Redemption (The Bet) (6 page)

High school had been the best time of Gabe's life as well as the first two years of college. He'd dated Ronnie off and on in those two years, breaking it off truly when life had interfered and he'd been unable to pay for school. Gabe had dropped out, falling in with a bad crowd soon after that. When Phillip first told Gabe about going on a mission, Gabe had been boosting cars to sell their parts. Their relationship suffered a blow after that and while Phillip and Dina moved on to greener pastures, graduating college, getting married and having a baby of who Phillip named Gabe Godfather. Gabe had been busy avoiding the law, graduating from misdemeanor to felony and finally getting caught in a burglary/murder attempt that had put him away for almost ten years.

During those years in the Pen, he'd managed to keep in touch with Dina, and Gabe had welcomed every care package she'd sent him. The pictures of Ellie had been the best, always keeping a smile on his face. Those pictures, along with the letters they'd exchanged he'd kept close to his heart. They'd continued on much in the same way with their friendship until Phillip had forbidden Dina from seeing Gabe anymore. Despite the pain it caused him, Gabe had thought it best, seeing as their friendship was threatening Phillip and Dina's marriage. Dina no longer came to visit him. The care packages, the letters along with the pictures of Ellie stopped coming. 

When Gabe was finally released, he only contacted Dina one time to let her know where he was and that was a few years after being out in the world. Having moved to a new town, with nothing but the shirt on his back and the two dollars he'd had in his pocket when he'd been locked away, Gabe literally had nothing and nowhere to go. If it hadn't been for old man Mike who'd given him a place to stay and a job working at his restaurant as a bus boy, Gabe would've probably ended up back in prison or worse.

That one opportunity had been all he'd needed to get his life back on track and though the journey hadn't been easy, Gabe believed he came out alright. As luck would have it, Gabe having worked his way from bus boy to manager of the restaurant had been quite shocked when Old man Mike left Splendor to him in his will when he'd passed. Brody Wallace, who Mike had described as a spoilt, self-serving, incompetent man, had been Mike's only child and rightly so, Brody contested the will for years after. But Splendor had remained in Gabe's competent hands, thriving even.

The last time Gabe had heard from Dina had been a few weeks after Ellie arrived at his home and over the course of their conversation, Dina had joked that one day they would all eat at Splendor and reminisce over good desserts and laugh at their own stupidity. Gabe was
 still waiting for that day to come.

It
had been years since Gabe laid eyes on his estranged friend. Phillip still looked the same, but older. The lines of time pulled at his eyes, creased the area around his mouth and wrinkled his forehead. In dark eyes, Gabe saw weariness, the sort that was associated with having lived with certain burdens that were far too heavy to be carried on the soul for such an extended period of time. His hair had the same tousled, windswept look from when they'd been younger although it was longer now and still inky black, with only a dusting of gray at the temples.

"Where is she? How…
How is she?" Dina hesitantly asked.

Gabe sighed before running a hand through his hair.
"She's fine, stable."

"That's good…
that's good." This from Phillip and Gabe looked at him; they locked gazes for a moment before Phillip averted his eyes.

"When can we see her?"

"Probably soon, the doctor wanted to give her some time to rest first and that was…"

"Two hours ago." Ronnie stepped closer to Gabe, Sophie at her hip, stomach looking as though it was ready to burst
at any second. Dina's eyes widened.

"You
're…congratulations, Veronica. I'm happy for you." Gabe and Ronnie's relationship back in college had been too precarious for Dina and Ronnie to have become friends, but they both knew each other.  

"Thank you." Ronnie said with a smile, hand automatically moving to her five month belly.

Dina's eyes glistened as she looked at Sophie. "Can I…can I hold her?" In that instant, Gabe almost felt sorry for her and his heart broke when Sophie shied away from Dina, her little arms fastening around Ronnie's neck, face hidden.

"She's shy around strangers." It hurt to realize what he'd just
said was true but the sad fact was that Dina and Phillip were virtual strangers to Sophie. It wasn't the little squirt's fault that she didn't know her grandparents.

"She delivered safely
...she had twins." Ronnie said quickly to alleviate the pained expression on Dina’s face.

"Twins…
oh goodness, Phillip, twins!" Dina grabbed her husband's hand and held on tightly as they shared a look.

"Yes," Phillip gently patted her hand. "It'll be great having twins in the famil
y." His voice held warmth and…contentment? From Phillip Holbrook? Surely the sky was falling. Pigs must've sprouted wings and hell of course definitely froze over. For surely there was no way in hell, that Phillip Holbrook would ever say something like that about his daughter having three children out of wedlock. It just wasn't comprehensible. Gabe wondered if the world was coming to an end.

"Are you all here for, Ellie?" they
all turned around and faced---Gabe looked at her hospital badge---Nancy McCormick. "Hi I'm Nancy, and I'm one of the nurses looking after, Ellie." She paused for effect and added a small smile for good measure. "She woke up half an hour ago and is coherent enough now to talk to you. But it's going to have to be one at a time and each visit can be no longer than ten minutes each."

Gabe volunteered to go first and took Sophie along with him. When they entered the room, the first thing they saw was Ellie swallowed up by the bed and several hospital sheets, wires coming out from her body were attached to beeping machines. She looked small and
so tired, her eyes were open and her lips lifted in semblance of her usual smile when she saw them approaching.

"Hey sweetheart," Ellie croaked
, grimacing when she attempted a smile and winced instead.

Sophie began to cry as she wiggled in Gabe's arms, reaching for her mother. "Sophie stop, you've been a good girl so far, why are you being such a bad girl for your Mom?"

"Mama shick! and she go bye bye... Nicky go bye bye too." she bawled.

"No," Ellie cleared her throat before continuing. "No monster, I'm okay. I'm not sick anymore." Gabe saw how much it pained her to speak, but Ellie's face remained joyful for Sophie. "Mama's just a little tired, I'm not going anywhere. I promise okay?" the Nicholas comment was not acknowledged, because it did not bear acknowledgement.

Gabe hurried the visit along, telling Ellie of her twins all the while preparing her for the sight of her parents.

"I can't believe they actually came." She whispered in mild astonishment.

"They love you and I think they're ready to show you how much." Gabe sighed. "This is a step in the right direction. It'll take time, but I'm sure its time they are now willing to sacrifice in order to reconcile."

"I don't know if I can forgive them
, Gabe. I'm not even sure I want to."

Gabe leaned over Ellie and placed a small ki
ss on her forehead. "Baby steps."

He left the room after that, allowing Ronnie some time with Ellie. That visit lasted only a few minutes, with Ronnie wishing Ellie well and giving a parting kiss on the cheek.

Her mother was the first to enter her room. It felt like decades since Ellie had last seen her. "Eleanor," The utterance of her name was both bittersweet and disheartening, Ellie didn't know whether to cry or tell her mother to fuck off. It was a crying shame that it had taken being on the brink of death for them to give a damn. Her father Ellie didn't expect shit from, but her mother? Her mother should've been her backbone, the force that kept her erect when life's troubles threatened to beat her down.

"Hi, Mom
." the endearment sounded odd, it'd been a while since she'd called her that.

"Oh Ellie," She sounded pitiful. The remorse of a bishop's wife smeared across her too perfect face. She approached Ellie's bedside, hands held in front of her. "How are you feeling?"

"A little late on the sentiment, Mom, but I've been better." Childish of her to throw in that low blow, but damn it! She was fucking entitled! What the hell would've happened to her had Gabe not taken her in? She had trusted them to care for her! Love her for God sakes! And all Ellie had received was an ultimatum to abort her child or leave.

"
I'm so sorry, Ellie…"

Ellie sighed, and bit back the urge to rant and rave, to scream at this woman until her voice cracked and her throat split. No matter what their issues, no matter how heavy the baggage,
 
this
 woman gave her life. Being a parent herself, Ellie knew how horrible she'd feel if Sophie and now her twin babies ever treated her like scum. Ellie couldn't offer absolution just yet, but compassion she could share in spades. If there was to ever be harmony between them, steps had to be taken in order to achieve it.

"I'm glad you're here." Ellie grabbed her mother's hand, and squeezed. Like Gabe said, they had taken the first
step; it was up to Ellie to meet them halfway.

Dina silently wept.
"Thank you. Thank you for this." There was so much meaning behind that and they were both very aware of it. She squeezed Ellie's hand back.

Later Ellie was tol
d that visiting hours were over which was probably a good thing considering her dread of the inevitable reunion with her father. Her mother was one thing but the bishop was on another level. Ellie's nurse tumbled in after her mother left and administered painkillers that lulled her fatigued body into a dreamless sleep. With the mindless thought of what her twins looked like, Ellie surrendered to the night.

~*~*~*
~

"T
here aren't words that could begin to explain how horrible I've treated you. I've allowed pride to influence my behavior for far too long. I've preached unconditional love, and love for family and neighbors and yet when it came to you, Ellie," Phillip sniffed, nose congested, his eyes beginning to blur.

Ellie continued to fake slumber
while listening to her father poor his heart out..

"I'm a hypocrite and I've been living the life of utter hypocrisy. I can't even begin
to say I'm sorry. But I am sorry Ellie, I'm so very sorry for what I said. For treating you so abominably."

It was too weird hearing her father sobbing. Never in a million years had Ellie believed she'd ever hear her father utter those words. Into those quiet moments, listening to her father weeping over her as if she were dead, something washed over Ellie. A
sensation so strong that she visibly shuddered and too soon she realized she was also crying. The tears slid down the side of her face soaking the pillow beneath her head.

Man wasn't made to be perfect and even the good old Bishop Holbrook could fall from grace every now and then. But sins could be absolved. If Ellie had taken anything from his Sunday school classes, it was that redemption was always an option, no matter how grievous the sin committed.

"I'm glad you and Mom are here, Dad." Ellie murmured to an empty room only seconds after her father left, the hospital room door closing quietly behind him. Wistfully she smiled, knowing that things were going to be ok, she succumbed once more to slumber.

~*~
*~*~

"She's so beautiful, Ellie." Her mother handed the pink bundle over, once Ronnie arranged the pillows behind Ellie for her to sit comfortably.

She was a tiny bundle of perfection, with light brown eyes that made Ellie weep as she stared into their depths. This was Nicholas's Isabella and Ellie knew immediately that no other name was meant for her. She was simply Isabella. Beauty personified.

"My little, Isabella." She softly cooed
pressing a kiss to her little dark head.

Her s
on was an extremely happy newborn. Ellie could’ve sworn he was smiling at her. He was golden all over with big hazel eyes that captivated and dazzled.

"I'm going to call you Dylan, do you like that?" A gurgle was heard, followed by a fart and everyone burst into laughter. "Dylan it is."

-End Flashback
-

The road to mending their broken family had taken them years to fix
into a happy family. They all had needed to heal together and the birth of children had helped the healing along. Her parents had proven over and over again to Ellie, and to Gabe and Ronnie that they'd wanted to change, they'd wanted to be a part of Ellie's life. They'd wanted to just 
be
 there for her.

Trust hadn't come easy,
but it did return and it had taken Ellie almost three and a half years to look her parents in the eyes and tell them that she forgave them. Forgiveness led them back to love and that was where they were now; a plateau of blissful contentment that was just about to get a lot happier.