JESSICA'S POV
The day had finally come when the lies Alison had told all these months would come to an end. I'm completely sure in a couple of minutes the girls would be arriving, and probably my sister to apparently support me. The truth is I couldn't be calmer, because I would end everything at once.
I think they were all a little nervous too, because today things were coming up, but they don't have to worry, or at least that's what I tried to tell myself, because I really feel fine, but they didn't believe me, so the girls joined Santi and Carla to accompany me to the studio where the interview would take place.
"Jess are you sure you're okay to go do the interview?" my fiancé asked for the fifth time that morning and in a worried tone "Honey, stop worrying. Seriously, I'm fine." I assured, "I care about you, and about our little girl." He murmured, "We're fine."
"Honey today is the day you overdue…" he protested, and I nodded, because I know it. "I know, but don't worry, the moment I notice something weird, I'll let you know first." I insisted "Even…" he started, and I nodded "Even if it's in the interview. We're going to be fine, love, seriously." I assured, "I just worry."
"I know, and I love you so much, but you don't have to do it. Everything will be fine. Also, I'm completely sure you looked to see if the hospital is too far from the set." I reported, knowing full well he had done it. "That's true." He murmured, "Well, something else to keep you calm." I said, caressing her face. "Did you see that woman already had her child?"
"I saw it, and I really don't care. I feel sorry for the little boy, because in the end he's not to blame for anything, but his parents aren't the best he can have." I responded, "I know." My fiancé agreed, "We'll figure that out another time, now what I want you to do is relax. I'll make sure you always have me within your range of vision, and as I told you, I promise the moment I notice the slightest contraction I'll let you know."
"Alright." I was going to kiss him, when I hear the main entrance door open, and I start to hear voices. I ended up giving him a little kiss anyway and started heading to the kids' room when Santi stops me. "Do you want me to wake them up?" He asked and I denied, "No, you better go down before they start calling you all over the house asking about breakfast."
"Can't they have breakfast at home or in a cafeteria like normal people?" Santi protested, throwing himself back onto the bed. "They could do it, but I can't blame them, you're the best cook I know." I said with a smile on my face "Isn't that because you like to watch me cook?" He asked, removing his hands from his face and looking at me with a smile. "Believe me, watching how you cook has nothing to do with it. "I prefer to have you without a shirt walking around the house, but above all I like to have you in our bed and without anything covering your body."
"There is nothing like you, love" He said, laughing, "You should know that by now, after all, we've been together for almost twenty years." I reported "Nothing better could have happened to me in my life." He responded, "You could say that I don't either, but we're going to have a daughter, so I could say life will always surprise us with more things."
"True. I love you, Jess." He said, "I love you Santi, and I'm serious, go down before they destroy our house." I asked even though I knew they wouldn't, "Don't you trust them?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. "I trust them, but I don't trust them." Santi started laughing, gave me a kiss and went downstairs to attend to our guests. Meanwhile, I went to Madison's room since it's the one closest to our room, and when I open the door, I see her sitting on her bed with a worried face.
"Hey, what's up?" I asked, approaching where she was. "Nothing." She said quickly and I shook my head, because I knew something isn't right. "Come on Madi, what's got you worried?" I insisted, "What if when we start classes, the kids pick on me like they did at the orphanage?"
"And why would they do such a thing?" I asked even though I had an idea of what's worrying her. "Because of my accent, of how I dress… because I don't have parents…" she responded with a shrug. "Your accent may be noticeable, but that doesn't matter. Does it bother you?" I asked and she denied "Well, just like the people who love you. How you dress doesn't have to matter to anyone either, it's your way of expressing yourself to the rest of the world, the only opinion that matters is yours. And about your parents, no one should care either, you don't have them, so what? Many people don't have, look at Carla."
"They got didn't pick with Carla because of that." She murmured and I denied, because they had done it. "They did it, and even though it bothered her at first, she realized that other people's opinions don't matter," I said, and she frowned. "Did they pick on her for that?" She asked surprised and I nodded once again. "They did. And now you see her getting upset about being told she doesn't have parents?"
"No, but…" Madison started, but I denied. The last thing I want her to focus on everything that went wrong in the United States. "I know it must be complicated, I can't understand one hundred percent what you feel, but I understand some of it. I just want you to know that even though you don't have your parents, you have a family that loves you, you know my parents adore you and want you to call them mom and dad."
"I know, but doesn't that bother you two?" The girl asked and I raised an eyebrow "Me and Sofia? No, it doesn't bother us, after all, you're my sister. You won't be blood, but that doesn't imply anything, I love you as much as I love Sofia." I assured "I love you too." She said with a smile on her face "I know, we all know, so don't worry, everything will be fine. And in case they mess with you, you can be more than clear that high school will burn to the ground, I promise."
A small smile appeared on her face, and it didn't take long to hug me. We stayed like that for a couple of minutes until she decided it's better to get dressed. Once I made sure she would be okay, I left for Miky's room, which had the sheets on the floor and him half hanging from the bed.
It's a mystery to me how this boy can sleep like that, seriously, or how he didn't break something in the process. After looking at him for a few seconds, I approached him, and the moment I touched his arm, he jumped looking everywhere.
"Are you going to have my niece now? Are you okay? "I must call Santi… Where is he…?" He started and I couldn't help but laugh. "Don't worry, little guy, your niece doesn't want to come out yet, so don't worry." I assured, "But wasn't it today you overdue?" he asked, frowning. "Yeah, but that doesn't mean she's going to be born now." I assured "Are you okay?"
"I don't need you to join all of them. I'm fine, seriously. Now I need you to get up or you'll probably be left without breakfast." As soon as those words leave my mouth, Miky soon runs across the room to get dressed and runs downstairs to go to breakfast. If I know anything about this guy, it's that what involves food makes him do everything faster.
When I got downstairs, Santi is making breakfast while the girls, my sister and Jackson, with Miky asking Santi when breakfast would be ready. "Miky, stop bothering and sit down." I said in a serious tone, but with a smile on my face. "But you told me I would go without breakfast." The boy protested, "And as you can see, you're not going to, besides, if you want to eat before it's better you let Santi make breakfast in peace."
"Ok." He protested again and sat in the chair closest to my fiancé. "Wow Leone, you're persuasive." Jesy said, looking up from her cell phone, "Of course I am, did you expect anything else?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "Well, no, the truth is I can understand how everyone does what you want."
"Not everyone does what I want, believe me. Do you think you can do me a favour?" I asked, sitting next to Perrie. "Whatever you want." Jesy said quickly, "I'm not talking to you Nelson." I responded with a smile on my face, "Well, specify." She protested, rolling her eyes. "Carla and my sister."
"Sure, what do you need?" Carla said quickly and I turned first to my sister "Sofia, do you mind if Madison calls our parents dad and mom?" I questioned and she denied, "No, of course not." She responded, "Well, I need you to assure her for yourself."
"I'm going right now." With that, she left the kitchen upstairs to talk to Madison, and the truth is I didn't even have time to tell her to wait for Carla, but it didn't matter. "What do you need me for then?" Carla asked, frowning. "Madison is afraid of going to high school."
"And what do I have to do with that?" She asked, still confused, "Because she's afraid they'll pick on her for not having parents. You're the best one who can understand the situation." I said, "And since I have experience, you want me to assure her nothing will happen to her…" she nodded, understanding where I'm going with it. "Something like that."
"Don't worry, I'll be happy to do it, in fact, I'll go right now. I better have breakfast, huh, shorty." Carla said, pointing at Miky, "We'll see." He answered this and the girls laughed, and Carla left in the direction my sister had gone a minute ago.
"You will be a great mother, Leone." Jesy said with a smile planted on her face "I know, and as much as I don't tell you, I know you will be a great aunt, Nelson." I responded, "Oh yeah, the best ever." she said, flicking my hair back. "First you'll have to step over my dead body to be the best aunt, that'll be me." Leigh-Anne pointed out, doing the same as the first, "You'll all be great girls, so don't even think about starting to argue who will be the best."
CARLA'S POV
As soon as Jess told me what Madison is afraid of, I didn't hesitate to go talk to her, because if there's anyone in this house who understands that situation, it's me, and if there's one thing I'm more than clear about, it's that I don't want Madison go through the same thing I went through.
When I entered the room, I could see Sofia with one arm on Madison's shoulders, who had her head resting on the former's shoulder. "Jessica didn't lie to you about that. I really don't mind you calling them mom and dad. You know grandma wants me to call her grandma too." Sofia insisted with a small smile on her face. "But are you sure, sure, sure?"
"Sure, just like I'm sure I'm Sofia Lauren Leone." Sofia said, "Is your middle name Lauren?" Madison asked, moving slightly away from Sofia. "Yes, and I know it doesn't fit Sofia, but I can't do anything about that." Sofía responded, shrugging her shoulders, "Well, I like it."
"The truth is that I must be with Sofía, they don't sound too good together. And it remains me of an actress" I admitted, and Madison frowned. "What are you doing here?" She finally asked. "You and I need to talk about something." I responded, leaning against the doorframe. "Jessica talked to you too?" she asked even though she knew what the answer is. "You should know I was going to do it."
"She didn't have to do it." She mumbled and I shrugged. "Maybe she didn't have to, but she also knows I'm the best person who can understand you right now." I assured "What are you talking about?" Sofia asked, trying to understand what we're talking about. "Does it bother you that she knows?" I asked her asked and the girl denied "Do I have to worry?"
"No, it's just Madi here is afraid they will pick on her for not having parents." I said, sitting on the other side of Madison. "Just like they did to you?" Sofia asked, looking directly at me. "Yup, but I can assure you that's not going to happen." I responded and Madison frowned. "How are you so sure?"
"Because no one in this family will let that happen. Before we burned that high school to the ground." I assured, "That's what Jess said." Madi murmured, "Well, she's not wrong at all. Now tell me why you're afraid of that happening." I asked politely and putting my arm around her shoulders "It happened to you."
"But that doesn't have to do with whether it's going to happen to you too." I responded, "And what's different about you that they don't do it?" Madison asked, "You have people who love you and won't let anything happen to you." I replied with a smile on my face "Just like you." She returned "You can't compare. Maybe my aunt did it, and believe me, she loved me, and I loved her, but at that time, my aunt was sick and had depression, she was hardly there for me. What's more, I practically had to do everything myself."
"Oh really?" Madison asked, straightening up in bed. "Yes, she had stage four cancer, nothing could be done." I reported "You didn't have anyone else?" The little girl asked curiously "At first? No, I didn't have anyone until Jess and Santi came into my life." I smiled, remembering the day I met them. "Did they help you?"
"Oh, yeah, they did it. They came with me to do the shopping, spent time with me at my house and helped me with my aunt, they did everything necessary so I wouldn't follow in my aunt's footsteps." I said, remembering all the beer she drank, "And what happened to your aunt?" She questioned, "She died a couple of months later, and do you know who was there?"
"Jess and Santi." Madison whispered, "Them, Sofía, their parents, Santi's grandmother, they were all there to support me. They ended up taking me in with them." I responded, "How did you keep them from picking on you at school?" Madison asked, focusing her gaze on mine. "I didn't do anything. It had been three months since my parents died, and a couple of months later so did my aunt. I really didn't care about anything, I practically only felt pain, because I had lost my entire family and I had no one else, or at least that's what I felt at that moment."
"Then why did they stop picking on you?" she questioned again "You know when Jessica gets angry, it's scary. Normally the three of us were together, but the school kids didn't mess with me when I was with them. Jessica was already scaring away the people who bullied Santi, but I was embarrassed to tell her that basically the same thing was happening to me. But one day, Jessica happened to be passing by when they were picking on me. As soon as they heard her voice, everyone was scared. She threatened them saying that if they messed with me again, they would end up like the guys who did it to Santi."
"What did she do to those kids?" she asked, immersed in the story. "I have no idea, she never told me." I said honestly, because even though I asked her thousands of times what she had done, Jessica never answered me and changed the subject, "She hit them. I remember she was expelled from school for a couple of weeks when she was little."
"Santi never said anything." I said, remembering all the times I asked him, "Because I'm completely sure Santi doesn't have the slightest idea. When she was expelled, she asked my parents to let her go to England for the duration of her expulsion." Sofía reported, "Why would she do something like that?"
"She didn't want Santi to know what she did. And in the end, she convinced my parents to let her go to England." The girl revealed "Alone?" I asked, curious to know what had happened during that time. "Of course not, she must have been about seven years old, no way would they let her go alone. My grandmother left with her."
"So, Santi doesn't have the slightest idea what happened to Jessica?" Madison asked, getting the question out of my mouth. "No, she told him she had to go to England for a couple of weeks, but that she would return to classes and would really appreciate it if he gave her the notes."
"See? Jessica won't let anything happen to you, and even if they didn't listen to Jessica, which believe me, they would, the rest of the family is here to prevent that from happening. What's more, I am completely sure Miky would do whatever is necessary to prevent that from happening." I assured, knowing how overprotective the little one could be, "I don't want him to defend me."
"And you don't have to do it. You're a strong girl. You have a family that loves you. We won't let anything happen to you, but do you want me to tell you a secret?" I asked, "Which one?" Madison questioned, "If someone dares to mess with you, if it's a boy, hit the part that hurts the most, and if it's a girl, pull her hair with all your strength."
"What if they expel me?" She asked in a worried tone, and I couldn't help but laugh. "We won't care, and we'll make the school see it's self-defence." I reported "Are you sure I can do that?" Madison questioned again "Yes, if you want, I can show you how to do it." I said, offering my help, "It's not necessary, I already did it at the orphanage."
"Then you know everything you need to know. Now stop worrying about it, nothing is going to happen to you." I assured, "I'm not just worried about that." She responded, "More things about school?" I questioned "No, it's something else." The girl quickly responded, "What's the other thing then?" Sofia asked, "Jess and that girl who hates her."
"What's wrong with her?" I asked, frowning. "I'm afraid she'll do something to her now she's about to give birth." Madison murmured, "Don't worry about them, and even if that girl tried to do something to her, I assure you that one, Jess wouldn't allow it, and two, the girls, Santi and I are going to be there. We wouldn't even let her touch a single hair of Jess hair."
"Why does she have to do this? Why does that girl hate her?" the American asked with obvious annoyance in her voice. "She really hates her forever, and Jess has to do it, so she leaves you two and Santi alone." I reported, "But she doesn't have to, we're fine." She protested, "I know, but the press is too noisy, and let's say it's not what Santi usually handles best. At first it made him anxious."
"Oh really?" She asked, surprised by the information. "Yes, and Jessica hated seeing him like that, so she did everything in her power to Santi not be harassed. Over the years he improved, but that doesn't mean Jess will let that happen to him again, and she doesn't want you to be overwhelmed by the press, so she'll do whatever it takes to make it happen."
"Isn't she stressed?" I asked, "We're talking about Jessica, and to be clear, she doesn't give a shit what people think of her. Do you remember when she came out on that program to explain what had happened to her?" I asked and she nodded, "Well, she did it for Santi, partly for that girl, but above all, for us. She knew this was an issue that would overwhelm us all, so she decided to come out and say she's alive. She cares little what they think of her."
"I think she has to care." Madison muttered "What is it about her? No, but he cares for us." I said, remembering all the times I had defended myself before the press for anything they invented. "I knew Jessica put everyone before herself, but I didn't think that much."
"Oh, no dear, she doesn't let anyone come before her, it's something no one must let happen. Does she care a lot about the people you love? Of course, she does, but that doesn't mean she puts them before her, she's, her priority." Sofia said laughing "That's true, the most important thing for Jess is what she thinks of herself, if she thinks there's something wrong with her, she will change it, but if she knows it's right, she won't change it for anything. That's something she can teach you."
"Yes, and I'll tell her to show you, now we better go downstairs before Miky leaves us without breakfast." Sofia said, laughing, "And I'm hungry." The girl pointed out, "Then run before I leave you without breakfast." I responded and with that, Madison ran out the door and both Sofia and I got out of bed to follow in Madison's footsteps.
"Did you really go through all that?" Sofía asked next to me "Of course, but in the end, I got ahead, I have a family that loves me and a career that I love." I responded, shrugging my shoulders, "Now you're missing the Santi of your dreams." She said, laughing, "You can't have Santi, but I'll settle for the person most similar to him."
We started laughing and went down the stairs to join the rest, because even though I don't have family of my own blood, I have a family I love and loves me back with or without money, and I wouldn't change that for the world, not even for my career.