Written by: "Just a Complicated Person", Edited by: "Fun But Shy Girl"

*Five Years Later...

In a middle school office, Ramona stepped inside wearing a large winter coat. After Ramona shook a little snow that was on her winter hat she was wearing, she looked at the woman at the front desk and said, "Hello. My name is Ramona Fuller. I'm here to pickup my grand-daughter: Lee Fuller." The woman at the front desk said, "She'll be out of the nurses office in a minute. I'm assuming you'll obviously share with Lee's mother the same information we shared with you over the phone." Ramona then said, "Yes. My daughter Tien, Lee's mother, is very sorry she couldn't pick up when you first called. But we promise Lee will be disciplined." Then from a nearby door, Lee stepped out. Ramona looked right at Lee with a disappointed look.

A little bit later Ramona was driving her car with Lee sitting next to her. Looking disappointed Ramona said, "Well you get better get your story straight right now young lady. Because you know your mother is going to be more furious than me when she gets home from work." Lee who looked both disappointed and frustrated said, "It's just... this girl Stacy kept saying all these mean things about me. And everyone was laughing with her. She was making everybody at lunch think I was an idiot." Ramona tried to sound a bit sympathetic as she said, "Lee, we've talked about this. You can't let other people control your feelings." Lee then began to sound more frustrated as she said, "Well maybe you'd feel differently if you heard what she said." Ramona then quickly said, "Lee, I don't need to know what she said. You should never have a reason at school to punch somebody and..." Lee then interrupted Ramona and said, "She said no boy would ask me to the school dance because I'm some witch with an aura that makes all boys and men run away from me, including my dad!"

Ramona suddenly had a shocked and surprised look on her face... and then a more sympathetic one as she said, "Oh God... and this is the school dance where all the dads were invited at the end to come dance with their daughters, wasn't it?" Lee with an upset face nodded. Ramona then simply said, "Look. You know your mom or Grace will still come dance with you if you want. And Grandpa Jackson is more than happy to dance with you too. Same goes for Great-Grandpapa Danny and Fernando, or Uncle Jimmy, or..." Lee then interrupted Ramona and said, "But what about my dad? Why won't he come?" Ramona's face became a more worried one as she said, "Oh." Lee then looked more upset as she said, "Why doesn't he come? What happened to him? Why will mom never talk about him? What is she not telling me grandma?" Ramona's face became more worried as she said, "Oh my."

In the living room of Jackson and Ramona's home: Jackson, Ramona, and Tien all sat together. With a worried face Tien said, "What!? You sure she specifically asked about her father?" Ramona nodded and said, "Yeah. She found multiple ways to re-phrase the question. There's no doubt about it." Tien covered her face for a moment and then said, "Why is this happening now? My life is finally in such a good place. I have a good job, good family, I'm finally at a good place, and now..." Jackson then interrupted Tien as she said, "Tien, we knew this day would come. Lee's already old enough to know how babies are made. So obviously she wants to know both sides of where she came from." Tien then loudly said, "But I don't know how I can do that! How do I tell my daughter I got pregnant with her because I was raped!?" Suddenly everyone heard Lee's voice yell, "What!?" Everyone turned their heads and saw Lee poking her head out from the top of the nearby stairway. Tien looked at Lee with shock and fear in her face as she said, "Oh no."

Lee then rushed down the stairs and looked at Tien also with shock and fear in her face as she said, "I was what? You got pregnant with me because of what?" Tien closed her eyes as tears began come to come from them. Tien then got on her knees and looked at Lee straight in the face and said, "Lee... about twelve years ago when I was thirteen years old, I was at a beach house party. While there... an older man led me around the house and then... he attacked me and raped me." Lee then took a step back with a shocked face as she said, "What? But... no, that's.. why did... how could..." Tien then with tears continuing to come from her eyes, and her voice almost breaking up said, "Please know Lee, I didn't tell you because I wanted to hurt you. It... it just took so long for me to be able to deal with it myself. But you need to know, despite how you were born, I wanted you in my life. I didn't choose the timing, but I wanted to be your mother, and I wanted to love you for the rest of my life."

Lee then took another step back while with an angered face she said, "How... how could you let that happen? Why would you let my father be some... why didn't you... how did you let him... why would you let my father be some criminal!?" Then just as Lee finished screaming, she ran up the stairs. Tien's face fell to the ground as she began sobbing. Both Jackson and Ramona ran over to Tien's sides and both hugged her. Tien then through her sobbing said, "Oh God. I thought this was finally all behind me. And now it's like the day after it happened all over again." Ramona then said, "Don't say that Tien. Lee is young and just in shock. She'll be okay." With tears in her eyes, Tien said, "How can you say that? She hates me now." Jackson sounded sympathetic as she said, "No Tien. She's just confused and angry, and doesn't knew where to direct that anger. Look... if you want, we'll look after Lee for awhile. Give you two some space until she's cooled down and ready to talk with you." Tien then looked at Jackson and said, "Thank you dad. I'm sorry for being such a burden on you two." Ramona then made a little smile as she said, "Don't be sorry Tien. We're a family. This is what we do for each other."

Lee stood in a bathroom with the door open, looking at herself in the mirror. Ramona then slowly walked into the bathroom and said, "Hey. How are you holding up?" With an upset tone Lee said, "Fine." Ramona then brought a chair in and sat near Lee and said, "So... watcha doing?" Lee continued to look at herself in the mirror as she said, "Trying to figure out what parts of me came from where." With a confused face, Ramona said, "What do you mean?" Lee then said, "Well mom says I have the same eyes as her birth mother. And you keep saying I have Grandpa Jackson's nose. And Grace usually says I have my mom's smile. So now I'm trying to narrow down which parts of me came from my rapist father. I figured if less than 40% of my facial features came from him, there's a decent chance I won't become a criminal like him." Ramona closed her eyes for a moment as a look of sadness overcame her face. Then Ramona opened her eyes and said, "Lee, being a criminal isn't genetic. You are a sweet and beautiful girl." Lee rolled her eyes and said, "That's not how you treated me when you picked me up from school earlier today." Ramona looked down in a shame for a moment. Then Ramona looked up and said, "Lee, you made a mistake at school today. We all make mistakes." Lee then said, "Yeah. We all make mistakes... but I'm the only one in my class that ever seems to lose her cool and punch somebody. What if it's my fate that I just keep losing my cool until I start hurting everyone I know and everyone I see for the rest of my life?"

Then suddenly the two were interrupted by the sound of Jackson's voice saying, "Then you become something better." Ramona and Lee turned their heads and saw Jackson step into the bathroom. Jackson then sat in front of Lee and said, "Lee... I know people who make bad choices can become better... because I was one of them." A confused looking Lee then said, "What do you mean grandpa?" Jackson sighed for a moment, and then said, "You know how your mom's birth mother was a woman named Lola and it wasn't Ramona?" Lee nodded her head and said, "Yeah. Mom has pictures of her at home." Jackson then reluctantly said, "Well... I think you're old enough to know... me and Lola were never married or a couple or anything like that. You see... I got Lola pregnant... while I was in the first year of dating Ramona."

Ramona closed her eyes as a shocked Lee said, "What? You mean my mom being born was..." Jackson then interrupted Lee and said, "She was also born because of someone who made a really bad choice. And I hated myself for that choice. But I promised myself I would never be that man again. And it took me years to prove it to Ramona, but she finally gave me another chance. You don't need to define yourself from your past bad choices Lee. Just like you don't need to define yourself from the past bad choices of whoever was your parent. No person, and no past bad choice defines you Lee. What really makes you who you are, is what you want to be now. You decide who you are." Ramona then put a hand on Lee's shoulder and said, "Take only the good things your family has to offer you, and all the right lessons you've learned, and let that be the only part of your past that impacts you." Jackson then said, "And just to be clear, it was a mistake that I cheated on Ramona... but I will forever be thankful that it put your mother in my life. Just like your mother will forever be thankful that you are a part of her life." Lee then looked down as she took a deep breath.

Tien was folding some laundry in the living room of her home when the door opened and Lee walked in. Both Tien and Lee looked at each other as Tien said, "Lee. I..." Lee then suddenly had tears appear in her eyes as she ran into Tien's arms and hugged her. Both Tien and Lee began to cry as they held the other in their arms. Eventually the two moved away from each other a little bit as Lee said, "I'm so sorry mom. I should've never gotten mad at you." Tien then said, "And I'm sorry I never told you sooner. I promise I'll never keep any secrets from you ever again." Tien then hugged Lee again as they both began to sit on the couch together. Eventually Tien reached out for a framed picture nearby of Lola holding Tien when she was a little toddler. Tien then held the picture in front of Lee and said, "You know... your Grandma Lola always told me she was sorry for all the bad choices she made. And every so often, she told me that she was never going to stop trying to be a better mother. And now that I'm older I finally realize... my mom really was not the best mom... but that ironically made her the perfect mom. She showed me that a person despite all their flaws, was still capable of doing so much good for their family and friends. She's the reason I believed I could be a good enough mom for you." Lee then held Tien's hand and said, "Mom. You're more than good enough for me." Then tears appeared in Tien and Lee's eyes as they hugged one another again.

TO BE CONTINUED...