Chapter 23

Bella began to rely on Blake for so much, he was always there for her, when she had trouble at school, he helped her figure out the most difficult of math problems.  If it was drama with her friends, he was a willing ear to listen to her rant and cry.  They had hours of fun together when he wasn't busy studying for his own Medical school entrance exams.

Things seemed to be working out well for Blake, which is why it confused Elijah so much when he announced out of the blue that he was moving into his own place.  Not that Elijah didn't understand, a boy has to move out to become a man, but it seemed so sudden.

 It wasn't just the move that bothered him, Bella seemed to have withdrawn from her brother, he rarely ever saw the two of them together anymore, and when they were in the same room the tension could be cut with a knife.  Bella's grades also began slipping, she skipped school several times, and rarely was up in time to catch the bus, when she was home she could frequently be found sleeping in her bed.  Her teachers called worried about her lack of interest in class.  Something was wrong, but for the life of him Elijah couldn't figure out what it was.

It had been two months since Blake had moved out, and Bella's attitude hadn't improved much, she spent most of her time alone in her room, or outside just sitting.  He watched his little girl and could see so much pain in her eyes, but try as he might she wouldn't tell him what was causing it.  He also noticed physical evidence of her pain, she had begun to gain weight, he knew that some people coped with depression by eating, and this was obviously what his baby was doing.

"Elijah, I think we need to talk to Bella, I don't think she's overeating, I've been watching her, and well I've been there enough times to know pregnant when I see it, and she's pregnant Elijah!"  Elijah looked up from the newspaper he was reading, "Bella?  There is no way she could be pregnant Paris, I've never even heard her mention a boy, and she definitely hasn't been hanging around with any."

Paris sighed, sometimes her husband could be so naive when it came to teenagers, he truly believe that Faith had forgot what time it was and had been the victim of happenstance when she had been brought in by police for breaking curfew and pulling pranks on the neighbors.

Elijah slowly got out of his chair, strolling over to his wife, he didn't like the frown she was wearing as she continued, "I'm telling you Elijah that is not chunk from overeating, I don't know how it happened, but she is pregnant, and that would explain her mood swings, and the oversleeping she has been doing. We need to get the truth out of her, one way or another.  I made her an appointment with the doctor's office, but I thought we should talk with her first."

Paris and Elijah sat at the kitchen table, Elijah watched his daughter, and the realization dawned on him, his wife was right, that was not a chunky belly at all! " Bella, whose the father of the baby?"   Bella looked over at her parents, she knew how much they loved her, but she just couldn't tell them.

"I.. I don't know"
Elijah started sputtering, his face turning several shades of red, Paris jumped in before her dear husband exploded  "Don't know or don't want us to know Bella?  Don't know implies there are several candidates, in which case we should know who the potential fathers are, don't want us to know, well that's something entirely different."

"It doesn't matter, it's done, and who cares who the father is, it's not like he is going to do anything about it anyways!"  Paris could see the tears welling up in her daughter's eyes, as she spoke, and she knew they were about to spill over, and with it, might come the whole truth.

"It matters Bella, because who ever helped you get this way, should help you through the rest of it all.  If he doesn't want to be there physically the least he can do is pay child support.  Who is it sweetie, why won't you tell us?"

Bella jumped out of her chair, tears spilling down her cheeks, " You would never believe me, even if I did tell you!  Just leave me alone both of you!"  Her parents watched as she ran out of the kitchen, Elijah slowly stood up from the table, anger etched around his mouth, his eyes hard and cold.  " I think I know why  Blake left, and I hope to God I am wrong!"

"Bella, I think I know what happened, or at least some of what might have happened.  I promise I will believe you, just tell me baby girl, tell me how this happened."  Elijah stood in her bedroom door, watching her lying on the bed curled up in a ball crying.  She sniffled a bit and wiped her nose with the back of her hand, eyes rimmed red, her nose and lips swollen from the crying.  " I just can't Daddy, I just don't want to think about it ok?"  He sat down on the bed next to her, "No sweetie it's not ok, we have to deal with this, shoving it down isn't going to make anything better, it will just make it worse in the end."

Slowly the sobs subsided as his daughter tried to form the words she didn't want to say, " I was showering the first time, and I turned and he was standing there watching me, I yelled at him to get out.  He didn't, Daddy, he got in the shower with me and I swear I told him no, but he said he loved me and I love him and it was time for him to make me a woman, and I couldn't do anything! I'm so sorry, so very very sorry, I didn't know what to do!"

Elijah was seeing red, he wanted to strangle his own son right at that moment, instead he stroked his daughter's head encouraging her to continue. " He kept doing it after that, sometimes he would come into the bedroom after you and Mama went to bed, and sometimes he would follow me in the shower, I tried to take showers when he wasn't home so he couldn't, but then he just got mad at me!

When I started feeling sick all the time and tired I told him, he asked me about my period and I told him I hadn't had one that month, then he had me take a test.  He left after that.  I know he's my brother daddy, but I'm glad he isn't here anymore, and I don't ever want to see him again in my life! He said if I told you guys it was him you wouldn't believe me and you would kick me out, I swear I'm telling the truth Daddy, and I don't want to leave, you have to believe me!"

Elijah slowly stood up, his world was spinning out of control, how could his own flesh and blood do something so despicable, and what was he suppose to do about it now.  "I believe you Bella, I know you aren't lying, and promise me something my Bella, never ever keep something like this from us again, we love you and want to protect you, I'm sorry we failed to do that.  You have to know none of this was your fault honey, this isn't the way big brothers are suppose to act. You don't have to keep the baby Bella, if it's too hard for you, but if you want to keep it, we will help you, you don't have to do it alone."

He held her in a hug for the longest time after their talk, she didn't want to press charges on Blake, despite his encouragement, she just didn't want to have to go through all of that and so they decided they would just leave it at that.  She was keeping the baby, she wasn't happy about it, but didn't think she could let someone else raise it either.  He wanted to take it all away from her, all the pain that had been caused her, he wanted to make it disappear, no 16 year old should go through what she was going through.  It wasn't fair.  In the end he had to settle with making a visit to his son.

Elijah stood in Blake's living room, reliving his marriage to Blake's mother, the sweet angel she had been, his son's birth and the dark days that had followed it.  He wondered if it had been his fault Blake had done this, replaying over and over what he could have done different.  "We know about you and Bella, Blake, we know that baby is yours.  What do you have to say for yourself how could you have done this to her, your own sister?"

" What did she tell you dad?  What are you talking about?"  Blake paced around nervous as a cat in a cage,
" Son, don't play dumb, a simple DNA test will prove it, and if we go that route, you're going to jail. I just want to try to understand why this happened, what on earth made this seem ok to you?"

Blake rubbed his hand over his hair, " I don't owe you an explanation, she came on to me, and it had been a long time and well things just got out of hand Dad, she wanted it too, I know it was wrong, and disgusting, but it's not like I raped her!"

He punched his own son, he walked out of Blake's home, in a daze, as soon as Blake had finished declaring it wasn't rape, his fist had taken on a life of it's own and he had punched him, laid him out cold.  He left him a note, told him he would always love him as he was his first born son, but until he was willing to admit the entire truth of what happened, and get therapy, he was no longer welcome in their home.  Walking out of the house, leaving his first born behind like that, Elijah thought it was the hardest thing he had ever done.  He was wrong.

"Just push a little more baby, it's almost over, it's almost all over!"  Elijah stood beside his little girl and watched her going through agony as she pushed his first grandchild out into the world.

The previous months had been hard, Blake had woke up and called home, yelling that he had it all wrong, that they shouldn't trust what they were being told.  For a moment Elijah had really wanted to believe him, then he thought of those weeks and months, of Bella's behavior and the sadness he had seen in her eyes, and he hung up the phone.

The pregnancy hadn't been easy on his daughter, morning sickness had come, not in the first trimester like it was suppose to, it came throughout the second and third trimesters, and it didn't stop in the morning, she was sick morning, noon, and night.  The weight of the baby caused her discomfort, and the stress of school was almost too much for her to take.  They tried to help as much as possible, but never in his life had Elijah felt so completely helpless, except maybe now.

His daughter bore down again, silent tears streaking from her bloodshot, red rimmed eyes, he watched the doctor quietly picking up the scalpel and knew that she wasn't going to like what was about to happen, he was wrong, she didn't even notice the cut, but during the next push as the head once again tried to make it's way out, she screamed as the cut became a tear allowing her baby to finally fully crown.

She had worked and suffered so much to bring the baby into the world, her labor had been slow, and she had refused any kind of pain medication, she said she had read it was dangerous for the baby and for her, he had wanted to beg her to take something, every time a contraction ripped through her and reduced her to moans of pain, tears streaming down her face.  It wasn't fair, she hadn't asked for this, she didn't deserve this.

"One more push Bella, and you'll be a mommy!"  The doctor had been fantastic, they had explained to him what had happened, and he had been supportive and kind to her from there on out. Bella pushed, he didn't know how his tiny girl had it in her, but she did it, she pushed and her baby came spilling into the world.  She was a mother, and he was a grandpa!