-1-

Rhett

When Cody picks me up from the Armstrong airport I almost don’t recognize him. He looks like he’s gotten some sleep and he’s driving a car from this decade.

“Well, look at you,” I say opening the passenger door and throwing my bag in the backseat.

“Look at yourself,” Cody retorts with a grin

I was in my dress blues because I’d been at a formal dinner last night and left for the airport right after without changing clothes. Also, being uniform tended to get me upgraded and off the plane faster.

“You got a girlfriend or something ?,” I ask, admiring the interior of the car. It smelled new.

“Nah, got me a job.” 

“Even better. Where at ?”

“Construction...it's only part time. Dang, I can’t believe you got me up this early on a my day off,” he says as we get on the still dark road.

“Is it morning ? I’ve been on so many damn flights I can’t tell anymore.”

Even though adulthood had thrown us in completely different directions Cody Grady was still my favorite co-conspirator. I was supposed to be arriving in Freeport this afternoon, but I’d taken a red eye to get in earlier and surprise Juliana. He’d been the only one I told.

As we drive the hour to town he tells me about what’s been going on with who in Freeport and  bridges the gap between who I was in Alaska and who I am. I tell him a little bit about Alaska and I invite him up even though I know he’ll never come.

“She at Mama’s house ?,” I ask as we roll into town.

“Yeah,” he says. I don’t even have to tell him who I’m talking about. “She’s been there two nights I think.”

“How is she ?”

He shrugs.

“Am I allowed to say big ?”

“Not to her,” I tell him and he laughs

It’s not even  9 AM and there is already a line of cars parked outside of Mama’s  house.  I’d been so focused on getting here early I’d forgotten Mama arranged the entire family to drive to the airport to pick me up this afternoon.

“Want me to go in ahead and announce you ?,” Cody asks pulling into his driveway. “Or pretend like I have gift or something stupid like that ?”

“Nah,” I said, opening the car door and getting my bag out the backseat.

“Well, I’m goin’ back to sleep,” he says walking towards his front door. “I’ll see you later ?”

I nod and jog the short, familiar distance across the road to the house I’d grown up in. Standing at the front door I can smell fresh coffee and bacon frying, I can hear everyone inside talking and laughing

I  still have my key and walk inside like I had all my life. The living room was more crowded than I had ever seen it.

 I  can hear Mama, Nana, and Amber talking loudly in the kitchen. West was showing one of the kids something on his phone and  Deacon was talking intently to  Uncle Ramsey--who looked horrified by whatever Deacon was saying  and Macy was laughing and shaking her head next to him. Aubrey  and Wil have the baby nestled between them and were half arguing and half laughing over something with their oldest son. 

I saw everyone in my family, who I suddenly really loved,  but not who I wanted to see right at that moment.

Mama notices me first, it’s like she gets a sense because she walks right out of the kitchen and zones in on me. She stares in disbelief for a moment and then she screams wrapping her arms around me in a tight hug. I hear a pan fall in the kitchen and suddenly everyone is gathering around us and asking me questions.

I’d been away from my family for almost six months. That was a record.

“Where are they ?,” I ask Mama, still looking for my wife and son.

“Sav is getting Mason dressed...Juliana’s still in bed, she wasn't feeling well last night--”

Aubrey grabs me away and punches my shoulder before bringing me in for a hug.

“Ow-,”

“We were supposed to meet you at the airport !,” Aubrey says.

“ I decided to come early,” I tell her.

“You could’ve given a heads up ! I told Juliana I’d do her hair and makeup,” Aubrey says.  “You stay out here and  let me go and see if she's up and get  her ready first--”

“I’m not waiting,” I tell her. “ I want to see my wife,”

Aubrey makes an exasperated sound as I walk toward the bedroom. The door is closed and I stand in front of it, trying to get the stupid grin off my face. She was a pain in my ass sometimes but I loved her and I missed her like hell.

“Surprise ?,” I say as I open the door.

I see her in the bed.

Or I see the shape of her.

She’s hiding under the comforter for some reason and it makes me laugh. It’s weird being back in this bedroom, I think of the year we’d spent living out of this bedroom after the hurricane. The crib Mason slept in is still pushed under the window.

I get in the bed and my knees hits something hard and plastic. It’s a hair roller. I toss it aside and move the comforter until I find her. She looks beautiful; she's smiling, her face is a little bit fuller and her skin is glowing.

“Hi,”

“Hey, baby,” I smile

“We were supposed to meet you at the airport this afternoon,” she says.

“I know, but I got an earlier flight and I decided to surprise ya’ll.”

She pulls a hair roller out of her hair and the blonde curl traces her shoulder. I pull the comforter off more and for the first time I can see her entire body. She’d barely looked pregnant when I’d last seen her in Alaska, but now she looked bigger than 7 months.

I want to lock the bedroom door and make love to her before doing anything else but before I can stand to close the door it swings open wider and Savannah screams and throws herself at me. I catch a glimpse of Mason but he quickly goes to hug Juliana, while I get suffocated by Savannah’s hug.

“What the hell ? What are you doing here !,” she screeches . “Oh my god! We were supposed to pick you up I was going to drive--”

“Watch out,” I warn Savannah whose feet are flailing. “You almost kicked Juliana in the face.”

Now that Savannah had opened the door everyone started to pour in, none of them taking the cues that I'd been celibate for the last 5 months and wanted to be alone with my wife. It seemed like the longer the door stayed open the more people piled in.

“Okay, ya’ll can I please have one minute alone with my family ?” I finally say.

“Just remember these walls are thin,” Deacon jokes as they all file out of the bedroom slowly.

Mama smacks his arm.

Mama’s the last one out and closes the bedroom door behind her. I lean down to kiss Juliana for but she turns her head away from me.

We’d tried to put off talking about her Florida trip until we were face to face, but we’d both said some things we regretted in the meanwhile.

“So…are you going to do it ?,” I ask her, biting the bullet.

“Yes. I…I want to do it, Rhett.”

“J--”

“I love you, but I don’t care what you say about this,” she says, her voice trembling. “I made a decision.”

It stung that she didn’t care what I thought even though her doing this was going to effect me most of all. Rocket may have promised to write around me but there was no way to do that. I knew that and she knew it. I hated that Juliana couldn’t go even go a month without bringing some new drama in my life. It’s like she wanted to give everyone a reason to hate her.

“Damn it, J. Your’e acting like an entitled little bitch….you’re going to fuck up our entire lives,” I warn her. “Those people in there will never look at me the same way.”

The words come out harsher than I mean, but I could just imagine Rocket’s book coming out and the Coast Guard suddenly getting a bunch of phone calls about me from reporters. I was still on probation, they could fire me and then I’d have to pay them back for my four years at the Academy.

I suddenly hear a soft sound under the bed and Juliana frowns at me and looks down with an accusatory look in her eye.

I look down and see Mason under the bed, lying on his stomach with his stuffed lamb. I’d never heard him be quiet for so long. I’d been sure he walked out with Macy.

Juliana had told me he’d started calling her a bitch and at first I hadn’t believed her but then it happened in front of my mother and I never heard the end of it.

I reach under the bed and pull him out, his body tenses when I hold him. I kiss him and try and put him in my lap, but he instantly reaches for Juliana.

“Did Daddy said a bad word ? ” she says, reaching under his shirt to rub his bare back. He leans against her, resting his head on her stomach.

“I did,” I say. “I’m sorry, Mama. Do you accept my apology ?”

“Yes,” she says and I kiss her cheek.

I think we’re going to go back to our conversation, but she mouths for me to get out and I do.

***

-2-

I put my happy face on and go back into the living room because I don’t want to ruin the holiday. Nana already has a slice of pie waiting for me and I sit at the kitchen table answering everyone’s questions.

I put Juliana and I’s fight out of my mind until she walks out of the bedroom with Mason on her hip. She looked like she was already waddling a little and I want to tell her  to put Mason down but he immediately sprints out of her arms to play with Aubrey when he sees her. I pull Juliana in to my lap and whisper another apology into her ear and she nods her head.

“Where’s you’re cute dress ?,” Amber asks Juliana, looking at the sweatshirt and jean skirt Juliana had decided to wear.

Amber was sitting next to me, artfully arranging marshmallows on potatoes. West was hovering over her for seemingly no reason. Amber was wearing some pink knee length dress with ribbon tied at her waist that drew all the attention to her belly, especially since she always rubbing it.

“The dress didn’t fit,” Juliana says.

“Really ? But I thought you just bought it--”

“I did,” she says cooly.

“Well we need to go maternity shopping together and maybe we can swap clothes,” Amber suggests. “I’ve been trying to find things I can wear to work, but haven’t had the time. It’s like I want to do everything I can before the baby comes and it’s like that whole work life balance thing, you know ?”

“No,” Juliana says.

“I guess because you’re not a rookie like me,” Amber shrugs. “Everything freaks me out, but you know what to expect--”

“Well, I didn’t expect the paternity test,” Juliana says and Amber’s smile drops and she goes silent. I hear Mama drop something in the sink.

Thankfully Deacon picks that exact moment to walks up behind me and put an arm on my shoulder.

“C’mon, nephew, you’ll get enough of your girl later. Now you’re having a beer with me,” Deacon says. He bumps West’s back. “You too, Mr. Sullivan.”

West looks like he wants to decline but he must know that isn’t an option. Juliana wordlessly gets out of my lap and I put an arm around Deacon as we walk outside. Wil follows behind us with a beer in one hand and Noah Presley in the other. Mason trails behind Wil, he’s still looking up at me apprehensively. I figured I give him time to come back around to me.

“Alright, boy, you’re having a real drink,” Deacon says handing West a plastic cup of what I assume is  moonshine.

“No, thank you sir I’m good--,” West starts

“Sir ?,” Deacon laughs. “Shit, I ain’t asking you to drink the whole thing, just a sip. I ain’t gonna hurt you…cousin ? Yeah, I’ll call you cousin.”

West takes a drink and nearly chokes. Wil and Deacon laugh at him and I start to wonder if West even drinks.

For once I’m not the youngest person in the group and get to give West a hard time. We find some lawn chairs and talk shit for a while. I get distracted watching Mason roll an old rubber ball to Noah Presley, who half crawls/ half walks to catch the ball.

“You know I was in the hospital the day each of you assholes were born…now look at you…you’re all daddies,” Deacon muses, clearly already drunk.

“Bullshit,” Wil laughs. “You ain’t know me,”

“Maybe not you motherfucker but those two.”

“Really ?,” I laugh. “Ramsey let you in the same hospital his son was being born in ?”

“I think he was too busy freaking out to notice. I was driving Mace to the hospital, she didn’t have her license yet.”

Sometimes I forgot how much Deacon had made himself part of Mama’s family too. He almost never talked about his own parents or his brothers anymore. If anyone brought up Dad he’d get quiet.

Wil and I make fun of West a little bit for knocking up Amber so fast even thought I’d gotten Juliana pregnant barely a week after we said our vows. Cody comes over and joins us and I start to feel a strong buzz even though I only had one beer. I’d missed fucking around like this, I felt comfortable. Like I could relax. I’m tempted to test the waters and tell them about what I did in United Light just to see how they’d react but I don’t.

Jetlag starts to settle in but I smile and talk my way through dinner and the end of the game. By the time it’s time for us to go home I’m exhausted. I spend an hour saying goodbye and making plans for the week before I can get Juliana and Mason and all their crap into Deacon’s truck so he can drive us home.

“Where’s the car seat ?,” I ask Juliana as I open the car door for her.

“I forgot it. It’s fine--”

“No, it’s not J, what the hell is wrong--”

“Rhett, we’re barely going 3 miles.”

“Did you forget it or did you just not bother ? You can’t do this shit with a newborn--”

“I know that,” she snaps. “Just get in the car. I’m tired.”

 "Yeah and I've been flying for 15 hours--,"

“Hey, quiet you two. Look in my day we didn’t have car seats,” Deacon smiles interrupting us. “You don’t think I’m going to keep my great nephew safe ?,”

“They also let pregnant women smoke in your day, old man,” I remind him and he just laughs.

“Hey, I’ll give you a smoke if you want one, baby girl,” Deacon says winking at Juliana. “People are too scared of everything these days.”

Juliana buckles Mason into the regular seatbelt and doesn’t take her eyes off him on the short drive.

“Call me if he gives you too much trouble,” Deacon tells Juliana when he drops us off at home.

The front yard wasn’t mowed right, there were weeds in the flowerbed, the back door wasn’t locked, a window had cracked and there was dust everywhere.

I knew I’d been an asshole to Juliana all day so I keep my mouth shut about everything that’s wrong with the house and make a mental checklist for myself.

The third bedroom--the one my Dad and Deacon used to share--was still piled with the plastic boxes of our shit from storage.

“I thought you said you’d clean that out,” I say casually. ”For the nursery,”

“Can we just go to bed ?” she changes subjects. “I’m tired.”

“Yeah. I’ll put Mason to bed--”

“No, I’ll do it,” she says.

“J-”

“It’s fine"

While she’s getting him ready I start cleaning up the house. I'd spend so much time on  military bases that  untidiness was really starting to bother me. I wipe the dust off the surfaces and start going through the plastic boxes in the nursery. Most of the boxes are Mason’s baby clothes and paperwork we needed to sort through.

I start organizing the paperwork on the computer desk and I notice she was looking at timeshares in Florida. I see she’s been e-mailing with Raleigh and Rocket about meetings and Cecilia about baby stuff.

I close the laptop screen when she comes into the bedroom so it doesn’t look like I was spying. She's holding Mason again.

“Juliana put him down,” I tell her. “The boy can walk,”

She ignores me and lays him on the bed.

“Do you mind if he sleeps with us until he goes to sleep ?,” she asks me.

“Just for tonight.”

“No,” Mason says burying his head into Juliana’s shoulder. “I stay all night.”

She lies down next to him and he presses his hand into her stomach and laughs. She puts a big knitted blanket around them both and takes a book off the nightstand. I watch her read quietly to him and I realize if I all I did this week was watch them it would have been worth the trip

I  shower and when I come back into the bedroom Juliana is in the bed by herself. She’s lying on her side and her head is propped up on her elbow, her curled hair grazing the sheets. She’s just staring up at me. She looks so pretty, it hurts a little.

I crawl into bed with her and brush my hand through her hair.

“Juliana--,”

I don’t even remember what I was going to say to her. She kisses me and every sane thought flies out of my head.

***

When I wake up in the morning I’m holding her naked body in my arms. Her back is pressed flush against my chest and there’s a mass of blonde hair in my face. I wake her with small kisses down the back of her neck.

“Rhett,” she mumbles when she feels my erection pressing into her.

I run my hand between her legs while using my other hand to roll her hips gently back and forth until she orgasms.

I think she’s going to go back to sleep, but she turns to face me and we start making out again. We have to invent new make out positions so her stomach doesn’t get in the way. We finally settle with her sitting in my lap with her body turned to the side. Without warning she pulls her lips away from mine and quickly puts her nightgown back on.

“What--”

“You don’t hear that ?,” she says just as Mason walks into the room crying.

“YOU LEFT ME !, MOMMY!,” He screams running to her side of the bed. “YOU LEFT ME MOMMY !,”

“I’m sorry, Mason,” she says stroking his tear stained face. “Go back to your room and I’ll--,”

“NO!,” he screams.

He tries to get into the bed next to her and she pushes him down. That really pisses him off and he hits her, he hits her arm, but it looks like he was going for her stomach.

I get out of bed and pull him away from her. He screams.

“Look at me,” I tell him,kneeling down to his level. He stomps his feet, but eventually his eyes meet mine. “Mason, I don’t ever want to see you hit your mother ever again, do you understand--”

“Rhett, please don’t yell at him,” Juliana shouts but I ignore her.

Her starts crying louder, but there are no tears. He’s only doing it to get Juliana’s attention.

“I am not listening to a week of screaming and crying,” I tell him. “I’m going to count to ten and I want these tears gone or you’re going in timeout.”

I count to 10 and I don’t expect him to stop crying but he does.

“Okay, now go apologize to Mama for hitting her.”

He goes to apologize to her and Juliana has her face in her hands. He crawls into her lap to hug her and when he asks her why she’s crying she just shakes her head.

-3-

Once everyone has calmed down we walk to the Parkway Diner for breakfast. I'd had to leave the car in Kodiak and it was nearly impossible to find a rental car for Thanksgiving week. Deacon was making a run to Canada tomorrow in his 18 wheeler and he said I could borrow his car while he was gone.

“I saw you were looking at time shares,” I tell Juliana once the waitress brings me some coffee. The jetlag had really fucked me up.

She nods, coloring on the place mat with Mason.

“How long are you going, exactly ?,” I ask.

“Just a month or so, but I wanted a kitchen.” she says. “I thought afterwards I’d spend Christmas with Dad and then we’ll be back in Freeport in time for Mason to go to preschool and the baby.”

“You’ll be 8 months by Christmas,” I tell her. “How would you even get back here ? They won’t let you on a plane.”

“We’ll take a train or something. Maybe Dad will drive me, I don’t know.”

“I really don’t think you should be traveling right now--”

“I’ll be fine,” she said. “Besides I have to go get the annulment--”

“So, you’re going to see him ? See Caine.”

“No,” she says. “ Raleigh and Rocket will take the actual paperwork…I know you don’t think this is a good idea, but it’s what I need.”

“What about what I need ?,”

She looks up at me pointedly.

“I think I’ve given you more than what you need.” I don’t like the tone in her voice. “You owe me, Rhett.”

“What the hell does that mean ?”

She folds her arms and looks over at Mason who was laughing as he colored the placemat with two crayons at the same time. I look around the restaurant to see just how many people were about to witness one of our fights this early in the morning.

"Baby--"

“I had to--,” she says and her eyes wander. “You know that cop who arrested me ? After the accident ? I—I…”

She doesn’t even finish the sentence and I’m not sure I’m hearing her right.

“You slept with Officer Wright ?,” I frown.

She shakes her head no and she starts to turn red.            

“What ? You sucked his dick ?,” I whisper and I get an ache in my chest when she nods her head.

“What the fuck, Juliana--,” I shout and she puts her hand over mine. They had balled into fists against the table. I’m furious. “God, every damn time--”

“I had to,” she says quietly and I want to strangle her. Fucking whore. She wasn't even trying.

“Was this for drugs ? Jesus, I’m glad you got that paternity test-,”

“Shut up, Rhett--”

“Excuse me--”

“You--”

“I can’t turn my back for one second without you opening your god damn legs--”

“I never--”

“You know what I mean. Fine, Juliana. Go to Florida. Go to Connecticut, I don’t give a fuck anymore. Do whatever you fucking want, see if I give a damn--”

“Shut up and listen to me!,” she shouts and throws her silverware at me.

That stuns me into silence, Mason looks up at her but when she smiles he goes back to coloring.

“Officer Wright came to me. He said he talked to--” she stops to point to Mason above his head so he doesn’t know she’s talking about him. “--the night of the accident... before he talked to us. The officer asked him who was driving and he said it was you--”

“That is bullshit, J. A cop can’t interview our kid without us--”

“Well, apparently, they did. He said he got rid of the report when he realized I was going to take the blame. He said I should show him some gratitude--”

“I cant believe you fell for that--”

“It’s the truth. How else would he have known you were really driving ?”

I don’t have an answer for that.

“Maybe someone saw me get in the driver’s seat--”

“Either way a cop knowingly lied for--”

She stops talking as the waitress brings our food. She smiles at the waitress, but I’m too pissed off for niceties. The fucking assholes in this town.

“I’m going to beat the shit out of that asshole,” I tell her. "He's not going to blackmail us."

“No you’re not,” she says. “It’s over.”

“I’ll say when it’s fucking over. When the hell did this happen ?,”

“Months ago,” she says cutting up Mason’s food. Her hands are shaking. “Before I was even showing. I told him if he came back I’d tell his superior.”

“He’s not getting away with this, I'm going to find out where he lives--”

“Let it go, Rhett. Just let it go. You can’t fight all my battles and if you beat him up everyone will know. Your mother was right, okay ?,” she snaps throwing Mason's plasticware on his plate. “I chose to do it, it's just what I do because I’m just some  just dumb whore--,”

“J--,” I say, she sounds like she’s about to cry.

“But I am. Aren't I ?," she asks me.

“No--”

“Yes, I am, Rhett. I just suck dicks like it's shaking hands, don't I ? I mean it’s all I did for months and it was the best paying job I ever had," she continues. She's talking so fast and she sounds manic. "I mean they were disgusting and I hated it but I did it for months. If I wanted a place to sleep I’d just suck a dick, if I didn’t want to get hurt I’d swallow, if I didn’t want to be touched then I’d get on my knees so really it's fine for some men to assume--”

I want to shut her up, we were in public and she was scaring the shit out of me with what was coming out of her mouth. Mason had stopped eating and was crying, patting her arm to get her attention. I really hoped he didn’t understand what she was saying. I’d never heard her talk this way and I wonder if she'd forgotten her medication.

“---I did it in Florida and I even did it in jail when I had to--,"

“Baby--,”

“Why the fuck shouldn't I just do it here too since no one wants to hire me to do anything else.  I may as well get paid since I usually end up sucking the dick-,”

“Honey--”

“---of every man I've ever met---except you. So, really it’s not big deal your stupid cocksucking wife gave a cop a blowjob so he'd leave her alone, which, by the way was not a first...But guess what, Rhett ? Guess what, honey ? Guess what, baby ? I did it to protect you.”

Now, she's sobbing and everyone is politely pretending not to be staring.

“I was protecting you and us and our family this time," she cries, holding on to my arm. "So it's okay, because guess what  else? I’d do anything for you.”

***

“What about New York City ?,” Savannah asks me as I throw a lost Frisbee off the roof.

Savannah runs and catches the Frisbee with an exaggerated scream.

“Nice,” Cody calls from his position on the roof.

“New York City is fucking awesome,” I tell her, thinking about the weekends I’d spent there when I was at the Academy “But it’s kind of far.”

Savannah runs back to her position holding the ladder as Cody and I climb down from the roof of Mama’s house,

“I want to go far,” Savannah says. “It’s kind of the point. I’m applying to Columbia, because, I mean why not ?”

“Well, for starters college ain’t free,” I remind her, but she rolls her eyes.

She was supposed to be helping Cody and I clean the gutters on Mama’s house but she’d been mostly standing under the ladder talking on her cell phone.

I walk into the house and take two beers out of the fridge and hand one to Cody. Mama is in the kitchen watching Mason play with the magnets on the fridge while she orders a pizza. Juliana was back at the house sleeping.

She’d been pretty silent after her outburst at the restaurant  after I promised not to go after Officer Wright. She spent most of the week in bed and going to her doctor and midwife appointments. I'd meet the midwife she'd found and despite my best efforts I liked her. I’d cleaned out the nursery and that seemed to make Juliana smile.

“What is it with you Clarks and leaving Freeport ?,” Cody asks drinking his beer. “Is it so bad here ?”

“Yes,” Savannah sighs.

“Hey,” Mama says, hanging up the phone. She's always liked Freeport for some reason. I never knew why she didn't leave when Dad died.

“So, which one of ya’ll wants to make some extra money ?,” I ask them.

“Um, me ?” Savannah says. “Cody has a job--”

“So do you,” Cody reminds her.

“My job sucks,” she whines.

Savannah worked part time at the local grocery store but she hated it so much she barely went. She didn’t like all the male customers calling her honey or some bullshit.

“I’ll pay you twenty bucks a week to house sit,” I tell her. “But you gotta mow the grass and clean and shit.

“Why ?,” Savannah asks.

“J’s going out of town for a little bit--”

“She’s going to Connecticut ?,” Savannah asks. “Maybe I can go with her and stop by Yale...I won't get in or anything but just to see it--”

“Juliana's going to Florida actually,” I say.

“Florida ?,” Savannah asks. I always forget how much little she knew about my time in UL. Which was nothing. We’d never even told Savannah about it.

“I’m sure it’s private--,” Mama starts but I cut her off.

Mama knew I’d gone to Florida to testify in court, but she’d never asked details.

“It’s about United Light,” I say. I hadn’t said that name in years and it feels weird.

“That cult thing that used to be down the road ?,” Savannah asks.

“Yeah. Juliana was kind of raised there…on the commune. It’s kinda where we met--”

“Rhett, don’t scare your sister,” Mama says suddenly.

Savannah looks hurt, I'm not sure if it's because I just ruined her image of me or because she was the only one in the room who didn’t know about it. Savannah wore all her feelings on her sleeve which is why I was using her to test my new brand of honesty.

“She was in a cult...How could she have never mentioned this ?,” Savannah says crossing her arms.

“Because like an asshole I told her not to,” I said. “That was wrong. Juliana wants to start letting the people close to us know.”

“Wait, is this when you ran away….did they take you ?,” Savannah asks.

That had been a rumor around Freeport, that United Light stole local kids to join their cult.

“No. I left home and I joined. They branded me…that’s why I have that tattoo. I…I was really into it. Juliana was…she was forced to marry the leader…he was abusive to her. That’s why she ‘s so--”

“Rhett,” Mama says. “We're having a nice time. Don’t tell your sister those kinds of things. You don’t have to--”

“I do. That reporter, Rocket Olsen is writing an oral history so I’m putting it out there. Some things might come out about J and I.”

“Well then, you can’t let her do that,” Mama says. “What if you lose your job ?”

I shrug. I was still afraid of that, but I knew that wasn’t going to stop Rocket and I knew Juliana needed this. She needed to get all this out.

“I’m talking to my commander about it, nothing is as bad as what Daniel Reese told them,” I explain. “But if it’s an issue then I guess I have to face the consequence.”

----

A/N

CPShawna: Wait...in UL2 why do they go to court in Miami if the commune was in Louisiana ?

SH: ....I have no idea how I missed that...or possibly, Caine was captured in Florida trying to get to his niece who is his lawyer.