A Story to Tell

July 4, 2016

"Not everyone is here." I tell Jamie through the phone. I'm sitting in the bench we sat in last time in the courthouse. Jamie was at work, he was going to try to make the trial but there was no guarantee. I had to miss work too. I finally got a job less then 2 weeks ago. I am now a receptionist at the hospital with Linda. They pay pretty well for a receptionist.
"Whose there then?" He asks.
"Umm, Kaylees parents, Logan, ally, Ms Salvia, Kaylee, Ashely and her parents and my aunt Brisa." I say.
"Is your mom there?" He asks. I look around.
"Not that I can see. Maybe they'll bring her later." I say nervously.
"Okay, Caro I'll try to make it. Carlos let me out a little early but who knows how much the traffic if gonna affect me. Oh how did the appointment go?" He asks.
"Pretty well. Ashely and I went this time. The girls are a lot bigger now. Maybe like 5 or 6 weeks left." I say smiling.
"That's great. You turned in the paperwork right?" He asks.
"Jamie I finished that during break last Friday and I turned it in myself" I say with a small chuckle.
"Okay just making sure. And they'll have your room ready right? And the whole drug crap will be ready by then?" He asks quickly. I let out another laugh.
"Yes Jamie, you payed a lot of extra to get everything ready on time. But I don't think their birth will be that difficult... We've been having a lot of sex, that makes an easier birth." I whisper at the end and smiled brightly.
"Oh really? It makes it easier? Well we can keep doing it to it will numb the pain while birth." he says and i let out a loud giggle.
"Okay babe, I have to go. Il probably leave in like 30 minutes but I'll try to be there." He says.
"Okay babe. I'll see you later. Love you." I say smiling.
"Love you too." He says and I press the end button.
I put my phone away and look through my purse until I found the pictures. I grab the small envelope with all the pictures of the sonograms they took at the doctors. They look so beautiful. I can actually see hair on them! I wonder if they'll have dark hair like me, or light brown hair like Jamie. I hope they look like Jamie. They'll be too beautiful. I look up and see Ashely talking to Logan. Oh what now?

Ashelys POV
I was about to go sit with Caro but then I bumped into someone. I fell and dropped my bag with notebooks and food. Shit. I start picking them up and saw someone helping me.
"Sorry.." I heard the familiar voice. I look up and see Logan helping me. I roll my eyes and grabbed the rest of my stuff.
"Ashely, can we talk?" He asks.
"Why?" I ask raising my brow.
"Caro won't talk to me, I need to talk to someone." He says.
"Maybe there's a good reason why she won't talk to you." I snap and start walking but then he grabs my arm.
"Please." He pleads. I sigh and roll my eyes and turn around.
"What?" I ask.
"Tell me what happened." He demands.
"What part?" I asks.
"All of it." He says.
"Well it was last October when you kissed and her and she got mad and disgusted, She went out in the front, Alex came and they went to some hotel. Then she went home, got beat, came over to my house, and decided to keep sleeping with Alex. A month later she started getting the symptoms and took a test. It came out positive and when she went home, her mom told her that she killed her dad and beat her again. Caro fought back this time and grabbed her stuff and came to my house and said she was leaving. I helped her and told her I was going too. When she went to tell Alex and ask if he would come with her, she found him sleeping with ally. She left, saw you. You turned into an ass, we found out that people knew, we went to California. Here I took us to my friend Kaylee and she took care of us but gave us our space and I found a job and we started school online. The first day we got here Caro met Jamie and they started talking and and hanging out. She told him from the beginning that she was pregnant so there wouldn't be any surprises. For thanksgiving he invited her to a party and she went. I guess things happened and she ended up pregnant again cuz apparently the other baby died. And now we're here." I finish.
"Did she ever talk about me?" He asks and he looked a little hurt.
"No Logan. I'm sorry. This has all been... Overwhelming." I say shrugging.
"Does she love him?" He asks and his eyes seem so hurt. I don't want to hurt him, but I couldn't lead him on.
"I have never seen her so happy. Logan understand that her entire time she was in Nevada, she was miserable. She's always been hurt. Her mom was never there for her, all she did was beat her. She had to learn to survive there. She would put up with school and learned to go out with a smile everyday but not mean that smile. I was her only home. I was there for her all the time. But I never saw her actually happy. When we she found out she was pregnant, for some reason I saw her... I don't know... She looked like she grew a small light in her. She accepted her mistake but wanted to love it. She wanted for her baby to have everything she didn't. To see her fall and break again before we left, I knew she had to find a way to feel happiness again. So I found her somewhere to go. And even in that same day, she found another light. After she bumped into him, I saw her, and she looked alive again. As the weeks went by, the light grew a little more everyday. She was always happy now, cheerful, confident... I could tell she was in love. Every time Jamie came over or she would talk to him, her face glowed. I have never seen her like that. Now she shined. She wasn't in the dark anymore, she shined like the sun. She has Jamie and she's gonna have his girls. She knows she's going to treat them way better than she was ever treated. But yes Logan, she's in love. Ask her, ask me, ask him, ask anyone. She loves him. More than anything in the world. In sorry." I finish with a small frown.
"Do you know if there's anyway I can ever get her back?" He asks and his voice cracks.
"She doesn't want to break your heart Logan. She doesn't love you, she loves Jamie. Don't do anything stupid. She can't love you the same way. I'm sorry." I say again. I touch his arm and walk away. I head towards Caro and she's already looking at me. I sit next to her and she looks at me weirdly.
"What happened?" She asks.
"He wanted to talk to me about you. It's fine, I told him your not interested." I say shrugging.
"He just can't take a hint. That's one thing I remember." She says rolling her eyes.
"So are you ready for the shower?" I ask trying to change the subject.
"It's this Saturday isn't it?" She asks looking at me.
"Mmhmm... We have to pick up baby bottles and dippers. All the invitations are sent out." I assure her.
"Oh good. God I hope I still fit in my dress. I remember I had to fight for it, I hope it still fits." She says.
"You fought for your dress??" I ask shocked.
"Ya." I she says casually.
"Who did you fight?" She asks and right when I asked that someone else came through the doors.
"Her." She says and her face turned into an angry face. I turn to see someone I recognized. What was her name? Mary? Maddy?
"You fought her?" I ask shocked.
She nodded.
"When?" I asked shocked. Caro fighting someone. She wouldn't even touch a fly in Nevada.
"A few weeks ago, Jamie and I went to the mall and I found this dress in papayas that I liked and was in my size and there was only one left and she tried taking it from me. It started other bull shit. I won though." She says smirking and shrugging.
"Wow." I say. She shrugs again. We talk a little bit about the shower again when we say ally talking to the M girl.
"What the hell?" Caro asks and gets up.
                                     ~
Caro's POV~
Ashely and I were sitting on the bench talking about the baby shower then I see Melissa talking to Ally.
"What the hell?" I ask and get up. I felt Ashelys hand grab mine.
"Don't, it will make it worse if you go." She says.
"They have something planned. They have to, why else would they talk? And why is Melissa here to begin with?" I say annoyed.
"I'll go to Kaylee, she can listen and we won't get into trouble..." She starts and then the doors open.
"The case of Carolina Sanchez and Ashely Gonzales vs The state of Nevada." We hear someone call and Ashely gets up. We start walking and I see Grace at the door too.
"Well time to go in." I say and sigh. We walk inside the room and go to the front. We sat in the same seats we sat in a few weeks ago. At the other side I see my mom. I stop breathing.
"It's Okay caro. We can do it." I hear Ashely say on my side. I nod softly and I make eye contact with my mom. I quickly turn away.
For the first few minutes we did the same as time. They talked and talked about the case and what has been going on lately.
"Today we're going to focus on Carolina and her mother Liliana Sanchez. We have been aware that there have been an abusive relationship between Liliana and Carolina and we would like to get to the bottom of this. Ms Montez, would you care to start?" Judge Patterson asks.
"Yes your honor. I would like to talk to Ashely Gonzales." She says standing up and Ashely joins her. Ashely goes to the podium and they do the truth speech thing.
"Okay. So let's start. So you have have been friends with Carolina since you were 7?" She asks.
"Yes. We were in the same class in 2nd grade and she was always alone. At recess she would hang out at our school garden and would secretly pick apples or some fruit that were there. She never at at school and would hide at the library. I first talked to her when this girl tried to take away her only pencil. She didn't fight or react. She simply just sat there and let the other girl yell at her. I took the pencil away from the girl and threatened her I was going to tell the teacher." She says with a chuckle.
"I gave her the pencil and I remember I actually saw her face this time. She was pale and really skinny. I gave her the pencil and ever since then I would hang out with her. She wasn't so open to me about herself then, she was really shy. It was more towards 3rd grade when we actually had our first sleepover. I asked if I could go to her house and she would quickly said no. Whenever I asked about going to her house she would freak out and say no. So we would go to my house. So I'm out first sleepover she told me the truth. She told me about her dad and how she is always getting beaten at home. I told her the right thing to do would be to tell my mom or to call the police. She said no again. She said she didn't want to be put into somewhere where they are going to be jumping her from home to home or worse, be treated worse then how she was living. I kept that secret a secret and would always help her out. I would be her hide out. Her little home. I would share my lunch with her and would bring her school supplies when I can." She finishes. By then I was tearing up. I remember all those moments.
"And just out of curiosity, have you ever actually been in Carolina's house?" Ms Montez asks.
"Yes. I've been there twice. The first time was when Caro and I were 13, we had a project to do and caro forgot some material we needed to do the project so we went after school really quick. Right when I walked in I was able to taste the marijuana in my mouth. The smell was revolting and there was such a mess. There was noise in the room that I rather not explain. We went to her room really quick to get the stuff and ran out quickly. The second time was when I was 15. Caro was locked in her room after her mom hit her and she didn't have absolutely anything to eat and was really hungry. She texted me and asked if there was anyway I could bring her any food. I took some chicken nuggets and a water and dropped them off on the side of the house were her window was. Caro was in tears and bruised up.  She really was alone in there." She finishes.
"Okay that is all thank you." Ms Montez says and Ashely get up and walks to me. She sits and holds my hand tightly. The next 30 minutes were pretty much talking about the law and more interviews with teachers and ally and Ashely's parents. After about an hour into the trial they decide to take a recess. I was actually a little hungry so I was able to go get a snack from the vending machine. When I got out the room I saw a familiar face.
"How'd it go?" He asks and I smile.
"Hello to you too." I say smiling.
"Hey there beautiful." He says grabbing my chin and slow lung sinking into a sweet soft kiss.
"Hello handsome." I say smiling.
"How'd it go?" He asks putting his hands on my belly.
"So so. My moms there and that's mostly what today is about." I say putting my hands on top of Jamie's.
"Have they got you to say anything?" He asks.
"No, I'm pretty sure they're going to right now, and my mom." I say closing my eyes.
"Hey it's going to be fine. Don't be nervous. I got you." He says leaning in and giving me another kiss. I kiss him back and in between the kiss I felt something sharp in my stomach and I hold on to him.
"What? Caro what's wrong? Is it time??" He asks worried. I breath in a little until the pain goes away. It felt like a strong cramp.  I wait for a little and Jamie keeps asking me questions.
"I'm fine. I'm fine. They're fine. Don't worry. They're probably just Braxton hicks. I'll jut take a water and I'll be fine." I say finally fine.
"Okay. Better be sure you're not having the babies yet." He says.
"They're practice contractions. They're like a strong cramp. I'm not having them yet for sure." I says assuring him. He goes to the vending machine and gets me a water and some cheez its.
"Thank you." I say sweetly.
"Anything baby." He says before kissing me again.
                                    ~
"How would you say you treated Carolina when she was living with you?" Ms Montez asks my mom at the podium. She looked nervous and she was already cuffed.
"I was a fair mom to her: I gave her her privacy and room. She wanted to be treated like an adult so I let her wash her own dishes." She says.
"And did you drink, smoke, or had sexual relationships while she was in the house?" Ms Montez asks.
"I had my drinks every now and then and what's so wrong with smoking? And I'm my own person and an adult. I can sleep with whoever I please. She obviously got that trait from me." She says with a wink towards me. I stare at her coldly. I could slap her. I heard a growl from the back and I turned to see that Jamie was not at all pleased on the comment either.
"Your husband died in a car crash in 2004 but you told Carolina that you killed her father. Would you like to explain?" She asks.
"Oh come on. Your going to believe her? How would I kill a person? And why would I? I loved my husband." She says and I stand up.
"No you didn't! You were always out drinking, my dad would stay home taking care of me and you would come home drunk and start yelling at him!!! You didn't even go to his own damn funeral!!" I yell angrily.
"Your father was with a bunch of other tramp whores at the club all the damn time and he got mad at me for releasing my anger!!" She yells back.
"You were the tramp whore!! Maybe that's why he left!" I yell and the judge is banging his gravel.
"Order! Now! Carolina sit down and I don't want to hear another word!" He yells and I felt the tears down my cheek. Why was I crying?
"Your honor can I say something?" I hear a voice in the back.
"And you are you?" Judge Patterson asks.
"I'm Brisa Vasquez. Carolina's aunt. Julio's sister. I do have information for this case." She says.
"Proceed." The judge says. She makes her way to the front so she's in front of my mom.
"Lilliana, you loved Julio didn't you?" She asks. My mom stares at her with a poker face. You couldn't tell what she was feeling.
"Yes. I did." She finally answers.
"And you loved Carolina when she was born. You loved your small family. That I remember. We took you in since you had no money for a house. Right? But what happened? You assumed Julio was cheating on you? I wouldn't blame you for loosing it a little, but leading to drinking and drugs and being irresponsible and never going back in order was not the answer. Julio came out with his mistakes and I have proof. He has letters and a diary." She says and hands the judge the box.
"After Carolina turned 2 Julio said she had marks around her body. Hand prints and scars. Julio would never touch her. Last thing I knew you dragged them to another state and I lost contact with him forever. That's all." She says and walks back to her seat. The room was quiet for a long time. Judge Peterson grabbed the box and looked inside. He opened the letters and diaries and scanned through them.
"Ms Sanchez did you commit the crime of child abuse?" He asks her,
"I would not touch my child." She says looking at me. I cringe.
"Carolina?" He looks at me. Everyone looks at me.
I get up and move the chair to the center of the room. They all stare at me. I sit and push my dress up. You immodestly see small scars and old bruises. I heard gasps from people. I turn so my back was to them and push my dress down a little from my left shoulder to the long scar that goes from my back to my rib cage. The gravel is being hit and I take my chair back.
"Order! Carolina you have obviously been living under a home of child abuse. And now Liliana is going to face consequences. As of today you will have an 8 year penalty. Dismissed. Trials will resume 2 weeks from today."
Judge Patterson says with another hit. We all get up and they take my mom away.
"You might be saved, but don't be so sure about the kids." She says quietly as she passes me.
Another enemy. Someone else hates them and they aren't even born yet.
I saw Jamie come towards me and I immediately felt his arms around me. I hug him back until I felt him release me.
"You did amazing. Are you okay?" He asks and I nod trying really hard not to brake.
"Well I have some good news. We got the approval for the apartment. They said it could take to at least another 2 weeks for them to inspect and to finally give us the keys." He says and this time I jump on him. Finally!
"This is great! This is amazing! We are almost going to be together for sure!" I say happily.
"Yes... small problem... we don't know if you can move out." He says letting me go.
"What do you mean?" I asked confused.
"Well your on house arrest and I don't know how long that will be. And if they are going to let you stay." He says and I frown. I turn to see Ms Montez getting ready to leave.
"Let's go ask." I say grabbing his hand and we walk to Ms Montez.
"Ms Montez, we have a quick question." I say and she looked up at me.
"Yes, what's up?" She asks.
"Jamie and I put an offer on a condo a few weeks ago and we got it accepted. They said the estimation in moving is in about 2 weeks. Is there anyway we can get the house arrest time to shorten?" I ask.
"Umm... we have to see. I'm pretty sure next time we're in court we're going to be on the case of getting both you and Ashely emancipated. But again that is in 2 weeks and that case can take longer then usual so it's not a guaranteed your going to be emancipated by then. I can talk to the judge into giving you community service in replace of house arrest but I'm not promising anything." She says with a side smile.
"Okay thank you so much! Just recommend something not to harsh cuz..." I say pointing to my stomach.
"Of course! Anything for you. I'll go ask for the request and I'll let you know if anything changes." She says with a smile and I smile back and get my stuff and grab Jamie's hand. We walk down the court and I couldn't stop smiling.
"We're really going to do this?" I say to Jamie.
"Yes we are. You know in honor of this special moment we should to find ourselves a bed." He says smirking.
"Yes. We should start looking in More's Furniture. Or do you want Ashely's?" I say smirking back.
"Ohh you want to take this public now do you?" He says and I start giggling.
"As long as we get a temperpedic." I say and he lets out a loud Ha! I laugh again as we make our way to Ashely. She is having another argument with her parents. Oh no, Marco is there.
"So you think now that you left with my daughter I will give you permission to stay and take care of her?!?!" Her dad yells. Oh no...
"I'm almost 18 dad, I can choose where I want my future! Plus mom said I shouldn't bother coming back. Yes I did sleep with him but I lost the baby! Now leave me alone because I am not going back! You can come and visit me anytime you want but I am not going back!" She yells back.
"If your staying here then we're going to move here too." Her mom says.
"Oh really? I will like to see you leave your precious home! Even if you do move here, I am not going to move in with you. I'm not 10 anymore, I can take care of myself. I have for the past few months!" She says back.
"You are moving on your own! Your relying on Kaylee to pay for the bills and the food and the rooms! That's not living on your own!" Her mom says back.
"Then I'll learn to live on my own. I don't need you to take care of me anymore. I'm not a baby and we are done." Ashely says and grabs Marco and starts walking out. I push Jamie generally to the wall and I turn so my back was to him and we're looking at each other. He tries to say something but I shush him. I listened until the footsteps were fading. I finally backed away and grabbed Jamie's hand. I smile. He smiled back.
"Let's go find that bed?" I ask sweetly.
"Yes. Please." He says with a smile and I grab his hand and we walk to out.
                                    ~
"So your fine with your parents?" I ask Ashely as we grab the last few things for the shower.
"Not really. But it is what it is. Right?"  She say shrugging.
"I mean I guess."
"And how are you doing with this? Doesn't it feel suffocating?" She asks a little frustrated like.
"I mean like you said, it is what it is. We just have to get through it. Did I tell you that Jamie and I got the condo accepted?" I ask happily.
"Really?! We should celebrate!" She says turning and hugged me. It was unexpected... one minute she is frustrated and the next she is happy Ashely.
"Well it's 4th of July, we should have hot dogs and watch the fireworks." I say with a small giggle.
"Yess! Lots of hot dogs. I'll bring them and you can get the rest of the supplies." She says and walks away before I could say anything. I sigh. I look down at the list.