The first mediation session went as predicted. Badly. Rupert had turned up with his passel of high priced solicitors and promptly threw a tantrum when he discovered that Rebecca had refused to attend.
"And where might Randy Rebecca be?" he'd asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Ms Welton…" Georgina had started only to be interrupted by Rupert
"Mrs Mannion"
"Did you not receive the Deed, notifying you of Ms Welton's reversion to her maiden name?" she didn't give them time to respond as she knew without a doubt it had been part of the package she had sent over "Ms Welton is currently hesitant to be in the same room as Mr Mannion, her health and safety and that of the child she currently carries is her foremost consideration and we agreed that her presence can be excused while we work out the details."
Rupert scoffed "What danger, the only danger to Rebecca is herself. She really needs to lay off the gin…"
"And you have proof of that accusation Mr Mannion?" once again Georgina didn't allow for a response "My client has instructed me to offer the following agreement. Immediate termination of the marriage, we are able to provide evidence of Mr Mannion's infidelity, my client also requests Mr Mannion relinquish all parental rights to the child Ms Welton is currently pregnant with. In lieu of child support and alimony, Ms Welton is requesting all ownership shares of Association Football Club Richmond be turned over to her and 50% of Mr Mannion's current cash assets." Georgina sat back and studied the men in front of her "That is the only settlement I am authorised to agree to."
According to Georgina, Rupert had stood up so fast his chair had been thrown back into the wall and he'd stormed out of the room throwing a "there's no way I'm agreeing to anything that slag asks for"
With a smirk Georgina stood up from the table "Tell Mr Mannion that Ms Welton will go public with her evidence if he doesn't agree to her terms."
"George? Off the record, what's the real reason she isn't here?"
"The last time Rebecca was in a room with her soon to be ex husband he left her lying on the floor with 3 bruised ribs, broken fingers and a black eye and yes I have proof. Tell Rupert to take the deal!" She gathered the last of her papers and left the room.
The public attacks against her in the press had started the next day. The Sun was relentless, accusing her of being cold, of being an alcoholic, of having mental health issues. Everything was fair game.
Exactly as predicted.
Rebecca remained silent and hidden. She let her solicitor's handle everything with 'no comment'.
By the time they manage to organise the second mediation session, Rebecca is 24 weeks pregnant and is tempted to leave London all together but without the decree of divorce and all of her terms met she's hesitant. Her anxiety is a constant companion which has been pushing up her blood pressure which in turn is making her doctor's concerned.
They're happy with baby Welton's progress, Mum is a different story.
She wishes there was someone she could call, Rupert spent years isolating her from any support system. She wanted nothing to do with her parents and while she knew Sassy would pick up the phone and come running if she asked, she simply couldn't deal with the judgement she would get.
Or the gut wrenching terror that took over her every time she opened Sassy's contact on her phone.
Instead on the day of the second mediation, she sits alone in a silent flat and tries not to panic.
An hour after it's due to start, her phone pings with a message from Georgina
I'm on my way to you, be there in 30 minutes.
She didn't know what to think, surely if it was good news Georgina would have called.
She's caught in a spiral of panic, her hands shaking, sweat pooling and the unfounded knowledge that everything was going wrong… that Rupert had somehow managed to pull a rabbit from his arse and it was all going to blow up in her face…
Sitting on her couch, all she can see is his face looming over her in a snarl. Snapping that she would never be enough, that she wasn't good enough to be a mother, that she was a bad wife. If she'd been better, he wouldn't need to find company elsewhere, if she had organised the gala correctly he wouldn't have been so stressed out and angry and thrown the empty bottle at her.
If she'd been worthy, he might have been willing to have a child with her long before then.
If she'd been good enough he wouldn't have ordered her to have the pregnancy terminated.
She didn't even notice when the pounding behind her eyes started.
By the time Georgina arrived, Rebecca was barely able to focus enough to answer the buzzer and let her in.
The solicitor is immediately concerned and pushes Rebecca down onto the couch, before finding the kitchen and pouring a glass of water.
"Drink this" she wraps Rebecca's hands around the glass and forces it to dry lips. Once half of it is empty, Georgina places the glass on the table and gives Rebecca a moment to collect herself before speaking again.
"Rupert threw another tantrum when you weren't there again. Said he wouldn't agree to anything unless you said it to his face"
"We… we knew that that would happen, he's too controlling" Rebecca's voice wavered.
"I showed them the photos from the hospital and the video… told him if he doesn't agree to your terms immediately I put us on the docket to go before a judge and we let the courts decide."
"That wasn't the plan. We were going to let it go another round or two…"
"I know, but it took us so long to get them to agree to meet today and it occurred to me that he might be trying to waste time until the baby is born. I didn't want to risk you giving birth before we had everything sorted. He can't file for any sort of custody without a live birth. This way, it's all over and done with." Georgina reached into her bag and pulled out a sheaf of papers.
"We get these signed, I file them first thing in the morning and after that it's all down to me to make sure everything is finalised. Transfer of ownership is set to take place no more than 6 weeks after the end of the current season and he signed the termination of parental rights today."
With a shaking hand, Rebecca signed every place that Georgina pointed at.
Hours later, after the sun had set and Georgina had left, the headache had worsened.
Something was wrong…
Reaching out she grabbed her phone and unlocked it. Pulling up the contacts her blurry vision struggled to focus on any of the names.
Someone safe, who wouldn't ask questions or judge her, that list was painfully short at that moment and one of the two she was willing to call was out of the country.
Then a third name came into focus and her thumb was hitting the call button before she could think about it too hard.
"Who the fuck is this?" was the greeting growled at her when the phone was picked up on the other end.
"Roy?" she stuttered "I need help…"
Roy's eyes widened in surprise at the sound of Rupert Mannion's soon to be ex wife if the rumours and papers were to be believed.
"Where are you?"
She must have rattled off the address as before she could comprehend any sort of time passing the buzzer was ringing.
She managed to get herself upright enough to let him into the building and unlock the front door.
One look at her and he knew something was seriously wrong.
Her complexion was the colour of ash, she was sweating and most worryingly was the blood dripping out of her nose.
Within minutes he had her bundled up in warm comfortable clothes, tissue pressed to her nose and settled into the passenger seat of his car and was calling his sister.
"Can you meet me at the A&E ?" he knew she wasn't on shift "A friend needs help and I am not fucking qualified to hold her fucking hand through this…"
Beth O'Sullivan was taken aback by her brother's request. Roy had never asked her for help before. She didn't even know he had friends he would be willing to help, let alone willing to come to her for.
"I'll need to bring Phoebe…" she doesn't want to turn Roy down but she also couldn't leave her 5 year old alone.
"I'll sit with the little twit while you do your thing" he hung up the call without letting her respond or turn him down.
A glance to the right showed Rebecca slumped against the door, eyes closed one hand pressed against her belly the other holding the tissue against her bloody nose telling him she was probably still awake.
When he finally pulled into Richmond Hospital, Beth was waiting at the door with a sleeping Phoebe in her arms. Quickly shoving the little girl in the back seat she ran around to check on Roy's 'friend'.
The absolute last thing she expected to see was a distressed pregnant woman.
"Don't know why the fuck she called me and not a fucking ambulance." he commented as he watched Beth load Rebecca into a wheelchair.
"Go park and bring Phoebe to the waiting room, I'll get her checked in."
Rebecca was vaguely aware of what was happening around her. The unfamiliar but strong and comforting voices giving her instructions that she followed.
Letting a nurse help her out of the wheelchair and onto a bed, the soft hoodie being unzipped and pushed off her shoulders before she was encouraged to lie back.
She answers their questions dully and tries to stay awake but all she wants to do is sleep.
"Rebecca?" The woman who had met them at the car was trying to get her to focus.
"Yeah…" she manages to slur out.
"We need to know if you're having any contractions or pain."
"Headache…" she mumbles, clenching her eyes closed against the bright light "dizzy, can't focus… baby is kicking, no cramps"
"Ok, I'm going to take your blood pressure and get you on an IV… I just need to know who your OB is and then you can rest and we'll look after you." Beth gently stroked Rebecca's hair back from her forehead.
"Phone" she held out a hand and unlocked the device once she had it and the handed it back to Beth "Doctor Croner"
A sharp prick to the back of her left hand was felt at the same time as the blood pressure cuff was slid up her right. She keeps her eyes closed through it all, even the unhappy sound at the reading they get.
"Rebecca, your BP is bordering on dangerous for you and the baby. We're going to get you some aspirin and a nice quiet place to rest and try to bring it down."
Rebecca nods and starts to drift away, just wanting to sleep.
When she wakes, she has no idea how much time has passed. What she does know is the headache has finally abated and she is no longer feeling cold and clammy.
Running a hand over her belly, she feel's the wiggles that had become commonplace and quite comforting over the last few weeks.
Cracking her eyes open, she was relieved that the light wasn't as painful as it had been and in the corner sat Roy Kent with a little blonde girl curled up in his lap, both of them fast asleep.
By her side, she could just see the call button, reaching out she tapped it to call for a nurse. Mere seconds later an older woman appeared with a soft smile.
"Hey Luv, how are you feeling?"
"Much better, thank you… dare I ask what happened? I vaguely recall something about my blood pressure."
"The Doctor will be in to explain soon, but yeah that's what happened."
Rebecca nodded, her OB had warned her. She'd done everything she could but the events of the day had simply been to much "I signed my divorce papers this afternoon… and why the fuck I just admitted that to a total stranger I have no idea."
"No problem luv, I've heard it all and divorce is definitely a good reason for your BP to spike."
She's left alone again after a trip to the loo but it isn't long before Roy starts to stir. She gives him a moment to wake up properly and see she is awake as well before speaking.
"Thank you"
"You scared the shit outta me. Next time fucking call me before it gets that fucking bad."
"I hope it'll never get that bad again… it was a fucking stressful day."
"What did the twat do now?"
Several hours later Rebecca is settled in a private room for a 48 hour stay, when she'd hesitated over who could bring her some things from home the Kent siblings had stepped up and had gone to her flat and packed up a bag for her.
Over the next two days Beth O'Sullivan is a regular visitor, Rebecca learns more about Roy during those chat's than she ever expected and his attitude towards her starts to make a lot more sense. After seeing his sister go through a messy divorce the year before and become a single mum when Phoebe's dad dropped off the face of the earth when he didn't get his way, Roy had become insanely protective of his sister and part time caregiver to his niece.
Rebecca finds herself with her first new friend in years.
It's a quiet friendship, Beth is a single mum with a very demanding job so it's more texting than anything else but still.
She's a friend and for some reason that scares the shit out of Rebecca.
Once she's out of hospital, Rebecca finally feels as though she can breathe for the first time in over a decade. Free of her marriage, the future is looking better than it has in a long time.
A part of her wants to stay in the safe little flat that Emily found, another part knows that she needs to start putting her life back together. She'll have a baby in less than 3 months and a football club to run by July. Knowing Rupert he will find the most inconvenient time possible to hand over the club just to fuck with her.
She starts looking for a house.
Rebecca has a fairly good idea of what she wants so when she speaks with the Real Estate broker the list is fairly specific.
No more than 15 minutes from the club
3 bedrooms minimum
Fully enclosed from the street
A garden
Fully upgraded and renovated
She'll take care of installing the security system, on second thought maybe that's something Emily can help her with.
With the amount of money she's willing to spend, the broker has a list of properties for her to view within days and after a short search and a few very private viewings she's making an offer on a town home just off Richmond Green.
The chances of the purchase going through before the baby is born is miniscule, but she doesn't care. She's safe where she is and the two of them will be fine there until they can safely move in.
Her possessions from her home with Rupert are all in storage thanks to Emily, Rebecca didn't ask how the other woman managed to get into the house and get all of her things out. Much of the furniture will need to be purchased and the baby will be in her room until it's sleeping through the night so a nursery won't be critical.
She'll just pay people whatever needs to be paid in order to get everything that needs to be done, done.
Her anxiety starts to rise again throughout March and along with it her blood pressure, resulting in another hospital stay just as Emily arrives back in the UK.
She's sitting up in the hospital bed, shopping online for things for the new house when the brunette sticks her head into the room.
"Lauren!"
That day in the flat, as they started to plan Rebecca's next moves, Emily had been insistent that Rebecca still call her Lauren.
It hadn't been hard, she'd always called her Lauren.
"Hey you! Giving the Doctor fits again?"
"Apparently…" she drops her tablet on the bed beside her as Emily pulls up a chair. "They're worried enough to start talking about scheduling a caesarean."
Emily grimaced "Let's put that away for later… in the meantime, catch me up"
By the time visiting hours are over, Rebecca has managed to catch Emily up on the last few months.
She knows very little about what is happening on Emily's end, only that she went back to the US to wrap up a few things and now she will be in London for the next 6 months to manage something to do with the investigation. She needed to be back in DC by September.
For her part, Emily was exhausted. She'd been pulling double duty since returning to DC, attending cases with the team and getting Ashley ready to work with the BAU full time, while working with Clyde to update the profile on Mannion and start planning to get the right people into the right places.
She was still working through the available assets, as well as getting to know the assets that were already in place.
What really worried her was what they would find once they got full access to Richmond's books and people. She had no doubt that Mannion was working as hard as he could to get rid of any and all evidence but no one was that good and once Rebecca had full access and gave it to them she was positive that they would find something.
Emily just hoped it was only Richmond and not endemic to the league because that was their nightmare scenario.
The press is still printing the occasional story about the divorce, they've managed to keep the terms private for now but she knows it is just a matter of time before it leaks.
The weeks pass quietly for Rebecca. She spends her time preparing for the house and the baby and for taking over Richmond. She had been a very good student at school and university so studying up on employment law and business management hadn't been difficult and had provided a good distraction.
Worryingly her blood pressure continues to hover just short of dangerous and she finally agrees to be induced at 37 weeks.
Adeline Emily Welton is born on the 15th May.
Despite her medical team's worries, the c-section they had been threatening her with for the last two months wasn't required and now she sits in the hospital room alone with her daughter for the first time.
The child she'd longed for was finally here.
And she still couldn't bring herself to call her parents.
Not that they'd reached out to her either despite the separation and divorce being plastered all over the papers. None of her friends from before her marriage to Rupert had reached out, not even Sassy.
Rebecca didn't care, fuck them all. She had Adeline, she had Emily and Beth and Roy and Phoebe.
Roy who had made it his personal mission to ensure she was ok and took her to join his yoga class to meet the yoga mums who had no idea who either of them were. Beth who had been by her side the whole time, holding her hand as she struggled through labour. Emily and her never ending ability to see a way through whatever roadblock appeared at any given time.
She had a daughter.
And a lot of fucking work to do.
The first thing was filling out the birth certificate. Her pen hovered momentarily over the line where the father's name was supposed to go as her eyes strayed to the baby resting on her chest. With barely any thought and absolutely no regrets she left the field blank.
The last matches of the season were due to be played that weekend, which gave Rupert 6 weeks to hand over the club. She doesn't believe it should take the full 6 weeks as he's already had 3 months to prepare. Richmond aren't even in the playoffs, in fact they've only just managed to stay out of relegation with a 15th place finish.
She doesn't think it'll take much to tip them over the edge throughout the next season.
Rebecca puts all of that to the back of her mind when she is released from hospital 48 hours after Addy's birth.
She is a little surprised that she'd managed to keep all of this a secret. There are no photographers or journalists waiting outside. Nothing is in the blogs or in the papers. It's a relief, she can focus wholly and solely on the baby.
When Beth rings the buzzer three days later, it's to find both Rebecca and Addy in tears.
It's easy to see more than anything Rebecca needs sleep and Addy is feeding off her mothers stress and anxiety. Having been there herself, Beth gently bullies her friend into a shower and then into bed for a few hours of uninterrupted sleep.
By the time Addy is 3 weeks old, they've settled into a tentative routine, it's also when Georgina calls to let her know Rupert has finished the ownership transfer to her. Almost exactly when she was initially due to give birth.
Arsehole.
Rebecca rolls her eyes and thanks the solicitor before pulling out her laptop. It takes her a few minutes to work out a comfortable way to hold Addy while navigating Richmond's intranet.
Of course Rupert had fucked her over and sent a club wide email just before he was locked out of the system. It was rude, demeaning and was designed to scare the shit out of all the staff.
Then George fucking Cartrick had to reply all which started off a chain of other reply all's including people asking people to stop replying all.
"What a fucking farce…" she mutters under her breath as she sets up a rule to move all the emails in the chain to a folder for her to go through later.
Deciding to try and get on the front foot she drafts up her own club wide email to send.
Sensibly, before sending it she spends some time googling and teaching herself how to send an email that doesn't let people reply all to.
To my Richmond Family,
As you are all now aware, I have taken over full ownership and management of AFC Richmond.
As with any change in leadership, there will be a period of uncertainty around the direction that the club will be taking. Please allow me to reassure you that I do not plan on making any immediate changes.
During the off-season I will be spending my time better getting to know this wonderful club and the people that make it special.
I will be studying what is working and what needs improvement.
Change is good and change can be necessary and inevitable, but please know I will not be making changes for the sake of making changes. Instead I will be working towards the betterment of AFC Richmond as a whole.
Over the coming weeks and months, can I encourage you to continue performing your roles and duties as you always have. With honesty, hard work and integrity.
Kindest Regards,
Rebecca Welton
Owner AFC Richmond
The next email she sends out is to the heads of all departments giving them 48 hours to send her a full report on their current status. Staffing levels, projects, budgets, anything that they and their teams are working on.
The third email is to the IT team to verify that she has full access to all the club's archived information and for confirmation that Rupert has had all of his access terminated.
The baby sling is a godsend once the reports and replies start coming in. She can comfortably work without putting Addy down, she'd discovered early on that the two of them were happier and more relaxed when close.
2 days after the final handover of the club, her purchase of the house is finally complete and the real estate agent drops the keys off with her solicitor.
"Fuck me…"
Fortunately she has a fabulous interior designer, to whom the keys are immediately handed over to so once the house is ready all she has to do is move the few things she has at the flat.
Emily had also come through with a security company that would be turning her house into a metaphorical vault. A safe place for her and Addy.
She spends her days working through the reports coming in from the staff, forwarding everything to Emily's team.
It takes her time to see the pattern in the rounding down of numbers and once she's found the pattern, she can follow it through all of the books since Rupert took over ownership. She flags it and forwards it on and then notes the people involved. They'll be the first she starts to look into.
In between wrapping her head around the business that is a premier league football team she's looking for a nanny.
Once again Emily had been a godsend, helping her vet applicants and making sure no one is slipped in by Rupert. Neither of them would put it past him to try and plant someone, it's something they'll be watching out for, any new hires at the club or new people in Rebecca's personal life.
END CHAPTER 3
