chapter 26

"What is wrong with her?" Tay asks the doctor who I learned is Hector. After Carmen collapsed, Tay called the family doctor, so now we are in his parent's room watching the doctor examine Carmen.

Hector sighs and says, "The tumor is spreading quicker than I thought."

"And what does it mean for my wife?" Chris asks.

"She doesn't have much time left. There's no medicine I can give her that will extend her period." Hector says, and the room goes silent. Taking in the new information.

"And it also appears that Carmen hasn't been taking the medication I prescribed for her," Hector says and grabs his medical equipment bag.

"It's possible that she might wake up as a different person and if she wakes up with no memory of you guys inject her with this medication. It will calm her down." Hector says and hands the medication to Chris.

"Let me walk you out," Chris says and walks the doctor out. The rest of us stay in the room in silence, with no one knowing how to break it. I mean, how do you break the silence after a doctor informs you that your mother-in-law has only a week or two to live?

"What a birthday present I got," Nate says and Andrew tries to comfort him. It is indeed the worst gift anyone could get on their birthday. A phone ringing breaks the silence. Tay takes out his phone and answers.

"Yes?" Tay says, and waits for the other person to talk. Minutes pass, and he sighs, "I'm on my way," Tay says and hangs up.

"What happened?" I ask.

"David Payne happened," Tay tells me, and I look at him to continue, but he says nothing.

"What did he do this time?" Andrew asks.

"You know him, it's always the same thing," Tay says and runs his hand through his hair in frustration.

"I will be right back," Tay says, and pecks on my lips. I watch him retreating.

"Come on, mom won't be awake until later," Andrew says and we walk out. Andrew and Nate walk to the living room. Future and I walk to the kitchen.

"What do you think about this situation?" I asked Future and passed her a mug of tea and made my own.

Minutes later I'm done preparing tea and Future hasn't answered me yet. I snap my head up to find Future playing with the spoon in a mug.

"Future?" I call her, but it's like I'm talking to a wall. I sigh; lean in, and grab the spoon.

"Huh?"

"What's wrong?" I ask and sit on the barstool.

"Why do all bad things happen at the same time?" Future asks.

"Huh?" I ask, and take a sip from the mug.

"Carmen is dying, and to top it off, I found out I'm pregnant. Everything is so stressful; I do not know how to be a mother, hell I don't even know if I want to be one. My mother was a drunkard; she couldn't even raise me well. How will I be a good mother when I grew up with a mother who…"

"Hey, calm down. Take a deep breath,"

"There you go," Future finally, calms down.

"Sorry, I'm just stressed,"

"What do you mean your mother was a drunkard?" I ask.

"My parents were involved in a car accident when I was 6 years old. My father died on the spot, but mom survived. I think she couldn't take it anymore with dad not around. So, she would drink casually, but it turned into a routine. Thankfully dad has saved money for my future, that's why I could get into a prestigious high school. One day I told her off and she stopped, but after I left for London, she just drank her life away. She didn't have anyone to stop her." Future informs, tears streaming down her cheeks.

I make my way to her and pull her into a hug. "Shhhh, it's okay. I think you will make a great mother. Both you and Andrew will be great parents. Your mother's mistakes aren't yours. Yes, she is your mother, but that doesn't mean you have the same personality or think the same as her. Everyone has a different way of seeing things. You have achieved your dreams, your baby will have everything, and she will have the love of both her parents." I tell Future and wipe her tears.

"Thanks."

"That's what friends are for." I smile at her.

Nate and Andrew walk in and Andrew rushes to Future when he sees her eyes puffy.

"Hey, what happened? Are you okay?" Andrew asks.

"It's nothing, I'm fine," Future tells Andrew and, by the looks of it, Andrew doesn't know that Future is pregnant.

Nate being Nate grabs my mug and sits on the bar stool, sipping. I roll my eyes and sit on the barstool next to him.

An hour passes, and we are still sitting in the kitchen talking.

"Nate?" a voice booms, and Nate squirms in his seat.

Tay walks in looking like he came from World War III.

"I swear, I was going to tell you," Nate says and I mentally smack his head. He just exposed himself, and he doesn't even know why Tay was calling for him.

"What are you talking about?" Tay asks, confused.

"I'm, why were you calling me?" Nate asks, trying to avoid Tay asking him more questions.

"Nate Owen Jackson Payne, you better tell me right this instinct what you did because I swear to God I will—"

"He totally called him by his full name. He is in deep trouble," Andrew whispers, trying to hide his laugh.

"Okay, fine, I will tell you," Nate says.

"Um…. Rachel and I are...you know?" Nate says, using his fingers to explain, and I chuckle.

"I don't know which is why I'm asking you the question in the first place,"Tay says, slightly irritated by Nate's no point of direction explanation.

"You know...Um…when two opposite sides attract each other, they—"

"I know what two opposite poles do. I went to school. Now get to the point," Tay says.

"I am in—"

"Rachel and Nate are dating?" I blurt it out.

"Well, at least I don't have to bail you out... wait, what?" Tay asks, shocked.

"Rachel and Nate are dating like when a man and a woman get together and—" Tay cuts me off.

"Okay, no need for you to explain, I know what dating means," Tay says and I roll my eyes.

"She is older than you, Nate," Tay points out.

"So?" Nate snaps, and I cup my coffee mug and take a sip.

"I don't want to fight with you. End that relationship, or whatever you call it," Tay orders.

"You are such a hypocrite, brother. You are older than Olivia, but do you hear us asking you to divorce Olivia? Or that we don't approve?" Nate asks.

"Olivia and I are both in our twenties. You are still a teenager and I will be damned if I allow her to take advantage of you," Tay snaps at Nate and the room goes silence.

"Rachel and Nate are dating?" Future says more to herself.

"Unbelievable, are you sure Olivia?" Future asks.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Nate asks, looking at Future like she is a bug waiting to be squashed, and before she can respond, a maid walks in.

"Excuse me. Two gentlemen are looking for you, Mr. Payne." The girl says, and we look at each other. We follow the girl and find two gentlemen I have never seen in the living room. One, with blonde hair, wearing faded jeans and a white t-shirt. The other one with brown curly hair wearing denim jeans and a light blue t-shirt.

"Tay Payne?" Blondie asks.

"Yes?" Tay asks, and we watch in horror of what happens next.

"You are under arrest for the assault of David Payne. You may remain silent. You have the right to an attorney; the state will provide you one if you can't afford a lawyer. Anything you say or do will be used against you in the court of law." Now that they are cuffing him, I notice his knuckles are a bit bruised. How the hell did we not notice this before?

"This has to be some sort of mistake," Andrew tells the blonde, trying to stop them from taking Tay.

"No way, Tay would never!" Nate supports.

"Clearly you don't know your own brother. There is a video of him beating David to a pulp." blondie says and pushes Tay to the front door.

Tay has said nothing or resisted the arrest.

What the hell is going on here?

"Why are you arresting my son?" Chris asks.

"Assault, your son here thought it would be a good idea to do some boxing." so far, I don't like the blondie.

He's so full of himself to be a cop.

"What!" Chris asks, shocked.

The police escort Tay outside, and we stand in the middle of the living room, too shocked to do anything. After what seemed like eternity Chris breaks the silence.

"I will call the lawyer. You guys go ahead. I will see you at the police station." he says; Andrew grabs his car keys, and we rush to his car outside.

Andrew climbs in the driver's seat. Nate and I get in the backseat and Future in the passenger seat. He pulls out of his parent's house driveway.

I wonder what David said to Tay to drive him into beating the shit out of him. "Dude, you drive like a girl," Nate annoys us after minutes of silence since we left.

Andrew ignores him and continues driving through a mess of cars. Today of all days there's traffic, so you can imagine trying to get somewhere fast but have to wait. After some time, the traffic clears and Andrew speeds up a little.

"Come on, drive it like you stole it," Nate says, and I swat his arm. Doesn't he remember how he got arrested in the first place?

"That hurts," Nate says, rubbing his arm up and down, and I resist the edge to roll my eyes at the back of my head.

"Do you guys—" Future cuts Nate off this time.

"Can you just shut up for five seconds for once in your life?" Future snaps.

Pregnancy hormones. I thought.

"Well, someone woke up at the wrong side of the bed today," Nate makes fun of Future, and she glares at him hard that Nate shrieks in his seat and zips his mouth using his fingers.

The car comes to a halt, and we all climb out of the car and rush inside. We watch as the blonde cop opens the door from the other side and makes his way to us.

He leans his arms on the reception counter and intertwines his fingers.

"Where is Tay?" Andrew demands.

"I make the rules here, not you, pretty boy," Blondie says with a hard face.

"What is your name?" I ask and all heads turn to me giving 'are you serious' looks right now.

"I'm Detective Oliver Scott," He says checking me out.

Perv...

"Oliver, you say?" Nate says, smirking at the similarity of our names.

"Guys... Tay?" Andrew says.

"Right," Nate says and makes an 'I dare you say anything' look.

"Can we see him?" I ask.

"No, you can't butter. He is in the interrogation room and by the look of it he won't be getting out soon." Oliver says, and we all glare at him.

Asshole.

As if on cue, Chris and a lady in a pencil skirt, white t-shirt, and black heels walk in. The lawyer makes her way to the interrogation room and we all sit on the plastic chairs waiting. Seconds turn into minutes and minutes turn into hours.

My butt hurts now and as I'm about to stand up, the lawyer walks out, and we all stand on our feet.

"Are they releasing him?"

"What took you so long?"

"Is he okay?" questions fly around, not giving the poor lady a chance to explain.

"Guys?" I shout.

"Give the poor lady a chance to explain," I say, and she gives me a grateful smile.

"Sorry," father and sons apologize.

"Evidence points against Tay, there are a video of him beating the crap out of David and their history also doesn't help much. Everyone knows they hate each other's guts. David has a strong case against Tay and your son decided it would be a great idea to break some of his uncle's bones, so you can imagine the charges involved." The lawyer says and my mouth half opens. Future gasps.

"So, what now?" Nate asks.

"David's lawyer made a deal with Tay, and he accepted his deal."

"What kind of deal?" I ask.

"Not only does David have the upper hand, but his lawyer showed Tay evidence of something that could destroy the Payne's name and everyone." The lawyer informs us.

"Please get to the point already. What kind of deal?" Andrew asks.

"Tay signed everything he owns, companies, malls, hotels, clubs, penthouses to David Payne. Everything that Tay owns now belongs to David."

"What!" we all say in unison.