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Chapter 5 Over in the dining room Gabby and Olivia sat down where Richard was sitting and waited for him to tell them the news. Richard composed himself and told Gabby, "We have received Amy's and Donald's records and what we see is troubling. Their former doctor was blocked from filing complaints by an administrator who was a friend of their father. He had everything documented including her weight loss and several questionable injuries to Donald. His accusations were outright ignored by administration." Gabby asked why didn't he go to the police or social services on his own. Richard came back with, "He did. They used their influence again to get any possible charges to be dismissed and countered with a harassment claim against the doctor. He kept copies of everything and when Donald was transferred to a local doctor up here all of the originals were taken with them. This was highly suspicious and when he complained he was threatened with being fired. Thankfully for him the other doctors in the practice stood by him and filed complains which saw copies returned but but multiple key pieces were missing. He pulled a Mark and John in that he kept copies of his own of the originals and all of the notes hidden at his home office so he will be able to show they removed his complaints and observations." Gabby asked if Ricardo and Valerie had been told. Olivia told her, "Both were informed and asked us to begin reviewing them." Gabby asked about their current doctor to which Richard bitterly told her, "He's refusing to release the documents due to you not being their mother. Ricardo will be going Monday afternoon to his office with representatives from the district attorney's office with a search warrant. That includes both his office and his home. Sarah will be doing the search before she heads off to visit Brent so they aren't going in blind. She will find them and the ADA will rip the walls apart trying to find their hiding place if they aren't in the open. He upset the wrong people, the DA is investigating on their own for possible abuse especially after Amy's confession about his office's antics regarding her." Olivia asked about the other legal issues. Gabby told them, "The abuse is documented and blatant. Amy owns their house and will retain it regardless of the parental rights being terminated or not. Valerie is going for an injunction to prevent the Lees from trying to use it as collateral to post bail or retain a lawyer. Ricardo and Valerie are also seeking restraining orders to prevent them from going after the kids when they are released." Olivia sharply asked, "Are they going to even have the clothes off their backs?" Gabby added, "Oh yeah, I forgot to add that Valerie is suing for all of the pageant money that rightfully belongs to Amy. Mrs. Lee has no right to any of it and whatever she has taken from the winnings she has mitigated the claims to when she told Amy that she didn't get anything from her because all of her money went into paying for her pageant expenses. She can't claim otherwise without perjuring herself." Richard let out a big laugh. Olivia looked at him but he boldly told her, "The woman is going to claim that she never said that but her own son will contradict her. Further she has no right to take the money to pay for her own expenses, it all belongs to Amy. Valerie will get everything and I don't doubt that there is a lien against her after her bank account is wiped out." Gabby then asked Richard, "John touched on something before. Donald was looking up to him. It's not normal respect that he earned, it was almost fatherly affection and care to him. He suggested that Jake get involved with Donald to get him to accept not all guys are like his dad. What do you think?" Olivia looked over at Richard who nodded, telling Gabby, "I don't blame him for looking up to John when he needs a father there. Jake is a good substitute and needs to get to know him better. John went through this with Bryan and Hannah, Jake has support but he needs to do this on his own. He is a father now and will have Will to help him but Jake needs to do this. Have him drive Donald home from school, he is your emergency contact anyway and this is no different than when Hannah was hurt." The adults walked into the living room to catch the two girls hugging Donald and Jessie. Olivia let out a laugh and stated, "I don't even want to know what went on." Gabby saw the expressions on Al's and Amy's faces and knew that it was something between them, but not saying anything. Olivia started to make dinner and insisted that they stay with four sitting down to watch TV as the adults cooked. Amy and Al were asked what they were planning on doing in school the next day. Amy sighed and admitted, "I'm going to have to explain where I was all last week. The girls are going to say that I went and had a boob job or something as soon as they see me in class." She pointed at her chest getting a snicker from Al who harshly told her, "Those boneheads are jealous that you look better than they do. They are flat as a board and aren't going to get any of their own for a long time. They haven't been the same since Stephanie stopped doing all their work and one girl got kicked out of class. If they know what is good for them they won't be stupid enough to mess with you." Richard was going to say something but Olivia stopped him. Olivia added, "We will talk with your teacher before school and get it settled. You did your work and you had a legitimate excuse for being out. We will just say that you had a bad infection that you had to fight." Amy asked, "What about the girls who I dance with? They know something happened and if I say something different they will tell everyone what happened." Gabby saw the concern and blurted out, "Tell the truth. If they have the guts to laugh they are fools. That could happen to them and the fact that you could have died and they are laughing will only go to prove how horrible those girls really are to the other students. I know your friends will back you up and make them look even worse." Amy was unsure. Al put her arm around her and added, "They are hated by everyone and to make fun of you for being abused will make them into monsters. They could end up suspended for a month and that would mean they repeat the same grade." Richard announced that dinner was served, saving Amy any further talk. Jessie whispered to her, "I wouldn't put it past Al or Stephanie to accidentally let slip who you are staying with. Our name isn't Finn but the whole of the family is lumped under that name thanks to Uncle John and Aunt Valerie. They invoke mom's name and nobody in the school will mess with any of you. Plus Aunt Dorothy will have an eye on you and an ear to the girls and won't hesitate to stop them. She did it with Rachel when she was bullying Rebecca and I." Amy looked at her funny. Jessie sighed then told her warmly, "Up until last year Rachel was the school bully and self-appointed queen. She did it because her parents made her do it but when she saw what her parents wanted to do to Aunt Leslie and Iris she ratted them out and accepted her punishment. She is a good person at heart and without their bad influence she turned into the best friend you could ever hope for. But still back in 6th grade she did what the girls tried to do and got slammed hard for it by Aunt Dorothy. So she will have your back." The families ate quietly then waited for Rick and Thomas to return with Courtney in tow. When the trio finally came she had to be yanked apart from Michael getting giggles from Amy and Al as Rick and Thomas shook their heads in embarrassment. Courtney was red faced as she saw her mother, sister, Amy, and Donald grinning over her long kiss but didn't say anything, only walking towards Gabby's car with a big smile on her face. Thomas finally grinned and asked what they did all day. Al smirked and blurted out, "Bra shopping." He didn't miss a beat and asked, "All of you?" Al gave a big grin and added, "Well we tried to find some for you but they didn't have you style." Thomas' face went white as Jessie added, "Next time you should come so we have a better chance of finding one for you." Amy and Donald weren't sure what to say or do, Gabby looked at Olivia and Richard who were both biting their lips hard to avoid breaking out into uncontrollable laughter. Rick finally told him, "You set yourself up for that one, bro. They did go shopping for those but Donald and Raul were shopping for regular clothes. Besides Will already used that joke and it was much funnier." Gabby shook her head and smiled. She had to tell Amy, "He was trying to kid your brother but it got turned around on him. They don't mean anything by that, it's just their way of playing. Your cousin Will is the master of making jokes deflect back at you, he really did say he'd get bras before but it was only a joke. As far as I know none of the guys have worn them outside of pranks." Rick smirked and added, "claire made him actually wear one for embarrassing her in front of the Smiths. He took his lumps and made David look bad for not being man enough to wear one too. Patrick said the day he wears one is the day he joins a gym to lose weight, same with all our uncles." Richard coughed getting Rick's attention. Amy's face was now beet red with embarrassment. Gabby told her softly, "There's a lot of people you haven't met yet so don't worry about that. They are all good people. Will really is a prankster, you saw some of it on Friday but he will be around more often to help your brother adjust as well as annoy your sisters." The four got into the car with Courtney and drove home. Inside the girls helped Donald with the cast cover. They tried to help him more but were told to back away lest they see something they didn't want to see. He reluctantly let Gabby help him, she told him warmly, "I haven't done this in a long time but I know the drill. I'll look away, but make sure that you don't forget to wash." When he was finished she told him, "Jake will drive you home. You two have a lot in common and I want you to talk with him. Your friends will be around but this is mostly for your benefit. Jake never bonded with my eldest three as they had little in common and didn't want to talk to Jake but I believe you will bond with him." Donald laid down and immediately fell asleep. In the morning Gabby had Donald, Courtney, and Jessie eat a quick meal before heading out. They tried to refuse but she harshly told them, "As much as I like donuts it's not a proper breakfast. Since you seem to dislike the school's breakfast and as one of us has to eat a normal meal, we all do. I already told Jake, John, and Ben and you can guarantee that Sean knows as well so don't try to sneak in with a cup of Dunkin Donuts coffee and call it breakfast." Amy smiled at hearing that. Gabby leaned down and added, "They will just grab some fruit but that's enough for them to replace the junk food. They always eat breakfast at school anyway even if they only eat fruit and yogurt, they just didn't know I knew about their donut runs." Amy snickered as Courtney pleaded with her, Jessie grumbled, "She knew all along, best to just let her win this one for Amy's sake. Uncle Jake probably has his eyes out for any bags from there even if it's for the others." Courtney drove the trio to school, stopping first to pick up Reed. Courtney complained that their ritual was stopped due to their mother getting a roll of the eyes from Reed who complained, "Stop at the supermarket, she needs chocolate." Jessie smacked her head and laughed, Donald was clueless until Reed told him, "Four days of terror per month. I hope they are synchronized or you will have a rough two weeks." Jessie whacked his arm but smiled at him. Donald started to understand and blushed, with Jessie adding, "We aren't that bad; although Courtney has a nasty chocolate addition. She sees it, she eats it. When you accidentally set her off, offer her some and she forgets why she is mad at you." Reed silently nodded, then added, "There's another way but only Michael knows it." Courtney glared then blushed as Jessie and Reed started imitating her and Michael's make out sessions. Donald wisely said nothing, instead focusing on the road then on Jessie rushing inside the store to get the chocolate Courtney needed. Jessie put two bars in the glove compartment the sniped at her, "Don't touch those! You know you need at least one bar in there!" Donald just grinned as the sisters playfully bantered over something so personal. Reed whispered to him, "They consider you a brother so they are playing it up for your sake. Get used to their attitudes and reactions, but this is extreme. She's normally shy and not so open during this time of the month, she must really think highly of you to even let us make light of it." At school they were mobbed by their friends. Francesca immediately hugged Donald, guiding him over to get their breakfasts while the others grabbed their usual table. Jake came over and informed him, "Everything has been changed and your mom has already told me that I'm driving you home. I know she told you why but I don't mind doing it for you." Francesca asked what that was all about getting a quiet, "Mr. Finn and mom thought it was a good idea for Mr. Bollinger to drive me home since he and I are so alike. It has something to do with having a younger sister the same age difference as Amy and I and that I needed a positive male to show that not all of them are like my former dad." Francesca nodded in approval, adding, "Real dads aren't like your dad. Real dads don't hurt their kids." The couple sat down and the interrogation started. Jessie and Courtney served as shields in deflecting anything too personal or sensitive. Thomas, Rick, Michael, Miles, Jaimie, Iris, and Rachel knew everything already and filled in the others with what they knew and what their parents had said. Eric Vincent was the one who shocked all of them by telling them, "Pop has hired a lawyer for Aunt Gabby to search for her husband and finally be rid of him. Dad knows he is in deep trouble and has Uncle Willie ready to slap cuffs on the piece of garbage as soon as he sees him. Your dad owed a lot of money to people and ran off without telling anyone. He wasn't jealous of Aunt Gabby- he was cheap!" Donald silently thanked him for changing the subject to which Eric gave him a wink. Jessie saw this and quietly told him, "He knows everything going on with you but that is more important than the talk about your former parents." Courtney added, "The bastard will be coming back for us to get money from mom. It's not 'if' he comes back, but 'when.' He will hit up Mr. Williams for a place to stay but mom won't do anything about that because it would hurt Mr. Williams. He is a decent guy despite dad." The juniors left the freshmen allowing Jessie and Francesca to talk. Donald asked, "Why is your sister so angry about your dad?" Jessie sighed and started explaining, "He just up and left us just before my 5th birthday party. We were made to look foolish in front of everyone we knew. When it became clear that he abandoned us people started to think that mom was to blame and eventually our friends were forced to stop being our friends. If not for Claire and Aunt Lilly, mom would have had nobody. Aunt Lilly was struggling with staying with mom but Mr. Peterson told her that it wasn't her fault and she would be setting a bad example for Claire, David, and Patrick. Uncle Mike and Aunt Anne kept close as well but his wife always kept getting in the way and making him back off. Eventually we gave up trying to be friends with anyone and until fourth grade when I met Amy and Kelly. I was all alone for a long time. Courtney never forgave him for doing that to us and costing us every friend we had outside of the ones who knew us best, and as much I want to I can't feel the same way. He is still my dad." Donald asked what happened to her friends, he didn't recall ever meeting them. Jessie had a tear in her eye and told him, "They moved away. Amy went down to Washington with her parents while Kelly's dad was transferred to a job in Mississippi. They were Rebecca's first new friends after she moved here, not counting me since I had to be friends with her due to Stacy and Courtney being friends." Francesca wisely stayed out of it until Amy and Kelly were mentioned. She smiled and added, "Amy's parents adopted a girl like Jaimie. Kelly's family got into trouble and she was sent to live with distant family in Connecticut. She constantly tries to keep in touch but they never have time to visit. They miss Winnisimmet but they are getting used to their new homes." Donald saw the fondness and was happy that the girls could think of something positive instead of Mr. Lawrence. They threesome walked up to their biology class and were greeted by Ben's smiling face. Ben was handed Donald's homework to which he nodded, adding, "Jessie will provide you with notes and we have set up the online version of the test on Friday for you. Mr. Bollinger will proctor the test." He thanked him for doing that. Ben smartly told him, "It's a requirement. You are hurt and unable to take the normal test so we must accommodate your injury. That would be done for any other student who was unable to write as you are. It's been done several times before and we will do it in the future. Anyone who has a problem with that can easily contact their congressperson to ask them to change two separate federal laws covering accommodations for people with disabilities." The last part was intended for the usual complainers who were struggling and saw anything given to the other students as being unfair. Ben knew exactly who would complain and looked right at them, and immediately dared them to say something. The next words out of their mouths were, "Unfair" and, "Sue the school" but Ben knew that was not going to happen. Donald made it through the first three classes. Geometry, his third class, was a challenge but with the students working in pairs to solve logic puzzles involving what they knew about angles and degrees and congruent parts he was able to do well despite not being able to write. His teacher, Mr. Ricci, took pity on him as well, telling him he'd try to work with the principal to get a test reassigned but Donald asked to take it on the computer which was obliged. It would be harder but it was still fair to him. English was the one class he feared. Justin Stoner was a pain to students and took his job too seriously. Seeing Donald with a large cast he was going to say something but John caught him before he did. John pulled him aside and bluntly told him, "Before you complain, know that the boy has been through a week of nonstop physical abuse and psychological torture. He is just starting to pull himself together and neither I nor Jake nor any other teacher will accept you badgering him in any way." Justin asked harshly, "What you mean abuse and torture?" John countered with, "The kind that puts your parents in prison for decades and ensures that you never have to see or hear from them ever again. They nearly killed their daughter! You saw how Donald was last week, his sister ran away to escape from the starvation and mental abuse leaving Donald to take their parents' wrath." Justin asked about Donald's arm getting a solemn, "That was a threat from his father. He also has deep bruises on his arms and legs from being thrown out of bed and pulled every which way. He spent all of last week in constant pain and it's a miracle that he didn't collapse well before Friday. The bone was broken badly enough to require emergency surgery to repair. This isn't some sympathy act, this was a cold and calculated torture. All because he refused to tell his parents where his sister had fled to." Justin had to hold back his emotions. John saw him balling his fists and knew that something was going on. Justin finally said, "I screwed up badly with Francesca Herman, I won't screw up with Donald Lee." Under his breath John hear him barely whisper, "Animals" as he walked to his class. John could see that he had more than just sympathy for Donald, Justin was showing compassion and surprisingly to him- understanding about being the victim of abuse by parents. Justin pulled Donald aside and told him, "You can't write but you can have the work transcribed. We don't have a test for several weeks so you should be fine but your normal writing assignments need to be done. Have someone who can be trusted transcribe your work, if need be we will have to have you use one of the voice recognition software copies to do it for you." Justin started the class but Donald noted a change in the teacher towards him. Jessie caught it as well but didn't make mention of it. Justin didn't drone on as he normally did, he seemed to have a change in attitude that reflected in his teaching. The students didn't care, he wasn't as boring and they had actually learned more that day than they had in a single month. As they were leaving Jessie and Donald held back. Jessie asked Justin why was he acting different. He tried to deflect but finally admitted to them, "My parents were horrible people who used to beat us any for any little infraction or perceived infraction. My four older brothers would make it a game to get me in trouble as much as possible. When I left home to go to school I never returned. John told me what happened and I couldn't see past my parents. My head just wasn't in it today so I guess you all got the benefit of my being distracted today." Jessie sensed the disappointment so she told him, "We aren't drones and we aren't babies, we are teens. Maybe you needed to see us as humans who have gone through the same as you did to change how you acted but this new you is better than the old you. Uncle Jake was looking at finding a new teacher for English but he could change his mind if you stop treating us like robots and keep doing what you did today. There's a lot of us who dealt with what Donald dealt with: Sam, Iris, Reyna, and Rachel are just four more from our group who put up with some of what Donald went through. You aren't that different than us, when you see that then you will get through to us." Outside listening, John had a big grin on his face. Justin was given his ultimatum and the harsh truth and he seemed to understand what she was saying. When Donald and Jessie passed he gave her a quick, "Nicely done." Justin looked over at John who added, "She's trying to help you. She just gave you four examples of others she knows personally who were abused by family and people who had power over them. These kids need someone who knows what they have been through and can show that they can overcome that, you are that person. They need a role model, you are one whether you realize it or not." John could see Justin starting to come to the realization that he was right. John started his class and noted that Donald was sandwiched between Jessie and Francesca causing him to smile, the boy was going to get his notes and study whether he wanted to or not. If not then he could kiss any kissing goodbye, especially as neither would let him live the failure down and make him improve his grades. Francesca and Donald headed right for lunch. The others wanted to know what happened only to be told, "Uncle John had a talk with Mr. Stoner before class and he is changing for the better. He knows the truth about Donald and is not happy." They asked if Justin was in trouble only to be told, "He isn't, they are. They are safer in jail than on the streets with Mr. Stoner now that angry at them." Sean Beretta handled their health class with humor. He told Donald, "I was going to go over your bones and injuries but I think you just took hands-on to a whole new level." Sean showed the class an x-ray on the projector then asked what they could see. Donald knew what was going on and told what the injury was and what could have caused it to require the needed surgery that put in the plate and screws. Sean nodded in approval but Donald got a snipe of, "Pretty easy for you, is that your arm?" Sean quickly countered with, "It's actually mine. I broke it fast roping out of a helicopter in Eastern Europe. Don't ask what I was doing there or when it happened as some of it is still classified and those who were targeted are still in power in the area." The students looked at Sean like he was joking. Francesca told them, "Grandpa is telling the truth. You can't see it but his name and when it was taken is on the bottom of the image. He chose it because he knew one of you would try to say something about it being Donald and you wouldn't believe the truth." Sean grinned and added, "His break is lower than this one, his is close to the elbow. I almost lost my arm due to it." He showed the scar, then added, "I know Donald's scar is on the inside, unfortunately mine is on the outside because it was a compound fracture. Anyone who has ever broken a major bone will tell you it's extremely painful and I'll have you know that you were sitting with Donald for several hours without knowing that he was in serious pain. That takes nerves. That takes balls. That takes guts. So any one of you who has the guts to even try to make fun of him shows that you are nowhere near the level of masculinity that he is and nowhere near as human." Sean started to talk about other injuries and other problems, letting the chastising sink in. After class he confronted Donald and told him harshly, "That was the dumbest thing I have ever seen a student do and that includes Miles running away in the middle of the night." Donald countered with, "I did it to protect her and I'd do it again." Francesca glared at Sean who asked, "What am I missing here?" Francesca promptly told him, "You didn't get the chance to hear the rest of the story but his sister was being starved to death by his parents so she ran off. That's why they were torturing him all week, all so he'd tell them where she was. If it wasn't for Reed and Jessie following him and Uncles Willie and Mark trying to get to the bottom of what was going on with him she could have died or worse, gotten kidnapped or raped running away. So he was stupid, but he was doing something stupid to protect someone who needed help." Sean excused himself and called Jake. Jake told him everything and after listening to things Sean turned to the two and prompted told them, "Son, I have known people who would take a bullet for their friends and family but that went beyond that. Those people are going to be toast and I'll be damned if they ever get within a mile of you again." The rest of the day went fast. Donald was told that he already had a tutor who could help him with his French getting snickers from the others until they were corrected with, "I was talking about Mrs. Herman but I am sure that there will be plenty of one-on-one tutoring with his classmate." Donald blushed while Francesca beamed with pride. After school Donald sat in Jake's office. Neither knew what to say to the other. Donald played on his phone while Jake finished his paperwork. When Donald finally started to say something he chickened out and looked away. Jake finally finished his paperwork and turned to Donald, telling him, "I love Gabby and I respect John but I think they are thinking too much into this. I'm an older brother, but but that doesn't matter as John is used to talking to kids. He knows kids better than I do, he has a couple of years on me." Donald mumbled, "All because I saw Amy having boobs for the first time." Jake snickered, telling him, "Well at least you didn't accidentally walk into your sister's room while she was naked and see her in all her glory. I had wanted to see what a girl looked like down there but not like that!" Donald looked up in surprise. Jake smiled as he retold, "I as 14, she was 11. I was going upstairs to get her for dinner and she was in the middle of changing out of her gymnastics leotard. She forgot to lock the door and her door had a broken hinge so it always ended up opening unless you locked it. She didn't see it open and when I walked by she was butt naked leaning forward accidentally showing off her full front. It was the first time I ever saw a girl like that and it was a moment I never want to relive. Years later and it still gives me the chills seeing her small breasts and public hair." Donald tried to suppress a laugh, Jake continued on, "She screamed and I screamed. I turned away and kept apologizing but she was in tears. I felt bad but she said she didn't want me to see her small buds. She was starting to grow and didn't want her big brother to start treating her differently now that I knew that she wasn't a little girl anymore. I believe your sister was the same way yesterday at you seeing her. You felt embarrassed and she felt like you were going to treat her differently now that she has breasts." Donald nodded, telling him, "She looked at me scared. I turned away embarrassed but mom said it wasn't my fault. She had been so skinny and had worn bulky clothes so I didn't know that she was changing already." Jake added a soft, "Gabby didn't change overnight and she was still my sister. Amy has been growing for a while and she hasn't changed. She's just getting more mature, like you are. You are changing but you are still her big brother and protector." Jake texted Gabby, "He's doing better. Told him broken hinge story." Gabby texted back, "Going to do the same with Amy." Donald knew he was texting Gabby and asked him, "Is she going to tell the same story to Amy?" Jake nodded, adding, "She cares a lot about both of you. She loves you both a great deal." That morning Gabby drove to the middle school to make changes to Amy's records there. She was told to eat breakfast with Alice sitting her down and ensuring that she ate her meal of a bagel, fruit, cream cheese, milk, and juice. Al and Stephanie were by her side and ate with her, talking about the previous day and the fun they had after Stephanie and Raul went home. Dorothy sat Gabby down then called Amy's teacher into the office. Mrs. Shriner was used to being called into the office but she was shocked to see Gabby there. Olivia checked in on Amy and the girls then sat down next to Gabby again surprising Ms. Shriner. Mrs. Shriner asked what was going on, saying, "Mrs. Lawrence, aren't you in the wrong school? Jessie graduated last June." Dorothy told her, "She's here on behalf of Amethyst, sorry Amy Lee." Mrs. Shriner sat beside the ladies and asked for an explanation. Dorothy looked at Gabby then started to explain, "Amy was absent all of last week as you recall. Why she was absent was due her running away from home. Through her brother we were able to learn that Amy had been slowly starved by her parents and when found she was extremely malnourished. Her brother admitted that their parents had been abusing them for at least the last two years and as such they were removed from Mr. and Mrs. Lee's custody while the couple face justice." She looked at Mrs. Shriner then continued, "Amy has been placed in Gabby Lawrence's care. She is currently in the process of adopting both Amy and her brother. She asks that you make no mention of the abuse nor the real reason for her missing school. A story about Amy fighting a bad infection is the story they agreed on and from what her brother told us it's not far from the truth." Mrs. Shriner agreed to that. Dorothy added, "She has been helped greatly by Al Samuels and Stephanie Rodriguez. Both girls are going to be by her side almost constantly. If there is trouble Amy and the girls will stand by one another. This should not be a problem as they have come to a special understanding that only close friends can know." Mrs. Shriner smiled at that, telling her, "I'll keep an eye on them but I know both girls will not hesitate to speak their minds. Amy's sudden change in personality may bring some ripples in the classroom but Al and Stephanie have dealt with it before and can handle their own." Dorothy added, "Amy has thankfully started to put on weight again and isn't hiding her body under baggy clothes so the girls will notice one change immediately. I am sure boys will as well. There will be a few who will see her looks and what seems like a sudden change as getting her body altered or some other fictitious claim, I expect the rules to be followed." Mrs. Shriner quickly added, "I think Al and Stephanie's sharp tongues may do more damage than my threats of detentions or suspensions will." Mrs. Shriner looked over towards Olivia and asked her, "Was she really that bad off?" Olivia nodded, telling her, "Her so-called doctor gave her parents the green light to starve her. The only real food she got was in school and even then it was burned off quickly. We are going after him with a vengeance. The same goes with a few folks in their old hometown who covered up the abuse. Both Amy and her brother have top quality lawyers working for them and are going to have their vengeance." Mrs. Shriner got up to leave but Dorothy added, "She also has some injuries to her feet that need to heal so she will be taking things easy in gym. I'll alert Zeke Williams so there isn't any issue." Zeke Williams happened to be nearby and was shown in with Dorothy explaining the situation to him. Zeke was normally calm and collected but hearing about Amy's situation he was ready to tear the Lees to shreds. Dorothy was genuinely concerned by his behavior but Zeke calmed down and explained, "I saw some of the crap my cousins gave to my parents' cousins Catherine and Victoria for what their dad did to them and I just lose it when I hear about it happening to kids I know." Gabby let out a loud, "Oh my goodness!" Dorothy looked over at her as did Olivia. Gabby shook her head and asked, "Why did John not make the connection before?" Zeke snorted and blurted out, "I didn't want to upset John as he had a lot going on then and Williams is a common name so it was easy to not make a connection. If he knows, he hid it well out of respect for me." Sensing that he needed to explain more to the four ladies he continued, "We kept away from the Finns and before you ask this is because all of the other branches of the family hated Catherine for falling in love with Brent Finn. My parents couldn't forgive their cousin. Victoria went one further by marrying Jorge, making any threat they had against Catherine or Victoria moot since Jorge has actual power not perceived power in this city. Toss in that Brent was friends with Louis Reagan and Walter Gorman and they have a big ax to grind against the family. Even being ostracized they had made powerful friends and family and it only made our relatives jealous." Dorothy shook her head. Gabby smirked and added, "You realize you have to tell him eventually. You worked with him for three months, you have been colleagues for exactly three years, and you have known him as a parent for four and a half years." Mr. Williams sighed and mumbled, "I'll tell him at the end of the year so it doesn't affect either of us. Not a second before." Olivia and Gabby got up to leave, with Dorothy giving a quick, "That was interesting." Gabby explained, "You weren't at the wake but the Williams family are a bunch of conceited, amoral, crackpots you will ever encounter in Massachusetts. Their matriarch is an old bitty who has no concept of what is right and wrong, only what she thinks is right. He is lucky to have seen the light and moved away from her influence. Unfortunately had we known that he was one of them we would have had the kids taught by someone else or transferred to Alice's school or kept away from him entirely." That bit of history out of the way Olivia, Dorothy, and Gabby checked on the girls once more before Gabby and Olivia left. Alice was talking with them with the girls giggling at something she was saying. They saw that their plates were clean so Amy and the girls had eaten as directed. The bell sounded and the girls headed for class. They ignored the looks from the other students but once Amy put her coat in her locker she got the shock of her life as the boys all turned heads and stared at her chest. Stephanie and Al both whispered to her, "Just ignore them, they are being boys." She snickered at that but felt both thrilled and embarrassed. In class they say down and were surprised that Mrs. Shriner said hello to them. She knelt down in front of Amy and told her softly, "I talked with your mother a short time ago and was told what happened. Given how you three were acting I assume that you completed your work?" Amy nodded and handed it in getting a smile and, "Alright, don't try to overdo yourself and if the girls give you trouble I'll try to do something. That is if your friends don't do something first." The other students started to filter in and seeing Amy sitting with Al and Stephanie the whispers started immediately. The usual gossipers, nicknamed, "The Plastics" after a similar group the kids had seen in a movie, were the biggest gossipers and as expected the talk was nasty. Mrs. Shriner let them talk themselves out until they crossed the line, and within two minutes one of them blurted out, "Those are probably implants. Who lets a 12 year old get implants?" The rest of the class gasped in shock over the unintentionally loud statement, knowing, "The Plastics" were in deep trouble. Mrs. Shriner stood in front of the offending group with a big grin and told the group of five, "Thank you, ladies, for allowing me the pleasure of assuring that we have a quiet day by seeing that the five of you receiving in-school suspension. I am surprised that for girls as bright as you you would not know that such slander and bullying would not be tolerated. Further if I were you ladies I would look in the mirror because it takes a lot of gall to talk about another girl's unseen development when you yourselves have not been blessed in the chest yet. You can fool your classmates but you can't fool someone who has been there and done the same thing with padded underwear and inserts." Turning to the rest of the class she stated, "I know you all are quick to believe that Amy was out having some horrid thing done to her to give her an increased bust. But you also know that she wore sweaters and sweatshirts all year. You couldn't see what was under those and I can assure you from years of teaching 6th grade, having older and younger sisters, and myself having been your age that you do not develop breasts in a week and there is not one doctor alive who would ever think of putting implants into a child her age. There are some girls that are embarrassed by their bodies and hide while others, like these five girls, and feel the need to demean others to make up for their own feelings of inadequacy and lack of development. The loudest speakers are often the most insecure, like you girls." She looked around at the students and had to finally explain Amy's absence. She continued, "For all of your information Amy was absent last week due to a bad viral infection that has been eliminated and the source quarantined. She is healthy again and ready to start anew which we shall allow her to do. Any further talk about any girl's development will be met with suspension and detention for sexual harassment and bullying. Now let's get back to work." Class went smoothly. The five girls' absence was a blessing for the class as everyone did much better without the girls' sniping and snickering at anyone who answered questions. Al and Stephanie shined brightest as they started to get the other girls involved leading to Mrs. Shriner having to politely ask Al and Stephanie to lay off answering questions. Dorothy came in about two hours in and told the class, "You will be pleased to know that three of the girls have been suspended for one month and two will be transferred to Ms. Rodriguez's school. Once the three that are suspended return they too will be transferred but not to Ms. Rodriguez' school. They have made their reasons for their actions known and rather than risk expulsion they have chosen an administrative transfer to the alternative school." Nobody reacted until Dorothy was gone. Mrs. Shriner let out a smile and continued on with the girls in class feeling better about themselves and starting to enjoy class. The boys were doing better as well, they were seeing the girls as challengers who needed to be shown the could do just as well leading Mrs. Shriner to pledge to thank Dorothy later on. Chapter 6 At lunch Amy was given a large portion with Al and Stephanie getting the same. The lunch lady grinned at the girls, telling them, "Doctor's orders" which Al knew to mean her mother had been there and spoken with Dorothy. Amy just took it in stride, no reason to draw attention to herself and she actually liked the meatloaf that they served. Just after they say down Amy was confronted by several girls she knew from her ballet class. Al and Stephanie were at the ready with Alice watching close by. Amy turned to them and awaited for their inevitable barrage of questions. Megan, an 8th grader, asked her harshly, "Where have you been?" Amy told her just as acidly, "I was out sick the past week. I got better. I was told that I can't dance for sever weeks but it is probably a month or two more likely so I'm not going to dance class for a while." Ruby, a 7th grader, asked her, "Madame Pavlova will be angry when she hears about how much you are eating today." Amy shot back, "I am sick and tired of starving myself for that witch. If she doesn't like it too damn bad. I'm not going to die from starvation because she tells me I''m too big!" Polly, another 7th grader asked her, "What were you doing in the hospital? My mother told me you were there with a bunch of strangers getting treated for a serious disorder." Before Amy could say anything Alice stepped forward and told her, "Your mother is in serious trouble. She will be fired for that, she had no right to tell anyone about any patient in the hospital especially a minor who is being treated there." Polly tried to argue with her but Al stated, "HIPAA rules and regulations, ones that she had to agree to as part of her employment, prevents her from disclosing such things about a patient without the consent of the patient. She may have known that Amy was there being treated but she had no right to seek out any information and I know for a fact that neither her mother nor her father gave anyone permission for that information to be revealed and Amy sure as heck wouldn't either." Alice grinned then told Polly, "Since you are trying to fish for information, you can stop. Amy has said what she needed to say to you and I won't allow any further badgering. As for that Madame Pavlova, I believe a few words with some proper authorities is in order and I will be speaking with those who will do something about her and her dangerous practices." Alice's grin told the girls that Madame Pavlova was in deep trouble. Alice took out her cell phone and called Mark to alert him then called Valerie to alert her. Valerie was practically grinning at taking down someone who would endanger young girls for the sake of, "Art." There was a fourth member of her dance group there, standing silent as the trio talked. Trina was a 6th grader and in the lower tier ballet class who frequently worked with Amy whenever the two classes rehearse for a recital so was familiar with her. Amy saw that Trina wanted to ask her questions so she told her to sit down but would refuse to answer anything sensitive. Trina looked around for Polly, Ruby, and Megan. When they were gone she asked Amy questionably, "You ran away didn't you? Your mom was complaining to Madame Pavlova that you weren't at class and Madame threw her out for making a scene, telling her that it was her own doing and not of any concern to her. Mom got scared over her reaction but nobody else seemed to care you were missing." Amy nodded, telling her bitterly, "I couldn't take the diet and the pressure. Mom wanted me to do one thing, Madame Pavlova wanted me to do another. They kept saying I was getting bigger and putting on fat and it needed to stop. I got tired of it. I couldn't take another trip to New Hampshire or another three hours of being yelled at over every little detail I did even though I did them right the first time I did it. I couldn't take mom telling me I needed to trim down more to fit into a smaller dress that was made for a 7-year-old. I hated it. I had to leave before they killed me. I can't take starving anymore." Trina nodded silently, agreeing with her fully. Trina finally asked Amy, "They are in jail, aren't they? They have to be for you to be back and eating normally. Your parents aren't your parents anymore?" Amy nodded, telling her, "They tried to go after my brother's friends' fathers when they started to ask about the injuries to Donald. Those two they went after also happen to be the police chief and DCF social worker. They didn't know that I ran away but my brother's friends found out and caught me. We are staying with the Lawrence family now." Trina's eyes lit up, she proudly told her, "You are staying with Finns? Wow!" Amy shrugged it off but Al added, "She's being adopted by them. Her parents were just as bad to her brother and their doctors are angry over the abuse. She can't even dance for a month and a half because of how hurt she is." Trina felt bad but Amy countered with, "Mom said I can do it again if I want to once I'm all healed up." Al smiled and told her, "Kylie, Margaret, and Nancy go to Ms. Lincoln's dance school. You can go there. Ms. Rodriguez already told Aunt Valerie so you won't be going there again." Trina smirked, telling her, "That's Madame Pavlova's rival. Madame Pavlova always steals her students then badmouths her to anyone who will listen. Everyone likes Ms. Lincoln but she is supposedly expensive. Mom wanted me to go there but Madame Pavlova gave her a discount. I don't want to go there anymore." Amy added, "Me neither." Trina was stopped by Alice as she was about to leave. Alice sat her down and asked her warmly, "I wanted to know if you liked your class." She nodded but Alice could tell something was wrong. She asked, "I take it you don't like some of the girls in class?" Trina nodded again to which Alice asked her, "Would you like to switch? Several of the girls in Mrs. Shriner's class are moving to your class and Ms. Vega and I thought that you might like to move to a different class. Your teacher speaks highly of you but is concerned that you are holding back due to some of the girls. Al, Stephanie, and Amy are in Mrs. Shriner's class and I think you would benefit from it as well as Amy having someone she knows outside of school getting to know her in school." Alice led her to class and spoke with her teacher. They agreed that it was for the best. Trina's parents were told after school and seeing that there was one person she knew and trusted they agreed to the transfer. Mrs. Shriner broke the news to the class just before the end of the day, telling the students, "Due to an imbalance caused by this morning's misconduct we will receive a new student to help alleviate this imbalance. She is to be treated with the same respect all of your give to one another." After class Amy asked who the new student was. Mrs. Shriner smiled and told her, "Katrina Phillips." Amy looked at Al and Stephanie who both saw the glee in Amy's eyes as she repeated, "Trina" with glee and a happy smile on her face. Mrs. Shriner asked if they knew her getting a, "Yes" from all three with Amy adding, "She is in my dance class. We were just talking during lunch. She hated the other class, they are worse than our class." Mrs. Shriner suspected Alice manipulated this by killing two birds with one stone in getting a troubled student out of a bad situation that was bound to get worse while putting her with someone who needed another ally and who knew her well. Mrs. Shriner felt good about Alice and Dorothy knowing this was the best for all involved. She smiled and herded the girls off, telling them warmly, "Please make her feel comfortable, she will need some time to get used to us." Gabby met them at the entrance with a big smile. Trina walked by with Al going over to her and saying warmly, "You are going to like being in Mrs. Shriner's class." Trina smiled back, with her parents taking notice of the girls and Gabby. As Gabby and Amy walked away Trina's mother Margo Phillips asked, "Who is that?" Trina told her the truth, "She is Amy's foster mother. Her parents are in jail for abusing her and her older brother and for assaulting the police chief and a DCF social worker. She ran away from home last week and they never did anything about her until he brother's friends' dads came over to ask about her." Zach Phillips had her slow down and explain. Trina slowly explained, "You know how she was always doing beauty pageants and dancing and singing along with ballet classes? Well Amy didn't want to do those things. Her mom made her. Then Madame Pavlova started to force her and the other intermediate girls to lose weight and body fat which her parents were already doing, essentially starving her. The only food she ate was in school. Her feet were always hurting and she was always hungry so she finally got fed up and ran away rather than stay with them anymore." Margo told her sternly, "That doesn't explain things." Trina took a breath then told them, "Her brother was getting hit and hurt and finally his friends' parents stepped in and when they talked with Mr. and Mrs. Lee they found out that Amy ran away and the parents didn't do anything. Her parents went after them to stop them from doing something about what happened to her brother and her going missing and ended up arrested. Then she and her brother went to the hospital and they found out they were being abused worse than they thought. That's how she ended up in foster care with Mrs. Lawrence." Trina was wiped out but Margo told her, "Alright. We believe you." Zach added, "Is that why you are being moved?" Trina nodded, adding, "Some girls in her class started acting up about her, claiming she got a boob job because she is wearing a real bra and they aren't and saying worse things so they were moved to my class after their suspensions ended. There are too many kids now so Ms. Rodriguez asked if I wanted to move to Mrs. Shriner's class. She said it was better there and the kids were better which Al and Stephanie and Amy said as well. Our class is worse, Ms. Rodriguez complained about our bad grades last week. I'm the only one who hasn't failed any tests or gotten detention." Margo asked about Madam Pavlova getting a stern, "She is making the girls lose weight and be super skinny. She told me that I was getting too fat for her class and if I didn't trim down she'd kick me out instead of letting me advance to intermediate level. Well fine, I don't want to be in it after what she did to Amy. I want to go dance at Ms. Lincoln's school instead. At least she tries to help you get better and not only some kids." Zach sighed and told her, "She is expensive." Trina countered with, "She's better than Madam Pavlova and Madam Pavlova only gives a damn about us if she thinks she can use us for bigger things. She says she gets money from the big ballet companies for finding and sending them talent. She doesn't really care about us, she just wants to make money from us." Margo told her husband, "It's actually the same price. She actually isn't as expensive as is claimed and she does more in their time than Pavlova. The only reason I went with her was because the other girls in school go there. I think it's best to go with her from now on, not if our daughter's health is at risk if she continues dancing." Zach sighed and asked Trina warmly, "Do you know the other girls who are friends with Amy?" Trina shook her head but added, "Stephanie is Ms. Rodriguez's daughter and Al is the girl who used to be a boy that you were told about. Stephanie said Al is lucky, her family is closely tied with some people called The Finns and that Amy is staying with members of the Finns as well." Zach looked at his wife and grinned. He asked her, "Quentin got me involved with them. He said that he owed his job and his son's health and freedom to them. I think we can give the girls a chance." Margo sighed and looked at Trina, offering her a warm, "Alright. But if you get uncomfortable with the girls let us know." Trina shook her head and told her, "Why would I be? Is it because of what Al used to be? She's a girl like me. Just because she used to be a boy doesn't mean she is weird or going to do something to me. She likes boys, I can tell from how she was staring at Kyle and Amy at Oscar during lunch. I don't know why they like them, but they could do a lot worse with the other boys." Margo gasped in surprise while Zach shook his head, muttering, "Too young for boys." The trio left with Margo beaming at her daughter's unintentional disclosure. Trina tried hard to tell her she didn't mean it that way but Margo and Zach felt that she did. Earlier that morning Felicity and Colby Lee were moved from their cells at the Nashua Street Jail in Boston back to the Winnisimmet District Court for arraignment. The duo were indignant and refused to believe that they had done anything wrong. The court clerk read the charges against them and carefully stated, "Your honor we have multiple charges of negligence, child abuse, wanton and reckless behavior against a child under 14, assault and battery on a minor, assault and battery on a minor causing serious bodily injury, assault on a public official, and assault on a police officer." Judge Matthews read the list over again and spotted Valerie and Ricardo. Valerie nodded to which the judge sighed and asked for a plea. Both Lees pleaded not guilty to which Judge Matthews announced, "Given the severity of the crimes and the fact that they are against your own children I would rather remand you. However due to this being your first time I set bail at $25,000 each." Valerie and Ricardo stepped forward and told the clerk something to which he signaled court officers to hold up and lead the duo back towards Judge Matthews. Valerie and Ricardo stepped forward and then handed Colby and Felicity restraining orders. Valerie then handed them lawsuits on Donald and Amy's behalf, with the duo in shock and angered that the kids would dare to sue them. Valerie then showed an injunction stating, "This injunction hereby bars you from attempting to use your former residence as collateral to pay for bail and a lawyer. Furthermore, Mrs. Lee this injunction bans you from touching your bank accounts until such time as your daughter's rightful earnings have been located and recovered. Finally this third injunction prevents you from selling your daughter's house and bars you form entering the premises or attempting to remove anything of value without the consent of either myself or my colleague." Judge Matthews looked at the orders and burst into laughter, adding a stern, "Any violation of the three injunctions will result in severe penalties and any attempt to contact Donald Lee or Amethyst 'Amy' Lee will result in an immediate forfeiture of your bail. It is also the view of this court that the state look into permanently terminating your parental rights over the minors, effective immediately. I expect the state's response in a few minutes with Mr. Ramirez and Mrs. Finn being given official notice." Judge Matthews pounded his gavel. The court clerk told both Lees, "Kiss any chance of getting back those kids goodbye. The judge doesn't normally throw his weight around easily but when he does the agency listens. Given you already went after one of them, they'd do it out of spite anyway." It took a lot of finagling but eventually after four hours Colby got the money for his and Felicity's release. He had to cash in part of his 401K and borrow against his pension but he succeeded. Felicity tried to go home but their keys didn't work and a note was on their mailbox from the courts informing the Lees, "You are hereby evicted from this property at the order of the owner. You will be allowed to take personal items but all other contents are to be left." Colby smashed his hand into the wall cursing at Donald and Amy. To make matters worse after finally getting Valerie on the phone to get access to the house Colby was told that he would have to wait until the morning to get in. Valerie was firm in telling them, "Do no even think about trying to call the fire department or the police about getting inside. They have been alerted that nobody lives at the address anymore." Felicity felt like she was being mistreated but Colby swore he'd get those kids. Valerie calmly told them, "I consider that a threat towards my client and will have a police officer with me when you remove your belongings." Colby checked into a hotel with the last remaining money in his bank account. Felicity was trying to borrow from friends but she learned that the Phillips family had notified many of their friends about what actually happened over the weekend. Colby fared no better, he had burned bridges years ago and was left with nobody to turn to. None of his coworkers were willing to go to bat for him in his time of need and admonished him for trying to take advantage of them when it all but ignored them before. Valerie took no pleasure in listening to the Lees suffer but she knew that they created the situation themselves. The people just didn't get it, they were wrong and the children are innocent. But to them the children were at fault for speaking up and getting help. She began to wonder how they had ever survived together as long as they did with Colby being so arrogant and Felicity being so vain. Margo and Zach Phillips had called other parents to ask what they knew about Amy Lee's absence. The other parents were equally concerned as she never missed a practice let along a week's worth. Some of the parents were glad to have her gone while a few actually asked if she herself knew anything. Margo didn't hold back and told them the truth, hoping that what had been done to Amy would send ripples through the school and hopefully save other girls. This unintentional disclosure was then used against Colby and Felicity when they tried to call to borrow money for help. The only one not concerned in any way was Madam Pavlova. She had harsh words for Amy, telling Margo that she was growing heavy and needed to focus more on dance than anything else. Margo inquired about what she meant by getting heavy, being told, "She is getting fat in body. She cannot change yet, she is too young. She must not change anymore or she will be dropped. I don't want to hear anything about her being too young for weight loss, I know more than you about dancing and if I say she needs to lose weight then she needs to lose weight." Margo was appalled at her words. She asked Pavlova, "Surely you must know that she is growing breasts like any young girl her age." Pavlova scoffed, telling her, "She is a dancer, she must lose the breasts and the weight to dance properly. She will be no more. I won't have a fat dancer." Margo sighed and told her, "If you have been telling the children that I will be forced to report you for endangering children." Pavlova threatened her but Margo countered with, "You have nothing to threaten me with. If you try to prevent others from dancing elsewhere you will find yourself in a courtroom in front of a judge explaining why. I hope you have good insurance because you are about to face the one name in this city if not this state you never want to be on the wrong side of: Finn." Margo called Ms. Lincoln's school and asked if she would be able to accept her daughter. Ms. Lincoln recognized the name and was very thrilled to have her. She asked her with great concern, "What are your views on forcing dancers to drop weight in order to continue?" Ms. Lincoln gave her a stern, "Any dance instructor who would dare to endanger his or her students like that should be never allowed on stage again and should spent a few years behind bars. We have had too many dancers over the years die or get hurt from doing that and too many girls become anorexic and bulimic from it, that behavior only causes it especially in impressionable young dancers." When Margo explained her situation Ms. Lincoln laughed it off, telling her, "Pavlova is one of those big dreamers who never made it past dance school yet believes they are a god of ballet. She is upset that none of her students have broken through while a dozen of mine went on to prestigious performing arts schools. I know that she has at least one student with great potential but she tries too hard. I heard that she finally had enough of Pavlova and ran away, but I don't trust rumors especially about kids." Margo sighed and confessed, "It's not a rumor. Pavlova wasn't the only one behind the girl running away. Her own mother was forcing her to dance while hurt as well compete in beauty pageants and was already following Pavlova's suggestion that she lose excess weight before Pavlova started forcing her to do it in order to advance to the next level of ballet. The poor girl was sick to near death from it but thankfully recovering with a foster family." Ms. Lincoln went quiet. She looked at several of her students who were listening to her with one asking her, "Why are you asking about Amy?" Margo asked cautiously, "Are those girls speaking connected to the Finn Family?" Ms. Lincoln quietly said, "Yes" to which Margo added, "Oh good. She really is in good hands then. With Trina as as student there and other Finns you will see Amy dancing for your school as soon as her injuries are healed." Ms. Lincoln looked at the girls and asked, "What do you know about Amy's dancing?" Kylie Pena just smiled and told her, "Mom said she is good but she won't dance until her feet are healed. Her new mom won't let her." Nancy Flynn added, "She has to put on weight under Uncle Richard's orders too. She is too skinny and he won't let clear her until he thinks she is healthy enough to dance again." Margo listened closely as the girls talked. Ms. Lincoln asked her, "Do you think that she will want to be around the girls? I could use help with the younger girls while she recovers, they seem eager to have her here." Margo grinned and replied, "I'll ask her foster mother tomorrow." Gabby asked Amy about her day getting a small, "Fine" from her. Gabby didn't buy it and probed her further, getting a more definitive, "It went better than it could have if I didn't have Al and Stephanie." Gabby pulled into the driveway and led her inside, then sat her down to get more out of her. Amy started to explain, "The girls were exactly as Al said they would be. They tried to say I went and got a boob job but Mrs. Shriner told them off and made it so they were embarrassed beyond belief. Then at lunch some girls from my ballet class tried to tell me off for eating what I was given for lunch but Al and Stephanie told them off. Another girl from my ballet class actually got concerned about me and Ms. Rodriguez moved her to our class so she could do better and be around me and the girls." Gabby didn't know what to say. She picked up on the ballet thing so she asked, "Why are the girls so concerned about you eating?" She in turn was told, "Madam Pavlova keeps her students extremely thin. She doesn't like us having breasts or much body fat. She makes us eat small meals but mom took it further and barely gave me any food, just enough to get me through the day. Madam Pavlova was the one who had mom keep me dancing when my feet hurt, telling me I was a baby and didn't deserve to be in class if I was going to get hurt and complain about being hurt. She had refused to let me see a doctor about my feet so mom listened to her and told me to just do what she said or else." Gabby sighed and asked, "Did you like dancing? You told me before about it but do you actually like it?" Amy nodded but added, "I loved dancing but I hated Madam Pavlova. The other teachers around are much better and Trina is going to try to go to the school that Al said Kylie, Nancy, and Margaret go to. I want to dance but not if I am going to hurt or not eat." Gabby waited for her to calm down then smiled, telling her warmly, "The girls like their teacher and if you want, you can go with them to watch. Kylie and the girls would be thrilled to have you help them especially as Jessie and the older girls aren't into dance. And before you ask, you still won't be dancing until Richard gives his blessing." Amy was sent off to work on her homework while Gabby got dinner started. Jake came in with Donald followed quickly by Jessie and Courtney. The three were told to do their homework then get ready for dinner with each complying. Jake immediately told her, "He's doing better today. He talked but he didn't open up too much. I had to tell him the broken door story though. He also gets why you are helping him so much, he really likes you and the girls but he won't exactly say it." Jake shuddered as Gabby gave him a sly smirk, adding, "As long as he understood that you went through this before and what I am doing is out of love. Plus it beats my having to tell the girls about the shower incident." As if on cue all three came in and asked, "What's the shower incident?" Gabby blanched as Jake gave her a smirk with a knowing look that said, "Payback" for the her earlier smirk. Gabby just sighed and blurted out, "Back when I was 13 and Jake 16 he was in the bathroom drying off after a shower and I opened the door and accidentally got to see him in the nude. He refused to shower while I was around until he left for college. It figures the first guy I see like that is my own brother. Yuck!" All three burst into laughter to which Courtney told them, "Wow mom, what did you do- unlock the door or something?" Gabby nodded, explaining, "I didn't hear the water running so I thought someone accidentally locked the door." Jessie shook her head and smirked, adding, "OK so if the door is closed expect someone to be behind it. Gotcha. Don't want to see something only Francesca should see." That caused Donald to blush deeply while Gabby glared at her. Courtney added, "Same rule applies to you and Reed. You do have a nasty habit of leaving the doors unlocked with the boys around." Donald felt relieved to which Gabby whispered, "Another story for another time." Jake left for home as the five sat down to dinner. Jessie asked what Amy did that day getting a quiet, "Got rid of The Plastics and had one of the girls in my dance class transferred into my class to replace them." Jessie sought an explanation only getting a quick, "They crossed the line and got embarrassed by Mrs. Shriner then were replaced by someone nicer." After dinner Jessie asked about the girls. Courtney wisely kept Donald away, telling him, "She knows about mean girls. Rachel was like them until last May, Amy and she have a lot in common but Rachel never had to endure what Amy went through with weight." Amy told Jessie about Trina and the dance school. Jessie smirked and told her, "Go with Aunt Kennedy to the dance class. It'll be good for you to see how it should be done. She's a nice lady, she even tried to get me to dance but I don't have the coordination and balance that the girls do. It's why I'm not a cheerleader like Courtney, I can play sports but I'd be a danger trying to do the stunts they do." The next morning Gabby was approached by Margo who introduced herself and asked to talk with her about Amy. Gabby sighed and told her, "If this is about Amy dancing she won't be doing that until she is healthy. I don't care what that instructor has to say, I won't put Amy at risk to make her look good." Margo just smiled and told her, "Yes I wanted to talk about Amy dancing but I am actually asking on behalf of Ms. Lincoln's school. She was hoping that Amy would join her school when she is healthy. She wanted her to help the younger students, it doesn't require her to actually dance only advise them. From my understanding three of her students already know you and were going to ask Amy themselves. They seemed eager to have her come." Gabby asked her warmly, "Would you like to discuss this over coffee?" Margo agreed with the two walking off as their daughters grinned. Al shook her head declaring, "Your mom is pretty sneaky, Stephanie." Stephanie grinned and nodded, adding, "She has your family to thank for that, she says she learned more from Aunt Karen and Aunt Leslie than anyone else." At the local upscale coffee shop Gabby got down to business and declared, "My daughter Jessie is dating the older brother of one of the girls you mentioned. She actually suggested something similar where Amy would go and watch the class. I have my doubts about Amy being able to stay away from dancing but I know she won't do it unless I give her my approval and I won't until I have confirmation from Amy's doctor that she is healthy enough to dance without hurting her feet further." Margo added, "Ms. Lincoln won't let her dance anyway, she knows not to force the issue and with three Finns in her class she won't dare do something to harm a student." Gabby added, "One is the daughter of an assistant attorney general. She would not hesitate to destroy the school to protect the children." Margo's eyes lit up, asking, "Would she be willing to help bring down Madam Pavlova? If she did that to Amy she is surely doing it to other girls." Gabby grinned, pulled out her phone, and called Kennedy Pena to get things started. For good measure she called Mark and Valerie to get their legal and DCF view on Pavlova, unaware of the two already knowing thanks to Alice's previous calls. Margo was invited to lunch at the Finn home so they could discuss matters. Gabby could tell she was intimidated but Gabby assured her, "You unfortunately are involved in this now, but they aren't the ogres some people make them out to be. They care about the kids and want them to be safe, I am sure you want that as well. You wouldn't have approached me if you weren't sure that Amy was safe." The two drove to the Finn residence Valerie greeted them with a big grin. Gabby asked why she was so happy but she waited until they were inside before telling the story. Gabby knew that this was going to be a good story, one that she would love to hear. While Gabby and Margo were talking earlier Valerie was at the former Lee home greeting Colby and Felicity Lee warmly while noting their arrogant expressions of disgust. Colby demanded that she hurry up and open the door but before he could move Valerie wisely told him, "Not until my escort arrives." She grinned as David Peterson exited his car along with Todd Flynn. Both were in full uniform and hugged Valerie before Todd told the Lees, "Pursuant to an order from the court you are hereby barred from the premises without the written agreement from the owner's legal representative. Further any attempt to enter the home without this representative will be considered breaking and entering and thus will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law." Valerie then smiled and informed them, "I am the legal representative for Amethyst Garnet Lee and thus after we exit today without my written consent you will not enter. My client is the lawful owner of this property and has made it clear that she does not want you here." Felicity claimed that they couldn't do that but Valerie showed them the bill of sale with Amy's signature as well as their own. Valerie smiled as she told them, "You legally sold the house to your daughter. It isn't her fault that you would find yourself in legal trouble and end up being evicted by her." Valerie's tone informed them that they didn't have a leg to stand on and best drop it. Inside, the duo went right for Donald's room. Todd's quick action prevented the couple from entering as David dutifully instructed, "There is nothing inside here that belongs to you." Colby tried to claim that it all belonged to him but Todd showed him the order and pointed out, "Unless you are a teenage boy none of what is inside this bedroom belongs to you." Felicity tried to do the same with Amy's room. Valerie told her warmly, "Your husband was just told that there is nothing inside that belongs to him and I know for a fact that none of this belongs to you. You can look but you can't touch anything in here." Felicity tried to grab some of Amy's jewelry but Valerie's hand grabbed her wrist. Todd entered and escorted her out and explaining, "This is your only warning, do not touch anything that does not belong to you." Felicity didn't respond, only glaring at both of them. Colby was corralled by David to where Felicity was and herded both towards their former bedroom. Felicity tried to claim she bought all of the items in the bedrooms so they belong to her. Valerie asked her sharply, "Where did you get the money to pay for the items? You are unemployed." Felicity told her harshly, "From my daughter's winnings. She borrowed the money from me to pay the expenses and that included all of that jewelry." Valerie grinned as she had caused Felicity to fall into a trap. She asked Felicity, "Surely they weren't Christmas and birthday gifts?" Felicity scoffed, telling her, "Her gifts were my time and effort to drive her to the pageants and dance classes as well as equipping her for her pageants and lessons. Those aren't cheap you know! She got free dance lessons and pageant fees paid." Valerie grinned and informed her, "So you claim those were purchases made via a loan from you that was deducted from her winnings and you claim that her gifts were time and effort to get her to and from pageants, the outfitting and the lessons? Then please explain how then that those purchases were expenses that needed to be reimbursed when you just said that those things were gifted to her, thus as a gift there was no expectation nor reason to be repaid to you." Felicity was furious but she realized she just admitted to stealing from her own daughter. Colby told her loudly, "Will you shut up already!" Valerie grinned as she bluntly stated, "Thank you for making my job easier. We will be adding the expenses for all of the furnishings to the amount sought in our lawsuit and add it to all of the money that you stole from your daughter. Since it was aided and abetted by your husband the both of you are being sued. Further we will file a theft claim with the state and have your bank account audited to ensure that all money is recovered and accounted for." Colby tried to get at Valerie only to be held back hard by David. He told him loudly but authoritatively, "Try to strike her again and you will be in jail for assault and forfeit your bail money." Colby stepped back, still angry at Valerie and his wife. There was little that they could remove from the house that was truly theirs. The jewelry was held until it could be determined if it was owned by Amy or Felicity but given the style Valerie could tell it was bought recently and was clearly Amy's. The interior furnishings were technically theirs but they had nowhere to put them and Valerie stated that when they found a new home she would gladly ship them to the Lees once they had determined if they were paid for by Colby or by Amy's winnings. They left with several bags of clothes and Colby's laptops but little else. Colby and Felicity had to think things through. They had to find an apartment quickly. They had to get in contact with Amy and Donald to get them to recant their claims. Later at the Finn home Valerie finished retelling the story to Margo and Gabby. Margo nodded in full agreement, adding, "She boasted that Amy was always winning and what she earned the family. She would often show off the flashy jewelry she had just bought with the money." Valerie showed a picture of Amy's jewelry box and got a loud, "Felicity bought the box and everything in it for Christmas as a present to herself but there's some of Amy's jewelry in it." Valerie asked if she could identify what was Amy's, getting a nod. In a picture in Amy's room she told her, "The bracelet and necklace with her name etched in them, those were gifts from Trina and myself. The rest her mother claimed was bought by her for the pageants. Only a couple are Felicia's, the rest are actually Amy's." Gabby grinned with delight. Kennedy and Mark wisely kept quiet while listening to the story. Mark already had a good idea about what was happening behind the scenes and knew to let the others handle it, Valerie was going to get what was Amy's and a pound of flesh added on top of it while Kennedy was going to ensure that the girls were going to be alright with their new instructor.. Eventually Kennedy asked about the dance studio issue. Margo got right down to it and told her, "Our daughters have told us that Madam Pavlova has been insisting that her students lose weight in order to keep their size down, keep body fat off, and keep their breasts small. She has told them that they will never do well unless they followed that weight loss path and unless they did so she ignores them." Mark knew about the claims and asked if there was any proof. Margo told them both, "Trina was with three students when they confronted Amy about her food. They said Madam Pavlova would be angry at her eating so much. You would need to speak with the girls about that as that kind of information was kept from me until yesterday. She won't lie to you if she knows that it'll help the other girls." Kennedy nodded, adding, "She likely is targeting certain girls. I take it that Trina isn't developing yet?" Margo nodded, adding, "We are late bloomers both my family and my husband's." Kennedy then asked, "Is there a chance they misheard her or misconstrued what she meant?" Margo shook her head, telling her, "Trina wouldn't question her if she didn't think she misheard her. She understood exactly what Madam Pavlova was saying and I asked her myself yesterday afternoon. She is making the girls starve themselves and make their parents starve them as well, all to advance further under her control." Valerie looked at Kennedy and Mark. Both were thinking and Mark finally blurted out, "Do you think that Trina will be willing to ensnare Pavlova? Maybe having Amy go to the class and tell Pavlova that she is withdrawing to go to a different class will prompt her to speak out against Amy. Trina could simply just sit there and record her threats." Kennedy added, "Amy can leave once we have her side of things then Trina can get Pavlova's response and whatever threats and intimidation she uses against the girls." Valerie added, "Just don't put too much pressure on Trina. She is still a young girl." The stage was set. Kennedy asked, "Where are they going to go after this happens?" Margo replied, "We were told about Ms. Lincoln's dance school and how good her style is compared to others. I understand that there are a few girls that go there that you all know." Kennedy let out a big laugh, then added, "So you are the lady Ms. Lincoln was talking to last night! Yes a few go there, my daughter and her friends go and our neighbor's son helps out the girls from time to time." Margo instinctively added, "No wonder Pavlova hates Ms. Lincoln, a boy dancing is something she is vehemently against. She has a low tolerance for boys, she banned them from the school. Some of the other parents at times believed that she may not be genetically female. We don't mind that one bit about that but we do have a problem with her taking issue with boys in general. The mere mention of a boy or liking a boy sends her into a fury. She won't even allow the fathers or brothers of students to watch the girls even if there is no babysitter for them." Margo felt terrible but Kennedy grinned. She wisely told her, "There are nasty people in all walks of life. The trans community has all of the same issues as any other community including the radical man haters and sadly even pedophiles. They give us all a bad name and no matter how much good most of us do those few paint the rest of us as bad people in the eyes of far too many." Margo looked at her oddly but Kennedy nodded. Margo let it go, knowing that she wasn't any different that minute than she was the minute before and to think otherwise would be against everything she had thought she was trying to teach her daughter. Besides Kennedy was a wise and caring mother and Margo had no problem with Al, she had even less reason to have a problem with Kennedy. The group discussed plans and how to keep it a secret from the girls. The consensus was that the girls would be brought in at the last minute to ensure that there weren't any slips ups or chances for Madam Pavlova to change her tune. Gabby and Margo would also have to ensure that the girls weren't too put off by the plan but that was highly unlikely. Margo was finally asked about herself once the planning was done. She was quick to tell them, "I'm just a homemaker. I earned a degree in business administration but haven't had much use for it due to being a stay-at-home mother. My husband is a graphic designer who was just hired by a local company to save them from bankruptcy after the former owner was ousted by his partners." Mark shook his head as Kennedy, Gabby, and Valerie started to laugh. He had to tell Margo, "Valerie's niece is one of the owners of the company. The former owner didn't just get ousted, he is now in prison! He surrendered his company to her niece as compensation for violating a contract between him, his wife, and Valerie's nieces. And before you say anything else, your husband's friend is closely tied with Valerie as well. In fact he has known Valerie for years. Their children have even grown up together." Margo was unable to process what happened. Valerie told her, "It's simple. Quentin Nelson had your husband hired as Zach was struggling to find work and ever since Zach took over the company it has improved. The month and a half under his care has brought in new contracts and revenue. My niece and the others may own the company but your husband is going to end up a partner if things keep up." The five sat down to lunch to continue getting to know one another with Gabby now telling Margo about herself. Margo politely didn't ask any probing questions but did end up asking, "Are you going to adopt Amy and her brother or will you only foster them until they turn 18? Gabby grinned and told her, "We signed the adoption paperwork Sunday and filed it on Monday. If all goes well we will have it finalized in three months. The only issue is my ex-husband. I hope to have an answer regarding him soon." Mark chimed in with, "DCF has no reason to deny the adoption but should he appear and cause trouble my superiors may overrule Anne and myself." Gabby nodded, adding, "If he can, he will. I just hope he doesn't. Sadly luck isn't on our side so it's only 'when' not 'if' with him." Chapter 7 The meal was finished so Gabby and Margo went back to the middle school to await the girls. The two got to talking and struck up a quick friendship, something Gabby hadn't realized she was missing since Jessie graduated the previous June. Even though she was a homemaker Margo was actually quite talented at design especially on computers and with businesses and was looking for something to do which was giving Gabby the idea of possibly hiring her to help with the freelance projects. It would alleviate the amount of work for herself while earning Margo some money and give them a chance to spend some time together outside of school without it involving the girls. Eventually the girls came out with Trina and Amy looking concerned at their mothers being right beside one another talking. Al and Stephanie just shook their heads as Al quietly asked, "Aren't they allowed to make friends with their daughter's friends' parents?" Amy and Trina reluctantly agreed with her but held some concern. Donald had spent the day breezing through the lessons as best he could. Jessie was a big help and being her foster brother their teachers were more than happy to allow them to do joint homework with Jessie doing all the writing. Jake kept Donald busy, talking with him while doing routine expense reports for the superintendent and budgets for the individual departments. Donald was essentially his assistant but with the therapeutic talk he didn't notice it. Jake was able to coax out what Donald had considered for a career, graphic design and something involving computers, and was happy to tell him, "Talk with your mom about that. She was hoping one of you kids would follow in he footsteps. Courtney is going into nursing while we both expect that Jessie is going to be going into sports medicine, neither really took an interest in computers or design before." Donald felt relieved. Jake didn't criticize him over his plans and encouraged him. Jake could sense that he felt good and added, "Anyone who tells you that you are making a mistake in doing what you like isn't doing a job that they themselves like. And I know who said those kind of things to be frank, your dad is a blithering idiot and your former mom is a total witch. Gabby won't let you stop yourself from trying to do something that you like, so long as it is legal and moral." When they arrived home Jake told Gabby what Donald had said and immediately asked Donald, "Do you want to learn design? I think I can swing an internship with a graphics design company if you are serious. I also think you should look into the school's web design class." Donald looked up in surprise. Gabby knelt down and looked him in the eye, telling him sternly, "You are old enough to start making decisions about your future but still young enough to need help to guide you to ensure that you aren't making a mistake or nudge you along to ensure that you can fulfill your dreams without hesitation. If you want to study design then study it. Not everyone is cut out to be the next big lawyer or doctor, Jessie and Courtney are barely recognizing their own skills. I think Courtney will go for it soon, with Jessie following next year as well. You just need to get some confidence and be yourself, not who that man wanted you to be. I think he purposely tried to keep you second-guessing what you can do just so he can control you. It's your life, you can do what you want to do now." Jake added a quick, "By the way, what did he do for a living?" Donald mumbled an angry, "He was involved in engineering and design. He was supposedly building the new missile for the Air Force. He loved to talk about being a big shot for making the new system work right but he wasn't really the one who did it- someone else did and he took credit for their work." Jake started to laugh causing both Gabby and Donald to look at him oddly. Jake grinned and simply added, "He won't be for long. You need security clearances for that kind of work and getting arrested is a sure way of having it revoked especially an offense that shows you have lapses in morals and can be blackmailed over. No clearance means that he can't work on the projects, meaning he has no job." Jake grinned then left immediately so the girls and Donald could make dinner. Jessie asked what that was all about getting a humble, "career planning." She wouldn't let up so Donald admitted the truth, adding, "Mom really does care, doesn't she?" Jessie snorted loudly getting Courtney's attention. She told her sister what he asked getting the same reply. Courtney sat down next to him and hugged him, telling him warmly, "She loves you. Not just cares, loves. She wants you to be happy and if going into design is what makes you happy then it's all that matters. Even if she feels pride in knowing someone wants to do the same job as her, she would still care about you no matter what." Things were quiet for the rest of the night. Amy texted Al and Stephanie and played on her laptop under Gabby's watchful eye. Donald and Jessie worked on their homework with Courtney writing Donald's answers for him, much to his embarrassment. The next morning Margo told Gabby that Trina was acting like a changed girl after her first full day with Mrs. Shriner's class. Amy was a great help to her and Al and Stephanie were quick to latch on to her as friends. Gabby asked about Trina's other friends getting a solemn, "She doesn't have any real friends. All her friends were from the dance studio and they don't normally socialize outside of class." Gabby sensed that she hit a sore subject. Margo conferred to her, "She likes Amy a lot. She's the only girl her age in the class but until yesterday they never got close because of Amy's mother." Gabby grinned and added, "Al and Stephanie are good people, they wouldn't get close to Trina unless they saw something in her that they liked. She has real friends now, I guess the four of them share that bond of isolation in some manner but they are growing to be real friends the longer they are together." Alice came over to ask about the girls followed by Olivia. Gabby introduced Olivia as Al's mother who then immediately asked Margo, "Are the girls ready to take down that vile woman?" Alice grinned, apparently the girls had been talking about Madame Pavlova in her presence the day before. Margo nodded silently with Gabby informing them, "The next class is tonight. She will have a visit from the state regarding her mistreatment and abusive words towards the girls." Olivia grinned, adding, "The girls want to do something about her, I guess they didn't need to do the planning themselves." The ladies were about to leave but off in the distance walking towards the school Margo pointed out, "That's Felicity and Colby Lee coming towards us, Amy's parents. They shouldn't be here." Alice looked at Gabby who in turn said, "209A order preventing them from coming near the kids is on file with Dorothy." Margo asked what that was getting a quick, "Restraining order" from Olivia and Alice. Alice called over Ian Bailey, who was acting as the school resource officer that day, and had him stop Colby and Felicity from entering while Alice herded the four girls inside for breakfast. Dorothy saw something was up and came over with Alice indicating towards Felicity and Colby then Gabby. She immediately understood and was by Ian to prevent them from entering. Felicity and Colby reached the door and were immediately asked by Dorothy, "can I help you two?" Felicity gruffly told her, "I'm here to take my daughter home." Ian asked her name and immediately told by Colby, "Buzz off, pig. This doesn't involve you." Ian again asked her for her name and was told the same by Felicity. Dorothy wisely added, "I am one of the principals here so it is my job to know who is coming and going. Well I don't want to see you get in any more trouble with the law so I'll just tell you that you should tell him your name or by law he will be forced to take you into custody until you cooperate. Your daughter may be a student here but unless we know who you are you won't get in. It is our duty to protect our students and if we don't know who you are we can't allow you to enter the school." Colby told them, "We are Felicity and Colby Lee and we are here to remove our daughter Amethyst Lee from your school." Ian immediately called in a name check to the dispatcher and told them to wait until the information came back. Dorothy gave him a sly grin over doing the check via radio instead of in his cruiser but they already know what was going on, they just wanted to keep the Lees occupied. The dispatcher came back with a quick, "Both parties come back active with pending charges and have two separate 209As out against them." Ian asked who it was protecting getting a quick, "Two juveniles, one Amethyst Lee the other Donald Lee. Both are barred from any contact with the juveniles. They are to be taken into custody if they attempt to contact said juveniles per order of the chief." Ian informed dispatch loudly, "Both parties are being advised of their attempted violation. Notify the high school of a possible violation at that location by the same parties." Turning to Colby and Felicity he loudly told them, "You were issued a 209A order against you on Monday by a judge. Principal Vega and I just saved you an automatic trip to jail and revocation of your bail. Do not return to this school, do not attempt to go to the high school, do not attempt to contact either Donald Lee or Amethyst Lee again. This is your only warning you get. Any attempts by you from now on is an automatic arrest and revocation of your bail." Felicity pulled Colby away in disgust, the two muttering unflattering things about Donald and Amy. Alice was shocked to hear such foul language coming from parents but Margo told her, "That's about what I expect from them. Amy and Donald are lucky to have escaped from them." A short time later at the high school Colby tried to force his way inside only to be driven off by one of the teachers coming back from a coffee run for his colleagues. John knew exactly who they were as he had met them before but even so Colby was the spitting image of Donald but without Donald's growing bulk and Amy held a lot of similarities to Felicity but without the breasts. Both were told, "Since you never actually made it into the building I can't arrest you for violating your son's 209A order, however as you have no business here so I am telling you to leave now or you will be arrested for trespassing." Colby tried to appear larger than he was. John stood his ground and set his coffees down, pulling out his badge and telling him, "I am hereby identifying myself as a police officer and instruct you to leave or be arrested for trespassing and given that this is considered to be part of the high school your bail is to be revoked and you remanded." Colby tried to step closer to which John pulled out his phone and called in for a cruiser. Felicity ran off scared with Colby following behind. John chuckled as he never actually dialed. In fact he didn't pull out his phone, it was a portable hard drive that was the size of an iPhone. Inside he informed Jake, "The Lees have been sniffing around the school. As big as you are I don't think you can take the two of them at the same time. Have Donald go home with Reed and Michael, I am sure his sisters will enjoy spending some quality time with them later. He could also use their advice and guidance." Jake would have thought he was crazy allowing that on a school night but that was actually a great idea. Donald did need to spend more time with those two and there was little reason not to do it. He gave John a nod and grin, John did add, "Ensure that there is no funny business though. They have school tomorrow" earning a laugh from Jake. The Lees had bigger problems. Almost immediately after the fiasco at the school Colby was told to head directly to his office in Natick for a required meeting. Felicity went with him but he felt like she didn't need to be there as she would only distract him. They sped as fast as possible down the Massachusetts Turnpike, thankfully without getting caught by a state trooper. Colby parked then immediately went to his boss's office where he was met by a group of people including representatives from the US Air Force in full uniform. Colby could tell by the looks on their faces that something was off. He was told to sit down and listen. He was read a letter from the Department of Defense stating that his security clearance had been terminated as of that previous Friday evening due to his arrest on assault charges. He was being given a chance to appeal the termination but due to the need for him to be in direct contact with classified material on a classified project he was of no use to the company. Further, due to his arrest he violated his employment contract in particular a section on personal conduct thus he was being terminated without compensation. Colby tried to yell but was told loudly, "The charges against you are growing and we have it on good authority that you are going to be assured at least a decade in prison once you are convicted by the jury. Your wife is also facing the same amount of time in prison so don't blame her. This is your own doing, we had no choice but to terminate you. You can, of course, sue but your contract strictly states what can and cannot happen outside of work and being arrested for child abuse and assaulting public officials is among two of those conditions stated in the contract." Colby's personal items had already been gathered and his coworkers refused to look at him. Colby tried to act like a big man and appear to be unfazed but nobody bought it. He was led directly to his car and his belongings placed inside and told, "Do not come back or you will be arrested." As Colby drove away his former boss asked the Air Force officers, "Was that really necessary?" The master sergeant in charge grinned and told him, "The man deserved much worse. Willie told me not to get involved beyond my capacity as a representative of the United States Air Force Security Forces so I kept my mouth shut, but seeing us here anyway did the trick and kept his anger in check. He'd strangle you had we not been here, he has a nasty temper and is defiant unless there are people who are bigger and stronger around him then he just turns back into the child that he truly is." The man grinned and told him, "Peter Jenkins, you are really one to remember." As Peter left with his contingent they stopped by the head of the department and shown a shocking statement that contained an inventory of what was found in Colby's desk and what was missing. They were told quickly, "Get Colby Lee quickly! He still has his laptop with him! Those are never to be removed from the building! The man broke security protocol!" Peter grinned and proudly told him, "I know exactly where he is going. If my hunch is right my guys don't have to do a thing. He will try to get at his son because his daughter is too well protected." Peter texted Willie then was texted back, "Reed and Michael Finn are with him." Peter burst into laughter and announced, "He's about to get his ass handed to him by a 16 and 17-year-old. He better hope they pull their punches because the man is no match for either of them. They could easily break every bone in his body and be fully justified in doing so after Colby strikes at them for protecting Donald Lee." Peter and his men made a courtesy call to the Winnisimmet PD to alert them that they were about to conduct an arrest in their city and were offered two officers for assistance. Peter turned them down, explaining, "You might need an ambulance, the suspect is about to attack three teens two of whom will defend themselves with heavy force if required." A half hour later the detachment was at the Winnisimmet Police Headquarters meeting with Willie and his staff. They were awaiting the call from Michael or Reed with the State Police call-takers told by the department to forward any 911 call from any of the three cell phones to Winnisimmet immediately. Roughly 20 minutes after the high school was release for the day the call came in from Michael's phone prompting all to move swiftly to stop the teens before they permanently hurt the attacking couple. Colby and Felicity were getting desperate in their efforts to snatch Donald. Without the charges getting dropped Colby would never work in the industry again. Felicity could not stand the stigma of being a child abuser; she didn't care what happened to the brats, she wanted her supposedly good name cleared. Neither realized that even if they got to Donald they could not get at Amy and Donald would never give up his sister no matter what they threatened to do to him. Colby and Felicity's strong egos wouldn't let them see the futility of their efforts. The duo saw their chance as Donald, Michael, and Reed left the school heading towards one of the side streets. Once out of sight of the visible CCTV cameras at the school the duo pounced on the seemingly defenseless Donald, knocking him to the ground causing him a cry of pain. Felicity tried to get between Michael and in-pain Donald, ignoring the smaller Reed whom she didn't view as a real threat. Reed was punched by Colby as he tried to grab Colby off of Donald. Michael immediately told them, "You shouldn't have done that, now it's self- defense." Colby tried to swing at the smaller Reed again but Reed ducked away at the last second leading to Reed kicking him in his exposed chest. Colby fell to the ground in pain and tried to grab Reed's leg only to have a kick land into his back causing him to cough loudly and wheeze for air as he fell to the ground in even more pain. Felicity tried to grab Michael who promptly grabbed her instead, pulling her arm behind her back and twisting her wrist. The pain instantly caused Felicity her to fall to her knees. As he was doing that his other hand was dialing 911 and calling for the police. Felicity was heard swearing, saying, "I'll kill you for that" to which Michael then added, "These two have restraining orders against them and were warned earlier to stay away from their intended victim and told they'd be arrested if they stepped foot back on school grounds." The call-taker immediately forwarded the call and within two minutes Winnisimmet officers were converging on their location. Michael finally let Felicity go when the first officer came in. She started screaming that he assaulted her to which the officer grinned and told her, "Highly unlikely considering that we know that you were already trying to get at the boy on the ground and our call taker heard your threats. Consider yourself lucky that he didn't do further damage than bruising your fragile ego." The other officers were looking over Donald who was in pain but not otherwise hurt. The pain was from his arm moving and the impact on the cast as it banged the ground, but thankfully he didn't get any scrapes or tear any holes in his clothes. Reed kept himself between Donald and Colby as officers arrived and finally backed down when they had Colby in handcuffs. Colby was hurting. His his legs were bruised, ribs were cracked, and knees badly scuffed. He tried to scream at Donald but then saw Peter and the USAF Security Force officers arrive with scowls and threatening looks on their faces. Peter quickly told him, "You are hereby being arrested on charges of removing classified material from a secure location." Willie then grinned and added, "In addition to the federal charges, you are hereby also under arrest for two counts of assault and battery on minors and violating an active restraining order." Peter led the way, with Colby loudly arguing, "That bastard ruined my life! I'll kill him!" Peter sternly told him, "You were read your Miranda Rights and as such that threat will be used against you in a court of law." Felicity fared no better, doing the same but also adding swears and insults towards Donald and Amy with Willie telling her, "What foul language, and you call yourself a lady!" The unmarked USAF SUV and the marked Winnisimmet PD cruisers drove to the station as Willie and Peter looked over Donald, Reed, and Michael. Michael shook his head in disbelief, complaining to the guys, "I swear we get more workouts from jerk criminals than we get from our sensei." Reed added, "At least those lessons were put to good use, she will be pleased to know that we used the moves in self-defense instead of offense like some of our classmates have done." Reed hugged Peter while Donald looked on. Willie patted him on the shoulder, praising him for being a lot stronger than he realizes in keeping his cool and not doing anything to further hurt Colby. Donald got the gist of what he was doing, he felt calmer but still felt bad that his birth father was likely going to be in prison for two decades now before he faced justice for hurting the kids. Willie was called and told they located the Lees' car. The laptop was in plain view and when they were given permission to investigate further they found in the trunk several boxes of files that the Security Forces officers were quite upset at seeing. Peter grinned and told Donald, "You might have just earned yourself a big reward for all of this trouble. We had a big leak and people selling documents, your dad wasn't anywhere near the top of the list of likely suspects. It's a hefty $2 million and the company and Air Force will be ecstatic to have this information back safe. You did your country proud today and we will ensure that you get that reward in full from them." The car was impounded. The Lee home was searched further. Valerie came by to direct them as they were told, "Get the warrant but the inhabitant of the two kids' bedrooms give you access to their areas." Donald verbally gave permission followed by Amy but the investigators held off until the warrant got there just in case Colby made a stink over Amy owning the house. Inside were documents that caused the Security Forces to swear out loud again. Peter knew they had hit pay dirt, this stuff was gold and Colby was in serious trouble. What they found on a second laptop was even more damning, it contained information about secret bank accounts with money leading to rival companies and governments ensuring guaranteed prison terms of 30 years each. The rest of the day was spent playing a game of, "Find the incriminating evidence in the house". Valerie finally realized what Colby was really after while Felicity was no fool as she claimed. Felicity was the one moving money around and most of what was earned through Colby's clandestine sales of classified materials went directly to her bank accounts- all clearly intended to keep her under his control in the same way that selling the house to Amy kept her under his control. After Amy and Donald gave permission to the officials to search their rooms Gabby took them home to prepare for Amy's ballet confrontation. At the house Amy and Trina were finally let in on the plan. Both were eager to leave their mark on the studio and even more eager to help other girls learn they were in danger from following Madam Pavlova's plans. Amy and Trina were fitted with video cameras and microphones which would record everything that Madame Pavlova uttered. Kennedy and Mark were close by with Mark eagerly awaiting the chance to give the woman her court summons. Margo was going to keep things in order in case any of the other mothers made it an issue, but she highly doubted they actually knew what was going on and those who did were going to have an eye opening experience as they left themselves open to investigation. The group were met down the street by the assistant DA who normally worked with Kennedy. He was eager to nail Pavlova to use it as a centerpiece to a crackdown on harmful activities and undue pressure on children. Pavlova was the perfect target, she had power and influence over the children and was not afraid to prey on their inadequacies to get her way and didn't care about the outcome of her actions are so long as she looked good in the process and had more girls waiting to move up to take the spots of anyone who dared to defy her. Trina and Amy entered, with Gabby and Margo following close behind. Trina went with the other girls who were starting to get changed and stretched, Amy waited with the parents while recording any of their conversations. Even if they never got used against them they could at least be used by Mark to start investigations into the parents who were willingly starving their daughters. Madame Pavlova entered and saw Amy sitting there with Gabby and immediately told the girl, "You have put on weight! Did your mother allow you indulgences in your week away? You are not going to dance in my school or being any recital until you have lost all of the weight you have gained!" Amy stood up and told her, "I am not going to starve myself anymore. I am not fat or overweight. I am severely underweight and if you can see that then you don't deserve to be my teacher." Gabby asked her, "Are you saying that you don't want to lose weight due to Madame Pavlova saying you are overweight for her?" Amy said a quick, "I am not overweight and no I do not want to lose any more weight just to perform for Madame Pavlova." Gabby grinned and told Pavlova, "Alright, she made it clear that you are not going to be a student until you agree to her demands for weight and body fat levels." Turning to Madame Pavlova she announced, "You can terminate her schooling as Amy will now be attending Ms. Lincoln's School of Dance where she doesn't have to nearly kill herself to be taught right." Gabby smirked as she left, seeing Pavlova growing angry at the mention of Ms. Lincoln's name. Margo just grinned as she sat listening to Pavlova tell the other parents that Amy was terrible at dancing and she was never going to make it as a dancer. She then told them, "Your daughters are years ahead of her and will go far if they follow my orders to the letter." Margo had to fight to contain herself hearing that, the woman was delusional and blatantly lying to the women. Margo asked the mothers what they thought about what just happened. Some were concerned about Pavlova's actions but most were indifferent, believing that she knew what she was doing. Margo asked those who were openly supporting Pavlova and got the same, "The woman knows what she is doing, if she says the girl can't go on if she won't lose weight then the girls have to lose weight. She knows more about dancing than the doctors, she does this for a living." Margo just shook her head as she knew that they were going to get a long talk from Mark and the ADA and may lose custody of their daughters. Word spread to the girls that Amy had left them for Ms. Lincoln. Trina listened as the girls talked about Amy growing fat from all the food she was eating and Madame Pavlova was right to make her lose weight. Trina asked them pointedly, "She told me she was going to die unless she ate, her doctor forced her to eat all that food so that she wouldn't die. I've seen her in school today and she isn't all that much different than she was two weeks ago, she looks exactly the same. Madame Pavlova is trying to scare her into getting skinnier." Trina knew exactly what she was doing as the girls started to ask, "Die? What do you mean?" Trina then retold exactly what Olivia, Gabby, and Amy had told her, getting shocked responses from all of the girls. Trina then added, "I saw her in gym class today, she is as knobby as you all are becoming." The girls looked at one another and started to look in the mirror, noticing that compared to Trina they looked like skeletons. Madame Pavlova chose to enter and immediately told them, "You girls are getting fat. You need to keep up your training and cut down on your meals. No more meals in school, they are too fattening. I am going to tell your parents to cut down on your dinners and cut out your breakfasts." Trina asked her, "Why?" Pavlova told her, "Because I am god here and if you do not listen you will not get advanced nor will you perform anywhere else. That freak Lincoln won't even take you no matter what anyone claims. Either do as I say or all of your training will be for nothing. I control your future!" Trina finally got fed up and told her, "Who made you god? What right do you have to tell girls what they can and cannot eat? What kind of sick person are you to tell girls they are getting fat when you yourself are bigger than most of our mothers? Seriously, have you seen yourself? You are getting larger while you are making us get skinnier! The girls are dying and you eat away without a care! Just who the hell do you think you are?" Trina waited for her response. Madame Pavlova smacked Trina across her face leaving a large mark. She was about to strike again but Margo caught her hand and slapped her back. The other girls were horrified as were the mothers. Margo told her harshly, "We were told that you were rough but I never believed you are a monster! How dare you try to strike my daughter! What the hell is wrong with you?" Mark had seen enough and entered, announcing to all, "This establishment is closed by order of the city and DCF. Miss, you are hereby placed under arrest for child endangerment and child abuse. And after striking Trina Phillips you are hereby placed under arrest for assault and battery on a child under 14." Turning to the other parents he stated, "Due to the severity of the allegations against the proprietor I am forced to open individual investigations into your own involvement in this. Should you have had no knowledge of the abuse against your daughters you have nothing to fear. Should you have known about it and allowed it or worse participated in it you will be subject to possible criminal action." Mark had a cruiser waiting to take Pavlova into custody and had Trina's picture taken for evidence of Pavlova's assault. Next he had detectives called in to assist in questioning. All of them were volunteers and people Mark trusted to get the necessary statements and filter out the falsehoods. The ADA separated each mother and their daughters so none could coordinate. Their daughters sang like canaries, the mothers clammed up but with their daughters corroborating what Pavlova had already shown they were in serious trouble. The girls were released to the care of their fathers or close relatives while their mothers were held over for arraignment. Three did speak and admitted that they knew about Pavlova's plans but had not implemented it yet, whatever weight their daughters lost was on their own. Amy looked over at Gabby who was both worried and relieved. Amy sighed and told her, "It was tough, but it needed to be done. Can talk with Ms. Lincoln to see if I can join her school?" Gabby nodded, telling her warmly, "You don't have to dance if you don't want to." Amy countered with, "I want to." When they got back home Donald wanted to know if they were alright. He knew of Madame Pavlova's reputation and hoped she didn't throw one of her infamous tantrums seeing Amy looking so mature and full of energy. Amy just grinned and told him proudly, "She was told off by me, mom, Trina and Trina's mom! She's going to jail because of them!" The family went to sleep, proud of themselves for doing something good for the other girls while also sad that Colby and Felicia were going to likely spend decades in prison for their greed. Donald actually relaxed more, his father was now incapable of hurting him. Amy was genuinely excited to get back to dancing, especially as she had her best friend there dancing with her. The following day was going to be fun for the girls. It was the school dance and Amy was finally going to be allowed to attend one. Al was equally excited, the 6th graders only had two dances and she wasn't there for the November dance. The one who was the least excited was Stephanie as she wasn't much of a dancer and didn't find any of the boys in their class interesting. Trina was happy to be going with the girls. The first dance she went stag and didn't enjoy it at all. The solo boys were the ones who were the jerks who all of the girls disliked. She and Stephanie were at least miserable together. Alice pointed out, "Most girls were like that anyway, even Amy's sisters." At lunch things got tense. Megan, Ruby, and Polly surrounded Amy and loudly complained about her getting Madame Pavlova arrested. Amy ignored them and Trina pointed out, "Amy didn't do anything, Madame Pavlova did it all herself. Amy just told her the truth and Madame Pavlova couldn't accept what she was doing was wrong. I was the one that got her arrested- after she slapped my face for daring to stand up to her! If you are going to accuse people get your facts right first! You weren't even there, so whoever told you either lied to you or wasn't there either." The girls then ignored Polly, Ruby, and Megan, going back to eating their lunch. Megan loudly stated, "She was right, you are getting fat. You are going end up like a blimp if you don't stop." Ruby added, "She can barely stand up as it is." Polly was about to say something when Stephanie's eyes lit up and a smile crept across her face. She pointed behind the girls who turned to see four 8th graders surrounding them. Raul grinned at his sister then asked the girls, "Is there any reason why you three feel the need to cause trouble for my sister's friends over something they didn't do?" Megan turned and was going to say something rude to him but Raul's girlfriend Avery added, "What you said constitutes bullying which is against the school rules. It's a shame that you need to extend your own eating disorders to other girls because that's exactly what you are doing. Refusing to eat, having a negative image of your weight, losing weight to a dangerous amount is exactly that. You need help before you end up looking like more of a walking skeleton than you already do. Your hips and butt are just about flat so the next place to go will be your breasts and face and given how flat you all are it'll be your face so in a week or two you won't be much different than the skeletons in the science classes." The girls rushed off in embarrassment as the other students started to laugh at them. Avery and her friends sat down and ate with the girls while Raul tried his best to keep his sister from giggling at him. Trina and Amy were unsure what was going on but Avery quelled their growing uneasy by asking Amy, "Did Stephanie tell you about the sleepover on Tuesday?" Amy was puzzled as Stephanie slapped her head. Al shook hers but added, "She was busy making sure Amy and Trina were alright, can't really blame her for that one." Avery nodded, telling them, "My house on Tuesday. Mom is going up to Endicott so it's just Sheila and I." Raul added, "She has a date with Ian so she might have to cancel. Zoe, Isobel, and Sela all have dates too." Avery's expression changed to one of disappointment. Amy softly asked her, "What about Courtney or Jessie?" Avery had to think but grinned happily, telling her, "can you ask them? I don't want them to cancel their plans." Amy countered with, "I'll ask, I don't know what Reed is doing but he can go with Donald. Courtney said that Michael is going away for the week but the older girls may do something." After school, Amy asked Gabby if she could go to the sleepover and got a grin and nod as did Trina when she asked Margo. Amy then texted Jessie and Courtney and got back a, "Yes" from Jessie and, "Have plans with the girls" from Courtney. Avery was thrilled to hear that the sleepover was on but she did get a complaining grumble from Sheila about five more girls at the house. Gabby drove home and Amy ate an early dinner while getting her dress for the dance. Jessie helped her with her makeup while Courtney did her hair. Jessie complained that Amy looked better going to her first dance than she did to which Gabby countered, "She doesn't have John keeping an eye on her either, so she is getting off lightly." When she came downstairs Jake and Donald were speechless. Courtney started laughing and whispered to Amy, "I think you broke Uncle Jake and Donald." Gabby told both, "I take it she looks good, well then we better get on our way." As they left they could hear Jake telling the three, "She is going to have boys all over her soon." The girls were waiting for her when Gabby pulled up. Olivia asked what happened getting a big grin and quick, "She damn near gave Jake and Donald heart attacks when she came downstairs. I think they would have fainted if they saw Al, Trina, and Stephanie too." Margo had to stifle a laugh when the girls looked over with matching glares. Alice was grinning widely as the girls went inside and immediately all heads turned to them. It was easy to see the girls were jealous and the boys leering. She had to admit, the four made a stunning group and with each other they were confident and not afraid to make their mark. The girls were immediately joined by other girls in their class and had to endure 20 questions with them about their dresses, their hair, their makeup, and even who they wanted to dance with. They paid more attention to them that first few minutes than had paid to them all year. They were both flattered and offended that the girls were giving them attention but they didn't let on that it bothered them. The girls eventually dissipated among their own cliques but their impact reverberated among the girls for the rest of the night. They set the tempo for dancing and in turn set the level of fun. All the reset of the boys and girls would just follow. Al eventually told them, "I never thought I'd go to a dance." The trio looked at her oddly, getting a snicker and, "I didn't think too highly of them and the dances that we had at my old school was parents/children dances so of course I couldn't go because I would have to explain why my old parents weren't there. Mom wouldn't let me stay home tonight and I couldn't leave you three to the wolves." The boys had avoided dancing for a half hour forcing the girls to dance by themselves. The unofficial leader of the boys finally got the courage to ask Amy to dance. She declined, she didn't like him or his friends. Trina accepted one offer but the boy was too aggressive leading her to break it off while he was taken aside by Mr. Williams and told bitterly, "This is a dance, not a wrestling match. Your hands don't go anywhere near a girl's legs or butt. Understand?" The boy gave a yelping, "Yes" and was sent away in humiliation as the other boys laughed at him. That set most of the boys off from asking the girls to dance. That didn't stop either Oscar Pierce or Kyle Douglas from seeing their opening with the girls. Oscar asked Amy to dance while Kyle did the same with Al. Both agreed with Stephanie muttering, "Finally" to Trina. Trina tried to understand what she meant but got a simple, "They have had crushes on those two for a while. Al likes Kyle and he likes her, Amy likes Oscar and he finally realized that she liked him." The two sat back and waited for their friends. Trina asked her meekly, "Who do you like?" Stephanie looked away but Trina saw her opening. Trina smiled and told her, "I like you that way too." Stephanie looked over at her to which Trina nodded then grabbed her hand and led her onto the dance floor. When they got close enough Al let out a quick, "About time you two stopped acting like you didn't have the hots for one another." Amy grinned and gave Trina a nod showing she was alright with the to two as a couple. Stephanie and Trina caused some whispers but nobody said anything to them and with both Dorothy and Alice close by they didn't dare say anything that could get them in trouble the next day. After a slow song the DJ took a break so the girls went to the side and rested with Stephanie and Trina holding hands. Amy asked if they were into one another getting a nod from both. She then added, "You look good together. You two really like each other, it is hard to hide." Alice was watching the girls and saw the hand holding and subtle smiles. Dorothy quietly asked, "Are you alright with her falling for girls?" Alice nodded adding a soft, "I would rather she be happy than sad. I saw what it did to Ricardo growing up and what it caused to happen with my husband and parents when he came out. Trina needs friends and if she is like Stephanie then the two being together is a blessing for both of them. Besides, I haven't seen Stephanie happier. And Trina does look like she finally found someone to open up to." Oscar and Kyle danced with the girls the rest of the night with Stephanie and Trina being side by side throughout. Oscar and Kyle had some heavy words in the bathroom with some of the boys over the couple with both boys making it known that they wouldn't let anyone badmouth the girls and would let their real feelings be known. Mr. Williams let the boys speak then added, "Anyone stupid enough to mouth off will repeat the 6th grade in the alternative school. We don't allow any discrimination in this school, you all know this as you had it pointed out multiple times already!" When the dance finally ended the girls gave Kyle and Oscar kisses on the cheek. Kyle's parents were not thrilled that he and Al had gotten close but when confronted by Kyle his father had to back down. Kyle told him bluntly, "You know about her. You know she is all girl. Don't give me any of that 'can't have kids' bullshit because you are shooting blanks and mom can't conceive even with periods and a womb. I already know that I was adopted so what is your real reason? Image? Nice thing to teach your son 'all that matters is how you look to people'." He looked over at Al then gave her a kiss on the lips sending her gasping for air. Oscar wisely told his parents, "He's my friend and if he is friends with Al then you have to respect her." They didn't dare say a word, not caring one bit about her past since they only knew her as the girl that Kyle had been secretly drooling over for four months. Olivia was unsure what to say to Al. Al just looked at her mom and quietly muttered, "He gave me my first kiss." Olivia hugged her as the two walked away, with Olivia smiling the whole time. Oscar gave Amy a hug but she held him back and kissed him. He couldn't speak after, his parents had to lead him away while the girls smiled to one another and Amy strutted to Gabby's car. Eventually, Gabby told her, "You gave him a memory he will never forget and his parents will use for a long time to embarrass him. He is really cute though." The last ones still there were Stephanie and Trina. The two hugged goodbye with neither knowing what to say. Trina finally plucked up the courage and kissed Stephanie on the lips then hugged her deeply, Stephanie was barely able to breath due to the shock of the kiss. Stephanie finally admitted, "I like you. You aren't like the other girls, you were better than them. When mom transferred you into our class I couldn't wait for Tuesday. Thank you for making me so happy." Margo and Zach were shocked to see Trina kissing Stephanie. Margo suddenly realized that she missed all the signs before that night. The looks at other girls at the pool, the changing the subject when Margo asked about the boys in her class when Margo was clearly trying to fish for information, the reluctance to become friendly with the boys interested in her. It made sense now. Zach knew too many women who liked women to say anything against his daughter liking girls. He just hugged Trina and told her, "We love you no matter what. If you like Stephanie that way then it's fine. She is a good girl and she won't have any problems with us." Alice hugged Stephanie and asked her, "Do you like her?" Stephanie was in tears and told her, "I have liked her for two years." Alice walked Stephanie over to Trina and candidly talked with Zach and Margo as the girls waited. When they walked over Alice announced, "Neither of us have any problem with you the two of you liking one another. You are too young to openly date but a group outing would be good for you. Maybe in a few days once we talk with Oscar's and Kyle's parents to set up one for all six of you to go out together." Both girls hugged then shared a hurried kiss as their parents looked on. Zach grinned and joked, "Well at least they can't get pregnant" leading Alice and Margo to give him funny looks. He shrugged, telling the ladies, "What I mean is least they can't get pregnant from one another." Both mothers snorted and had to agree with the girls cringing at Zach's reference to sex. They were only 12 but they had to agree with him there. At home, Jessie and Courtney wanted to hear all of the details. Amy started right off with, "Stephanie and Trina like each other." Both girls looked at one another and asked, "Are you OK with that?" She nodded then added, "Trina has given us other girls some funny looks before, I guess that explains why. She is my friend and Stephanie deserves someone as good as Trina." With that out of the way she went on to explain, "Kyle stood up for Al and told off his parents about their prejudice. Turns out he is really adopted and his dad is sterile and his mom can't conceive so they have no right to complain about him dating Al because she isn't like other 'real' girls. Oh and he kissed her and I kissed Oscar." Donald was silent but looked troubled. Gabby led him away to ask what's the matter. Donald looked over at Amy and declared, "She's not my baby sister anymore, is she? First boobs, now boys. Next it'll be sex." He shed a tear over the revelation. Gabby hugged him then kissed his forehead, telling him warmly, "She is just 12, she is maturing into a woman and she was treated like a woman by a boy she finds attractive. You may not believe it but she had the same feelings about you dating Francesca. She loves you unconditionally especially as you put yourself in danger to protect her. You aren't the only male in her life anymore, but you will always be her big brother and the one she turns to for help when she needs help most." Donald hugged her back, then went up to his room. The girls helped Amy remove her makeup while gossiping, finally letting her go when they finished. Gabby received a big hug and, "Thanks for not freaking out over the kiss" from Amy while the girls gave her big grins. She in turn told the giggling duo, "Head to bed too."