" You would never believe how cute Avery was, Rachel." Arielle said with a sigh. " His eyes are just... so captivating. And then there's his smile."
Rachel laughed. " I think someone has a crush." She looked over at Ashley, who was munching on some popcorn as she watched The Horse Whisperer.
" Yes. Totally." Arielle giggled. " He gave me his number, and asked me to call him anytime. I'm thinking I may give him a call tonight in fact."
" I would give it some time, Arielle. There is no need to rush into something with him. After all, look what happened with your mom. She's been married twice, and neither marriage worked out." Tears came to her eyes as she spoke. " Your mom is so heartbroken, Arielle. I don't even know how to help her."
Arielle thought about it for a minute, letting out another sigh. She knew her best friend was right. Her mom's life was so messed up after rushing into two different relationships. " You always make a good point."
Rachel's phone beeped, and she looked to see who was calling on the other line. It was Kate. " Hold on a minute, Arielle. Kate's calling me." She switched over. " Hi Kate."
" Hey, Rachel. How are you doing?" Kate asked.
" I'm doing alright." She noticed a tinge of sadness in Kate's voice. " Are you doing okay?"
" Natalie called me just a few minutes ago, and we need to have an emergency family meeting. I don't know what's going on, but she said it is very important." Kate paused for a few seconds. " I really don't want her there and Natalie doesn't either, but apparently whatever this is, it involves Ashley. Can you get her over here? We're meeting at my place."
" Sure. I will do what I can. I've got Arielle on the other line. Should I..."
" I wouldn't worry about it. I'm sure Natalie is telling her right now." Kate interrupted her.
" Okay. I'll see you in a bit." She got off the phone with her, and switched over to her call with Arielle. They talked for another minute before hanging up, and she looked over at Ashley again. " There's some big emergency going on, Ashley. You need to get dressed."
Ashley looked her way with a frown on her face. " What's going on?"
" I don't know. But we're going over to Kate's." She took both the tv and dvd remote from her. " Just go get out of your pajama's and into something appropriate." With a nod, Ashley followed her up the stairs. Rachel made sure she got dressed into something comfortable, a purple v-neck t-shirt and black pants. She even brushed her hair out for her, since it looked snarly, as though it hadn't been brushed out in days. Then she put it up in a ponytail. " When we get home, you are getting straight into a shower. I don't care what you say."
" If you say so mother." Ashley joked, cracking a little smile. " Thank you for caring so much, Rachel." Giving her a big hug, she felt herself calm down a little, despite her concern for whatever the family emergency was. " You have been such a rock for me lately."
" I try." Rachel hugged her back. " Now let's get going. I want to get whatever this is settled."
They were out the door in two minutes, and as Rachel drove towards Kate's house, she couldn't help as her concern grew. There had been so much stress lately as it was, and she wasn't sure how much more the family could handle.
_____________________________________________
Kate had been dreading what was coming since the phone call from Natalie. Isaac and his family were already there, and they were doing what they could to keep her calm. But with every passing minute, her anxiety grew. After everything with Zac and Ashley, she felt like she could snap at any second. It didn't help she would have to see them when she really didn't want to.
Isaac handed her a bottle of water from the fridge, and began massaging her shoulders. " I know how hard this has all been for you, but you will get through this. And whatever is going on now, as long as we hold true to each other, this too will pass."
Kate felt tears come to her eyes, and she wiped them away with her arm. " I hope so."
Nikki took Kate's hands into her's, and looked into her eyes. " As angry as everyone is right now, I think Isaac is right. As long as we've got each other, we can get through anything." Pulling her in for a hug, she kissed her on the cheek.
The doorbell rang, and Shepherd ran to answer the door. Zac walked in the door as they were pulling out of the hug. " Is everything alright?" He looked at them nervously, wondering if something was wrong with Kate.
Nikki shrugged her shoulders. " Not everyone is here yet."
Within forty five minutes or so, they were all finally gathered together in the living room. At this point, not even Taylor knew. Natalie thought it would be a better idea to tell everyone together, just so she didn't have to say it more than once. She stood in the center of the room.
Taylor, Kate, and Nikki sat on the couch. Isaac stood behind them, one hand on his wife's shoulder and one on Kate's. Zac sat on the loveseat with his kids. Ashleywas sitting in the one comfy chair that Kate hated giving up for the time being. Everyone else was pretty much sitting around on the floor or in kitchen chairs that had been brought out.
Taking a deep breath, Natalie began. " A couple days ago, Christopher told me he had been feeling sick off and on for a good month. I think maybe a couple of us may have noticed, but... we probably thought it was stress related with how much has been going on, and when he came to me finally, I..."
" Are you telling me... I mean, all of us that... my brother is really sick?" Arielle interrupted her.
WIth a nod, Natalie continued. " I took him to the doctor yesterday, and it... it turn's out that he... he has leukemia." She could barely get the words out, especially when she saw the look on Ashley's face. She watched as her face went pale.
" No. I... he can't... Christopher, you... please tell me your kidding." Ashley looked from Natalie to her son, who had tears in his eyes.
" She's not kidding, mom. The doctor told us it's pretty bad." He started bawling, and Rachel wrapped her arms around him. He cried into her shoulder.
Holding him close to her, she felt tears come to her own eyes. " You are going to get through this, Christopher. You have to."
Arielle scooted closer to them, and put her arms around both of them. They sat there like that on the floor for a good ten minutes. No one said anything as they watched them. The three of them just cried and held each other.
As she watched the scene before her, Ashley started sobbing herself. No one moved to comfort her at first. They just kind of watched Arielle, Christopher and Rachel. After a couple minutes, Penny made the move. She got up from her kitchen chair, and walked over to her. Wrapping her arms around Ashley, she gave her a kiss on the cheek. Then she pulled her in for another hug. Ashley hugged her back. " Thank you, Penny. I appreciate it."
With a nod, Penny gave her a little smile. " I may not like everything you have done to this family, but in some ways, you are part of it."
Taylor wiped tears from his eyes, and moved from the couch to the floor. He kissed Christopher on the forehead, and then pulled him in for a hug. " You are a good strong kid. You will pull through this."
As soon as everyone had pulled themselves together, they talked about what the next move was.
