Chapter 18: Week with Darci

A/N: THANKS FOR THE REVIEWS: 101mizzpoet101, Cena130, csimiamigirl73, Rickster627 YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME. THIS CHAPTER WILL BE THE REST OF THE WEEK. NOW I KNOW IT WOULD TAKE LONGER FOR A TRIAL AND EVERYTHING BUT I AM GONNA SPEED THINGS UP AND SAY IT HAPPENS THE DAY BEFORE JOHN AND STEPH HAVE TO GO BACK HOME. SO ON WITH THE STORY :D

I wake up and see all the guys still asleep. I go into the kitchen and I see Darci and Amy talking. "Hey guys" I sat down at the table with them.

"Hey Steph" they both said

"How much sleep did you guys get?" I asked cause I know I didn't get much and I heard moving around while I wasn't asleep.

"I probably got about 4 hours" Amy answered

"I tried to sleep; I was off and on all night. So I got a total of maybe 2 hours" Darci replied

"Same here" then we just sat there not talking for a while.

"How about I make some of my famous sausage and gravy" Amy suggested

"I'll help ya" Darci added

"Call me in when it's ready. I'm gonna go get some fresh air" I said as I grabbed my coat and my phone and went outside. I climbed up in the tree and sat there for a little while, then I called mom and dad and told them what happened and that they need to come down for the funeral and the trial later on in the week. Then Randy came out.

"Hey Sis, breakfast is ready" Randy said, then looked up and saw me in the tree. "Get down; you don't want to fall do you"

"I have never fallen out of this tree; I've been up here like a million times" I said, obviously

"But you never had the extra weight either"

"Excuse me" I eyed him

"Sorry, it's true though"

I sighed "I know, hop up here with me" so he did "I feel enormous"

"Well you are 6 months and having twins"

"True, I just can't wait to see them"

"Have you guys thought of any names yet?" Randy asked

"Well in light of recent events, one of them will be named Kim"

"I'm sure John will agree with you" we sat in silence for a few minutes.

"So when did Ken and Matt hook up. I never saw that coming"

"Ya, neither did we. About a couple months ago. They're really happy though"

"That's good. Ummm… how did Jeff take it?" I wondered

"Nobody knows"

"He never said anything, did he?"

"Nope. I think it's cause of what happened between you two" I think that's what everyone thinks.

"That's what I figured when Amy told me about it. But I'm the one that still wanted to be friends, so it's his fault. When I tried to talk to him yesterday he told me to stay out of his life. I do care about him though. He's still my best friend" Randy gave me a hug.

"I know Steph. We'll keep an eye out on him though; we'll let you know if anything bad happens"

"OK, you better" I said and jumped down off the branch.

"Don't jump down like that" Randy said as he climbed out of the tree.

"Why?"

"Cause you're pregnant"

"I'm not gonna hurt them by jumping Randy. It's not that far of a jump"

"It is to me"

"That's cause you're scared of heights, even the littlest bit. I was surprised that you actually got up there"

"That's cause it didn't look that high"

I laughed at him, then put my arm around him. "Let's go eat"

So we went inside, I noticed that everyone was awake. After breakfast we all had to go down to the police station. They informed us of the trial date and when the funeral was gonna be. (A/N: I KNOW COPS DON'T DEAL WITH ALL THAT STUFF BUT I JUST THOUGHT IT'D BE EASIER) Then after lunch, everyone went home. Mom and dad ended up getting there a little after supper. They dropped the kids off with mom's parents. That whole week was meant to have fun, and catch up with everyone but that bitch had to ruin it. I never realized how many people cared for Kim; there were so many people at her funeral. After Darci did the eulogy, there wasn't a dry eye in the house, then they played 'In the Arms of an Angel' by Sarah McLaughlin (A/N: I THINK THAT'S HOW YOU SPELL IT) and that just made it worse, that song is so sad. Then the next day we had a party at Darci and Kim's house because Kim always said that when she died to not mourn for her, she wanted us to celebrate her life. So we did, we had pictures of her everywhere, a bunch of photo albums out, all that good stuff. Even though we all were sad, we had a good time cause that's how Kim would have wanted it.

(A/N: I KNOW THIS MOST LIKELY ISN'T HOW TRIALS GO BUT I HAVE NEVER BEEN TO ONE, SO THIS IS HOW IT'S GOING :S )

So today is the trial. Everybody that was at the house was there because they needed eyewitness accounts. One by one they called all of us up, we all had the same story, but when the guy got the last question they all said the same "Why do you think she would have done this?" the only ones that knew that was Amy, Randy, John, and the family. The three of them and the others just said "I don't know" they were waiting for Darci and I to explain that.

As John was getting off the stand, we knew that Darci was up next. "I know this is hard enough for you, just tell them what everyone else did and I will explain about the abuse OK" I whispered

"Thanks Steph" she already had tears in her eyes as she walked up there.

He gets to the end of her questioning and she said the same as the rest "Now ma'am I know that you would know why your sister would want to commit such an act" he said obviously

"Yes I do, but this is too much. Stephanie knows, she'll tell you" Darci said in between tears.

"Ma'am, just tell us"

"Please sir, just let me step down" she begged

So the judge piped in "You may step down. Stephanie, you're next" I got up there.

"Now I'm sure you're story is the same as the rest"

"Yes sir" I answered

"So let's cut to the chase. Why would your mom do this?" I cringed when he called HER my mom.

"I believe she was jealous" I simply said

"How so?" he asked curiously

"Well, she used to beat me"

"Who, Kim?"

"Heavens no. My…" I cringed "…mother"

"Why would she do that?"

"Because I wanted to see my dad"

"And why couldn't you see him?"

"Cause in the divorce, my mom got full custody and never allowed him to see me. She never even told him where we lived"

"And do you have proof of this abuse?" I'm glad I brought those pictures.

"Actually sir, I do. See, I thought that if I ever got the chance to do this that I should have some proof. So after every single beating I would take pictures of the marks and bruises she left" I said and handed over the pictures as I smirked at the bitch and she actually looked scared. The lawyer looked shocked and it was her lawyer, I guess she never told him about that. He stammered a little, he had to think of what to comeback with.

"And why didn't you ever tell any friends or family members?" he asked

"Friends? Back then I didn't have any. Family members? I never saw them, she kept me home all the time and we didn't have a phone so I couldn't tell them"

"Why didn't you ever go to the cops?"

"I was afraid of what she would do to me. She would manipulate them, like she did the teachers that I told, and then she would beat me some more. I didn't want to take the chance"

"So how does Kim come into the picture?"

"Well Darci is my…mother's sister and Kim is Darci's girlfriend. Well one night after a brutal beating, my…mother had went to a payphone and called Darci and Kim and told them that 'she couldn't deal with me anymore' and that they needed to come get me. So they did and they treated me like a kid should be treated, they were my parents. They especially allowed me to see my dad and I got to move in with him" I smiled

"And my client tells me there was an altercation that night that you got your things. You punched her?"

"Yes I did. Somehow she knew I was there and she tried to take me back with her. I obviously didn't want to go. Who would want to go back to abuse anyways? So I told her off and as she was about to hit me, I thought fast and hit her instead. She walked out of the house saying, and I quote 'You just made the biggest mistake of your life'. And we are having this trial from the results of her backlash"

"No further questions" the lawyer said

"Thank you Stephanie, you may step down" the judge said and I went and sat back down with Darci. The lawyers did their closing arguments, then the jury went to make their decision. It didn't take very long. They came back out about an hour later and decided to give her life in prison without the possibility of parole.

As she was being dragged back to another room, she yelled "You haven't heard the last of me"

"I believe we just did" I smiled and waved at her. I think that might have pissed her off a bit, but I don't care. She's gone forever. The next day we made sure Darci was OK for us to leave, cause we had to go back. John and I hadn't brought any school work with us so we had a lot to catch up on. We told Darci that there was always room for whenever she wanted to come visit us.

A/N: SO HOW WAS IT, SHE'S GONE FOR GOOD. AND FOR THOSE OF YOU WANTING JEFF TO GET WITH SOMEONE ELSE, DON'T WORRY, I'M WORKING ON IT. IT WILL PROBABLY BE AWILE BUT HE WILL FIND SOMEONE ELSE, I KNOW THAT FOR A FACT. PLEASE REVIEW :D