Felicity

"You sure you don't want to come in?" She pulled into their driveway as she shut off the engine.

"God, NO!" Sharon's sharp words cut the air. "Never. I can't go in there. I'll wait for you here." Sharon stared out at the gulf, her face impassive, a hard mask, as her knuckles turned white as she gripped the dash.

"Okay. I'll just hurry then. I know you want to get there as soon as possible."

The woman gave barely any response except for a small shrug. And she would have missed the motion if she hadn't been staring intently at the woman when she whispered, "Please, Felicity, there's no rush, take time to take a shower if you want. I realize you have sand in places you probably don't want sand. I know I do."

"That's okay. I'll hurry."

"No, you're already being more than kind to drive me. I've learned to wait. Please, I'll wait in the car."

The combination of words struck her as strange, almost creepy, while she processed Sharon's submissive tone and bowed head.

It bothered her that Sharon talked like waiting had become a learned skill, like the woman had spent a lot of time in her life waiting.

Ned, she thought, Sharon had waited years for Ned to come back. That had to be what she meant.

"No, I'll shower at the hospital. Just let me grab a few things and throw them in a bag."

Sharon frame grew visibility smaller. "No, please, shower. Doc. Mae said he's going to be in surgery for hours. And if he dies . . ." Sharon's voice trailed off before she shook her head, "Well, then it doesn't matter if we're late or not."

The woman upper lip trembled before she pressed her lips together.

She wished she could assure Sharon that Adrian wouldn't die but since she couldn't, she stated, "It's going to get hot in the car. At least come in."

"NO! I can't. Leave the keys. I'll crank it if it gets too hot." Sharon released the dash and fisted her hands as her eyes darted to the cottage and back to the gulf, like the very sight of the cottage pained her.

"You're sure you won't come in?"

"Very. It's my gas. But, I need to wait out here. I don't want to get out. I just can't."

Again, a strange choice of words, but she'd noted Sharon to be strange.

"Okay, then I'll see you in a few." She opened the SUV's door and found her house keys. Entering, she grabbed her phone and called Oliver. And of course, it went to voice mail.

Frack, he must be on the bike already headed toward Corpus. He didn't have his blue tooth in his ear and the com in his helmet was broken.

She left a message.

"Note to self, fix Oliver's helmet so I can talk to you when I want to. Remind me Oliver, I need to be able to talk to you. Love you. You know I need a special name for you? Like sweetheart or even babe. Maybe something silly like Snookum's? Okay, I know that's senseless, especially for a person like you but don't you think we need special names for each other? Regardless, it's just a thought."

She frowned looking at his blood pressure medicine in the window sill. "So, call me back when you get this. I'm at the house getting ready to go to Corpus. Did you bring your extra pills? Yes or no? I'd bet you didn't since they're right here."

Snagging the bottle, she slipped them into her large purse.

Kicking off her heels, she left them where they fell. A habit that irked Oliver but time seemed of the essence. And he'd get over it.

"Sharon's strange. I can't believe it, but she's sitting in the SUV in the heat. Truly, she refused to come into the house. Acted like our home's contaminated or something. Don't know what that's about? Look, I'm hopping in the shower here, and then we'll drop by Sharon's before heading your way. I'll bring you a change of clothes. Love you, babe. Yeah, I think I like babe. You think about a name, and I'll talk to you later."

Rushing, through the bedroom, she hit end, tossed the phone on the bed, and pulled off her red polka dotted sundress, leaving it where it fell. Entering the bathroom, she turned the water on in the shower. Twisting her heavy hair into a messy knot on top of her head, she secured it with a large clip, while wishing she had time for a real bath.

Opening the shower door, she tested the water, stripped off her bra and panties, throwing them in the hamper and got in. Hurrying, she soaped up and rinsed.

Slapping the water off, she grabbed a towel and dried off, her mind clicking through what she needed to pack.

Tablet, phone chargers, and she opened the closet, fighting the closet door and finally lifting up on the door that always struck. She needed to see if Oliver could fix that sticking door as she pulled a small bag out of the closet.

####OQ#####

Sharon

Don't look at the house, she told herself.

It's over.

Done. You turned your back on it.

Don't look at it.

Don't think about Grover.

"I will always own you." His words echoed it her head.

"It's okay to forgive myself." She repeated as the counselors had taught her. "I was young. It's okay to forgive myself. It's not my fault. I did nothing to deserve it. I did what I had to do to survive. It's okay to forgive myself."

"God, he's going to come back. All these years and it's going to happen again." A small sob escaped. "It's okay to forgive myself. He's not going to let it go this time." She rocked back and forth in the seat. "It's okay to forgive myself."

But she'd hadn't, and she'd never forgot.

Helpless, she looked at the house that had started in all, as her mind rushed back twenty-three years ago, back to 1995.

She stood looking at that house, white with its cute blue shutters, sweating even though the sun had gone down hours before. Barely five months pregnant, seventeen, she'd already put on extra weight and most people couldn't tell she had a small baby bump.

No, she didn't look pregnant she looked fat.

Something Grover's mother, Deborah, never Debby or Deb, but straight laced Deborah Belinda Stein had informed her of just that morning.

"Dear, stop eating junk food. I know you're having a baby, but you're putting on too much weight and it's hard to get the weight off later. And it behooves any woman married to a Stein to always look their best."

Behooves?

What the crap?

Who talked like that?

Deborah Belinda Stein did it seemed.

But she wanted to scream at the woman that she hadn't wanted to marry her son, didn't want to be a Stein. Grover and her had been screwing around. They weren't not in love, and they were both trapped. Strangers playing house in his parent's house.

Damn it, she loved NED! And she'd stupidly slept with Grover to pissed Ned off over flirting with Jen and it backfired.

Grover was supposed to be a fling kind of thing. The football player and the prom queen. But the stupid condom had broken, and now here she was trapped and aware she wasn't looking her best, aware she was getting fat, but she just kept eating, since food made her miserable life seem a little better, and she excused her overeating with the words, "Remember, I'm eating for two."

To which, Deborah had looked down her nose at her. "Grover will be unhappy if you keep packing the pounds on. You won't like Grover unhappy." She then turned her skinny ass around and walking away to make one of the maid's or the cook's lives hell in this monstrosity of a house they all lived in.

How many bedrooms did one family actually need?

At least ten it seemed. She rolled her eyes and picked up another pastry.

Damn woman made her sick. She probably didn't weigh one twenty dripping wet, always wore perfect makeup, tailored suits and dresses, and clearly thought she wasn't good enough for her son. But no matter how much his mother disliked her, Deborah had attached herself to her pregnancy, like a life line to a lifeboat, clearly hoping she'd have a baby girl. She might not have finished high school, but even she understood, her mother-in-law, Deborah, ached for a replacement child.

The newspapers had proclaimed it a terrible tragedy.

And it was.

Grover's a little sister, Amber, a sweet five-year-old had drowned in the family pool nine years ago. Grover didn't talk about it, but everyone knew he'd been ten and found her floating. She had somehow gotten out of the house while his father took an important phone call, and the nanny was in the bathroom. Deborah had been shopping. Grover had tried to save her like a hero, and when he couldn't he ran for his father, but she'd already been gone by the time his father and the rest of the staff had come running.

She'd been eight at the time, but she remembered everyone talking about it. People put up fences around their pools and the neighborhood became more careful about small children and water because no one wanted their child to become an Amber. Even her family discussed the loss at dinner, reinforced she was never to go near a pool alone, and her parents, her father also a lawyer, ran in the same circles as the Steins, so both of them attended the funeral. And the Steins had the pool bulldozed and a flower garden planted in its place to honor Amber.

Deborah had already asked Glover if she had a girl, would they would name the baby in Amber's honor? She personally didn't like the idea. It creeped her out but Grover had already agreed, like he always did, without consulting her, since he did whatever his parents told him. But who could blame him? His parents paid his bills, and he planned to start college in the fall.

Frankly though, she prayed hard she carried a boy.

The baby kicked and her stomach churned. She had no joy, no bubble of happiness as the little alien inside her did summersaults on her bladder because she hated being pregnant. Trying to hide that she disliked the baby growing inside her had become harder and harder these days.

She stared at that house, listening to the party's music and knew she was to blame. No one had forced her to "spread her legs for Grover" as her father had crudely put it. But she'd been a spoiled sixteen-year-old. She'd been playing games, jacking with Ned. He was supposed to be jealous and come for her. She knew her father would never give them his blessing to marry Ned. They were waiting for her to turn eighteen so they could run away together.

But that's not the way it worked out, not after she got pregnant.

Her parents, who had never been very loving, each with too many meetings, clubs and work to pay much attention to her, insisted she marry Grover. She'd wanted to terminate the pregnancy but her parents refused to budge.

She had made her bed so she would lie in it.

Her mother took to her bedroom and probably her bottle, either pills or booze and knowing her mom, probably both. Her father gave her a choice, the street or Grover.

Ned wouldn't talk to her or even look at her and visibly hated the sight of her. Her Gram might have helped her but she was traveling out of the country and she couldn't reach her.

Helpless with nowhere to turn, no money, no friends since they acted like she could infect them, green with morning sickness, her hormones making her cry at nothing, parents pushing them both to do the right thing, even Grover insisting that they had to marry, she'd swallowed hard, put on the white dress, and pretended.

Telling herself, that maybe, finally someone would love her.

The baby would love her.

Right?

Yet, it wasn't that easy.

Grover was the team's football quarter back. He was a player with the girls and he worked out, intending to play college ball. At one time he'd thought she was cute, but the more time passed the more he hated what the baby was doing to her body. And he'd stopped paying her any attention. She bit her lip and released it.

She hated Grover ignoring her, which he'd done most of the summer.

And she hated her father transferring to Grover's father's Dallas law firm, taking her stoned mother with him and leaving her alone with the Steins.

But most of all she hated that her "supposed" friends who had abandoned her.

The few that still spoke to her just wanted to stir the pot.

Like tonight.

Reese and then Sidney had called a while ago to inform her that they had 'kicked it' at Grover's 'sweet' party at the old Anderson place. And hate to tell you, (so not true, they loved telling her), Grover had a red head in his arms and things had heated up between the two. "Are you still married? I'm just checking."

Bitches, both of them.

And, unfortunately, Grover and her were still married, even if he'd ditched her at home, with his parents who ignored her, hours ago.

She stared at that lit house, listening to people having fun and squared her shoulders.

Damn it, he'd married her.

She'd been homecoming queen. She'd won countless pageants, rode in more than two convertibles in several parades and had the tiaras and ribbons to prove it.

How dare he screw around on her in her home town, at the old Anderson place, in front of all their friends.

The longer she stood there looking at that house, the madder she got.

This was not happening and there'd be hell to pay.

Mess around on her.

Not only no, but hell, no.

She wasn't her helpless stoned mother, ignoring her father's flavor of the month. She had a backbone.

Grover married her. He'd said the words. Now, over her dead body would he openly bed someone else at a party at the Anderson's old place.

She slammed the door on her black Volvo, her wedding gift from her parents. A sensible car for a stupid girl, her daddy had said when he handed her the keys. She still felt his disappointment that she'd gotten herself in trouble, but that didn't mean he hadn't used her pregnancy to his advantage.

Her father had used his new in-laws as a way to advance in the law system. He now worked for Grover's father's law firm, complete with a new office and more money in Dallas.

The house cute, held no normal trappings of a summer party. No flags or fireworks. But she knew she was in the right place. The rich kids rented the cottage for weekend parties. It was perfect. The rental was near the water, out of town and had no close neighbors.

Now with the windows ablaze with light, the music blaring and cars parked everywhere, her eyes swept over her husband's red muscle car.

Yeah, his cheating ass was here.

Taking a deep breath, she headed across the sand, up the porch and jerked open the screen door.

The party was winding down and people had paired off. A few drunkenly danced close, while others made out on the couch, the kitchen counter and the floor.

She kept going jerking the one-bedroom door open. Grover's white ass drilled some red head, who moaned like he was giving her the best she'd ever had.

She knew better.

Grover sucked in bed.

Ned, now, that man knew how to make love, how to touch her and how to finish the job.

"You sorry, jack hole. And you, you're a slut. You do know he's married? Right? Everyone knows he's married. I'm not putting up with this shit. You're not treating me like this." She screamed searching for a weapon to hit him.

He knifed up leaving the red head to stare blankly before she started screaming and pawing at the sheet to cover herself.

She grabbed up a lamp, but to be so large, Grover had her by a good hundred and fifty pounds, he moved quicker. Snatching the lamp, he backhanded her, busting her nose.

Her blood flew across the room and stuck to the mirror on the wall, running down it.

And, he didn't stop to help her as she went down.

Light exploded behind her eyes, and she crashed backward into the closet, knocking the door off the runners, and he hit her again and again in the face as he called her ugly names.

"Stupid bitch. I'll treat you however I want. You think this is a game."

Pain shattered through her brain.

"Fucking cunt, did I tell you to come looking for me. I'll teach you." Again, his beefy hand bounced her head off the back wall of the closet. Her head rang, her vision blurred.

Grabbing her bodily, he, buck naked, picked her up and slung her to the back of the closet. She landed in a heap in the corner, her face and head pounding.

"You're married? You ass. Don't touch me." The redhead screamed now jumping up from the bed.

"Baby? She's nothing. Wait. I'll get rid of her. It was just getting good."

Nothing? The word echoed in her head. Get rid of her? Her brain short circuited.

A door slammed. The music stopped. The door slammed repeatedly and cars started and drove away all while she lay there dazed.

"Fuck! FUCK! Then walk home you bitch. I'm done taking you anywhere."

In the quiet that followed Grover's feet appeared, and he jerked her to her knees by grabbing her hair.

And it hurt.

"Get on your knees, bitch."

"I . . ." He pulled her hair harder.

"Did I tell you to talk?"

She shook her head, trembling now.

"I was leaving you alone. Finding what I need else where. Well, you wanted my attention, wife. You got it."

"Please, I want to go home."

"Too late for that. I said on your knees." He slapped her again.

"The baby."

"Your face isn't pregnant. Open your mouth."

"No. Stop."

He hit her again and she opened her mouth.

"Now, that's better. Remember this is your fault. Whose fault is this?"

She swallowed hard, and he tipped her bruised chin up and stared down, his eyes black and menacing. "I asked you a question. Answer me. Whose fault is this?"

"Mine." She squeaked out the word.

"That's right. Yours. Now since you ran off your replacement, you'll take what I like, then your ass can go home and clean up. And if you think you're going to the ER or the cops, you just remember you came looking for this, so if you talk about this to anyone." His other hand squeezed her throat, while he pulled her hair. "And I mean anyone. I'll make you sorry. I'll do things to you that you cannot imagine. Now, don't you bite me, bitch."

Tears ran down her battered face.

She was already sorry.

Much later, since he was drunk, and she was pretty sure on some kind of drug since it took a long time for him to finish and pass out, she dressed in her ripped clothes and stumbled through the living room and kitchen, finally jerking the door open to fall out onto the porch.

She lay there a while, slept, or passed out, all she knew it was still dark, and she hurt in places she'd never hurt before. Her mind couldn't even wrap around what Grover had done to her body. All she knew was she had to get up and get out of here. Had to leave him. Had to think.

She stumbled to her car. Fell twice to lay on the sand for a while.

No one had helped her.

No one had called 911.

No like rats on a sinking ship, they'd all ran.

Finally, she crawled to her car and managed to drive back to Grover's house. She wanted to go to the hospital, but he'd warned her as he ripped her apart that this would be nothing if she didn't do what he told her. "I own you, bitch. I'll do what I want with you." The words kept echoing through her brain. Quietly, she'd crawled up the steps, and stumbled her way to their bedroom holding on to the wall.

She ran the shower for a long time as red blood ran down the drain, while the baby kicked inside her. Proof that the demon child still lived since after the last few hours the child's father had shown his true colors.

She'd heard rumors in school that he could be cruel and a bully.

Now she knew for sure.

She'd cried for hours.

Broken inside.

Her dreams destroyed.

Nothing left but ashes, burned to the blackened ground ashes.

Everything she'd wanted, hoped, or dreamed about now lay in ruins.

He'd blacked both of her eyes, bruised her cheeks, busted both her lips and her nose, and violated her like no one ever had and not surprisingly, he never said sorry or asked her if she or the baby was okay.

Probably, because he wasn't sorry and didn't care. What he did care about was appearances, and she woke up the next morning to find he had locked her in.

The Jack hole had left her an apple and a note.

"You will stay in this room until you are presentable again."

He had unlined the word presentable like she could change her busted face out for a new one.

"You should be ashamed of yourself endangering the baby."

Like she had tried to hurt the baby not him.

"You should use this time to reflect on your actions and learn from this experience."

She screamed as she wadded up the note and threw it across the room.

Like a caged animal, she rattled the door handle, beat on the door but the solid wood door refused to give. She moved next to open the two windows in the room. But both of them refused to budge.

More tears ran down her face as she balled up in the middle of the bed defeated and went back to sleep.

His mother appeared later with a light lunch. She was tight lipped and grasped when she first saw her but she checked her reaction, then actually smiled.

"I want to call my parents. I want my mother." She hissed at the woman. Grover had also removed the phone from the room.

"I don't think that's a good idea. Now are you having any spotting? Is the baby still moving?"

"I want out of here. I'm leaving. I'm going to Dallas."

She shook her head. "No, dear, you're not. What you're going to do is be on bed rest for at least a month. Grover spoke to me about what you did before he left. He wanted to have you committed, but I talked him out of it."

"Committed? He left?" She felt the fight flow out of her. Her bruised lips trembled.

"Yes, committed to a private mental institution where you can spend the rest of your pregnancy, and perhaps the rest of your life, but I talked him into letting me work with you for a while before we do something so rash."

"You can't do that. I'm not crazy. It's your son who's crazy. He beat me up last night."

"You would be wrong. You're seventeen. Grover's twenty, of legal age, and your husband. He can sign you in for treatment and leave you there for the rest of your life if he wants too."

"But he hurt me. You can't do this. I'll call the police."

"Enough!" she snapped. "No more lies. You hateful child. I'll have you know that Grover's so torn up that you would do something like that after what happened to his baby sister that he's flown to Vegas to spend a few days calming down."

"More like whoring around on me."

The woman snatched her arm and squeezed. "You'll hush that talk up. My son's a good man. You'd do nothing to bring scandal down on this family or to start rumors. You're the crazy one trying to kill his baby, and if you don't toe the line," the woman squeezed harder, "you'll be sorry. I'll see you locked up in a padded room and you'll never see the outside world ever again."

"You can't do that." But her voice trembled and broke because she was figuring out the Steins could do what they wanted. "And what are you talking about, the baby's fine even after what your son did to me."

"Did to you?" She released her arm. "You're the one who threatened to kill his baby and then wrecked your car to prove the point. You tried to kill yourself."

"Wrecked my car? Kill myself. I did not."

"Tisk, tisk, don't you remember? Well, you did hit your head and the airbag exploded busting up your face. Your car's a complete loss."

"My car's . . . gone?"

"Yes, totaled. And after that little episode, you won't be getting another one. In fact, you will no longer be leaving the house. I have already contacted the family doctor. He's sending a nurse to check on you this afternoon. I suggest you learn to behave yourself so things will go easier for you."

Her heart pounded in her chest and she found it hard to breath. "I didn't wreck my car. Grover did this to my face. Listen to me. I didn't try to kill myself. You can't keep me prisoner here."

His mother went right on like she didn't hear her. "Now, be sure to eat like a good girl. I'll be back to bring you dinner. Just think you're going to get a handle on your weight problem now, since I'll be controlling your food intake. You want to have a healthy baby don't you?"

The walls closed in on her and she wanted to scream.

"Please, I want my mother. Can't I just talk to my mother." The tears returned.

"There, there dear. I'll call her for you later and see if she wants to come and visit. You rest now. You've had a trying time." And before she knew what happened, the click of the lock echoed in the room.

She'd tried to escape more than once and found Deborah was stronger than she looked. As was the women they hired to be her nurse, who restrained her to the bed after she managed to get out of the room.

By the time her face healed, she'd more than learned her lesson that her life was no longer her own. Grover not only took her car away, she lost her freedom.

After two weeks, he returned with a smile and a spring in his step and the words, "Honey I'm home." Followed by a laugh.

She stood by the window looking out, her back to him, a mistake she would never make again. "I want to call my mother and father."

"You forget so soon. I'm disappointed." He grabbed her by the hair and spun her around and she screamed fighting him.

"Shut it up or I'll shut you up." His hand circled her throat and squeezed, her hands clawing at his beefy arm as she fought to breathe.

He forced her down. "On your knees. Now."

"Please don't hurt me."

"Did I say you could talk?" He jerked her hair again.

She trembled as she shook her head no.

"Now are you going to be good girl? Or do I have to punish you? Answer me!"

"Good." She croaked out.

He released her throat and her hair, and she coughed and rubbed her throat.

"Now, I'm going to take a shower. You will stay right here. On your knees. Nod if you understand."

She nodded, the tears flowing again.

"Oh, you cry so pretty. Just like my sister." He leaned down and whispered in her ear. "I'm going to tell you a secret."

Her heart pounded hard in her chest. She didn't want to know any of his secrets.

"My baby sister fought me when I held her under the water."

She inhaled sharply, pressing her lips together as his words sunk in.

"What do you think I'll do to you if you don't mind me? If you cause me trouble or try to run away. You think about that. You might have noticed I like to inflect pain. Now, I've got a lot to teach you, and I've got all afternoon."

Grover turned on his heel whistling as he went.

No, Grover wasn't done teaching her yet. Meanwhile, her husband did what he wanted to her and put his hands on her.

However, he wanted.

No one stopped him, and the staff all whispered about how she'd tried to kill his baby, how crazy she was that they had to lock her away, and all she could think was, Ned, where are you?

I need you to save me.

But he never came until years later.

#####OQ#####

Felicity

Grabbing her tablet's charger, she added it to the overnight bag and locked the door behind her.

She noted Sharon's white face had tears streaming down it, as she opened the door and climbed in. "You ready then?"

The woman gave no reaction, just stared blankly at the water.

"Darn it's hot in here." She cranked the SUV. "Sharon, why didn't you crank the engine?" She pressed buttons to put the air on high.

Still no response, so she reached for her.

The woman recoiled into a ball on the seat, like she'd struck her, protecting her head with her arms.

"Whoa, are you alright?"

Sharon blinked several times before she put her legs down in the floorboard. Nodding but still looking glazed, wary, she trembled in the seat beside her. "I'm fine. I need to run by Gram's house next if that's alright."

"You mean your house?"

"Yeah, that's right."

Again that was odd but she brushed it off.

Sharon turned her head to look out the passenger window, looking away from her house.

"Yeah, do you know anything about my house? You act like you've got something against the place. Do you know its history?"

Sharon visibly stiffened and shook her head.

"I mean didn't you grow up here? In this town?"

"I know it's a rental. Can we just go? I want to go." The woman rubbed the top of her hands, first one and then the other and shut her eyes. "Please, just put the car in gear and head back to town, then take the bypass and turn left at the light."

Sharon's phone buzzed.

"Your phone's ringing."

"Is it?"

"Yes, are you sure you're okay? Do you need some tissue?" Sharon worried her with her pale face and the fact she was zoned out.

"Why?"

"Sharon, you may not have noticed but you're crying." She dug around in her bag, driving one handed. "I've got some tissue in here somewhere."

"I'm good. Could you watch the road? One wreck today is enough." She wiped her face with her hands.

Her phone rang again.

This time she grabbed it up, swiped it, grimaced and ignored the call. It ran again and she ignored it again.

"You aren't going to answer it?" She stopped at the red light. The light changed and traffic moved.

"It's Ned. I can't talk to him right now. Turn right. It's the third house on the right." She turned and looked out the window and pointed to a large stone house that looked rather run down.

Pulling in the driveway, the phone rang again. "Here let me answer it, Ned's going to think something's wrong if you keep ignoring him."

"I'm not talking to him right now. I can't."

"He needs to tell you something."

"I can't take anymore today. You talk to him. I can't do it."

The phone kept buzzing, and Sharon handed the phone to her, opened the SUV and got out and walked away.

"Ned. Felicity here. "

"Where's Sharon?"

"She just went in the house. Ned, she's having a bad day."

"Like I'm not. Look, I need to talk to her. Got something important to tell her. Need to warn her."

"How about you do it in person. We're at her house right now and will be in Corpus in an hour or so. I'll keep an eye on her."

"Okay. Crap, that's Riley calling now. Thanks, Felicity."

She hung up and went to find Sharon.

#####OQ#####

Hope you enjoyed this week's story. Next week's Bonus chapter is already up on my website. Please if you like my story, support my site. www. Write4TVFans. Com (remove the spaces) click on Bonus Chapter on the top bar and enjoy the next chapter today. Oh, as always thanks for the read.