Chapter 13PT3 ("The prices you pay")

Once the service was finished, Grace and Amy started making their way towards the door. Amy had a lot to think about after Mrs. Williams service. She had never heard these thoughts on sex and it made her contemplate her sex life with Ricky. Since Nora's recent news of lung cancer, they hadn't been doing much of anything, but the next time they did something, Amy wasn't so sure if she wanted it to be until they were actually married. Before they could make their way outside, someone tapped Grace on the shoulder. Grace turned around and saw that it was Marsha.

"Marsha, hey."

"Hey...look sorry about Zoe...she's just a little-"

"I know. She can be pretty mean but it's cool."

"I really like what you said today during church though Grace, and you're right, God forgives all of us for our mistakes...So I was wondering if maybe you wanted to join the Abstinence group again?"

Grace paused for a moment as she though thought of the idea. It would give her a chance to make amends with all of her old friends, and have her old life back, but she wasn't so sure if she wanted that anymore.

"Grace?" Marsha waved a hand in front of her face and Grace snapped back into reality.

"Thanks for the offer Marsha, I really appreciate it but...I have a long way to go before I'm ready to guide anybody in the right direction when it comes to abstinence. I still have to figure out what I believe and so I don't think I'm really in the right position to help anyone out."

Marsha sighed, "Oh...well it was nice seeing you Grace. Stay in touch ok?"

"I should be saying that to you," Grace joked, "But alright I will. Bye Marsha."

"See ya Grace."

Grace and Amy made their way outside the youth group doors and started making their way back to the main building of the church, where Kathleen and George were. Once they arrived there, they noticed that Kathleen and George were nowhere to be found.

"Is there any other place they would go?" Amy asked.

Grace shrugged as she took a seat on one of the chairs, "Let's just wait until they get back."

As Amy and Grace waited for Kathleen and George to come back, Grace noticed that the church was pretty empty. She turned back to Amy and smiled, "So what did you think of the service?"

"Well...I could do away with half of the people in your Youth Group," Amy said, "But Mrs. Williams seems nice...and she got me thinking."

"Thinking? About what?"

"Ricky."

"...Oh."

"Yeah I mean...I'm not a Christian Grace, and I don't know if I ever will be to be honest, but everything she said about sex was true and so maybe I should wait until I marry Ricky to have sex with him again."

Grace was a little shocked to hear this. She had spent almost four complete high-school years having students constantly talk about sex and so when someone actually said that they wanted to wait, it was a little surprising.

"Do you think Ricky will be up for that?"

"...If he loves me," Amy bit her bottom lip nervously.

"How are you and Ricky anyway...considering you know, Nora?"

Amy sighed, "We're alright. It's John I have to worry about. I just hope Ricky doesn't get all depressed and forget about John."

"Ricky loves John. I'm sure that will never happen."

...

While Grace and Amy were talking, Kathleen and George were inside the church office with Rev. Stone.

"Kathleen it's good to see you! And George! I'm so glad that you decided to give this church a try."

George tossed him a weak smile, "Don't get too excited, it might of just been a one time thing."

"Anyway...there's a reason I wanted to talk to you today...It's about the wedding," Kathleen explained.

Rev. Stone smiled, "Oh of course! You are still having it here, correct?"

Kathleen nodded, "There's nowhere else I would rather have it, you know that...But I just wanted to know if we have your blessing to get married."

The pastor let out a light hearted laugh, "Oh goodness! Is that all Kathleen? ...Of course you have my blessing!"

Kathleen and George smiled, "Thank you."

"No problem...Look, I know for a fact that it's hard to find that one person that you're supposed to spend the rest of your life with. I thought me and my first wife would stay together forever...but we were both too weak to really help each other. After my son died," Rev. Stone paused, "...After he died I started taking drugs and forgetting about God and how he had a plan for me. When my wife left me at first I thought that was God punishing me, but it wasn't a punishment. That was God making me stronger. If she would have stayed with me, I would have continued taking drugs. But her leaving made me realize that I needed to change. After that I took grief counseling and now I'm more than happy to have Didi and Jack in my life."

Kathleen felt her eyes getting watery as Rev. Stone kept talking, "The point is, God will always have a plan for you, no matter how crazy it seems at the moment. And when you're with the person that God has designed for you, you can get through anything...I don't know what your guys' personal relationship is like, but I can tell when I see you guys that you two truly love each other. And I wish you guys the best."

"Thank you Rev. Stone...that means a lot."

Rev. Stone laughed, "You don't have to call me Rev. Stone you know? That's just a fancy title that the church gave to me so it could seem like I have a lot of power...Kathleen, may I talk to you alone for a moment?"

George glanced at Kathleen for a moment, and then back at Rev. Stone, "...Take your time. I'm gonna go find Grace and Amy."

...

"Sometimes I wonder if I made the wrong decision Grace."

"The wrong decision about what?"

"About who I chose to be with...Ben was my rock when I got pregnant. He was there for me all the time, and I know a lot of people thought that he was clingy, and maybe he was...But he was there. He loved me and he literally did everything that he could for me. He dealt with me and all of my baggage," Amy explained.

Grace sighed, "Look Amy...It's understandable that Ben was your solid rock throughout your pregnancy, but that doesn't mean that you have to be with him forever."

Amy stayed silent.

"Let me ask you Amy, do you love Ricky?"

"Of course."

"But are you in love with Ricky?"

Amy paused, "I don't know what it really means to be in love Grace...but it just feels like I am you know? Everybody says that when you're in love you're supposed to always be happy, and not have so many worries...but Ricky and I, we've been through a lot. We've argued so much, and with John to take care of it adds more and more stress but I don't want to let go of him...Our good days are the best. Sometimes I can't go to sleep because it's like reality is finally better than my dreams."

Grace smiled as she heard this. The two of them hadn't noticed that George was walking towards them so they continued talking.

"When we spent that weekend in New York it just felt like...I don't know, magical you know? I'm not trying to be cheesy but it just felt right. It was the first time that we actually sat down and had a real conversation, and that's when I learned all of these things about him that I never knew before. But as much as I love Ricky...Ben is always going to be my first love Grace."

"Well there's nothing wrong with that. Everybody has a first love, but that doesn't mean you have to stay with your first love forever. If you really feel this way towards Ricky, then I think you should stay with him. Not for John, not to make him happy, or even your family happy, but because you love him and you truly want to be with him. Don't feel like you have to be trapped because you don't."

Amy smiled, "Thank you Grace."

"No problem."

They both turned their head to admire the settings of the church again and they were more than shocked when they saw George standing there. Amy practically jumped in her seat, "D-Dad! When did you get over here?"

"A few minutes ago. Kathleen's on her way."

"...How much did you hear?" Grace asked.

"Enough to see that the two of you are really growing up," George smiled.

...

"...So what did you want me to stay in here for?" Kathleen asked.

"Oh right sorry! I started going on and on about irrelevant stuff again. I tend to do that," he laughed, "But I just wanted to say that I owe you an apology."

"An apology? For what?"

"For what I did to you and your family a few years ago...When I introduced you guys to Jack and set him up with Grace, it wasn't out of the goodness of my heart," Rev. Stone sighed, "I did it so that...there would be more money in the church. I knew you guys had money and you were active church goers so I wanted to keep the girl in the house happy. I thought she would go to more youth group activities if she had someone to look forward to when she went to church."

Kathleen paused for a moment. She could feel herself getting annoyed at what Rev. Stone revealed to her, but she also realized that everyone made mistakes, and that she shouldn't hold a grudge, "Rev. Stone...I forgive you. Besides, I really think that those two love each other, so maybe it was for the best, even if it didn't come with good intentions."

"Thank you Kathleen," Rev. Stone smiled.

Ashley finally arrived at the hospital and after going through the normal procedures she was allowed to visit Nora. She knocked on the hospital door and Ricky opened it slowly, looking at Ashley and John in surprise. Ashley noticed how exhausted he looked. It was like he hadn't slept for days. He was wearing the same clothes that he had on yesterday and his eyes were bloodshot.

Ashley put John down as she held his hand.

Ricky glared at Ashley, but stopped once he realized that John was standing there.

"Hi buddy," he said softly.

"Daddy! Mwss you daddy."

Ricky couldn't help but smile when he heard this. John was his pride and joy and he knew that he had been neglecting John for a few days now. Ricky picked up John and tickled him and he started laughing, "How have you been buddy?"

John was about to answer but he was distracted by the fishes in the fish tank. He pointed to the fish tank, "Look! Fishy!"

Ricky chuckled, "Yeah John those are fishes! Do you want to go see them up close?"

He nodded eagerly.

Before Ricky could say anything else, Margaret walked towards them.

"Margaret? I didn't know you were here," Ashley said.

She smiled, "Yeah...I came with Ricky actually. What are you doing here?"

Ricky looked at Ashley with anger in her eyes, "Yeah, what are you doing here? Amy said you were going to watch John today, at home."

Ashley rolled her eyes and Margaret could see the tension building up. She scooped John into her arms and then let him down as she grabbed his hand gently, "Let's go see those fish."

"Otay!"

...

Once Margaret and John were far enough away, Ricky turned his eyes back on Ashley, "Ashley what the hell! Did you even think about maybe calling before you decided to bring my son to the hospital!"

"Lower your voice," Ashley hissed, "And it's not like it was a planned thing."

"Planned or not, you should have called," Ricky drew in a deep breath, "Look...just take him home. I don't have time to be with him right now."

Ashley crossed her arms over her chest, "No."

"Ashley he's not your son. He's mine, and if I don't want him here right now, then you're taking him home."

"Look...I planned to spend the entire day at home with John...and then he started crying. And can you guess who he was crying for?"

Ricky sighed.

"He wanted his daddy Ricky. He wants you to come home. I'm sorry about Nora ok...I really am. But you're responsible for John. He doesn't just need to be taken care of, he needs his dad to spend some time with him."

"I'm trying ok?" Ricky said as he felt his eyes start to burn, "I'm trying to be there for him...but this is my mother...and I don't know how much time I'm going to have left with her."

"And so what? In the mean time you're just going to forget about John? That's not what Nora would want."

Ricky couldn't say anything. He felt a tear fall down his face, "I just don't know what to do anymore Ashley...I just don't understand why this is happening."

Ashley could see that the tears were coming down his face even faster. She guided him towards a nearby bench where they could sit down. From across the room they could see that Margaret and John were still watching the fish.

"Sometimes things just happen Ricky...and we don't have any control over it. But what you do have control over is how you treat John...He needs you. He needs you and he needs Amy. You guys are his parents."

"Yeah...I know Ashley, thanks."

"No problem."

"Since you're here...you mind giving me some advice about something?" Ricky asked.

Ashley shrugged, "I guess I have nothing better to do."

"Your sarcasm never fails to amuse me Ashley," Ricky chuckled, "...Anyway...Leo offered me a full time job at the Butcher Shop."

Ashley raised an eyebrow, "Oh really?"

"Yeah."

"But you can't do that. You go to school."

Ricky didn't say anything, and Ashley caught on quickly, "You're thinking about dropping out of school?"

He nodded.

"I don't know Ricky..."

"Nora needs a lung transplant to get the surgery for her cancer...and I need the money to help her out...a full time job at the Butcher Shop can make me more money. Besides, you got your GED? Why can't I?"

"I did what I thought was best for me Ricky...I never really cared for school. I didn't fit in. I like being by myself for the most part and I'm really good at self-teaching so I went for it."

"Yeah...and pretty soon you'll be up in Italy, making your own way...Are you sure that's what you want to do by the way?"

"Positive...Look, I don't know what's best for you but I think that you should discuss it with your parents and maybe Amy before deciding what to do."

"Yeah...I guess you have a point."

Before they could say anything else, Ashley's phone started ringing, "Well...I should get going but it was nice seeing you Ricky. Do you want me to take John back?"

Ricky shook his head, "No, I think maybe it's time I went home too and stayed with John for the day. Thanks Ashley."

"Welcome," she nodded and then she walked off as she picked up her phone.

She clicked answer as she waved goodbye to Margaret.

"Hello?"

"Hi sweety."

"Oh hi mom. What's up?"

"Um, I don't know how to say it Ash...but something happened to Moose."

"What do you mean?" Ashley asked with concern, "Is he alright?"

"He's fine but let's just say that when I get back from Palm Springs...I might be coming back with some puppies."

"Some puppies?" Ashley raised an eyebrow in curiosity.

"It's a long story. I'll see you in a few days and explain it then."

"Um, alright...Bye mom, and say bye to Robbie for me."

"Alright, bye."

Grace was sitting in the car with her mother as they listened to some music on the radio.

"So how was Youth Group?"

"Better than I thought it would be," Grace smiled, "And how was Couples Bible study?"

"Great! I think George really learned a lot about God today...I'm so proud of him."

Grace was about to say something when she felt her phone vibrate. She answered her phone, "Hello?"

"Hey Grace," Jack said.

"Oh...hi...How was the court case?"

"I got through with my part of it...but Ally went up today and she just couldn't do it. She tried to run out the building but she fainted. She was taken to the doctors a little while ago."

"Oh gosh! Poor girl."

"Yeah...I hope she's ok by tomorrow...that's when we're starting everything up again."

"Oh..."

"Yeah...look Grace I know you're still mad-"

"I'm not mad Jack...I just don't understand. Just tell me why it's ok for Adrian to come and not me."

"Adrian only came because Samuel and Ruben are friends and Ruben wanted to help Samuel with the case. Adrian came along with her dad and so she was just there by default. It wasn't like I asked her to come Grace," Jack explained.

Grace sighed, "Alright I get it...sorry."

"It's ok. Look I love you Grace, I'm just not ready to share everything that happened to me that night with you. Do you think you can deal with that?"

"Yeah Jack...I guess I can. But whenever you're ready to talk just know that I'm here for you ok?"

"Heh, I don't know what I'd do without you Grace."

Grace smiled, "Heh yeah well luckily you don't have to worry about that because I'm always there. I'll talk to you when I get home. I just got out of church and I'm in the car with my mom right now."

"Oh...you didn't have me on speaker or anything right?" Jack asked nervously.

Grace chuckled, "Um no I didn't. You're so funny...bye Jack."

"Bye Grace."

...

Meanwhile, Amy and George were in the car listening to music as well. They talked about what they did during church and for a moment Amy felt like things were normal again.

"So...I heard what you were saying about you and Ricky," George said.

Amy rolled her eyes, "Dad I really don't need any advice about what to do. I already talked with Grace about it...I'm fine."

"I know honey. I just want to make sure that you're sure about who you wanna be with that's all. "

"I'm sure dad. I want to be with Ricky and even if I didn't it would be my decision. I'm almost out of high-school now. I'm an adult."

George chuckled, "Maybe...but you're always going to be my little girl Ames."

"And you're always going to be my irritating but lovable dad," Amy joked.

"Gee thanks."

As George continued driving, Amy's phone started ringing and she answered it, "Hello?"

"Hey Amy."

"Ricky...hey are you still at the hospital?"

"Um yeah I am...But I'm going to go home soon...Margaret and John are here too."

"Oh alright well then I'll see you at...WAIT! John's at the hospital?"

"Ashley brought him over here."

Amy rolled her eyes, "She is so annoying. What did she get bored of watching him? She always has to start some type of-"

"Amy relax alright...I already chewed her out for it...And she brought him here because John was crying for me today."

At this Amy's voice softened and she sighed, "Oh...I feel terrible now. John was crying and I wasn't there."

George's ears perked up at this but Amy ignored him.

"It's my fault...That's why I'm going home with him right now."

"Alright, well I guess I don't have to yell at Ashley anymore."

"Yeah. I'll see you later-"

"Wait."

"What is it?"

"I leave for Hudson tomorrow. So I was wondering if maybe you, me, and John could do something today."

"What did you have in mind?"

"I don't know...something simple. Maybe we could go watch a movie."

"Alright Amy that sounds good...gee, I can't remember the last time we actually went out."

"Heh...yeah me either. With all of the drama going on it's kind of hard to just have some fun."

"Yeah you're right...but don't you have homework and stuff that you need to finish? I know I do."

"We'll finish it when we get back."

"Ok Amy...What movie did you want to see? The new X-Men is out."

"Oh right...I totally forgot that was out already...but I was thinking that maybe we could see Fault in Our Stars."

Ricky was laughing over the phone and Amy waited for him to stop, "What?"

"Oh wait...you were being serious."

"Yes, I was being serious! The trailer looks really good!"

"It's just so...so...Are you sure that's what you want to see?"

"In order for this relationship to work you have to suffer at least one chick flick with me."

"Aw man...alright fine Amy, if that's what you want."

"That's what I want," Amy smiled, "I'll see you later then."

"Bye Amy, I love you."

"Love you too."

Once she put her phone away, George looked at her curiously, "Why was John crying?"

"Oh...he missed Ricky. Ashley was watching him today and he started crying for Ricky so she took John to see him...at the hospital," Amy groaned. It still bugged her that she didn't inform anyone that she was taking John to the hospital.

"Oh...alright. Is John ok now?"

Amy smiled, "Yeah he's ok. Ricky and I are spending the day with him. We're going to go see a movie."

George chuckled, "I gathered that much when you said chick flick."

Amy laughed.

Ben, Adrian, and Chloe were all at the hospital as they waited to hear news of what was going on with Ally. Their parents went to get some coffee while the three of them talked.

"I really hope Ally is ok," Chloe said nervously, "I knew this would be too much for her...This is exactly why I told Jack to let me handle it and not use Samuel as his lawyer but of course he didn't listen. Ugh!"

"Calm down Chloe. I'm sure Ally will be alright...It was just an emotional incident for her, and she couldn't handle the pressure at the moment. She'll feel more prepared tomorrow."

"I hope you're right about that," Chloe said. She looked over at Ben who hadn't said anything since they'd been at the hospital, "Are you alright Ben?"

"Yeah...I'm fine...I just...I hope she can handle it. I was talking to her about it a few days before the case and she sounded so nervous, but I thought for sure once she actually got up there she would be able to do it. She's an amazing girl, she deserves to get some type of justice."

Chloe and Adrian looked at each other and then they looked at Ben suspiciously.

"She's an amazing girl?" Chloe questioned.

"Well isn't she?" Ben said with a confused a tone.

"Someones catching feelings," Adrian said in a sing-song voice.

"What are you talking about?"

"Oh no...please don't tell me that you're falling for my best friend," Chloe groaned.

"All I did was say that she's an amazing girl...It's the truth. She's smart, nice, strong, and she's pretty..."

"You're in way too deep bro," Adrian laughed.

"Bro?" Ben chuckled, "Where did you pick up that language?"

"Sorry...Omar brought Dante and some of his friends over yesterday and that's just how they talk...but back to you...do you like Ally?"

"Yeah do you?" Chloe pushed.

"Ok two against one, this really isn't fair," Ben argued.

"Ben!"

"Alright...alright...I don't know ok, and that's my honest answer. I just don't know."

Before they could say anything more about the situation, the door opened and a doctor walked out of the room. All three of them stood up and looked at the doctor anxiously.

"Is she gonna be ok?" Chloe asked.

The doctor smiled, "She just needs some sleep. She got stressed out and it was overwhelming for her...However there are some things that I need to go over with her parents. Are they here?"

All of the parents were making their way back, with coffee in their hands when the doctor said this. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson were the first ones to notice that the doctor was there. They quickened their pace as they looked over at the doctor anxiously.

"Please tell us our little girl is ok," Mrs. Johnson said.

"Your daughter will be just fine...however I'm not sure if she can handle the stress on her own yet...so we'll need your consent and giving her some medication."

Kathleen and Grace got out of the car after finally arriving home. They were enjoying a nice conversation as Kathleen unlocked the door and then opened it. As they stepped inside, they were surprised at what they saw.

Tom was standing there in a nice suite as he smiled at Kathleen and Grace, and Kathleen's mother, Victoria was standing next to him.

"Mom?" Kathleen looked at Tom and then at Victoria in shock.

"SUR-prise!" Tom exclaimed.

Grace had never actually seen her grandmother up until now, but with everything that she heard about her grandmother, she wasn't sure if she was ready to meet her. Kathleen had told her that she was always ready to criticize someone and that she was very judgement. She looked over at her mother awkwardly, and then she looked at Tom, "Come on Tom, let's go."

Grace walked over to Tom and the two of them made their way upstairs, leaving Kathleen and Victoria to themselves.

A/N: Thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. And guess what? I'm officially out of school! Summer here I come!