Stephanie stayed in her bedroom until Helen called her for dinner. Before descending the stairs, Stephanie beelined to the washroom to splash her face with cold water. It wasn't enough to completely remove the puffiness around her eyes from crying. Stephanie couldn't delay for another minute, or Helen would claim she ruined dinner.
She rushed down the stairs and took her place beside Valerie at the dining room table. Frank sat to Stephanie's left, leaving Helen at the opposite end, closest to the kitchen. Grandpa and Grandma Mazur sat across the table from their granddaughters. Edna smiled at Stephanie, and her grandpa winked when she caught his eye.
"Happy birthday, Valerie," Helen said, placing the lasagna on the table.
"Thank you," Valerie said. She grinned at her mother. Stephanie forgot it was Valerie's birthday.
"I guess I gave you the best present?" Stephanie sarcastically asked. Valerie smirked. It wasn't the only present Stephanie gave her. She would find out soon enough. Valerie smiled sweetly when she realized her grandparents were watching her.
"Stephanie Michelle Plum! How dare you be disrespectful to Valerie? Why can't you be more like your sister?" Helen snapped, unaware of the silent exchange between her parents and Valerie. Stephanie sensed something was off but didn't want to draw more attention to herself. Helen hated her enough to last a lifetime.
"Enough, Helen," Harry chastised without diverting his attention from watching Valerie's emotions displayed on her face. Harry knew Valerie had done something horrible to Stephanie and was responsible for Stephanie's pending exile.
Helen's lips thinned as she sat in her chair, embarrassed to get reprimanded by her father in front of her children. Stephanie wisely remained silent, but inside, she was laughing and waving her invisible pom poms in a riotous cheer. When she caught her grandfather's eye, he winked. It amazed Stephanie how Helen could be Harry and Edna's daughter. She was rigid and old-fashioned in her ways. Harry and Edna were more modern. It was as though their brains got transplanted, or Helen was born in the wrong decade.
They ate in silence, though Helen constantly glared at Stephanie, who was playing with the food, pushing it around on her plate with the fork. Stephanie wasn't overly hungry while trying to figure out what triggered the uneasiness she felt in her soul. The weight of leaving her Mazur grandparents and her father felt like lead in her stomach. She ate the bland lasagna when her stomach growled from lack of nutrition. Helen whisked away the lasagna pan before Stephanie could grab another serving. Stephanie helped her grandmother clear the table after everyone ate a piece of Valerie's birthday cake.
Helen, Frank and Harry were in the living room, where Valerie opened her gifts. Stephanie didn't need to see how much her mother spoiled Valerie. "Oh, Mom, this would go perfectly with the wedding dress we picked," Valerie gushed. Stephanie shook her head and turned on the water to drown out Valerie's exclamations about the wonderful and expensive presents.
"She idolized her grandmother," Edna explained.
"Hmmm?" Stephanie asked as she was only half listening to her grandmother.
"Your mother idolized her grandmother," Edna repeated. "My mother constantly told Helen what she did wrong, much like your mother did to you. When your mother emulated her actions, my mother was pleased. It made her proud. Helen lived to maintain and honour that connection with her grandmother. I tried to raise Helen to become an independent woman. Your great-grandmother never approved of my methods. When she moved into my home, I had no choice but to let her take charge." Stephanie detected sadness in her grandmother's tone.
Before asking the next question, Stephanie looked around, sensing someone was eavesdropping. When nobody materialized inside the kitchen, Stephanie asked, "What did Great-grandma say when Mom got pregnant before marriage?"
Edna laughed, then replied, "Nothing gets past you. My mother told Helen she was a disappointment. To make things right, she had to get married. Truth be told, Helen never married the father, but we don't have proof."
"Oh," Stephanie responded, shocked to learn she might not share the same father with Valerie. She didn't know what else to say, but it might explain much. Helen always preached to wait until marriage to have sex, but Stephanie questioned why Valerie was born seven months after the wedding. Her mother never realized Stephanie had figured it out for herself. Helen was a hypocrite. It was the classic "do as I say, not as I do" scenario.
"Valerie was born seven months later. Everyone knew Helen was pregnant when she got married. It was acceptable because she was eighteen and married who we thought was the father," Edna explained further. Stephanie was surprised when Edna added, "Your grandfather and I got married when Helen was one. We got married for love, not because I got pregnant. I refused to participate in a shotgun wedding. My mother was embarrassed, but Father was proud of me for waiting. Harry and I paid for a civil ceremony. We wanted to do things our way."
"You're my hero," Stephanie whispered when Edna hugged her. Stephanie thought her grandparents had been married for thirty-nine years. Edna assured Stephanie that they were only married for thirty-seven. Her mother, Stephanie's Great-grandma, lied to anyone who asked about the year. Edna and Harry knew the truth. They didn't care what anyone else thought. Stephanie wanted to be like her grandmother when she grew up. "Well, Grandma or Wonder Woman," Stephanie thought.
"Take care of yourself, Stephie. Don't let anyone bully you into raising the child or marrying that Morelli boy. It's your decision alone. Let another woman raise your child if that's what you choose. Your grandfather and I will support whatever you decide," Edna quietly said. Edna dried the dishes as Stephanie washed them. They worked in companionable silence until Edna placed the last plate into the cupboard.
"Thanks, Grandma." Stephanie hugged her grandmother before retreating to her bedroom. She had a few more things to do before leaving for North Carolina.
Valerie was in the bathroom, brushing her teeth when Stephanie went upstairs. She watched Stephanie disappear behind her bedroom door and smiled. It was almost time for Valerie to meet Steve for a late movie. Valerie had to plan it for when her mother went to bed. She rinsed her toothbrush and put it into the holder. Next, Valerie brushed her hair until it felt silky between her fingers. Hairs stuck out from the bristles, but she couldn't be bothered to clean it. She needed to prepare for her secret date.
Hearing Valerie close the door to her bedroom, Edna claimed she needed to use the washroom before going home. She had waxed paper in her pocket to grab the items she needed from the bathroom. Edna was pleased to find hair in Valerie's brush. She carefully tugged them free and wrapped them in the waxed paper. Edna opened the medicine cabinet, hoping to find a new toothbrush in its packaging. Upon finding a pink one, she opened it to swap it with Valerie's.
Edna noticed Stephanie's toothbrush in the trash. Since there wasn't anything else in it, she plucked it from the garbage and wrapped it in waxed paper. It took creative folding to keep the items in place. Helen didn't believe in using the single-use plastic bags most Burg mothers used for convenience. Edna realized the problem as she tried to shove the items into her pockets. She flushed the toilet, washed her hands and banged the door open when she heard someone calling up the stairs.
Stephanie exited her bedroom when Edna stepped out of the washroom. Placing a finger over her lips, Edna pantomimed putting something in a bag. Stephanie went into her room to grab the purse she had borrowed from her grandmother. She had left it hanging in the closet. "Grandma, I forgot to return this," Stephanie said after her grandfather called up the stairs again.
"I wondered where it went," Edna replied. She tucked everything inside the purse and winked at Stephanie, who raised her brows in question. Stephanie sensed it was necessary to remain silent. She grabbed her backpack, tossed it over a shoulder, and followed Edna down the stairs.
Frank, who had the weekend off work, piled the boxes in the trunk of his Buick and waited for Stephanie to say farewell to the others. Edna walked down the front sidewalk, wiping tears off her cheeks. Harry followed close behind with a possessive hand resting on her lower back. Frank nodded as they passed his car and accepted the purse Edna handed him for Stephanie. Edna quietly told him to run a DNA test the stuff inside. His mother-in-law was a bit wild, but Harry kept her in line. One balanced the other. All bets would be off if Harry ever passed away before Edna, and he prayed his mother-in-law wouldn't live with him and Helen.
Harry heard about Stephanie's pregnancy from Edna and called Frank for a meeting. When they met at the Lodge, Harry warned, "Under no certain terms will my granddaughter marry a Morelli. Make sure it never happens."
"I promise, Sir," Frank replied. Frank didn't want Stephanie to marry Joseph Morelli and made plans for Stephanie to live with his parents, who promised to take Stephanie to a doctor for her prenatal care.
"She will marry a Morelli over my dead body," Harry added to clarify his point. He never liked the Morelli men, who were users and abusers. Valerie and Stephanie deserved better. However, Harry didn't want Valerie to marry Steve Donatello, who he knew was no better than Joseph Morelli for stealing virginities from girls. Harry expressed his concern to Frank, and both men agreed that there wasn't much they could do because Valerie was getting married to Steve in two weeks.
"Understood." Harry shook Frank's hand to seal the agreement. Frank could only hope Helen wouldn't force him to break his promise.
"Hey, Daddy. I'm ready to go," Stephanie said, climbing into the front passenger seat and interrupting his thoughts.
Frank drove for a few hours before talking. "Are you okay?"
"Yes, Daddy. You've already asked me that question today," Stephanie reminded him.
"I know. But I thought your answer wasn't sincere," Frank confessed. Frank had called Stephanie during his break at the post office.
Stephanie sighed and told her dad about everything that had happened since Monday when Joe Morelli took Stephanie's innocence. Frank listened and was furious that Luanne Molnar still wouldn't let Stephanie talk to Mary Lou. Stephanie needed her best friend's support. Not only did Stephanie lose her virginity to Joe Morelli, but she also lost her friend, home and freedom. Her life would never be the same, forever affected by a teenage pregnancy and a bond with Morelli through their child. Frank was sad for his youngest and favourite daughter. He contacted his parents to ask if they could care for Stephanie while she endured the pregnancy. Frank knew they would support whichever decisions Stephanie made.
"So sending you to your Plum grandparents was the right choice?" Frank asked.
"Yes, Daddy. Thank you for asking them to help," Stephanie said. She didn't feel pregnant, but since she had never been pregnant before, she didn't know what to expect. So far, her only symptom was a late period. She took the pregnancy test on Wednesday. Was that too soon? Stephanie never took biology or learned about how pregnancy worked and felt stupid for not asking her grandmother.
They stopped at the church to drop the donated clothes into the collection bin. Stephanie stared as her father opened the chute, placed a box of clothing into the space and closed it. She heard the muffled clang as the cardboard box hit the bottom of the empty bin. Frank repeated the process a few more times until all that remained in the trunk were the boxes Stephanie labelled as ones she wanted to keep.
"Are you sure that you're pregnant?" Frank asked Stephanie.
She chewed on her thumb and nodded. "The pregnancy test was positive," Stephanie replied.
"Your grandmother will take you to the doctor on Monday," Frank said. "But you have a new name to use."
Stephanie nodded before his words registered. "New name? Why?" she asked.
Frank explained Stephanie's new identity for protection and insisted she practice answering questions regarding her name, age and birthdate since those are different from reality. Stephanie was curious about how her father acquired the fake identity. She suspected he used connections in the military or at the Pentagon. He had a lot of friends in high places.
"Get some sleep while I drive. We've got another six hours before we arrive." Frank entered his driving zone while Stephanie twisted to the side to fall asleep. Within minutes, he could hear her quiet snores fill the car. "I'm proud of you," he whispered, taking his eyes off the highway to look at her. Stephanie's lip turned up, giving him a small smile as though she had heard his words. Frank loved it when Stephanie smiled in her sleep.
He turned on the radio to play music from the 80s. He knew Stephanie loved rock, pop and heavy metal. Livin' On A Prayer played throughout the car. Frank smiled as he sang along to the tune. Stephanie loved Bon Jovi. He reminded himself to tell Stephanie that they enjoyed the same music.