The Rookie and Me: Second Chances (COMPLETE)

You've Been Served

I can feel my chest getting heavier and heavier as I try to collect myself. Whitney tries her best to calm me down on the other end of the phone, but there's really not much she can do to help me out in this situation. What does all of this mean? I have never dealt with any kind of legal problems in my life. I've never even gotten a speeding ticket! And now I have to go to court and face Joe all over again? After what he did to me, I don't know if I will be able to keep myself together when I see his face. To say I'm scared would be the biggest understatement of the century.

In between deep breaths, I ask Whitney, "Is there a date on that paper? That I have to appear in court by, I mean."

She scans over the letter once again to find the date. "It says you have to appear in court on March 29th at 9:30 A.M."

I check the date on my phone, "That's not even two weeks from now! What the hell! What am I supposed to do, Whit? I... I can't... I can't breathe right now..." 

"Okay, okay. We're not going to panic. You are going to take some deep breaths. Right now. Come on, I'll do it with you." She says as she starts breathing in and out along with me.

As I continue deep breathing, she says, "Okay. Here's what we're going to do. You're not going to like it, but you're going to suck it up and deal with it. I need you to pack all of your stuff, get in your car, and come to my house. Right now. You are going to stay here until your court date and we are going to figure this out. Together."

Tears silently fall from my cheeks as I listen to her instructions. I try to collect myself as much as possible before I open the sliding glass door and head back into my room. Cameron stirs around on the bed and slowly opens his eyes.

"Good morning, bug. Did you sleep well?" I ask him as I wipe the tears from my cheeks. 

He stretches his little arms as wide as they'll go, "Yes, I did. Mommy, are you okay?" 

I sniffle and smile softly at him, "Yeah, baby. Mommy's okay."

I turn my attention back to my phone and say, "Okay. I will have everything packed up shortly and we will be on our way. It's about a 4 1/2 hour drive, give or take a few stops along the way."

"I don't care how long it takes. I'll be here waiting. Just be careful and I'll see you soon. Love you, Ali." Whitney says anxiously. I can tell she's excited that we're coming back home, and don't get me wrong, I am excited to see her again. But given the circumstances... I would rather stay here.

"Love you, too, Whit." I hang up the phone and slide it into the pocket of my sweatpants. 

Cameron watches me pick up all of our belongings and pack them away into the suitcases. He starts helping me collect all of the toys in the room and asks, "Mommy, where are we going?" 

As I fold his clothes and lay them neatly in the suitcase, I say, "We are going to see Auntie Whitney and Blake. Does that sound cool?" 

He nods his head up and down with a big grin stretching across his little face, "And my daddy Tyler?!"

I don't know how to answer that question so I just mutter softly, "Um, I'm not sure. But I know for sure we will see Whitney and Blake. And Toby!"

I thought for sure the thought of seeing Whitney's puppy again would make him happier than anything, but he still looks disappointed by my response. It's moments like this when I question if I did the right thing or not. I knew leaving Tyler would affect Cam at first, but it's been three weeks now that we've been gone. I thought for sure Tyler would be out of his system by now. Maybe I was wrong to leave... but then again, Tyler would have continued to allow me and my baggage to put a huge strain on his relationship with his family, his job, his life. He wouldn't have given up on us, so I had to for the sake of his future. He's just starting out in his career. A career that he has worked so incredibly hard for his entire life. I couldn't risk him losing his dream because of my own selfish reasons.