Back again with another chapter! Again, always sorry for how slow it is for me to update. Life just gets in the way and blah, blah, blah...but hey the new season of Nashville is coming soon which makes me super excited!
This is a continuation of the last chapter. I promise this will be the last "hospital" chapter because I really want to get into this story now and this chapter is really a kick off to the future chapters going forward. And I think the next chapter will be a slight time jump, and the chapter after that will be a major time jump so stay tuned!
As always please review and favorite, it's always very encouraging. Thank you loves!
**I DO NOT OWN NASHVILLE OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS**
"Looks like you won't be playing guitar for a while."
Cadence sighed, peering over to her right and looking at her broken arm in the hard blue cast. "No guitar, piano…my voice is still a mess so who knows when I'll be able to sing or do anything again. I can't even write. Unless I tried to use my left hand but that would be close to unreadable."
It was the next day and Cadence had been feeling better, not one hundred percent yet, but just enough for her to move slightly and grab things for herself and such. Avery, Molly, Savannah, and Sandra were all currently in the room with her.
"You'll be back to it soon enough kid," Savannah said with encouragement in her voice.
"Hopefully," said the blonde.
Avery felt horrible for his daughter. She was an artist who loved music in all aspects, just like himself and Juliette. Avery knew she would play her guitar in much of her free time and wrote songs whenever she could. If she was anything like Juliette, he knew she would be trying to get back to her normal routine as soon as she could. Avery could only imagine how hard it would be as she recovers.
"Resting and relaxing comes first," Avery insisted. "I know how much you want to get back to your normal self but it can't be rushed."
Cadence nodded, "I know."
Meanwhile, standing outside the room and looking in through the panel shaded window stood Juliette.
"Here you go," said Emily, handing her friend a cup of coffee. She had one for herself as well.
"I feel like I can't even go in there Em. I'm her mother and I'm not even welcome to be in there with her now."
"I know this sucks and while it's not fair to you, there's so much history in that room. They're a family and have been for sixteen years."
"With the exception of her," said Juliette before taking a sip of her coffee. Emily looked into the room again and focused on Molly.
"I never would have expected Avery to be with someone like her," Juliette added.
"Yeah," Emily pondered. "I wonder how they met. Did Cadence ever say anything to you?"
"Nothing, just that she isn't Molly's biggest fan if you know what I mean."
"Does Avery know?"
"I told him while we were waiting for Cadence to wake up. She's going to hate me for telling him."
"Well he should know how Cadence feels before he marries her."
Juliette shrugged her shoulders, "She wants him to be happy, and that's all I want for him too."
Emily took a sip of her coffee as well, "Avery might be happy but if Cadence isn't, is it really the kind of engagement that should be happening?"
Juliette sighed, "What am I supposed to do? Those women are like a pack of lions in there waiting to attack me if I make even the slightest move."
"If it's meant to be, then it will work out. If it's not mean to be, then it's not."
"Hey," said Glenn, interrupting the conversation.
"Hey," said Juliette, eagerly waiting for an update.
"After much debate from the promoters and the ticket companies, I was able to push back the tour. We just need to give them a heads up as soon as possible on when you would head out on the road again."
Juliette sighed with relief, "Did you apologize a million times on my behalf to everyone?"
"I did and a statement was released to your fans. They all understand but they keep asking questions on social media."
"Do they know it's about Cadence?"
"Some are suspecting it," said Glenn.
The blonde looked into the room again and fixed her eyes on her daughter. She knew what she needed to do. "I need to make a statement," said Juliette, looking back between her manager and assistant. "About everything."
"Are you sure about this Juliette?"
"It's something I should have done a long time ago."
Glenn and Emily looked at each other and back at Juliette again. "It's the right thing to do," Emily agreed. "You should definitely let Avery know first."
"I will," said Juliette, before looking at Glenn. "How fast can you get me an interview with GMA?"
"I'll give them a call," Glenn said with a comforting smile. He pulled out his phone and headed back down the hallway to make the call privately.
Juliette swallowed hard, nervous about the interview. She wanted to do it and it was the right time. Emily looked at her and could tell she had tensed up at the thought of talking about her postpartum and how she really hadn't seen Cadence in sixteen years. "It's going to be okay Juliette," she said in a comforting tone.
"Everyone is going to think that I'm a liar and a horrible mother," said Juliette. "Hell I might not even have to go on tour after this. But this is what I want, even if it means giving it all up."
"You're a better mother for doing this," said Emily. "She may be sixteen now, but she is going to see how brave and how strong you are for doing this. You'll be a better role model for her because of it."
Juliette sniffed back, trying to hold back her tears. She held her arms open for an embrace. Emily pulled her in, "Like I said, it will be okay."
"Thanks Emily," Juliette said before the two women separated. The blonde looked back into the room and saw the five of them still talking amongst themselves.
"I'm going to check on Glenn and see where he is with setting up the interview," said Emily.
"Thanks," Juliette responded before she stepped away. She kept her eyes focused on Cadence and watched as her daughter turned her face toward the window.
Cadence felt bad that Juliette was automatically excluded from being in the room, but she understood at the same time. While she wasn't recovered herself, she still wasn't recovered from all that happened the past week, especially the last few days. She was still waiting for Juliette to tell the truth, and in her mind, it was the only way for the two of them to begin any form of a mother-daughter relationship. Cadence wanted to talk to her, really talk to her, she was ready. But it was going to be hard while her family was with her as much as they could.
The sixteen year old simply showed a small smile and lifted her cast-less arm up just enough to give her a wave. Juliette did the same thing right back.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Later that night, Juliette had went back to her place to pack for New York. The GMA interview was set up for the following morning and she had a flight leaving Nashville at nine thirty. But before she left, she wanted to tell Avery about the interview.
Juliette, Glenn, and Emily stopped back at the hospital before heading to the airport. She told Glenn and Emily to stay behind in the car so she could talk to Avery. After checking in at the main desk at the hospital, she headed up to Cadence's room. Juliette hoped she wouldn't run into Molly, Savannah, or Sandra while she was there. She was counting on the fact that it was late and the three of them had left temporarily for dinner.
The blonde made it to the room and looked in the window to see that it was just Avery in the room and Cadence was sleeping. He was sat down in a chair and his eyes were fixed up on the tv when she opened the door quietly and entered the room. Avery turned his head towards the door at the sound of it opening and watched as Juliette walked in.
"Hey," said Avery.
"Hey," Juliette said back, fixing her purse strap on her shoulder.
"You just missed her. She fell asleep about twenty minutes ago."
Juliette sighed, "Yeah I don't want to wake her."
Avery nodded, "My mom, Savannah, and Molly went back to their hotel to get something to eat and to sleep for the night."
"Oh okay, I'm glad they found a place."
"Yeah, it was nice of you to offer your place to them though."
"Just thought I'd try to be accommodating despite…you know."
"No, no, it was nice of you."
"Thanks," said Juliette. "So I can't stay long. I actually have a plane to catch to New York tonight."
"Wait seriously?" Avery asked in disbelief.
Juliette then explained herself further before Avery could jump to conclusions, "I have an interview with GMA tomorrow morning, Avery. I'm going to speak out about everything okay? My postpartum, Cadence, us…it's time for me to tell the truth."
Avery sighed but started to nod his head, "Figures that it takes Cadence to be in an accident for you to want to do this."
"It has taken me a while to get to the place where I'm at today, Avery. I'm ready to do this and it's not because I had some bullshit awakening after our daughter was in a car accident," Juliette said in a hushed but angered tone.
The two former lovers kept their distance in the room, Avery in the chair and her standing closest to the door. Avery sighed and wiped his hand over his face, "Cadence should know about this."
"She has wanted me to do this since she was on my doorstep over a week ago. Probably even longer before that. This is what she wants and this is what I want before we can have a relationship."
"Well what about afterward with all of the media and the aftermath of it all? Have you two considered that?"
"I just want her to be happy. I don't want her to look at me with disgust and shame anymore."
"She doesn't think of you like that," he said softly.
Juliette sniffed and tilted her head up to hold back her tears. She couldn't get deeper into the conversation so she changed the subject, "So are you okay with the interview? That's why I'm here, and say goodbye to Cadence."
Avery swallowed hard, "Yeah it's fine with me."
"Thank you," she said. "And please just text me or call with any updates. I know Dr. Clement said she's continuously improving but you know."
"Yeah I know, and I will don't worry."
"And text Emily and Glenn too just in case if I don't respond or anything like that. Just please let me know everything, when she's awake, when she's eating…"
"I will, I promise," said Avery with a small smile. He liked how concerned she was being.
Juliette nodded, she turned towards Cadence who had been fast asleep on the bed. She stepped closer to her daughter and leaned down to press a kiss on the top of her head. Parting away, she softly ran her finger through her wavy blonde hair. Juliette bit her lip and sighed, she knew she was doing the right thing. The older blonde looked up at Avery, knowing he had his eyes fixed on them the whole time.
"I'll be back by tomorrow afternoon and I'll be coming straight here as soon as I land," said Juliette. "Have her watch it okay?"
"I will," Avery said as he nodded. "Have a safe flight."
"Thanks," she said before making her way back to the door and leaving the room.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Cadence," Avery whispered as he carefully took his daughter's hand to wake her up.
Her eyes fluttered open and looked over to where her dad was, "Hey, did I sleep through the night?"
"Yeah you did," he smiled.
"What time is it?"
"It's almost eight," said Avery. "I have to show you something."
"Where's Juliette? Didn't she come back last night?"
"Yeah she did, but she had to leave again. It's part of what I have to show you."
Cadence carefully sat herself up in bed, she was confused as to what her dad was talking about. The blonde watched as he took the remote from the side table and turned the channel to Good Morning America. Emily had texted him she was coming on so he was sure to wake Cadence up just in time.
"And now in the nine o'clock hour we have Juliette Barnes here with us to talk about her new confession about fighting her postpartum depression, secret divorce, and her daughter. Good morning Juliette, welcome," said Lara Spencer who sat in a chair across from Juliette in the main studio with passersby in Times Square looking in the window, watching and waving their arms knowing they were on tv.
"Thank you, and thanks for having me," said Juliette, standing tall in the chair she sat in.
"Now all of this is new information for all of us and by 'all of us' I mean the public and even your fans. Why did you decide to keep this life changing information out of the public eye?"
"Most of it was due to the postpartum. It changes the way you think and how you act and at the time I thought I was doing the right thing. At the same time, not everything about my personal life has to be made known to the public. But I know it comes with the job."
"So during this time you and your ex husband got a divorce. Is the postpartum what led you two to separate?"
"Yes, I was reluctant of his efforts to seek help and treatment for my postpartum. I had become very focused on my career and I neglected what mattered most. I had also become a threat to my daughter. He knew what was best for her and he has always been nothing but an amazing father to her," Juliette said as her voice shook. "It wasn't until years later when I finally got the help and treatment that I needed."
Cadence took her eyes off the tv and looked over at her dad. His eyes started to fill but he held back. She reached for his hand that was resting on the edge of the bed and grasped it, Avery still not taking his eyes off the tv.
"I know this is a lot to talk about," Lara said in a comforting tone and Juliette nodded. "Do you and your husband still communicate?"
"I hadn't spoken to him since the divorce, until a few days ago when my daughter came to see me in Nashville. Before that I didn't see a point to reach out. So much damage had been done."
"Speaking of your daughter, Cadence, you hadn't seen or spoken to her until recently as well."
"Yes, it was my ex husband's decision to keep me out of the picture of Cadence's life. Almost two weeks ago she showed up at my doorstep at my home in Nashville was when I first saw her after sixteen years."
"Sixteen years?" Lara repeated. "That's a long time. Why are you speaking out now instead of say…five years ago?"
"I'm just tired of hiding something that has effected me so much. Having to hide all of this has taken a toll on everyone in my life and now was the time to come clean."
"Well right now, sources have reported that Cadence is currently in the hospital recovering over a terrible car accident with paparazzi."
Juliette nodded, "I'm not going to get into details but she is recovering very well and I'm actually heading back to see her right after this interview."
Lara and Juliette both smiled, "How is she otherwise? You must have gotten to know her while she was with you."
"Yes, she's your normal sixteen year old. She goes to school and she loves to sing and play guitar and piano."
"Well that's no surprise," Lara joked and Juliette let out a chuckle.
"Yeah she is something else. She's a beautiful, sweet, and a kind young woman and I have to thank her dad for that and all he has done."
Lara smiled, "So moving forward, what are your plans?"
"My focus right now is my daughter and my relationship with her. I need to regain assurance in my personal life before continuing with my career. For the time being I have postponed my tour to a later date and the fans have been super understanding which means a lot."
"Well I think they will continue to be," said Lara. "I think by you speaking out today shows how brave you are."
"Thank you," said Juliette.
"You're welcome and thank you for stopping by today. Everyone here at GMA wishes a speedy and well recovery for your daughter."
"Thank you so much," Juliette said again before Lara started speaking to the camera that they were going to a commercial break.
Cadence had tightened her grip on her dad's hand without realizing but then quickly loosened when he turned to her after the interview ended. "Are you okay Dad?"
"Yeah I'm good," said Avery. "I just never thought I'd be watching that."
"Me either," Cadence agreed. "So what happens now?"
Avery reached over and grabbed the laminated hospital menu, "Well right now you need to get something to eat and…"
"Dad you know what I mean."
"Well what do you want to happen?" Avery sighed. "I know you're not little anymore and I can't control everything. You do have a say in this as well."
"Really?"
"Within reason that I oversee the decision."
"Yeah that's what I thought," said Cadence.
"But really sweetheart," said Avery. "If you want a relationship with Juliette I will support it. I have always supported you and I always will. She's your mother and you have that right to know her. I'm just sorry that it didn't happen earlier."
"Dad, please don't be sorry about that. I understand why you did what you did, and Juliette does too. I think we all just had to let out our thoughts and emotions the other night. We all said stuff we didn't exactly mean. I'm ready to move forward if you are."
Avery nodded and smiled, "If you're ready then I'm ready."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
That afternoon, Cadence was by herself in the hospital room. She convinced her dad to leave the hospital for at least an hour to grab something to eat and to get some fresh air. He hadn't left the hospital since Cadence was admitted. She was already visited by her grandmother, aunt, and soon-to-be step mother who said they were going to stop by again later. The blonde had been keeping busy on her laptop watching Netflix since there was nothing good on tv. With her headphones on, she wasn't able to hear the knock on the door. She kept her eyes focused on the screen until she saw Juliette enter out of the corner of her eye. Cadence quickly paused the episode of Gilmore Girls she was watching and took the headphones out with her free arm.
"Hey, you're awake," Juliette said with a smile.
"Yeah finally," said Cadence. "I can't believe I'm tired of sleeping."
"I could imagine," said Juliette as she stepped further into the room. She placed her bag on the counter by the sink that was in the room. "Where's your dad?"
"I got him to leave to get something to eat and to do something he either needed or wanted to do for at least an hour."
"Just an hour?"
"He wouldn't accept anything longer than that. He doesn't want to leave me alone for too long."
Juliette let out a soft chuckle, "I don't blame him though, I hated having to go to New York for not even twenty four hours, being away from you here at the hospital."
It became quiet between the mother and daughter. The tension started to grow, they knew they had to talk about the interview but neither of them knew where to start.
"Thank you for doing the interview," Cadence blurted out. "I knew it wasn't easy for you."
Juliette walked closer to Cadence and carefully sat beside her on the edge of the bed. "I did it for us," Juliette said simply. "And it wasn't because you had just gotten into a car accident or anything like that. I wanted to do it and I know you wanted it too."
"I know that, and I did. It meant a lot to me," said Cadence. "And I talked to Dad."
Juliette tilted her head sideways curiously, "About what?"
"Well if it's okay with you, I would like to stay with you for half of my summer, from mid July to the end of August. I don't know if you're going to be touring or not but even if you are I want to come with you."
"Cadence of course you can," Juliette said with assurance. "Is your dad okay with this?"
"One hundred percent, he's still going to talk to you about it but he is in full support of us having a relationship. It was my decision."
"Yeah well as soon as you're situated and you're healthy and healed again and back home I would probably head out on tour. But I could definitely arrange a break sometime when you're with me so we can do something else."
"That would be cool," Cadence smiled. "But seriously, I want to see you out on tour and what it's like to perform every night so don't feel bad about it. And even before all of that would it be okay if we called and FaceTimed?"
"Definitely," Juliette smiled again. "I would love that. I've already missed so much and I don't want to miss anything else."
"I've been thinking about that and really you haven't missed that much. Like, yeah you missed my first steps, learning to ride a bike, and my first choir solo…" Cadence stopped when she noticed Juliette's upset face. "I'm not trying to rub this in, I promise I'm getting somewhere," she giggled and Juliette listened.
"But there's a lot that you didn't miss, which I think are way more important. My first relationship, when I graduate from high school, when I get into college, my twenty first birthday, when I get married…"
Juliette's eyes started to well up with tears and Cadence started to feel bad, "I'm sorry Juliette, I didn't mean to make you upset."
"No sweetie, you're right. There's still a lot that I didn't miss. These are just happy tears," Juliette smiled as she quickly wiped her tears away.
"What's done is done, we can't undo it no matter how much we want to," said Cadence.
"You're absolutely right," Juliette agreed. "Geez, you sound like you aged ten years when I was gone."
Both blondes laughed as Juliette adjusted herself on the bed, "So what did I interrupt you from watching?"
"Oh nothing really, I just started the show Gilmore Girls since nothing else was on tv. I had always wanted to watch it."
Cadence could tell by Juliette's face that she seemed interested, "What is it about?"
"I'm only on the second episode but it's about a mother and daughter living in Connecticut and they're best friends. Lorelai had her daughter Rory when she was sixteen. They talk super fast and make a bunch of references to music, books, and movies. It's really good so far."
"That does sound good, can I watch it with you?" Juliette asked.
Cadence smiled at Juliette's willingness and was quick to answer, "Yeah, I'll just move over."
"Are you sure?" Juliette asked, not wanting Cadence to move too much.
"I'm sure," Cadence chuckled as she slowly moved herself over towards the right to make room for Juliette. "You'd be surprised how much sleep can help a body."
The older blonde carefully climbed up on the bed and sat beside her daughter. Cadence took her headphones out of her laptop so Juliette could hear. "I'll go back to the first episode," said the sixteen year old.
"I don't want to make you go back and re watch the first episode," said Juliette, feeling bad.
"Well you're going to be confused if we don't," Cadence argued playfully. "Plus I really like this show anyways so it's okay."
"Alright," said Juliette, giving her daughter a side eye glance.
Cadence noticed and gave one right back along with a smile, "Ready?"
Juliette gave Cadence's arm a light squeeze, "Yeah I'm ready."
