FicWad

Monica got up early and made Kara breakfast. At first her oldest refused to eat but when she saw the look of hurt on her mom’s face she took a seat at the table.
“I could have just grabbed something on the way to school.” Kara said before taking a bite of her French Toast.
“Kara you may not think I’m a good mother but I don’t think I’ve ever failed to feed you.” Monica said sitting down with her cup of coffee.
Kara looked at her mother across the table. “I don’t think you’re a bad mother.”
Monica wanted to remind her about what she had said during Kelly’s problems with Mike but decided to let it drop. “How’s Bob?’
Kara smiled, “He told me how much he misses me. He said the guys are super busy today but that he’d call me when I get home from school.” She took another bite and sighed, “I miss him so much.”
“I miss Gee.” Monica said softly.
Kara didn’t respond. She finished up her breakfast, gave Monica a quick kiss on the cheek and took off for school.
Monica waited until she was gone to call Luke.
“Luke, it’s Monica. Has the doctor been in yet this morning?”
Luke pushed the tray away from his bed. “Oh hi Mrs. Knight.”
“I told you yesterday to call me Monica.” She reminded him with a slight laugh. “So do you get to go home today?”
“No and it’s stupid.” He said sounding angry. “I have a fever so they won’t release me. My dad’s pissed. He said he came all the way over here for nothing.”
Monica’s anger toward Luke’s father grew. However she didn’t want to say anything to Luke. “Well then I guess I’ll just have to visit you again this afternoon.”
“That’s okay. I know you’re busy taking care of Sunshine. Really I’m okay.” He hoped she would disagree.
“Anything special you want me to bring?” Monica asked totally ignoring what he said.
Luke smiled, “Uh, could you bring me a picture of Sunshine?” He sounded embarrassed, “Some of the nurses want to see what she looks like.” He lowered his voice, “I guess I talk about her a lot.”
Monica laughed, “I’ll bring one. See you later.”
“See you later.” He repeated then added, “And thanks.”

Monica had just finished the breakfast dishes when Alicia called. “Yo, Monica. Jamia and I were wondering how Kelly’s doing?”
“She’s doing okay. Of course she’s on lots of pain meds. How are you guys?”
Alicia looked over at Jamia, “Not bad. Missing our guys. What did you think about the mob scene at the record store?”
Monica was puzzled, “What mob scene?”
“Crap, I thought Gee would have told you.”
“Obviously he didn’t. What happened?”
Alicia looked over at Jamia who was listening to the conversation. “Uh, well the guys were there for a signing and there were so many fans it kinda got out of control. They had to call for extra security. Mikey got freaked by it but Gee probably didn’t.”
“Only thing he told me was there were lots of fans who didn’t get autographs and that he felt bad about that.”
Alicia wished she hadn’t brought it up. It made it sound like Gee wasn’t telling her what was going on. The signing had turned ugly. “Well you know Mikey. He gets freaked easy.” She tried to downplay the incident.“Hey, you gotta come visit us soon.” Alicia said changing the subject.
“I will.” Monica promised. Her doorbell rang. “Oh I think Liv and Elle are at the door.”
“You watching Elle today?”
Monica walked towards the front door. “Actually Liv called and said she needs to talk to me.”
Jamia saw the look on Alicia’s face and knew it wasn’t good. “Why?”
Monica shook her head, “Don’t know.” She opened the front door. “Hey I’ll talk to you later.” She waited until Alicia said goodbye then closed her phone.
“Come on in.” She said as soon as the door was open.
“Mommyca.” Elle held up her arms waiting to be picked up.
Monica lifted her up. “How’s Elle today?”
“Mse dood. Kewees ert.”
“She did get hurt. She’s upstairs in her room finishing her breakfast. Why don’t you go on up and visit her?”
She set Elle back down and the little girl took off for the stairs. Frank followed in her footsteps. Monica turned to Liv. “Would you like to talk in the kitchen of living room?”
Liv shrugged, “Doesn’t matter.”
Monica led the way to the living room. Liv sat on the sofa and Monica took one of the chairs across from her.
“So what did you want to talk to me about?”
Liv took a deep breath. “First off I want to thank you again for what you did at Bamboozle.”
Monica shrugged, “I didn’t really do anything. I knew Gee had invited you so I took you backstage.”
Liv tried to control her emotions; “You do know you are way too nice for your own good.”
Monica stared at her. “Why do you say that?”
“Not many women in your position who have taken me backstage. Don’t think I didn’t see and hear what everyone else thought.”
Monica continued to stare, “Just what is my position? Are you saying that most women wouldn’t take their fiancé’s ex-lover to see him?” Her tone was icy.
Liv didn’t want this conversation to make a bad turn. “What I mean is most women wouldn’t feel comfortable doing what you did,”
“Gee, loves me.” Monica said evenly. “I trust his love.”
Her words made Liv look away. “Yeah, he does love you.”
“But he loved you first.” Monica said softly, “You broke his heart when you left him.”
Liv flinched. “I left him. My decision so end of story.”
“Not really.” Monica sighed. “He won’t let it go. He wants to know why.”
Liv closed her eyes. “I didn’t love him anymore. I was tired of being with him.”
Monica didn’t believe her for a minute. “What about now?”
Liv turned and looked at her, “Now?”
“Yeah, now. Do you want to be with him now?” Monica held her breath waiting for the answer.
Liv didn’t want this conversation to continue. “He’s yours.”
Monica didn’t blink, “Yeah, he is.” She hoped Liv could hear the warning in her voice.
The clock ticking was the only sound in the room. Finally Liv broke the silence. “I came here to ask you something.”
“What?”
“Do you think Gerard loves Elle?”
Monica was shocked by the sudden change in the conversation. “Of course he does.”
Liv seemed lost in thought.
“Why would you even ask that?” Monica asked.
“Because of his actions when he first found out about her.” She said softly.
Monica tried to gather her thoughts. “He was shocked at first. I told you, he didn’t even know about her.”
Liv grew angry, “Yeah, because Ray failed to tell him.”
“You failed to tell him.” Monica shot back. “And you deliberately hid from him.”
Both women glared at each other until Liv looked away. “Look I don’t want to argue with you.”
“What do you want Liv?” Monica asked.
Liv locked eyes with Monica, “How do you really feel about Elle?”
Monica answered honestly, “I love her with all my heart.”
“Because she is Gerard’s child?”
“No, that’s not why.” She struggled to explain, “I don’t know how to explain it but she touched my heart.”
Liv nodded slightly, “She loves you too.”
This conversation was starting to unnerve Monica. “Liv, what is this all about?’
Liv sat up straighter. “Look Monica what everyone says about me it the truth. I am a bitch and a whore. You’re just too fucking nice to see it.” She glanced around the room. “But hey, why wouldn’t you be nice, right? You got it all. What’s to be unhappy about? You got Gerard, the beautiful house, and great kids. Oh yeah including mine who’s crazy about you. Shit, I got nothing and I’m tired of it.” She forced herself to slow down. “I’ve seen a lawyer.”
Monica tried to take in all she was saying. “Liv, we’ve offered to help you out monetarily. Gerard’s said he’d be happy to pay child support.”
Liv cut her off. “I don’t want child support.”
Monica had a sinking feeling, “What do you want?”
Liv’s answered shocked Monica, “I want you to be Elle’s legal guardian. I want her to live here with you.”