Marsha smiled.
"I ordered Italian," she said, "It should be here soon."
Trudy smiled.
"Thanks mom," she said.
"You seem to be feeling better," Marsha remarked.
"I am a little," Trudy said, "This has been on my mind for a long time."
"Don't ever hide your feelings," Marsha told Trudy gently, "It eats you up when you hide them."
"I know," Trudy replied, "It's just… it's a lot to deal with."
She looked at her watch.
"Dr. Bell is coming over soon," she said, "Will you guys stay for the session?"
"Of course," Dwight, Marsha and Adrian said in unison.
Moments later Dr. Bell rang the doorbell. Adrian answered the door.
"You must be Dr. Bell," Marsha said.
"Well, I don't know if I must be," Dr. Bell joked, "But yes. I'm Neven Bell."
"This is my mother, Marsha," Trudy said, "This is my father, Dwight. Finally, but definitely not least this is my wonderful husband, Adrian. If it's alright with you I'd like them to stay today."
"Of course," Dr. Bell said.
They went into the den. Adrian sat next to Trudy. Marsha and Dwight sat across from her.
"Trudy had a rough night last night," Marsha said, "Has she told you about the rape that happened to her when she was fourteen?"
"She said she remembered something like that happening, but it was vague," Dr. Bell said.
"I was at a party," Trudy began, "I realized it was getting late and my curfew had passed so Rickover, my high school Law Ethics teacher, offered to walk me home. I accepted, that was the second stupid thing I did. The first was missing curfew."
"Neither of those things are stupid," Dwight corrected her.
Trudy took a shaky breath. Then she continued.
"When we were out of sight he pushed me into the bushes, put a knife to my neck and told me to undress and lay down. I was… shocked but instead of fighting him I did what I was told. He forced himself onto me. I remember how much it hurt. He dropped me off at the hospital and hissed at me that if I told ANYONE it was him who raped me, he would kill my parents. I ended up finding out I was pregnant 3 months later. My parents and I talked about what to do. I couldn't abort the baby. She was a part of me. I loved her as much as I hated Rickover. My parents offered to raise her as their own… as my little sister."
Dr. Bell nodded.
"That's often a solution," he said.
"I gave birth to Molly late. She was the most beautiful baby you'd ever seen. She lived nine minutes. I lost my baby and Rickover killed her. We found that out later. I should have-"
"Why do you think you could have done anything differently," Dr. Bell asked, "You were a child yourself."
"I know," Trudy said, "But the reason I was in the car bomb was because Rickover wanted to prevent me from writing an article on what he did. If I wasn't planning to write that article-"
"If you weren't planning to write that article, he'd have found another reason to do what he did," Adrian said.
Dwight and Marsha nodded in agreement.
"I remember," Trudy said, "He told me if anyone found out what happened I would be put away."
"Why in the world would you be put away," Adrian asked, "Being raped isn't a crime."
"I was terrified," Trudy said, "It was like he was taunting me again."
Adrian kissed her.
"It's alright," he said, "He'll never get anywhere near you again."
Charlie and his wife along with Jemma waited in the waiting room. Robyn was getting her surgery today. After several hours the doctor came out.
"I have good news and bad news," he said, "The good news is that we got all of the tumor. It's not malignant. The bad news is some of the tumor was in the part of the brain that controls eyesight. We had to sever the nerve. She's blind."
Jemma gasped in shock. Her twin sister was blind.
"I want to see my sister," Jemma said.
"Of course," the doctor replied.
He led Jemma, Charlie and his wife into Robyn's room.
"Robyn?"
"Hi mom," Robyn said smiling.
"Dad and I are here too," Jemma said.
She gave Robyn a hug.
"Did the doctor tell you I'm blind," Robyn asked.
"He did," Charlie said gently hugging his daughter, "Sweetheart, I know this isn't fair, but I'd rather have you blind and here with us then being able to see and-"
"It's okay dad," Robyn interrupted, "I'm blind, not dead. The tumor is gone. I love you guys."
"We love you too," Laura (Robyn's mother) said.
Jemma was amazed at how positive her sister was being.
"Girls," Charlie said, "Your mom and I need to talk to you about something. Things are going to be different from now on. We're not going to be negative anymore."
"Awesome!" Robyn exclaimed.
"Epic," Jemma said.
"Maybe this is the best thing that happened," Robyn said.
"It's not because of this," Charlie said, "It's because of a conversation I had with Cousin Leland. But we still have expectations of you and those expectations will be met. I know they will. I have faith in you girls."
Jemma hugged him.
Later that day Charlie called Leland.
"How is Robyn," Leland asked.
"They got the whole tumor," Charlie said, "But now she's blind."
"I'm sorry," Leland said softly, "How is she taking it?"
"She seems to be handling it well," Charlie said, "By the way, Laura and I decided to take your advice. We're going to stop punishing Jemma and Robyn and start discipling them."
Leland smiled.
"How's Jennifer," Charlie asked Leland.
"She's overwhelmed," Leland said, "She's been through so much and she's trying too hard to be too strong. She's not even 13 yet."
Charlie shook his head.
"That's too much for a kid to be dealing with herself. It's not fair what she's going through."
"Thanks Charlie," Leland said.
"Of course," Charlie said, "Listen, I have to go."
"Talk to you soon," Leland said, "I love you."
"Love you too," Charlie replied.