Chapter 50- Relationship Shake-ups

Esme carried Ace into the kitchen and found Felicia making breakfast.

"Good morning," Felicia said. "How did you and Ace sleep?"

"Fine." Esme put Ace in the highchair and sat down. "Should you be…?"

"Oh, well Mac had to go to the station early today," Felicia explained. "And it's been almost a week. So, a little light cooking should be fine for me. It's good for me to keep moving. Bending over to get the pot was the hardest. But anyway, Robin thought I could try Georgie on some oatmeal today. I hope you like porridge?"

Esme nodded.

"I wanted to talk to you about a few things. I looked up Mount Hebron Church where you have to do your community service," Felicia said. "Their soup kitchen is Tuesday and Thursday evenings. It's on Charles Street and it's right by PCU. You mentioned wanting to go back to school, so that could be perfect for you. You could go right after class and I can pick you up right after."

"But I can't afford college or even childcare…."

"Don't worry about that. I'd be happy to pay for your tuition. And between mine and Mac's schedules, we can take turns watching Ace. We already do that with Bailey Lou, so he'll have her to play with. And some days we have Little Georgie and James after school too. Unless you'd prefer Ace to go to daycare."

"If Maxie's okay with it, I'd like him to be with you," Esme said.

"She'll be fine with it. She promised to treat you better," Felicia said. "Now, before you apply at PCU, I really suggest that you shadow me at work first to get a feel for it. P.I. work can be very challenging. And I want to make sure you actually enjoy it. I don't want you to do it because of me. I want you to do something that you love."

"I want to do it."

"Okay. Well, it's still good to test the waters and build some experience. I don't take on as many case loads as I used to. But to start, I think I'll show you some office work at Spinelli's. I don't want to take you on anything dangerous. At least not now." Felicia dished out the porridge into bowls, then sat at the table. "Also, I'd like to call the hospital today to set up an appointment for you. I wondered if you'd feel more comfortable if you have a female therapist."

Esme's cheeks went pink.

"I don't know if you've met Lainey Winters, but she is very kind and I thought she might be a good choice for you," Felicia said. "Or there's also Carolyn Webber."

"Can't I just double my community service hours instead?"

"No, sweetheart." Felicia held her hand. "This was part of the court order. But even if the judge didn't mandate it, I would still encourage you to go. You have been through so much. It's not fair for you to have to continue to carry all of this on your shoulders. A therapist can help you sort through everything in a safe environment. But I'm always here too to talk about anything."

"Well… wh-why do you just assume I'd be more comfortable with a female?" Esme asked.

"I just thought because of some of the things you went through and need to talk about… but it can be a man if you prefer."

Esme shook her head and pulled her hand away. "No… no…. I just don't like that you assumed…."

"I'm sorry," Felicia said. "I shouldn't have assumed. We can look at the list on the website and you can choose who you'd like the best."

"Okay…."

"I also wanted to ask about Ace's birthday," Felicia said. "But maybe we can talk about that later. I'm sorry if I overwhelmed you again."

Esme sat up straighter and smiled. "I invited Emma and Noah. But I don't even know what we're doing for Ace's birthday."

"Aww, I'm glad that you and Emma are getting along well," Felicia said.

"But maybe she'll change her mind…."

"I doubt she will. What would you like to do for Ace's birthday? Something small or bigger?"

Esme shrugged. "I don't know. But I want his first birthday to be special."

Felicia pulled out a paper and pen and started writing a list. "So, you, me, Mac, and Ace for sure, and you invited Emma and Noah. Is there anyone else you'd like to invite?"

"Um… Cody and Robin can come. And I guess Georgie," Esme said.

"Okay…. Esme, can we invite Maxie and the kids? Then Ace's cousins can be there."

"I thought you were going to call me Frankie…" Esme said. "James and Bailey can come, but I don't want to see Maxie."

Felicia smiled a little. "I'm sorry, Frankie. I know that Maxie really hurt you and I'm still angry at her for it, but she's really remorseful and knows she was wrong. She promised to be kinder to you. I don't think we should invite everyone else and exclude Maxie and Little Georgie. They're part of our family too. Unless we leave out Cody, Georgie, and Robin too. Just invite Emma and all the kids."

Esme paused in thought. "If you want Maxie there you can invite her. But I don't want to talk to her."

Felicia nodded and wrote their names down. "Okay. Is there anyone else? What about Laura?"

"I don't want Kevin or Spence there."

"I understand. But I know Laura loves Ace very much and he loves her too. And I think you care about Laura too."

"You're assuming things about me again…."

"I'm sorry," Felicia said. "We don't have to invite her if you don't want to."

Esme swallowed hard. "I do like Laura. As long as she doesn't bring Kevin or Spence she can come."

Felicia smiled. "Good. Are you okay with it being that large of a group, though? Or would it be better just to invite Laura, Emma, and the kids?"

"For Ace, yes it's fine."

"Okay. I'll call everyone."

"Can you drop me and Ace off at the Metro Court pool?" Esme asked. "If you're allowed to drive now…."

Felicia sighed. "I would love to go with you, but I can't leave Georgie for that long and it's too soon for me to be in a pool. And I'd worry about you and Ace on your own right now because Dex is still on the loose. But I don't want you to be house bound either. Maybe Emma and Noah can go with you, at least?"

"If she's available…."

"Why don't you give her a call?"

"Okay."

GHGHGH

Carly leaned over the toilet seat and heard a knock. She held her hair back and vomited. Once she was finished, she flushed and rinsed before going to the front door.

"Hi Carly." It was Drew. "We need to talk."

Carly nodded. "I think we do. Come in."

Drew walked in and sat on the couch with her. "Are you okay? You look… tired."

"It's Sam. She's stressing me out." She started crying and waved her face with her hand. "And I won't be able to handle it if you take her side."

He sighed. "Carly… I am on Scout's side. She's been having nightmares all week since Donna and Avery locked her in that closet. Now Sam wants to move her to another school. I came to find out what you're doing about Donna and Avery's behaviour towards Scout."

Carly shook her head. "I can't believe you're taking Sam's side…."

"If this doesn't end, then I'm going to have to break up with you. We can't keep seeing each other if they're going to continue to bully my daughter. She's going to rightly not want to see me when we're together. So, what are you going to do about it?"

"Excuse me? Nobody threatens me like that and gets away with it. If you're going to speak to me this way for now on, then you can just leave." She pointed to the door.

"Okay. I'm sorry it's ending this way. But I have to put my daughter first." He got up and left.

GHGHGH

Josslyn walked into Bobbie's and saw Cameron sitting at the counter. She smiled and walked over to him. "Hey, Cam."

"Oh, hey Joss." He sipped on his cappuccino.

"What'cha up to today?"

"Jake and I are headed to the Metro Court pool," Cam said. "He's just in the bathroom."

"Oh man. I told Mom I'd work this morning for her because she's under the weather. Otherwise, I'd join you." She squeezed his bicep. "But I'll be free for dinner."

He glanced at her hand. "Joss… what are you doing?"

"I've just missed you."

"You pretty much just asked me out. And you literally just found out that Dex filmed us. I'm not going to be your rebound, Josslyn. Especially since you cheated on me with Dex."

"You're not a rebound, Cameron," Josslyn said. "I'm trying to move forward after Dex hurt me."

"I'm sorry that he hurt you. But you need to grieve your relationship with him before moving on to someone else."

"Ready, Cam?" Jake came out of the bathroom.

"Yep." Cam gulped down the last of his cappuccino. "I'll see you around, Joss." He left with Jake.

"You're wrong, Cam…." She turned to the counter. "Judy, I won't be able to work this morning after all. I'm going swimming."

GHGHGH

"Hi Felicia," Laura said into the phone. Kevin and Spencer glanced up at her from the breakfast table. "How are Esme and Ace?"

"They're fine."

"And how are you feeling?"

"Much better," Felicia said. "I'm calling because Esme and I would like to invite you to Ace's birthday party tomorrow."

Laura's face lit up. "Oh Felicia, I would love to be at Ace's birthday party. I can't believe he's one already."

"Wonderful. I really want to encourage Esme to keep a good relationship with you. Both for Ace's sake and for her own too. She doesn't have a lot of people and you've been really good to her. I don't want her to lose that. And I'm also hoping it'll keep the door open down the road once she's healed a bit so she can have a relationship with Kevin if she chooses."

"I agree and I know Kevin wants that too," Laura said.

"But right now it's hard for her to see him. So, she's requested that you only come if you don't bring Kevin and of course Spencer with you."

Laura sighed. "I understand. But I will be happy to be there. Would it be all right if I brought some of my grandchildren with me so they can see Ace?"

"I think that would be fine. Just not Spencer. And as long as they don't pressure Esme about Spencer. It'll be at our house tomorrow at 4:00pm. We're ordering pizza."

"That sounds great. Thank you, Felicia. I'll see you then." She hung up.

"Well?" Spencer asked. "Are we invited to Ace's birthday?"

"I am," Laura said. "But they've requested that you and Kevin don't come."

Spencer groaned. "I need to be at my little brother's birthday party."

"Spencer, I think this is a good thing," Kevin said. "If your grandmother can remain part of Ace's life, she might be able to pave the way for us eventually. Once Esme is ready."

"Once Esme is ready?" Spencer asked. "What about what Ace needs?"

"Ace is safe and well-taken care of," Laura said. "But if you continue to push your way in like you have been, then you will never have a place in his life. You need to trust me on this, Spencer. You need to keep your distance and honour the restraining order."

"He is my brother and I need to be there," Spencer said.

"Don't you dare show up there," Laura said firmly. "You do and they will call the police on you. And that will only upset Ace."

Spencer shook his head. "This is ludicrous. Esme never should've left us. We were doing just fine when I was helping her raise him. He was happy and surrounded by people who love him."

"We've been over this," Laura said. "You are not his father. You chose to be with Trina. And I think that's wonderful. You love her. If you were with Esme, then you'd be Ace's father and would have rights to him. But you're not with Esme, you're with Trina. So, you need to back off and let me handle this. Then maybe you can have a place in his life as his big brother. Not as his father."

Spencer nodded. "You're right. I did choose Trina. But I think I made a mistake, because Ace needs me."

"Spencer…."

"Excuse me, Grandmother and Kevin. I need to go break up with Trina."