Liv woke up a few hours later the next morning, though they had not been noisy the kids were excited to see each other so there was a lot of high pitched giggling and chatter. Liv pulled her robe over her and walked out the door. When she got to the door she called Frannie lightly as to not wake up her sleeping friend. "Come Frannie girl, let's go outside." Frannie checked on Amanda and baby then came. The pup really guarded her "hooman", made Liv smile to see that. Once Frannie was satisfied that Amanda was okay she followed Liv. When she got out to the living room, Noah was super happy to have woken up to his friend being there. Liv smiled, she put Frannie outside and let her run, thankful for a fenced in backyard; plus Frannie was good anyway she stayed where she was supposed to. She tended to the kids. Of course when she suggested pancakes Noah went bonkers as he loved his pancakes. Jesse on the other hand remained quiet and smiled, apparently still scared from last night. Liv looked at her. "Everything okay Jess?" She nodded, softly speaking "I'm not supposed to talk or be loud first thing in the morning. Mr. Al doesnt like that. Makes him mean. I just dont want to be hit anymore or make mama mad too." Liv immediately stopped doing what she was doing and picked the little girl up. "Honey what do you mean 'hit again', your mama told me last night was the first time Mr. Al hit you." Jesse squirmed to get down. She was scared, so she clammed up. Liv not wanting to push or futher traumatize the little girl put her down. Olivia kissed Jesse on the head and then got the pancakes made and out to the kids. She hated to wake up Amanda since she was comfy and sleeping but she wanted and needed answers.
She went back to the bedroom and lucky for her she didnt have to wake Amanda up. She had already been woken up to Al's incesant calling. When Liv walked in Amanda was yelling at him on the phone, she wasnt happy at all with him pretty much blowing up her cellphone. She got so frustrated she again told him to fuck off and proceeded to hang up on him. Olivia could see that this wasnt the best time to bring this up as Amanda was already pissed but she wanted answers, especially where this had changed Jesse. The child shouldnt be afraid to have fun and be loud. Here goes nothing, Liv thought. "Hey Amanda, I know this isnt a good time, but we need to talk. I was just out making breakfast for the kids and Jesse was awful skittish and actually afraid to join in the fun of wanting pancakes. She said her reason was she didnt want to make you mad and she was afraid to get hit anymore. I thought you said Al only hit her once, and that was last night." Amanda looked surprised, she hadnt known that Al had hit Jesse previously. She had only left them alone a couple of times and it wasnt long at all. Just enough time to take a shower basically. Now she felt stupid and you could hear it in her response. "Uh Liv,I didnt know. I know how pathetic that sounds but I wasnt told. Can you tell Jesse to come here please?" Liv looked at Amanda, "Before I do, I want to stress this; Amanda this isnt your fault." She hugged the blonde who was clearly feeling mixed emotions all ranging between hurt, betrayal, anger and failure. Liv went and told Jesse to go see her mama. She wasnt afraid of her mom, but she was afraid to get in trouble.
Cautiously Jesse walked into Liv's bedroom to see what her mama wanted her for. "Mama, Auntie Liv said you wanted to see me." Amanda nodded, "Yes sweetheart, please sit down." Amanda patted the spot next to her. She watched Jesse hesitate before doing what her mama asked. She had never seen her daughter so afraid. "Jesse my sweet baby girl, what's going on? Can you tell me what you told Auntie Olivia?" The little girl's eyes went wide and she sat up really straight. "Ma-mama, um-um-um." The tears started pouring down Jesse's eyes. Amanda pulled the little girl in her arms. "Jesse my love, I'm not mad at you. Honey you did nothing wrong. I just want to know what happened. Can you tell me please?" Jesse looked at Amanda "Mama, that wasnt the first time Mr. Al was mean to me." Amanda put her hand on Jesse's back and started rubbing her back in soothing circles. She didnt know what else to do. "Jesse sweetheart, I'm not mad at you I promise. I just need to know what happened." Jesse relaxed a bit more and leaned back into her mama, her mama made her feel safe. "Mean Mr. Al hit me before. It was one time I talked to him when he was watching a game like you. Mama you let me talk to you when you watch them. I didnt know...", and with that a new bout of fresh tears came from Jesse's eyes. Amanda hugged her baby girl tight. Amanda was pissed, fucking pissed. The man she let back into her life, trying to give him a chance because she didnt want this child to not have a father present had betrayed her in the worst way. Fuck the paying for it, that didnt matter. He had taken his aggression out on her innocent daughter. This son of a bitch was going to pay. Jesse's tear filled voice infiltrated her thoughts "Mama I'm sorry." Amanda had tears of her own in her eyes. She hugged and kissed the top of her head, "You dont have to be sorry baby, you didnt do anything wrong. You go out and go play with Noah. Can you send Auntie back in here cause I need to talk to her."
