Chapter 12

Tiffany

My phone rang, making me jump, pulling me out of my deep concentration on the book I was reading. I answered without looking to see who it was. "Hello?" It was Sam, she sounded a bit out of breath.

"Hey Tiffany, its Sam. Trina is in labor, her water broke and we're on our way to get her," Sam said, still out of breath.

"Sam, why are you out of breath or do I want to know?" I asked uncertainly. Her and Jade can be very questionable at times. I have received my share of drunken phone calls in the middle of the night from both of them and sadly I have also received the out of breath sex calls. I love both Jade and Sam, but there are times when I miss the days I didn't know them.

Then what she said clicked in my head. Sam had called me to tell me that Trina was in labor. I started rushing around the house, making sure everything was off and I had everything so I could get to the hospital in time, because I had a long drive to make it to Hollywood. Before I got off the phone, I told Sam I would pick Andre up. I had a long time to think as I was driving into LA to get Andre, and I started to think about after Beck and Trina got married and I confronted my birth parents.

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After I left the Vega's, I went to my parent's home to find out where the hell they were on their son's big day. I walked in and my father was sitting in front of the TV watching some show where people were acting like stupid red necks. "So your son got married today. Thought you might want to know," I said contemptuously, walking in front of the TV.

"Why would I waste my time on that piece of trash?" he said, tilting his head to the left to try to look around me.

"You mean your son? Beck? He's the piece of trash?" I asked, moving so he couldn't see. He scowled and locked eyes with me.

"No, that thing he married. If she didn't trap him, he wouldn't have to marry her. But he was never that smart, so he was easy to trap." He struggled to his feet to stand over me and watch the show.

"No, that was you. And now you're mad because you were never smart enough to get out of it. And she got you for two kids." I spat in his face and walked into the kitchen, where my drunk mother sat opening a new bottle of whisky. "So why didn't you go to Beck's wedding? Too drunk? It was after nine in the morning, after all." I stood over her, waiting for her answer. She turned bleary eyes from the challenging sight of a twist top to my bitter frown.

"When did Beck get married?" she asked, slurring her words. I huffed in anger.

"That would be today. I called you and you never came. Come into the living room, I have something to tell you both." I grabbed her arm and pulled her from her chair, pushing her before me into the other room. I walked over and turned off the TV. "Now listen. You have to get a job, old man, because I have cut you off. You have 60 days to find a new place to live, because I am no longer letting you live in my house. I am no longer paying your bills, and I am no longer giving you money to spend on your booze and whatever else. Beck and I will no longer be using the last name Oliver. We will be Vegas, and you are no longer part of our family. That includes ever meeting your grandchild," I told them. My father started to sputter, working himself into an impotent rage while my mother covered her face with her trembling hands and started to cry. I realized I had said everything I wanted to say and turned my back on them, and head held high, I walked out.

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I was happy that our birth parents were now out of that house and I was able to get it all cleaned up so I could offer it to Beck and Trina if they would like it. As I drove, I thought about when I told Holly what I did, and how scared I was that she would be mad at me for throwing my parents out like that. But I was sure I was going to need some legal help to make my parents leave.

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I called Holly and made an appointment to see her on the following Friday at her office. I met her in the lobby, and we went to her office. I told her what I had done.

"Six years ago, I bought my parent's house with money my grandfather left me. The night of Beck and Trina's wedding, I went over there and told them that they have sixty days to move out. What kind of paperwork would I need to make sure this happens, and if they fight it I can take them to court? I also informed them that I will not be paying any of their bills any longer. Is there any paperwork that I have to have to make sure that won't happen as well?" I asked her while I sat across from her. I pulled out my check book and looked at her expectantly. "I will pay for whatever this will cost. I just want those people out of my life."

"Well, as far as you not paying their bills, unless there was a written contract between you, there is nothing they can do to fight you on it. You just don't pay. But with the house, was there a contract? Like a lease put in place when you bought the place? Is either one of their names on the house with you?" she asked me all these question which, thankfully, were very easy answers.

"When I bought the house, my father tried to get me to not have them sign a lease, but I made them. I had them sign a year lease when I first bought the place, and every year after that. My name is the only one on the house, both their cars, and the RV that Beck used to live in. The only contracts that showed that I ever paid their bills were the checks I wrote," I told Holly, hoping this would be easy and get them out of the house fast. She smiled encouragingly at me.

"Well, if you own everything, and your name is the only one that is stated on the title of the cars and RV, and the deed to the house, then by law, you have the right to say if they can live there and use your property. If the lease is up to date on the renting of the house, then you are in your rights to give them a sixty day notice to vacate," Holly told me in her business like way. Then she turned all Mom on me. "Now I need to ask you on a personal level. Was this just done out of anger and spite, or are you really ready to write your birth parents out of your life?" I had to think about how I was going to answer that. I knew that the short answer would be yes, but the long answer was so much more painful.

"Holly, I have watched my father hurt my brother for so long, just because he hates his wife and what his life has become. I have had to listen to the hateful things he would say to Beck, just to make himself feel better, and I had to be played against my own brother for our father's sick enjoyment. When I called to see if they were coming to the wedding, he told me he didn't have a son, and if I kept wasting his money on Beck, he wouldn't have a daughter either. So yes, I am ready to write them off and waste my money the way I see fit," I informed her with tears fighting against my eyes. Not for them, not for me, but for my brother and what he had to deal with for so long.

"I see that you have made your mind up, and I, for one, will not stand in your way. I can have the papers drawn up for you and have them ready by the time we get back from an early dinner. My treat," Holly said, turning to her computer and typing out the paperwork. "On a personal note, you and Beck will always be welcome in our family. Remember, you are a Vega and Vegas never turn our backs on family," Holly said as she clicked and typed and clicked again. "Okay, there is a judge that will be signing these type of papers and it will take a while so let's go eat and then it should be done by the time we get back."

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I pulled into the parking lot of Andre's apartment building. I called him to let him know I was there. He told me that Beck was coming in and his plane would be landing in about an hour, and Andre wondered if we could pick Beck up. I laughed and said, "Of course silly, I'm not going to make my little brother walk to meet his child." We both laughed, then ended the call as he hurried out of the building. Andre had packed a bag in case he would have to stay over. He jumped in the car and we made our way to LAX to get Beck.

Andre call Tori to see how everything was going. I could hear yelling over the phone and I started to get scared that something had gone wrong. Then Andre started laughing and turned to me pointing to the phone. "Trina has Cat in a head lock and is getting hit with contractions. So the yelling is Cat, and Sam and Jade are trying to pull her free." I rolled my eyes and went back to thinking as I drove to the airport. I thought about the first time Beck told me about this big weird family he has found.

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Beck called me to tell me about the car accident. He was very upset when he told me that Jade had been driving the other car that hit Tori and Cat head on. He told me that they were all in the hospital, and that Jade and Cat were going to be okay, but his friend Tori wasn't doing so well. He cried as he told me that he wasn't sure if she was going to make it, she was so bad. I wanted to drop everything to be there with him. I know how much he cares about his friends, and Jade was very special to him.

"Beck sweetie, you have to calm down. Do you want me to come home to be with you?" I asked as I got a bag out of the hall closet so I could pack. "You have to be strong for Jade. Your girlfriend needs you to be," I said, throwing my bag on my bed and then I started pulling out clothes for the trip back to Hollywood. Beck scoffed, which made me pause as I reached for a tee-shirt.

"I know I have to be strong for all of them, but Jade and I broke up last night," he growled through his tears. There was a lot of bitterness in those words.

"Again? What for this time?" Those two are on again, off again so much I can't keep track.

Beck was quiet for a moment, but I could tell he was walking somewhere. I heard a door open then close. Beck took a deep breath and started to speak again. "We broke up because Jade is in love with Tori, and I believe Tori feels the same about her. I have known for a while that Jade has had feelings for Tori, but I never thought she would act on them because of her father. It turns out that she wants to move towards this relationship with Tori, no matter what her father has to say." You could have knocked me over with a feather. I knew that Jade had feelings for Cat when we were all younger, but I never thought she would leave my brother for a real relationship with another girl. "I got mad at her and told her to leave. I told her I hope I never see her again, and that she was a slut, and my life would be better off without her or Tori in it." He took another deep breath and I could tell he was fighting not to cry anymore. "She was driving from my RV when she hit Tori's car. I told her I didn't want her in my life, that it would be better without them. Oh Tiffany, I told her I hated her and then she almost died, and I didn't get the chance to say I was sorry." He then broke down. I actually pulled the phone away from my ear and stared at it, my mind whirling at the giant step my brother had taken to becoming just like dad. I knew that he regretted it, and was pretty sure there wouldn't be another occurrence. I'd talk to him about it again, after he wasn't feeling so kicked in the balls guilty about it. I stopped gaping at the phone and calmly lifted it back to my ear.

"Beck, you just hang in there. I will be there as soon as I can. You don't go back to the RV, call and get a hotel and we can stay there. No need to see the assholes at home." I ended the call and finished packing.
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I wiped the tear that fell down my cheek. I looked over to Andre to see he was watching me. "Hey," I said, and gave him a small smile.

"You okay?" he asked, taking my hand. His touch was warm and strong and I squeezed it gratefully.

"Yeah, just thinking about Beck. Did you know he called me the night of the accident and told me about the fight Jade and he had had just minutes before it happened?" I took my hand back and shifted gears as we slowed for a red light.

"I didn't know they had a fight," Andre confided. He looked at me and then tilted his head, silently asking me to fill him in.

"Well, I guess I can tell you now. I guess they're all over it now." I laughed, and shifted gears as we took off driving again. "He told me that night, Jade had come over to talk with him. Jade told Beck that she was in love with Tori, and that she wanted to be with her." I glanced at Andre to see if he knew any of that, but the look on his face told me that he didn't. "They had a fight and Beck told her to leave. To make a long story short, he told Jade that he hated her and that his life would better without either of them in it. Jade left and about an hour later he got the phone call that they both were in a car accident." I looked in my mirror to see if I could get on the interstate. I looked back at Andre to see the sickest look on his face.

"Damn, that is some heavy shit there, sis," he said and then shook his head in disbelief. "I can't believe that all of that happened that night and then to sit in the hospital praying that Tori would live through the night." Andre let his head hang for a minute than he looked up at me. "I was so wrong and I had so many bad thoughts about both Jade and Tori. Then I find out that none of my thoughts were right," he said and then slapped his leg, a frustrated frown on his face.

"Andre, what in the world are you talking about?" I ask, utterly confused.

"Some of us, meaning Robbie and I, thought that Tori and Jade were together before Jade broke up with Beck. So now I feel bad, as I should, for thinking such bad things about our sisters." He turned and looked out the window. "After Mom and Dad offered to have all of us become part of their family, I couldn't bring myself to be a real part of it, because I still had such hateful feeling towards Tori and Jade," he told me while still watching out the side window.

I glanced over to Andre and then let the conversation fall quiet from there. I didn't really know what to say to him, because I would have felt the very same as he did if I didn't know the whole story. I started to think about when Beck told me that he was going to be a father.
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I was just walking in from a late night of work and was looking forward to getting my PJ's on and having a nice glass of wine. I was just pouring the wine when my phone started to ring. Not wanting to talk to anyone, I looked to see who was calling this late. I saw that it was Beck, and I was scared. He never calls me this late just to talk. "Hey bro, what's going on?" I asked as I answered the phone.

"I need to tell you something, and I don't want you to yell at me please," he said. There was a nervous tone to his voice and it shook as he spoke.

"Okay, this can't be good. What happened?" I demanded firmly. He sighed loudly and started talking.

"I messed up bad, and I'm scared that I will really mess up more. What should I do, Tiff?" I took my wine in hand and walked to my easy chair, where I sat down and listened to Beck freak out. I took a swallow of wine and when he didn't continue, I smirked.

"Well, the first thing you can do is tell me what this all about. Then we'll work through it together." My smirk broadened to a smile at the way he was asking me to fix the problem without telling me what it was. "So take a deep breath and start at the beginning."

"Trina is pregnant," he said, and I about dropped my glass of wine. I wasn't expecting to hear that. I thought he was going to tell me he didn't get a part or he got a bad grade on something. I never thought he would tell me that.

"Beck…oh shit, Beck. What are you two going to do? Have you two talked about what you're going to do?" I asked him while I walked around the living room. Stress oftentimes makes me pace, and this was a stressful call.

"We want to keep the baby, and I'm going to get a job, but if I can't find anything that will support a family by the time school is out, Dad is going to make me become a cop."

"No, you will come work for me before I let you become a damn cop in L.A." I told him as I sat down to think if there was anything I could do to help him find work. Then it hit me. I have a friend on the directing team that does The Walking Dead. "Look, I have an idea to help you out. The one downfall with this idea is that you would have to leave Hollywood, but hear me out before you say it's a deal breaker."

"Okay, what?" Beck replied, a cautious hope in his voice.

"I have a friend that works on 'The Walking Dead' and he owes me a favor. If you want, I can talk to him and send him a head shot with your resume. I don't know what job he can get you, but whatever he can get has to be better that fast food," I told him as I was going through my phone numbers.

"You're right, and it could be just the start I need, but living apart will be hard. I just hope Trina doesn't think I'm trying to run away. She is the love of my life, and I want to spend the rest of my life showing her how much she means to me." I couldn't believe what I was hearing. This was the first time I have ever heard him talk like this. He never said things like this, not even when he was with Jade.

"Beck, you're going to be a father. That means you have to step up and do what is right by that child. You don't have to marry her unless you want to, but you will support your child and if that means you have to leave for a bit, then so be it," I told him. I heard a nagging tone in my voice, and hated myself for it. I really didn't want to be THAT sister, but I couldn't seem to help it. Beck's next words were raw and not totally unexpected.

"I'm scared. What do I know about being a father? I mean, look at what I had for a teacher. I don't want to become him," he finished in a shaky whisper.

"Then don't. You have the best teacher living with you right now. David will help you, I'm sure he will," I said soothingly. Beck cleared his throat, which was loud in my ear. I held the phone away from my ear until I heard him start talking again.

"I know he will, but right now I'm just a little scared of him. After we told Mom and Dad, he did lose his mind for a few minutes. Then he talked to me and we both had a good cry, then after Trina and Mom went upstairs he called me into his office to talk to me, and the whole time he was talking he was cleaning his gun." Man, I wish I could have seen that. As mean and petty that feeling was, I knew it would have played like a bad teenage sitcom scene. I would have been hard pressed to not laugh outright at them both. I have to meet these people.

"Well, you get some sleep and I'll make the calls tomorrow. And remember Beck, I love you and nothing is ever going to change that." We ended the call and I poured myself another glass of wine. Thank God I don't have to work tomorrow.

We pulled into LAX and found a parking spot. After taking a picture of the parking lot identifier, we went to find Beck. "Bet you never though Beck would be a father so soon," Andre said while he looked at the screen for Beck's flight.

"Are you kidding? I'm just surprised that it didn't happen sooner, with Jade. I'm just glad it wasn't Jade, because those two would have never made it. Now he is with Trina and Jade is with Tori and they're both really happy, and that just goes to show you that everything does happen for a reason," I said, walking to the security gate to wait for Beck.

"Yeah, well, it took all of them a while to get here but they did it. I never thought that Beck and Trina would be dating, let alone have a child. But looking back, I think I could see Jade and Tori getting together. They were just too into each other's lives not to be in love. Jade would worry all day long if Tori wasn't in school, and Tori would be hanging on everything Jade did and said when they were around each other. I guess it was just a matter of time before they saw it for themselves. But I have to say, I never thought they would get married." We stood quietly after that, waiting. Finally, Andre pointed at a group of people coming out of the security area, and then I saw him. My little brother, the panicking new father.

"Did she have the baby yet?" he asked me as he jogged up to me. Andre had received a phone call and had moved away from us. I threw my arms around Beck and squeezed him tight. I held him out at arm's length afterward.

"I don't know, but we're going there right now. Do you have anything else?"

"No, I just pack a carry-on and left. I'll just buy whatever else I need. I can stay for a long time, we just went on summer break. Plus they gave me some extra time so I can be here with Trina and the baby," Beck told me as he pulled me from my walk into a hurried shuffle over to Andre, who was still on the phone.

"Oh hey, congrats man, you're a father!" Andre said, ending the call and give Beck a big bear hug. Beck gasped.

"She had the baby? Well is it a boy or a girl?" I asked, wiping the tears streaming down my face.

"I don't want to know. So don't tell me! I want to see for myself with my wife," Beck said, grabbing my hand and pulling me to the doors. If our walk to Andre had been a hurried shuffle, this was nearly a run for your life yank dragging me toward the door. I think if he thought I'd move faster, he'd be behind me, shoving like a linebacker.

"Got it. Let's get you to your wife and child. Damn, man, you're a daddy," Andre said, running after us.

We got to the hospital and dropped Beck off at the door with the information to find his family. Andre and I parked the car and ran to the building.

We got up to the floor just in time to see Dad take Beck in to meet his child. We followed and stood by the back of the room and watched as Beck kissed Trina on the forehead and then his son. "Oh damn Trina, you did good. Look at this perfect boy. He looks just like you." Beck kissed his son again.

Andre reached up and wiped yet more tears from my face, then he kissed my wet cheek. "You're an aunt," he said kissing me again, and then pulling me closer to him.

Andre and I watch as everyone hugged Trina and kissed the baby. Even Sikowitz was here to welcome the newest member of our family. "So what is his name? We can't just keep calling him little man," I asked, walking up to the bed so I could get a look at him.

"Glad you asked. Trina and I have been doing a lot of talking about this very subject," Beck said, then looked at Trina who nodded for him to go on. "Everyone, I would like you to meet David Erwin Vega. From this day on Sikowitz will be known as Grandpa. If you two are okay with sharing the title, that is," Beck said, placing a loving hand on Trina's shoulder.

"You bet I am. Couldn't share it with a better man," Dad said, moving over to shake Sikowitz hand. "What do say Grandpa, you want to go have an 'It's a Boy' drink?" Dad said, laughing as Sikowitz shook his hand and started to laugh as well.

"You know Dad, you were right. This the happiest day of my life, but I can already see I will never breathe easy again," Trina said, kissing Dad on the cheek when he came back to get one last look before leaving. I do believe she has that wrong though. I don't think any of us will breathe easy now that the newest member is here.