A/N: This story will be updated on Tuesdays.
Don't You Remember – Chapter 2
After baseball practice on Wednesday Jane quickly made her way to the clinic. She had an appointment with the doctor. She was nervous, as she knew that home pregnancy tests could sometimes give 'false positives' results, so that is why she went to the clinic. She needed to know once and for all if she was pregnant. Today was the day she would find out if she was pregnant.
"Hello Jane," the doctor said as she entered the exam room. "How are you today?"
"A little nervous, doc." Jane stated and the doctor noticed that her body language matched her words.
"Well, let me give you the results and then we can talk. How does that sound?"
"That sounds great doc, I really need to know." Jane was nervous, the next words out of the doctor's mouth could change her life forever.
"Well, let me pull up your results on the computer and we will see where we stand." The doctor pulled up the results and told Jane, "It appears that you are pregnant."
Jane put her head down and cried. The doctor walked around the desk and hugged Jane. They stayed in the embrace for a quick minute and when they broke the embrace the doctor said, "We can talk now about what you want to do next if you would like."
She spent the next twenty minutes talking with the doctor. She gave her some material to read so that she could make an informed decision. Jane went home and read over the material, it was a huge decision. She felt she had no choice now, she had to tell her parents. After leaving the clinic Jane went straight home. She walked in the front door and immediately spotted her parents in the kitchen. "Ma, Pop, I need to talk to you about something."
"What is it?" Her mother stated as she placed their dinner on the table. "Can it wait until after dinner?"
"Yes, it can." Jane said as she thought actually it would be a better time to wait until after they all had eaten and her brothers would go back upstairs.
"Find, let's sit down and have dinner, call your brothers please." Jane did as she was asked and called for her brothers. After dinner she helped clean up and then she sat down in the living room and talked with her parents. She told them about her home pregnancy test and then her visit to the free clinic.
Her parents were shocked. They were not happy at all. It wasn't long before she was asked to go upstairs and pack a suitcase as she no longer lived in this house. Her parents kicked her out of the house. She spent the first few nights at her cousin, Arianna's house. Her aunt was not happy with the situation she had been put in. Her brother had kicked his only daughter out of the house just a few weeks from graduation. She didn't want to get in trouble with her brother.
Jane contemplated her decision, she had no choice but to think about giving the baby up for adoption. She felt that she wouldn't be able to support herself and the baby. She would now had to work full-time. She would be lucky just to make ends meet, bringing a baby into the situation wouldn't be good for the baby. She would need to find a room to rent somewhere as she wouldn't be able to afford her own apartment.
She wouldn't be able to go to college now like she was planning. For the past few years, she had planned on attending BCU with her cousin and her boyfriend. Casey was in that plan also but he had already removed himself.
Casey was not going to be in the picture. He had left Jane once he found out that she was pregnant and that she wanted to keep the baby. He hadn't told his family about Jane and the baby. Jane knew that his parents didn't care for her so she couldn't turn to them for help and support.
She wasn't exactly sure why they didn't like her but she didn't want to have anything to do with people that didn't care for her. She certainly didn't want her baby having anything to do with them. Besides she was not even going to tell him that she was going to have the baby. Her catholic upbringing had instilled in her about God's gift of children. She didn't want to abort the baby because she felt that the baby was a gift. Even if she couldn't keep him maybe she could find somebody that would want and care for the baby.
Arianna and her boyfriend, Angelo, agreed to help Jane out. "Jane, Angelo and I decided to get an apartment near BCU. As you know my family is moving back to Italy and I want to stay. We can get a two-bedroom apartment instead of a one bedroom, and you could chip in, maybe cover the difference in the price and have a room."
Jane thought about it and said, "It would be cheaper for me this way. Even if I tried to get a studio apartment, I would be spending more money than sharing with you guys." She was so thankful that Arianna and Angelo were still there for her.
Casey joined the US Army and left after graduation. He was all about what was best for him. Arianna and Angelo couldn't believe that Casey would treat Jane this way. They promised to be there for Jane and help her out the best they could.
Two weeks after graduation Jane, Arianna and Angelo moved into their new apartment. Jane had gotten a job the second day after she left her childhood home. She needed to have money coming in. At first, she had to work around her high school schedule. It is not how she planned on spending her last weeks as a high school student.
Jane knew that Arianna and Angelo would have tried to help her with the baby but she couldn't ask them to do that. They had their plans and she didn't want to be a burden to them. She had become friends with the staff at the Free Clinic. They liked her and tried to help her out as much as they could. They knew that she loved the baby and that she wanted to keep the baby, but she had told them that she would have to give the baby up.
Jane talked to a young nurse friend of hers, "Bella, I really don't want to give the baby up for adoption but I can't see a way that I can make this work on my own. I have to work to help pay for my expenses now that my parents have kicked me out of the house. I have to give up my dream of going to college. I just hate this. It isn't the baby's fault."
"Jane, I think I know a way that I could help you." Bella continued to explain everything to Jane and Jane thought that might be a viable option. Bella, told her about this recent college graduate that she knew that wanted to adopt a baby.
They talked about Jane having to give the baby up for adoption and Bella said that she would help her out if she wanted to meet with this individual. Jane agreed and Bella set the plan into motion.
A few days later, Jane met with the lawyer that Bella had made the appointment with. He presented Jane a written profile of the young woman who wanted to adopt her baby. "She seems like a really nice lady." Jane liked what she had read, she liked that the baby wouldn't want for anything as the young woman had money and would be able to take care of her baby.
"She is." the lawyer stated.
No names were exchanged about the college grad. She signed the contract agreeing to give the baby up for adoption. She was given an initial check to help with living expenses. By the end of the workday, the lawyer had set up an account to handle all of Jane's expenses. On the first of the next month, she would start receiving a monthly stipend to help with her expenses. She had to submit all of her medical bills to the lawyer and he made sure that her bills were paid.
The lawyer had called her later that day and asked, "What type of vehicle would you like?"
"What do you mean?"
"The young lady would like to purchase a reliable vehicle for you."
"Man, this is too much. I mean I have always wanted a Jeep, but she doesn't need to get me a Jeep. I can continue to take the bus."
"No Jane, you don't understand. She wants you to have reliable transportation because she wants to make sure that the baby is safe. She would feel better if you had a vehicle rather than taking the bus everywhere. Plus, with a vehicle you can take yourself where you need to go when you need to go and not have to rely on the bus schedule."
"She isn't going to take 'no' for an answer, is she?"
"No, she will not take 'no' for an answer, she is adamant."
"I guess you can tell her that I would like a Jeep then."
"Fine, I will let her know." The lawyer ended the call and sent out a few emails.
A little while later he called Jane again and gave her the information for the dealership where she could go and pick out her new Jeep. Jane, Arianna and Angelo went down to the dealership the next day and picked out the Jeep. Jane signed a few papers and was handed the keys to the Jeep. She drove off the lot with her new Jeep and a huge smile on her face.
The lawyer even went so far to make sure that the insurance was paid for, until such time that Jane was started at the Police Academy. She had to submit her grade reports to him every time they were issued. She didn't mind doing this as her stipend continued until she was accepted into the academy.
Jane continued her friendship with Bella and one day she told her, "I feel a little guilty at times. I feel as though I sold my baby. I mean I know it isn't true. The lawyer has told me that many times. The young woman that was adopting my baby wanted to make sure that I was able to achieve my dream of becoming a police officer."
"That's right Jane, she is a real nice woman and only wants the best for you. You are giving her such a gift."
Jane had always wanted a Jeep like the one she was given. She knew she would have to have reliable transportation to get to and from work. The monthly stipend made it so she didn't have to work as much so she was able to sign up for two college courses and only worked part-time.
Her ultimate goal was to become a homicide detective. She needed $3,000 to sign up for the Police Academy when she was twenty-one so she set that money aside. The lawyer actually had her meet with a financial advisor who assisted her in setting up a few CDs that would help her earn some interest off of the money while she waited a few years to be eligible to attend the academy.
In her junior year of high school, she had met Detective Sergeant Vincent Korsak at a career fair. Sgt Korsak was a homicide detective. She impressed him with her questions and he put her in touch with some of the women officers at BPD. They had a mentoring program for teens that desired to become police officers. A young police officer took an immediate liking to Jane and became her sponsor. She met with Jane and helped her prepare for the academy, along with Det. Sgt. Korsak.
Officer Genevieve 'Gen' Booker, was married and had a child on the way. Her husband, Steve, agreed to let Gen bring Jane by the house. Steve knew how important mentoring was. He also knew how much grief women in the police department received so he thought it would be great for Jane to have a solid bond with Gen before she started at the academy.
The lawyer set up an email account and the college graduate said she would send pictures of the baby that they named Anthony James and agreed to call him Tony. This pleased Jane as she hoped that maybe someday, hopefully she could be a part of Tony's life. She knew it might not happen until he was 18 years of age but at least she would be able to watch him grow up.
The day after the baby was born Jane signed over all rights to the new-born boy. She didn't want to, but she had no choice as she couldn't raise the baby with no family support. She knew the little boy would be better off, but after over eight months in her belly she had come to love him.
She made sure to have her picture taken with baby Tony, which she gave to the lawyer for safe keeping. He understood why she wanted the picture. He could see how much she loved her son. He hated taking the baby from her but that was what she had agreed to. She understood and she appreciated how gentle he was being with her.
She went through a bout of post-partum depression. Arianna and Angelo did their best to try and keep her spirits up. Jane decided to see a therapist to help her. The fact that it was covered by her contract and amendment helped. If she had to pay for the therapist, she wouldn't have been able to afford the therapist's visits.
Their second year in college Arianna and Angelo decided to get married. Jane was thrilled about that. Jane didn't know what to do with herself. She still had a few years before she could apply to the police academy.
She decided to pour herself into her studies. Receiving a picture or two every month of Tony, made her smile and also made her work that much harder to complete her school work. Her thought was that if she ever got to meet Tony, she wanted to have positive things to tell him about her. Graduating from college and becoming a police officer were the goals that she hung onto.
Ten years later
Jane had been a homicide detective for a few months and had just returned to desk duty after suffering an injury at the hands of Charles Hoyt, just in time for the arrival of a new Chief Medical examiner at BPD.