Around four o'clock, Kris was cleaning the kitchen of her house with Taylor in the suburbs of New York. She and Taylor decided to move anyway, even if their primary reason for buying the house was to give Jenny a better life. After their wedding five years previous, they decided it would be best to move into the suburbs and settle down.
The doorbell rang and Kris ran to answer it. She pulled it open and smiled. "Hi Mike, come to finish the lawn?" she asked.
Mike stood on the other side of the door, out of his uniform and into a ratty T-shirt and jeans with grass-stained sneakers. "Yep," he said.
"It sucks that is rained yesterday," Kris said, allowing him inside. He followed her through the house. "Didn't you start school already?"
"Yeah."
"Oh, so you're the big man on campus now? All hail the almightly seniors, right?" He smiled.
"Something like that." She sighed.
"My niece is in high school now," Kris said. "I don't know where, though. She's a freshman." Mike nodded. "Well, all your stuff is still out there where you left it. Let me know if you need anything." Mike went to the backyard through the sliding glass door to finish the lawn. Yesterday it started pouring all of a sudden and Kris made him stop and go home.
The phone rang and Kris picked it up as Mike began to finish the lawn. "Hello?" she asked, returning to her cleaning.
"Hello gorgeous," Taylor said. Kris smiled.
"Hey, you. I miss you! When are you coming home?" she asked. She looked around the mess in her kitchen and wondered how it could have gotten so bad if she was the only one currently in the house.
"Soon. I...I think we've got it." Kris paused.
"How?" she asked. Taylor had been travelling to LA on and off for the past seven years, since Zac was put in prison. He'd been working with several different lawyers on Zac's case and had yet to make any progress until recently when he met Debbie Powers, a credible lawyer who knew exactly what she was doing. She was able to find flaws in the original trial nobody had ever been able to find before.
"There are a few things. One, we think we know who the person in the tapes was. Debbie's working on Jeff Billet, the owner of the pawn shop. He was more than likely bribed. That, and we might know where they got Zac's prints on that gun."
"How?" Kris asked.
"When I was thirteen, way back at the beginning of our career, we did a lot of pointless photo shoots that never went anywhere. The pictures were never released and there were so many of them, mostly in bizarre situatons, that they kind of blurred together. I just remembered that one of them was in field in Tulsa, with us holding toy guns."
"Toy guns? I saw that gun, Tay, and that wasn't a toy."
"How do you know? Nobody ever fired it, nobody ever tried to open it to look if it had bullets in it--another one of Mark's lovely perks. We just assumed that the bullets displayed came out of that gun. I saw the photos from that shoot. The one Zac was holding--it's the same gun, Kris."
"Oh my God," Kris said. "That's kind of wonderful."
"That's amazingly wonderful, Kris! With this, and with Debbie actually knowing how to argue a case, we can appeal and get him out of jail. I mean there's still a lot to work out, but we've got this thing in the bag."
"That is so great, Taylor."
"So how are you doing, sweetheart?" Taylor asked.
"I'm wonderful. I have some news for you but I don't want to tell you over the phone," she said, a large smile crossing her lips. "Which is why I want to know when you're coming home. Soon is too vague and your definition of soon is completely different from mine."
"Next week, probably Wednesday," Taylor said. "But I'll never wait that long. Tell me now."
"No, not over the phone."
"Tell me!" Taylor pleaded. "Please?" She sighed.
"Fine, but it's only because I can't wait that long either. I'm pregnant."
"Oh my God!" Taylor said. "No way! We've only been trying for five years--I was starting to think there was something wrong with us!"
"I guess not--I guess it just took a while," Kris said. "So are you happy?"
"Of course I'm happy! This is amazing, Kris. I do kind of wish you waited, though, because now I can't hug you or kiss you or anything."
"See?"
"Well I'll try to get home as soon as I can. I love you."
"I love you too," Kris said. She hung up the phone as Mike came back inside. "Done already?"
"Yeah," he said. "There was just a little bit left that I had to do. Who was that on the phone?" Kris smiled.
"That was just my husband."
"You know, Kris, I've been mowing your lawn just about every week for five years now and I don't think I've ever met your husband."
"He's out of town a lot on, um, business," Kris said. "I'm surprised you've never met him; he's around a lot more than you think. He'll be back sometime next week. I'll make sure he's around long enough for you to meet him."
"All right. Well I'm going to load everything up. See you next week, Kris." Kris smiled.
"Bye Mike."
"Young lady get back here! You are not leaving this house!" Elizabeth yelled at Jenny, who was prettied up for her date that evening with Mike.
"Why don't you try and stop me!" Jenny yelled and continued to the door where Mike was waiting, out of view. Liz caught up with her foster daughter, flipped her around, and slapped her across the face.
"You're just as bad as your father."
"Fuck you," Jenny spat, her eyes filling with tears as she ran to the door and quickly left. "Let's go." She started pulling Mike away from the house, her cheek stinging. He could see the tears in her eyes and grew worried.
"Are you okay?" Mike asked as she began walking hurriedly to the car.
"Yeah, it's just allergies. Let's go." She rushed him in the car before Liz could come running out of the house. They managed to make it out of the driveway and out of sight before anything could potentially stop them.
"You look amazing tonight," Mike said, looking over at her. She smiled.
"Thank you," she said. "So, where are we going?"
"I was thinking dinner and a movie, unless you have any better ideas for a first date," he said. She shook her head.
"Dinner and a movie sounds great," she said.
"Great."
She watched him as he drove, a small smile on her lips. When word got out that the two of them were going on a date, Jenny's popularity shot through the roof. She'd never been popular before, not in a positive way. Before she was more likely to be beaten up than be asked out, and it felt good to be liked, no matter how long it lasted. She didn't use her last name ever, just to be safe, and since she was the only person in the school with bright red hair, everybody knew who Redhead Jenny was.
Mike parked at a restaurant and once again opened Jenny's door for her. She smiled and accepted the outstretched hand, not letting go until they were seated inside.
"I heard you're becoming quite the girl at school," Mike said. "It didn't take you long to become the belle of the ball."
"It's because of you."
"Not it's not..." Miek said, blowing it off. She nodded.
"It is! All the freshmen girls are enamored of me because I get to date you. They're all running around prettied up, hoping you would pick one of them."
"Really?"
"Yeah! I've asked around; people love you, Mike." He smiled. "So that's why I'm so popular all of a sudden. Not that I mind; a girl could get used to this."
"Were you popular in middle school?" Jenny stifled a snort.
"No! Everybody knew me but it was definitely not in a good way. It was always like that, even before my mother died. The kids were jealous, you know? My parents were major celebrities and the other kids felt threatened by that, like I was going to be the same way or something, so to make up for it they'd beat me up and push me around. Things like what happened the first day of school--that was an everyday thing for me. And here I thought high school would be different."
"It is different. Not everybody is like that," Mike told her. She shrugged.
"I'm used to it."
"You shouldn't have to be," he told her. "I really wish you didn't have to go through that. There are people who care about you."
"I know there are," she said, smiling. "Maybe someday I'll get to introduce you to them. My father's a bit of a stretch, but you should meet my aunt and uncle. They're amazing people. They live in the city, but I'm not sure where. I haven't been able to see them since I left."
"You'll see them again someday," Mike said. "Besides, once you're eighteen the state can't stop you from seeing anybody. You can find your aunt and uncle and you can go visit your father." Jenny paused to think about her father; seven years was a long time. She was beginning to forget things about him, little things, and it upset her. It was the same for her mother, but all she needed to do was look in a mirror to remember it all again.
"I'm sorry, is this not a good topic?" Mike asked, noticing Jenny's sudden subdued state. Jenny looked back at him.
"It's just a little difficult, that's all. But, yeah, let's talk about something else." Mike quickly began talking about football and Jenny's eyes soon glazed over.
Late that night after what could only be described as the best evening of Jenny's life, the two sat in the car in front of Jenny's house. From the looks of it, the rest of the family was asleep. "Your cheek is really red," Mike said. They had the lights on so they could see each other, and Jenny's cheek was still red from Liz's slap. "What happened?"
"It's nothing," Jenny said.
"What happened?" he asked again.
"Mike, it's really--" She caught the concern in his eyes. She couldn't lie to him while she looked in his eyes. "Liz hit me."
"Jenny--"
"Please, don't. She's never hit me before and I honestly don't think she'll do it again. I deserved it--I've been a real bitch to her lately."
"That doesn't justify her hitting you. Nothing does, and don't try to make it seem okay because it's not," he told her.
"Mike, I'm fine. Really. I can take care of myself." He sighed but allowed it to slide.
"Fine. But if it happens again, I'm not letting it go." She nodded. "Does it hurt?" he asked, lightly running his thumb over her cheek.
"Not anymore, no." After briefly making eye contact with her, he leaned in and softly kissed her cheek, then turned her head and kissed her lips. She responded, easing into his kiss, allowing him to guide her. Never before, at least not since her mother died, did she feel so completely happy. She put her arms around him and looked at him.
"Thank you."