Part 2

Alonso Residence

"I'm glad that you could meet with us" Raya opened the door. Ryan, Jetta and young Diana stood by

"Here, go ahead" Jetta guided Diana through the front door. Ryan gave their daughter a little nudge

"This is for you" Diana held out a folded piece of construction paper. The word "Sorry" was scrawled in glitter glue. Raya opened the handmade card, "Is sorry I caled the polis" had been painstakingly written in crayon
"How sweet" Raya smiled. It was a kind gesture

"Daddy scolded me" Diana piped up, "Mummy, too"

"Oh" Raya nodded, "Well, come in, please"
"Hi" Omar shook hands with Ryan, "It's been a long time, bro"
"A long time" Ryan agreed

The couples sat down, Omar and Raya gave Ryan and Jetta first pick. They took the couch, Raya sat on the recliner while Omar took a chair from the dining table that he'd hauled over.

"Niños!" Raya shouted

Diana shuddered from the sound

After a few moments, Carlos and Oded came in. Diana stared at Oded's wheelchair. He noticed her gaze, "Shiny, huh?" he grinned

The little girl just nodded solemnly

"Carlos" Raya didn't skip a beat, "Go get your sister, now"

"Sure thing" he shrugged and left
"Hey, chica, get in here" he rapped on her door

"Go away" her voice wafted through the closed door

"Fine, whatever" he stuffed his hands in his pockets and walked back to the living room

"She's not coming" he mumbled

Meanwhile, Diana was now engrossed in Oded's wheelchair. Bordering on an obsessive fascination, the little girl ran her index finger up and down the several spokes on one wheel and then walked around the chair to do the same to the other wheel

"Oy" Jetta frowned at her daughter, "leave that be and stop bothering the nice boy"
"But Mummy" Diana began

"It's ok" Omar interjected, "Why don't I find you something to play with, huh?"
Diana's eyes lit up like twin sparklers

"I had a feeling" he grinned and ambled off. He soon returned with some fashion dolls

"Nice" Ryan laughed

"It helps to be weird, right?" Omar joined in the laughter

"What do you say?" Jetta glared at the young girl

"Thank you" Diana smiled as she took the dolls in her hands

"You're welcome" Omar reciprocated her smile. He glanced at the two women, who hadn't spoken a word to each other but had already admonished their respective children enough in the last few minutes

"Bro" Ryan spoke up, "how about you show me where you keep the good stuff" he cupped his hand

"Sure" Omar got up and the two men went into the kitchen

Diana sat on the floor and played with the dolls. Carlos and Oded hung back in a corner of the room, unsure of what to do.

"Can I go play outside?" Diana asked Jetta

Jetta glanced at Raya, who reciprocated the gaze and nodded

"Sure, why don't Oded and Carlos go take you to the backyard" Raya replied

"Ok" Diana smiled widely and skipped off while Oded and Carlos trailed behind and gave each other sour looks. Babysitting wasn't their idea of fun

Finally alone in the room, the two women nearly stared each other down with no words between them. It was clear that neither of them knew how to begin the conversation

After what seemed like hours, but was really only mere moments, Raya cleared her throat, "Your daughter is very polite"

"Ryan and I made sure that she wouldn't end up" her words trailed off

"Like you?" Raya was firm

"Yes" Jetta agreed after a pause

"What changed?" Raya asked

"I – don't understand" Jetta seemed confused
"I had my first child and suddenly we went from finally being friends to – simply nothing" she struggled for the right words to express her feelings
Jetta opened her mouth, but nothing tumbled forth

Raya continued, "you mentioned it in your letter, and let's not keep the sleepy dogs between us" she sighed
"Right, no sense letting sleeping dogs lie" Jetta agreed, "You must be wondering why I'm the daughter of a KG child and you, and everyone one else seem to be parents of teenagers"
"I assumed that she was your youngest"

"In a way, I suppose she is" Jetta held her hands together, interlaced her fingers, "I'd had a miscarriage, years ago, back when Ryan and I were doing better, were more financially well off"

"Oh" the words were full of emotion

"Yes" Jetta replied quietly

The women simply stared at each other, not out of anger, or pity, but simply because there was nothing more that could be said.

Starlight Mansion

"Grounded?" Jericho frowned, "For how long?"
"Indefinitely" Jerrica shot back

"Consider yourself lucky, son" Rio agreed, "Who knows what could've happened to you, or your cousins, not to mention Jessica or Passion"
"Nothing happened!" Jericho threw his hands up in exasperation
"Nothing happened?" Jerrica's eyes grew big, "Falling out of a multi story building is nothing? Nearly being killed is nothing?"

"We were alright" Jericho's voice quieted

"Sure you were" Rio was sarcastic, "A stolen car means you were alright"
"The point is, you're grounded until we can figure out an appropriate punishment" Jerrica was firm, "I'm just glad nobody was killed"

Alonso Residence

It seemed like hours had passed when Jetta finally spoke up, "It wasn't easy, you know"
Raya wasn't sure how to respond

Jetta continued, "It was so hard to watch all of you, talking about nappies and feedings and all that baby –" her voice cut off

"I'm sure it was" Raya nodded, "still, I wish you'd talked. I would've been there for you"
"I know you would've, even after everything that happened between us"

"Just as you would've been there for me"

Jetta nodded

"Between the miscarriage, and my brother taking Roxy all over the world, I wasn't sure who to turn to"
"You never mentioned him, not even when we were in Great Britain"
"He's a bit of odd duck"
"Even your parents never said anything about him"
"I guess they were embarrassed with him, after all, they probably write off his behavior as nothing short of my fault"
"He went into music because of you?"
"My family seems to think so. We were dirt poor, as the Americans call it, and so music lessons and instruments were practically out of the question. Seeing my desire for rock and roll, they set their foot down when Shawn – Jett wanted to also pursue a career in music"
"It must've been so hard" Raya sympathized

"After my stunt with Sir Trevor, my parents wanted nothing to do with me, let alone my brother"
"And then—this – that is," Raya sighed

"Yes, this seemed to be the final nail in the coffin, as it were. Ryan's business went downhill soon afterwards" Jetta looked despondent, "but our little miracle" she glanced out the window at Diana playing with Oded and Carlos, "made any future hardships more than worthwhile" she smiled

Starlight Mansion

"It was really nice of my parents to at least let us study together" Jericho grinned from his desk chair. The appropriate punishment had been not to allow friends over at all, for a month, but with the upcoming History exam, Jerrica and Rio had relented, just this once.

"Yeah" Jessie smiled from her perch on the edge of Jericho's bed
"I want to hear less talking and more studying!" Rio's voice boomed from across the hall

"Yes, of couse Dad" Jericho mumbled hastily

"After everything that happened to you and your cousins, I'm not surprised" Jessie looked at her boyfriend, "I wish I could've talked more to Jemini before he had to leave"

"Come on, you talked to him at his farewell concert"
"You were barely there, how do you know that?"
"He told me" Jericho was quick with an answer

"So you two tell each other things like that?" Jessie stared at him

"Yeah, we do, sometimes"
"Did he tell you where he was going?"
"Nah, but he probably went to spend time with his family"

"And how would you know that?"
"It's what I would do" Jericho was honest

"What you would do? Come on, you two are nothing alike"

"Good" Jericho smiled

"Good?" Jessie looked confused
"I mean big deal. It doesn't matter" Jericho backtracked

Alonso Residence

Raya smiled, "It does make it worthwhile" she glanced through the window and caught sight of Diana playing with her sons

There was an unnatural pause as the conversation lapsed into silence.
"It still hurts" Jetta finally spoke, "losing a child"
"Of course" Raya empathized, "I know how you feel"

Color flashed through Jetta's face, "How could you possibly know how I feel?" she snapped, the old Jetta arriving in a split second

"Why not?" Raya countered, and leaned forward on the recliner
"Please" Jetta waved off the question, "You 've got three beautiful children that you've seen grow up"
"You have Diana" Raya gestured to the little girl, who was now ordering the two teenage boys around the yard, as some sort of game played out
"But I lost a child!" Jetta fumed

Raya inhaled and knitted her eyebrows, "I nearly lost a child myself" she shot back

Jetta looked stunned, or as she might've said, gobsmacked. Raya continued,

"Oded was so sick when he was a baby" she sighed

"I thought – Omar, and" Jetta faltered for words

"It's not hereditary" Raya explained, "Cerebral Palsy doesn't work like that. This was just one of those fluke things"

Jetta was beside herself with a flurry of emotions, but couldn't find the words to express herself. Raya went on,
"We were so happy when we found out. Omar came with me for many of the checkups, and when he couldn't, his mother, or my parents, were there. I wish you'd been there"
"I, I do, too" Jetta finally smiled and agreed

"We were finally going to have a child" Raya explained, "Omar was thrilled" she smiled as she thought back, "he went a little overboard, buying nearly every baby outfit that he saw"

Jetta waited for the punch line in the story, with an emphasis on punch.
"I was three months along, and Omar and I were in a restaurant, having dinner. It was the first time out in a while, and things were going fine, but then suddenly, I felt something wet on my legs"
"Oh dear" Jetta involuntarily uttered

"I picked up the cloth napkin, and then the tablecloth from my lap, and nearly fainted from what I saw"

She stopped and sighed, as she remembered the horror

"There was so much blood, you couldn't see the pattern on my dress. Omar was a real hero, and he called 911, and managed to get an ambulance there in record time"

"Was Oded alright?" Jetta sat on the edge of the couch

"He was" Raya nodded, "If you can call it alright. I'd lost a lot of blood, and the doctors were all rightfully worried about my health. Oded was born three months later, and that's where the story really starts"
Jetta sat there, stupefied from Raya's account

"Oh, he was so ill" Raya sighed, "the delivery was surprisingly easy, I was so – so"

"High?" Jetta suggested

"You could say that" Raya smiled momentarily, "I didn't feel anything, but then they whisked him away" her face was awash with remembered fear, "Oh Jetta, I was so afraid that we'd lost him. It wasn't until later, when I'd mustered the courage to ask the doctors what happened, that they brought me to him, and that alone was a journey in itself"
Jetta looked at Raya with a quizzical expression

"The doctors walked me down a hallway, and then we saw the regular nursery, with all the babies. Then we walked farther down, and then we saw the NICU"
"The-"Jetta hesitated

"Neonatal Intensive Care Unit" Raya explained, "and there were a few babies there, but they had various problems, and many were on ventilators or some other types of apparatuses to breathe"
"Shouldn't it be apparati?" Jetta inquired

"It's not" Raya shook her head, "and trust me, my husband's a grammar ninja"
"Don't you mean grammar nazi?" Jetta asked

Raya shrugged, "Omar doesn't care for that term. He finds it racist"

"Do go on, about the story" Jetta urged Raya

"So we walked down, past the nursery, and past the NICU, and then, we walked into a room, where there was just one baby lying there, surrounded by tubes coming out of nearly every orifice, enclosed on a clear plastic cube."
Jetta sat there, her mouth hung open

"I was beside myself" Raya went on, "I couldn't believe that this was my baby. There were so many other, healthy babies out there, and this one, this sickly, weak, emaciated baby, this was mine"

"Oh, you poor dear" Jetta was genuinely empathetic

"Thankfully, Omar was a rock. He was with me whenever he could, but after a week and a half, I couldn't take staying home anymore. I had to get out, had to go places, do work, just do something, anything to keep from thinking only about Oded. Of course, we both went to the hospital as much as possible"
"He didn't come home?" she referred to Oded

"He stayed in the ICU for nine months" Raya was matter of fact

Alonso Residence

While the mothers were talking downstairs, and her brothers were outside, forced into babysitting, Anissa was in her room, sprawled on her bed, texting to glory.

"Where you " she wrote

"Cant get owt" he texted back

"Y NO?"
"rants" Apparently, it was his parents

"K" she acknowledged
"Got to C U" he seemed ardent
"Me 2"
"Can U get owt?"

"Not now"

"Then when?"

"Later" she wrote back, "Soon I hope" she sent another message right after the first one

Alonso Residence

"Hard as it was having Oded, hearing what the doctors had to say was worse" Raya continued

Jetta sat on the edge of her seat, both literally and figuratively

"He'll be a vegetable" the doctors had told her, "He'll never walk or talk" they waved a collective hand at baby Oded, lying amongst a myriad of tubes in his NICU bed

Raya frowned, both in her story and while retelling it to Jetta, "No" she was firm, "That'll never happen. Never"
They made sure of it, Omar and Raya. While days turned to weeks, turned to months, they waited for news, any news. Daily trips to and from the hospital wore them both out, physically, mentally and emotionally, but they were each other's rocks, and helped the other cope with what fate had brought them.
"Omar's mother, and my parents wanted to come down to Texas" Raya went on, "But there was nothing anyone could do while Oded was in the hospital."

"Often times, we wondered why new parents were brought to see Oded, and then brought to see their own baby in the NICU" she went on, "Finally, we asked one of the nurses, who replied that other parents were distraught over their children's plight, but then they came and saw Oded, who was the sickliest baby in the NICU, and then, those parents felt better about their own baby"

"Did it get easier once he was home?" Jetta sat, enraptured

"I wish I could say yes" Raya replied, "He wasn't home until he was nine months old"

While the women were talking and Carlos and Oded were busy wrangling little Diana, Anissa stealthily creeped down the hallway. She inched closer and closer to the front door. Just as she had placed her hand on the doorknob, she thought, "Darn, where's Dad? All I need is for him to show up with another lecture" She wasn't sure if he was lurking around, waiting to catch her for disobeying him. "Oh, forget it" she yanked open the front door, and was out of the house.