A Fresh Start
Chapter Eighty Two
After Jeffrey left the construction site, he heads back towards Main Street. Stopping at the florist he picks up some flowers for Sam and as he's walking back to his truck he passes Josh. Stopping he turns around and asks. "Josh, can I talk to you."
"I have nothing to say to you." Josh says, continuing to walk, with Jeffrey walking slightly behind him.
"I want to know what I did, that has you so upset?"
"I have my reasons, and I don't have to explain them to you." Josh says, still walking down the sidewalk.
"Maybe not, but I would like an explanation. If this is about asking Reva to use the Lewis jet instead of you, I didn't know you were upset. She didn't say…."
"Would that have mattered?"
"No, it was an emergency. I had to get to DC…."
"Yes, an emergency. You're the secret agent man. You have abilities that we don't have so why did you need Reva to help you with this problem?"
"Reva has certain abilities that I don't. I needed her help with a problem that involved Sam. She was never in any danger." Jeffrey replies walking around Josh and stopping in front of him.
"You say that…."
"But you don't believe me."
"No, I don't." Josh says, walking around Jeffrey.
Jeffrey turns to follow him. "Why do I get the feeling that Reva's trip to DC is an excuse? Maybe this has to do with Cassie?" Maybe you still have feeling for her?"
"I do not have feelings for Cassie. I don't trust you."
"Why, I have never given you a reason…."
"You have never given me a reason to not trust you. You lied to Cassie not once but twice, no make that three times because you kept the fact that her husband was still alive from her…."
"I had no control of that."
"…you convinced my wife to run off with you in the middle of the night when I asked her not to. You slept with my daughter and I don't have any reason not to trust you."
"Marah was a grown woman. And I don't believe your attitude has to do with that Reva, Marah or Cassie…."
"And you know…."
"Whatever it is, it really doesn't matter. I know I'm not perfect. You can't seem to admit that."
"What other reason would there be?"
"I don't know. That's why I'm asking you. Cassie and Richard have both forgiven me for what I did in San Cristobel. Cassie understands why she wasn't told that Richard was alive. And I've explain the reason I need Reva's help and that she was never in any danger. Hell even Olivia…."
"That's another reason for me not to trust…."
"I didn't rape Olivia."
"If you didn't, then who did do it?"
"Edmund."
"That's convenient. He's locked up in San Cristobel and can't defend himself."
"I have proof. Ava's my daughter."
"That only proves you had sex with her. It doesn't mean it was consensual."
"The majority of rape cases will not produce a pregnancy, it's a proven fact."
"Maybe you're the exception to the rule."
"There is a videotape of that night. It shows exactly what happened?"
"That's convenient again." Josh says, in disbelief.
"You know what Josh you can believe whatever you want to believe about me." Jeffrey says, turning away.
Josh reaches out to stop him. "You don't deserve to be…." He had almost said a part of this family.
"I don't deserve to be what? Jeffrey asks, watching him.
"You don't deserve to be mayor."
"You think you can do the job better."
"Maybe I can."
"Then why don't you run for office?"
"Maybe I will."
"How are you going to do that and the center, run Lewis and be the moral compass to everyone in Springfield, or are you a regular saint, Joshua Lewis."
Josh takes a step towards Jeffrey as Sam walks up. "Jeffrey." She says, looking between them.
"Hi." Jeffrey says, glancing at her before turning his attention back to Josh.
"Sam." Josh says.
"Is something wrong?"
"No, we were discussing some stuff." Jeffrey says
"Okay." Sam says.
"But we're through now so I'm going to go." Josh says, looking at Jeffrey for a couple seconds before he says. "Sam." He glances at her before he turns away.
"Josh." She says again before she turns to Jeffrey and asks. "What was that about?"
"Nothing, are you ready to go?"
"Yes."
"I'll meet you at home."
"Okay." She says, as he leans over and gives her a quick kiss.
Sam walks over to her car as Jeffrey goes to his truck. Starting it up, he backs out and heads home with Sam following him.
Noah walks into outer office for the director's office. His assistant looks up and smiles. "Hi." She says softly.
"Hi, is he in?"
"Yes, he's finishing up on some paperwork."
"Could you see if I can see him?"
"Sure." She says, smiling at Noah as she picks up the phone and pushes the button for the intercom. "Sir, Col. Chase is here to see you."
"Send him in."
"Yes Sir." She hangs up the phone. "You can go on in. We're still on for tonight."
"Yes." Noah says, with a smile and she smiles back as he opens the door to the Director's office. "Sir." He says, walking in and closing the door.
"Col. Chase." He replies, putting down what he was working on. "I wanted to compliment you on the way you handled the whole Winslow matter."
"Richard is a good friend of mine. I had to see justice for him. That's some of the reason I wanted to speak to you. This concerns Jeffrey." Noah says, walking over to the Director's desk and sitting down in front of it.
"What about Col. O'Neill?"
"He contacted me a few weeks ago about a videotape that we have in our possession. It's a tape from the night that he was in San Cristobel with the American Ambassador, the night that Ms Spencer was supposedly raped by him."
"Yes."
"He's requesting that we release the tape to him."
"Why?"
"I believe he wants to see for himself what exactly happened that night and he also believes that the Springfield District Attorney's office would find the tape key evidence in the case against Col. Ditkins."
"Even with the situation with Col. Ditkins I'm not sure we should release this tape to Col. O'Neill."
"Sir, the truth about Jeffrey's past has been falsely represented for several years now, not only to him, but to the whole town of Springfield. He and the people of Springfield deserve to know the truth. Not to mention, that it could be a key piece of evidence in the in convicting the man responsible in trying to kill him."
"But it shows us in a very poor light."
"Don't you think we've already been shown in that light? This could redeem us in the eyes of some of the citizens of Springfield, and don't you believe that Jeffrey deserves to know exactly what happened that night, since he was the one accused of raping Ms. Spencer. If he's not guilty then we owe it to him to help clear his name."
"Alright, I'll have Marley find the videotape and have her make the necessary arrangements for it to be turned over to the district attorney of Springfield."
"Jeffrey requested that we turn the tape over to him first."
"Why?"
"I assume to he wants to watch the tape before it's played in front of the whole town of Springfield."
"Alright, I'll authorize the tape to be released to him."
"Thank you, Sir." Noah says getting up he leaves the office.
When they pull up to the loft, Jeffrey waits by the truck while Sam parks. Getting out of the car, she locks it for the night and then walking up to him she notices the flowers. "Who are those for?"
"Umm, I picked them up for you before I met Josh." Jeffrey says, handing them to her as they walk towards the building.
"Is there anything you want to tell me?"
"No, of course not, I simply wanted to get you some flowers."
"Well, thank you." Sam says, as Jeffrey holds the door to the building for her. "Okay, so go ahead and ask me." He says, as they climb the stairs to the loft.
"Ask you what?"
"About what was going on with me and Josh, I know you're dying to ask, so go ahead."
"Okay, what was going on between you?"
"I wanted to find out why he seems to hate me."
"But you act like you don't care if he hates you or not, what changed?"
"I was meeting with Billy today while you were doing your errands and Josh showed up, and tried to stop the job."
"What job?"
"I asked Billy to do a job for me."
"You hired Billy to do some work for you, what kind of work?"
"It was for the city, that doesn't matter. What matters is that while I was meeting with Billy at the site Josh shows up and he demands to know what was going on, and then after Billy explained that I had hired him to do a job he tried to close the site. Billy didn't let him of course, but it made me wonder if this thing Josh has against me is something more than he simply doesn't like me. So after I got the flowers, I was going to the truck to come home when he walked by, so I decided to ask him." Jeffrey says, unlocking the door. "We were discussing it when you came up." Jeffrey says, as Sam walks into the kitchen.
"It seems like you were doing more than discussing it" She says, getting a vase for the flowers and filling it with water before she leaves the kitchen.
Jeffrey is sitting on the couch, when she walks into the living room. "I lost my patience with him."
"Is that all?"
"Yes."
"You know my feelings on the subject."
"You believe there's something more going on."
"Yes."
"Maybe there is, but I can't do anything about it so I can't let it get to me. It wouldn't look good if the mayor was arrested for assault."
"Would they really arrest you?"
"Oh yes, Frank would. Not because he has it out for me, but I broke the law and he doesn't play favorites." Jeffrey says, as Sam sits down beside him and begins to arrange the flowers.
"So, Josh wouldn't tell you anything?"
"No, just the same stuff he always says that he doesn't trust me. I'm going to go take a shower." He says, standing up.
"Alright."
"You're welcome to join me if you want." He says, looking down at her.
She looks up and smiles at him. "Let me finish this and I might join you."
"Okay." Jeffrey says, leaning over to kiss her. He steps back as he says. "I'll see you in few minutes."
"Maybe." Sam replies, as he begins to chuckle as he walks away.
Billy is back at the office when Wanda walks in. "Billy." She says
"Yes." Billy replies, looking up from the bids from the electricians and plumbers for Sam's house.
"I've contacted the office of the attorney that Mr. Lewis used in Tulsa about the matter that you have looking into, like you asked."
"Yes, did they have anything to say?"
"No Sir, they said that when your father's attorney retired he took all his personal cases with him. They don't have any records of Mr. Lewis's personal business with his attorney. I'm sorry."
"Alright, did they have any files pertaining to Lewis Oil?"
"Yes, and they offered to send them to us, but I didn't know if you still wanted me to look into those files.
"Call them back and tell them you would like too and I'll look into this personally." Billy says, nodding she walks out of the room.
Julie pulls up to her office. Grabbing her purse, she opens the door and gets out. Locking it, she walks towards the building, meeting Lana in the foyer. "How did it go last night?"
"It went fine. I went home and went to bed."
"And he didn't force you to talk."
"He wanted to, but I told him I was tired."
"And this morning, how did it go?"
"The usual, but I finally put my foot down."
"What did he do?"
"He demanded that I be home tonight."
"Are you…?"
"Of course not, I told him I would be home if Missy doesn't need me and if the kids want to stay at my mother's again, they will."
"What do you think he'll do if you're not home?"
"I don't know, and I don't care." Julie says, as the elevator doors open and they walk on with the rest of the crowd standing around them.
"So, what are you doing here?"
"I'm going to talk to the boss. Tell him the situation and ask for some personal time.
"I thought you already took some personal time?"
"I did, but I need some more and then I'm headed for Oakdale."
"Okay, good luck."
The doors to open and they get off. Walking into the office together, Lana heads for her desk while Julie walks towards the back of the office. A few moments later, she leaves the building. Getting back into her car, she backs out and heads towards Oakdale. She stops at her mother's to leave her bag and kids stuff there before she heads for the hospital.
Walking in, she walks over to the elevator and pushes the button. She steps back waiting for the elevator to come. The doors open a few moments later and once it's empty she steps on and presses the button for the third floor. A few moments later, the doors open and as she steps off the elevator. She's met by her mother in the waiting room. When her mother sees her, she rushes over to her. "Where have you been?"
"I had some business to take care of before I came back to help Missy, why?"
"She went into labor about two hours ago and they rushed her into emergency surgery. I've been trying to call you for the last two hours?"
"I didn't hear my cell phone ring. Did you call it?" Julie asks, opening her purse and looking for her phone. She finds it at the bottom of her purse and when she opens it, she realizes that the battery is dead. "I forgot to put it on the charger last night. Why did they take her into surgery? Is the baby okay?"
"She went into labor and then she started bleeding and they couldn't get it to stop. So they went in to see what was causing her to bleed."
"Have you talked to the doctor?"
"No, I've been waiting here because I knew this is where you would come when you got here."
"Alright, well then let's go upstairs and we'll see what's going on." Julie says, pushing the button for the elevator again. A few moments later, the doors open and they walk on.
Pressing the button for the fifth floor, Julie steps back. Neither of them says anything as they ride up. A few seconds later the doors open and they walk off. As they are walking off, one of the surgical nurses walks by. "Nurse." Julie says, reaching out to stop her.
"Yes, may I help you?"
"Yes, my name is Julie Bertilla. My sister was rushed into emergency surgery and I just got here. Is there anyway we could speak with the doctor?"
"I can go check to see what is going on." The nurse replies.
"Thank you." Julie says, as they walk into the waiting room across the hall from the elevators.
About ten minutes later, the nurse comes back. "Mrs. Bertilla." She says, as Julie stands up. "I checked with the surgeon. He is finishing up and will be out in a few moments."
"What about the baby? Did they stop the bleeding?" Julie's mother asks.
"He didn't say. I'm sorry. He'll be out soon to speak with you."
"Thank you." Julie says, as the nurse turns to walk away and they sit back down.
A few moments later, Julie turns to her mother and asks. "Did anyone call Mitch?"
"He's on his way back home."
"Good, what happened?"
"I don't know. We were sitting there talking and she suddenly started having pains again. I went to get the nurse and when they came she was in labor. They rushed me out of the room, and then about five minutes later the doctor came out and told me that she was hemorrhaging and they were prepping her for emergency surgery. And then he left. A few seconds later, they rolled her out of the room. She was so pale.
"Was she conscious?"
"Barely, I think they had already given her stuff to prep her for surgery." Maggie says, as the surgeon walks into the room.
"Mrs. Chandler." He says, as he walks up to them.
"Yes, how's my daughter?"
"She's resting comfortably."
"And the baby?" Julie asks.
"Who are you?"
"I'm her sister, Julie Bertilla." Julie says, holding out her hand.
"The baby is a different matter."
"What do you mean? It didn't… it's still alive?"
"Yes, the baby is still alive, but it's very premature. It's going to need close monitoring. Right now, it's in our neonatal unit."
"And my sister?"
"She is in recovery. We were able to stop the hemorrhaging but she's going to need to stay in the hospital for several days. She lost a lot of blood and she may require several blood transfusions before she's able to leave the hospital."
"What happened exactly, Dr?"
"I'm sorry, I'm Dr. Raj Merriweather." He says, holding out his hand again.
"Dr. Merriweather, what happened?"
"The placenta began to separate from the uterine wall, forcing premature labor and the hemorrhaging. We had to take the baby to stop the labor and the bleeding."
"What are its chances?"
"It's got about an eighty percent chance of survival, but if it does survive. It's going to be a long battle for it and there could be many different complications from the premature birth, and then there could be none."
"What are the odd's that this baby will be normal?"
"It's too early to tell, I'm sorry. I'm going to go check on your sister. She'll be in recovery about an hour and then we'll move her back down stairs."
"Yes, okay." Julie says. As he turns to go, she stops him. "Was there anyway we could have prevented this?"
"I'm sorry, but no. What happened to your sister is a rare complication with pregnancy. There was no way of knowing that this would happen."
"Thank you, Dr. Merriweather." Julie says, as he nods. He turns to walk away when Julie stops him again. "Doctor, what did she have?"
"A boy, she has a son."
"A boy, oh it's a boy." Maggie says, taking Julie's hand. "Mitch is going to be so proud."
"Thank you Doctor." Julie says. Nodding, he walks out of the room as she and Maggie sits down again.
When Sam finishes the flowers, she puts them on the table and then she walks over to the bathroom. Opening the door, she stands there for a few seconds before Jeffrey asks. "Are you going to stand there and watch me or are you going to join me?"
Closing the door, she begins to strip and then she walks over to the tub as he holds the shower curtain back for her as he helps in. "You know it could have been someone else that came in." She says, as he pulls the curtain close.
"Really, would you have sent anyone else in here while I was taking a shower?"
"Okay, so maybe I wouldn't, but you're pretty confident that I would join you."
"What else did you have to do?"
"Umm, I don't know. Solve world hungry, maybe the crisis in the Middle east, get England and Ireland to agree to disagree, maybe help abused kids realize that everything done to them wasn't their fault."
"But could you do all that?" Jeffrey says, stepping back to let the water run over them.
"Ah, probably not, that's why I'm here."
"So, I come in second to solving the social and ethnical problems of the world."
"Actually they come in second, because don't let it be known that I'd rather be in here with you, then out there alone solving the social and ethnical problems of the world."
"Really, because I think it would be rather sexy to watch you solve the social and ethnical problems of the world.
Sam pauses for a few moments before she says. "You know, you might be right about that. But I just don't have the time."
"A few weeks ago, you were complaining because you had nothing to do, and now you have no time for world concerns."
"No, I don't. I have a wedding I'm planning. My fiancé is a government agent/mayor of the town where I live. I'm pregnant with his child and on top of all that. I have to start up my own private practice, and since I no longer have a location for the previously mentioned practice I have to start looking again." She says, reaching for the shampoo.
"Okay, so you don't have the time. But since you are so busy do you have time for the fiancé."
"Umm, the fiancé, it depends."
"On what?"
"On what he wants me to do?" She replies, rinsing out her hair and reaching for the conditioner bottle."
"Here, let me do that?" He says, reaching for the bottle and squeezing some into his hand.
Rubbing it between his hands before he runs them through her hair, gently massaging her scalp, sighing softly she closes her eyes and moves back against him. He continues for a few seconds before he moves her hair to the side and begins to nibble on her neck.
She turns around, wrapping her arms around his neck. She leans up, kissing him as he pulls her against him. For several moments the only sound is the water running and the soft moans from each of them. Sam finally breaks the kiss. Taking a step back, she looks up and smiles. Slowly he runs his finger down her nose and over her lips. Opening her mouth, she takes it in and begins to suck on it. He leans forward again to kiss her, but she places her hand on his chest stopping him. "What?" He asks, trying to move closer.
"Are you finished?"
"Yes."
"Then go on upstairs and I'll be up in a minute."
"In a minute, it never takes you less then thirty minutes to take a shower."
"You'll give me incentive to hurry."
"We can do…."
"I want to be comfortable, okay. I won't be long, I promise."
"Alright, I'll be upstairs." Jeffrey replies, leaning over to give her a kiss as she pulls the shower curtain back.
"I promise I'll be up in a few minutes." Sam says, stepping back.
"You better, I would hate for all of that to go to waste." He says, opening the door as she chuckles softly.
Less than ten minutes later, he hears the water turn off downstairs. A few seconds later, Sam walks into the room wrapped in two towels, one around her body the other around her hair. She leans against the door, watching him, watching her.
"Are you through?" He asks, as he rolls to his side, propping his head up with his hand.
"Almost." Sam replies, walking over to the dresser.
Taking the towel down that's wrapped around her hair. She drops it on the floor before she reaches for her brush and bends over, gently brushing her hair out while Jeffrey sits up and watches her, she turns away from him until she finishes brushing her hair and then she turns around.
Jeffrey is sitting now on the end of the bed, watching as she walks towards him. "I like to watch you." He says, as she walks towards him.
"You like to watch me do what?"
"Get ready, brush your hair, do your make up, all that stuff that women do to make themselves beautiful."
"Well, I have no makeup on, and my hair would be a mess if I didn't brush it out." She says, as he nods, slowly running his eyes over her.
"Are you going to come to bed, with the towel?" He asks, glancing down at the towel as she stops before him.
"You want to see me without the towel."
"Ah, yes." He says, looking up at her.
"Let me see you." She asks, glancing down at his arms lying on his thighs as he leans forward.
He watches her for a few seconds before he leans back, bracing himself with his hand as she slowly moves down his body. She sucks in a breath when she realizes how desperately he wants her. "Still." She whispers.
"I saw everything you were doing downstairs."
"If you saw everything, then why do you…?"
"Sam." He demands, staring at the towel, reaching for it as she pulls it free and lets it drop. "Beca." He whispers, slowly moving down her body.
He thought he could see a slight bulge in her stomach. He didn't say anything to her, knowing it would probably upset her, but it filled him with desire and love to realize that his child was growing inside of her. Standing up, he takes a step closer to her. Leaning down, he whispers. "I love you."
"I love you too." She replies, leaning up to kiss him.
Wrapping his arms around her, he deepens the kiss. After a few seconds he beings to lightly kiss the side of her neck, moving up to her ear. Moving her head to the side, she sighs softly as she takes a step closer to him.
Bending down, he swipes her up into his arms. Turning he lays her across the bed as he slips inside her. "J." She moans, arching her back.
"Beca." He whispers, as he begins to thrust.
After about a minute, he leans up on his arms. Catching her gaze, she arches her back as he thrusts deeper. Slowly she begins to move with him, helping him as he brings them closer to release.
"J" she cries, as he brushes against her.
Wave upon waves of release rushes through her, he feels the final wave wash over her. Thrusting for the final time, he collapses in her arms, his own release running through him and filling her.
After a couple seconds, she begins to push against him. And he realizes that he might be crushing both her and the baby. He starts to move away, but she stops. "Lay down on your back." She says softly, looking up.
He moves to lie down beside her as she straddles his hips. Reaching for him, she begins to caress him. Slowly moving her hand, up and down until she feels him gasp softly. Looking up, she smiles seductively as he sucks in a deep breath. Leaning over him, she says. "Touch me."
Reaching for her, he begins to caress her, stroking her body in time with her. Gently playing with and manipulating her desire until he feels her begin to quiver. She moves up, leaning over to kiss him as she guides him inside her.
"Beca." He groans, holding her hips tightly.
"J." She whispers, leaning over to kiss him as she moves.
After a few seconds, he begins to move with her. They both feel the end looming before them like and endless sea of release. He feels her release break first, holding her tightly as he whisper. "You're beautiful, Beca. And I love you so much, so much baby."
"I love… you… too." Sam gasps, leaning over to kiss him as he thrusts one more time, his release charging through him, filling them both with incredible swells of release.
When the final swells flow through them, Sam collapses into his waiting arms. Her hair softly tickles his face as they both struggle to catch their breath. Reaching up, he wraps his arms around her, holding her..