Written by: "Just a Complicated Person", Edited by: "Fun But Shy Girl"
Ramona was sitting in a bedroom reading a book when Jackson opened the door to the bedroom with a blank expression on his face. Ramona seeing Jackson said, "Jackson. Hey. How is Lola? Is she gonna be okay?" Without looking at her directly in the eye, Jackson said, "No. She was really banged up in a car crash and has been dealing with internal bleeding and... she can talk and everything right now but... there's no guarantee she's gonna make it." As Jackson sat on the bed next to Ramona, Ramona said, "That's awful." Jackson then had a hard time making eye contact with Ramona s he said, "But... there's more. The reason why Lola called to see me was... she had to ask me to do something important for her." A confused looking Ramona said, "What would that be?" Jackson then closed his eyes as he said, "To... take care of our daughter."
Ramona suddenly had a look of pain go across her face for a split second, and then in a somewhat panicked and angry tone she said, "What!?" Jackson then looked at Ramona with pain in his eyes as he said, "Ramona, I... I didn't know. I swear. I just found out today but... when me and Lola did... you know... that one time five years ago... she actually got pregnant... with a little girl. She didn't tell me I swear. I only just learned that she's been raising that little girl by herself since then." Ramona then got up and with a furiously angry face she said, "How dare she! What was she thinking!? Was she so delusional that you belonged with her that she decided to keep around a little reminder of that affair!? Jackson continued to have a painful look in his eyes as he said, "Ramona, she didn't have to keep that child. In fact she told me by doing so, her family disowned her. Her parents are huge believers in not having kids before marriage so Lola had to move in with her grandmother... who unfortunately died not long ago." A still angry looking Ramona said, "That might sound sad and all but it's really just sick. How do we know this isn't part of some twisted plan to lure you in and get back together with her? This is just wrong."
Jackson then stood up as he said, "Ramona, Lola is sorry for what she did. She told me . But her daughter... my daughter... needs someone to take care of her. Which is why... Lola wants me, or rather: wants us to take care of her." With an even more upset tone Ramona said, "No. Never. No, I will not. I will not house some little tyke that was the product of Lola seducing you. Is that her real master plan? Make me raise a daughter she conceived with you just to remind me for the rest of my life she once had your penis in her vagina?" Jackson had a sad look in his eyes as he said, "Ramona, I... I can't ask you to do what you don't want to do. If we're gonna be married, I want us both united and on the same page. So if you don't want us to take in Lola's daughter, we won't." Ramona looking a bit more calm now said, "Well... good." Jackson then sighed for a moment, and then said, "But... Lola did say she wanted to talk to you." With an upset face again Ramona said, "Oh, she does?" Jackson then quickly said "Ramona, Lola could be dying. Doesn't she deserve one last chance to talk to you?" Ramona looking hesitant then said, "I... I... okay. Fine."
Lola was laying in a hospital bed looking weaker than she did before as Ramona slowly walked in. Upon seeing Ramona walk in, a tired sounding Lola said, "Hey." Ramona looking a bit uncomfortable being in the room, made a small wave and said, "Hey." Lola then simply said, "It's been awhile." Ramona briefly lifted up her eyebrows as she said, "It has." Lola then made a little smile as she said, "You look great. Even more beautiful than I remember." Ramona then stepped forward as she said, "Thanks. I... I... Oh God, I can't do this." Ramona began to turn away but then Lola called out, "Wait! Ramona. I'm sorry!" Ramona then turned to look at Lola, and with an angry face said, "You're sorry? You... you single handily almost killed the greatest relationship of my life. Jackson may have made a serious mistake, but it takes two to tango. When it gets down to it, you tried to seduce my boyfriend knowing me and him were a couple at that point, and attempted to destroy our future together." Tears began to come out of Lola's eyes as she said, "I know Ramona... and I've had to confess and live with that fact for the last five years. I know I hurt you and Jackson's relationship... and it hurt me because you both were important to me. That's why I didn't tell Jackson I was really pregnant because..." Ramona then with an even more upset tone said, "Because you still loved him!? Because you wanted him to live the happy fatherless life and make things easy for the guy you were still fantasizing about every night?" With tears streaming for her eyes Lola said, "No! I didn't tell him because I loved you !"
A suddenly shocked looking Ramona said, "What?" A sad looking Lola then said, "You were my best friend Ramona... and I loved you... more than just a friend. I know that one time we had sex, I shrugged it off as just a silly girl experimenting... but the the truth is I was seriously attracted to you, and it hurt that you didn't seem to be seriously attracted to girls. I kept waiting for you to finally come out, so I could do it with you... but you never did. So I thought if I back tracked to the first boy I ever had sex with, I could reset my mind to be straight again. But... when I realized I was pregnant, all I could think about was how what I did was going to upset you . I knew exactly how mad it was going to make you when you found out. So I didn't tell Jackson I was pregnant so he wouldn't have any reason to be around me anymore. I wanted him to be completely free to build his relationship with you. Not to make him happy, but to make you happy; because you chose him . And even if it hurt me, I wanted you to have the happiest life with the person you wanted to be most with." Ramona looking incredibly caught off guard said, "I... Lola, I..." Lola then turned her head away as she said, "You don't have to forgive me Ramona. I've never expected it. And I'm sorry again for what I'm trying to ask you and Jackson to do. But... please know everything that I've tried to do over the last five years was an attempt to make your life better. I am so sorry Ramona. I am so sorry." Lola then turned her head away as more tears than ever came from her eyes as she began to sob loudly. Ramona with a painful look in her eyes, turned away. Tears were now coming from her eyes as well as Ramona walked out of the room.
In the hospital hallway Ramona was pacing back and forth with a frustrated and confused look on her face. Suddenly Ramona stopped pacing when she heard Jackson's voice say, "Ramona?" Ramona turned her head and saw Jackson walking towards her. Ramona looking into her fiance's eyes said, "Jackson, I..." Jackson then held Ramona's hands as he said, "Look. I'm sorry I didn't discuss it you with but... she has nowhere to go so I promised we'd take her home just for the night. Please... we have to." Ramona had a shocked look on her face as she said, "Wait, you mean..." Jackson then turned his head away and said, "It's okay. You can come over." Then suddenly walking around the corner was a timid little girl. Ramona's face began to look more confused and a little pale as she looked at the little girl slowly walking towards her. She had the face of a half Asian girl with long black hair, black eyes, and a small round chin. She was slightly below the average height for someone her age as she nervously came towards both Jackson and Ramona. As the little girl held onto his leg, Jackson said, "Ramona... this is Tien. Tien, this is my fiance Ramona." The little girl Tien made a little wave and a soft, innocent, but still somewhat nervous voice she said, "Hi. You're really pretty." Tears began to come out of Ramona's eyes as she took a deep breath... and then made a tiny smile as she said, "Thanks. You're pretty too."
Two days later in the evening: Ramona was in the kitchen of her new home washing dishes with a wet rag when suddenly young Tien walked over to Ramona, stood on a stool and began to immediately start washing dishes with Ramona. A surprised looking Ramona said, "Tien, what are you doing?" Tien looked at Ramona from just the corner of her eyes as she said, "You're letting me stay here with you. I just want to be nice to you because you're being nice to me." Then from nearby Jackson walked into the room and said, "How you two doing?" Tien looked at Jackson said, "I'm helping with washing dishes." Jackson then made a little smirk as he said, "It's so nice to see your mom taught you to be responsible. But you better get to bed. You are starting at your new school tomorrow." Tien then began to walk out of the room while with slightly looking confused face she said, "Okay. Good night, um... dad?" Jackson made a small smile and said, "You can call me whatever you want for now." Tien nodded and then walked out of the room while Ramona remained still. Jackson then went over to Ramona as he said, "You okay?" Ramona then looked right at Jackson as she said, "Yes. Yeah, I'll be okay." Jackson looked a bit nervous as he asked, "You still cool with Tien living here?" Ramona nodded and said, "Yeah. Having your daughter here... may not be so bad." Jackson made a little smile as he said, "Glad you're so understanding... because I'm about to go next door and do the hardest part of all of this." A confused looking Ramona asked, "What do you mean?" Jackson then simply said, "I'm about to talk to my mom."
Jackson sat in the living room of his mom's house facing his mother DJ. DJ had a stunned and shocked look on her face as she starred at Jackson. Jackson who was looking very worried said, "Mom... please... say something." DJ looked almost lost for words as she slowly said, "I... I just... I just can't believe that you would..." Jackson then quickly said, "Mom, it was five years ago. I'm a different person now." DJ then raised one eyebrow as she said, "Are you? You were lying to me about having sex with Ramona behind our backs! Now, I found out you were sleeping with Lola too!" Jackson looked a bit ashamed as he said, "I never lied to you mom. I just... left out details. Again, I didn't know Lola was pregnant. I didn't know I had a daughter until four days ago. We only just finalized her moving into our place today." DJ tilted her head down as she said, "Yeah, I get that. I'm just... disappointed that..." Jackson then quickly said, "Look, I know you're upset with me but I'm doing everything I can to make this work. Me and Ramona will continue working with our new jobs. We've already got Tien set up in a private school with a before and after care program already paid for through a trust fund set up by Lola's grandmother. And we're both planning to..." DJ then held a hand up as she said, "Jackson, stop. You didn't let me finish. I am upset at you. But what I'm most disappointed about is..." Suddenly tears began to come out of DJ's eyes as Jackson said, "Mom, are you okay?" The tears continued to come out of DJ's eyes as she said, "No. What I'm most disappointed about is... why you didn't introduce me to Tien as soon as you knew about her? Jackson... how could keep me away from meeting my first grandchild?" Jackson then made a small smile as DJ smiled back. Jackson and DJ then got up and hugged the other as DJ said, "Jackson, I wish you had made better choices in the past. But I know you're starting to make all the right ones now. And for that, I'm proud of you." A few tears then began to appear in Jackson's eyes as he said, "Thanks mom."
Ramona sat with Tien in a small bed holding out a book out as she said, "And so the little train realized the tunnel wasn't as scary as he thought it be and made it home. The end." Ramona put the book down and said, "Did you like the story?" Tien nodded her head, and then said, "Yeah. I miss my mom reading stories to me though. How much longer is she gonna be in the hospital?" Ramona had a sad look in her eyes as she said, "I don't know Tien. But again, we'll visit her after your first day at your new school tomorrow, okay?" Tien looking a little sad said, "Okay." Ramona made a short sigh and then picked up Tien and put her in her lap. Ramona then looked right into Tien's eyes and said, "Tien, I know this is hard for you. But first, I want you to know you've been such a brave girl since you've moved in. I remember when I first moved away from my first home, all I could do was complain. But you've been a very good girl so far." Tien then looked nervous as she said, "I just don't want you to be mad at me and leave me." Tears began to appear in Ramona's eyes as she held Tien up a bit and then hugged her. As Ramona held Tien tightly, she said, "Tien... I'm not your mother. But... I promise you I will try to love you as much as she did. Because you are a beautiful, kind, sweet, and amazing young lady that deserves to be loved. Okay?" Tien nodded and said, "Okay." Ramona then gently put Tien into the bed and tucked her in as she said, "Good night Tien." Tien made a small smile and said, "Good night Ramona." Ramona then kissed Tien on the forehead and said, "Sleep tight." Ramona then walked out of the room and gently closed the door. From nearby Jackson walked over to Ramona. Ramona seeing Jackson said, "How did everything go?" Jackson then simply said, "Lets just say... I love my family. How about you and Tien?" Ramona then simply said, "Lets just say... I love our family." Jackson looked a bit confused as he said, "Wait. Our family? So you still aren't..." Ramona then suddenly kissed Jackson on the lips for a moment, and then said, "I am so sorry Jackson that I ever had any ill thought towards Tien. I don't care how she was born anymore. Every time I look at her eyes and see her move... it's like she has a part of you in her. How can I hate something that comes from you? Can you ever forgive me?" Jackson then hugged Ramona and said, "Of course I forgive you Ramona. It's me and you forever, remember?" Ramona began to cry a bit more as she said, "I'm gonna love you forever Jackson Fuller." The two simply remained hugging each other for several more minutes as the night went on.
TO BE CONTINUED...