Fighter

20

5 Years Later

            In my world scars are a constant reminder of what I've been through. I have scars all over my body that will never go away. They can fade and they have over time but they will always be there. My mental scars are with me every day. Unfortunately those scars take a lot longer to heal. Going to therapy helped a lot more then I wanted to say it ever would and finally after all this time the ghosts of my parts are starting to rest.

            After I handed over Joe's black book to the FBI they got started right away arresting most members of the Rizzo Crime Family. They were quick and it made international headlines because of what happened in Australia. Isabella remained in witness protection until everyone in the indictment was sentenced to prison.

            During the trials I was called to testify along with Spencer. Sophia was able to keep her promise and was able to keep us out of jail along with Luke and John. I was able to testify via conference call and I didn't have to travel all the way to New York for the trials which I was very happy about.

            At the end of her summer Spencer returned to New York. After everything we went through I gave her an A and didn't really have her do much for the remaining few weeks she was staying with us. After everything that happened Amanda came around to liking my half sister and her younger sister. Both of us agreed that Santana could stay here with us while Spencer returned to New York to finish school. Spencer cried when we told her we would help her and take care of Santana while she finished school. It took a lot of stress off her shoulders.

            Spencer returned to New York for her fall semester for her junior year. Both Amanda and I were floored to find Spencer back at our house a month later saying she dropped out of NYU and wanted to stay here in Australia with us. Needless to say Santana was overjoyed to have her sister back so quickly. Amanda and I talked at length with Spencer about what she wanted to do with her degree and Spencer told us how she wanted to change her major and basically start college over.

            We did a lot of research and it took a lot of time to contact NYU to see how the credits Spencer already have would transfer. Her advisor at NYU helped us a lot in applying to different schools here in Australia. Spencer applied to the University of Sydney, University of Melbourne and the University of Queensland. Her top choice was the University of Sydney because they had the best architecture program. When the letters came from all three universities Spencer waited until they all came before she opened them. Spencer got into all three schools and chose to go to the university of Sydney.

            It took a lot of time but the more Amanda and I thought about having Spencer and Santana living with us permanently we knew we needed to get some help about having them become dual citizens. It took me a few years to do it and now that Spencer and Santana are going to want to stay with us they are going to need to do it too. There was a lot of paperwork involved and a lot of meetings with government officials about what would be the easiest way for them to make the move. It took just under two years to get everything approved and once it finally was we had a big party to celebrate.

            When we returned home Kim took in the damage to the cabin and told us we could move in with her because she wants to fix up the cabin. At first I didn't think it would be the best idea with Alicia, Spencer and Santana. She wouldn't hear anything about it and basically forced us to stay with her. She did have a bit more room in her house then the cabin so it definitely helped.

            Amanda and I had a long conversation with our contractor and decided to scrap our plans on our remodel and had them take the house down. We got some money from the FBI from the damage that happened in the shooting and for the fight that happened in my studio so we put it towards building a much larger home. With Spencer and Santana going to be living with us for the foreseeable future we need to make more room for them along with Alicia and the possibility of another child. It took just about a year to finish building our house and get everything set up and moved in.