Also, I'd like to note that I do not own ABC's One Life to Live or the characters and I will NOT be receiving any payment whatsoever for writing this story. It is intended for entertainment purposes only.
Please don't forget to REVIEW...
*~John and Blair ::: Chapter Eight~*
(The night of Paloma Manning's birth)
Blair was still furious with John for having left in an attempt to 'save' Marty.
"Damn him! Damn Todd! Damn ALL men!" Blair screamed as she was sweeping up the broken glass and flowers from the vase which had shattered when she had thrown it at the door.
Blair had just got the glass swept up when the telephone rang. When Blair answered the phone, she heard Vicki on the line. "Blair, you and Starr need to come to the hospital right away," Vicki said urgently.
Vicki's voice was shaking as she made the call, and she hoped that Blair and Starr would arrive at the hospital as soon as possible. After she hung up the phone, Vicki cried.
Blair promised to be there as soon as she could. She grabbed her car keys and her purse then ran upstairs quickly to get Starr. On her way up the stairs, she bumped into Langston and asked her to watch the boys while she had to go out. Langston said she didn't mind at all.
Then Blair knocked on Starr's door. "Starr, open the door! We have to go!"
Blair insisted.
"I don't want to go anywhere!" Starr said pitifully.
"Starr, look... just open the door!"
Starr yanked the door open, her face streaked with tears.
"Mom, I've had a really shitty day, okay? Schuy ...ummmmm... Mr. J and I aren't friends anymore. And Cole is being useless when it comes to helping find out what happened to Hope! So just leave me alone!"
"You and... ? Never mind," Blair said, realizing they'd have to revisit that one at a later time. "Starr we gotta go to the hospital. Vicki called."
"What? What's wrong?"
"I don't know, but Langston is watching the boys, so let's go," Blair said quickly and the two of them tore out of the house and drove over to Llanview University Hospital. Starr tried to hide the fact she had been crying as they walked in, wiping away her tears.
Once Blair and Starr entered the hospital, Vicki walked up to them, a grave expression upon her face. "I have to tell the both of you something... and it's not going to be easy to say," Vicki said, trying to find the words to describe this delicate situation.
"Starr... your baby girl... Hope... She isn't dead," Vicki said slowly.
"She's very much alive and well."
"It's like a miracle... and I want to take you to her tonight," Vicki announced.
Starr glared at her Aunt Vicki and her mother. "This isn't funny! That's a horrible thing to say!" she yelled, fighting more tears.
"I was there in the hospital when my baby died! I just don't understand HOW she died! How can you just stand there and tell me she's alive?"
Starr was flipping out, and it took a lot of energy which she barely had. She crumbled to the floor on her knees, clutching the locket she wore around her neck as the tears fell anew.
"Why?" she sobbed. "Why can't I get answers? Why can't you all just let her rest in peace?"
Blair looked startled by Vick'is confession and then Starr's outburst.
"Starr ~ honey, surely Vicki would never be so cruel; she loves you," she said gently, reaching out to caress Starr's hair.
Blair then said to Vicki, "I'm sorry, Vicki... Starr's had a bad day today. Could you please explain to us what you mean?
Did you find something out about Hope?"
Starr pushed her mother's hand away as she wasn't going to just sit there and listen to everyone tell her lies. She tried to stand up but exhaustion kept her from going far.
"Starr, I would never tell you anything so cruel just to hurt you. I love you so much... and this is tearing me apart. I just didn't know how to tell you..." Vicki said as big tears filled her eyes.
"On the night your baby was born, Jessi's baby was born, too... only her alter Tess was the one that birthed the baby. It turns out the baby was stillborn, and Tess and Jessica's other alter Bess decided to switch the babies.
I didn't know until tonight, when Jessica suddenly got her memories back.
Starr, the little girl that my daughter has been raising is in fact your baby girl Hope," Vicki explained. "I'm so sorry, sweetie... I know you must be in so much shock right now... but we had to tell you the truth... That precious baby girl needs her rightful mother."
Starr felt like the room was spinning as she tried to piece together all of this in her head. Her cousin? Jessica, her cousin whom she loved and talked to all the time, had stolen her baby?
"Starr ~ honey, are you okay?" Blair asked, realizing how shocking this must all be to Starr, because it was to her, too.
"Oh Vicki, I'm so sorry about Jessi's baby," Blair said. "This is all just ...wow."
"I stood there and talked to Jessica about Hope...about losing Hope and I told her how much it hurt me! And this whole time she's had my baby! I've been grieving for my daughter who is alive! And Jessica's been living her happy little life with MY baby! And all that time, I had nothing!" Starr spit out. She knew deep in her heart that it wasn't Jessica's fault, but even so, the pain, heartache, and betrayal was unimaginable.
"Starr!" Blair said as she had never seen Starr behave that way before.
"Vicki, I'm sorry. Starr doesn't mean that."
"Yes, I do," Starr said coldly as she rose to her feet and walked down the hallway away from her mom and Vicki.
Blair sighed. "Ohhh my. This is going to be hard."
Vicki's heart was breaking when she heard Starr's words. She really couldn't blame Starr at all for feeling the way she did. Due to Bess's act,
Starr had lost 9 months of her precious daughter's life. "Ohhh Starr, I'm so sorry... but you haven't lost everything. You have a gorgeous baby girl,"
Vicki reminded before Starr walked away.
Vicki then turned to Blair, apologizing to her as well, "I am so sorry for everything your family has been through, Blair..."
Starr found an empty room and walked in. Closing the door, she leaned back against it, sobbing. Pulling her cell phone from her pocket, she slid it open and scrolled through the numbers until she got to Schuyler's. The one person she wanted and needed right now she had pushed away, and now she had nowhere to turn with this. She wanted to call him, but she had told him that she wouldn't, and she was sure that even if he did pick up he would hate her now.
~*o*~
"Mom," Natalie spoke up.
Vicki turned, seeing Natalie there in the hallway. Natalie was holding Bree's hand and she had the baby in tow in the stroller. "Natalie," Vicki said, hugging her daughter.
"Mom, I heard everything... is it true?" Natalie asked, tears in her eyes.
"Yes, it is. I'm so sorry, baby, but it is," Vicki said as she hugged Natalie and both of them cried.
Both their eyes then settled on the tiny little girl sitting in the stroller.
"Then we have to give Chloe...I mean, Hope... back," said Natalie.
Natalie reached into the stroller and took the precious little girl she had thought all this time was her neice into her arms. She carried the 9-month-old down the hallway, then touched Starr lightly on the shoulder. "Starr..." she whispered.
When Starr turned to look at her cousin, Natalie placed the baby into her arms.
Starr felt someone touch her shoulder as she slipped her phone back into her pocket. She turned toward Natalie and the baby was placed in her arms. As Starr held Hope, she couldn't stop the tears that were falling. This was just too hard to process; she had been watching Hope grow up all this time under her cousin's care.
Starr struggled to find the words as baby Hope reached out for the locket around her neck. "Aunt Vicki, Natalie, would you...you like the locket with Chloe's hair in it?" she asked them softly.
She knew it wouldn't change the fact that they had lost Chloe, but she knew what it felt like to lose a baby now. Even if it had only been for nine months, the locket had brought her some solace and hoped it would for as well her aunt and cousins.
Fresh tears entered Vicki's eyes anew when Starr handed her the locket.
"Thank you so much, Starr. We'll cherish it always," said Vicki as she clutched the locket close containing the only thing the family had left of her precious granddaughter, Chloe Victoria Brennan. She knew that the next thing she must do is have the stone changed upon the baby's grave. It needed to read her granddaughter's correct name.
Natalie handed Starr the diaper bag containing diapers, a change of clothes,
and Hope's pacifiers, formula and bottles. "You'll need this..." Natalie said.
She then went to take Brennan in her arms, because with all the crying going on,
the little girl was very confused.
"I'm going to take Bree home now," Natalie told Vicki. "It's getting late,
and she needs to sleep. I have no idea what I will tell her about the baby.
I'll worry about it tomorrow."
"Okay, dear. Take Bree home. I'm going to stay here at the hospital incase Jessi needs me," Vicki stated.
"And I'm sorry about what I said before," Starr said to her Aunt Vicki.
"Thank you," Starr said softly as she accepted the diaper bag.
"It's okay, Starr. I don't blame you for feeling that way at all," Vicki said, hugging her neice tightly, then tenderly kissing Hope's soft little cheek.
"It's been a long night, sweetie. Why don't you take your sweet little daughter home now? I will be in touch..."
At that moment, John walked into the hallway, rubbing his aching head. In his disorientation, he ran smack into Blair. "Ohhh imagine meeting you here," he said, looking her up and down. He wasn't even aware that his clothing was sticky with Marty's blood from when he had carried her into the hospital.
He then looked down the hallway, seeing Starr holding a baby that looked very much like Jessi's daughter Chloe. "What's going on here?" he asked, seeing Vicki and Natalie holding each other and crying.
Blair crossed her arms over her chest. "I am here because it concerns MY daughter and her baby. But I don't see how you'd have time for that, right? I mean Marty Saybrooke is the resident damsel in distress! Ohhhh, so did you kill someone for Marty this time?" Blair asked, when she noticed all of the blood.
"What?" John gasped, realizing suddenly that Blair meant that Starr's baby was actually the child Jessica had been raising these past nine months. How could that be? "Starr's baby is Chloe?" he asked in confusion.
He then looked down, seeing the blood all over his clothes. "No, Blair, I didn't kill anyone," he spoke. "This blood is Marty's. I was right... Marty WAS in trouble. She nearly died tonight... and it's all Todd Mannings fault."
"Yes, Chloe is really Hope. There was some sort of mix-up," she said,
not wanting to go into details. "Look, Marty is a grown woman, John. Really, do you have to run after her every time to help her? Let her deal with Todd; she chose to be with him."
John shook his head in disbelief, watching as Starr was talking to Vicki and Natalie and holding the pretty baby girl. Starr's baby was alive?
"Look, Blair... I have this connection to Marty you will never understand,
and I'm not even going to try to explain it... because you will automatically assume I am just trying to get into her pants. I'm not. I am committed to you and to your kids. I care about all of you... and I'm sorry I ran off tonight to save Marty. And yeah, you have a point, she chose to be with Todd Manning... I promise you, I am going to stay out of it from now on. If Todd wants to fuck up her life, and she lets him... there is nothing I can do about it; I am done," John swore, looking into Blair's eyes. "Can we just go home now? It's late... and Starr needs her mother right now..."
Starr had said her goodbyes to her aunt and cousin and then left with John and her mom to go home. Once they had reached Dorian's, Langston had million questions, none of which Starr felt like answering. It had been a really long night.
Starr went upstairs with Hope and changed her for bed. Blair found the old baby crib and put it in Starr's room so that Starr could be near her baby girl. Then Blair went to her own bedroom to get changed for bed.
~*o*~
The first thing John did upon coming home is take a long hot shower. It felt great to wash away the blood and grime that had been clinging to his skin.
The back of his head still ached where Todd had slammed it repeatedly to the wall,
but it wasn't anything too serious. He came out of the shower, wearing a black towel wrapped around his waist and saw Blair sitting there on the bed in her nightie. "Are Starr and the baby settled down for the night?" John asked, his eyes taking in the sight of Blair in that next-to-nothing nightie. He knew he she was still pissed at him. He could tell it by her eyes.
"Blair, can we kiss and make up?" he then asked her, dropping his towel to the floor.
"Starr and Hope are fine," Blair said as she turned to glare at John.
"And if you think taking me to bed will fix things, you are very wrong," she said defiantly, crossing her arms over her chest. She couldn't help it though; her eyes did take in the site of a naked John Mcbain standing right in front of her.
John was very aware of how Blair was taking in his impressive package.
He walked over toward the bed, till he was standing about two feet from her.
"No, I don't think taking you to bed is going to 'fix' things, but it's always helped before... you know neither one of us can deny that," John spoke.
"Besides I want to show you who it is I really want. I don't want anyone else,
Blair... only you." With those words, John gently raised Blair's chin, gazing into her eyes.
Blair looked up into his eyes and found herself getting lost in them. "Just me?" she asked.
"Prove it," she challenged. She had to see if John really meant it.
She was tired of him running off to rescue Marty and leaving her to fend for herself.
Softly John caressed Blair's lower lip with his big thumb. His finger slipped between her lips, lightly caressing. "I can't wait to show you how much I want you, only you," said John, his voice husky and heavy with desire.
"It's you my cock throbs for... only you..."
He took a step back, so she could see how much he truly wanted her. Already his cock was huge, stiff, and pulsating. "I need to be inside you, Blair,"
John moaned.
Blair couldn't take her eyes off of John's huge cock. "Mmmm," she said, looking at it hungrily. "Then stop standing there and put it inside of me. It definitely looks like it's ready."
"Yep, it's ready alright," John nodded as he continued to caress Blair's cheek. His hand then slid down her neck, to her chest. Through the silken fabric of her nightie, he cupped a full breast, lightly pinching a nipple.
"Lay back first... I have other plans for you," commanded sexy John.
Blair let out a moan, feeling him pinching her nipple and laid back as instructed. She was waiting to see what he had up his sleeve as she knew that it would most certainly be something good.
"Everytime we fight, I get hard for you," John admitted as he moved over to the bed where Blair was lying. "You're so sexy when you're angry."
John let out a hot hiss as he reached for Blair's nightie, ripping it right down the middle. His breath got even more ragged, seeing she wore nothing underneath. "My God, Blair, you're so fucking sexy," he breathed harshly.
Like a hungry animal, John began feasting on Blair's breast.
She let out a passionate moan and raked her fingers through his hair. "Ohhh God! Yes!" she gasped, liking the way his mouth was teasing her. It felt so damn good as she gave herself up to John.
"It's only you I want, Blair... believe that," groaned John as he spread heated kisses down Blair's body. He sipped his way along her skin, toward her tummy. His mouth brushed against her pubic bone and with insistant hands, he opened her long sexy legs. She was incredibly wet, pink and ready for him.
"Someone must want me, too," he observed, catching the scent of her desire.
Blair smirked. "Yes, I am definitely wet," she murmured.
She could feel every sensuous touch as he parted her legs. "I want you. I really, really want you," she emphasized.
John watched as Blair opened her legs wider for him. "You do, huh?" he asked, raising one eyebrow. "Did our fight earlier get you all turned on,
too?"
"Were you thinking about how we might make up?" With those words, John ran a finger along the moist seam of Blair's pussy, watching as the feminine lips opened to his touch. She was so wet, her juices clung to him. With a hard thrust, he slid his finger deep inside her.
"Maybe it did. I always love making up with you," she responded.
"Make up sex is always better than anything else."
John worked his big finger in and out of Blair as her words enticed him further. He bent down on the bed, inches from her wet slit. "I can't wait to taste you," he said as his tongue snaked out, flicking against her aroused clit. He circled his tongue around it, his finger fucking her faster and faster.
Moaning, Blair raised her hips to meet his thrusting finger while she arched her body right up off the bed. "Oh God, John! Yessssss... faster," she breathed, loving the way that he was fingering her.
"Mmmm... you like that, do you?" John said to Blair in a husky voice. He slid two more fingers inside her while licking her hard little clit. He bit it softly with his teeth, fucking her harder and harder. He stopped his wicked licking then to ask Blair, "It's you I want... don't you know that? Only you..."
Blair looked at him, her gaze full of lust. "Show me, John. Show me that you want me and only me," she told him. She had to admit she liked the fact John was in her bed and not Marty's.
John was ready and willing. When Blair commanded he show her, he couldn't wait another second. He straddled Blair on the bed and began to slide his cock toward her opening. His huge tip inched toward her center. He could feel her warm honey touch his velvetty cock-head as he pressed it against her slit.
Blair moaned in pleasure. "YESSSSSS!" she begged. "Put it in all the way in!"
She wanted to feel him fill her up to capacity, and she wanted to feel him thrusting deep inside of her.
Harder and faster, John pounded his way into Blair, showing her with his rigid cock just how much he wanted her. "I'm going to cum..." he groaned,
feeling his orgasm so near. "Where do you want my sperm?"
"Right here, right inside," Blair instructed, as she moved her hips. She could feel him pounding harder and faster as she was loving every second of it.
"Oh God! Yes!" Blair cried out.
John couldn't hold back a moment longer. He started spilling hot jets of his semen deep inside of Blair. He shuddered, flexing his hips as he came. He then looked down at Blair, hoping she had reached orgasm at the same time as he had. He kissed her on the lips as he withdrew from her snug heat.
~*o*~
Starr had thought Hope was settled until she heard her crying again, so Starr got up and went to the crib. "Hey baby girl," she said, lifting her out of the crib. "What's wrong?" She tried soothing the baby to put her back to sleep. She sang to the child as she tried everything she could think of, but Hope would not stop fussing.
"No dirty diaper," said Starr, right after she checked. "I know you're probably not used to me, but I love you, Hope. It's okay... really," she said, hoping to calm the baby down. When her efforts didn't work, Starr checked the time and assumed her mom and John were probably asleep. As the minutes ticked by, she was getting desperate now as she sat down holding Hope. She reached for her cell phone, sliding it open. She went to her contacts and scrolled through, passing by the people she knew would be no help at all and paused for a moment at Schuyler's name, biting her bottom lip softly.
"Okay, I guess this is my only option... if he hangs up, he hangs up," she said to herself as she finally pressed 'SEND,' holding the phone to her ear while keeping it close to her shoulder, yet still trying to calm down Hope.
Schuyler hadn't been able to sleep after he had dropped Starr off at Dorian's house later that evening. He remembered the passionate moment between himself and Starr, and her tears after he had broken away from their kiss. He kept making growling noises as he was punching his pillow, wishing that things could be different. He then tried to lay down in his bed, but sleep wouldn't come. He missed and wanted Starr so badly. Just then his phone rang. He stared at the clock on his nightstand. It was after 5 AM. "Who could be calling at this time of the morning?" he grumbled as he reached for his phone. "Hello?" he spoke.
Starr's breath caught in her throat, hearing his voice. "Schuy..." she choked out.
"I-I...I know I said I wouldn't call or stop by," she whispered. "But I need you... I didn't mean what I said before."
"I understand though if you chose to hang up on me or tell me to go away, but I really do love you," she admitted. *Please don't let him hang up on me now,* Starr was thinking because Hope was still fussing and Starr was at such a loss right now.
Schuyler gripped the phone tightly, hearing Starr say that she needed him and loved him. That was the first time he had heard those words from her lips, and it made his heart do a flip-flop. "I love you, too, Starr, truly I do... and I'm so sorry about earlier tonight..." he said, then his voice cut off because he kept hearing the distinct sound of a baby crying in the background. At least it sounded just like a baby.
"Starr, what's going on?" Schuyler asked, totally baffled because he knew Starr's youngest brother was four years old. So who was the baby he heard crying on the phone? Starr sounded frantically upset, and all Schuy wanted to do was to soothe her and make everything better.
"God, I don't even know where to start," Starr responded as once again the tears threatened to spill. "You were right all along, Schuy, Hope has been alive this whole time and right under my nose."
"To make a long story short, the night that Hope was born so was my cousin Jessica's baby daughter Chloe. Well, Chloe was the one who died, and Jessica's alter came and pulled a switch. I just got Hope back tonight," Starr explained. "I know nothing about being a mom or caring for babies, and what little I do know doesn't seem to be helping."
Schuyler listened to Starr in disblief, almost dropping the phone. He was so wide awake now, hearing her words. How could this be? His suspicions had been correct all along, baby Hope was alive and well. "Ohhh Starr, wow... I don't know what to say. Your baby girl is alive," Schuy said happily as it all sunk in. "Why is she crying? Do you think she's sick?"
"I don't know anything about being a mother either," Schuy then added quickly.
He laughed, thinking how absurd that must have sounded. "But I will do everything I can to help you and baby Hope," he promised. "I'll be right over."
Starr couldn't help the small giggle that escaped her lips when Schuyler said he didn't know anything about being a mother. "Thank you," she said, when he told her he'd be right over. After hanging up with Schuyler, she tossed her phone onto her bed and held Hope as she walked back and forth across the floor hoping that her pacing might put the infant to sleep.
She began to worry. What if Schuyler was right and Hope was sick?
What if it was something bad? What if it was serious? So many worried thoughts began to plague her exhausted mind.
Schuyler pulled up at Dorian's house not long after his phone call with Starr.
He stood outside, not wanting to knock because it was early morning and he didn't want to awaken the whole house. He looked through a window, but he didn't see anyone there inside. A couple of lights were on upstairs, but all he could see were the figures of a man and a woman who appeared to be making out on a bed.
"Ohhh myyy God," he gasped, realizing it was Starr's mother and stepdad.
Starr knew Schuyler probably wouldn't ring the doorbell so she decided to go down and wait for him. She kept Hope warm as she carried her baby girl outside, all bundled up, and headed out the front door. Everyone else in the house appeared to be fast asleep.
Schuyler was staring up at the window in shock when Starr came outside. Ohhh good Lord, was John really going down on Starr's mom? Should he even be watching this?
He then realized that Starr had come outside, carrying baby Hope in her arms.
"Ohhh there she is," said Schuy, coming over to the two beautiful ladies and giving baby Hope a little kiss on her forehead. He then kissed Starr gently on the lips. "She isn't crying now," observed Schuyler. "Is she okay now?"
"Hey," Starr said softly as she returned his kiss, then looked down at Hope.
"I'm not sure," she admitted. "Why don't you come up with us and we can see?
Maybe she did tire herself out." Starr led Schuyler into the house and up to her bedroom.
"Okay, sure," said Schuyler when Starr said he should come inside. Once upstairs, he saw her big bed and the crib that had been erected for the baby. Right now, Hope just kept gazing at him, as though wondering who he was. "Can I hold her?" Schuyler asked, thinking she was probably the prettiest baby he had ever seen. And of course she was a little doll; Starr was her mommy.
Starr smiled. "Of course you can," she said as she handed Hope over to Schuyler, so that he could cuddle her. Hope seemed rather calm now, so Starr hoped that meant she was okay. She was just glad that Schuyler was here; she didn't know what she would have done had he not come to the rescue.
Schuyler took Starr's baby in his arms, looking into those wide dark-blue eyes of hers. "She's the most beautiful baby I've ever seen," said Schuy with a grin as little Hope cooed at him. "I think she really likes me. Damn, I wish she were mine..."
He then looked at Starr, realizing what he had said. Would that upset Starr? He hoped it wouldn't because he hadn't meant anything bad by it. He truly did wish this precious baby was his and Starr's little girl. "It is such a miracle you have her back..." he then added.
Starr touched his cheek gently as she gave him a smile. "I think she likes you, too."
"Sometimes I wish she had been yours too, Schuy, because you would have treated me better; you would have helped me find out what really happened that night instead giving me a useless suggestion and then disappearing," Starr admitted while gazing into Shuyler's eyes. "One day it'll be me and you with a baby, a brother or sister for Hope."
Schuyler smiled at Starr's words as he cradled Hope close in his arms. He really did hope her dreams would come true... that someday, he, Starr, and Hope would be a family, with a new baby of their own to complete their lives. "That would be my dream come true," he said to her as he kissed Hope's baby-soft head.
"I wish we could start making those dreams come true... but we have to wait about 5 more long months..." Although it was killing both of them, Schuyler and Starr had decided to wait till Starr's 18th birthday before they became a couple.
~*In the Wee Hours of the Morning*~
Cole Thornhart revved up the engine as he drove wildly down the road. He pulled up haphazardly at Dorian's, staggering out of the car. Somehow he managed to climb the trellis without killing himself. Soon he was standing on Starr's balcony, looking through the window. Hadn't he done this a dozen times before when he had snuck around to see her so her dad would never know?
"Starr," he said softly, peeking through the window. "Joplin," he then said in an angry sneer, seeing Schuyler there in Starr's bedroom, holding baby Hope.
Starr had her back to the window. "Five months IS a long time," she said softly as she kissed Hope's little cheek.
"We like Schuyler, don't we?" she asked Hope.
"I know before that I said I wanted to wait, but getting Hope back has been a blessing in disguise and I don't ever want to waste another chance,
especially with you," she said softly. "As soon as I turn eighteen I want to start a family with you. We belong together, Schuy, and we need to complete this family."
"Wow, I really can't wait to get our family started," Schuyler said,
realizing he had a lot to look forward to. Yeah, five months would be a really long time, but it was all going to be worth the wait. By then, little Hope would be walking, and he planned to ask Starr to marry him. They could get their own little place and have a happy life together.
Suddenly Schuyler was drug out of his daydream of their future when the window of Starr's balcony was broken through by a large potted plant. Shards of glass flew and immediately Schuyler thought to sheild the baby in his arms. When the glass went flying, he kept little Hope safe. The tiny girl began to cry.
"Schuyler Joplin, get your hands off MY daughter!" demanded a drugged-out Cole as he made his way through the broken window into Starr's bedroom. He reached out for Hope, trying to snatch her from Schuyler's arms.
"You're not touching this baby!" Schuyler bit out.
Starr was startled at the sound of breaking glass. She jumped instantly to keep from getting covered in glass as her backside had been turned towards the window. Her first thought had been Hope but she was relieved to see Schuyler shielding the baby. Tiny shards of glass was stuck in Starr's arms and shoulders, but she felt no pain as she whipped around to glare at Cole.
"Get out of my house," she growled. "Hope is my daughter; you were just the sperm donor."
Schuyler noticed immediately that Cole was out of his freakin mind on drugs.
Since he used to be a user himself, he knew all the signs. "Cole, you really need help," Schuyler said to him in disgust. "Starr and this baby don't need you in their lives. You're totally messed up and all you would do is cause them heartache." Schuy then glanced over at Starr, seeing blood running down one of her arms from the shattered glass. Right away he wanted to pound the holy heck out of Cole as not only had he caused Starr an injury, he could have hurt this precious baby girl in the process.
Ignoring Schuyler's words, Cole turned to Starr. "How dare you say that to me?" he growled, glaring into her face. "I'm the father of your child! She's MY child. And she's coming with me."
He then walked over to Schuyler, punching him in the jaw, not even caring if his flying fist was so close to the baby. Schuyler lost his balance, falling onto the bed. He tried to hold onto little Hope, but when he fell, his arms lost contact with the child. The baby girl screamed when she landed on the carpetted floor with a thud. To Schuyler's horror, Cole, who was totally out of his mind on drugs, started punching him repeatedly in the face.
"Oh my God!" Starr screamed as she rushed to pick up Hope and held her baby protectively.
"Cole, stop it!" she yelled as he was punching Schuyler. Starr tried to make sure not to get blood or glass on Hope who was crying so loudly.
"Oh God!" Starr cried out helplessly. She grabbed Hope's diaper bag, yanked her bedroom door open and went running down the hall. She began to pound on Langston's door.
"Langston, please!" Starr was sobbing.
Langston stumbled to the door, half asleep. "What the fuck, Starr? What time is it? And why are you screaming like crazy person?" Langston demanded.
"Lang, please... here, you have to help," said Starr, quickly giving Hope to Langston.
" Whoa... Starr, stop! What is going on?" Langston questioned.
"I don't really have time to explain right now! Just take her to the hospital and have a doctor look at her. Cole busted in, and he punched Schuyler and Hope fell. Just... PLEASE... I need to know that she's okay... and keep her away from Cole," spoke Starr, shoving the diaper bag at Langston.
"Starr, what the fuck is Mr. J doing in your room at this hour? I can't tell the hospital that!"
"Fucking lie then, Langston! Say Cole hit me then and I was holding Hope!
Please... I have to get back in there before he kills Schuyler!"
"Starr, you're bleeding!" Langston said urgently then, seeing Starr's arm.
"I don't care! Please... hospital... Go!"
"Okay... okay, I'm going," Langston said, as she grabbed her keys and a pair of terry-cloth pants she could pull on in the car on the way to the hospital. Moments later, she ran out of the house and rushed Hope to the hospital.
After her baby girl was safe, Starr ran back to her bedroom. "COLE, GET OFF HIM NOW!" Starr yelled as she grabbed her biology book and prayed it wouldn't hit Schuyler. She threw the heavy text book at Cole, hitting him square in the backside.
Cole fell to his knees when he was hit in the ass with Starr's biology book.
Now that Cole was no longer on top of him, Schuy was able to raise up off the bed. He grabbed Cole in a headlock and pushed him down to the floor. "Starr,
call 911!" Schuyler said urgently, because he knew he couldn't hold the deranged, drugged-up Cole much longer. Cole was incredibly violent, and Schuyler's face had taken the brunt of the attack. His nose was bleeding and his eyes were blackened. He glanced over at Starr, seeing her tear-streaked face as well as her bloody arm. "Cole, you are a jerk and an asshole!" Schuy said as he held Cole to the floor. He couldn't believe that Cole would have put that precious baby in danger. What kind of a father was he? Definitely not a very good one! Cole started screaming obscenities when he discovered he could not break free of Schuyler's hold.
Vicki had been about to leave the hospital after staying with Jessica the night before when she came across Langston entering the building carrying a fussy baby girl. "Ohhh my God, Langston... is that- that Chloe, I mean... Hope?" Vicki asked in alarm.
Vicki then noticed a bruise on the baby's little head. "What happened? Who did this?" Vicki questioned in concern.
Starr was quick to grab her phone and called 911 for help and told them everything. She didn't at that moment care about her bloody arm or the glass that was embedded in it or even the stray pieces she could feel in her shoulder,
she just hoped the authorities would do something soon. Although they said they'd get someone over as soon as possible, Starr didn't know how long Schuyler could hold Cole down to the floor.
~*o*~
"What the fuck?" John growled, hearing strange sounds coming from across the house. It sounded like a man's voice screaming obscenities.
John jumped up and threw on his pants. Whatever it was, he had to protect the family.
Blair heard the noises too and quickly pulled on her robe and followed John.
What the hell was going on in her house?
Starr had just gotten off the phone with 911 when John and her mom appeared in her doorway. She hadn't noticed them right away as she had just seen the damage Cole had done to Schyler's face, and she really wanted to kick Cole hard for causing Scuyler's injuries.
Schuyler was relieved when he saw Starr's mother and stepfather come into the room. He gladly allowed John to take control of restraining Cole. He then went to Starr and took her into his arms to comfort her. He didn't even give a damn at that point what her mom and stepdad thought; all he cared about was Starr's well-being.
"Starr, are you okay?" he asked her, tenderly touching her cheek. "Where's Hope... is she alright?"
"Will someone please tell me what the fuck happened here?" demanded John as he held Cole's head to the floor with a booted foot.
"Yeah," Schuyler spoke up. "Baby Hope was fussy, so Starr gave me a call so I could help out. I got here and we calmed the baby... and that's when Cole broke in, breaking the glass in the window. He's out of his freakin mind on drugs!"
"I'm fine," Starr said softly, trying to assure her mother and stepdad. "Hope's with Langston. I don't want Cole anywhere near the two of us."
"But what about you, Schuy? Are you okay?" she asked worriedly.
Blair saw the window and nearly had a heart attack. "You little punk!" she screamed. She was wishing now that she had let Todd destroy him when he had tried before.
"Cole, knocked Hope to the floor," Starr said angrily as she glared at Cole.
Blair grabbed the phone to call the police department. She demanded a restraining order against Cole. While they were putting her through to Bo Buchanan, she looked down at Cole. "If you ever lay a finger on my daughter or my granddaughter again, I will personally deliver your sorry-ass to Todd," she hissed.
"No, not Todd... Anything but Todd!" Cole whined, sounding like a scared little girl when he heard Blair's angry threats.
"Ohhh... believe me I will personally grant Todd permission for this," Blair said with anger. A few moments later, she had finished speaking with Bo regarding the restraining order and then waited with John for the police to arrive.
"I'm going to be okay," Schuy assured Starr. "But we better get you to the hospital," he said when he saw the blood running down her arm.
John nodded, seeing the nasty wound on Starr's arm. "Yes, you get her to the hospital right away. Blair and I will stay here till the police arrive,"
John said to Schuy.
"Alright," Schuyler said, taking Starr's arm and leading her out to the car.
Once they arrived at the hospital, they saw Vicki and Langston in the waiting room. Schuy was relieved, seeing Vicki holding a sleeping Hope. Thankfully the baby looked just fine, despite a small bruise on her little head.
~*o*~
Cole was making strange inhuman sounds by the time the cops pulled up. John was surprised that he wasn't foaming at the mouth. John let the cops handcuff Cole and lead him out in the police car while he gave a report to them of the incident. "This boy needs some serious drug rehabillitation," John insisted.
"He's going to kill someone if he doesn't get some help."
After the cops left with Cole, John began cleaning up the mess in Starr's room. "Baby, call the hospital..." John said to Blair. "Make sure that Starr and the baby are both okay."
Just as he said those words, Jack and Sammy both burst into the room. "Ohhh gosh, what happened here?" Jack exclaimed.
Sammy then saw blood droplets on the floor and started to cry. "Somebody got hurt," he sobbed.
"Alright," Blair had just said to John, but no sooner had she spoke when Jack and Sammy burst into the room.
"Oookay, boys," Blair said, thinking quickly.
"How about... Jack, you take Sam downstairs and I think there is ice cream in the fridge," she said, hoping to distract the boys.
"Come on," she said, ushering the boys out of Starr's room and heading downstairs with them. When she got them downstairs, she placed her call to the hospital.
"Ice cream! Ice cream!" Sammy exclaimed as he ran down the staircase with his big brother. He had totally forgotten all about the blood he had seen on the floor at the mention of his favorite treat.
Jack ran into the kitchen, popped open the freezer and got out a huge tub of chocolate ice cream. He grabbed two huge spoons and handed one to his brother.
"Dig in!" he said, because he wasn't about to let this chance for ice cream before breakfast go for the world. It wasn't like his mother to allow a treat before a meal, but Jack didn't care as he and Sam started gobbling down the chocolate ice cream.
"Jack, don't eat it all," said Sam as he had the ice cream smeared all over his face.
Meanwhile, upstairs, John had the glass all cleaned up. He swept the carpet to pick up any remaining tiny shards, then got a wet washcloth to clean up the blood. All the while he was cursing Cole.
Once Starr's room was clean and the window was covered with a piece of plywood, John came downstairs to see if Blair had called the hospital yet.
Blair was finishing up with the hospital when John came and found her.
"Hey," she said. "Everyone is fine."
"I talked to the nurse that was there when Hope was checked and she said another nurse was taking care of Starr."
John nodded, so glad everyone was okay. "Blair, about earlier... I'm so sorry we got interrupted..." he said, drawing her into his arms. His lips moved to hers in a long passionate kiss as he slid a hand into her robe to fondle her. "If I could, I would go back to more," he said as he gazed into her eyes.
In the kitchen, the boys were gorging themselves on the ice cream. They had already eaten half a full tub between them. Suddenly Sammy burped. "My tummy hurts," he whined.
Blair moved her body against John's. "I like the sound of that," she said in a sexy voice.
"But the boys are up... OH MY GOD, I left them to get ice cream; they've probably turned my kitchen upside down!"
John chuckled. "You're probably right. They've probably eaten half the kitchen by now," he said teasingly. "They are growing boys."
"Mommy, my tummy has frog in it," Sammy said to Blair as he wandered out of the kitchen, his face all smeared with chocolate ice cream.
Jack was still in the kitchen, eating what remained of the ice cream. "Now there's more for me," he said as he dug his spoon into the icy treat.
Blair sighed. "Oh dear, I think they have eaten half my kitchen. I'm going to clean up Sammy and see if I can do something about his tummy. Will you check on Jack?" she asked John.
"Sure," said John, watching Blair disappear with Sammy into the bathroom.
He walked into the kitchen, seeing Jack half-lying on the bar, eating the chocolate ice cream. "What are you doing?" John asked, a half-smirk on his face.
"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm eating ice cream. Mom said I could," Jack said defensively.
"Don't you think you've had enough now?"
"I suppose," Jack said, grudgingly dropping the spoon. "But don't tell mom how much I ate, okay?"
"I won't tell if you don't," John laughed.
Blair got Sammy cleaned up and did all she could for his tummy. She stayed right beside him as he tried to fall asleep again. Next time she'd be certain to give the boys the ice cream herself.