No Joking Matter Part 5 free porn video

The girls talked about the show throughout the week and actually wrote out plans for what they thought should happen, especially little things that would help build Denise's character. They were mostly left alone by the others while Nathan and Phillip kept anyone at bay who might get too close to the trio. It was hard not to shake their heads at them portraying boys as brutes but had to smirk as they clearly had two boys join Denise's character and her future girlfriend, a new character who was her best friend, and a small number of background characters/classmates. Ms. Black asked what they were talking about, causing Denise to tell her, "I can't say yet. You can go ask Mr. Taylor but it's nothing dangerous or serious. I don't want to spoil things." She did ask Vance, who happily told her, "She's working on a TV show. It's the same show that brought her out here in the first place, only she's making it her own. She's contributing a lot to the show, I heard some things about what they are working on and it's going to be art imitating life to an extent." Throughout the week Benny checked in on Denise and read the girls' notes and had to fight off laughter as she "got" what they were going for and thought that Denise was doing better with her character than the writers were. She might not be "professionally trained" but she knew what it was like to be a girl in the throes of transition dealing with bullies, love, friendship, and morons forcing their views on her. It was pure satire and filled with real-world examples, exactly what they hoped she'd bring to the table. Jack didn't have to ask where the ideas came from, he happily brought the revised character profiles and plots to the writers and told them, "These are the revised characters. It's nonnegotiable, they have to be like the girls in these profiles. These are real life situations that our star is telling the world about, it needs to be told and through you the real side of transitioning can get out." Jack basically told them without telling them that Denise would get her way or they'd be gone. There'd be some complaining, but Denise's life was on camera and she needed her voice to be heard. There was little reason to not use her notes, especially as she actually lived the life they were portraying. The writers were upset that their plans were tossed out the window by a kid- plans they had worked on for months, ones that the network approved of and wanted in the show. It was supposed to be a comedy yet Denise's changes made it into a drama. They felt that Benny and Jack were idiots who didn't know what they were doing and what would be successful, "Tickle Your Funny Bone" was a fluke that they couldn't recreate nor could they do any better than bit actors in a third-rate kids show. There were some who thought that the head writers were the ones who were the hacks and that the duo had better writing skills than the staff but weren't polished yet. They looked through Denise's ideas and saw what she was doing and liked that she was centering things around others instead of her so that it was more of a reactionary show than solely focused on her. The bulk of the comedy was the stupidity of a few who mistreated Denise while some of it was on the duo trying to find ways of protecting the kids without going over the line into breaking the law or unwritten rules of apathy towards students. Jack saw the lines being drawn and started to prepare plans for when the writing staff split. He figured it would be best to pare down the numbers and keep only a few who were loyal to the show and not to their own interests, but also figured there were a couple who could stay on to work on filler scenes that didn't involve Denise or any of her characters. The list wasn't long but the ones he believed would be the best candidates had already worked with them and knew how they wanted to do things and knew a way of working around their issues due to Denise needing to go to school during the week. The next weekend saw Denise being told that her ideas were going to be put into use and that she'd be in on the auditions for the characters. She tried hard to get out of casting but with her spending so much time with the girls it was essential that she got along with them making things easier on all. If the girls weren't able to get along with her or had issues with her being a transgender lesbian then it would make the shooting difficult if not torture for all involved. The casting would be held that weekend, with Inferno Productions having sent the best candidates out to Boston to audition with trio and see who was the best fit. Nora Biggs had high hopes for one of the girls but would understand if she wasn't accepted due to her attitude or actions against Denise. Even the worst can sometimes act like they are decent people and force their way into being hired onto shows. To Denise's surprise, Ava was asked to join them as she was the inspiration for one of the characters to be included and was going to help Denise keep calm. She was happy to join Denise, especially as it'd be for the show and give her a glimpse into how shows were made. The fact that Denise might end up getting the right girl to star with her made her jealous, but knowing she liked her before the girl made it a fleeting jealousy as Denise wouldn't abandon her for a girl who'd only see her on weekends. The auditions were grueling, especially as the girls were told about the show and who was going to star in it alongside them. Denise wasn't recognized by any of the girls, she freely talked with them about all sorts of things while they awaited their turns in front of Benny, Jack, and the producers. The duo would be doing the bulk of the reading and gauging the girls' abilities while Denise discretely observed them. The girls were vile, constantly insulting Denise by calling her all sorts of insults and deriding her acting abilities. A couple of girls she recognized from previous auditions and guest spots they had on, "Tickle Your Funny Bone" and was upset that the real side of them was shown when they talked about Denise. None of the girls were going to be able to do the show, not even the one Nora had hoped would get the role- that girl was exposed as a total fraud who fooled even the elderly producer. The last ones to get called in were Ava and Denise, with Denise telling them which girls were possibles and which ones were definitely not worth the trouble. Ava joked that she was trying to find a girl too much like herself leading Jack to joke that she should try out for the part. He called her bluff, she shot her mouth off and would have to put her money where her mouth was. She gulped and read the part, then acted it out with Denise causing Denise to grow upset then kiss her full on the lips causing Ava to flush then kiss her back. It was exactly as was written and the two nailed it perfectly. Ava was asked to do more scenes, leading Jack to gloat, "I guess the only one who could do your character justice was you yourself. It figures, you'd get the part without even trying out for it." Jackie was called in and told what happened, leading her to ask for help from an agent to ensure that it wasn't a ripoff or put Ava into a contract that couldn't be broken. Rick Samuels was called and helped her with the contract, leading Jackie and her husband Joe to sign, followed by Ava, then Nora Biggs. It was a done deal: Ava would star in the show alongside Denise. Nathan, Lydia, and Phillip were happy to hear the news that evening, with Lydia swearing that they all would be on the show at some point with them probably being Denise's character's friends or the tough guys who went after her for liking girls since they wouldn't let just anyone play those parts. Denise heard the brothers swearing at that, Lydia must have known it would end up being done out of need for them to hire people they trusted and who were familiar with the girls. They were good guys, they'd be perfect as friends if they weren't already her friends. The next day was spent working with the girls on wardrobe and finalizing the cast from the actors and actresses who auditioned but who weren't strong enough for Ava's part but who would be good enough for lesser roles of her classmates. Ava and Denise were introduced to the kids and worked with them on what they'd be doing on the show and why they were chosen, with only a couple refusing to work with them due to jealousy and egos. The remaining ones chose to take the parts and avoid being blackballed, it was the lesser of two evils and would help them in the long run to have a hit show to their credit. On Monday the girls had to endure teasing from Jane, Alana, and Lara but saw them back off as Vance walked over and teased them that they'd be on the show too so they couldn't tease them about it. Vance smirked and enjoyed the trio being speechless for once, especially as none of them thought that they might get hired to perform background acting- something the kids had done multiple times before. The week went by without incident, with Ava and Denise doing homework then practicing lines after a few minutes of kissing. The girls were ready for the first episode to be filmed, with Denise mostly not speaking during the episode as people talked around her and about her. It was only at the end that she would speak, confessing to the entire school that she was transgender and wasn't afraid to tell them. The first episode was filmed slowly over the course of two days, it was a double episode that would be the backstory dump and setup the bulk of the storylines throughout the season so they spent more time on it than the other episodes. The kids weren't as involved as they would be later on, most of the scenes involved Benny and Jack working with the kids and helping Denise endure school while Ava and her gang worked to undermine Denise's growing popularity. The episode was also the heaviest on drama as it showed Denise in constant turmoil over her need to tell everyone, fighting her love for the girl Ava played, and finally enduring the consequences of people finding out the truth before her big speech. The big speech was the last scene to be shot and saw the cast in stunned silence as Denise walked off in tears with Benny needing to hug her and Jack forcing the director to ensure that they had that shot in a single take so Denise wasn't forced to endure it again. Watching the replay showed that she nailed it in a single take, with her feelings showing to the point that the director complained, "She might have won an Emmy if this wasn't on a kids network." The schedule for the next weekend was empty but the girls knew that Denise would have to make a lot of changes to dialog and scenes to fit how she wanted it while Ava would have to figure out how things would work with her character as the writers didn't think she was going to work out and wanted Denise to go out with boys. Ava read some of their notes and was upset, she kept them from Denise but talked to Benny about them leading him to assure her that Denise's relationship would not be with a boy even if the ignorant idiots refused to believe that transgender women could date or marry women. Benny called a meeting of the writers and angrily told four, "You're fired. You've stepped over the line in your notes and ignored the entire outline of the show for the last time. My sister's character WILL NOT DATE A BOY. This is not up for discussion, she is going to fall for Ava Hines' character. Your ignorant belief that she must date a boy because that's what girls is noted. You're done. You contributed nothing useful and will only get minimal credit for one episode. Get out." He was threatened but Valerie stepped in and announced, "By all means, try to follow through on your threats. You have an ironclad contract that prevents you from intentionally trying to hurt the show after being terminated. Go to the media and you'll invoke the penalty clause. Go after Denise Herman and it will be the end of your careers. This isn't a joke: we will sue you and destroy your careers." Her warnings weren't heeded and saw the fired writers going to the press and writers guild about what Denise was doing to them on the show. They blamed her for having a power trip and forcing the show to bend to her demands while completely ignoring that the show was supposed to be all about her and it was supposed to feature her input about the characters with her actually getting full credit as a writer as she was actually rewriting her dialog and had actually created several characters for the show based on her own input about the character. It was all a vain attempt to destroy the show for, "Daring to tell them how to do their jobs" while ignoring major facts that they agreed to when signing on to write the show. The media went in search of Denise and were unable to find her. She sported a wig and contacts while with the writers and filming the first episode had only been without them while among the girls trying to portray Ava's character. The writers never told the media that she looked different, it was only when Ava was spotted talking to a girl and the name, "Denise" was mentioned that the reporters realized that she had been wearing a disguise the whole time and operated under their noses for weeks. The reporters watched Denise's movements for days before they were spotted by Savannah. Savannah alerted Valerie, Beth, and Ben who implemented a protection plan that would keep the media away and force the paparazzi to back off from harassing kids. Valerie would then go after the writers for breaking their contracts, bankrupting them and donating the money to charities on Denise's behalf. The media caught glimpses of Denise going into school but were forced to destroy the images because they were about to be sued by Winnisimmet Public Schools on the students' behalf. The paparazzi got images of her entering and exiting and tried to claim that she was dating Nathan, who was often by her side talking with her about something in class as they awaited Savannah and Beth. That backfired when Savannah sued on her son's behalf as they were falsely reporting something that would tarnish him to get at Denise who wasn't even aware that they were being filmed let alone claimed to be dating. The unwanted attention caused Jasper Warner to spring into action and try to wrestle control away from Inferno and its proxies and into his own control, with a new production company that he owned ready to take on the show with Inferno footing the bill for everything. He was going to use GlobalUSA as his lever to force changes, with him using the last of his blackmail material to get several key executives in his corner to get the control he wanted. It was going to be a fight to the finish with Inferno, with Jasper unaware that he was battling the one force that couldn't be corrupted or extorted in John Finn. Jasper used colleagues to leak information about the show and what it would be about to the media, the show hadn't been announced yet and was in pre-production so the story would be light on facts yet had a strong impact on its production- just as he'd hoped would happen. He didn't factor in that Valerie and Nora expected that, especially from someone who'd used similar tactics in the past. Nora had worked in the entertainment industry for almost as long as Jasper had been alive an knew every trick in the book- he was going up against someone who wrote the book on dirty tactics and how to counter them. Jasper kept his contacts pressing forward trying to get dirt on Denise and the show by any means, be it legal or through some sort of extortion. He was under constant watch by the State Police, with all of the paparazzi who met with him being cataloged for a long chat once the time came. Jasper paid them large amounts of money to get any dirt possible, with little luck on their own for two weeks. By the fourth week of filming they hit paydirt. The cases of the people who dragged Denise out of the bathhouse were uncovered and what they claimed was relayed back to Jasper. He knew full well about it but with the paparazzi and legitimate media being told the accusations would be used against Denise. That weekend the news broke that Denise was accused of molesting children in the bathhouse and that the state had tried to sweep the accusations under the rug. Denise was able to film her scenes for a total of 10 episodes before the story hit, but still had another 12 to go. She wasn't able to film until the story died down, they would have to film as much without her then wait things out. Valerie knew Jasper was involved and was proven right when he demanded a meeting with Inferno in regards to the employment of Denise. He tried to use GlobalUSA as a way of getting rid of her, citing a series of clauses in their contract with Inferno but conveniently leaving out that the network didn't have the right to fire Denise- only Inferno did. He thought that the threat of canceling the show before it got started would force them into action, Valerie called his bluff and prepared an emergency meeting set for two weeks from then and with the network answering why Jasper was even part of them again. The media swarmed the school and tried to corner Denise leading to a battle with the school officer and the assembled parents. Sebastian Perez, Lara's father, forced his way to the front and forced the media to leave or they would be arrested for harassment. The usual claims of 1st Amendment rights saw him spouting off multiple laws preventing the harassment of minors and filming of schoolchildren without the consent of parents or guardians with none of them having any legal right to film the students. Denise was cornered by a dozen students and forced to confess that the media were after her and why it was happening. Before the students could call her a molester, Jane angrily shouted, "Those were lies by people who tried to hurt Denise because her brother and sister wouldn't let the city of Kensington use them to make their city look better to Hollywood. You all know who her brother and sister are, well Kensington tried to arrest her parents and tried twice to hurt her because her sister and brother hate what they do in Kensington. I was there with her when she was grabbed by the people claiming she abused a kid. Both times she did nothing. They tossed her outside bottomless the second time, and filmed the whole thing to try to use against her! They lied to the police! Those people lied to the media and are trying to use you to get her expelled from school. It won't work. The police know all of the facts, Uncles Miles and David were both there for it when they tossed her out naked. Don't blame her for what they did, she is innocent. The only reason you are actually upset is because she's transgender! All of you complain about her being transgender, you want her gone because she won't date you and she makes you look like sluts and douche bags." She went for the throat and ripped them to shreds, it was hard to complain about Denise when she was innocent and had highly respected troopers supporting her. Vance took over and ushered the mob out to face their punishments while Denise went to class. It was tough trying to focus but she did so, with Ms. Black glad that she had the four to support her and keep her centered. After class, Denise was asked by Ms. Black what was actually going on. She sighed and confess to the class, "It's because my brother and his friend Jack put together a new show about my life that we're now filming. It's going to be about a girl like me who's transitioning and what happens to her at home and in school. The writers wanted to make me like boys but I refused. Yeah, I like girls. I admit it. Ava is my girlfriend and we haven't hid it from anyone- you've seen us kissing after school! They thought that all girls like me must date boys, but we don't. They don't want to write what they don't know and they do not know anything about girls like us. We're a mix of both lesbians and heterosexuals. There are no real numbers about what the majority of transgender people are sexually because we're too afraid to be out in the open because of idiots like those writers. I know a few girls like me who married boys and others who married girls. My sister's friend married a girl like me, my uncle married a woman like me. Those writers think their own way is the truth and wanted to make the show their way and ignore my life." She looked sad and explained, "I was on 'Tickle Your Funny Bone'. I used to have different hair and I wore contacts. I look different now, it's why none of you ever noticed me being on that show. They had no idea that I have lived her until the writers told them that I lived here." Finally she blurted out, "Ava is starring with me in the show. Other kids are starring to, my brother was going to have local kids be in the show but after this happened they aren't going to do it. They might do the show differently, with less people now. I hate that idea, I want it to be real and not all about me: it needs to have real kids in it, ones like us sitting in the background eating and talking and listening to our teachers while someone is thinking or when they are talking in class. I wanted it to be real, but now I don't think they can do it because of people trying to hurt the show." She added an upset, "I''m not some fake boy trying to get by acting as if I wanted to be a girl. I'm a girl. I have boobs like other girls. Yes, I have 'it' but I'm all girl. I can't have surgery until I'm 18, it's what I want but can't get. This isn't some act, this is my life. I like girls and I love Ava, I'm not some boy who can't get a 'real girl' so 'acts like a girl to get girls'. I'm all girl and refuse to by anything but a girl." Denise's impassioned speech was recorded and went viral as one of the 8th graders sent it to the media after being paid a hefty $100,000 for it. It was replayed across all networks and saw Denise ridiculed online with GlobalUSA trying to find a way to get away from her drama quickly. There were rumblings about firing her for costing the network money, with Jasper leading the charge during a secret meeting. Denise's show was on the verge of collapse and Jasper couldn't be happier. He was so close, he just had to get more dirt against her to get rid of her and Inferno and steal the show for himself. It didn't matter that the network would have to pay money to Inferno over it, he knew the show would be a hit under his control and would push him to the forefront of the network's renewed success. Benny and Jack kept pressing forward, having the principal cast meet at their houses while the writers worked from their rented condo. The shooting was delayed while they finalized the scripts for the last 10 episodes, none of them wanted to leave anything to chance and had everything ready so they could devote three weekends to filming the rest of the season. Benny and Jack would film more scenes that could be inserted into the show to pad time if needed, with the hope that they weren't needed. The show was pretty cheap to produce as much of it was imply using cheap props and existing sets that were owned by Inferno. Inferno owned the studio where the show was being filmed and outside shots were stock shots of the region that Inferno filmed in Winnisimmet years before. The highest costs were the costs for writers, actors, and crew and even then it was reduced due to young and unknown actors and a crew who opted for a percentage of the show's profits in lieu of a higher paycheck. Jasper had nothing to complain about as the show was under budget by millions thanks to the the thrifty spending by Inferno. His obsession with the show made his assistant and those in his division upset to the point that they feared for their own jobs as Jasper's inevitable break from reality and turn to crime to, "Take care of the problem" would impact them alongside him. His assistant opted to cover the staff in the event of Jasper going too far, which was likely to happen shortly based on his frequent rumblings. Jasper's actions were noted and laughed at by the State Police keeping an eye on him. Volunteers were paid by Inferno for the time spent watching him during his movements around the Boston area, with a couple having to hold laughter as Jasper ended up conversing with some of them while they were off duty and gave them even more ammunition against him. He was happy to tell them how the show was going to be a failure in the making and he was going to turn it around when he took full control of it, with the troopers ignoring the blatant lies. The media firestorm refused to die down to the point Denise needed an escort to go between classes. It was made worse as parents started to turn on one another in the hopes of making money from being the first to be interviewed and provide evidence that Denise was harming the girls in school and was just as the Kensington accusers had claimed. She couldn't change without the, "All clear" from Zeke Bollinger or eat lunch without Jane and the triplets getting kids to back away from them under threat of detention or worse with the triplets not afraid to endure whatever happened to them for protecting Denise. Things were dire at the school, with Denise feeling the pressure as more and more kids blamed her for not being able to do anything due to their parents getting upset at them for how they acted around her or how little information they had gotten about Denise. Denise was constantly abused by students, she endured it but it was wearing her down as the two weeks wore on. She hated how people had changed in such a short period of time, with only a few staying the same and ignoring her completely or trying to not get on her bad side as they didn't care about whatever was going on with her outside of class. When the last of the scenes were filmed, Denise was free to do as she pleased. Ava suggested that they have a sleepover at her house, with Lydia squealing over the idea and Denise reluctant to go due to Joe and Jackie not liking the idea. Ava just smirked and did her usual, "Daddy's girl" routine with Joe while Jackie only wanted to see if the girls were going to use it as a way of, "Being together" sexually. Phillip and Nathan all but pushed Lydia out of their house, Savannah had to hold her smile as Lydia had a look of anger that was tempered by Ava's big smile and Denise's obvious anxiety. Her daughter saw a need to be with her friends and stopped protesting, while Denise calmed herself once Savannah assured Jackie that the girls knew the rules and Lydia wouldn't let them break them or else her brothers would gladly give their chores to her to do for a month. Ava looked down in shame, it was clear that she was the one that needed to cool her libido and just focus on her friends being there. Lydia smiled at Denise to calm her, Ava held her hand and got her to relax but Savannah was the one to finally get her to relax by telling her, "It's all for show so that Justin doesn't think the worst. Ever since Lydia had her first period he's been seeing visions of Rose and Sydney happening to Lydia. It won't be a problem, but he still worries about his little angel. She's just too much like her mother in his eyes." Lydia blushed at hearing that, with Ava asking if it was because she looks like what Savannah when she was a little girl. Savannah shed a tear at hearing that, with Lydia adding a happy, "I'm much prettier. My brothers hate that I'm so cute. Daddy won't stop saying that I'm mom when she was a little girl, mom hates that I say I'm going to be even prettier and boys want me already. She doesn't want me to date a boy until eighth grade, Sydney didn't date until then and Piper was only allowed to date younger than that because she was always been around Logan and they didn't do anything because Logan's dad won't let them do anything. Daddy should be worried about Nathan and Phillip, the girls already want them!" That was what Denise and Ava needed as it led to Lydia explaining, "You haven't met my sister yet. She is usually busy working on one of their archaeology projects when she isn't home with their baby. She's smart, Logan is too but he's not as smart as her. Daddy said she has street smarts on top of book smarts, Logan only has book smarts because he didn't have to endure what she did when she was a little kid." Lydia smirked and added, "He's Ella's brother, he's smarter than her but she got all the looks. Everyone said he looks like his dad, if that's even possible since he's adopted. Mom said it's because the two have a lot of their ancestors' DNA in them. Logan's biological father's and Uncle John's great-great-great-great-great grandfather were brothers. He's related to Jaimie, Ella, Logan, and Michael by blood even if it's diluted through 200 years of separation. Dad made us research them for punishment last week." That caused them to ask about her old school. Lydia looked down in shame but composed herself. She hated what happened, but was proud that they stood up to bullies at the school. She took a deep breath and confessed, "The school bullies wanted to show that they were big men and go after me. Nathan and Phillip fought them each day before the principal threatened to expel us. I said if he was going to threaten us he had better have a lawyer because we'd sue. He said he wasn't afraid and he'd ensure we ended up in the alternative school until we were forced out. Mom heard all of that and took us out of the school then had Aunt Alice undo what he had already done: he expelled us without us doing anything against the rules. He claimed we stole tests and hurt a teacher but Aunt Alice showed he lied and it was all a setup because he only wanted Sydney's money. Sydney said she'd do something for the school but refused to do anything once they refused to get rid of the bullies going after us. Nobody at the school got in trouble over it, mom and Aunt Alice ripped them apart for what they did and now the school is going to close because they have no money because the principal lied about money." It was complicated and a lot was going on, Denise decided that it was something that she'd have to get used to since it seemed like something a lot of people tried to do to them because of who their family was. She was happy to have Lydia in her class now, especially since she understood her in ways that no other kid did. She might not have periods like Lydia, but there was more to Lydia than just that. At the Hines home, the girls rushed inside and spread out in the living room. Lydia was put between the couple so there wasn't any sexual activities, but the girls had no intentions of doing anything more than kissing at that point. They simply sat down, watched movies, then fell asleep without prompting while Lydia took her time in getting to bed. She knew that Jackie would have questions, Savannah's mind was strong in her and was her best asset- along with her sharp wit and acidic tongue. As expected, Jackie asked to talk to her. Lydia confessed to her, "This isn't some game I'm playing with your daughter. I don't do that to people, I like Ava a lot and don't care about what people think about us. I'm used to people talking behind my back, I don't care what they say because a lot of it is jealousy. You know about my mother and sister, my other sister causes just as much talk. Our family is messed up in so many ways- my uncles and grandparents on dad's side are all dead or in prison because of the crimes they pulled on Cape Cod, my mom's parents hated that she was a girl inside and tossed her out. Piper's birth parents were drug dealers who blew themselves up making drugs. Sydney's birth mom died then left her in the hands of a total scumbag who's in prison too. All of us are messed up. Hell, my brothers and I only exist because because someone screwed up making us. Only one of us was supposed to be made, not all three of us. Dad wanted mom to have a baby, mom wanted dad to have one, but they did a big mistake and accidentally made all three of us and cost mom all of her semen. We're messed up." She calmed down and added, "Ava is normal. She's a good friend and better than other girls in class. We like her because she's a great friend, even if Denise likes her as a girlfriend. We are all alike, we're the babies of our family. Your sons might hate that she's alive, but our sisters and brother all love us and if Ava is like the others in our family she'll be treated like a little cousin too." She went back to the girls to keep them from moving closer together. Ava and Denise hugged her with Lydia all but pinned in place by the two. She was happy to be with them, especially as the girls needed a friend and someone who knew how to deal with being all alone with only family for help. The girls slept in late the next morning and lounged around the house until Savannah came for them. It was followed by Francesca and Donald, with Brice and Royce running for their aunt as soon as Donald had the car stopped. They completely ignored Savannah and run directly to Denise, then jumped into the arms of Ava without a second thought causing her to cringe at the two grabbing onto her. Francesca and Donald introduced themselves to the couple and endured the usual, "Are you really her?" that Francesca had endured for years. This was different, they were meeting them for the first time and it was something that they had to know for themselves due to Denise's own fame and how Francesca as a star would impact them due to Denise. It was expected, and they handled it better than most did. Francesca happily explained to them, "Yes, I'm her. No, it's not a trick. I perform under my maiden name due to wanting privacy for my in-laws. Unfortunately, Donald's cousin and my brother just had to go and get themselves a show during high school and just had to baby Denise until she was like a sister to them. If mom and dad didn't take her in, Jack's parents would have. But it's for the best, her, Ava, and Lydia facing Jack's brother Will would have been disastrous for all- especially Will." Francesca sat them down and insisted, "Ava's going to endure a lot of people trying to use her for what they want. From what I know of your sons, it won't be pretty. Expect them to come around trying to get on your good side so they can sponge off of her. The money she's getting from the show is going right into a trust fund, I'm sorry if it spoils any plans for her but it's nonnegotiable. She'll have access to it if she needs it, like for medical coverage or something happening to your home. It's untouchable by any of your sons or their wives, it's her money not theirs. We expect trouble because they are in dire need of money because their spending has gotten out of hand. Your money is your own, but they can't have any of Ava's money and Aunt Valerie will fight them over it if need be." Joe shot back a terse, "We don't want what's rightfully hers. Our sons chose to ignore her and treat her as if she's some plague victim because she exists, they won't get help from her now that they can sponge off of her fame. She's only acting because she and Denise are close, she doesn't have to do any more of it when this is over. She's going to be a normal teenage girl, not the next Hollywood star." That was what Francesca wanted to hear. Ava was already on solid ground financially due to Beverly Bollinger's finagling, with her helping Joe's employer by referring multiple prescriptions his way so the man didn't need to tap into Ava's money anyway. Francesca just had to ensure that the family knew that their sons would be coming by soon looking for a handout, with Ava's money being out of touch they'd have to sponge off someone else for a change leaving Ava alone once again. After the girls left, the Hines family thought over what was going on and how to protect Ava. With her brothers trying to come around she'd have a lot of trouble on her hands, which would mean that she'd have to stay away as much as possible until they got the message and stopped trying to exploit Ava. It was tough to decide what to do, but the best option was for Savannah to take Ava home until Joe got off work and was able to take Ava home for the day. The next day, Savannah was asked by Jackie and Joe to take Ava home with them for a while after the kids got out of school which was followed by Savannah explaining that it was expected and she'd have the proper paperwork ready to keep Jackie's sons away from Ava. Jackie didn't have to be told what that was, she knew that it meant restraining orders. It was sad to think that it might come to that, but when you're desperate for money you'll do whatever it took to get it. The girls enjoyed constantly teasing the boys as they did their homework then enjoyed watching the elder Justin in a constant state of fluster as he wasn't sure if his sons were being teased or flirted with by the girls. Ava especially loved making him flustered as she found the perfect ways of making them blush over some of the things that they were saying and turning around most of their jokes on them so the boys had to clarify what was actually being said. Justin couldn't stop thinking that the boys were not as mature sexually as they actually were, but when Lydia teased them about certain girls he almost lost it as he realized that the boys were right behind Lydia's becoming a woman in becoming men in body. The boys were able to talk with Denise about certain things that Justin and Savannah couldn't. Even if she hated what was happening to her, she was still like them physically and could now talk about them with the boys. They wisely kept away from asking about her boobs, they stole glances at her buds and saw that their sister wore a bra but never crossed the threshold into asking about them. The move to have Ava go home with Savannah was wise as Ava's brothers started to snoop around and ask about Ava's new friend. Joe didn't tell them anything, all he said was that she was her classmate and close to her since the first day of school. Joe refused to let his daughter get used by her brothers, even if it came down to them never seeing their grandchildren again. Throughout the week they'd come by around the time that Ava would have gotten home and stayed for two hours hoping that she'd come by. Jackie would always tell them that she wasn't coming home until after they left, with Savannah not driving Ava home until Jackie gave the all clear to her. They made it clear to the couple that they were there for Ava and wanted to see their sister, which was always proven false as they never actually asked about what she was up to, only where she was. That Friday, Jackie finally had enough and told them that she wasn't going to see them as they told her in the past that they didn't want to see her no matter how much Ava pleaded with them. She angrily told them, "You told her she should have been aborted! You told her that she wasn't your sister and that she was just a leech. You expect her to see you after ignoring her for years, telling her that she was a piece of garbage, and she should have died during the 16 hours I was in labor with her? You have some nerve demanding to see your sister. She's not coming until you leave. So leave." Their eldest son threatened to have her removed from the Hines home. Jackie growled back, "Just try it. Her lawyer is expecting that and alerted DCF about your going after us. By all means, try it. She's not a woman who is easily shaken, you have nothing but hot air behind your claims." When her younger son said he'd kidnap her she shot back a harsh, "Just try it. Go ahead and try it. You'll be behind bars and neither of us will bail you out. The school has no problem ensuring you go to prison for attempted kidnapping, and the state has no problem going after you for extortion." The girls spent the weekend with Alana at her house, with Ava getting a crash course in dancing due to Amanda giving Denise some follow-up lessons. It was a big help for Ava as the girls were eager to go to their school dance the next month, with Lydia the most eager as the boys were starting to look more and more mature and trying to stay out of trouble so they could go to the dance. Alana was the one who was most likely to enjoy the dance as she actually had several boys lined up to take her to it. Fabian Perez heard that and nearly fainted, especially as she timed it right causing him to realize that he was setup by his daughter. The girls got a big laugh out of it, he needed that distraction and was proud to be the butt of her joke. Ava hugged her for that, it was what she needed most at that time. Monday afternoon saw Ava's brothers waiting outside the school and then trying to approach her. She was distracted by Denise and Lydia while Fabian walked over to the two men and told them to leave the school or be arrested for trespassing. They weren't intimidated until he showed his badge, causing them to run off scared and vowing they'd get Ava no matter what. Fabian called Valerie who was with Jackie in front of a judge and explained the story to her while she reviewed Jackie and Joe's request for a restraining order against the Hines brothers. The judge nodded, finished writing out the restraining order, then told them that she expected them soon. The two brothers showed up at the Hines home right as Jackie got out of her car and were immediately handed the orders by Fabian, with him angrily telling them, "Go to Ava Hines' school again tomorrow or any other day and you'll be arrested for attempted kidnapping. You are to never contact your sister again nor send anyone on your behalf. Your wives are known and will have ones placed against them if you try to use them. You have no reason to contact your sister as you have stated at your own request that you do not want to contact her in any way. Do not come back here or call, email, text, or video- call either." He ensured they left and gave the all clear to Savannah. It was bittersweet for the Hines family, but it was also clear to them that they had received help that they hadn't expected: a full assault on their sons by the Finns, one that had protected Ava fully. Their sons were all but cutoff from them now, but it was done to protect Ava and done with her best interests at heart by people who cared about her. Ava's brothers didn't take the warning and returned hours later. This time, they had their wives and kids with them. They tried to use them as an excuse for wanting Ava to go with them, but the insults hurled at Ava by her eldest nephews and nieces showed that it was really all about getting control of her. The two threatened to sue for custody of Ava, which was cut short by Valerie arriving with a couple of Winnisimmet Police officers. Fabian calmly told the Hines brothers, "Your sister just talked to several DCF officials about your actions just before you came here. Those same officials contacted me and my colleagues here for your removal. You were warned not to return, you were given a restraining order to stay away. You are in violation of both of those orders. You are hereby under arrest for criminal threats and violating an order of protection against you." The Hines kids tried to get at Ava but stopped when their grandfather stepped forward to protect Ava. It was rare to see him upset to the degree of turning red with rage, but his balled fists showed that he was not about to let them harm his daughter. They backed off, with their mothers leading them away. Before they left, the Hines wives threatened to sue Jackie and Joe for custody again. Valerie shook her head and countered, "We are well- aware of your actions and are ready for your attempt and have Judge Roy Parker's counter to your claims. You have no basis for it, you have no way of supporting Ava's care with no jobs and your husbands looking at three years in South Bay for what they did tonight, and you two have shown to be a danger to Ava based on your threats against her overheard by your neighbors. You might know them: my son and daughter- in-law. That wasn't the worst part, they were entertaining my daughter-in-law's sister and her husband at that time. You might want to be much more aware of your surroundings when planning a kidnapping, Judge Parker wasn't happy to be told by the Attorney General that someone wanted him to give the blessing to what amounts to a legal kidnapping of a girl from her parents without reason except to gain access to what she may have in her bank account." The Hines didn't believe her, Jackie angrilly explained to her daughters-in-law, "Her daughter-in-law is Courtney Finn, elder sister of Jessie Pena- the wife of Reed Pena, the Attorney General that you have complained about for months because your parents backed his rival last fall. You two have lived next to the Finns for over 10 years now, your own kids played with their kids. I've met the Penas several times babysitting for the two of you, they make no attempt to hide their relationship to the Finns. You were too lazy to get to know them and it just bit you in the ass!" Fabian led the Hineses out and told them one final time, "You're known to us. Go to the press and you'll be on the receiving end of a lawsuit from not just Ava Hines: you'll be facing one from her friends and girlfriend. We know who you were really trying to target, she is protected. Reed Pena is family to her, any person with a computer would have found that connection. You should have known that already but you chose to ignore your sister-in-law until she was a cash cow for you. She was never going to be one, she's protected from such action by lawyers and accountants with more years in the business than you have alive. Going to the press invokes the wrath of the Finns. Going after Denise Herman invokes the wrath of all of us Finns. She's one of us now and is protected." The Hines brothers spent the weekend in jail as their wives couldn't afford bail for them. Their wives had even more trouble as they were fired from their jobs the next day due to their bosses being told by friends that the Hines brothers had tried to kidnap their own sister while their wives and children sat by and watched. The worst part was that they heard all about the threats against Ava, something that went far beyond anything that they could comprehend from someone they respected before that Friday. Monday saw the girls enjoying a week without media attention as the city finally got around to issuing a blanket restraining order to prevent them from harassing students anymore. Denise was under a close watch by parents as they were looking for her to slip-up and use that to go after her and the school. She was in a virtual prison, one that she was used to thanks to her experience on 'Tickle Your Funny Bone." The Hines wives talked with DCF about their children and situation and were told that they were about to lose custody of their two youngest due to abuse allegations against them. The ladies were outraged to hear that and threatened the social worker, leading to the social worker fleeing and returning with two police officers. Their husbands weren't the only ones with issues, the ladies' tempers and constant need to intimidate their children into doing whatever they wanted caught up with them. Ava angrily told Miles on Saturday about what her sisters-in-law would do to her nieces and nephews whenever her brothers, "Visited" her parents. On Sunday DCF social workers Jessica Vincent and Jenna Daniels investigated the claims and were told by neighbors and teachers about the children's injuries as well as how the Hines family were whenever they were at home. The reports of abuse weren't properly forward to DCF by the school, which turned out to be Kensington Middle and High Schools and the same school the Stoner triplets had been expelled from. Jackie and Joe were forced to take in their two youngest grandchildren while their eldest six were sent to live with their other grandparents at their own demand. Joe laid down the law regarding Denise and Ava and forced the boy and girl to realize that it was a serious situation and they weren't going to be a king and queen like they were at home. When they were told that they were restricted to their house for a month until they proved to be trustworthy and wouldn't hurt their aunt it caused them to rethink what they were going to do at the Hines home now that their lives were shattered and not being rebuilt. Ava was asleep when the two were situated in the Hines home, with Jackie telling Joe that she knew the two were there and would avoid them in school but couldn't guarantee that her friends' family wouldn't ensure that they kept on their toes because of how they treated Ava before. The two listened and were in a panic, with Joe casually telling them, "Your parents joked about Winnisimmet, well your aunt hit it big with friends: Finns. Five Finns. With them sitting with more Finns at lunch. And don't think for a second that you can use them to get rich, their parents won't allow them to be manipulated and none of them have accessible money. They earn their keep, just as you'll be doing here. Chores earn allowances, the more you do the more you earn. Your aunt still has to do chores even if she earned a lot of money." Jackie carefully explained, "She's an actress on a TV show. It's why your parents wanted her to live with them, so they could get her money. It's locked up, her agent and accountant won't let anyone touch it. I only told you this to get you to see that she's not going to be used by anyone- especially not family." She led them to their rooms and sat them down on their beds, telling each, "Things will be different. You are still young enough to change your life around, your older brothers and sisters don't want to change. I love all of you, but I won't let any harm come to your aunt. She's in a loving relationship with a pretty young lady and is making friends with three amazing kids and their relatives. Don't spoil it for her." The next morning the two were transferred to Winnisimmet and enrolled in middle school alongside an upset Ava. She was lucky in that she didn't have her niece in her class, her niece ended up in JJ Stoner's 7th grade class while her nephew ended up in Jane, Lara, and Alana's 8th grade class. It helped that the two were with the, "Next generation" so wouldn't have to explain their relationship to classmates and it gave JJ and Jane something to look at during class. JJ blushed at meeting the pretty Hazel Hines while Jane had to fight off other girls over the handsome Jeff Hines. It was a big surprise that he turned out to be Ava's nephew, but was a sign that maybe she might finally have a boy who understood complex families even if he had a lot to answer for regarding Ava. He was casting long stares at Jane as well, with him seeing her hair color and style as being cute rather than just staring at her breasts like he normally did with girls. Lunch was traumatic for all three as everyone seemed to stare at them, especially when Ava had to tell others that the two were her niece and nephew despite her nephew being older than her. It was coupled with Lara teasing Jane about her looking over at Jeff and JJ looking over at Hazel. The two kept quiet and left as quickly as possible, with Jane all but swooning to class while JJ carried books for Hazel. After school Jane's actions caught Sebastian by surprise, especially as she kissed Jeff on the lips as a goodbye present. JJ was at a loss for words as he parted from Hazel, with her blushing deeply as he struggled for the right words. Jackie watched with a big smirk, her grandkids were finding love and it was just dawning on them that they had people who liked them. The kids did homework fast and ran to their rooms, with Ava having a serious talk with Hazel about JJ and what he was doing. The look of shock over a boy liking her caused Hazel to cry, Ava had to tell her, "He has a lot of money thanks to his parents and is a really good guy to get to know. Mom said he's the right boy for a girl, handsome and charming and knows how to treat people right. He's clearly falling for you, if you act like a woman and not like a brat you might get him to be your boyfriend." She walked over to Jeff's room and happily told him, "Jane likes you. She only ever acts like that when she likes a boy, the last time the boy already found a girlfriend before he met her. He didn't care for her anyway, he was a jerk who used girls to get what he wanted. You're what she likes in a boy." He snarked that Jane was like one of the Finns. Ava laughed and shot back, "Her mother actually is. Her granddad is John Finn, richest man in the city and one of the pure richest in the state. Jane's dad played for the Patriots and co-owns a physical therapy studio. Her mother has millions in a trust fund that she saved for Jane and her siblings. They are rich, and they won't let anyone use her." Ava went to her room and finished her homework, eating a quick meal before for talking with Denise for the rest of the evening. The couple talking caused the two newcomers to listen and see that they had a lot in common but were trying hard to be different because they refused to have anything to do with their aunt for so long. The couple surprised them, they weren't much different than anyone else. During the week JJ got closer to Hazel and started to break her hardened shell. She was just like Ava, she wanted to be loved and not mistreated by her parents and wanted friends instead of people who had only wanted her for what they thought she had. JJ understood her more than he wanted to say, his mom was rich and people knew that he had the best of everything and wanted that for themselves. That weekend saw the girls in another production meeting, with the duo tagging along to see just how it was done and why Denise and Ava were critical to the show. The meeting was called for a sad reason: it was learned that one of the actresses had gone to the press and was telling secrets about the show and it put them in a bad light. She was one of the classmates who was in every scene with Denise but didn't have any lines but whose presence necessitated re-shooting the various scenes to remove her. Re-shooting the scenes would cost a lot of money, but Denise and Ava thought it over and thought that it was worth it if it gives them a chance to bring a lot of things together and lets them control the pace of the show. It was also better that they retool the scripts so that the characters were as they wanted them and not how any former writer wanted them, especially as several episodes used characters and ideas created by the fired writers. They wouldn't have to credit those writers and wouldn't pay them anything as it was done with a clean slate and nothing that they had touched on was utilized. Seeing the two new people observing, the director thought it was best to include them and gave two of the parts to Hazel and Jeff. They had the right look and knowing Denise and Ava gave them advantages over other kids as they were acting like normal kids instead of trying to get attention on them. The two also had the right chemistry, something that was needed with the show. They were caught by surprise by the offer, with Jackie agreeing to allow them to be on the show but it was going to be conditional: keep their up in class and not get into trouble. Ava had to agree to it too, it was one of her conditions but hadn't pushed the boundaries yet. Even Denise had the same conditions for appearing on the show, but hers were more of a "You'll delay everyone else" if she got into trouble. The girls went home and enjoyed a night together with poor Jeff having to endure the girls squawking back and forth while he tried hard to not get attention from them. It was made worse when Jane called to check on them, with her hijacking things by talking with him with the girls giggling behind him. It was intentional, her parents wanted to know about him and were watching from just out of view. After she clicked off, she was told by her mother Sylvia, "OK, you can date him. He seems like a good boy, your cousins said he's alright but a bit quiet. Go easy with this, you are still 13 and not going to be allowed to do a lot of what you want to do. We have rules for a reason, few have broken them but those who have paid dearly for it. Just ask your aunt Jaimie about the whole 'door thing' for an example. It's a family legend at this point, but it's still funny to think about and one you need to know." Jane called Jeff and asked him out, with Jeff unsure what to say or do. Ava had to agree for him then had him realize that it was legitimate and she was asking because he wouldn't ask her. Hazel blushed as she realized that they had set him up to date Jane without him knowing that she liked him. The girls went out the next day to hang with Lydia at her house and ended up meeting Sydney and Rose Stoner, JJ's parents. Hazel blushed as he hugged them, with JJ realizing too late what he had done on impulse. The two had a spark that the ladies noticed, with Ava trying hard to not make light of her niece being in line to possibly get a boyfriend while Lydia smirked at her nephew getting a girlfriend. JJ and the girls worked on homework before the Stoners left, with JJ getting a hugged and kissed by the blushing Hazel. She knew that she had just shown to the others that she liked him, but none of the three would say anything about it as it was both sweet and too quick to have any meaning beyond impulse. It was a clue to them that they had to remind her to take things slow with hi mas he was the first boy to be close to her and unlike her- he was used to being around a lot of people. Hazel was still blushing when Jackie came to take her and Ava home. Hazel ran to the car to avoid her while Ava happily told her, "She kissed JJ on the cheek." Jackie let it go but did give Savannah a look to ask her for more information about what was really going on. At home, Hazel confessed to Jackie, "He's so nice to us and he doesn't treat us like he wants to have sex with us. I don't know what's happening, I can't stop thinking about him. I like that he does that for us, I like how he looks, I even like how he smells." Jackie sent Ava away and told her granddaughter, "He's used to girls with issues and a lot of people who want to know him. He learned how to treat girls and how to help people who need help. You two are a lot closer than anyone would have thought, he's a great boy if you give him a chance. He likes you, it's clear that he likes you. Your brother is the same way with Jane, I know he acts weird but he's a boy and he found a girl who likes him and wants to get closer to him. He's feeling the same as you are." As the week wore on, the kids got closer. By Friday they had gotten to the point of going on a date with one another. A triple date was planned, with John Finn getting dragged out again to officiate the date as it was felt that he was the best for it. He was introduced to Jeff and Hazel and saw them scrutinizing him while Jane and JJ tried hard to go unnoticed. John gave his usual date instructions and specifically told Jane to cool herself or she'd lose all dating privileges for a year. He didn't bother with JJ, he embodied why there were rules in place. Ava and Denise joined them and were essentially the ones to lead the way, with Hazel and Jane joining them for a bit in the bathroom before the movie to, "Powder their noses" and prepare for kissing. Denise blushed as she was handed mints by Jane, with Ava chewing them to show that it was fine. Hazel ate hers and blushed as Jane happily joked that she was going to enjoy her first kiss that night. The girls hugged and kissed the boys during the movie, with Jane getting frisky enough for John to put his hand on her shoulder to stop her from masturbating Jeff while a glance over at him was enough for Hazel to stop even thinking about doing the same to JJ. Ava and Denise didn't try that, Denise kept her hand in Ava's hand and kissed Ava's cheek but didn't move much more than that. There was a lot of time before they had to head home so John took them for a walk around the nearest mall so they could burn off nervous energy before their interrogations by their mothers and Jackie. He saw them being photographed by multiple people, with John grabbing three who had followed them inside a lingerie store and photographed the girls and women inside. The managers called the police and detained the photographers, but they had already sent the images elsewhere in an attempt to get out of trouble. They didn't notice just what was going on inside, they were so focused solely on the girls that they had no idea that they had captured images of girls and women in the nude while trying to get at Denise for a juicy photo. John shook his head at their stupidity, telling them angrily, "It's illegal to photograph minors or females without their consent, especially partially or fully nude. You just took images of several women and young girls in various states of dress, then sent them to someone else: you just committed an act of child pornography! Congratulations, all of you are hereby detained for arrest for lewd conduct and for exploiting minors in addition to suspicion of disseminating child pornography." He held off the women in the store, with the girls covering themselves in shock while the boys nearly fainted at realizing that they had followed John inside of a lingerie store. John went to the office with the photographers while the boys blushed and waited outside for the police. John had to hand it to the boys, they were in one place boys would love to see the inside of and rushed outside in shame- an act he was happy to tell their parents and grandmother about. The officers reviewed footage from outside and inside and arrested the men for their actions, with all of the officers making note that they were working together as each had the same business cards on them. It was the name of someone John wanted to curse at, but he kept his composure and thanked them for the assistance and to expect a good word from their union for assisting an out of town officer. Looking at the kids, he wisely led them away but was ready to fight the incoming fight that couldn't be avoided no matter how much he wanted to avoid it. At the Hines home, John explained to Joe and Jackie, "Denise and Ava were followed by paparazzi. The creeps took pictures of them, with them posting them online before they could be stopped. Expect a lot of unwanted attention, especially if pictures of the girls kissing get out. There'll be a lot of claims that Ava doesn't know that Denise is trans, and some that'll jump on the claims of Denise molesting girls." Joe asked about the kids and how they acted. He blushed as he told them, "Jane went over the line a few times, I had to stop her from giving him an handjob. He was fine, Jane was the frisky one. Hazel didn't do anything except hold hands, I think she's a little more timid because of Sydney and Rose. JJ is fine with her, he knows all about sex as a kid- he's the result of it. To be honest, the two are great together." John repeated the same with Mitch and Sylvia, with Sylvia fighting anger while Mitch calmly told his daughter, "No dates for a month. There are rules for a reason, young lady. You are only 13, you have to abide by the same rules as everyone else. Your sister and brother went through the same issues as you, I don't have to tell you about Jae's actions trying to get a date last year. She is still upset that her date got angry at her for not trying to give him a blowjob after your grandfather stopped them." The group went to bed knowing that there would be trouble ahead. Valerie was ready and had her plans in the works, with Miles and David ready to pounce when asked. Jasper Warner was at it again, only he went one step too far and got himself involved criminally and wouldn't escape this time. In the morning, Jack, Benny, Denise, Ava, and the crew were warned that they had to take a meeting in Boston with Jasper regarding the show. Jasper had no reason to call a meeting, so it was clear just why he was doing it: it was about the night before. He was about to threaten them and force control over to himself or he'd destroy the lives of Ava and Denise. The fact that Valerie and senior Inferno Productions staff weren't invited spoke of the true intent of his actions- he was going around them and trying to go after them through their fears. He thought that he could intimidate them, but Benny and Jack weren't easily intimidated, especially as both had known the highly intimidating Hannah Smith and Daisy Peterson since birth. Those two alone scared them, Jasper was just a pest who Hannah and Daisy ate for breakfast and asked for seconds of. John was alerted about Jasper's forced meeting, with John happily telling them, "I'm meeting with a few GlobalUSA executives and GBS corporate security at the same time. Jasper Warner was supposed to be fired and has a restraining order against him to bar him from interfering with Denise and the show, I personally got that restraining order against him. He has no right to be part of it and is sure as hell not acting on behalf of anyone but himself. Miles and David will deal with him, he just bit off more than he could chew last night and is going to get himself put in prison for years." John thought about something and happily told the duo, "He can't help but gloat and will say exactly the right things to get himself a long prison sentence. Miles is going to represent my interests, David will represent Logan and Ella's, and I'm asking Oscar Pierce to sit in on the meeting to represent Nora, Lee, and Brice's interests. Jack, you'll be there to represent Jaimie's. Benny, you'll represent the rest of you. It's 100% representation with police officers representing 62% of the company." John didn't say it, but the second Jasper showed the images he'd been emailed and texted the previous night he'd be arrested for possession of child pornography. His threats were empty threats and he was in a lot of hot water as it was just for having them let alone showing them. He might know of them and he might have been sent them, but to actually show them was leap into being a full blown criminal. The girls all slept in, with Jane having to endure looks of anger from her brother and sister. Jae was the most upset, she couldn't find a decent boyfriend and Jeff falls into Jane's lap only to have her lose the right to see him outside of school. Jae was supportive of her sister, but the two had a lot of issues that Jane had just dragged up and Jae couldn't deal with without exploding. Mathew wasn't happy either, he was reluctant to date because girls would do the same that Jane just did and he would get laughed at by them for trying to be celibate. Jane breaks the biggest rule and he has to endure her pity party and Jae's rage, with him stuck in the middle taking Jae's flak. He couldn't look at Jane, she was causing too much drama just because Jane was horny. When Mitch entered he angrily told Jane, "I thought it over and you're grounded for a month and have to help your aunts with the babies. This was too far over the line, he's in a bad state of mind and could easily have taken it the wrong way. Your grandfather is leaner than I would have been, you might like JJ but you don't have to drag him down to your level of maturity." Turning to Jae, he hugged her deeply to calm her. He sighed and added, "You have a blind date. Tracy and Hugh are taking you out, I think they have someone lined up for you. This isn't a pity date, it's the two getting you out and forcing you to enjoy yourself again. The boys in school are total scumbags according to your grandfather, but you'll do fine." Mathew demanded to know what he meant, Jae cried while Sylvia explained, "The second day of school they dragged her into the lockerrom and groped her. Your uncle Thomas stopped them from doing more but she was exposed to all of the boys in her gym class. It's why she hasn't been cheerleading, she can't take the humiliation anymore. It's why none of us have gone to the games, you avoid the games entirely because they keep trying to get you to play but she avoids them because she doesn't want to hear all of the rumors and whispers from the girls. Your cousins can only keep so much under wraps, not even Johnny can keep them at bay anymore." Jane understood what was going on and apologized to them, then hugged her sister before going to her room to think about what happened. Jae looked away in shame, with Sylvia telling her, "It's just a date. The girls said he's a good guy who just wants to be friends. He's not so bad looking, I think he'd be nice to take out a few times and see where it goes. He's not looking for a girlfriend, just a friend." Jane listened and understood what her mother was trying to tell Jae while also telling her. Jane texted Denise to pass the time, with Denise needing the distraction as she drove over to the meeting. Joe and a visibly upset Jackie were already there, with Joe and her being introduced to the other people that they hadn't yet met among the group. Oscar Pierce was a big, strong, powerful man who impressed Joe while Miles Finn looked like a slim, more mild mannered guy that you'd overlook if not for his always examining eyes. David Peterson was a different animal altogether, he reeked of wisdom and power but was a bit older than the others. Miles took the lead and seemed to know everything without being told. John excused himself but told the couple, "Miles will do more just by watching than by speaking. David is impulsive but knows when to listen and act. Oscar is just here because he had the day off and we needed another badge." Oscar gave him a glare while David and Miles laughed. John's leaving concerned Joe but Miles added, "He has important business that can't wait. Denise and Ava's futures depend on us and he can't keep his calm when people attack people in his care. His meeting is just as important, he's covering every angle and is pulling out all of the stops to put an end to Jasper Warner- legally, and financially. Jasper Warner went after Dad's pride and joy and is paying the price. Dad doesn't care how much it takes to take down someone harming him, he'll pay it. He has more than enough to lose a billion dollars and still not have to work another day or worry about where his next meal comes from. Plus having a full pension to fall back on if he chose to retire is even more fuel for him as he doesn't have to work at all anymore." Valerie chose to not be there, instead she was replaced by Savannah, her brother Cameron Byrne-Toro, and a man who introduced himself as Ricardo Vincent. Savannah gave Denise a big grin, with Cameron and Ricardo eyeing her closely. Denise didn't know what to say about their investigating her, she felt like it was being done on purpose for others yet didn't ask about it. Savannah finally told her, "You've heard about Cameron's daughter Reyna, Cameron is like us only was late in accepting his manhood and did so after having two sons. You met Ricardo's daughter-in-law Polly a few weeks ago but haven't had the chance to dance with her much. His son insisted on you and Ava having 'full coverage help' from us so Valerie called in the big guns just in case. The only one not here is Rick and Melinda, Rick is helping John with his mission and Melinda is talking with the people arrested inside the lingerie shop. Smart move doing that, although the boys are still blushing over it." Ricardo read some notes while Cameron asked about her financial situation. Denise told her that all of her money was taken care of by Beverly Bollinger which Cameron nodded at. She then told Ava, "You and your niece and nephew are having your salaries paid to a trust fund as well. We insisted on it as it's something that helps you in the future. I'm sure you know why it's important, your brothers are exactly why we keep money tied-up in trusts. You will have access to them, just a little at a time." Ricardo spoke to Joe and Jackie by telling them, "Your daughters-in- law are giving up custody of Hazel and Jeff to you until they turn 18. I'm sad to tell you, but their grandparents refuse to allow them to be with them because of their involvement with the show. Their elder siblings are 16 and over and opted to seek employment elsewhere and are living with them but paying rent. You are being barred from any contact with them by court order, but I gather that they aren't wanted anyway after their actions towards your daughter. It's a terrible situation, but Jeff and Hazel have a chance to be better than their fathers so the two aren't forced to be what their fathers wanted them to be. They'll get used to having Denise with them, a dose of reality and friends who have experienced the same will help greatly." Ricardo seemed to know it best, he added, "I've been through this before with my daughter-in-law and a few others. The kids need stability and structure, not ridicule and abuse. You give them that, and with a boyfriend and girlfriend in the mix whose own families have been through the exact same troubles as them. Jane's mother was exactly like them, only she had shame and a rape against her. She found a new family and solid friends, Ava is already acting like a friend and sister even if she's Hazel's aunt." The two didn't ask more as it was getting close to the meeting time and they didn't want to accidentally say something in front of Jasper or anyone else with him. Miles whispered to Ricardo, "He has 'lawyers' with him. I doubt they are, they're likely hired thugs here to make him look stronger than he really is. If you play it cool they'll slip- up and cost Jasper without realizing it. If they are lawyers they wouldn't let him break the law or admit to a criminal action without first stopping him. We know the truth so any of what he says will be a lie or show that he was in on the whole thing." David added, "We have a search warrant for the computers, cellphones, and tablets of every person that he is known to have associated with. We've kept an eye on him since the whole bathhouse incident was released to the press. We have him for a lot of unrelated activities that the feds will enjoy going after. It will end up causing corporate to gut the network and likely sell it if they can't rebuild it. If my hunch is right, Uncle John will threaten to buy it outright if they don't do anything or threaten Inferno again." The group quieted as Miles was alerted to Jasper and several large men entering the building with him. He showed the picture to Ricardo who laughed at the men with Jasper, telling Miles, "He only has just a single lawyer with him. The others are the guy's bodyguards. They aren't there to do anything except be big and make you intimidated. They also have at least one warrant each on them for assault. Don't let your guard down, they have been known to go after someone just to prove their strength." Ricardo's warning was heeded as the men entered first and tried to move Joe and Jackie out of the room before they backed off at Oscar's subtle urging. Being bigger, Oscar had them by a good 20 pounds and six inches in height. They wouldn't stand a chance against him, causing them to try to remove him but a quick, "Don't lay a finger on him or you'll be in handcuffs" from Ricardo stopped them. Ricardo smirked at the lawyer and happily told the man, "We are here representing Ava Hines, Benjamin Herman Jr. Denise Herman, and Jacob Bollinger Jr. Their lawyer, Valerie Finn isn't able to be here but has enlisted our law firm to serve as legal representative for her clients. As officials of the court, all of us have a sworn duty to report criminal activities to police and as such anything against the law will be forward to proper authorities. Do remember your obligation to do the same or you'll face disbarment." Jasper claimed that he couldn't do that, it was confidential. Cameron happily explained, "It's all in your contract with Inferno that any official meetings were to be recorded and any criminal activity would be forwarded to proper authorities. As such, we are well within our powers to go to the police if you try to threaten, extort, assault, or showcase any illegal activities. We have nothing to hide, do you?" Cameron targeted Jasper with pinpoint accuracy as he couldn't respond without it hurting himself. He gave in and moved on, allowing them to get to the heart of the matter. The girls held hands under the table as their parents were going to see what happened, especially as it was a place they were too young to visit let alone be in while they were with boys. Jasper smirked and opened up with an insulting, "Your show is canceled as of this morning. I have had enough of your antics and am ripping control from you. Inferno has allowed this freak to run wild for too long and finally went too far. I have evidence that he was masturbating in a store in front of women and girls while this piece of garbage he calls a girlfriend stood by and watched." He showed the pictures, photos of a naked Denise masturbating in front of several younger girls while women in the rear were upset at her being there. It didn't take much to notice that they were doctored to show Denise being naked, but the girls being naked as well was the bigger issue: those were real photos of girls in the background, they weren't in the store when Denise was photographed so they had to be a set of photos grouped together to create the incriminating photos. Miles discretely texted someone who texted back, "They are on his computer and it's just the tip of the iceberg: he has a lot of them. He's obsessed with Denise, he has pictures of her from when she was just starting out until then. This isn't about the show, it's about getting to Denise. He's a stalker, and likely is a sexual predator. Don't let him leave, he's being picked up immediately by us and the feds." He didn't have to be told twice, Jasper exposed himself figuratively there as his dirty secrets were about to be uncovered. The worst thing you can do as a criminal is draw attention to yourself, Jasper did that and was about to face justice. It just turned from into a bigger nab than anyone could have realized. Denise saw the photos and screamed that they were fakes. Beth and Ben saw what she meant while the reluctant Ava added, "They aren't real, her breasts aren't in them. She has buds, that girl doesn't. They are from months ago, she has had buds for at least two months according to her older cousins." Miles smirked at that, Ava might have just handed Jasper his biggest blow as you could see that Denise was sporting a bra under her shirt with buds clearly showing at times as she moved. David wisely didn't say anything while Oscar pointedly asked, "Where did you get those photos." Jasper scoffed at him and shot back, "I was handed them by concerned parents. They were angry that a sexual predator was loose in the store and documented the lack of action. They told me that the store is covering up his actions because they are afraid of the Finn family. I'm not afraid of anyone, I'm going to expose this freak for what he is and take this show from Inferno. You aren't going to be allowed to destroy MY NETWORK and get away with it!" Ricardo had enough of Jasper's ranting and casually told him, "We have an ironclad contract with your network. You were to have no involvement with Inferno Productions, by bringing you back GlobalUSA broke that. You were to be fired for your actions, GlobalUSA again broke that. You were also to be kept away form harassing the show anymore by court order, you just broke that. By your simply being here and threatening Denise Herman and Inferno Productions is a violation of the restraining order against you that was put in place by Massachusetts. We're done here, you can take this from here guys." The two thugs got up to threaten Ricardo and forced him to sit back down hard. Jasper's lawyer gave an angry, "We aren't done with you yet. W aren't leaving here until my client has full control over the show and all assets of Inferno Productions. He isn't taking no for an answer. As for that freak and his girl, get out of here. You don't belong in here. Neither does this brat and this twig." The thugs grabbed Denise and dragged her out, but were stopped by Miles and David who flung them off of her. The lawyer said he'd sue them, both flashed their badges while Oscar walked over to Jasper and the lawyer and flashed his. Oscar happily stated, "You are both under arrest for possession of and disseminating child pornography. Those children in the photos are all under the age of 18, as is Denise Herman. Having a picture of a naked child is possession, you chose to send it to others on your own free will. Don't claim entrapment, we have evidence of your receiving and editing thee pictures then of you sending them to the media. The ones that you were sent weren't good enough so you had to dip into your private stash to create your own- a huge mistake by you as Ava just pointed out." Jasper threatened to sue them for entrapment while his lawyer threatened to have their badges. He was stopped short when Cameron added, "They are talking about federal charges, not state. You are being charged with the serious charges, we found your client's private stash on his computer via a warrant. He is a sick man, he needs help. You should have told him that he was breaking the law at the start but you were in on this. Expect the bar to disbar you and you to face charges yourself for criminal conspiracy." The four were led out, with the thugs being arrested for assault on Ricardo and assault and attempted kidnapping on Denise. They were met with worse charges as arrest warrants were found for both of the thugs meaning there was no way that they would be leaving jail until after sentencing. They were quick to beg for plea bargains but facing Melinda Smith, who just happened to be Sydney's cousin and Miles' cousin-in-law, showed just how much trouble they were in and how little help they'd get from anyone. Not far away, John was with Valerie in a meeting with GlobalUSA executives as well as multiple GBS Corporation officials. He was outraged yet kept his cool, with Valerie having to do the bulk of the talking. She made it clear that this was serious and she wouldn't go away nor would she allow them to ignore any of what she was about to say to them. She got up in front of the assembled executives and announced, "You have really screwed the pooch in allowing Jasper Warner to weasel his way back into GlobalUSA. He went too far on Friday and did an act that goes beyond comprehension. I know that he sent you doctored photos of Denise Herman in a lingerie shop masturbating, what he didn't sent you was the full photo nor any context of what actually happened. I doubt you cared anyway, you are in league with him and let him use you so you could all get rid of us while enjoying the fruits of our name. That won't happen." She looked at the folders in front of them and announced, "Jasper Warner sent you those photos to get a hold over you. Those photos are highly illegal and he knew that you had them as he sent them himself. If you look at them you will be arrested for possession of child pornography. One of you is going to jail for disseminating child pornography due to printing the pictures for your folders. We know that he did the actual printing as he was observed in GlobalUSA's offices printing them behind locked doors." Valerie's warnings were ignored and the executives opened the files. Denise's name was blurted out and one yelled out, "Him again? I thought we got rid of him already!" John nodded to several troopers who walked over to the one who blurted that out. He told the man, "You are hereby under arrest for possession of and disseminating child pornography. Further, you are under arrest for criminal conspiracy, tax evasion, and extortion." He showed his badge and stated, "I have an obligation to alert the proper authorities and as such I have alerted my colleagues with the Massachusetts State Police. They are working with the FBI to target the ones responsible for this incident. They are apprehending Jasper Warner as we speak, the second one that they were after was just apprehended. You chose to conveniently ignore Jasper Warner when there were warnings that he wasn't as he seemed and he was doing things that were revolting. We have a long list of items found on his computer as well as statements from staff about his actions- including taking pictures of girls while on set and in their dressing rooms. The victims finally spoke once the fear of hm was gone, you can't protect him any longer and whatever he had on you is exposed." Turning to the corporate executives, he stated, "I am invoking a vote of no-confidence in this board of directors. You have chosen to ignore the issues at GlobalUSA for far too long. You only acted like you were taking action but you allowed Jasper Warner to continue to be employed. Your network has lost a lot of viewers and none of the shows have been able to generate revenue. My production company has. All of the viewers that have come to the network have come for one thing only: my shows. You had no choice in the matter yet you still kept a liability around. Now he has hurt the network beyond repair. I am going to buy the network, but first I am going to sell all shares in this corporation and explain just why I am selling to the media. I have no qualms about all of you losing your jobs, you didn't deserve to keep them after last year's entire slate of shows flopped on each of your networks. It's your own fault." He walked out while Valerie explained, "He sold off all of his shares already. Your stock took a dive and all of you are being called before the full board of directors. You have a lot to explain to them and not a lot of answers to give. Your connections to Jasper Warner that you tried hard to hide were just exposed and you'll have to explain to GBS Corporation why every single one of their HR decrees were ignored. Enjoy the high life while you can, you'll be taken to the cleaners by corporate's lawyers." She walked out with a big smile. John told her to buy the network, he had big plans and he wanted it to get implemented. She laughed and told him, "Sorry, but there's only so many 80s cartoons they can air. I known a few shows that deserve reboots and uncancellations, though." John walked out a happy man, with Valerie already telling key people that John was about to buy the struggling network and clean house of executives. John Finn had the money, spending $300 million to buy a network that would only go up in value was a smart move in the eyes of many. He rarely spent so much money, but with Inferno buying the rights to a lot of former shows and movies it was one that he could make and bring about immediate changes that would only cause the resale value to skyrocket. Word spread throughout the media and online as GBS Corporation was forced to face answers for why it had let a valuable asset get sold out from under them then show why they really needed the money: the corporation was broke and on the verge of collapse. John was a smart businessman, he got out when he could and did so in a way that would cause other investments to rise in value. He owned a TV network now, one that was going to see a lot of changes for the better under his complete control. John paid for the network immediately, with the corporation trying hard to stem off the rumors that he had bought the network because they were flat broke while trying to spread the rumors that it was due to his show being canceled. The truth was hard to ignore as multiple financial analysts stated that there was something going on with the corporation's finances and that the infusion of $300 million was only a small amount of what they needed to stay afloat. The fact that Inferno was their biggest draw and the network relied heavily on their movies and "Tickle Your Funny Bone" made it tough to deny that they had a strong relationship that hinged on Inferno being involved in the future. John finally had to go before the media and explain what happened and why, with the media focusing on the board of directors of the network then on the CFO and CEO. The GlobalUSA executives were fired per order of John, as the majority shareholder and president of Inferno he had every reason to fire them. Nora Biggs gathered a team together to run the network until new people could be installed to run it, John simply signed off on all of the paperwork and left it in Nora's hands. John got before the cameras and announced to the assembled media, "This past Friday I was witness to a crime that occurred in 'Becky's Little Secret'. Several men stalked a group of children that included my granddaughter. They rushed inside the store and took multiple photos of girls in various states of dress as well as two young ladies in particular. Those ladies were targeted as they are set to star in the newest Inferno Productions show. The men who took those pictures sent copies to multiple people including a lawyer and a network executive. This same executive had a long fixation on the girl who was targeted, a fixation that was exposed as being sexual in nature. He created falsified images of the girls and ladies in the store at the time to show one girl masturbating in front of them. That event never happened as I and multiple witnesses were present, including store management and local police officers. Video is in the hands of the Massachusetts State Police and will not be shown to you despite your complaints as several of the girls in the store at the time were in various states of dress so showing it to you would both violate their rights as well as the law as it amounts to pornography." He shook his head and continued, "That network executive called a meeting with Inferno Productions to demand the firing of the stars of the show. He freely admitted to my son, nephew, and a third man, all of whom are state troopers and whom were representing the shareholders of Inferno Productions, that he had images of the girl masturbating in a store then showed them to all three. He threatened Inferno and the young ladies. He tried to have her removed physically but was stopped. He is now in jail facing criminal charges for possession of and disseminating child pornography as well as multiple serious charges. A raid was simultaneously conducted at his home and office and additional federal charges of possession and disseminating were added onto the state charges. His associates are facing similar charges as well as a slew of other state crimes. This leads me to my next announcement." He took a breath then announced, "I took a meeting with multiple members of the GBS Corporation and GlobalUSA to discuss the situation at their demand. As I expected, one GlobalUSA executive, a close friend and ally of the same executive arrested for multiple crimes, went after the young lady. His attempt to discredit her and force us to fire her backfired as I told the others just what was in the files and what would happen if they opened them. He opened them anyway and showed them, resulting in an arrest for possession of and disseminating child pornography and criminal conspiracy. After he was removed I announced my intent to sell all shares in GBS and buy GlobalUSA. It was followed by GBS threats and a slew of slurs against the young lady resulting in my decision to buy the network and wipe out the executive suite. I transferred a full $300 million into GBS' accounts as well as my own personal stocks with full ownership of GlobalUSA now under Inferno Productions' complete control. This was followed several arrests of GBS Corporation board of directors members for fraud, embezzlement, and falsifying tax returns. GBS was flat broke and my buying GlobalUSA saved them from bankruptcy." He happily added, "Had I not bought Global Cable Network, GBS Corporation would have collapsed on its own greed and lies. I chose to salvage it as much as I could without giving away money that I would never recover. I paid $300 million but I could have gotten the network for $100 million or less as it has no real value outside of a few shows. I chose to be a better man and pay face value for it and will hold onto the network for as long as it's profitable. I'm not happy that people are going to jail, but they chose to lie to investors and shareholders. They chose to lie to the government. They chose to steal from their own corporation to fund their lifestyles. It was their own greed that did them in, I chose to save the corporation as there are still some good people in it who want to lead it through this crisis and make it into something better. Now they have a chance. One part o the corporation is gone, but GBS will live on and have a chance to thrive again on its own." He walked away without answering questions, he didn't need to. The police statements spoke for him, it was clear that a lot happened that needed addressing and he wasn't able to do so legally. He gave them a huge story and was only just getting started. John called Benny and Jack and told them that it was all clear, gut the show and redo it their way and it wouldn't be held back anymore. The two took it for what it was: Denise was going to be the star and the two were going to ensure that Ava, Jeff, and Hazel were featured heavily in some way. The cousins had no idea what they had planned for them, but they were going to be stars in their own rite. The next day was chaos for the kids as the media focused on them after someone told them that Denise was the one who was involved in the whole pornography fiasco. They wanted to know how pictures of her had been taken and why they were floating around online. The media tried to force the school to make her speak, but Vance and Dorothy Taylor stood their ground and got them to back away from the school while the school's police officer forced them to admit that they were trying to impede an active case into a sexual abuse of a child thus making them likely to be sued for violating her rights. Denise got fed up with the whispering so told the entire school during lunch that she was why they kept going after her. Ava growled, "You weren't there! You don't know what happened!" Jane angrily added, "They took pictures of a bunch of girls and women inside and made fake pictures of her that combined ones that they took of her back when she was starring on 'Tickle Your Funny Bone'. It was disgusting, they claimed that she was doing something that she didn't do. She ran for a store that men never go into, the women and girls tried to protect us from them and if not for grandpa being there they would have beat the men senseless. Grandpa knocked them down and arrested them, are you going to say that a police officer lied? Denise didn't do anything, you have some balls claiming that she did." The facts didn't matter, Denise was a target. Jane dropping John's name was huge, John was protective of kids. For John to arrest the men and tell the world what happened meant they were telling the truth. But despite that, Denise was called out for being a freak and trying to molest kids again. That caused a renewed demand to get rid of her because she was just a freak who didn't belong there. The worst ones were claims that she molested people and was covered because she knew the Finns, causing what was a war of words with Jane that ended with Zeke all but screaming, "Enough," which stopped all talk. The worst offenders were escorted out while their stooges were told that they were next in punishment. Denise was in the midst of a nervous breakdown due to the constant attacks on her from everyone but her friends and Ava. Dorothy saw her starting to shake and took her to her office before she called Beth and Ben to tell them that Denise needed to go home before she completely broke down. Beth and Ben were unable to get away so Amanda Kelly was asked to take Denise to her studio to calm herself until the couple were able to leave school. Amanda took Denise to the studio and had her dance with her, hoping that it would calm her and get her mind off of what was going on around her. It was a needed break and helped immensely, with Denise going through the motions and trying hard to dance without going overboard or doing something that would hurt her. Amanda was happy with her routine, especially as it was a mix of styles that she had been unknowingly done that fit with the music and worked with Denise's chaotic life. Denise was busy focusing on trying to not fall that her body did the motions from memory, making it smoother and closer to what needed to be done instead of what she thought Amanda wanted her to do. It was a good set, with Amanda hugging her to show that she did great and that she was going to be alright. Denise broke down in tears, with Amanda soothing her. Eventually Amanda assured her, "It'll pass. All of the kids who were going after you have gone too far this time. They said things that they can't take back and said them with intent to hurt you. They wanted to you have a breakdown and cause a scene so their parents could go after the school, you held yourself together until just now and did what nobody ever wants you to do: hold things in. You are strong, much stronger than anyone should have to be." Denise kept weeping into Amanda's shoulder but stopped when Trina Porter-Phillips entered with Polly Vincent. The two ladies asked what happened then tried to text others to get the real story beyond what they were told. Amanda sagely told them, "Ricardo won't say and John is in class. Cameron is busy with another client and Savannah is helping Valerie. Oscar is asleep and Miles and David are both working at the office with Reed. They are the only ones who know more than anyone so please don't beg your friends and cousins for information as they don't have it." Denise ignored Amanda's statement and blurted out, "It's because of me. It's because of what happened at the mall. They want to get rid of me, they want me gone from school and off TV." Trina gasped while Polly added, "So that's why pop was upset yesterday. They won't get what they want, if Uncle John was there then nobody can claim it was a lie. He spent $300 million for you, he won't let anyone hurt you. He's protecting you, even if he has to spent every penny to do so." Denise fell asleep in Amanda's office forcing the ladies to focus on their classes. She slept until late that evening, with Jaimie and Fiona telling the ladies that it was best to let her sleep it off and give her time to decompress as it was a lot of built-up anxiety and depression being unleashed. Fiona insisted that it was something that Denise had to do, she needed to relax and sleep away her issues. Fiona was working hard to cover Denise from the claims that were starting to swirl about her yet hat no actual basis in facts nor were more than attempts to get money from Denise. She picked up on Jasper's obsession with Denise over the years and had a link to him in every project that she had acted in. There was only one project that he didn't take part in and it was the one that caused him the most anger and a lot of frustration over not being close to Denise: "Tickle Your Funny Bone." Jasper was always in on the casting and always talked with Denise for a bit while on set, until she was cast in, "Tickle Your Funny Bone." He wanted her close and was obsessed with keeping her on projects, so much so that he got rid of other actresses to keep her around. It got to the point that he knew where she was and what time she was arriving, with nobody else but her parents knowing those things. Jasper's obsession was on display at his house in a special room. The searches by the FBI uncovered an overabundance of images of Denise, complete with pictures of her in her dressing room and at pools. It was clear that he was stalking her, with him losing access to her as the apex for his downward spiral. Fiona took Denise home and explained to her what was found and what it meant. Denise gasped at the idea of a stalker, let alone one who was obsessed with her for years. Beth assured her that it happened a lot in Hollywood, even Francesca had issues with stalkers over the years. Fiona added, "He knew that you were a boy physically and wanted you for his perverse reasons. When it was clear that you were a female and not a crossdresser, he panicked and tried to go after you through the show by going after your castmates then the network. He orchestrated all of that to get you to go to his network so he could be close to you, likely leading to your being his pet project if not lover. You in the care of Aunt Beth and Uncle Ben changed that, especially after your parents died. You were in the care of people who wouldn't let him get close and barred him for having any interaction with him. His need to be close to you caused him to go after you again, only this time it exposed his true intent." Turning to the kids in school, she explained, "You're staying home the rest of the week. You need rest to recharge and let the kids show their true colors to everyone. The worst are expelled, they showed that they aren't going to stop and have constantly targeted you despite warnings to stop. Their friends are all suspended for a month or expelled alongside them. Your friends stood their ground and showed that it wasn't friendship out of pity- Ava loves you and Lydia, Nathan, and Phillip are your friends. JJ, Jeff, Hazel, and Jane got their classes behind you causing others to join you in support. They have the least contact with you but showed that they actually know what happened and why and won't stand for your being attacked by anyone regardless of how cool it makes those people look." Denise ate dinner and put to bed, with Valerie watching her the next day with strict orders from Fiona to not allow her to obsess over school or the show. Valerie did one better and had her go to the family's preschool to help Cameron's wife Lupe, with Valerie happily adding, "She co-owns the chain with my sister Melanie Lopez, John's sister Leslie Sylvester, and our friend Tanya York. Lupe is great with kids and understands you more than you'll ever know- and not just because her daughter Reyna is like you." Lupe Byrne-Toro greeted Denise with open arms and a baby who needed a new diaper. The little boy did his best to make her work for it, including almost soaking her with urine. It was calming to Denise, she enjoyed helping do something important for someone who appreciated it. Lupe talked with her about what happened and why then happily told her, "You made an impression on my niece. My sister-in-law has never been happier than she has been now that her little darling found a friend to be close to. All of you have done a lot to help her, she felt so alone at her previous school due to the kids being total jerks to her. Her brothers have calmed their anger and aren't so combative to one another, they've even done their chores without a fight." Lupe had to explain, "Their mother is my husband's sister, by adoption if you need to know. Ma took her as a daughter because she needed a mother to help her adjust to being a mother and wife. Sydney gave her the chance to be what she dreamed of being, then we all convinced her to take the plunge and have a surrogate and donor allow her to become a mother biologically. You heard what happened after, it was a mess but the kids are fine and love her all the same. Justin got his sons to counter his daughter and Savannah got a beautiful girl to mother, even if she needed her aunt and sister-in-law to help her with dealing her first period. I'm glad to have had a chance to help Lydia, Reyna knew enough from Rachel and their friends but this was special to me and Reyna was happy for me to experience it. Lupe kept Denise by her side throughout the day, introducing her first to their assistants then the other co-owners of the chain. Melanie, the CEO of the chain and the de-facto head of the four, was the most eager to finally meet the famous Denise. Lupe had to calm her as Melanie was getting to be a bit too overzealous for Denise's liking, but Lupe did explain to her, "Melanie is the most motherly out of us and cares a lot about the well-being of kids, especially you. Her son- in-law was grilled for any bit of info but you have never met him and Fiona keeps her files under wraps. Her other son-in-law knows not to ask Jaimie or Rick so that was another dead end. Before you ask, her son-in-law Scott is a big fan of yours as he got to design the set for your show because he shot his mouth off to Jaimie about you and wanting to meet you, he knows she won't do things like that so he paid the penalty for it." She knew what was coming and explained, "It was a long time ago and he was horribly abused. He's a great guy who is close with Fiona and helped her get over fear of men and boys. Flora loves having a big brother who treats her like a queen, even if he won't let her get her way. He's a devoted father who upset Melanie and her husband by becoming a father early but that was on his wife's fault, not his." The kids kept Denise's mind occupied while Lupe kept her from getting too focused on mothering. She had seen it before, and happily told Denise, "Babies are all cute and cuddly but they also smell, get sick a lot, and ruin your best clothes. The novelty wears off, you're a good mother but you'll see that they're just little humans who need a lot of attention. You'll make a great mother one day." The next day, Denise had to go to an appointment with Fiona to discuss what was going on with her. It was clear that she had a lot of anger and resentment building but not a lot of answers. She hated being treated like a kid and talked around by adults who didn't care one bit about her, especially those whose sole purpose in her life was to cause her noting but trouble. Fiona let her vent and reiterated what she had told her. Seeing the light, Denise realized that she hadn't had a say in anything thus far in her life. She may have gotten to "write" her character, but she was only doing what she needed to do to make her character into a more realistic girl. Denise looked down in shame and confessed, "I wish I could just write. I know what I want to say, but I can't get it out. I love mom and dad and Benny, but I can't just say what I want around anyone. I want to be heard, I want people to know what's on my mind. I want to be free, but I'm stuck where I am." Fiona smiled and added, "Your mind is wandering, but you can't let it out. Trust me, I've seen it before. I saw it with Flora and Daisy. I saw it with Cat. I saw it with Hannah. I saw it with Jaimie. I saw it in me. I know that you can do great if you are allowed to write. How about I tell your parents and Uncle John that. I think you can put that need to good use and maybe help others like yourself get it out." Outside the office, Fiona told Valerie, "Ask Uncle John about doing a show where kids write the stories. It'd be a great help to Denise to do so. It's an idea that needs bringing back to TV." Valerie liked the idea, especially as it was an outlet for many kids like Denise who were brilliant but had no outlet. She had to ensure that it really was a kids-written show otherwise the show would be just another outlet for parents to get themselves famous by way of their kids. Denise was the perfect first choice and in her eyes she was the show's creator, thus would have a share of all profits from the show and both writing and producing credits. That afternoon, John read Valerie's proposal and laughed. It had been done before, but not in a way that made it unique. Previous shows were done by young kids, tweens and teens would be the target for the new show and was right up their alley as they knew kids would try hard to be part of the show. The rest of the week was spent working out the two shows' issues and giving Denise a stronger say. She had ideas that she was afraid to use, ones that solved issues that were popping up in the storylines that the other characters were stagnating in. She then told them that they might want to focus on others as it was tough to do a show with only two points of view and left other characters underdeveloped. Remembering Scott Nelson's story, she asked that they make the antagonist be like Scott was: a bully in name only as he was abused by his family. Thinking it over, she asked that they stop being a comedy as it was taking away form the story. She realized that it might be trouble for the show, but the concept in and of itself just stopped being workable as a comedy as they were now shoehorning it into the show. When she was asked why, Denise finally confessed, "I didn't like it. It's making my life into a joke. It's a tough thing to say to you as you guys are funny people, but I don't like people thinking my life is a joke and whatever I'm going to say is just another joke. I'm sorry, I just don't want to be the butt of jokes." She was in tears now. Jack announced, "OK, comedy is dropped. It'll lighten the moments at times, but I think it's the right way to go. She's right about her life being impacted by this, this isn't a joke to her." The change of focus allowed them to develop the antagonist character and give him a chance to be the secondary focus instead of Benny and Jack. The two saw the writing on the wall and realized that they were the ones who were extraneous and could be removed, but chose to stay on for the first season to help Denise's character by being there to act as a buffer. It would be easily explained away as they'd be student-teachers and have less contact with Denise as she moved up a grade allowing them to move out of the spotlight and focus on other things. After the meeting, Denise hugged Jack and begged him for forgiveness for all but running both of them out of their own show. He laughed it off, telling her bluntly, "It was a bad concept for a comedy. It was a bad idea to put you out there like that and not see that it might hurt you. We'll bounce back, it's not like we won't be involved in the show. Heck, we'll be guest stars on multiple episodes in the future. We're just really recurring characters at this point and it works for the best as we can do another show at the same time to fill out the network. Maybe something like your show, but for babies. They love us." Denise shot back, "Oh, is that why they always poop when you're near?" That caused Benny to fall down laughing as Jack hadn't expected that comeback. Jack took the high road and added, "They spit-up when Benny is around so he can't laugh too much. Mom said it's his overuse of cologne that causes it." Denise spent the rest of the weekend working on schoolwork before going out for an evening with her sister-in-law Lucy. Lucy was starting to show and had a motherly glow that Denise smiled at seeing, it was beautiful on her and the fact that Lucy was filling out more as her breasts swelled and more fat on her body distributed to her hips and but made her look like an ideal woman. She fell asleep in Lucy's lap when the returned to the house, with Lucy rocking her back and forth and kissing her cheek without realizing that she was doing it. Benny saw a look of content on Lucy's face and smiled, motherhood was starting to change Lucy for the better. Lucy felt a strong connection to Denise, she wanted to protect her and keep her happy even if she didn't realize she was doing it. Lucy and Denise spent Sunday preparing for the baby's arrival, with Denise asking Lucy if she had any idea what she wanted to name the baby. She looked off into the distance and explained to her, "We were thinking of naming him Dennis if the baby was a boy, and if it was a girl- Elizabeth. We didn't want to upset you by using a name that you didn't want anymore and might have a bad reaction to, it should be your right to name your son that name anyway." Denise shed a tear and hugged her deeply. Lucy asked if it was OK, to which she happily told her, "I'm fine with you naming him that. Benjamin is fine but Dennis is a good name. It has no meaning to me, I don't mind it being used as you can easily say it's in my honor. I don't want to use that name, I'd prefer to name my son after his grandfather Joe or after Donald." Denise helped setup a lot of furniture while Lucy mostly stayed out of the way. She knew that it was all so Lucy didn't have to do much, but Lucy was happy for the help. Denise also did a lot better than her husband would do, especially when it came to screwing things to the wall. Monday morning saw Denise embraced by her friends, with Ava asking how she felt. Denise looked off in shame and confessed, "It's going to be the same no matter what. People are going to hate me and try to go after me no matter how little I do. I can't hide forever, I can't hurt myself because people are upset at me being myself. I'm not hiding anymore, I'm going to be myself even if they don't like it." They walked inside and listened to the complaints about her being out all week. Denise ignored them, it would only lead to them complaining about special treatment again. She opted to let them get into their own trouble while she did her work and talked with her friends. Ms. Black asked about her week, Denise told about babysitting at the preschool and doing work on a new show that she accidentally created. Ms. Black asked about that, Denise blushed and admitted, "It was an accident. I told Fiona about not liking that I couldn't write then wanting to do something to just get what I wanted to say out there. She told Mrs. Finn who told Mr. Finn. I didn't mean for her to make it come true, but Mr. Finn said it's going to be made and kids and teens were going to be able to have stories told. Her daughter and nieces are involved in writing, two write books and another writes plays. They said it's something they wanted to do but couldn't find the right way of doing it. She might ask Mr. and Mrs. Taylor to get us to do it too." Ms. Black grinned and passed out fliers regarding the show and what they'd like students to do. She was telling the truth, with Dorothy Taylor going on the school's PA system to announce that there was a new show that wanted students' short stories to be made into episodes. Denise's story would be the first as she was both the executive producer and creator of the show, with Denise blushing at hearing that. She was left alone after that, the show was seen as a cool idea and everyone wanted to be part of it but it was going to be tough to get their ideas made because they had to go through checks to keep out any offensive ideas or ones that were clearly meant to be insulting to certain groups and people. Her show had a strong online following once the announcement was made by the network and Inferno had shown that it wasn't a PR stunt and that it was entirely legitimate to the point that the Writer's Guild signed off on it. The fact that it was being done by kids for kids in their own words to help them both grow as writers and give them a chance to show that they weren't just kids anymore meant that they had to help support the show even if it meant that some members would likely get supplanted by those same kids. The show that Denise was supposed to star in started to work with her on her ideas and saw Denise do a lot of rewriting of lines and talking with the writers about what had to be done and when. Eventually she put her money where her mouth was and rewrote scenes to better focus on others and allow Denise to be the indirect focus while others got the spotlight and showed their real nature as only kids could. It ended up being better, with her own writing being fixed to allow for better flow and give her the right amount of time in the spotlight as the star yet keep her vision intact. Ava was helpful in keeping her focus, especially during tough scenes that needed her to show emotions that she hated showing to others. Her rage over one incident caused to to break down in tears, which a camera caught and utilized in the scene as it was pure emotion that better conveyed the seriousness of a tough day for her. Ava too dragged out the love and care that they had for one another, with Ava having to struggle in her fight with her sexuality before giving in and kissing the distraught Denise. Jeff ended up getting the part of the abused boy who was really a good kid at heart. He blushed at that, it was unintentional by the casting director but he understood the role better than others who auditioned for the role. The fact that he experienced it firsthand helped immensely, especially as he was forced to talk with Fiona about his family life. Talking with Scott Nelson was an eye-opener, but he saw that the boy grew into a strong, cool, smart guy who had a great job and sexy wife. Denise and Ava being inspirations helped him even more as he didn't want to upset either of them yet he felt the love for them. They were family, with Denise being a family member in the making if he had his way. The show slowly took shape, with Denise being a major part of it going forward slowly yet was also an inspiration for the show in the form of helping writers through tough sections as she pitched ideas for how to get out of certain dead ends or how to avoid certain tropes. She enjoyed listening to pitches as it helped her focus on what needed to be done for the show. The director listened to a lot of what she was saying during those pitches and got ideas from them that would make filming fit her views. The fall dance created a stir as Denise and Ava kissed, followed immediately by JJ and Hazel then the grinning Jane and Jeff. All three couples danced together, with Ava and Denise stealing the spotlight as their kiss resonated through the school and showed that they were a serious couple. The kids in their class were jealous that they were taken, especially boys who had eyes on, "Converting" Ava to boys. The group caught the school by complete surprise by dancing better than anyone, especially as none of the girls were seen at any of the dancing classes. Ava smirked while Denise explained to some girls in her class, "Aunt Amanda taught us. We learned when we were babysitting for her assistants. She teaches all of the kids in my family, but I got special lessons because I needed it for my show. Ava and the other kids learned because of the dances, they didn't want to look bad dancing so learned to do it right." She had them there as the "Finns" as a whole ruled the dance with Jane and Jeff doing the bulk of the dancing among 8th graders while JJ and Hazel led the 7th graders. Ava and Denise were able to show the entire school what they learned, with Ava smiling at being better than others for the first time. Thanksgiving break gave them the chance to enjoy time with the older teens and saw the happy Jae Gibson showing off for the girls, with Jane showing her sister that she was just as good athletically but happily told Jae that Jae was miles ahead of her in looks and body. The sisters actually bonded after that, Jane admitted that she was jealous of Jae and looked up to her more than she let on. They spent much of the day after that on the couch with John and Valerie telling the girls' cousins to back away and let them have their moment together as they sorely needed it. Just before Christmas, the show finally wrapped for the first season. The girls had spent weeks filming scenes and tweaking scripts while Jack and Benny worked with the new network executives to find a place for the show that wouldn't put it up against major broadcast network shows or cause outrage from, "Family protection experts" trying to force their views on networks; they then worked on Denise's show by choosing stories that they felt best suited the show. The two shows were a strong contender for being breakout hits, especially as there was a lot of buzz about their premiers. Denise developed slowly over the course of the fall and sported small cones on her chest by Christmas. She blushed as she saw them sticking out of her shirt for the first time, with Beth shedding tears as the happy Lucy told her the three needed to shop for Denise's first real bra. Ben nearly fainted while Benny told them that he didn't want to know anything more about Denise's body- especially her chest. Ava enjoyed seeing Denise's breasts develop, especially as her own weren't growing fast enough for her tastes. She barely had buds below her nipples, they weren't noticeable unless she took off her training bra. Denise told her that she was happy with Ava's body, especially as she looked beautiful no matter how big or small her breasts were going to be. The girls' feelings about their bodies only intensified when Ava had her periods and Denise couldn't be there to help her deal with it as she just couldn't say the right words or upset Ava over something trivial. Jackie had to separate them and explained to Denise that Ava still loved her, she just struggled with the way she dealt with her period. It was tough on a lot of girls, especially ones with strong personalities. The girls enjoyed a week together during Christmas vacation, but were without Jane for the first time as she visited her grandparents out west. She called Jeff to show him off to her grandparents, which led to him being in a constant state of redness that only got worse as the girls talked about how much he was acting like a gentleman and hanging around the older guys. It was all in good fun, especially as they knew about Jeff from Jae and Mathew vetting him for the Gibsons. The new year brought the end of production for the first season of of the show and allowed for the elder duo to return at any point as teachers for Denise and Ava while allowing them to be writers and work on another show. The four ended up creating three separate shows for the network, it was impossible to believe but each show had its foundation in Denise's ideas with Denise's challenge to the duo to try to be funny in a tough situation sparked the duo's newest show's creation. Ava was happy to be there for Denise, especially as she started writing her own show and submitted it in the hopes that it got made into an episode but not holding out much hope among stiff competition. Ava's story wasn't chosen, but Denise liked it enough that she asked the writing staff to see if it could be used on another show with Ava getting full credit for it. It was sold to a rival network and saw her in a deep blush as it was made and earned that show its highest ratings ever. It was a big honor, she earned a good amount of money for the episode and happily set it aside for college. February brought the premier of Denise's show followed by the premier of the show she created on the same night. Both shows had a lot of interest to the point that they overtook the internet as people across the world watched the first show starring a transgender kid who wasn't a reality star. Both were met by stellar ratings, with Denise getting high praise for the dramatic portrayal of a transgender kid. The show brought the need to go on a publicity tour, with Denise having to fly down to New York and out west to Los Angeles for interviews with the press as well as drumming up support for the show. The group went as a whole, with John insisting that it was an ensemble cast centered around Denise so they all had to attend and be interviewed together. The fact that six were dating was a surprise, especially as Denise's sexuality was assumed to be, "Gay" to which she angrily corrected ignorant reporters. Her defense of herself as well as showing that even the "best" entertainment reporters could be just as dumb and ignorant as anyone else. Ava happily asked if they thought all transgender people went after the opposite sex or just her, and if just her what prompted them to believe that as her sex life has been private to everyone except a select few people: her friends. She had them seeking an answer, with the answers only making the reporters look terrible for asking a kid about her sex life. During the run of interviews promoting the show Jeff got ridiculed online for his actions on the show, with Jeff feeling like he might be in trouble if they didn't show him in a sympathetic light. He knew that it was coming soon, but it stung that people hated him for what his character did. Jane kept him calm for the next few days, but he still felt horrible. The interviews were a huge success and led to a lot of minds being opened to teens and sexuality and of transgender people and sexuality not being linked to one another. The show was in the news for a while as fallout from the reporters' flubs and people seeing answers about the show and the people behind it caused more and more articles and interviews. Jeff's character became widely scrutinized and seen as a tragic figure manipulated by others leading to real-life instances being shown, particularly that of Scott Nelson and Jaimie Samuels- the inspiration for Jeff's character, unbeknownst to the media. Ratings held throughout the season with the shows being the top kids shows in subsequent repeats and in on-demand viewing. The show garnered a lot of money from advertisers, with John happy that his investment was starting to pay off incrementally. There was a lot of talk about a possible sale to a group of investors, but he refused to entertain any offers for the network. His real plans were to sell the network when Denise's show ran its course. He was sure that it would be worth at least $500 million then, with Denise's show over he wouldn't feel bad about selling it then. She had peace of mind that she wouldn't be canceled nor did she have to worry about losing her job again. Spring brought the school's talent show and semi-formal. Denise entered but told the Taylors that she wouldn't allow herself to win, insisting that she did it because she wanted to do it. The school knew the real reason why she refused to be allowed to win: she didn't want to cause any more drama. Denise sang and danced one of Anita Dupree's songs, with Anita observing the performance with all of he friends: the Stoner cousins, Hannah Smith, and her husband Pierre. She happily told Denise that she did a great job with her song, with Denise blushing while Anita's kids hugged her. It was high praise to receive, especially as Hannah loved teasing Anita about Denise's singing while the Stoners laughed at the ribbing that even they had to agree was deserved. The winners were a boring group of dancers who lacked the skills of Denise and the girls, but the group refused to participate so the other group won out. Denise was fine with it, they got their spotlight and it was known who the real talent was in their school. She had her dignity and pride, they sold it out for a taste of fame that faded away the next day when their gloating turned into suspensions when the kids' gloating became slurs and insults towards Denise, Ava, and the others. Not long after the talent show, Denise got to experience the "joys" of childbirth as she was forced to help Lucy and Marcy prepare for the births of their children. Lucy was upset that both friends were having their babies at the same time, but it was perfect in Denise's eyes considering their closeness. Denise got to help Lucy through the labor by being her strength and keeping her calm when Beth became too emotional and needed to leave the room leaving Lucy without anyone else to help her. Lucy gave birth to a healthy baby boy whom she named Dennis Benjamin Herman. Denise got to hold the bundle of joy after Benny, with Denise in tears as the baby looked up at her and showed her his cute brown eyes. She happily handed Dennis back to Lucy and walked out, with Beth hugging her tightly as she wept into Beth's shoulder while Ben stood stoically by them. Seconds later, Marcy gave birth to a baby boy. She laughed at the funny bit of history as his father was born hours after Benny was born and gave a loud screeching cry to let everyone know he was now part of the large Bollinger family. Little Donald Benjamin Bollinger happily gripped his mother Marcy causing Jack to cry at the way he looked in her arms- the usually funny man was reduced to tears at becoming a father. Denise enjoyed helping Lucy with Dennis whenever possible, especially as it usually meant she helped Marcy with Donald. She excelled at being a mother, with the babies showing that it was pure instinct that drove her and she would be an excellent mother in the future. She blushed when Lucy told her that, especially whenever Ava gave her a smile as they did their homework. Jackie loved hearing Denise complain about the babies, especially the unwanted baths that they gave to her when she changed their diapers or washed them in their tubs. Ava wisely didn't say anything, it was clear that Jackie was thinking that it was a perfect lesson in why they shouldn't have sex. Jackie did like knowing that the girls were learning that parenthood wasn't all fun and games, with Jeff and Hazel also benefiting from the lesson but knowing full well that they had to endure the Stoners and Gibsons if they ever went too far and had sex before they were married or even out of high school. Summer vacation brought Denise and Ava spending a lot of time at the beach or at the Gibsons' condo in the small pool in their suite- something that she loved as it let her feel like she could be herself and not have to constantly hide herself away from others due to her male parts. The group were happy to be around their friends, especially when Jae got over her reluctance and joined them as a surrogate big sister to all of them. Denise had a big sister, but with Francesca filming yet another movie it was tough to not enjoy having a girl closer to her age who wanted to help her deal with school and boys. Summer also brought the trials of multiple people involved in the Jasper Warner fiasco. The trials were held in Boston thanks to the federal investigation bringing indictments from Massachusetts instead of a more lenient Southern California. The executives involved in the mess were upset that they weren't out in Los Angeles but when emails and phone calls regarding their attempts to fix the trials with members of the US Attorney's Office out in California their appeals were denied. Jasper was outraged that he was held without bail. The charges were serious and the fact that he went after Denise despite a restraining order in place against him made him a threat to her. That was before the fact that he was being charged with serious crimes and was a flight risk made the judge set a high bail then revoke it once she was told that Jasper attempted to fix the trials via bribery of the ADA. Denise was expected to be called as a witness but the state didn't need her as the emails, phone calls, as well as the witness testimony of David, Miles, and Oscar were enough for a conviction. She would watch the trial from another room and be ready if needed, but the ADA felt that she was too toxic to their case to do much. Miles and David had enough preexisting evidence from before the meeting to destroy Jasper, anything Denise would add would be unnecessary as she didn't know anything else except what she saw. She was protected from the ADA in case he went over the line and purposely damaged the case. It was decided that Melinda Smith would keep a close eye and, "Second" the ADA to overrule him and take the case on personally. She wasn't one to take big cases, but she would gladly do so to protect Denise. Melinda built the entire prosecution's case against Jasper, complete with all of the evidence that could not be suppressed as well as Jasper's own words taken the last time he threatened Denise earning him a restraining order that he subsequently ignored. She was going for the throat and wouldn't let anyone get in her way, with the ADA assigned knowing that she would ensure that he was fired and likely end up in jail for accepting bribes and hindering prosecution if he deviated from Melinda's layout. With Reed Pena looking over his shoulder as well, things were dire for him and he knew that he had no way to win if things went against him and his real intentions were shown: getting Jasper off easy. Melinda struck during opening statements when she interrupted him to announce that her colleague had spoken out of turn and that he was handing the case over to her due to a conflict of interest as well as a need to fight for his legal freedom. The judge asked what she meant, was handed emails and copies of financial statements from Jasper's new lawyer regarding how the state would present its case and how to get around it, then announced, "Mrs. Smith has shown me evidence of collusion between the attorney for the defendant and the state's representative. I hereby declare a mistrial and appoint new counsel for the defendant as his current counsel is hereby removed." Melinda was appointed as the prosecutor but stepped aside due to knowing the victim indirectly due to Lydia, Nathan, and Phillip. She ensured that someone she trusted to do the job thoroughly and without bias replaced her, with the new ADA being happy to ensure a child predator was convicted. The new ADA was vicious in court, with opposing lawyers complaining that she gave no mercy and made even the laser-focused Melinda look tame by comparison. The trial was a disaster for Jasper as all of his tricks failed to cause a dent in the state's case, especially as his lawyer was prevented from going after Denise's gender change due to it having no relevance to the crimes nor did it matter as she was still a child in the court's eyes. Jasper's attempts to toss money at people to get them to go after Denise through the media and through the courts failed badly as it was clear that he was targeting her for no good reason, her involvement with him was ended long before he stirred-up controversy at the beach and later with his network connections. The more he tried to get into Denise's life, the more he came off as obsessive and creepy- exactly as the state wanted him to appear. Jasper's only real defense was trying to make it all into a big conspiracy against him by John Finn and a number of others who had no actual contact with him and had no idea who he was until he went after a kid in their care. Beth and Ben were targeted with him accusing them of murdering the Halls so that the couple could get, "Their son" and, "Use him" to their advantage. The timing of it all fit with conspiracies but he was grasping at straws and hoping anything would stick. He had no clue that the Halls' murderers had been found long before and neither had any contact with either Ben or Beth and confessed to the murders after jailhouse beatings. The inmate weren't happy to learn that they murdered the parents of a kid, especially not a kid they liked a lot. She was one of their favorite actresses, her show was hugely popular among the inmates as it was inoffensive and made fun of everyone equally- especially Benny and Jack. Jasper's real undoing was his own arrogance and inability to stop himself from talking when he needed to, a huge issue when he had multiple outbursts in court when he called Miles, Oscar, and David liars only to be shown to actually have done exactly what they claimed on video and via sound recordings. It was made even worse as all of his emails and texts between network executives, his former lawyer, his hired goons, and the previous ADA showed that he was going after Denise in any way possible. He had no actual defense at all, he held onto his sense of beating the rap but he was going down hard. The trial ended with Jasper getting convicted on all counts. To make things worse, he had to surrender all of his assets to Denise and declare bankruptcy because of Valerie's lawsuit against him and several of the former network executives resulting in him being flat broke and losing his trust fund, home, and all chances of a future in the entertainment industry. Valerie humiliated him, going for what mattered the most to him: his wealth and influence over others. That was just the start of things as his family severed ties with him to save their own skins. He sullied a family that had no ties to the entertainment industry yet he acted as if he was part of the famous family and used that to get what he wanted. His real family were outraged and compensated Denise in full on behalf of their son, with the family disowning Jasper and asking for forgiveness for their wayward son. Denise didn't care one bit about Jasper and saw him as being like Ava's brothers: arrogant, ignorant, but relying heavily on others for things that they didn't earn. She saw the family as being their own people, with them reminding her that even famous families can have bad seeds. She learned that from watching the Finns and learning their histories, her former parents being just another example after the Finns. The federal trials were even worse for Jasper as he would face decades in prison once convicted. There was no way out of the charges, he stupidly emailed the pictures and saved them to his computer making it hard to claim that he didn't do it or had possession of them. He was marked for life as the worst thing you could be: a sex offender, and one that was in the worst category- likely to offend again. The feds had him nailed for something even worse: he wanted Denise for sexual reasons and had plans to use her as a sex toy while manipulating her career until she came of age to become his wife. She was just a sex object to him, one who he needed to control and own. The Hermans having support that he had no match for caused him to lose control and make mistakes, which cost him dearly in the end. Jasper was kept in a special prison made for sex offenders, one that he could get help for his obsession and rehabilitate. It was also the only way that he would survive prison thanks to his name being tossed around worldwide for weeks during the two trials. He would spend 30 years in federal prison before he was sent to state prison for another 20 years total, essentially a life sentence for him if he was lucky. With Jasper out of the way, Denise could focus on being a normal kid. She followed the advice of all of the adults and wore a wig and contacts during filming, allowing her to go unnoticed the majority of the time but really only getting bothered by those who knew who she was by sight from school. It was for the best, she got a lot of threatening letters and fan mail making her feel uncomfortable unless she was without her wig and around her friends and family. Even in interviews and promotional work she wore a wig and contacts, with all of the kids following her lead and wearing the same. The boys didn't mind it, but Ava didn't like having to cut her hair a little to allow her wig to hid her normal hair. It was worth it to be safe, especially as Jeff got a lot of threats from people who couldn't separate the character from the actor. She eased off of overseeing both shows once the writing staff understood what she wanted to do with both, with her only changing some dialog to fit what teens actually said and to make it more realistic- a move that the staff never complained about as she only did it to help the show. She was the heart of her other show and had the final say on what was chosen, acting as a tie-breaker most of the time but never choosing something unless there was no clear choice and either one would be a good fit to create. Kids loved the show and sent in tons of stories, with school having contests to choose the best among them. It was a boon for schools, with John happily telling her that she might have done more to advance the writing of students across the country with her show than many experts had done in their lifetimes. She was proud to hear that, especially as it was something that was close to her heart. She, "Inspired" a lot of knock-off shows based on the same concept to be created on other networks, with her happily seeing her former network trying hard to copy her and failing to capture half of her show's audience. Ava's brothers ended up pleading-out and getting just a year in jail before begging their parents for help to, "Turn their lives around." Joe and Jackie refused to help, telling them to never contact them again and leave their children alone. The duo fled when they saw how serious the couple were, especially as they saw just who were supporting Jackie and Joe: the Finns, particularly John. They had more success with the usually distant daughters. Jackie rarely spoke with them but hearing a lot of rumors and seeing their sister on TV caused them to seek their mother for an explanation. Jackie was adamant that Ava was doing well and chose to become an actress out of love and friendship with a young lady who won her heart, with Denise's birth gender being of no relevance to their being together. Her daughters chose to try to mend fences with Jackie and meet Denise, with Ava showing how much she loved Denise no matter what anyone thought about them. When Jeff and Hazel defended Denise as well as Ava it was clear that they were doing better than anyone could have hoped and didn't need them to butt into their lives. The wanted to be part of Ava's life, even if it would take a while to prove. Ava slowly got her sisters to be sisters and acclimated to being family, with her finally getting to meet her other nieces and nephews while Denise was under their scrutiny. With younger kids, they were a lot easier to get used to and after seeing how great Denise was with them the ladies were able to give her a sense of being family and not just relatives. Ava was their little sister, now she was starting to become a woman who was like their mother and them but with someone who truly loved her. The Hines ladies weren't able to mend fences with their brothers' other kids, but just being able to get to know Ava was worth it. They were able to accept that Hazel and Jeff were better off with their parents and Ava, especially as they had found friends and significant others in the Stoners and Jane. Just being around people who were happy to be part of their lives was enough for them, they couldn't drag them away to live with them and were upset that they were afraid that their aunts would do that. Jeff and Hazel kept close to their counterparts and showed that they were great matches for JJ and Jane as JJ started to become more sociable while Jane cooled her libido. The duo's aunts couldn't believe that it was possible for Jeff and Hazel to be so influential yet be themselves, but it was clear for all to see as their grades were stellar and the couples close yet not crossing the line. Their cousins followed what the two did and tried hard to emulate them, giving their mothers great pride over the good that came from a tough situation with their brothers. Jeff and Hazel stayed so close that they married Jane and JJ, with both loving having the entire family at the weddings and having the Hines family awed by just how massive the family really was. The Hines family hadn't integrated into the Finns as a whole, due to the ladies' husbands being against the ladies being so close to so many people that they didn't think should be around their kids, but held their tongues when Jeff and Hazel got married. With dozens of people who could easily cause financial and commercial ruin they wisely didn't say anything when they saw girls and boys mid-transition or who had fully transitioned and were helping others. Beth couldn't believe how much Denise blossomed as time wore on, with Denise crying each time she saw how much she started to resemble Beth right down to her breast size and height. She was Beth's daughter in all ways, with Beth crying as she finally accepted that Beth was her mother in all ways and had given her Beth's greatest gift: her looks. It was a running joke in the family that Beth had done the most humiliating thing you could do in donating eggs and wound up being rewarded with a daughter. Ben and Beth decided that it was time to retire once Denise graduated college. At their age, it was an, "Early" retirement but they chose to retire at full pension and with nothing else to do as teachers it was the perfect time to enjoy their lives. They weren't alone as Justin Stoner, Jake Bollinger, and John Finn joined them in deciding that it was time to leave teaching to the next generation. The five were the true end of an era at Winnisimmet Public Schools, with Dorothy and Vance Taylor, Zeke Bollinger, and Katie Eliza joining them in their retirements while Alice Porter chose to retire once she had found the perfect replacement for each. All of them were happy to enjoy their grandchildren as well as great-grandchildren, with John happily ensuring that they kept busy as he flew the group around the country in his private jet. None of them were upset at his spoiling them, he wanted them to enjoy it and with each being close friends and family it was worth the feelings of it being too much. John held onto GlobalUSA, renamed InfernoTV at his demand, for 10 years before deciding to sell it to a corporation that he trusted would continue his legacy. He sold the network for $1 billion, a shocking price for the network that he was happy to know was lower than he could have gotten from corporate owners who didn't share his views on quality programming. Inferno Productions itself was held onto by the family. Over time, John, "Sold" blocks of stock to the family to increase their share of the profits while he lessened his role in things. With several members of the family who were strong business-minded people, there was little reason to continue to lead the company as its face and biggest backer. Jack and Benny loved fatherhood and proved that even the most juvenile person can grow up when the life of a child is now in their hands. They withdrew from entertainment and opted to write, first as the head writers on Denise's show then on their own shows. They created several kids comedy shows, right in line with their comedic nature but without the buffoonery that they were known for. Lucy and Marcy were happy to work as assistants at Inferno, especially as they knew all about all of the shows that were in production as well as many of the movies. The foursome were the heart and soul of Inferno Television, leading the company's TV division and funneling actors into their movie division seamlessly and much to the kids' delight. The kids were given a huge push by being on an Inferno show and were able to find more work and at better pay than most other child actors in Hollywood. They were parents first and foremost, but had a soft spot for the kids who worked on the shows and in the movies. They would frequently house kids during filming, working with them to ensure that they had decent educations and were able to balance their work and school lives. Being former child stars, it was easy to get the kids to see that they needed to see beyond acting which helped many find their true selves- either as producers, writers, or directors, or in one boy's case: as a girl. Time passed for Denise and Ava as their relationship grew. They were close and eventually gave in to their lusts junior year of high school, but wisely used a condom. Their first time was special, it was the night of the prom and done during their drive home with Ava happily finding a perfect spot to enjoy the "fun" without getting caught by anyone. The two didn't do it again until they graduated, with Denise announcing that her show would end as her character graduated high school. There was no need to continue on, she felt that there was little need to show more as it was rehashing the same storyline and what could be done was too "adult" for the show. She was sad to end it, but was happy to know that it left a permanent mark on the TV landscape with a slew of other girls like her having their chance to shine in the spotlight on other networks and shows. Ava convinced her to go to college with her and earn a degree, to which Denise agreed and earned one in literature and drama. She excelled in writing, with her short stories being captivating and inspiring. The fact that they weren't based on her life and were off the top of her head made them special in the eyes of her professors, especially as her knack for telling stories was clear to the world for years. Denise earned a degree in education and became a teacher, choosing to follow her path and help kids in her own special way while writing on the side as a hobby. Ava became a financial analyst and helped Denise's fortune grow over time, allowing their future children to never be for want. The two were the closest you could get as a couple, with both finding their passions and following their dreams early on. The couple would marry after freshman year of college in a private ceremony that was attended by all of their closest family with Lydia and Jane happily being maids of honor for both. They would have three children, each conceived after college and each taking after both parents. Ava couldn't help but love her wife deeply, there was no way that they could ever be apart with three pieces of each other to love unconditionally forever more. The End.