Let it be Known
It was a bright, sunny day in Llanview. Spring was beginning and the flowers were blooming. Ryder rang the McBain's doorbell with a huge bouquet of flowers in hand. Michael McBain answered.
"Ryder Ford, what are you doing here? Did you come to break my daughter's heart more than you already have?" Michael said with his arms crossed.
"No. I want to apologize, give her these flowers and talk to her." Ryder said. He was nervous. The last person you want to make a bad impression on is the father of the girl you're pursuing.
"I'm sorry, that's not going to happen."
"Please."
"Fine, you have five minutes." Michael said then called Millicent. She came down to see him but she didn't look happy. Michael gave them some privacy.
"What?" Millicent asked angrily.
"I brought you flowers. They're your favorite, tulips."
"I don't want them."
"I'm sorry for what I did to you and I just want you to give me a chance to prove to you that I won't do it again."
"Your words mean nothing to me and neither do you."
"That's fair but you mean a hell of a lot to me and I will prove it. Take the flowers. You know you want to. You love these." Millicent hesitantly took the flowers. "There's more where that came from."
-v-
Jaime arrived at Jay's family's house and they shared a hug and kiss.
"I'm so happy to see you. I really needed to get away from all my family's drama." Jamie said.
"Has it gotten any better?" Jay asked.
"Are you kidding? My mom cheated on my dad and with my brother's dad, way to ruin a nicely blended family. Everything was fine before Bree lost her mind and my mom did this. I don't want to talk about it anymore. I'm here to meet your wonderful family."
Jay took Jaime into the family room where everyone was.
"Everyone, this is my amazing girlfriend Jaime. Jaime, you already know Dani and Vida of course, not to mention my brother Jason but this is my older brother, Jared, my dad, Josh, my grandfather Ed and my wonderful grandmother Carla."
"It's nice to meet you all." Jaime said.
"Same here, we have heard so many wonderful things about you." Carla said.
"Welcome to the Hall family." Jay said holding her closely. "Now that I have you I won't let you go. Hey, check this out, if we get married, we'll both be Jaime Hall." The statement made Jaime smile.
"I hope you're hungry because I made a feast."
Jaime loved dinner with the Halls. They were all so happy, they made her feel welcomed and she could easily take her mind off of her family."
-v-
Gabe was in his apartment studying at the desk in his living room when he heard a knock at his door. He looked down at his watch and noticed it was eight o' clock pm. It wasn't that late but he couldn't imagine who it was since he wasn't expecting anyone. He got up and answered the door. Hope was standing there with dinner.
"Are you hungry?" Hope asked happily and came in. "It's still hot."
"No I'm not but thanks for the thought." Gabe said.
"That's ok besides, dinner isn't the only thing on the menu. There's desert." She took off her trench coat and revealed that she was only wearing black laced underwear."
"You are unbelievable. Why do you do things like this?"
"Things like what?"
"Desperate things."
"I'm not desperate, I'm aggressive. There's a difference."
"Desperate, aggressive, it doesn't matter why are you doing this."
"Because I want to be with you!"
"Why is everything about sex with you?"
"This is not all about sex! Yeah, it was good and it would be a great way to end the night but that's not all I want!"
"What do you want then?"
"I want you! Ok? Do you get it? I want you!"
"You want me for what? I can't buy you drinks." He said sarcastically.
"Butthead, McBain."
"Seriously? How old are you?"
"You're not listening and I am really putting myself on the line for you and I don't do that. You make me do things that I wouldn't normally do. You don't take my mess. You protect me. I trust you and you make me better. Damn it, I love you. Ok? I said it. I - love – you."
"Where did that come from?"
"My heart… I'm not alone, am I? You love me too, right? You don't do the things you do for me for any old girl, do you?" There was silence in the room. "That's ok. I shouldn't have come. Enjoy your dinner." Hope began toward the door, when her hand touched the doorknob Gabe's hand grabbed her other one. She turned around and looked up at him.
"I love you too, Hope." He kissed her passionately.
-v-
Sam and Sierra Rose were cuddled up in Vicki's cabin eating bowls of Kix with the lights dimmed.
"I love Kix! I don't care how old I get." Sam announced happily.
"That's why we're made for each other. Are you sure no one will catch us up here? I mean, you just came in here freely, do a lot of people do that?" Sierra Rose said.
"Yeah but not often, I've been thinking of how we could tell our families our wonderful news."
"I'm all ears." Sierra Rose said taking a bite of cereal.
"I'll tell my aunt Vicki and ask her to set up a dinner. It'll be easy to get both our families there."
"How will we get my dads there?"
"Just tell them you're all invited to dinner at your aunt's best friends place. Trust me, it'll work."
"How do you know your aunt will go along with this?"
"I know her and she won't care that we're dating. She'll be happy to help us."
"I hope you're right." Sam's phone rung. "I thought this time was just for us."
"I'm a cop and we're still working on this huge case. I can't cut my phone off." Sierra Rose rolled her eyes and put her legs in Sam's lap then Sam answered his phone. "Manning…Uh huh… Uh huh… I'm on my way." He ended his call. "I have to go." Sierra Rose's mouth dropped. "I know but there's been a big break in this case."
"I can't wait until this case is over so that I can have my dad and my boyfriend back." She kissed him. "Let's go."
-v-
A family meeting was called at Tea` and Shaun's with them, Destiny, Darren, Miracle and Leon. Matthew couldn't be there because he finally checked into rehab for his drinking. Miracle and Leon were sitting on the couch looking up at their parents wondering what they were going to say, hoping it was something they wanted to hear.
""We've come to a decision." Darren said.
"Actually, I think we should talk about this." Tea` announced.
"What is there to talk about?" Shaun asked.
"Kids, just give us a minute." Tea` said.
"We'll be in my room." Leon said.
"You'll be in outside." Shaun said.
"Ok, we'll be outside." Leon and Miracle went outside leaving the adults alone to talk.
"What is this about?" Destiny asked.
"We need to think about this again. Maybe we should just let them date." Tea` said.
"Are you kidding me?" Shaun asked.
"Think about it, they're teenagers. If we don't let them see each other, they probably will anyway. They already have. How can we keep them from dating each other? They're going to be around each other no matter what. Maybe we're not even being fair. We don't want them to be together because we're not comfortable with it and they obviously are. They're not breaking any laws."
"Maybe you're right." Destiny said.
"What?" Shaun said surprised. "Darren, what do you think?"
"I'm with you but they are the mothers." Darren said.
"And we're just the stepfathers?" Shaun asked.
"Shaun." Tea` said.
"I'll deal with it. If you two think we should go along with it. I'll get over but there's going to have to be some rules." Shaun said.
"I agree." Destiny said.
A few minutes later they had Miracle and Leon come back in.
"So what's the verdict?" Miracle asked.
"We're fine with you two dating, ok?" Tea` said.
Miracle and Leon were obviously excited and happy.
"There are some rules." Shaun announced.
"Rules?" Leon asked.
"Yeah. No more sleepovers and if you're going to be alone in any of our homes together, we need to know." Destiny said.
"That's crazy." Leon said.
"It's not crazy. It just wouldn't be responsible of us to let you-" Tea` started before Miracle cut in.
"Play house?"
"Yeah." Tea` answered.
"That's what my mom said." Miracle said.
"That's not fa-" Leon started before Miracle cut him off."
"Let it go, Leon. We got what we wanted. We're not going to win an argument with two lawyers that being said, thank you all for understanding. Let's go, Leon." Miracle and Leon went outside to talk.
"I can't believe you went along with that." Leon said.
"Like I said, we wouldn't have won that argument and I kind of agree with them."
"You don't want to sleepover anymore and you want to have to call them anytime we're alone in the house together?"
"I didn't say that's what I wanted; I said, I agreed. I understand where they're coming from. I'm looking at it from their perspective. They know we're having sex, they probably think they'd be encouraging it or something. They know they can't stop us from doing it."
""Fine, I'll go along with it…There's something I have to tell you."
"What?"
"A couple of days ago, Millicent came over…"
"And?" Miracle said wondering why it was important for her to know that.
"…We…kissed."
"…You…what?"
"We kissed."
They were touching but Miracle moved away from him at that point.
"What are you thinking?" Leon asked.
"I'm thinking, 'I can't believe you would do that to me.' I trusted you; you told me you were over her because she just wasn't me. I guess I was just stupid to believe you."
"No, you weren't and you should trust me. That's why I told you and it's because of that it didn't go any further."
"Really?" Miracle asked in an inquisitive voice. "So how close did you get to going further than just a kiss?"
"What?"
"I can read between the lines so answer the damn question."
"No clothes came off."
Miracle laughed.
"I can't believe you just said that."
Leon moved closer to her.
"Don't touch me. Tell me exactly what happened from the beginning."
"Millicent came over. I opened the door and she kissed me… and I kissed her back. I stopped it and we kissed again. We went over to the couch, still kissing and then I sent her home. I was so mad at myself."
"You should be."
He got close to her again.
"Don't touch me!" Miracle went back in the house. "Mom, I'm going to see Asa."
"We haven't even eaten yet."
"I'm really not hungry. Can I be excused?"
"Ok. Don't stay out too late."
"I won't."
-v-
At the police station, Liam was waiting for John to get off and he noticed Sierra Rose waiting for her father as well. He decided to go over and talk to her.
"Hi Sierra."
"Hi." Sierra Rose said, wondering why he was talking to her. They've been in each other's presence plenty of times and he's never spoken to her.
"You and Izzy are best friends, huh?"
"Yeah, you found that out the other day so why are you asking me?"
"Fair enough, I just wanted to know why she's so hot and cold. Sometimes, she's open and other times she's so distant."
"Why don't you ask her?"
"I have, she just brushes me off."
"Then ask her again."
"You know why she does that, don't you?"
"If I do, it's not for me to tell you, is it? Look, just ask her again. Ask her until you get the answer you want."
"Are you ready to go?" Oliver Fish asked walking over.
"Yes daddy."
-v-
Leon and Sam were hanging out La Beule`.
"Why do you look so down?" Sam asked his brother.
"I may have ruined my brand new relationship with Miracle?"
"How?"
"I kind of sort of cheated on her."
"Why would you do that?" Sam asked hitting him.
"It was just kissing. I stopped it and sent the girl home."
"Who was this girl?"
"Millicent McBain."
"Aww man, you're an idiot."
"I know."
"I heard Destiny and Matthew take a while to let things go. Is she like that too?"
"Aww man! She can be."
"She's going to make you work for it. So look, you told me about Miracle while it was still a secret so I want to tell you something, though my secret has been a secret for a long time now…I've been dating Sierra Rose Fish."
"What? No way, for how long?"
"Over a year."
"A year? Wow. One: can't believe you've went this long without telling me. Two: you're going to start a Romeo and Juliet war, the Capulets and… Oh I don't remember but Jack almost killed her aunt and he's partially to blame for her mom dying and he got off Scott free… because of my mom and our dad."'
"We know the history and we don't care, we love each other so everyone else is just going to have to deal with it and you might want to start paying attention in English class.''
"When will you finally let everyone know?"
"Soon, I asked Aunt Vicki if she would put together a dinner for us so that we could tell everyone together."
"Aunt Vicki knew before me?"
"Zane knew too?"
"You told Zane?"
"No, he caught us. We thought we should probably tell everyone before he does."
-v-
Miracle went to Matthew's loft thinking that he was still in rehab. She just wanted some alone time. She was walking pass his room when she heard voices and realized it was her mom and dad.
"What is going on?" She thought and then eased dropped on the conversation.
"Matthew, you need to go back to rehab." Destiny said.
"I need you."
"I don't know how many times I can tell you we will never be together but I'm here for you, right? We just need to be friends."
"I don't want to be friends."
"You need to get over it, ok? You lost your chance. Did you really think I was going to stop my wedding and run off with you? Ugh! Why are we talking about this? I'm taking you back to rehab."
"No, I don't want to be away."
"You need to do this for yourself and you need to remember that your children need you and I'm sure your parents are heartbroken. Don't do this to them."
"You've been taking care of me all day. You can help me."
"I can't help you. I don't really know anything about this and I have to go home."
"To Darren?"
"Yes, to Darren and Miracle."
It became silent so Miracle peeped in the room and caught them kissing.
"Oh my gosh." Miracle said to herself.
"Matthew, no. You are tripping and you're going through withdrawal, you need to go back to rehab and I'm taking you right now."
"Destiny."
"If you love me, you'll go back."
"Emotional blackmail?"
"Whatever works."
"Fine, I'll go."
Miracle hid in her room until they left trying to wrap her head around everything she heard and saw.
-v-
On Monday, LHS was back in session. Jaime's art class was about to begin. It was awkward between Miracle and Leon, Millicent and Leon, Millicent and Ryder, and Miracle and Millicent. Millicent spoke to Miracle and pretty much got the cold shoulder. Millicent was still upset with Leon and Ryder, and Leon was just hoping Miracle would acknowledge him at all.
After class, Millicent followed Miracle.
"Hey what's up?" Millicent asked.
"What's up with you?" Miracle asked.
"What?" Millicent said confused.
"Don't try to act like you don't know. You were supposed to be my friend and what do you do? You show up at my boyfriend's house the day after you find out we're together and you kiss him, some friend."
"…I wasn't thinking. I'm so sorry."
"I don't care."
"I was upset. I just found out that Ryder cheated on me."
"Again, I don't care. So you thought it would be a good idea for my boyfriend to cheat on me? Ryder cheating on you really shouldn't be a shock. We all warned you."
"You're such a good friend that you would date my ex-boyfriend." Millicent said
sarcastically.
"That's fair but at least I waited until you were over before I made a move on him."
"You sure didn't waste anytime… We're just not friends anymore?"
"I don't make a habit of befriending people I don't trust so no, we're not friends anymore. Good day." Miracle said, flipped her long black curly hair and then walked away.