Stand In The Rain

Twenty Nine

Dinner went by in a flash for Emily and JJ, and some of it was because there were so many people and they loved them all, but it was also because JJ was getting nervous about telling Sandy about what had been happening in her life in the recent months. She knew that her mother wouldn't judge her because she loved her unconditionally, but it was going to be hard to look at her mother's face when she would have to recount the more traumatic parts.

Before long, dinner and dessert were over, and people were spreading out to do different things again, meaning that it was finally time.

Eventually, the three of them settled in Sandy's room on the second floor, away from all of the noise. They sat together on the big bed, because it was big enough to hold all three of them, and it was JJ who spoke first.

"Mom, where should I start?"

"At the beginning," she told her offspring before turning to her girlfriend. "And Emily?"

"Yes?"

"Feel free to contribute where you see fit."

"I will."

They both turned to JJ, who let out a shaky breath and began. "About four months ago, I met a guy at a gym called Baylor McMath. I was at the gym because I was working out anger from having dumped my boyfriend an hour beforehand. What happened before I got to the gym is unimportant, though. Baylor saw me and walked over from where he'd been lifting weights and offered to hold my punching bag."

"Still kickboxing." Sandy gave an approving nod. "Go on."

"We hit it off, and by the end of the day, we realized that we got on well, but the bad stuff didn't start until after we became a couple."

"What kind of bad things?"

Even though JJ had been anticipating this, but she still began hyperventilating as the memories came back in a flood. Emily reacted by giving her a back rub in between her shoulder blades. 

"It's okay, my love." Emily soothed. "Just take your time."

JJ did take her time, but when she spoke again, she already sounded broken. "Baylor was a bit older than me and worked at a business firm, but when things went bad, he'd get really angry and take it out on me, especially when he was drunk. He'd hit me, but when we were intimate, he'd get really, really rough with me."

Sandy read between the lines and felt her heart break for JJ. She longed to reach out and comfort her, she saw that she was holding steadfast to Emily's hand with her good one. Emily was her anchor.

"Jenny, I am so sorry that those things happened to you."

"And I'm sorry I never said anything to anyone." JJ sighed. "I was ashamed and too preoccupied with trying to make it through the day while still doing my job... I don't even know if the twins were made when things were consensual, but I decided to not do the math on it."

"When did Emily come into the picture?"

Emily felt a lump in her throat as she remembered back to receiving JJ's phone call about her assault and how scared she'd been.

Seeing Emily waver, JJ gave her hand a gentle squeeze before answering her mother. "A few months before I met Baylor. We became friends right away, but we didn't really become as close as we are now until after this one case in Oregon..."

"What happened in Oregon?"

And so JJ explained about her pregnancy, and how sweet baby Zooey had been one of the deciding factors in her not having an abortion. She also explained about coming home to find Baylor at her apartment, and how he'd wanted to give her money to help her get rid of the pregnancy.