Chapter 31

 

I woke up to the sound of crying. It wasn’t sad crying or tears of joy or anything like that. No - it was the sound of a baby crying.

It was the middle of the night and the living room was pitch black save for a light that was coming in from the second floor. It lit up the face of a clock, and I could tell that Raven, Lauren, Jessica and I had gone to sleep on the sofas in the living room of Bella’s house two hours ago.

Cassandra came down the stairs carrying Alice and headed for the kitchen.

“I‘m so sorry,” she said when she saw us. “I forgot to give her a bottle before she went to sleep, so the poor girl must be pretty hungry.”

“Would you like me to hold her while you get her something?” Lauren asked.

“That would help me out so much.”

Lauren got up and took the baby from Cassandra. She bounced her a little and Alice settled down.

“It‘s okay, Alice,” she said. “Mommy‘s getting you something to eat.”

Jessica and I got up and the three of us played with Alice until Cassandra came back into the room with a bottle of milk. She sat down and took her daughter from Lauren. She placed Alice in her lap and put the bottle in her mouth. Almost immediately, Alice put her own hands around her bottle, allowing Cassandra to use that hand to hold her.

“I guess that‘s what she wanted,” Raven said, taking a seat beside me.

“Once again, I‘m sorry she had to wake you up,” Cassandra said, “but with everything that‘s happened…” She rested her head against her free hand. She closed her eyes and looked like she was about cry again. It must have been hard for her to wake up and realize that no one was next to her in bed.

“You‘re going to be fine, Cassandra,” Jessica reassured her. “I know it‘s tough when your heart breaks, but it won‘t last forever.”

“Jessica, this is completely different from anything you‘ve been through,” Cassandra told her. “Just seven months ago I was carrying our child whom I thought came from our love for each other. But now I know that everything we ever did meant everything to me and nothing to him.” She sighed and took a deep breath. “I wish I knew what to do.”

“Try not to worry,” Lauren said. “You‘ll figure it out. You‘ll be better off without him if that‘s what you want.”

Alice finished her bottle and dropped it on the couch. Cassandra picked it up. With the child in her arms, she dropped it off in the kitchen and headed back to her bedroom so we could go back to sleep.

Except that never happened. I wanted to sleep, but my body had other ideas. No matter how long I shut my eyes and laid on the couch, sleep did not come. So, after a while, I just stopped trying and watched one of the family ghosts - apparently they moved to Strangetown along with the Goth family - roam the house and hunt random objects. I learned that because I wasn’t afraid of ghosts, it was actually amusing to watch one hunt a teddy bear - especially when it turned the head of the bear in a complete circle. That’s when I started getting tired.

I was almost asleep when I heard a scream coming from right next to me. I bolted upright and opened my eyes to find Jessica sprawled out on the floor with an expression of fear in her eyes. The sofa on which she had been sleeping was floating in midair, and I knew Raven had nothing to do with this - she had gone back to sleep.

Lauren, Raven and I rushed to her side. Before we could do anything, Mortimer and Bella raced down the stairs and joined us. She got on the floor next to her friend.

“Jessica, what happened?” Bella asked. A concerned look was on her face. Jessica didn’t answer. Her mouth just hung open and she stared at the floating couch. Almost as if he was owning up to the problem, the ghost lowered the couch to the ground, left it, and floated through the back wall of the room. “Is it the ghost?” Bella asked her. Jessica nodded her head and Bella put her arms around her friend.

“She looks pretty shaken,” Mortimer said. “I‘ll get her something to drink.” He headed for the kitchen but stopped by the stairs. “She’ll be fine. Bella and I will stay with her.” I looked up and saw that the whole family had gathered in the room to figure out why they had heard screaming in the middle of the night. Before anyone could leave the room however, the stereo turned on and started blasting some Mozart song at full volume.

“Please turn that thing off!” Lauren yelled over the noise. I don’t know how she did it, but Raven pushed the off button telekinetically. The silence was thank you enough. The ghost suddenly appeared right next to the stereo and once again left the room through the wall.

As Mortimer entered the kitchen, and the rest of the family went back up the stairs, Jessica grabbed a remote that was lying on the coffee table and was about to throw it in the direction the ghost had left when Lauren grabbed her arm.

“It’s a ghost, Jessica,” she said. “That will go right through him.” Jessica put the remote down and rested her head on Bella’s shoulder.

“Please don‘t tell me you‘re using the Mozart effect on Alice,” Lauren said as a way to cheer up her friend. Jessica didn’t look amused.

“Oh, no,” Bella said, laughing. “It‘s Mortimer’s CD. He likes that music.”

“Well no offense to him,” Lauren replied, “but I just can‘t stand classical music.”

“That‘s fine,” Bella told her. “Not everyone likes everything, you know.”

“My mom has that song as her ringtone,” I said. That actually got Jessica to laugh. It got everyone to laugh.

“Are you serious?” Lauren asked me.

“She heard it in some movie,” I told her.

Mortimer came back with a glass of water and Bella helped Jessica sit down on the couch before he gave it to her.

“Can you tell us what happened?” Bella asked.

“I went to the bathroom,” Jessica said after taking a sip of water, “and when I went to sit on the couch, it wasn‘t there and when I looked at it I saw it was floating! I thought you said the ghosts wouldn‘t bother us.”

“They won‘t if you’re asleep,” Bella explained, “and they never haunt objects being used. But he must have started haunting the couch after you got off it. It will be fine, Jessica. He won‘t bother you any more, and I‘ll stay down here with you.”

Jessica finished her glass, and Mortimer brought it back to the kitchen. We got ready to go back to sleep. Bella let Jessica go and she lay down while Jessica sat on the other side of the sofa Lauren was using. I lay down too, but there was no way I was going back to sleep.

Mortimer came back in the room carrying the fleece blanket Lauren and Jessica had given Bella as a wedding gift. He laid down next to Bella, and placed his arm under her head and around her shoulder so she could use that as a pillow instead of the arm of the sofa. Then he spread the blanket over them, and they both closed their eyes.

I wasn’t sure about Raven, but I knew that no one else went back to sleep. Spending so much time in the dark allowed my eyes to adjust to the lack of light and I could see Lauren and Jessica turning around on the sofas. Every once in a while Mortimer would do something to let Bella know he was still awake, like brushing his hand against her shoulder, or giving her a small kiss on her forehead. Bella would often give him a kiss back.

After a while, Jessica’s voice broke the silence.

“Bella? Are you still awake?”

“Yes. Why do you ask?”

“I can‘t sleep,” Jessica told her. “I keep thinking that ghost is gonna come back.”

“Don‘t worry about it,” Bella said. “If another one shows up Mortimer and I will take care of it. We‘ll be your personal ghost busters.” Jessica laughed at that.

“Do you have like ray guns or whatever it is that they use in that movie?” Lauren asked.

“It doesn‘t actually work like that,” Mortimer said.

“Wait a minute,” Lauren said, “when did he show up?”

“Oh my gosh, Lauren,” Jessica teased. “He‘s been here the whole time, you dofus brain!”

“I can‘t see that far. I don‘t have my contacts in.”

“Sorry,” Jessica said. “Remember going to that Petrified Rainforest place?”

“Of course,” Bella said. “That was the biggest trip we took with your families.”

“I would really like to go there sometime,” Mortimer said.

“I know,” Bella replied. “Maybe we should go there for our next summer anniversary.”

“I like that idea,” Mortimer told her.

“I don‘t get why you want to go there anyway,” Lauren said. “It‘s just a bunch of trees.”

“Uh, Lauren,” Jessica said, “they‘re not trees, they‘re rocks.”

“Jessica, they looked nothing like rocks, and everything like trees.”

“Not this again,” Bella said, resting her head on Mortimer’s shoulder.

“They‘re rocks!”

“Trees!”

“Rocks!”

“Trees!”

“THEY‘RE ROCKS!” I finally said, not wanting to listen to them all night. Lauren and Jessica stopped arguing and looked at me.

“Then why do they look like trees?” Lauren asked me.

“Because they were trees once.” Lauren and Jessica were still looking at me. “My mom also wants to see that place,” I explained.

“Your mom sounds really interesting,” Jessica said. I had no clue how to respond to that.

We laid around in silence for another hour or so and I thought that everyone else had gone back to sleep but me. Then I heard Bella whisper.

“Mortimer?” Bella asked, sounding concerned.

“What is it?”

“I‘m worried about Cassandra,” Bella said. “It’s so hard to see her upset and she’s so devastated.”

“Bella, I‘m worried about her too,” Mortimer told her. His arms wrapped around her back and he pulled her close to him until they were up against each other. Bella placed her arms around him and let herself relax as Mortimer’s hands tenderly ran up and down her back. “The best thing we can do is be there for her. I‘m just as surprised as Cassandra is about this. Don came off to me as a really nice man. He seemed to really care about her and she was really happy with him. To think about the smile she had when she was around him is just heartbreaking.”

“And what about the kids?” Bella asked. “How will they react to their family falling apart? He seemed to care about them. And Amanda - she was upset when she learned that he broke her mother‘s heart, what will happen if she finds out her father might not even care about her?” Mortimer brought a hand up to her hair and stroked it.

“The kids are going to be fine, Bella,” he told her. “I know that.”

“Why do you say that?” Mortimer looked into her eyes.

“Because they have us,” he said. “Honey, most kids don‘t have the kind of relationship with their grandparents that they have with us. I know they will be affected by this, but we‘ll be here to help them get through it.”

“You‘re right,” Bella said, “but I‘m still worried about them.”

“I am too,” Mortimer told her as Bella let her head fall onto his shoulder. “It‘s hard not to be. I‘m really worried about Anne, though. I knew that living with her mother was going to be hard on her, but after what happened yesterday…” Bella lifted her head, and Mortimer’s hand slid down to her back again.

“I‘m just as concerned about her as you are,” Bella said. She began to run her hand along his back in an effort to make him feel better, even though they both knew it was going to take more than a romantic embrace to solve the problem.

“What worries me the most is that she really seemed to be feeling unloved, and that makes me concerned about what is going on over there. I‘m also shocked about Dina. I figured out that she didn‘t love me years ago, and that kind of behavior from her doesn‘t surprise me, but I never expected her to be having an affair with my daughter‘s husband, and that‘s what‘s bothering me right now.”

“I know, honey,” Bella told him. “It‘s okay to feel that way. She did hurt you, honey. It‘s okay to feel upset about it.”

“That‘s why I‘m worried about Anne. She shouldn‘t be living with someone who behaves the way Dina does. I‘ve tried to avoid it - I don‘t want Anne to be in the center of a fight - but now that we know that Don and Dina’s behavior is upsetting her, we should fight for her custody.”

“She‘ll be okay, Mortimer. She’s over here most of the time, and the most amazing man in the world is her father. She is so lucky to have you.”

“And she‘s just as lucky to have you as well,” Mortimer told her.

Bella brought her mouth to Mortimer’s and she passionately moved her lips with his. As she kissed him, she ran a hand through his thick, black hair. The kiss deepened with every movement. They stopped for a moment, and Mortimer brought his hand to Bella’s face and gently stroked it before he started to kiss her again and another light peck on the lips transformed into something tender, loving and filled with emotion.

After pulling away, Bella let her head rest right next to Mortimer’s, and he brought his arms around her shoulders. They stayed like that for a while, unable to go to sleep, but comforted by the closeness of their embrace as they cuddled under the blanket, relaxed in each other’s arms and caressed each other. No one spoke - the only sound they could hear was each other breathing.

After a while, Bella moved herself down pushing the blanket with her. I could see that Mortimer’s pajama top had somehow come unbuttoned, and Bella rested her head on his bare chest. Mortimer placed his cheek on the top of her head, continued to hold her close to him, and gave her forehead a kiss. Bella gave him a kiss back, and the two of them enjoyed being right next to each other. They stayed like that until the first rays of the sun shone in the room.

 

Chapter 32

 

“Bad night?” Joanna asked me after Bella let her in the door and offered her some breakfast.

“I got two hours of sleep. Oh, and thanks for the shirt,” I said pointing to the teal “I Love Chicago” shirt I was wearing. I found it in my bag this morning with a note from Joanna.

“You‘re welcome,” she said. “I saw that at the airport and I thought of you.”

I joined Bella in the kitchen where she was giving Alice a bottle of milk. Cassandra walked in wearing a white lab coat. Her hair was tied up in a ponytail. She gave her daughter a kiss and then grabbed a waffle out of the waffle oven.

“How are you feeling?” Bella asked her when she sat down.

“I‘m not sure,” Cassandra told her. “It feels like a Monday, only worse.”

“Did you get any more sleep last night?”

“A little, but I spent most of night thinking about what I should do.”

“Did you figure anything out?” Bella asked her daughter.

“I‘m still not exactly sure what to do. I don‘t want to stay married to him, but the only thing that‘s stopping me from ending it are the kids. I don‘t want to break up their family but at the same time I‘m not sure that keeping it together is better for them. Mom, I‘m not even sure he cares about them. I just don‘t know what to do.” Bella got up and gave her daughter a comforting hug. “I guess what I should do is talk to him,” Cassandra said. “I should find out how much he really cares about me and our family and go from there.”

“That makes sense.” Bella pulled away from the hug and picked up Alice, who had finished her bottle, out of the high chair. “Honey, before you go you should spend a few minutes with Alice and make sure she knows you‘re fine.” She handed Cassandra the baby and gave both of them a quick kiss on the cheek before sitting back down as they left the room. “Are you going to be okay with that little sleep?” she asked me. “If you need to get more rest you can feel free to use my room.”

“I‘m fine,” I told her before shoving a spoonful of cereal in my mouth. “I‘ve gotten through whole fights with no sleep so a normal day on two hours will be easy.”

“You only got two hours?”

“I never went back to sleep after Alice woke up. It happens to me sometimes.”

As Bella nodded, Jessica came in the room while trying to dial a number with her cell phone.

“Darn,” she said as she sat down next to me, “I dialed the wrong number!”

“Jessica, what are you doing?” Bella asked her.

“Calling in sick,” Jessica said.

“No, you‘re not.” Bella flipped the phone shut while her friend was dialing.

“Bella, I can‘t go to work today. I got no sleep last night and on top of that it‘s a Monday.”

“Jessica, you can‘t let one bad night be an excuse to get out of something you don‘t want to do. You have to get through the day like it was any other one. And you really need the money.”

“Bella,” Jessica said, “I just don‘t think I can perform that well today.”

“If I had a job, I‘d be going to work too,” Bella told her.

“Well, I’m not the one who spent the whole night kissing her husband.”

“We did not spend the whole night kissing. You do realize we thought you had gone back to sleep” Bella said as she got up from her seat. “And did you notice that Cassandra‘s going to work today?” Jessica shook her head. “If she can go to work despite what happened to her, then you can too.”

“But Lauren already left,” Jessica said. “I can‘t even get to work.”

“I‘ll drive you,” Bella told her, “and we‘ll get some coffee from Rogan‘s on the way.”

“We‘re going to Rogan‘s?” said a voice from the door way. I turned around and saw Amanda standing there, looking excited.

“Yes, we can go,” Bella said. Amanda jumped up and down and ran up the stairs.

“Anne!” she yelled on her way up. “Wake up! We‘re going to Rogan‘s!” Randy and Joanna passed her on their way down and when they heard what Amanda was saying, they too, got excited.

“Wait, what‘s Rogan‘s?” I asked.

“The restaurant where I used to work,” Bella told me. “You can come with us if you like.”

“Of course,” I said. I got Raven and we met the kids at the door.

“Joan,” Amanda asked me, “do you know where Grandma went?”

“I‘ll go get her,” I said.

I went upstairs and found Bella in the master bedroom talking with Mortimer as he held Alice.

“I should stay here and with her,” Mortimer said. “Someone needs to be home when Lauren‘s nieces and nephew get here.”

“Alexander will be home,” Bella told him.

“Did he not want to go?”

“I didn‘t ask him,” Bella replied. “He‘s sleeping and I‘m not going to wake him. But on the other hand, I don‘t think he‘ll be awake when they get here, and he might be more annoyed if the doorbell wakes him this early than if we get him up.”

“Then Alice and I will stay here,” Mortimer said.

“Is it okay if Anne goes with us?”

“Of course,” Mortimer told her. “Then she‘ll know that you really care about her.”

“We’ll be back in a little while then.” Bella gave both Alice and Mortimer a kiss and together we went to join Raven, Jessica, Joanna, Randy, Amanda and Anne at the front door.

 

***

 

We walked into a simple looking restaurant to find that on the inside, the place was spectacular. The tables and chairs had a wood finish, and the tile floor had a brilliant sheen. At the entrance was a podium where Bella was greeted by a man with an Italian accent.

“La bella Bella,” he said. “How are you?”

“I‘ve been doing fine, thank you,” she replied. “How about you?”

“I‘ve been great. I know I say this every time you come here, but business has really picked up since December.”

“Speaking of which, is there anyway I can get a cup of coffee to go?” Bella asked him.

“Sure,” he said. “Anything for one of my best customers.” He caught the attention of a waitress that was passing by and gave her the order.

“These are my friends Joan and Raven,” Bella said when he turned his attention back to her. “They’re visiting from San Francisco.”

“Oh, that‘s a nice city,” the man said. “Where do you live?”

“Near the bay,” Raven told him.

“Well, welcome to my restaurant. You can call me Rogan.” The waitress came back with Jessica‘s coffee.

“Hey, Joan,” Amanda said while Rogan took the coffee from the waitress, “you should have seen the look on his face when he found out she is my grandma.”

“Well, can you blame me?” Rogan asked, giving Bella the coffee. “For as long as I‘ve known her, she‘s looked like she‘s half her real age.”

“She just turned 48 last month,” Jessica said. Bella gave Jessica a look. “Sorry, I haven‘t had my coffee.” Bella gave her the cup and Jessica gave her friend a hug. “If I make it through the day, it will be thanks to you,” she said before taking off to her work place across the street.

There weren’t that many customers at the restaurant that early in the morning, so Rogan let us choose our own table, and Bella let me pick because it was my first time here. Next to each big, round table, was a building painted on the wall. I looked around until I found a familiar one that I had seen several times: the old Sears Tower. I told Bella my decision and we made our way to the table.

Anne took a seat between Amanda and Bella.

“I‘ve never been here without Dad before,” she said as a waitress came to take our drink order.

“You know what, Anne?” Bella said. “We should bring him back something for breakfast. What do you think he‘d like?”

“Blueberry pancakes,” Anne told her. “Just like the ones you make us for breakfast.”

“I think he‘d like that too,” Bella said. She gave Anne a kiss. “Joan, what do you want to drink?”

I looked up and noticed that the waitress was waiting on me.

“What do you have that‘s caffeinated but not coffee?” I asked. “Or tea?”

“Nothing we serve for breakfast,” the waitress said.

“Then just get me apple juice, please.”

“Joan, have you ever seen that building?” Amanda asked pointing to the Sears Tower painting.

“Yeah, why?”

“We saw that on our trip,” Amanda told me.

“Yeah,” Joanna said, “she saw it and said ‘Hey look, it’s the building from Rogan’s!’” We all laughed at that.

Normally I hate waiting for food, but we talked so much I totally didn’t mind the wait. We talked about the Chicago trip and I told them about some stories about fighting crime.

“Joanna, you should tell them about the time when Grandpa taught your science class,” Amanda said.

“Wait, what?” I asked.

“He‘s a retired scientist,” Bella explained, “so when the school couldn‘t get anyone else to substitute, they asked him to teach for a day.”

“So Randy and I were like, sitting there,” Joanna said, “and then he came in and we were looking at each other like what the heck?” We started laughing again.

“That‘s not all,” Randy added. “During class he did a really complicated math problem in two seconds.”

“And we were all like, whoa,” Joanna said. We laughed again, even Bella, who smiled.

“That was the best science class ever,” Randy said.

“And he was a great teacher,” Joanna told us. “The next day our regular teacher came back and she was surprised that we understood everything that was covered the day before.”

The waitress came back with our food and set a plate of chocolate chip pancakes in front of me. I dug in right away, but instead of tasting the pancakes, my mouth felt like it was burning.

“Oh my gosh, that‘s hot!” I said while trying to keep my tongue from burning and the food in my mouth at the same time.

“Don‘t talk with your mouth full,” Amanda said.

“It‘s fine,” Bella told her. “She just forgot it was hot.”

I finally swallowed the piece of pancake and drank some apple juice to cool my mouth down.

“Don‘t worry,” I said, “I‘m fine.”

While we were eating, a cell phone went off. Bella pulled hers out of the pocket of her jean shorts. She flipped it open and said, “Hi, honey.”

“Oh my gosh, he knew we were talking about him,” Joanna said to Randy. Her comment made me laugh, but I stopped as soon as I saw Bella’s face become concerned.

“Well, what did you tell her?” she asked. The was a pause and then she sighed. “We‘ll keep our eyes peeled. Thanks for telling me…. I love you too.” She hung up the phone and realized we were all looking at her. “Mortimer told me that Dina came looking for Anne,” she said. Oh great. If Dina found out Anne was with Bella, who knew what she would do. “He told her that Anne was here with Cassandra so she wouldn‘t try to come.”

“Why would she not come if Anne was here with Mom?” Amanda asked.

“Because your mom‘s mad at her right now,” I explained, “and she knows that it‘s a good idea to stay away from her.” Amanda nodded.

“If your mother asks,” Bella told Anne, “tell her you were here with your sister and not with me.” Anne agreed. It seemed even she knew why that was a good idea.

I got the hidden message. Dina might show up anyway, and we had to keep an eye out for her. Fortunately, I was right in thinking that running into Cassandra was a risk Dina didn’t want to take, and we were able to finish our meal without a hassle.

We went back to Bella’s house, and on the way there I saw a girl in tomboyish clothes with green skin and wavy black hair.

“It‘s Kelly!” I said. “Can you slow down?” I asked Bella. “I need to talk to her.” She slowed the van down and drove along the curb. I rolled down the passenger seat window and yelled, “Kelly!” She turned around and looked surprised when she saw me.

“Joan! You‘re back!” she said. “Did you just get here?”

“No,” I told her. “We got back yesterday. Sorry I didn‘t call you or anything, but it was kinda chaotic.”

“It‘s not a problem. My dad‘s out of town for the week anyway. I‘ll tell him you‘re back though. Oh, and Bella, tell your daughter I‘m sorry about what happened to her.”

“Okay, Kelly,” Bella told her. “I‘ll let her know.”

“I‘ll see you later,” Kelly said.

I waved good bye and rolled up the window.

 

Chapter 33

 

Most of the day was uneventful. When we got back to Bella’s house, we found that Lauren’s nieces and nephew were there - Bella had made arrangements with Lauren’s sister about watching her kids. We spent most of the day playing with them.

Cassandra came home from work that afternoon and after Lauren’s nieces and nephew left, Bella and Mortimer asked Lauren, Jessica, Raven and I to help them keep Amanda and Anne busy while Cassandra had a talk with Don. We went into the master bedroom and played a game together until Amanda decided to play something different. Bella kept her busy with Alice while I got another game.

The game was in a closet in the upstairs hall and while I was looking for it, I could hear what was going on in the other room.

“Goodness, Don,” I heard Cassandra say, “when you touch someone like that it should mean something. But apparently that means nothing to you. What were you even thinking?”

“I was thinking that we would both be happy,” Don replied.

“No, Don, I‘m not happy! When I said I wanted a family, I wasn‘t just talking about kids. I wanted a husband who would love them and help me raise them, not one who runs around with another woman while his wife is pregnant with his child.”

“I have taken care of them, Cassandra. You can‘t argue with that.”

“But changing a kid‘s diaper doesn‘t mean you love them,” Cassandra told him. “You‘ve shown me that you don‘t care about our own children. Be honest, Don. Did you even care if we had kids?”

“I knew that if we had kids you would be happy,” he said.

“And you wanted me to be happy so I wouldn‘t suspect that you were having an affair,” she said. “Look, Don. There‘s no reason for me to stay married to you. You‘ve hurt me and you‘ve hurt our children. It will be better for all of us if you just packed your stuff and left.”

I didn’t hear any more, because I found the game and took it, along with a few others, back to the master bedroom where we played them for a while.

After a few hours and several games Anne left to get a drink and she came back with Cassandra, who was hiding any negative emotions she might have been feeling.

“You know how you said to talk to you if anything happens with Mom?” Anne said. “I need to tell you something.”

“Can you give us a minute?” Bella asked the rest of us.

We were about to get up and leave when Cassandra said, “Anne told me already and I think it would be better for them to stay with you.” We looked at each other. Was what Anne had to tell us really that bad?

Cassandra took Alice from Jessica and asked Amanda to come with her. They left the room, shutting the door on their way out. Raven and I got off the bed and sat on the couch while Lauren and Jessica sat with Bella and Mortimer on the foot of the bed.

“Go ahead, Anne,” Mortimer told her as she sat next to me. “What do you have to tell us?”

“You know how Amanda‘s dad was at our house yesterday?” she said.

“Yes,” Bella told her.

“Well, Mom got mad at him, but she said she wasn‘t mad at him, she was just mad at the bad things that have happened to her lately. She talked about them, and I‘m not sure what they mean, but I just figured out that she was talking about you.”

“What did she say?” Mortimer asked her.

“She said that her life was falling apart,” Anne explained. “She said it was so hard knowing that she had gone to so much trouble to get rid of one person, and instead of having all of Dad’s money, she only has me.”

Anne took a breath, and no one else spoke. Bella took Mortimer and Lauren’s hands and closed her eyes.

“And then Amanda‘s dad said something, but I couldn‘t hear it. And Mom told him that she gave him the easy part and she had done all the hard work. She said that she had contacted with aliens. She said that she had made sure they took this woman and pretended to crash their ship in a the middle of nowhere and that they would make the woman lose her memory.” A tear started to run down Anne’s cheek, but she continued. “And then she said that she had made sure that Bella would never be seen again and now that she‘s back she‘s mad because she doesn‘t have Dad’s money any more.”

Those words put me in shock. A million thoughts went through my mind, but the only thing I could think about was how worried I was for my friend. Bella’s eyes were watering, but she was trying hard not to cry in front of the child. Mortimer let go of her hand and put his arm around her waist, and Bella was holding his other one. Lauren and Jessica looked shocked as well, and they were both holding her other hand.

Anne was crying now, so I took her hand as she continued to talk.

“I called Amanda when I heard, but Bella told me to wait and then I thought she hated me and…” She got of the couch and ran to her father. As she hugged him, he and Bella let go of each other’s hands to comfort her.

“Thank you for telling us about this,” he told her calmly. “Don‘t be upset, okay?” Anne nodded, resting her head Mortimer’s side.

Cassandra came back into the room and saw what was going on. She told Anne that Amanda wanted to play a game with her and that made Anne feel better. She wiped the tears from her eyes, but she looked like she didn’t want to leave.

“Go with your sister, okay?” Mortimer said.

“Okay, Dad.”

“I love you,” Mortimer told her as he gave her a kiss. Anne went over to Bella and gave her a hug.

Once Anne let go, Raven got off the couch and offered to do chores around the house so Cassandra could spend time with the kids. They left the room, and Raven shut the door.

Bella finally released her tears and they slid down her face. Mortimer held her, running a hand through her hair as she cried on his shoulder. Lauren and Jessica put their arms around her back and told her that everything was going to be fine. There was no more room on the bed, but the couch was close enough for me to be able help her if she needed it, so I just stayed there. Bella stayed that way for some time. Except for her crying, she was silent as she let some of the people she cared for the most comfort her.

After a while, she let go of Mortimer and turned around and let her friends hold her. Mortimer stayed close to her. He put his arm around her and ran it up and down her back.

“Why would she do something like that?” Bella asked.

“We don‘t know, Bella,” Lauren told her.

“I didn‘t even know who she was,” Bella continued. “She didn‘t have any reason to, but she tore me away from my family.”

“She didn‘t win,” Jessica said. “You‘ve been with your family for months now. You found them in time to see Alice born.”

“It must hurt to find this out,” Lauren added, “but you do have your family now. They‘re here for you, just as we are. We‘re your best friends. We‘re gonna help you get through this.”

“We’ll always be here for you,” Jessica said. “We‘ll always find a way to help you out.”

“I‘m always here for you too,” Mortimer told her. “I love you.”

Bella gave Lauren and Jessica their own hug and then turned around, sliding back into her husband’s embrace.

“It‘s okay to be upset,” he told her as she continued to cry. “Honey, I feel just as bad as you do. I fell into her trap. She tricked me into marrying her and into having her child. But now that I know that she took you away from me so she could do that…” His voice trailed off and Bella pulled him closer. She rubbed his back as I noticed that he was crying too. They sat there, crying as they held each other close.

“It‘s not all bad,” Bella told him. “You did get one good thing. You have a beautiful, wonderful little girl that loves you very much.”

“You‘re right, honey,” Mortimer said. He slid his hands down her sides and she placed her head on his shoulder. “She‘s a brave girl for telling us.”

“Things have a way of working themselves out,” Bella said. “You got Anne, I got really great friends and we have each other again. That‘s how I know we‘ll get through this.”

Bella lifted her head, brushing her mouth against his for a split second. Mortimer found it again and kissed her. Their tears stopped and as they sat there, holding and kissing each other, Lauren and Jessica watched them, feeling the happiness that their friend was feeling.

When they stopped kissing, Bella took a deep breath and set her head back on his shoulder and a few more tears left her eyes.

“What should we do?” Bella asked him. “We can‘t let her get away with this.”

“She won‘t, Bella,” Mortimer told her. “I can believe that she would do a lot of nasty things, but I’m shocked to find out that she did this.”

“It‘s almost evil,” Lauren said.

“Lauren‘s right,” I said. “She has to be brought to justice.” Everyone nodded their heads in agreement.

“We can figure that out in the morning,” Mortimer said.

“Bella,” Jessica said, “Do you remember the time we went to Scarlet‘s house and found Todd trying to find out what it‘s like to be pregnant?”

Bella lifted her head off Mortimer’s shoulder and turned around to face her friends, a smile crossing her face. Mortimer stayed close and kept his arm around her, but I could tell he felt better just from watching Bella’s face light up.

“I don‘t think any of us could forget that,” Bella said. “A few months before Audrey was born, we were at the townhouse Scarlet lived in before she moved. We heard a crash from the garage and we got there to find out that Todd had knocked over some shelves that he was cleaning. He looked at us and a basketball fell out of his shirt.”

“And then,” Lauren continued, “Scarlet asked him what he was doing, and he told her that he was figuring out what she was going through.”

“And then they kissed and we were all like awww,” Jessica said.

“Now that I think about it,” Bella said, looking at Mortimer, “it reminds me of you.” 

“Did he put a basketball up his shirt too?” Jessica asked.

As soon as Bella heard that she started laughing.

“No,” she said, her head back on Mortimer’s shoulder. “When I was pregnant with both Cassandra and Alexander we would always spend the night facing each other so that both of us could feel the baby.” She smiled again at the thought of a happy memory and Mortimer kissed her again.

“Okay,” I said when Bella smiled at him again, “I‘ve got a funny love story. So one of my teammates - her boyfriend got her a teddy bear for Valentines Day, and, if you can believe this, he sent it to my house in Chicago.” That made Bella and her friends start laughing. “It just showed up and so I called him and was like did you send me her gift and he told me to bring it with me when Raven and I come back to San Francisco.”

We forgot about everything that Anne told us and just spent the next few minutes laughing our heads off.

When we stopped, Bella looked at us and said, “You are the most amazing friends. Thanks so much.”

I got real tired after that so I lay down on the sofa. I heard Bella tell Mortimer to let me rest because I had only gotten two hours of sleep the last night. I must have been out of it for a while because the next thing I knew, Bella walked into the room in her white nightgown carrying Alice.

“You don‘t mind if she sleeps in here, do you?” she asked me. “I decided to take her off her mother‘s hands and let Cassandra get some sleep tonight.”

I nodded, even though I was half asleep, and Bella got into her bed with Alice, who didn’t make any noise.

 

***

 

The sun shone through the bedroom windows, bathing the room in morning light. As I lay on the sofa, I noticed that Bella was still sleeping with Alice in her arms. Mortimer was next to her, facing her back with his arms around her. His eyes opened, and without letting go of Bella, he shook her awake.

“Good morning, honey,” he said.

Bella’s eyes started to open, and Mortimer gave her a kiss. Bella placed one hand around him as she realized she had woken up in his arms.

“How are you feeling?” Mortimer asked.

“I‘m not sure,” Bella told him. “What about you?”

“I‘m feeling as good as I can right now.”

“Actually,” Bella said as she snuggled closer to him, “I feel great, but that‘s because I woke up in your arms.”

“We‘re going to get through this, honey,” he said as he brushed her hair away from her face. “We‘ll get through it together.”

“Have thought about what to do yet?”

“Some,” he told her. “What do you want to do?” Bella grabbed the sleeping baby and turned to face Mortimer, placing Alice in between them.

“I don‘t want Dina to get away with this,” she said, stroking the baby’s hair, “but I don‘t think that Anne‘s word would be enough to convict her.”

“I think it would be best to get some legal advice to see if we can press charges and go from there,” Mortimer told her. He took her hand. “I‘ll make some calls after breakfast.”

“I‘ll make sure Anne‘s all right,” Bella said. Alice opened her eyes. “Good morning, sweetie. I‘m so glad she slept through the night.”

Alice started crying. Bella and Mortimer gave her a kiss, and she calmed down a little.

“She must be hungry,” Mortimer said. “Let‘s feed her.”

“Do you mind if I stay here?” Bella asked him. “I‘m still a little tired and I want to rest some more.”

“Go ahead, honey,” Mortimer said as he picked up the baby. “Last night was hard, I know. Take all the time you need, okay?”

“Okay.” They shared a light kiss and then Mortimer left the room. I finally felt like I was awake, so I got up off the sofa and joined Bella on the bed.

“Good morning,” she said as I sat beside her.

“Good morning to you too.”

“I forgot you were sleeping on the couch,” Bella said. I could tell she was blushing. “I’m sorry, but the only thing I noticed was that I woke up in Mortimer’s arms.”

“Don‘t worry about it,” I told her.

“He gets really nervous if I‘m not next to him when he goes to sleep, and I honestly don‘t blame him. He tried going to bed before me once and he kept coming down to make sure I was okay.” She smiled.

“Everything’s gonna be fine,” I told her. “Dina‘s not going to get away with this. I know that for sure. Raven and I will make sure of it. After all, it‘s our job.” Bella smiled at me.

“You might want to look in a mirror,” she said.

I got off the bed and went into the adjacent bathroom. The sight in the mirror horrified me. The eye shadow that I had put on yesterday to hide any signs that I might have due to lack of sleep was smeared all over my face. I grabbed a towel from a door, soaked it in water, and washed it off my face. Bella was waiting for me when I left the bathroom eye shadow-free, and we went downstairs for breakfast.