Joesph's POV
It's been a few days since Michael and Ocean went back home and things are still pretty heated after what happened the night I spoke to them about Janet. Kathrine and Rebbie immediately took Janet's side and think Michael and Ocean were wrong for not agreeing to adopt Mikey, but luckily LaToya and Randy agree with me that it's their choice and shouldn't be pressured into adopting Mikey. The two of them have already done more than enough to help Janet and it's unfair to pressure them to do this too.
I go downstairs and LaToya is in the kitchen, making some coffee. "You not at work today?" I ask and she shakes her head. "Not until this afternoon. Me and Rebbie were gonna go see Janet at the centre"
"At least she's talking to you" I mutter "She's just upset is all, but I'm sure she'll come around"
"Or mabe Michael and Ocean will come around now they took Mikey home with them" Kathrine comments, walking into the room. "They took him home with them because he lives there and they said they'd take care of him while Janet's in rehab and to be honest she should be greatful their even do that after the way she's treated them"
"The way she treated them!? All she did was ask them for help and they just packed up an went home! They didn't even bother to stay the rest of the week or even say goodbye to her! I swear the two of them have turned into the most selfish people! After everything we've all done for them!" Kathrine snaps.
"Their not being selfish" LaToya cuts in. "Their still kids themselves and..."
"They went home early because everyone was going out of their way to make them feel as awful as possible for not agreeing to adopt Mikey" I cut in "And as for them being selfish! Tell me where they've been selfish! Was it when they let her move in with them? When they got her into a good school? When they helped her take care of her kid? When they brought her back here so she could get some help? When were they being selfish!? Because the only person that's being selfish in all this is Janet! Michael and Ocean have done nothing but try to help her and all she's done is lie to them, steal from them and then an had the balls to throw a tantrum because they refuse to adopt her kid! And they didn't just pack up and leave, they tried to talk to her but she just hung up the phone and refused to see them because she didn't like what they had to say!" I snap and kathrine doesn't say anything for a moment then turns and storms out of the room and storms upstairs.
"And there's another person I've pissed off" I sigh heavily. "I'm sure she's ok" LaToya tries to reasure me and we hear the door to mine an Kathrines bedroom slam shut. "I'm sure she will be ok" LaToya backtracks.
"What the hell am I supposed to do? No matter what I do, I always end up upsetting somebody. None if this is even my fault. Janet had the choice to adopt in the begining and she turned it down. She can't expect Michael and Ocean to keep that offer forever"
"And I agree with you 100% on this one. They've already been through alot and if they feel like that can't handle another baby then adoption is the worst thing for them to do. Their only just getting their lives on track and the last thing they need is all this drama and risk messing things up for them again. Have you spoken to them since they left?"
"I spoke to Michael this morning. He still seemed upset, but their concentrating more on this whole Christmas thing so I didn't mention anything about Janet or anything like that"
"Probably best we don't" she suggests. "Keep bringing it up will just make it worse"
****
Michael's POV
We tried our best to speak to Janet before we left, but it only ended with her hanging up the phone so neither me or Ocean has attempted to since. She has our number so we're going to leave her to calm down and let her call when she's ready. We've still been sending her a photo of Mikey everyday, like we promised her we would, but other than that there's not much else we can do until she's ready to speak to us so we're trying not to think about all that right now and concentrating on Christmas and making the kids happy.
It's Christmas eve and I'm busy packing some boxes to take to the charity and DJ comes rushing into the living room. "Daddy! Is it time now!?" He asks excitedly. "Yet yet, buddy"
"How much longer? I wanna see the lights" he pouts. "I know and so do I, but the parade won't start until tonight"
"But why?"
"Because if the parade was in the day then you wouldn't be able to see all the cool lights"
"But that's the best part"
"Exactly" I smile "And that's why we have to wait until it gets dark out"
"I get bored having to wait so long"
"Well there's plently of things for us to do before tonight. After mommy and Veah are done with their gingerbread men we're gonna go take these boxing to the charity and then we're gonna come back and pick up Mrs Baker and go to the homeless shelter for awhile"
"Why do we have give our old toys away and feed strangers? Why can't their mommy and daddy look after them?"
"Because not everybody is lucky as us and they need a little help"
"Will my old trucks help?"
"Of course. There gonna go to another little boy that doesn't have any toys and it'll make him really happy" I smile. "What about baby Jesus? Can we visit him in the stable? It's gonna be his birthday"
"I don't think he's there anymore" I chuckle slightly "But we can still celebrate his birthday"
"Will you tell me the story again? The one with the magic star"
"Of course I can" I smile, picking him up and take him over to the sofa.
****
Janet's POV
After 10 minutes of walking around the centre, looking for Ray, I finally find him in his office.
"Hey! What's up?" He smiles, looking up from his computer. "Not much. I was just wondering where you were is all. I haven't seen you much today" I shrug. "Yeah, I've been stuck in here most of the day, trying to get all this done before I leave tomorrow"
"Your leaving!?" I asks surprised and he nods. "Only for a few days. I'm going to stay with a friend for christmas. But don't worry Brenda and James will still be here"
"But what about our meetings and stuff? Brenda and James never run the sessions" I point out. "Don't worry about all that. Since it's Christmas we thought we'd give everybody a break. And Brenda has a really nice dinner prepared and some other stuff, plus everybody's welcome to have family here for the whole day so you guys won't feel left out"
"My family doesn't celebrate holidays because of our religion" I mumble. "Oh.. Um... Well you can still join in with the others of you want.. Or is that not aloud?" He asks unsure "I'm sure it'll be fine" I shrug "Speaking of family. LaToya called and said her and Rebbie were coming to visit you soon"
"Did they say anything about me?"
"No. Just that they wanted to see you"
"Did my dad?"
"No. He never tells me what you guys talk about. Has something happened?" He asks concerned and I shake my head "Are you sure? Because if there's something I should know then.."
"It's fine" I cut him off. "Anyway. I'm gonna go wait for my sisters and let you get back to work" I fake a smile and go downstairs.
*
After about an hour or so of waiting, Rebbie and LaToya finally arrived and we all went into the family room to hang out.
"So how's is everything here? Are they treating you ok?" LaToya asks "It's not a prison" I chuckle slightly. "But, yeah everythings going good. Their gonna be having some christmas thing here tomorrow so I'll probably just be hanging out in my room watching Netflix or something"
"I thought you weren't allowed phones in here" Rebbie frowns confused "Not usually, but dad made allowances for me and said I could as long as non of the others see it. It's only incase I wanna call home and so Michael and Ocean can send photo's of Mikey and stuff" I smile.
"Have you spoken to them since they left?" LaToya asks and I shake my head. "Things kinda got heated the last time we spoke and..."
"Because you started yelling at them when they were trying to explain why they couldn't adopt Mikey" LaToya cuts me off. "And I feel bad about that, but it'll be fine. Their obviously not that upset because they sent me another picture of Mikey today"
"But I thought you said you didn't speak to them" Rebbie asks confused. "I havent, but they still sent me a photo. They didn't say anything in the message though. It was just a photo"
"I guess that's something I suppose, but maybe you should try calling them to kinda break this ice. Since Michael and Ocean celebrate the holidays now, this would be Mikey's first Christmas. I'm sure he'd love to hear from you" LaToya smiles, slightly and I shake my head. "They'll probably be busy tomorrow and I think it's best I don't get involved in all that stuff and try and keep out of the way. If their going to adopt him then I need to step away and..."
"What are you talking about? I thought they said they didn't want to" LaToya cuts in confused. "Yeah, at the time, but obviously they've changed their mind. Why else would they have taken him to Miami with them?"
"No, sweetie that's not why they took hin home with them" she says softly and I look at her confused. "They promised you they'd help you and care for him while your in here, but they haven't changed their mind about adopting him"
"Did you talk them?" I turn to Rebbie and she nods. "I did but..."
"Did you explain to them that I wasn't ready to be a mother and..."
"They know all this" LaToya cuts in. "But they've made it pretty clear that they don't want to adopt and Ocean has said many times she isn't ready to have anymore kids"
"But he already lives there! Why is she making it so difficult!? Michael wants more kids and if they take Mikey then he gets another son like he wanted and..."
"Ocean isn't trying to make things difficult and having someone live with you and being a parent to that person is a huge difference and..."
"Then what's the point of all this?" I shrug cutting her off "I was fine until I had Mikey and that's when things started getting messed up for me because I'm not ready to be a mom and that's why I'm here but what's the point on being here to get better if your all just gonna put be back in the same position and..."
"That's not what we're doing and you can't blame Mikey for the bad things that happened. That could have happened anytime and..."
"I-I wanna go back upstairs now" I croak. "You need you leave now"
"Sweetie, we didn't come here to upset you" Rebbie says softly "Well you did. Just leave me alone" I sniffle and walk over to the door and LaToya takes my arm, stopping me.
"Janet, you can't keep running away like th..."
"I SAID LEAVE ME ALONE!!" I snap, pushing her away and the door swings open and Ray comes rushing in. "What's going?"
"Nothing. We were just speaking with our sister" Rebbie says and he turns to me. "Can you' make them leave please?" I sniffle.
"You can't kick us out! We didn't do anything wrong!" Rebbie snaps. "If she wants you to go then you have to go" Ray turns to her and I quickly leave and rush into my room before they start arguing.
A few moments later there's I light knock on my door. "It's only me. They've gone now" Ray says softly. "Thank you" I nod, while wiping my tears. "What happend?"
"It's nothing. I just got a little upset is all. I'm fine now"
"You don't look ok" he says soflty. "I just really need to be alone right now" I croak an he nods and leaves the room, closing the door behind him and I break down crying once again.
I know they didn't actually say they were going to adopt Mikey, but I really thought they changed their minds and that's why they took Mikey back with them. I thought me coming to this rehab centre was supposed to help me and help me start my life over like it does for all the others, but for me it just feels like I'm wasting my time. What's the point of even being here when I'm just going to go back to how everything was before I even came here?
****
Kathrine's POV
I'm just finishing up with the housework and Joesph comes home "finally! I'll called you over an hour ago. What took you so long?" I frown.
"Sorry, the lines at the store were really busy" he says placing a box on the kitchen counter then turns his attention to me.
"I spoke with Janet on the phone and it turns out Michael and Ocean sent her a photo of Mikey just like they've been doing every day since she went to the centre and..."
"So?"
"So... The last 4 they sent were when they got back home and Janet's took that to mean they were agreeing to adopt Mikey because they took him back to Miami and that's why she got so upset"
"So why did she kick Rebbie and LaToya out? They didn't do anything wrong. And neither did I. When the girls told me what happened, I tried calling her, but she wouldn't talk to me"
"She's just upset and just needs some time alone. You know what Janet's like when she gets upset. There's no talking or reasoning with her until she calms down... Just like all our kids" he mutters that last part. "And I wonder where they get it from!? Because they sure don't get their short fuse and stubboness from me!" I snap and he opens his mouth to say something then sighs heavily.
"Can we please stop this. It's bad enough our kids fighting. Can't we just have one day where nobody's at each others throats about something? We're a family" he says softly. "I don't like all this fighting either" I mutter. "Then let's not. Let's just try and enjoy what's left of the day" he smiles at me through pursed lips and I smile back at him the same way and peck his lips.
"So.. What did you get?" I ask, pointing at the box he walked in with.
"Oh that?" He smiles, walking over and opening it. "I was just walking around and I saw some stuff in a store window and thought it might brighten the place up a little"
"What kind of stuff?" I frown confused, looking through the box. "Nothing special. Just some colorful lights and..."
"Are these christmas decorations!?" I snap, cutting him off "You know we don't celebrate holidays"
"It's nothing to do with Christmas"
"You sure about that?" I raise an eyebrow and he nods. "Then what's THIS!?" I snap taking out an Santa clause onament. "It's not what it looks like. I just thought maybe we could just try and..."
"No! Jeez If you wanna celebrate the holidays so bad then I should have packed you off to Miami when Michael and Ocean left"
"Just hear me out. I was just trying to... Wait.. was that a real option or.."
"I only tolorated Michael and Ocean celebrating birthdays and holidays because I had no choice in the matter, but I won't have any of this stuff in my house. Some of us still have our strong religious beliefs Joesph" I snap, cutting him off and he doesn't say anything for a moment.
"So... Um... Does this mean you don't the tree either?" He mumbles and I look out of the window and see a large christmas tree beside his car.
"I want all this out of my house!" I snap and storm out of the room.
It's bad enough I have my children fighting with each other and the last thing I need right now is Joesph having a midlife crisis.
****
Michael's POV
"Did you see it!?.. I've never seen that many lights before! And did you see the big star daddy? It looked just like our star!" DJ smiles, pointing at our Christmas tree.
"I did. And I loved every second of it" I smile and finish getting Veah in her PJs.
"Ok. Now everybody has their PJs on. How about I go make some hot cocoa and we can read a story before bed" Ocean smiles, getting up and heads into the kitchen.
"Story time, Veah" DJ smiles motioning her to sit beside him on the sofa and there's a knock on the door.
"Santa's here!" Veah smiles excitedly. "Not until morning, sweetie. You two stay here a moment" I tell them and walk out into the hallway.
I get into the hallway and Ocean is already there, looking through the peephole. "Who is it?" I mouth and she doesn't say anything and opens the door and my dad is standing outside wearing a santa hat.
"Merry christmas!" My dad smiles excitedly and hugs Ocean as he walks in and walks over and hugs me. "Dad? What the... I didn't know you were coming. What are doing here?" I smile hugging him back.
"Grandpa!" DJ and Veah sqeal rushing out of the living room. "There's my little munchkins" he smiles and kneels down to hug them both. "Where's grandma?" DJ asks looking around. "It's just me. Grandma let me have a little sneaky visit for christmas" he smiles "mother knows your here right?" I asks, still suprised and he nods "It was her idea. You don't mind me stopping by do you?" He smiles.
"Of course not. All you guys are welcome anytime" I smile "Why don't you go sit down and I'll go take your stuff upstairs" I smile, taking his suitcase from him.
I was really shocked to see my dad at my front door, but I'm really glad he did. Nobody else in my family celebrates christmas and I know my dad has always secretly wanted too. I was even more surprised that my mother was the one that suggested he came here, but I'm not gonna question why. All that stuff can wait for another day.
***
Joesph's POV
After getting settled in and the kids telling me about the christmas parade, it was time for them to start getting ready for their bedtime story.
"Then we gotta leave milk an cookies for Santa and a carrot for the reindeer before bed " Duncan explains. "Wow. There's alot of things to rembemer" I chuckle slightly as he continues telling me about all the traditions.
"Ok, guys on the sofa" Michael smiles and Duncan gets up an does as he's told.
"Grampa read?" Neveah smiles, handing me the story. "Oh.. Um.. I think maybe your daddy's supposed to read this one" I say, looking at the title.
"It's OK. You can read it" Michael smile "um.. Ok. If your sure?" I smile nervously and join Michael, Ocean and The kids on the sofa.
I've never read a bedtime story before so I'm feeling a little nervous about it, especially because I know story time with the kids is a special moment for Michael and Ocean.
"Everybody ready?" I ask and they all nod and smile. "Ok.. Let go" I smile and take a seep breath and begin.
'Twas the night before Christmas, when all thro' the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there...."