Chapter Eleven- The day after never

Ben stared at his daughter, slack jawed. "What?" he finally gathered the strength to ask.

She looked at the ground and pulled on an invisible thread. "I said, I think I should…go stay with him for a while."

"Why?"

She shrugged. "He is my father you know?" she asked and Ben reared back like he was slapped. "It's just so hard to get to know him so I figure if I stay with him for a little bit, it will be easier you know?"

Ben swallowed hard and looked away as Amy sighed.

"Janie, there are different ways you can get to know Ricky," she said gently. "You don't need to…move in with him in order to do it."

"I know," she nodded. "It just seems right though."

"Seems right?" Ben whispered from his little corner. "How does that seem right? It would have been right if he had a role in your life from the beginning Janie, that would have been right. You don't owe that man anything!"

She could hear the hurt in Ben's voice and her eyes watered. She hated hurting her family, especially her dad but she had to do what she thought was right. She wanted to get to know Ricky, her biological father and this was how she wanted to do it. Instead of the awkward phone conversations and pick ups and drop offs, this would be all access, unrestricted time with each other. This was the only way.

"Dad-"

"Forget it," he said as he got up and left the room.

"Mom?" she asked as the tears caught in her throat.

Amy smiled at her, tears going down her own face. "Are you sure?"

Her daughter nodded and she sighed. "Well then we're going to make this happen ok?"

"What about Dad?"
"He's hurt Jane. We're both hurt, I'm not going to lie to you, but we respect whatever decision you choose. You're old enough to figure out what's right and wrong and I'm not going to be responsible for keeping you from Ricky. Not if that's what you want."

"Thanks Mom," she said as she hugged the woman.

Of course Jane hadn't actually talked to Ricky, or Grace for that matter, about this yet. She figured she would just spring it on them and they would be happy. Grace was always telling her that she wanted her around more, and now she will be. They would see this her way, she knew it.

"Lose your dolly Boykewich?"

Ben didn't even turn his head to look at him. "What do you want Ricky?" he asked tiredly and Ricky stopped short when he got no retort back from him.

"What's wrong with you?"

"Like you don't know?" Ben snorted. "You and Grace were probably so happy you couldn't even sleep last night."

Ricky cut his eyes at Ben. "If you're talking about the baby then I would appreciate it-"

"I'm talking Jane Ricky. You know, your kid."

Confusion crossed his face as Ben just rolled his eyes. "What are you talking about?"

"How she's moving in with you. Don't tell me that you didn't put her up to that one because I know that you did."

"Moving in?!" he cried out. "What the fuck are you talking about?"

"Cut the shit Ricky ok? I barely slept last night as it was, I'm not awake enough to deal with you bullshit," he sighed as he got up.

"Ben," Ricky put a hand on his arm. "I have no idea what you're talking about," he said slowly.

At that moment in time, Janie walked into her dad's office and stopped slowly as the two men's heads swiveled towards her.

"Ummm, hi," she said awkwardly.

"Janie, what's going on?" Ricky was the first to speak.

"What do you mean?"

"Why is Ben telling me that you're moving in with me?" he asked, dangerously calm.

A nervous laugh escaped her mouth and she clamped a hand over it.

"I just thought that it would be the best thing right now," she said after a few tense, silent minutes. "I mean you're always talking about how awkward it is, and I agree, so I figure that this way it's like an all access pass to each other you know?" she fiddled with her bag, avoiding both pairs of eyes.

Realization dawned on Ricky's face and he turned to face Ben. "You're an asshole you know that? You thought I would do something like this without talking to you first? What the fuck is wrong with you?!" he yelled and Ben stood up to meet him.

"How the hell am I supposed to know what you two talk about?!" he came back defensively.

Janie moved slowly towards the door and Ricky turned around and pointed at her. "You. Sit."

"Don't talk to my daughter like she's a dog!" Ben snapped as he also looked at Janie. "Sit down!" he yelled.

Her legs gave out on command and she plunked into the closest chair and stared at both men.

"What were you thinking?" Ricky started. "You can't just decide this and not talk to me about it first! Me and Grace for that matter."

"I thought you'd agree to it," she said in a small voice. "That you'd be happy or something," she shrugged.

"What that you chose me?" he asked and Ben's head jerked up.

"What does that mean?"

"What?"

"She 'chose' you?"

Ricky sighed and looked away from him. "We need to talk about this, you, me and Grace. We're having a baby Janie, we're gonna be tight on space."

"But until the baby comes-"

"You wanna sleep in the crib that's going to be in there?" he rose an eyebrow.

"I'd settle for an air mattress," she tried to joke but both of her fathers just bored holes into her head. "Joke?"

Ben, who had been silent the entire time, other than questioning Ricky, looked at the girl he had raised and shook his head. "If you want to go live Ricky, then go," he said quietly.

Ricky, who was anticipating a battle over this, looked at him with huge eyes.

"What?"

"You heard me. She's made her choice and she obviously wants you."

"Dad," she started, tearing up.

"I'll write you a pass," he said in her direction and handed it off to her without looking at her.

"Dad," she tried again but Ricky shook his head and waved her out.

She stood there for a minute before walking slowly out of her dad's office and into another one.

"It is only nine o'clock chica," Adrian quipped as she saw her outside the door. "What gives?"

"I think I really fucked things up," she whispered and Adrian automatically took her into her office.

"Sweetheart, what happened? Did something happen with you and Greg?"
She shook her head. "No. With me and…Dad," she said slowly.

"Ben?" she asked confused and she nodded.

"He hates me Adrian."

Adrian stared at the girl that was falling apart in front of her. "What are you talking about? He's your father, Ben loves you!" she exclaimed but it only made Janie cry harder.

"He won't even look at me," sniffed. "All because I thought that moving with Ricky was a good idea."

"WHAT?!"

She sighed, growing tired of having to explain this to people. "We can get to know each other better if we're always around each other," she said bluntly and Adrian sighed.

"You told your parents this? And Ricky agreed to it? Isn't Grace…pregnant?" she swallowed thickly for a minute.

"I didn't ask Ricky; I thought that he would just be happy you know? But then he started saying that I chose them. What does that mean Adrian? How could I choose him?? And then Dad got all quiet and agreed with him and now he won't look at me!!"

"Ricky said you chose him?"

"I don't get it," Janie wiped her eyes.

"It means that instead of living with your mother and Ben, your adoptive father, you are choosing to live with Ricky, your real father," she said through clenched teeth. "That you think that he's better so you're going to live with him."

"WHAT?!?!?" Janie shrieked and Adrian just nodded. "I never said that I thought he was better!! I love my dad!"

"I know you do Janie, I know. But that's what that meant. Your father and Ricky were always fighting about you, you know that? For a time, Ricky tried to be in your life but he couldn't provide so Amy told him to leave and Ben stepped in. That was a battle royale," she rolled her eyes. "Ben said you were going to be his baby and Ricky chose to disagree."

"Dad won I take it?"

"Who do you live with?" Adrian answered with a raised eyebrow.

"For Ricky to say that you choose him, it's like the nail in the coffin for your dad. The fight's over and it was a good run but Ricky swooped in at the last moment and got a slam dunk."

Janie stood up quickly. "I need to go talk to him!"

"I wouldn't," Adrian said slowly. "Give him some time to cool down and gain his head back. He's hurting Janie. Fathers don't want to let their daughters see them hurt. And a tip for the future, men don't let women see them hurt in general," she smiled.

"So…?"

"Go to class and just go about your day. It's going to be hard, I know…but you have to do it."

Janie took a few minutes to gather herself, gladly ate the chocolate bar that Adrian had 'in case of emergencies' and exited her office.

"I am going to KILL him," Adrian muttered as she stomped out of the room.

"Talk about desperate," the girl laughed as Janie walked through the halls slowly. "I mean any girl that needs to like, throw herself in front of a car for attention is seriously pathetic."

Janie slowed down as she passed the giggling girls.

"Seriously!" her friend agreed. "I mean as if having two hot men argue about you isn't enough," the tossed her hair over her shoulder.

"It's not like she's even that interesting you know? She's so quiet and she like barely talks. It's probably because she has nothing interesting to say," the first girl applied her lip gloss and shut her locker door, coming face to face with the person she was talking about.

"Whatever," she muttered as she turned around and flounced down the hallway.

"You have a problem?" Janie called after her and she turned around.

"Excuse me?"

"I said, do you have a problem?" she repeated as she hopped over to her with her crutches.

The girl sized her up for a second. "I don't hit pathetic crippled people," she said as she turned around.

Janie chose that instant to swing her crutch out and catch the girl in the back of the leg, sending her stumbling.

"Are you fucking kidding me?!" she faced Janie again. "You seriously just hit me?

"Oh my God! Tin Man, she does have a brain!" she mocked her as she tilted her head.

"Bitch," the girl hissed as she threw down her bag and advanced toward Janie but halfway there, another body stepped in the way.

"Young, I suggest you move. This has nothing to do with you."

Nadine just shook her head. "It has everything to do with me," she said quietly.

Girl number one just rolled her eyes and huffed down the hallway where her friends were waiting for her as Nadine turned to Janie. She opened her mouth to talk but Janie just walked right by her.

"You're welcome!" she called out.

Janie just snorted as she kept on going.

"Who does she think she is?! She can't just sit there and call me an attention grabbing whore and then step back into my life when it's suddenly convenient for her!" Janie seethed later that day at lunch.

"Isn't it good that she was at least…well protecting you though?" Julie asked her as she shot her a dark look.

"I don't need to be protected Jules."

Her friend put up her hands in protest. "I'm just saying that it could have been worse, she could have been sitting there calling you pathetic you too ok?"

Janie sighed, knowing that Julie was right. It seemed that wherever she went that day so far, people were talking about her. Talking about how she got hit by a car and was now in a cast and crutches or talking about Ricky's reveal that he was her father. As far as the student population knew, Benjamin Boykewich, the music teacher, was her dad and now all the sudden here's this new counselor guy that's saying he's her father. And everyone had something to say about it. All she really wanted to do right now, was go home and curl up in bed and pretend that this never happened. Oh but going home meant that she'd have to face her father who, despite what Adrian said, does not like her right now.

"Can you take me somewhere?" she suddenly turned to face Greg who stopped midchew to look at her.

"Now?" he asked with lettuce hanging out of his mouth.

"Well you can swallow first," she rolled her eyes. "I just, need to get out of here. There's just too much crap going on and I can't take it today."

"It's still gonna be here tomorrow Jane," he replied. "Running away doesn't make bad shit disappear you know."

"Whose side are you on here?" she snapped as she got up.

"There are sides?" he looked at her confused.

She glared at him. "Fine, I'll just go by myself then."

"Will you wait a minute Janie?" he asked as he ran after her.

"No, forget it Greg. Go back to lunch and then spend time with your friends, I'll be fine," she smiled at him.

He crossed his arms. "I don't get it. School starts back up and all the sudden you're a huge bitch to everyone. What gives?"

"Nothing!" she yelled at him. "Excuse me for having a shitty day and wanting my boyfriend to stick by me!! But whatever, go have fun," she sneered.

"Fine!" he yelled back her. "Call me when you take a fucking Midol," he snapped as he stalked back inside the lunch room and she pushed the doors open to let herself out of the school.

"What's wrong?"

Janie shook her head as she looked at the ground. "Nothing. I was just having a bad day at school and I didn't know where else to go."

The woman sighed in relief and ushered her into the house as Janie hopped over the threshold.

"I hope it's ok that I'm here," she said awkwardly.

Grace waved her aside with her hand. "I'm actually glad you are. We don't really know each other do we? And I'm glad that you feel you can come here when you need to," she smiled at her.

"You haven't talked to Ricky have you?" Janie shut her eyes. There was no way that Grace would be that happy to see her if she had talked to her husband lately.

"No, why?" she cocked her head to the side.

Janie smiled a tight smile. "Well that's part of the bad day. See I kind of got this idea in my head and I didn't exactly talk to you guys about it first. I thought that since it was so hard for me and Ricky to get to know each other that I could just…well move in," she said slowly.

"Move in?" Grace repeated slowly and the girl nodded.

"I mean I know that things will be hectic because you're pregnant and all that but I thought that I could just stay until then you know? I'll be out of your hair by the time the baby comes. And I can stay in the room you were making for him, just buy me an air mattress, I don't care," she said quickly.

"Janie," Grace said slowly. "You can't just move in here. There's a lot that needs to be talked about first."

Janie hung her head. "Yeah I know. Dad's not talking to me because of this; he won't even look at me. I guess him and Ricky were talking about it this morning and Ricky said that I chose him over Dad and then well, I was exiled."

"Ricky said that you chose him?" Grace asked. "He should know better than that. And I'm sure he didn't mean it like that Jane," she said patting her back. "And what do you mean you were exiled?"

"Well I can't go home because if I do that, I'll have to see Dad, who hates me. And I couldn't stay at school, everyone was talking about me one way or the other, be it the accident or the fact that Ricky announced to a crowd that he was my father."

Grace's eyes grew wide. "He said that in front of everyone?"

Jane nodded. "He's the one that took me to the hospital when I got hit."

Grace sighed. "Yeah, I can see how this is turning out to be a bad day," she said sympathetically. "Well," she looked around and shrugged. "You're already here. Why don't we go out today? Just us? We can get lunch and get hair cuts and go see a movie and do girly stuff," she smiled at her.

"What do you think about me moving in?" she asked point blank and Grace blinked.

"I think it's a good idea that you have, but me and Ricky need to talk about it first," she said slowly. "You're right there isn't a lot of space but I do think that you guys need to open up to each other and it might be the easiest way. We'll figure something out ok? Now let's go," she said as she stood up and held out her hands to help her step-daughter up.

"You're just trying to make me feel better aren't you?" Janie asked as she smiled at Grace hesitantly.

"Is it working?" she raised an eyebrow.

Janie smiled. "Well that just depends on if we can go see the new Jake Gyllenhaal movie or not," she joked.

"Oh we so can," Grace laughed as she shut the door behind them.