Four a.m. is an ungodly hour that goes against nature, in Aurie's opinion.
Even the birds aren't awake yet. However, since it's Tucson they're heading to and not Phoenix, they have to hit the road as soon as possible.
Grudgingly getting out of bed to turn off the alarm, Aurie clicks a lamp on a side table with one hand while rubbing sleep out of her eyes. As much as she'd rather still be sleeping, she wants to get this trip over as soon as possible.
After making the bed, she gathers her clothes together and heads into the bathroom. She tries hard not to think about how much of a mistake it was to come to California looking for her father. She'd have been better off not finding out. Becoming a citizen would've been harder, but less complicated in the long run. The price was too high. Besides, there's no point in dwelling on it. It pisses her off knowing there isn't a damn thing she can do to correct her mistake and she's got more than enough crap she's being forced to deal with.
Emerging a short while later dressed simply in her usual jeans and one of her new three-quarter-sleeve tops, she heads back into the bedroom. Grabbing her backpack from a nearby chair, she goes through it one more time to make sure she has what she needs. She's only taking a couple of days' worth of clothes. She's not sure when they'll head over to her apartment where she's got more clothing.
Just as she finishes confirming she's taking what she should there's a knock on the bedroom door.
"Aurie?" Mark's muffled voice filters through the door. "Are you ready to come out now?"
"I'll be right there," she calls back.
Zipping closed all compartments; she shoulders the backpack. Despite the bruises on her arms now significantly faded, she grasps her denim jacket for full coverage later and heads towards the den. She sets her things on the leather sofa on her way into the kitchen.
"Good morning," Mark cheerfully greets Aurie.
"Morning," she quietly greets back, heading straight for the coffee pot.
"Breakfast is almost ready," he informs her. "Can you please set the table?"
Aurie nods over her coffee cup before setting it down. She gathers the napkins and utensils then heads into the dining room since the table is bigger than the one in the kitchen and it's barely getting light enough to eat outside on the deck.
She returns to the kitchen for the plates when Ellen and Steve enter. After exchanging greetings, Steve heads over to the coffee pot while Ellen joins Aurie in finishing setting up the table. Within minutes all four sit down to eat in relative silence until Ellen breaks it a few minutes later.
"Can you do me a favor and drive me to the airport?" she asks Mark.
"The airport?"
"I've got a flight out to Sacramento in a few hours, and I don't want to leave my car at the airport. I have to follow a lead regarding that story my editor gave me the other day."
"Sure," Mark agrees. "Are you going to be gone long?"
"I hope not, but it's looking like a big story. Depends on how complicated it gets."
"Although I'd like for you to come back soon, I hope you'll get a big payoff from it," Mark grins.
"Me too," she agrees. "It'd be great if it leads to a job that'll keep me at home in L.A. more." Focusing on Aurie, she smiles. "I would've liked going with you guys instead because I've never been to Tucson. I'll just have to try to be here when you guys get back, so I hope you have a good trip."
"Thanks," Aurie quietly replies.
"On that note, if you're done eating are you ready to go?" Steve asks Aurie.
She nods.
"Let's clean up and get going."
"Why don't you let Ellen and I handle this," Mark suggests. "It's almost five. Go too long past that and you'll hit the early stages of commuter traffic."
Steve considers it before nodding.
"Thanks, Dad."
Pushing his chair back from the table, Steve stands up and heads towards the foyer. Aurie trails behind along with Mark and Ellen, grabbing her backpack from the sofa as she passes through the den. Together they head to the driveway. Steve unlocks his truck so he and Aurie can place their bags in the rear passenger area.
After closing the door she's about to climb in the front when Mark gently grasps her by the shoulders, so she's face to face with him.
"I know you'd rather things happened differently, but it will all work out better than you think."
Not giving her a chance to answer, Mark pulls her into a hug.
"Come home soon," he whispers in her ear before pulling back. "Better get going," he encourages, nudging her towards the truck.
Aurie slightly smiles back at him before taking a deep breath and climbing into the truck. Having watched the entire exchange from where he patiently waited behind the wheel, Steve waves at his dad and Ellen before turning the ignition. Aurie fastens her seatbelt and waves at them as Steve pulls out of the driveway.
Although the silence inside the truck is mildly uncomfortable, it's not oppressive. When they get to the right intersection, Steve makes a left turn onto the beginning of Interstate 10. Minutes later he decides he's tired of the silence.
"I'm going to turn on the radio," he informs Aurie.
Slightly confused by the statement, she looks over at him and then returns her gaze out the window. At the lack of response, an irritated scowl creases his features.
"Well?" he prods.
"Well what?" she asks, looking back over at him in confusion.
"Is there a particular style of music you want to listen to?"
"I don't care," she shrugs dismissively, looking away again.
Blowing out a harsh breath, Steve grits his teeth.
"You don't have to go out of your way to be extra frustrating."
She turns to gape at him incredulously.
"Was I supposed to guess until you bothered asking? I answered honestly. I don't care. I'm fine with whatever you want to listen to. I didn't think that was making life so difficult."
The silence stretches out again. Steve stews over their exchange while she glares at the passing cityscapes.
"I'm sorry," he apologizes several minutes later.
Not sure she heard right; she looks over at him again.
"I assumed you'd let me know what you'd want to listen to like Dad does whenever we go on a road trip together," he explains. "I don't usually have to ask, and he'll tune the radio himself or pop in a CD. When you said you didn't care, I took it the wrong way. Felt like you were automatically rejecting any consideration I was trying to offer you."
"Oh," Aurie quietly replies, not sure about what to say as the atmosphere becomes awkward again.
"So, what kind of music do you usually like to listen to?" When she looks over, he clarifies. "There are so many styles of music out there. Unless you only listen to classical music and think everything else is garbage."
Noting his relaxed expression and slight smile, Aurie guesses he's making a joke about snobby musical elitists.
"I like some classical music," she shrugs. "Depends on the piece and my mood. If it's too long and slow, I'll fall asleep."
"Has that happened?"
"Yeah," she nods. "Someone suggested trying to study to it because I was complaining about having trouble concentrating when I had the easy listening station on the radio. I'll hum or sing along instead of focusing on my homework." She pauses to give Steve a chance to finish chuckling before she continues. "So, I tried the classical station and they were playing these really long, soothing pieces that put me to sleep for the entire night. Ended up turning in my English essay late and losing points."
"When it's not related to homework, what do you like listening to?"
"A little of everything. I'll tune in to different radio stations. Usually, I'll have it on the pop stations, but they'll repeat certain songs a lot and that's annoying. Sometimes it's classic rock or country. They have a really good alternative station in Tucson. But I tend to tune into the Latino stations more than anything else."
"What style?"
"Rancheras," she answers, surprised he's aware enough to know there are different styles. "I like listening to modern dance and Latin pop music, but I always go back to the old-school stuff more than anything."
"Would that include Mariachi?"
"Yes," she nods. "Also includes corridos, the storytelling songs, but I don't like a lot of the new ones coming out lately." Seeing the silent question on his face, she elaborates. "Corridos used to be about famous events, now they're mainly narcocorridos."
"Narcocorridos?" Steve repeats in disbelief. "'Narco' as in 'narcotics'?"
She's surprised at how well he pronounces the word then realizes he must know some Spanish. Figuring she'll ask about that later, she answers his questions instead.
"It refers to drug traffickers," she explains. "And narcocorridos tend to glorify them. There's nothing worth glorifying about them. And what's even dumber is there have been quite a few singers and band members killed because of the music."
"They could get killed over music?"
"Kinda," she nods. "They're naming names or singing about drug-related events, like specific killings for swagger. They'll include dates, locations, and things like that to prove their connection. Like it's a cool thing to be involved in."
"Wouldn't that get them arrested like it would here?" Steve asks, surprised the lyrics could be so blatant.
"Not really. They reveal just enough, but not enough to get jailed. I sometimes watch the news or the gossip shows on the Spanish language stations and the musicians have been called out for that, but then they turn around and claim they only 'heard' rumors and put it in a song to show the 'dangerous' world they live in." Aurie rolls her eyes and shakes her head. "A couple of singers got shot for singing songs sharing details on things certain mafiosos don't want shared. Sometimes the musicians are friendly with one cartel and get capped by their rivals. And with the violence between cartels escalating in recent years, chances are good singers hanging out with the wrong faction could result in them having a closed casket because they look like Swiss cheese thanks to a half dozen AK-47s."
"That's crazy."
"Yeah," Aurie agrees.
The silence comfortably stretches out between them again for a few minutes before she speaks again.
"It's one of the reasons I don't want to go back to Mexico. I don't mean that I'd automatically end up involved in that, but it wouldn't be hard to get into it either."
Out of the corner of her eye, she sees Steve looking at her, prompting her to meet his confused expression.
"It's not hard to get involved in that world. Someone without an education or worthwhile opportunities or money wouldn't have trouble getting involved in some way with a cartel. Some don't have a choice in joining. It can be some nice, steady, easy money, which is very appealing. But once you get sucked in, you'd maybe get out in a coffin."
"Maybe?"
"Can't bury a body if it's never found."
"True," he concedes. "This conversation got pretty dark," he quips.
"Yeah, it did," she smiles. "Didn't mean to get caught up talking about narcocorridos, but it's not easy explaining why they're not good without getting into the bloody details. Anyways, narcocorridos are garbage to me. They're glorifying the pain and horror inflicted on people just trying to live and take care of their families. I'll stick to Rancheras or Latin Rock. Anything that doesn't glorify mafiosos."
"Couldn't it be argued these songs are just letting the world know how bad it can be because of the cartels?"
Aurie considers his question before answering.
"Some songs, yeah," she nods. "But a lot of them just come off as bragging to me. They witnessed something done by a mafioso and they're badass 'cause they're alive to sing about it. A lot of the songs I listened to weren't condemning the things the cartels do. I don't like machismo bragging like that. It's so phony."
"Basically, they're making the drug world appealing with a catchy melody."
"Pretty much," she confirms, going silent again for a few minutes. "What kind of music do you like listening to?"
"Like you, a little of everything," he shrugs. "But my go-to tends to be Jazz."
"Really?" Aurie cocks her head in surprise.
"Why does that surprise you?" he asks, slightly amused by her reaction.
"I guess it shouldn't," she admits. "I dunno, for some reason I thought you'd be into classic rock. Like the Eagles, Fleetwood Mac with some Styx tossed in."
Steve frowns in confusion.
"Those are all 70s bands."
"Well, some people act like the 70s never ended," Aurie quips.
"Gee, thanks," he drolly replies. "You know, that's like me assuming you only listen to Mariah Carey."
"True," she smirks. "Okay, so what kind of Jazz do you like? Because it's like Latino music with millions of categories. Somehow, I don't think you're into Free or Rap Jazz."
"No, I'm not," he shakes his head. "I prefer any of the mellower styles. If I'm putting it on while driving, it's usually when there's a lot of traffic and it helps me relax."
"That makes sense. I've seen how insane traffic gets here and understand why some people snap and road rage."
Steve smiles in amusement.
"That's why I wanted us to get on the road before we hit the worst of it. The drive is long enough as it is." They ride in comfortable silence again before Steve breaks it. "You sure there isn't anything you'd like to listen to? Otherwise, I'm going to put it on Jazz."
"Maybe later. Some Jazz would be nice."
"Okay," Steve nods while reaching out to tune the radio to his favorite station. "If you need a bathroom break or something, let me know so I can pull off. If not, I don't plan on stopping for gas until Palm Springs."
"I'm good for now."
Sometime later as they're passing through Fontana, Steve glances over and notices Aurie dozed off. Smiling, he focuses on the steady freeway traffic, elated they had a small step in the right direction.
After Steve and Aurie leave, Ellen and Mark clean up the remnants of breakfast, finishing when the bright morning sun is filtering through the windows. When Ellen heads downstairs to finish getting ready for her trip, the phone rings. Stepping over to his desk in the den, Mark picks up the handset.
"Hello?"
"Good morning," a female voice greets on the line. "May I please speak with Auralia Acevedes?"
"I'm sorry, but she's not in right now. Can I help you?"
"Depends," the woman hesitantly replies. "Whom am I speaking with?"
"I'm Dr. Mark Sloan."
"Oh! You're Aurie's host," she replies in relief. "I'm Dr. Luz de la Torre with Youth on Their Own. I'm Aurie's advisor and counselor."
"Nice to meet you, Dr. de la Torre. What Aurie has told me about your organization is very impressive."
"Thank you, Dr. Sloan. Please, call me Luz."
"Only if you call me, Mark."
"Deal," Luz laughs. "Well, the reason I'm calling is I expected Aurie in my office first thing this morning. She indicated she would be returning to Tucson yesterday, which is why I'm surprised she hasn't come in yet."
"Ah, well, I can explain," Mark sighs heavily. "Before I do, I just want to make sure you're already aware of why Aurie came to California in the first place, so I won't repeat information you already know or violate her privacy."
"Yes, I'm aware she was attempting to locate her biological father. When I spoke to her on Tuesday, she filled me in on everything up to that point, especially regarding the paternity tests. But the reason I need to know if she'll be here today is she must complete the renewal forms for her food stamps, Medicaid, and cash benefits through the state. So even though the results of the tests aren't available yet, she had to get them done today or her benefits would be interrupted for about three months."
"Whoo boy, that explains a lot," Mark states in surprise, easing into his desk chair. "Well, a lot has happened since Tuesday."
Without further prompting, he brings Luz up to date, answering all her questions as they come up.
"Oh, my," Luz wearily sighs when he finishes. "I warned Aurie that if one of the paternity tests were positive, she may not be able to live independently in Tucson anymore. That there was a good chance whoever turned out to be her father might want to claim custody."
"That's among the things she's upset about," Mark agrees. "But I think eventually she'll be happy with us because my son and I want to make up for lost time and include her in our lives."
"That's a relief to hear. There was as much risk of her being rejected as there was of her biological father wanting custody. Regardless of how she's feeling now, I think in the long run this will be a positive new chapter in her life."
"We're going to do our best to make that happen. If you don't mind my asking, do you know why Aurie completely refuses to share Amalia's last known whereabouts?"
"Aurie speaks very little about her mother, but what I do know I can't reveal until your son gets legal recognition of his custodial rights from the Arizona courts."
"Which hopefully he'll get resolved during this trip. But from what I've gathered so far, there's some very bad history that I suspect includes physical and emotional abuse at least."
"I can't confirm or deny those suspicions, Mark, but I do strongly recommend getting her a good therapist. One she's likely to eventually trust."
"I figured that'd be necessary," Mark agrees with a wry smile. Becoming serious, he adds, "Because Aurie is very upset at all this, she intends to bide her time until she's eighteen when she can legally disappear from our lives forever."
"Honestly, it's not going to be easy. There's a lot in her history I don't know about, but I believe there are some very traumatic events she's trying to bury. I'm sure there's lasting damage. And despite her determination to push through it all, she's going to need a lot of patience and help."
"Then my son and I have got our work cut out for us to convince her she's family and can rely on us. And that's okay. She's worth the effort."
"I'm grateful that you've got such a healthy outlook. It will help," Luz replies. "Okay, it's obvious that missing her renewal deadline is a moot point. Would it be correct to assume that she'll be stopping in during this trip to withdraw from the program?"
"Yes," Mark confirms. "Steve intended to stop by with her tomorrow or Monday. He wanted to withdraw her from school first since it's almost the weekend."
"Honestly, it's more likely he's going to have to pay a visit to the courthouse first. I could be wrong, but he may have to get their acknowledgment of his custodial rights before the school district will let him withdraw her. The office at Ocotillo High School will let him know what he must do. I know that without that acknowledgment I couldn't release any information we have about her if he were to request it."
"And he was going to," Mark sighs wearily. "I'll let him know about that when he calls to check in."
"It'll make it more convenient for him. Well, thank you for talking to me, Mark. I appreciate the update."
"You're welcome, Luz. And thank you for the information you could give me so far."
"I'm sorry it wasn't much," Luz replies apologetically. "I'm going to encourage Aurie to keep in touch, but you're welcome to call me if you need to."
"I may do that. Take care."
"You too, goodbye."
Smiling, Mark hangs up the phone. Ellen wanders into the room, having come up from downstairs.
"The way you're smiling that must've been a really good conversation," she observes, perching on the edge of his desk again.
"It was," he nods. "That was Aurie's advisor at Youth on Their Own and she gave me some interesting insights."
Without further prompting he details his conversation for Ellen's benefit.
"That explains a lot and pretty much confirms a few suspicions," Ellen thoughtfully observes when he finishes.
"Yes," Mark nods. "I'll suggest to Steve when he calls in that he should contact Mishayla's friend and deal with the Arizona courts first. Then they can proceed from there. Anyways," he states while easing out of his chair. "If you're all set, I'm ready to take you to the airport."
"Ready," she confirms.
Escorting her out of the house, Mark drives her to LAX for her flight. After dropping her off, he heads in to work at Community General.
Going about his day, he focuses on catching up since he didn't come in the previous day. He deliberately ignores the furtive looks Jesse keeps throwing his way whenever they're in the ER together. However, neither Amanda nor Jesse is easily deterred. At their first opportunity, they jointly corner him when he takes a break.
"Are you going to stop torturing us and tell us what the results are?" Amanda asks, coming right to the point.
"Yeah, the suspense is killing us!" Jesse bemoans, joining Amanda in sitting at the table with Mark.
"Gee, what happened to asking if I enjoyed my day off?" Mark arches a brow. "You two are always encouraging me to take more time for myself."
"Except you didn't take yesterday off for some beneficial relaxation," Jesse protests. "You were choosing to be evil!"
"For once, I've got to agree with that," Amanda nods.
"And neither of you two think you didn't deserve it?" Mark challenges, watching their expressions turn guilty. "It's not as if either of you has apologized for making bets on our private business. Would either of you like to have others making bets if you were in our shoes?"
"Well, we planned on apologizing through our actions," Jesse scratches above his ear with a sheepish expression. "We wanted to throw a little party, especially since Aurie hasn't had much of a spring break. And it would be more meaningful if the results are positive for either you or Steve."
"But you're right, Mark, we should apologize," Amanda adds. "I shouldn't have gotten caught up in the frenzy and shouldn't have disrespected you, Aurie, and Steve. I'm sorry," she sincerely apologizes.
"Me too," Jesse agrees. "The whole situation is hard enough for you guys as it is, and we didn't need to be adding to that. You're right, we wouldn't like it if it happened to us."
"Apology accepted," Mark smiles warmly at his friends.
"Great," Jesse grins before his gaze intensifies. "This is strictly personal curiosity, but are you going to finally tell us the results?"
"Well, that party you're planning is going to be more meaningful after all because I'd like it to be a sort of homecoming for my new granddaughter."
Mark watches in amusement as Amanda and Jesse's brains jointly come to a screeching halt as they gape at him while processing his words.
"Wait a second, you mean…" Amanda hesitantly begins.
"That Steve is Aurie's father?" Jesse incredulously finishes.
"Their results were a 99.999% match," Mark confirms.
Jumping up from her chair to hug Mark, Amanda squeals in delight.
"Hey, congratulations!" Jesse grins, reaching out to shake Mark's hand when Amanda releases him.
"That is great news," Amanda smiles as she more calmly sits down again.
Sauntering through the door, Alex Martin enters the room on his break. Heading straight for the coffee pot he glances over at the trio.
"What's all the commotion about?" he asks, grabbing a cup to pour out some coffee. "Did you just tell them about Steve being a dad, Dr. Sloan?"
"I don't think I would've been able to finish the day if I hadn't, Alex," Mark grins.
"Wait a second, how did you know?" Amanda asks, looking suspiciously at the young blond resident.
Leaning against the counter, Alex grins and takes a sip of his cup first.
"Because Steve told me when he called and asked if I can cover his shifts at BBQ Bobs. Said he was going to be gone probably until Monday or Tuesday."
"Why would he tell you?" Jesse asks in annoyed incredulity. "And where is he going that requires such a long weekend?"
"He called me yesterday, asking if I knew about the betting pools over the paternity tests," Alex explains. "I said I did but didn't make any bets. I thought it was rude and disrespectful. And I don't gamble anymore either," he shrugs. "Then he explained why he needed me to cover for him. After congratulating him on becoming a dad, of course, I said yes and promised I wouldn't tell anyone."
"You knew all this time?" Amanda asks, outrage creeping into her voice.
"Oh, look at the time," Alex glances at his watch, trying hard to suppress a grin at Amanda and Jesse's outrage. "Gotta head back!"
Amused, Mark watches Amanda and Jesse glare after the young resident disappearing from the breakroom. Both turn and glower at Mark who throws up his hands defensively.
"Take it up with Steve."
"Well, can you please fill us in on the details?" Amanda sourly asks. "Like what happened? What's going to happen? Why is Steve MIA?"
Deciding not to risk his physical well-being further, Mark details everything that's happened since he saw them Tuesday.
"Holy cow, that's a lot," Jesse observes in amazement. "And are you serious she's only thirteen?"
"That's what her birth certificate says," Mark confirms.
"I would never have guessed," Amanda shakes her head. "I also feel bad for both Steve and Aurie. As great as it is she's his daughter, I'm sorry there's so much turbulence."
"I'm not surprised since Steve was so adamant he wasn't Aurie's father then it turns out to be true," Jesse points out. "Then there's the fact they got off to such a rocky start. And it sounds like Aurie's not happy about losing her independence on top of probably having a lot of bad things happen in her past."
"You're both right," Mark agrees. "Despite the situation being so complicated, we just have to be patient with Aurie."
"It goes without saying you're going to be a fantastic grandfather," Amanda grins, earning a pleased smile from Mark. "But I think Steve is going to be a great father."
"Well, he's learned from the best," Jesse smirks. "And Aurie's going to be a great addition to the family."
"I think so too," Mark agrees. "And thank you both." Rising to his feet, he adds, "On that note, let's get back to work."
Amanda and Jesse follow him out of the room without protest and return to their duties.