197. Moving Forward

Bridgeport, present day
Three months later...

Bianca was tired. 

She was tired of the bitter fighting with Beau. Tired of the endless court appearances. Tired of trying to be the better person even when Beau seemed to be doing his best to bring out the worst in her. She was generally tired and she just wanted the mess to be over already.

She was seriously considering giving in and let him have sole custody of Vladimir. She knew it wouldn't be the smartest of moves, but she was willing to try anything just to stop the fighting. Anything for her son's wellbeing.

Beau couldn't see the effects their battle had on their son, but she could. 

Vladimir had gone from bubbly and cheerful to silent and withdrawn in a matter of weeks. At school he was mean to everyone, including the teachers, and he was always quick to bite other kids.

She'd suggested to Beau they should take him to a child psychologist, but her ex had just laughed in her face and promised her she'd never see another dime from him. 

She couldn't understand how Beau had changed so much. And she was starting to think her mom was right about him, he was always this way, and she was just blinded by love…

Another person blinded by love was Carmen. She was determined to get rid of Leigh once and for all now that K-Infinity had wrapped up their tour.

The only thing standing in her way was Beau's custody battle. Her partner in crime couldn't focus on anything else as long as the war with his baby mama was still on.

Sometimes Carmen wished Beau was a woman because then he'd be able to multitask.  

She also wished the whole thing was over already, in fact if she could, she would have made Bianca sign away her parental rights.

Secretly she was still pro Bianca all the way, but it was plain to see that Beau’s ex was fighting a losing battle. Beau was doing a very good job of painting her as unfit and unstable. Bianca's own outbursts in court when she tried to deny Beau's claims had certainly portrayed her as emotional and neurotic.

Yes, Carmen had gone to court with Beau a few times to support him. She just wished Beau would return the favor. Their partnership was starting to feel a little one sided…

Eloise and Devon had no problem with their partnership. 

In fact they were doing so well now they'd started talking about their wedding again.

There were still issues that Devon wasn't happy with, like Eloise's monthly road trips whenever there was a full moon, but Dr. Reddy was helping them to deal with that. 

To heal their relationship they'd agreed to go to therapy and Eloise had disclosed everything to the doctor. She still didn't trust Dr. Reddy, but she found comfort in the patient/doctor confidentiality agreement.

Over the past few months Leigh and Krisis had learned that home was anywhere as long as they were together, but they were both ecstatic to be back in Bridgeport.  It felt great to be back in their house and to make love in their own bed.

Krisis was even more thrilled now that he could finally have his way with Leigh. The physio therapist had given her a clean bill of health just before they flew home from Barnacle Bay. Her leg had healed well. 

Emotionally too she was doing well. But they'd both do even better when the police finally caught the hit and run driver who'd almost destroyed their happy home.

Like Krisis had suspected, Leigh's accident had become another unsolved case. The overworked cops assigned to her case were not giving it the priority it deserved, after all Leigh had survived, the same couldn't be said for the thousands of homicide victims they dealt with every day…

Michaela had enjoyed touring with the band, but she was happy to be home and excited to be off to college. Krimsyn and J.D. wanted to buy her an apartment off campus, but she’d refused. She wanted the whole college experience.

 The day she moved to college was emotional for J.D. and Krimsyn.

Michaela knew how tough it was on them, so she appreciated it even more when they tagged along and tried to make the day as fun for her as possible.

After their talk with the Dean and quick tour around campus, Michaela took everyone to her dorm where they met her roomies.

Much to Cameron’s relief and excitement they were all females.

He didn’t have to worry about any of them making moves on her. And he wouldn’t have to smash a few balls.

Joshua was also excited, but for entirely different reasons. He had more females to flirt with in his bid to make Michaela jealous.

Later that evening, as everyone prepared to leave, Michaela surprised them all when she burst into tears.

“Hey, we’re just a five minute drive away,” J.D. told her as he gave her a bear hug.

“And we’ll see you next weekend. You are coming home for Lily and Blake’s party, right?” Krimsyn reminded her.

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Michaela cheered up at the thought. She was suddenly looking forward to the party, especially since there was going to be a real magician. And a clown. She loved clowns…

Thornton was glad to have Katie back in his arms again, and he, too, was looking forward to his second grand child’s birthday party.

When Celina delivered his cartoony invite two days after the band’s return to Bridgeport, he could barely contain his excitement. He’d immediately gone to Toys R Us with Katie in tow to get Lily and Blake their birthday gifts. If it wasn’t for the song writer’s common sense, he would have ended up buying the whole store.

He felt grateful to Leigh for including him in the celebration. In fact, there was so much he felt grateful for.

For the first time in his life he knew what it felt like to be part of a family and it was all thanks to her, Krisis would never have reached out to him on his own.

Watching her with his son, and seeing how much she adored Krisis, had also made him realize that not all humans were like Margaret, his first love. Leigh had restored his faith in love and the human race.

She, along with Katie and her song, had inspired him to live again. A simple “thank you” to both of them seemed inadequate...