Closure: Baby 46

Okay, the pictures in this post are kinda crappy, so try not to focus on those so much. (I've never been good at taking them) Try to focus on the story itself. I worked hard on it and I hope you love it as much as I do! In fact, they're SO crappy, I skipped taking some. So, for some of the post there's NO pictures at all. Also, when Paisley has her son, if I say "her" instead of "him" or something, it's because she originally had a girl and I had to go through and change it to "him" and I might not have gotten all of them.

After that phone call from Caitlin, I laid on my bed, looking out the window, in my own little world. I'm not exactly sure how much time passed since I learned Anna-Leigh had died to when Jesse finally coaxed me back to reality, but Skye said it was about two weeks. Great. Skye came over, bathed me and clothed me. It was time for her funeral.

It was all a blur. People expressed their condolences to me. I listened as Anna-Leigh's parents sobbed, ignoring the people saying how sorry they were that their daughter was gone. Caitlin tried to put on a happy face for me, but her mascara was running down her cheeks and she often excused herself to go to the bathroom. To cry. I yearned to follow her and cry with her, but I had no energy or motivation to leave my seat in the corner. People knew to not bother me, to just let me be.
Jesse tried to distance himself from me, but he often came around to check on me. When I had starved myself long enough, I headed over to the buffet table and lazily plopped some turkey on a plate and poured myself some lemonade. It only crossed my mind for a brief second how weird it is that they picked that food for Anna's funeral.

When I had my food, I slipped under a table and sat there, absently plopping food into my mouth. I fell asleep at some point and when I finally awoke, I was in my bed. My cheeks were tear stained. I had been crying in my sleep. I managed to push myself up and look around until my arms gave out and I was once again lying on my back. Jesse, Skye, my parents, Chase, Cassie and Macy, even Caitlin came by to check on me. They tried to get me to come back to the real world, but I couldn't. Not yet.

I overheard my dad and Jesse talking one day outside my room.
"So, where are all the kids, Jess?" my dad asked.
"My mom and I aged them up. We didn't think it was right to have them here without their mother... whole..."
"So they're gone?"
I didn't hear a reply from Jesse, but I'm assuming he nodded.

Months passed without me bathing, eating a full meal, or even talking. At some point I heard Jesse say it had been two months since Anna-Leigh had died, leaving me to mourn for almost the same amount of time. Everybody seemed so cheery and helpful. It wasn't right. Was I really the only one still sad that she's gone?
Every day I tried to get myself to speak. To say anything at all. But I couldn't do it. Jesse laid with me all day on occasion, talking to me and giving me updates about my family.
"Your mother and father celebrated their 28th anniversary."
"Chase celebrated his 19th birthday. He's a young adult."
"Caitlin moved to France to pursue a career in art. We don't think she'll be coming back any time soon."
"Cassie and Macy are expecting a baby."
Not even the last one phased me. How could I sit on my bed while my family lives their lives? While Chase went to college, Cassie had a baby, and Caitlin moved to another continent? But I didn't care. I just wanted to be left alone.

I sat in the same position on my bed, staring into space. Skye often visited, mainly to force feed me. She didn't bother with my hygiene, though, except once. Once or twice she would visit me pregnant. Even in my depressed haze, I took the time to think about how she's progressing through her challenge and I was sitting there like a vegetable.

Finally, something in my head snapped and I couldn't sit there any longer. And where I went next was the biggest mistake I have ever made.
I looked him up in the phone book. He was living back in Sunset Valley. Good for me at the moment. I gently knocked on the door. When no one answered, I knocked harder. Finally, I had to ring the doorbell. I was disgusting, I smelled and my stomach was rumbling harder than ever, but I needed to get this done. I needed to see him. To confirm everything.

He finally opened the door. James. James Brown. I leaned in and hugged him. Gah, ridiculous, was all that ran through my mind. How big of an idiot was I? Did I honestly just visit the man who broke my heart? Multiple times? 
He sniffed my hair. "You smell," was all he could conjure up.
My hatred I felt for him washed back over me. A tsunami of James Brown and what he did to me.
I pulled away, balled my fist up and swung, his face my target. In seconds he was on the floor. I bet he wishes he wouldn't have broken the heart of a kung fu master right then.
He sat on the ground, unmoving. When I turned around to leave, he jumped back up and grabbed my wrist.

"Wait," he said. I glared at him and punched him again.
"That one's from Skye."
That time he didn't fall to the ground, probably expecting his face to be my punching bag a second time.
When he composed himself once more, he backed away, protecting his face. "I deserved that."
"You're damn right you did!" I screamed. I suddenly became aware of my surroundings. His family was there. Kids were there. Oh. My. Freaking. Gosh. I just punched him, and his kids watched.

"Paisley, please! I'm sorry!" he said desperately.
I glared at him once more and ran out the door. He probably thought I was the biggest mess. He would be right. (ignore the fact that one second they were inside and the next they were outside, just PRETEND she was inside the whole time)
When I finally got home, I hopped into the shower, ate some food, and cut and braided my hair.
Who would've thought that the person to bring me out of my extreme depression would be James Brown? And all I had to do was punch his face and knock him on the ground.

I applied my makeup, brushed my teeth, and pulled on a nice dress. I was going to visit Anna-Leigh.

When I got there, I couldn't keep myself from crying. I fell to the ground, sobbing. I hugged her tombstone like it was her, and if I were to let go I would never see my best friend again. I sat there for who knows how long, until I decided it was time. I opened my mouth, and after that I had no control over what I said.
"Anna-Leigh. You are--were-- one of the most amazing people in the world. I wish I could see you one more time. To just say goodbye. Just... don't be dead. Please," I barely whispered.
I stayed there. I stayed until the sun was gone and the moon took it's place. I was planning on staying even longer, but soon I started hearing my name.

"Paisley!" the distant voice called. "Paisley!"
It grew louder and louder until it was being whispered into my ear.
"Paisley," Jesse said sweetly. "It's time to go home."
But I didn't want to go home. I wanted to stay here forever. This was where I belonged. With my best friend.
When I wouldn't budge, he scooped me up into his arms and carried me to the car. "I know you had to come here," he said as he buckled my seat-belt. "But you could've told me where you were going. I've been searching all over town for you all day. I was worried sick."
I knew I was supposed to feel bad, but I didn't. Because right then I felt a sense of closure, and it made me feel whole again. Of course, there will be an empty space inside of me that will never be filled, but at least I knew why it was there.

When we arrived at the house, I pulled myself out of the car without the help of my boyfriend. It was time. Time for me to come back. I walked inside and took a deep breath. The house was empty. The only people who lived here were Jesse and I. And it needed to change.
I remembered Skye had a challenge father named Albino Rabbit. I looked him up, but before I could call him,  my phone began to ring. "Hello?" I asked cautiously. I wasn't sure who could be calling. Chase went with his girlfriend to France, Skye was back in her home of Cherwood, my parents were in Twinbrook for some medical seminar, Caitlin lived in Europe and Jesse was in the next room.
"Hello Paisley!" my sister's cheery voice echoed through my mind as I tried to process her joy.
"Hi Cass," I said gloomily. Just because I had a sense of closure didn't mean I was happy. At all. "What do you need?"
"I just had my baby! Can you come and visit!?"
I was taken aback. I had completely forgotten that my own sister was pregnant.
Suddenly I was happy once more. I knew it was a temporary happiness, so I tried to take it all in. "Boy or girl!?" I nearly screamed.
"Girl!" she exclaimed.
"What's her name, dang you!"
The line was silent for a moment. "We named her Anna."
A small smile crept on my face. "That's... nice. Really, it is. But you stole it."
"What do you mean I stole it?"
"I was planning on naming my future daughter that. Like, the one I'll have when I'm married to Jesse."
She laughed. "First come first served!"
"I'll be there in fifteen minutes!"

I grabbed my purse and hopped into my car. On the way there, I nearly had a heart-attack; a man with blonde hair jumped in front of my car. I hit him and he went flying.

"What the--" I yelled as I came skidding to a halt. I flung my door open and sprinted over to the man.
"Hey Paisley, long time no see," he said, rolling over onto his back so I could see his face.
"J-Jack?" I stuttered. "Why the hell did you jump in front of my car?" I demanded.
He grinned. Not a heart warming grin like he used to give me, but a cold hearted, wicked grin. "I needed to stop you some how."
"And you thought jumping in front of my car would be a good idea!? Why didn't you just go to my house?"
"That was kind of hard, considering you moved and I had no idea what your address was. How about you come to my house?"
I hesitated. Was it a good idea? There was a new craziness in his eyes that made me shiver. But I agreed. I thought maybe we would have a rational, adult conversation.

I was wrong. When we got to his house, he locked all the doors and closed all the blinds, followed by the turning off of the lights. He took a step towards me, I took a step back. We repeated this process until there was nowhere else I could go. I was in a corner and he was in front of me. There was nowhere I could run to get away from him now.
The look in his eyes got worse and worse until it looked like he was about to do something extremely bad. And he was. He took out a gun that I couldn't believe I hadn't seen. I tried to scream but he covered my mouth. He lifted his gun into the air and brought it down on my head. Everything turned black.

When I woke up again, I was tied up in the same corner and had duct tape over my mouth. Screaming was no use, and escaping was not an option. I was completely and utterly at Jack's mercy. And I had a feeling he wasn't in a very merciful mood today.
I tried to speak, but it came out as mouthfuls of random sounds. I needed to know one thing before I died: Why was he doing this?
It was like he read my mind, because he started talking. "You broke up with me, Paisley, and you had no right to do that."
I couldn't help but be annoyed. He was about to kill me over a stupid breakup? We were dating for a month!
"I loved you and wanted to spend the rest of my life with you. One day, when I'm about to propose to you, you break up with me, walk away, move houses and I never see you again. The doctors say "my brain couldn't handle it." That I'm "mentally unstable." I'm fine!"
And that's why he was about to kill me? He was fine?
I managed to get the words "I'm sorry" out, but didn't try to say anything else. He would never listen to me. And the duct tape wasn't a helpful factor. I was going to die, and there was nothing I could do to change that.
It wasn't until that moment that I realized he was polishing his gun. "I'm almost ready, my dear Paisley, there's nothing to worry about. I'll try to make this as quick and painless as possible." The crazy in his voice scared me more than the gun in his hand. What happened to the Jack I used to know? The one that bought me flowers and jewelry and said he loved me? What happened to the one who was sane?
This was not Jack Moore. At least, not fully him. This was a mentally unstable, heartbroken, killing Jack Moore. And I was his victim.
After he was finished with his gun, he walked over to me and put his gun to my temple. I looked up at him, my eyes pleading. Tears ran down my face as he put his finger on the trigger.
This is it, I thought. This is the moment I'm going to die. I closed my eyes and waited. I opened my eyes a bit to see what was happening. He was about to pull the trigger, I could tell. Suddenly, there was a flash of light and I saw a man tackle Jack to the ground.
I was safe, and I wasn't afraid to pass out. The last thing I remember was Jesse running over to me, crying, and grabbing me in his arms. Sobbing things I couldn't quite make out. Out of the corner of my eye I could see a police officer cuffing Jack and shoving him out the door.
I didn't care at the moment, because I was safe. And then the world went black.

Trent's Point of View

As I stared at my daughter lying helpless in her hospital bed, I used all the swear words I knew towards the man who did this to her. And trust me, I knew a lot. 

I walked over to her and caressed her forehead. It was bruised from where he hit her with his gun. I leaned over and kissed her where my hand used to be. This was going to be a very slow few days in the hospital. 

The doctor said he wanted to keep her here for a few days. When Paisley was unconscious from being hit in the head, he... did bad things to her. It makes me hate him even more. 

He also caused some brain damage when he hit her. "Not severe," the doctor said. "It shouldn't cause her any problems in the future if we can get it under control, but if not she could die. So we need to keep her here."

It made me feel better that she was going to be fine. A few days in the hospital didn't seem so bad.

Or so I thought. The few days grew into more and more days. Paisley slipped into a coma. The doctor said he has no idea what made it come on. I can take a guess. 

Those "more and more days" turned into two weeks. Three. Four. We were there for two whole months and Jesse didn't leave her side once. He took time off work to be there, and since I was a doctor at the hospital I could come and visit her whenever I wanted to. And I always wanted to.

It tore me apart to see her like that. Her bruises healed and the doctors fixed her damage to her brain, but she still wouldn't wake up. 

No one knew why. A specialist said her body and brain couldn't handle what happened, so she shut down. "Dr. Parker," she said after examining Paisley once more. "She should come back out of her coma soon. She just needs time to recover."

***

Her stomach began to grow. I have never been as mad as I was at Jack. 

"If she doesn't wake up soon, we'll have to do a c-section," her doctor told me one day, near her due date.

When it was a week after her due date, the doctors delivered her baby. It didn't appear that she was going to be awake to do so. 

She had a healthy little boy, Lee. Susan took Lee to Paisley's house because Jesse still refused to leave Paisley's side. 

I, however, decided to stay at the hospital. My best stress reliever is work. And I had a lot of stress.

Susan's Point of View

Lee was a beautiful little baby. He beamed every time I looked at him. Smiled every time I picked him up. Laughed every time I talked. And, fortunately for me, slept every time I sang. But it was soon time to age him up. 

It was sad. All I could see when I looked at my beautiful little grand son was that sick monster that helped create him. I'm glad he did create him, but I wish it would've been someone else. Some other way. Paisley didn't deserve that, and neither does Lee.

***

I gave him all the attention I could muster up. I made him breakfast every morning, lunch every afternoon and dinner every night. To top it off he always got dessert. He was a happy little baby, and it showed. 

I went on walks with him through the town, took him to the park, went to the playground. It was all well and good, but the thing that confused him the most was when I took him to visit his mother. "Mama," he would say. He understood who this woman was. He knew she was his mommy, but he couldn't quite grasp why she was always asleep. I explained it the best I could, but my best wasn't good enough.

"Why mama not wake up?" he would ask me constantly. 

My response would always be, "Because she's really tired." 

To ease his little mind I would take him for ice cream. It was harder on me than it was on Trent for obvious reasons. Trent didn't have to watch what I did. Lee's mother was in a coma and her father refused to leave her side. The only person he had was me. 

Paisley's Point of View

I could hear all of a sudden, but my eyes refused to open. The only thing I could hear was my father and Jesse talking. Are they good friends or something now?

I tried to move. Couldn't. Tried to talk. Couldn't. Tried to scream. Couldn't. 

I was stuck in a state between being awake and being asleep. I could no longer tell what was real and what was my imagination. 

Jesse talked to me like I was awake. I'm pretty sure that was real. My father held my hand and sobbed. That was real too. Cassie brought Anna, her daughter, to come and visit me. That was all real. But there were some things that weren't.

One day, I thought I could see, but I was still in that state between consciousness. It was just fake. But it was scary all the same.

Jesse told me he wanted to break up and that he hated me. Thank the heavens above that was fake. Macy told me Cassie was dead. Fake. My father disappeared. That one... that one I was not sure of. 

I heard them talking. If only they knew I could hear. "I looked all over for him. I couldn't find him anywhere!" my mother said, beginning to sound panicky. 

"He left a note? That's all? He didn't say where he was going? That's not like him!" my sister's voice added.

"What did the note say?" Macy asked. He was trying to soothe a whimpering baby in his arms. 

"Bah bah!" Anna chimed in. 

***
After that, I drifted in and out of consciousness. I would hear random conversations that meant nothing to me since I hadn't been awake to hear the beginning, but they still scared me. 

"They found him," was the most reassuring thing I had heard. 

"And?" Chase asked. He was the one voice out of my family that I hadn't heard until then.

"They think he tried to kill himself," my mother replied. 

I started falling back asleep. No, I told myself. You can't fall asleep! Not now! 

But it was no use. I was gone once more.

***

I'm not sure how long I was asleep that time, but it felt like a while. Maybe days? I'm not entirely sure if the conversation I heard was real. I was out of it. I think they gave me some medicine or something.

"What if she doesn't wake up?" Chase asked, nearly crying.

"She will," my mother said in her lecturing tone. "My baby is too young to die."

"But mom," Cassie cut in. "She's been in a coma for six months..."

That's when everything hit me. I knew I was in the hospital but I didn't know why. No one had mentioned the coma. Jack. The gun. Nothing. They tried to pretend like I was asleep. But it appeared that they couldn't ignore what was painfully real anymore. 

There was a long pause. 

"So?" my mother demanded. "She's strong! She had a brain tumor!"

"She's strong, yes," Chase said gently. "But no one can survive the worst. Jack did horrible things to her. Horrible, horrible things, mom. I think it's time we faced the facts and opened our eyes. We may not have Paisley in this world much longer."

My mother began to cry. 

That's when I knew it was real. I might actually die. "GAH!" I managed to get out. The whispering stopped and I could feel their eyes on me. 

***

Jesse ran over to me and grabbed my hands. "Paisley?" he asked quietly. "Are you awake."

Come on, I told myself. Wake up! The world has been going on around you for six months! Say something you weak coward!

"Jesse," I barely whispered. "I--I've..." I didn't have enough energy to talk. That tough love act that was going on in my head was all in my head. I was having problems. And I couldn't talk. 

"You've what?" he prodded. 

"H--have..." Come on! SPIT IT OUT! "I've been a-awake f-for a while now. A-and I've been listening to your c-conversations." 

DON'T STOP NOW! 

"I-is dad okay?" 

***

The hopeful whispering I heard from the corner of the room faded. "Yes." Chase was the first to speak up. "He was in the hospital for a few days. He's seeing a therapist now. But... he's alright."

"Sweetie, can you open your eyes?" Jesse asked me. 

I tried. And tried. And tried. It felt like my eyelids were led. They weighed down and refused to open. "No," was all I could get out. I fell back asleep. 

But this time, I had a dream. A real dream. I knew it was a dream even then, because the star of the dream was Anna-Leigh.

"You really suck," she told me. 

"I know," I replied. I looked down. It was definitely a dream. I was in ridiculous clothes that the old Anna-Leigh would've picked out. "What's with the clothes?" 

"I thought you needed a reminder of... better times..."

What? What was going on? My dreams are never this corny! 

"I know you're confused," she said soothingly. "But this isn't a dream. Well, it is, but I'm actually me." 

I was so confused. Not the dream Paisley, because I quickly realized that the dream Paisley was... the real Paisley. Not making any sense? I understand...

"I needed to get through to you somehow..." she began.

"What the flip are you talking about!? I'm so damn confused right now, Anna! Please explain to me what's going on!"

She looked... ashamed? No, that's not the right word. 

"Nobody ever told you how I died," she stated. 

The realization hit me. No one did. They left me in the dark. For a reason, I was sure. 

She started talking again. "Jack..."

Oh. No. How could I not have known after he kidnapped me? That he was the reason one of the most important people in my life was gone?

"Jack killed me. He put a bomb in my house and... kaboom."

She was talking as if this were a joke. A cruel, sick joke. 

"W-why would he do that?"

She shook her head. "Because. His mind isn't right anymore, Paisley. Or...wasn't."

My eyes widened. He's--

"Dead," she completed my thought. "He killed himself in his cell. He... came back. As his old self for a while. I think it will make you happy to know that he died as the old Jack Moore. The one you knew."

And then the dream faded. I was in my hospital bed. I could hear. I could see. And I could talk. And I was alive. 

I think it's time I show you Chase as a Young Adult. (ignore his vampire qualities. I have the glitch where everyone looks like a vampire in CAS)

I freaking love Chase. He looks just like Trent. Chase is in the athletic career now. Next is Anna.

Isn't she the most freaking adorable baby EVER!? I love her chocolate brown eyes and creamy blonde hair! (oh yeah, I used FOOD to describe this girl!! I'm just epic like that) Oh, and you're probably wondering about Chase's girlfriend.

Her name is Leah Monroe. She is a journalist and lives with Chase in their very own home. 

Everyone!! I am so freaking excited it's not even right!! My mom has reasons (reasons that would be hard to explain in a short note) to pay me annually. She told me that if I still want a laptop, by the end of the school year I'll be able to afford one, if I add in birthday money. So, in about two months I will have a NEW laptop that might actually WORK. It's a bigger deal to me because I've wanted one for about as long as I can remember... Anyway, the biggest factor (besides the fact that I'll have privacy) is Pets and Showtime might actually work. I'm more concerned with Pets, though. Cross your fingers with me that Pets will work on this new computer that has just barely escaped the part of my brain that's fantasy and entered the part that's waiting for it to be in my hands. EEEP! :D Okay, enough rambling about the laptop from the distant future. PLEASE leave me some feedback! It makes my day!