A Fresh Start
Chapter One Hundred Seventy One
Emma was surprised when she walks out of school and finds Ava waiting for her. She walks over to her. "Where is Mom?"
"She's busy right now. She sent me to get you." Ava says, opening the car door. Emma slips inside, putting her backpack in the floor while she reaches for her seatbelt, buckling it as Ava opens the driver door and gets in.
"Buckled up?" She asks, looking at Emma. "Good." She says, reaching to start the car. She pulls away from the school.
They drive through town, heading for Company. When Ava parks, she turns the car off and then turns to Emma. "Are you ready?"
"Is Mom here?"
"No." Ava says, turning to open her door. Emma follows her, opening the passenger door and getting out. She closes the door as Ava walks around the car. She puts her hand on Emma's shoulder and they walk towards Company. Ava shows Emma up to her room. They walk in and Emma looks around while Ava puts her coat and purse away.
"Why is my suitcase here?" Emma asks, spotting it on the floor by the couch as Ava turns to her.
She pauses for a moment before she walks over to Emma and takes her hand. She sits down on the couch and then pats the seat beside her. "Let's talk." She says. Emma sits down and turns to Ava. "Your suitcase is here because you're going to be staying with me for a while."
"Why? Where is Mom?"
"I'm not good at this but I guess I'll need the practice." Ava says, sighing. "Mom is in trouble, serious trouble."
"Can we help her, maybe we…?"
"No, we can't help her. What happens when you don't mind your sitter? What does Mom do?"
"She punishes me. I'm usually grounded. I can't go to Will's after school or I can't watch TV. Is Mom being punished?"
"Not yet, but she is in trouble. She's waiting to find out what her punishment will be?"
"Where?"
"She's at the police station."
"What did she do? Did she hurt someone?"
"No, but she planned to hurt someone and so she's in trouble."
"I don't understand. If she didn't do it then why is she in trouble."
"Sometimes, planning to do something is as bad as actually doing it."
Emma was afraid to ask this question because she thought she knew the answer but she asked anyway. "Who did she plan to hurt?"
"Jeffrey and Sam."
"Why? Jeffrey was so good to us and he's happy with Sam. Sam doesn't seem like a bad person."
"She's not and Dad is happy and I know he was good to you and Mom."
"Then why did she want to hurt him and Sam."
"Sometimes bad things happen to us, things we have no control over and sometimes the choices we make hurt us, for a long time. And when that happens and it's the choice we make that causes the bad things to happen to us we sort of get stuck and we can't move on and live our lives. And the pain becomes too much and we focus on that instead of the good things that is happening to us. We want everyone else that is happy to feel the pain we feel, especially when the people involved were part of the choices that hurt us. Do you understand?"
"I think so. Mom was upset at Jeffrey because he left us and he is happy with Sam."
"Yes."
"She was going to hurt them?" Emma asks, looking at Ava.
"Yes."
"I'm sorry." Emma says, looking at her.
"Baby, you have nothing to be sorry for."
"He's your daddy and my mom was going to hurt him."
"Yes, but not because you did anything, Mom wasn't herself when she wanted to hurt Jeffrey and Sam."
"You mean she was crazy."
"I don't know if she was crazy. She was hurt and she let that hurt become the center of her life instead of focusing on all the things she had. But I think that she was starting to change."
"Because of Mr. Marshall." Emma asks.
"Yes, I think he was helping her to see that she didn't need to hold onto the pain anymore and that is why she didn't really hurt Jeffrey and Sam, she only planned to."
"What will happen to her? Will she be hurt?"
"No, but she may have to go away for a very, very long time."
"What happens to me, if she has to go away? Will I have to go live with Grandpa at the Spaulding mansion? I don't want to go there. Grandpa Spaulding is always…."
"You're not going to the Spaulding mansion. Mom has signed papers that say that she wants you to stay with me. So, you're going to be staying with me at least for now."
"You think Grandpa Spaulding will try to take me away from you."
"No baby, I don't think he'll try to take you away from me. I want to hope that Mom doesn't have to go away but I'm afraid that she will for a very long time. So, are you hungry?"
"Yes." Emma nods.
"Then let go down to Company and we'll get something to eat. I think I'm going to have to talk to Buzz about us getting a bigger room." Ava says, standing up.
"What about our stuff at the Beacon?"
"We'll wait to decide about that when we know about Mom, okay?"
"Okay." Emma says, looking up at Ava.
"Let's go then." Ava says, opening the door for her.
She walks out with Ava following behind her, closing the door. They walk down the hall towards the stairs leading to Company as Emma slips her hand into Ava's. She looks down and smiles at her.
Dorian is in his office when Rueben walks in. "DJ." He says, knocking on the open door.
"Come in." Dorian says, looking up.
"Mr. Lewis told me that you came by the center. What did you think?"
"It's a nice place."
"So you're going to bring your kids over?"
"No, I'm not."
"What, why not, the programs and…."
"I don't think your center is equipped to deal with the day to day problems my kids face. It's nasty over here. They face things that those kids in your center have never seen. They face drug dealers and gangs and every other depravity and they've learned to relay only on themselves. So, thank you for the offer but I'm not going to be involved with Mr. Lewis's center. Now if you don't mind, I've got some work I need to do."
Rueben stands there for a moment before he turns to leave. He's walking down the hall when Dorian looks up. "You did the right thing." A woman's voice says from the door way across from him.
"I don't want to talk to you right now." Dorian says, looking at the woman as she walks in
"DJ"
"I've got work to do."
"I was worried about you last night, poppy. You didn't come…."
"I'm a grown man. I don't have to come home every night. And if I don't it's none of your business. I had to think."
"I didn't want you to find…."
"That's right you didn't want me to find out. That's why you never said a word about who …. I'm not going to talk to you about this. I've got to go check on some supplies…."
"Don't push me away and use this as a way to…."
"To what, hide. Isn't that what you've been doing all my life. We didn't leave Miami because you wanted a better life. We left because you wanted to be next to him. You wanted to be next to the man that you cheated on my father with."
"I've made mistakes DJ. One of them was that night in Miami."
"So, I am a mistake, thank you."
"No, that's not what I meant. I have loved you from the moment I found out about you. I regret the way it happened but I don't regret having you. That night we were both hurting and sought comfort with each other. I didn't tell you because there was no need to tell you."
"There was no need to tell me, that the man that I thought was my father actually wasn't. That I'm the results of a wild night you had with some guy in a bar in Miami."
"It was more than that. That night…."
"I don't want to know about it. It's enough knowing that everything you ever tried to teach me was a lie. At least now I know I can make up the rules as I go along." Dorian says, walking out of the room. The woman stands there, head bowed
Jeffrey and Sam walk into Company. Marina is at the counter when they walk in. "Hi, you two."
"Hi, Marina." Jeffrey says, walking over to a table, holding Sam's chair for her as Marina walks over to them.
"It seems like you've had a couple of interesting days, Mr. Mayor." Marina says, as Jeffrey sits down. "I wonder have you talked to Marah in the last couple days."
Jeffrey looks up and then says. "No, I haven't Marina. Her mother thought it would be better if she was told by her and Josh."
"Has she been told?" Marina asks.
"I don't know for a fact but I'm sure by now she's been told."
"She loved you and you had no idea that…."
"I know she loved me Marina and no I didn't have any idea that she was… I was…."
"That you were actually her uncle."
"Yes, if I had known that I would have stopped any relationship from happening." Jeffrey says, as Buzz walks up.
"Marina could you go back to the kitchens for me and take care of the stuff I asked you to take care of?" Buzz asks, looking at her pointedly.
"Yes, Grandpa." Marina says, looking at Jeffrey for a moment before she turns and walks away.
"I'm sorry about that." Buzz says
"It's okay Buzz. Marina and Marah were friends when we were involved and I'm not sure if Marina agreed with Marah's decision to be with me and now we learn that she never should have been in the first place." Jeffrey says.
"Still it seems like you've had coming from both ways the last couple days, what with the press and now Olivia."
"You know about Olivia."
"I just came from getting Ava a new room. She asked me to move her to a larger room after explaining that she's got Emma now and she told me about the plot to kidnap you and Olivia's involvement. I must say I'm not surprised that she planned to do something. I am surprised that she didn't carry it out."
"Well, she says she didn't because of Mr. Marshall." Jeffrey says.
"You don't believe her."
"No, no I don't. I think she realized she was closed to being caught and decided to cut bait and run as Sam says."
"I don't know about all that, but I think maybe it's both. Maybe Mr. Marshall helped her to see what you and Ava had been trying to tell her for the last few months and maybe she did cut bait and run as you put it, either way you've had a lot happen in the last two days."
"Can we get something to eat?" Jeffrey asks, not wanting to discuss Marah or Olivia anymore.
"Sure, we've got a fresh batch of my chili today. You guys want some?"
"Yes." Sam says.
"That's fine." Jeffrey says.
"What do you want to drink?"
"Umm, I'll have coffee." Jeffrey says, looking at Sam.
"It's fine, and I'll have some of the spiced cider."
"It's coming right up." Buzz says, jotting down their order as he walks away from the table.
"I'm sorry about that." Jeffrey says, reaching for Sam's hand.
"It's fine. What kind of friend would Marina be if she didn't defend her friend? And I don't think she was attacking you."
"She was just sticking up for Marah."
"Yes. And it's loyalty like that that more people should have. Can we not talk about all the other things that have been going on?"
"Sure. What do you want to talk about?"
"I've got several promising applicants for the office. And the painters were at the house today. I think you'll like the colors we picked out. And the electrician will be out to wire the house so that we can have radiant heating in the floors."
"I met with Billy today about the bathroom and bedroom addition to the loft."
"What did he say?"
"He showed me some plans. I think they will like what we've planned. However, they will loose some of the windows in the living room."
"What, why?"
"Because the bedroom needs a window and if we put the room over where my music stuff is we would have to put a window in."
"Couldn't you do that?"
"Yes, but it will make the job more expensive and that side of the building is about a fifteen foot drop to the ground, if there was ever a fire to get to the fire escape anyone in that room would have to go across the living room to get to the fire escape. It's much easier to build the room around the windows that are already in place. We will however put a small window in the bathroom to allow in natural light." Jeffrey says, as Buzz brings their drinks. "Thanks." Jeffrey says, taking a sip of his coffee.
"You're welcome. Let me go get the chili."
"Okay." Buzz leaves and Jeffrey turns to her.
After taking a sip of cider, Sam asks. "Have you decided what you're going to do about your study?"
"Ava and I were talking about that today. I think I'm going to leave it as a study and I'm going to look at the garage on the property and if it's not going to be too much trouble, I might remodel that into a rehearsal space for me and the band."
"I don't mind you having the rehearsal space in the house."
"I know, but we can get a little loud and we can soundproof, but I think it would be good to have study in the house too. I am mayor after all and a lawyer. I might need the space sometime."
"You're not going to run for reelection are you?" Sam says, looking at him.
"No, I don't think I will. I wanted to be mayor to try and redeem myself for everything that happened in my past..."
"You didn't need redemption."
"Maybe not, but even if I did I wouldn't be able to get it from a town. And besides, I like being a lawyer. And we have a born politician in this town already."
"Richard."
"It's what he was born to do, lead." Jeffrey says, as Buzz brings them their chili. "Thanks." Jeffrey says again.
"Yes, thank you Buzz." Sam says, smiling at him.
Buzz leaves and they start to eat. "You know you have the appointment tomorrow with Dr. Stephens."
"Yes, maybe he'll release me from…."
"J, you ribs were broken. It's going to take a while for you to get over that."
"I feel fine. And I miss you like crazy."
"I'm right here."
"You know what I mean. I want to love you and this Dr. Stephens is…."
"Is doing his job and he will lift the orders when he feels you're well enough to be released."
"You're being too much like a doctor and not enough like a woman who's not getting…."
"I get everything I need just by you being alive. The other is and extra benefit of loving you." Sam says, leaning over to kiss him. Ava and Emma walk into the restaurant when Sam sits back. "Is that Ava with Emma?" Sam asks, looking up and Jeffrey turns.
"Yes, when we left City Hall this afternoon, she was going to get Emma and explain to her what was going on."
"Do you think she did?"
"Yes."
"What's going to happen now?"
"With Ava and Emma?"
"With them and with Olivia."
"Well you heard Buzz, she asked him for a bigger room so I guess they will be staying at the boarding house. As for Olivia, she will be arraigned tomorrow morning and if Olivia's attorney makes no motions the judge could sentence her right there or they could set a date for sentencing."
"What sort of sentence is she facing?" Sam asks.
"She could go to jail for life."
"No, you can't. Please you can't let them put her in jail for life." Emma says as Jeffrey turns to her. "I know she did a bad thing but she didn't mean it, that's why she stopped those men from finishing. She didn't want to hurt you, not really." Emma says, pleading with Jeffrey to understand.
"Emma, you're Mom…." Jeffrey says, as Ava reaches for Emma he holds up his hand.
"She made a mistake and she didn't really want to take you away. She was hurt and unhappy but she didn't mean it."
"Emma, listen to me. Your mom may have been hurt and unhappy, but that is not a reason to plan to do what she planned. She has to pay the consequences for what she's done."
"But she didn't do anything."
"She planned to do something and in the eyes of the judge and court that's as bad as actually doing what she planned."
"You mean she can get in trouble because she thought about taking you away."
"No, your mom did more than thought about taking me away. She found a place where she could hold me against my will. She had men buy stuff that would put me under her control. She planned to blame everything on Sam. It was more than thinking about doing something. She did do something about the thoughts in her head and that's as bad as actually taking me away."
"That's not fair, what about me and Ava? What about my new cousin? It will never know her if you send her to jail for the rest of her life." Emma says, tearing up.
Jeffrey takes Emma in his arms, holding her. "I know this is hard for you to understand. And I wish it wasn't going to be this way but there is nothing I can do to change what your mom has done and she has to pay the price for it."
"Emma, let's go." Ava says reaching for her and Jeffrey lets her go. "I'm sorry." She says, looking at Jeffrey.
"It's okay." He says, looking at Ava. They walk away while Jeffrey watches them and Sam reaches for his hand.
"You can't do anything. The judge will decide what Olivia's punishment will be." She says. He turns to look at her.
"Are you ready to go?"
"Sure." Sam says, as he raises his hand to get Buzz's attention
Buzz comes over to the table. "Can I get the check, Buzz?" Jeffrey asks.
"Sure." He says, pulling out his pad. He tears off their ticket and hands it to Jeffrey.
"Thanks." Jeffrey says, as he and Sam stand up. He follows Sam to the counter where he pays for their dinner and they leave.
Ava helps Emma upstairs. She and Emma have moved into another room before they went down to eat. Ava sits down on the couch with Emma. "It's going to be okay." She says, holding her.
"No, it's not. Mommy is going to jail for the rest of her life."
"We don't know…."
"You heard Jeffrey. The judge will say that mommy has to go to jail for the rest of her life because she planned to take him away."
"He doesn't want her too. But he can't decide what happens to her the judge will."
"And he will decide to send her away for the rest of her life." Emma says, pulling away from Ava and wiping her face. "I'm going to go to bed." She says, getting up.
"Do you want me to tuck you in?"
"No." She replies, shaking her head. She walks out of the room, leaving Ava on the couch.
Ava sits there for a while thinking about Olivia and what she planned to do, thinking about Jeffrey and Sam. Reaching for the phone, she dials William's cell phone. He answers on the third ring. "Hello, William here."
"Will." Ava says softly.
"Ava, hi, how are you?"
"I'm… tired. I only called to hear your voice."
"What's going on?" William asks, settling back into the seat. He was on his way home from Parliament. Everything had been worked out and Natalie would be making the announcement as soon as he got back to the palace.
"Umm, it's Olivia. She's done something really serious."
"What did she do?"
"She confessed today to conspiring to kidnap Jeffrey."
"Kidnap Jeffrey, how was she going to do that?"
"She was planning on having him drugged and then force and accident and then after the accident she was planning on framing Sam. She went to Mallet today and confessed. She's in jail right now and I have Emma."
"She's in jail and you have Emma. What does Jeffrey say?"
"He can't really say anything. He's the victim or intended victim. He was really mad when we were at the police station this afternoon. Which I can understand, but that's my mom. I don't want to her to go to jail. But I know she has to pay the price for what she planned to do. I understand that, I don't think Emma does. You should have seen her begging Jeffrey not to let the judge sentence mom to jail. She could spend the rest of her life there for this."
"Did she say why she wanted to kidnap Jeffrey?"
"It's obvious why she wanted to kidnap him. She wanted to take him away from Sam and she wanted to make Sam suffer again by loosing him. I'm so mad at her right now and yet I don't want her to go to jail."
"Of course you don't want her to go to jail. She's your mother, you love her."
"But I love Dad too."
"You're not being disloyal if you don't want your mom to go to jail."
"I wish there was some way she could be punished but not be sent to jail for the rest of her life. If she's in jail, she'll never know our baby. And I want her to be apart of its life. I never had grandparents."
"He'll have Sam and Jeffrey."
"I know, but it's not the same and there's more than just Olivia."
"More than just Olivia, what?"
"Dad's found out who his father was."
"He did, how, who?"
"Apparently Reva overheard Josh telling one of their attorneys to destroy a file. She confronted him but he wouldn't tell her anything, they argued, Billy overheard the fight and came to see what was going on. One thing lead to another and Billy was able to track down a man that had files that belonged to his father. One of those files was from a private investigator that Billy's father used. That P.I. said that he was able to track Dad to Chicago and it named Dad as Billy's father's son. Reva…."
"Your Dad's a Lewis."
"Yes, Reva told my dad all of this and he gave a DNA sample and they ran as DNA test and Dad's DNA matched with Billy's father, so Dad's a Lewis."
"Wait, wasn't your Dad involved with Marah a few years back before she went to Paris."
"Yes, but how did you know about that?"
"I remember Cassie telling me something about it. He helped her beat a murder rap. And I'm pretty sure that she said that your dad tried to stay away from Marah, but they couldn't and for some reason your dad arranged for her to go to Paris and they've been apart ever since."
"Dad arranged for her to go to Paris because he wanted her to realize her dreams. He loved her but he knew she wasn't ready for a relationship with him, so he sent her to Paris."
"And neither one had any idea they were related to each other."
"Of course not!"
"I wasn't accusing Jeffrey of anything. I was just making a statement."
"I'm sorry. The stuff about Marah came out and that Dad's a Lewis, it all hit the press last night. Dad had to make a special announcement on the late news to try to head off a report in the Springfield Journal. I don't know if it did much good. It's just been a very tiring week."
"Well, are you ready for some good news?" William asks, getting out of the limo after one of the pages opens the door for him. He walks into the palace, nodding to different servants as he walks through.
"What?"
"I was going to call you anyway. I was on my way back from Parliament and they've set a date for the election."
"They have, when?"
"The election will be Friday. So within a couple weeks we'll know how much longer I'll be down here."
"That soon, really."
"Yes, we'll know by Friday evening if I'll be here for only a month or longer."
"Only a month, really."
"Yes, if the people vote for the monarchy. We'll only have to arrange for the coronation of a new prince. If they vote for democracy then we'll have to arrange for a campaign and set date for new elections."
"So, you could be here in less than a month."
"More than likely it'll take a little longer than a month, but I could definitely be there before Christmas."
"I don't believe this. I have to tell Dad. He's working with Billy to get the loft ready for us. They're adding another bedroom and bathroom. And maybe we should add another bedroom to it to. If Olivia goes to prison I'll have Emma. She'll need a bedroom too."
"Maybe you should hold off on that, maybe something will work out for your Mom…."
"Will, I doubt there is anything that can be done. My mom plotted to kidnap the Mayor of Springfield, that's like plotting to kill the President or Governor. If she's not sent to prison for the rest of her life, she's going there for a very long time."
"Keep you head up, you might get a miracle Darling. Listen I've got to go. I've got a state dinner I've got to get ready for."
"Okay, thanks for letting me vent. I feel a lot better."
"I'm glad you feel better and you can vent to me anytime. But before you go, how's my little boy doing?"
"Your little boy, how do you know it's a boy?"
"It's a figure of speech, how is he…."
"He's fine. We go for a check up tomorrow morning."
"You'll call me right after you leave and tell me everything."
"Of course I'll call you and tell you everything. But you've got to go and I want to check on Emma." Ava says, as Emma comes into the room.
"I love you."
"I love you too, Will."
"Take care of my girls and my boy."
"I will. Go make nice with all those rich dignitaries and I'll talk to you tomorrow."
"I will and I love you."
"I love you too." Ava hangs up as Emma snuggles up beside her.
"Are you okay?" She asks, as Ava puts the phone down and her arm around her.
"I am now." Ava says, hugging her to her. "Are you okay?"
"I'm scared and I couldn't sleep. I don't want you to think I was mad at you."
"I didn't think that, sweetie. I promise. We're both worried about Mom and what the judge will decide but we can't do anything about that right now so you need to go back to bed."
"Okay." Emma says, getting up.
"I'll tuck you in." Ava says, getting up behind her. She follows Emma into her room, kissing her good night after she tucks her in. "I'll see you in the morning."
"Do I have to go to school tomorrow?"
"We'll talk about it tomorrow."
"Okay."
"Close your eyes and I'll see you in the morning."
"Good night."
"Good night." Ava says, leaning over to kiss her good night again before she leaves the room.