at herself. This was the first time since Olivia's heart transplant that she hasn't been in complete control of herself. And before that she had been in absolute control ever since she was a sixteen-year-old girl on an island. She was scared. Natalia tipped Olivia's chin so she could see her eyes. When Olivia finally looked at her, she saw exactly what she had suspected, fear. Tears were shining behind beautiful green and it broke Natalia's heart. She placed a kiss to her wife's nose and then locked their eyes again.
"You want what my love?" She asked, her tone gently and void of the anger it held only moments before.
Olivia hung her head and stared at the ground before meeting Natalia's eyes. "I want to be a-able to do things f-for myself again. I want t-to make br-breakfast and I w-want to get myself d-dressed. I want to h-help Emma with her h-homework and I want t-to go back to my o-office. I want to m-move on with our l-lives, and I w-want…" Natalia tightened her hold on Olivia as she paused and stared into deep jade, imploring her to finish, to get everything she's been holding in off her chest. Olivia took a deep breath and pressed her forehead to Natalia's. "And I w-want to make l-love with my w-wife again." Olivia finished, tears running down her cheeks.
Natalia wiped her tears with the pad of her thumbs, kissing the final one from her cheek. Taking her hand, she led her back into their home. After taking off her coat, she poked her head into the living room, sharing a look with Doris and then took Olivia to their temporary room. She sat Olivia at the end of the bed and grabbed a sweater from the dresser, helping Olivia into it to warm her after being out in the cold coatless. She sat next to Olivia and took both her hands into her own, blowing warm air on them before bringing them to her chest, as she had so many times in the past to help calm Olivia.
"Querida, I know this is hard, I can't imagine what you're going through, but you are getting better my love. You are walking more and more, unassisted. You are barely taking your pain medication, and I know it doesn't seem like it, but your speech really is improving. Baby, I know you just want it all to be better, and I want that too. Believe me, if there was any way for me to trade you positions, I would, in a heartbeat I would."
Olivia shook her head. "No." She said adamantly. "I'm glad it's m-me and not y-you. I just…"
"I know honey. I know. Look, how about we start working more on what you want to do. You said you want to make breakfast, so, how about tomorrow morning you do just that. I'll be there if you need me, but I know you can do it. And Emma can sit at the table with you and do her homework after dinner. We see Rick later this week, and if he okays it, we can start easing you back into work. Would that help?"
Olivia nodded. "Yeah, I th-think it would. I j-just want to start f-feeling like a whole per-person again. I want to b-be you're wife again, and y-you're partner, and like I'm a p-part of this well-organized f-family we've built."
Natalia cupped Olivia's cheeks in both hands and brought her face close to her own. "Olivia, you listen to me and you listen good. You ARE my wife. No matter what is going on in our lives, you are ALWAYS my wife, my partner, the mother of my children, and a very, VERY, important member of this family. I love you; our children love you, and we all want you to be okay, but just because you aren't one hundred percent right now, doesn't mean it changes who you are to us.
Olivia, you are still the fierce and stubborn woman I fell in love with. You are still the business mongrel Emma wants to be some day. You are still gentle and nurturing and kind. You still think about me and our kids before yourself. You're still Emma's mommy and Rafe and Ava's mom, and you are still everything you ever were.
Olivia, something awful happened to you. Something I wish I could make better with flowers, and cookies, and rooftop dinners, and begging and pleading, and kisses in the middle of crowded restaurants. But I can't. nothing I do can take away your pain or make you heal faster. All I can do is be here for you. I can only do everything I can to make this easier for you. And I will do anything, anything, you need me to do to make this even a little bit better for you. But honey, you have to talk to me. You have to tell me what you need, and what you want. You have to let me know what's bothering you, or I can't even try to make it better." She finished her monolog and kissed Olivia gently on the lips. "I love you Olivia. Please quit hiding what you're feeling from me."
Olivia leaned in and lay her head on Natalia's chest, breathing in the familiar scent of the woman she loved, calming herself before she spoke without lifting her head. "I'm sorry h-honey. I'm so s-sorry. I shouldn't have t-taken all of this o-out on you. It just a-all kind of hit me. I d-don't feel like myself. I'm t-trying so hard and I d-don't feel like I'm g-getting anywhere."
Natalia ran her fingers through Olivia's hair and kissed the top of her head. "I know baby." She kissed her head again and then again, leaving her lips pressed against Olivia's hair. "You are so strong my love. I look at you, going through all of this, and I am just amazed. We will get through this Olivia, together. You are doing so good. You did the back steps with no help just a little while ago. We'll talk to Rick and your physical therapist, see if they think you can do the stairs so we can get back into our room. Okay?"
Olivia nodded and turned her head to place a loving kiss to Natalia's chest. "Thank you."
"There is nothing to thank me for mi amor." Natalia kissed her head once more and then pulled back. "Are you ready for bed baby?"
"Yeah, and my m-meds."
"Okay honey." Natalia stood and went to grab some pajamas for Olivia, when she turned back around, Olivia had already removed the sweatshirt and was struggling with her t-shirt. Natalia wanted nothing more than to help her love, but knew Olivia needed this, she needed to start to feel more like herself and this was a step in that direction. Instead of helping Olivia, she just set her night clothes on the bed and changed into her own pajamas before going to gather her children so they could wish their mother good night.
When Natalia returned to the bedroom, she found Olivia dressed in her silk button down top and pajama pants and carefully getting herself onto one side of their now double queen bed. Once Olivia was situated, she allowed the kids in and they each took their turn kissing Olivia good night followed by Natalia before heading to bed themselves. At Olivia's quizzical look, Natalia crawled into bed beside her and opened her arms in invitation. As soon as Olivia settled into her embrace, Natalia kissed her temple and explained.
"I know you had Greg redo the room so that the kids could sleep with us, but I asked them if they were okay with us starting the night alone. I told them all they were welcome to join us at any time if they wanted or needed to. I just wanted a little time to hold you. Is that okay?"
Olivia snuggled more into her wife's body. "More then." She looked up into the most beautiful chocolate brown eyes she'd ever seen and then pushed up to claim her wife's lips. The kiss was slow and deep, conveying every emotion they had been feeling over the past month. Everything from fear to sorrow, happy to sad, anger to love. All of the pent-up emotions came pouring out of both women as their lips moved against each other.
Olivia's hand clutched at Natalia's back as one of Natalia's tangled in her hair and the other gripped at her hip. The kiss turned sweet and languid. Tongues gliding together and hums of appreciation escaping both of their mouths. They kissed until breathing became necessary before breaking apart.
Olivia got comfortable, snuggled into her wife once more and let out a breath of contentment. "I love you s-sweetheart."
"I love you too querida. Let's get some sleep." They both closed their eyes, feeling safe and warm wrapped up together.
At some point in the night their two eldest children had joined them, taking up residence on the other half of their large bed. Not that either woman noticed, they had both had another wonderfully peaceful night of rest, wrapped up together and not moving an inch until their youngest came bounding in and weaseled her way between them.
Natalia kissed Emma's head and breathed her in. "Good morning Jellybean. Did you sleep well?"
"Morning Ma. Yup, I only woked up once last night and Auntie Doris said I didn't even kick her."
Natalia squeezed her little girl tightly. "I'm so glad you're sleeping better."
"Me too. Auntie Doris said to see if you were up, she needs to talk to you and mommy."
"Okay baby. Why don't you go get dressed and I'll get the rest of these sleepy heads outta bed."
"Kay Ma. Love you."
"I love you too." After one last kiss to Emma's head, Natalia ushered her from the room and quickly wrapped Olivia back in her arms. "I know you're awake my love."
"Mmm. Five m-more minutes."
Natalia chuckled. "Always." She swatted behind her. "I know you two are awake to. Your sister was anything but quite, not to mention she shook the whole bed climbing up here."
Ava moved to cuddle into Natalia's back and Rafe slid close and threw his arm over all three women. A mumbled 'five more minutes' was heard from both of their grown children and all Natalia could do was laugh at how alike all three of them were as she reached behind her towards her children and kissed Olivia's forehead.
Eventually all four stumbled into the kitchen, Olivia, Ava, and Rafe all be-lining for the coffee pot while Natalia joined Doris at the table. "Morning Doris. Emma said you needed to speak with us."
"Mmm." Doris muttered as she lowered her coffee cup back to the table. "Yes, I did, but let's allow the zombies their brew before we get into it."
Natalia smiled and glanced over towards her family just in time for Olivia to place a cup of coffee in front of her and lean in for a quick kiss before getting her own cup of coffee and joining her wife and friend at the table. Although it was difficult, Olivia was determined to make this morning as normal as possible. She wanted to feel like herself and she was going to start pushing herself to get there. She may not always get Natalia's coffee for her, they tended to switch on and off, but she hadn't been able to in a month, and that small act had her feeling more okay with herself then she had in a long time. As soon as Ava and Rafe had coffee, they too joined the table and all eyes turned to Doris.
"What's going on W-Wolfe?" Olivia asked. "Why did y-you send the Jellybean i-in?"
Doris cleared her throat and took another sip from her mug before answering. "Mel got a call this morning, the jury hasn't reached a verdict yet. Court has been cancelled this morning. Mel or I will be informed once a decision has been made and we'll be called to the courthouse once that happens."
"Is that bad?" Rafe asked.
"Not exactly. Frank has a lot of charges against him. It's not just a clear guilty or not guilty, they have to go over each charge individually and take a vote on each one."
"But he is guilty of all of them." Rafe was getting angry and Olivia placed a hand on his arm to calm him.
"We know that Rafe. And I'm hoping the jury does too. It could just be that they are taking their time to go over everything. We don't know what's happening in that room, and we won't until we are called to hear the verdict. All we can do now is wait."
Rafe huffed but relented. "So, what do we do now? Until they call us?"
Before Doris could answer, Olivia spoke up. "Well, right n-now, I'm going t-to make breakfast. W-we'll worry about what's n-next after that." With that, Olivia stood and moved to the fridge, getting out Eggs, turkey bacon, turkey sausage, and several different types of berries.
While Olivia worked on her special French toast, cheesy scrambled eggs, bacon, and sausage. Natalia cut up the berries, and Doris supervised. The kids had gone to shower and dress for the day informing Sam that Olivia had taken over the kitchen, and Olivia was happy that no one was fussing over her, even when she groaned in pain or had to lean on the counter for an extended amount of time. Natalia just watched her closely, making sure she didn't need assistance, and Doris pretended not to notice.
Once breakfast was almost ready, the kids were called in to set the table. Olivia placed everything on platters in the center of the table and asked Sam to get out the juice. The family all sat down, excited to have food prepared by Olivia once again. Although Natalia was an incredible cook and no one would ever complain about her cooking, Olivia was a chef and her meals were far and few between, but always outstanding.
The seven joined hands and Natalia said grace, throwing in a few more thank yous to their lord and savior then usually. As everyone dug in, Olivia looked around the table, feeling even more like herself as she watched her family enjoy a meal she had prepared with zero assistance.
Before taking a single bite, Olivia leaned over to her wife and pressed their lips together in a loving kiss. This kiss was Olivia's thank you to Natalia for allowing her to do things for herself, even when it hurt. She couldn't express in words how wonderful she felt just getting herself dressed the night before and cooking breakfast for her family. This kiss expressed it for her though, and Natalia silently vowed to do all she could to help her wife feel like herself again.