For The Love Of A Princess
Part Two
By Carolina
super_carolina1@yahoo.com

Disclaimer: They're not mine. Sorry I had to use two posts for this story, the MB wouldn't let me put it in one. Thanks to Katie for helping me with the editing

Abby walked out of the kitchen and into the backyard of her old home. She had been cleaning the house all day, her old overalls covered in dust. She wrapped herself up when the early November chill hit her bare arms. Looking around the pool and the old garden she realized she would have to hire someone to fix the outside of the house. She walked back in and closed the sliding door behind her. After preparing a bucket with water and soap, she grabbed a couple of cloths and headed for her father's room. Everything looked organized, but exhausted. She sighed, put the bucket down and decided to open the curtains, the glare of the sun pouring into the old room and scaring the darkness away. Next to the bathroom was a small closet Abby often overlooked. She walked closer and opened it carefully, not knowing if saturation would lead to her ending up buried in a pile of memories. Inside, the small space was filled to the top with blankets, papers, figurines, an old camera projector on the floor, trophies, medals, newspapers, and many other things Abby didn't recognize. She removed a rather heavy box out of a shelf and placed it carefully on the bed. Inside, there were baby shoes, pictures, albums, and on the very bottom, an old film. She took it out carefully and put it up against the light, trying to see if it was damaged.

In the living room, she stripped a wall bare and set up the projector, which was incredibly well preserved. After putting the film on the reel, she made it run and sat on the couch facing the wall as familiar scenes danced in front of her one after another, she smiled as they became fresh in her memory once again. Her two oldest brothers, Jack and Greg, chased their dad around a park as their mom laid on the floor with a big belly; a newborn Sam being brought home for the first time; Steve chasing Abby, tackling her down, and tickling her to death. Her face went from happiness to wonderment as the next scene came up. It was her dad, filming her mom as she slept on their bed. The scene went on for minutes and after watching for a while, Abby grabbed the keys sitting next to her on the table. She was about to leave the room when a sound coming from the film made her turn around. She leaned against the wall as in front of her, a younger version of  her dad, dancing slowly with a 6 year old Abby, her feet standing firmly on top of his, her head looking upwards as her eyes concentrated on her father's as he mouthed the lyrics to a song long forgotten. Suddenly the film ended and the wall went back to it's bare and lifeless white color. Abby turned around and left the room.

 

The engine of the car became louder and louder as Abby drove farder from the house. "Oh don't fail me now, you piece of crap," she said to the car and picked up a piece of paper sitting on the passenger seat next to her. She looked around the place she was driving, not a luxurious neighborhood, but not nearly as bad as some of the projects of New York. She read the information once again, an old address written below the name 'Ellen Caldwell.' She found it on her father's belongings, and a part of her prayed that it was still accurate after so many years. The other part just prayed.

She parked in front of a townhouse and as soon as she turned the engine off, the car made a coughing noise. Ignoring the illness of her father's car, she went up a small flight of stairs and walked to the front door of the house. She took a deep breath and knocked on the door, waiting for an answer. When none came, she knocked again, her hand trembling with a little nervousness. She mentally kicked herself for having come here in the first place and regretted not listening to her brother. Giving one last glance at the place, she turned around to leave, but came face to face with an old woman instead.

She stood quietly for a minute, recognizing those green eyes and light brown hair, now half white,  from the many pictures her father still kept inside the house. She was looking at her mother, the woman who left her and her dad when she was only five, the woman who never called, or visited, or showed any interest in them whatsoever. At that moment she felt like running away, she felt like walking into her father's bedroom and laying next to him, after all, what was so different between her mom and a monster?

"Abigail" the woman said without a tone of either amazement or regret.

It took Abby a while to come to her senses and she was finally able to remove her stare from the woman's face "Hi..." she was about to say 'mom', but something inside of her stopped her, so the sentence culminated there. It was then that she noticed the bags her mom was carrying from the supermarket.

Her mother gave her one of the bags and took her keys out of her pockets. She opened the door slowly as Abby walked behind her "What are you doing here?" her mom asked as they went down the stairs.

Abby thought of that question for a while. Obviously she was here to tell her that her father was dying, but a part of her was always curious to see this woman again. "Um, I found your address on dad's stuff and.." she stopped in mid-sentence when her mother opened the door to a small apartment and set the bag on a table which sat solitarily in the middle of the living room.

"And you thought you'd just stop by?" her mom said in a ridicule tone, trying to make Abby realize how unbelievable that sounded.

"Um, no" Abby said, her hands in her back pockets. She looked around the room, a kitchen, a living room and what she thought was the bedroom. She wasn't surprised when she didn't see any pictures around "How did you recognize me?" she suddenly blurted out.

"Your father sent me a picture once, of all of you in front of a Christmas tree. Of course you look younger in it" said her mom as she put two glasses of juice on the table and some cookies on a plate. "Do you still like oatmeal cookies?"

Abby looked at the cookies sadly "I never liked oatmeal cookies," she said in disapointment.

"Oh," her mom said casually. "Must've been one of your brothers" she said as she took them away.

"Dad's dying," Abby said, looking at her mother while she went to the kitchen and came back "And for some reason he wants to see you." Her mother gave her a look Abby recognized, and began to clean up the kitchen counter. Her brother was right; she wouldn't come. She could feel the tears forming on her eyes, and tried to stop them from falling but to no avail "God, would you at least call him?" her voice trembled and the sobs quickly began "You have no idea how hard it was for him."

Her mother stopped abruptly and looked up "Abby, when I married your father everyone was overjoyed, because he was such a good man, a good job, came from a good family. I knew it was the right thing to do, he had gotten me pregnant before we were married. It was the right thing to do, but it was not what I wanted. And I was miserable."

"Why didn't you just leave with Jack?" Abby asked as more tears began to fall down her cheeks.

"It's different for women now Abby. It wasn't that easy back then. I never wanted to be a mother, I never did. And I felt guilty about feeling that way, that's why I stayed." she said calmed. Abby just stared at her as she spoke, finally hearing the real reason why all of her friends had moms and she didn't. She was crushing her heart with every word, and yet she continued "I saw the way you looked at your father, the way all of you did. One night I made the decision, and I left. Was I wrong to leave? Maybe. Do I regret it? No. I knew your dad would always be your knight in shining armor. None of you needed me
around."

Abby felt the anger inside of her swell up and run through her veins "We needed you. Dad needed you. I needed you."

"No, you didn't. That's why I left, and it was better that way for you."

"BULLSHIT! Bullshit! You have no idea what it was like, because you were never around. Dad was crazy about you, and so were we! And you just packed your bags in the middle of the night, you didn't say good bye or even look back. No explanations, no notes, no nothing! If you didn't want to be a mother, why the fuck did you give birth in the first place?! So don't just stand there and talk to me about women's rights! Don't stand here and talk about what was best for us because you have no right to make that assumption" Abby didn't care if the neighbors or the entire state of New York heard her scream. She had assured herself that she would try to remain retain her sanity, but that promise was thrown out the window as soon as she walked into the apartment.

"You're right, I don't. There are some things you'll understand when you become a mother Abby."

"Oh, don't you talk to me about motherhood. A mother doesn't leave her children. You wanna know about motherhood? Ask dad, because he is ten times the mother you'll never be. And now he's dying and the only thing he wants is to see you. God knows none of us wants you there, but he does, because he's so crazy about you. He wants to see you. What do you have to say about that, mom" she said more calmed, but mostly clenching her anger on her fists.

Her mom looked at her, her face still radiating indifference. For a moment, she felt like touching her daughter, see if she still had that baby smell, if her skin was still as soft as she remembered, if her hair was still as soft and shiny. Without so much as a warning or a reason, she looked her in the eyes intensely for the first time "I always knew you'd grow up to be beautiful," And headed for the kitchen again.

Abby stood there in shock, looking at her so called mother. A tear fell down her cheek out of disapointment and anger, tracing the same path the others had taken not too long ago. She shook her head  and looked away "Fuck you" she said as she opened the door and walked away without looking back.


 
Jack stood in the kitchen with a bag of Chinese food in one hand and a six pack of beer in the other. He had promised to have dinner with Abby and Steve, but Steve was still at work and Abby was nowhere to be found. He walked out to the living room and stared at the mess she had left when she was watching the home video. He was about to play the film when the door fell open and Abby stormed in, immediately running up the stairs.

"Ab?" He said as he started to go up the stairs after her. He saw her shadow walk into their dad's room and he followed her in. Inside was Abby, throwing all the framed pictures of their mom against the wall, her eyes were red and puffy and her face soaked in tears. He knew what she had done. No matter how many times people told Abby not to do something, she always went right in and  did it anyway, the result was almost always a mess. He walked over and grabbed her by the  shoulders, tryin  to shake her back into reality. She looked at him for a moment before breaking down into tears and sobs and falling to the ground. Her brother sat next to her and put both his arms around her, stroking her back and forth like a baby as he did so  many times when she was a little girl. "So I take it she's not coming," he said.

Abby clung on to her brother until she calmed down and the sobs subsided. "She said she never wanted to be a mom, and that she doesn't regret leaving" Her tears kept falling down and soaking her brother's shirt.

"I know" he whispered.

Abby looked up "What?"

"I went to see her once, not long before she left. She said the same thing to me, gender flipped" he tried to joke. Abby chuckled as he wiped her tears with his sleeve. "That's why I didn't want you to go. God Abby, you're like a fly against a light bulb" he gave her a kiss on her head "You know, we're all so different from each other. I was thinking about that the other day,  when I found out about Dad. I'm the joker, Greg is the quiet one, Sam is the gullible wuss, Steve is the emotional, and you're the mature one. But you know what? No matter how funny, patient, innocent, emotional, or mature you are, there are some things you can't change. And you can't save everyone, Abby, even when you're a doctor, sometimes you have to let others fight  their own battles. I think it's time you learn that lesson" he said.

"I think so too" She smiled.

"Good" he said while hugging her tighter "You know, I might be the law and the entertainment, but sometimes I crave a little of that independence of yours."



"Hi dad," said Abby as she walked into her father's room and set a bauquet of Daisies into a vase "How are you?"

"I don't like this place, Abby, don't leave me here" He looked up at her.

"I know dad, I don't like it either," she said as she sat in front of him. "But we have to keep you here for a while, just for a little while ok? Cause the doctors wanna make sure you're gonna be okay."

"I have a daughter who's a doctor, and she says I'm ok. Where's Steve?"

"He's working dad, he's gonna come by later."

"Abby don't leave me" He suddenly grew sad.

"I'm not leaving dad, I'm right here," she said getting her chair closer to his bed and holding his hand.

"No!" he said, taking his hand away from hers "Why can't you go to nursing school here, what's the difference, what's the hurry?" he said angrily.

"I'm not going, okay dad, I'm staying with you this time" He let her hold his hand.

"Everyone's always leaving," he grabbed a phone from the night table and gave it to Abby "Call Ellen, tell her to come back."

Abby looked at him sadly and took the phone from his hand "Dad, she's not coming back."

"Why?" he asked in the verge of tears.

"I don't know," she said quietly. "It's my fault, she needed some space and I didn't give it to her. But she says she loves you and that she's sorry she left. It was my fault dad, not yours" Abby repeated the same speech her father had given her when her mom left. "I know you're scared of raising us by yourself. But you don't have to because I'm here and I'm not leaving you, okay?" she hugged him tight and gave him a kiss on his forehead, feeling his lungs struggling to breathe. She held him tight while trying to comfort him  back to safety. After a few minutes, she set his head on his pillow as he fell asleep. She wiped some tears away from his face, while her own began to make their way down.



"Hey Sam, look," said Jack as he came down the stairs, holding a Super Man cape over his shoulders.

"Very funny," said Sam, having just arrived from London, as everyone laughed. "You know, you can laugh all you want, but at least I was able to watch television for 6 months."

"Yeah, like we didn't sneak around," added Abby, taking a sip from her beer.

"You didn't sneak around, it was easy for you to get away with everything because you were always dad's favorite," her brother Greg said as he sat next to her.

Abby gasped, "I was not! Everyone knows he liked Steve the most. God, you were such a brown noser," she said turning to Steve, who was in the kitchen making some hamburgers.

Steve winked at her "If you wanna win the prize, you gotta know how to play the game" Everyone looked at him in amazement.

"I knew it! I knew it was all an act! Nobody enjoys shaving their grandmother's back" Jack said as he remembered the time his brother volunteered just to receive a new bike.

"That was disguisting. Didn't we make a wig for the dog with all that hair?" said Abby as they all laughed at the memory, she suddenly became half serious "I miss Boogaboo."

"Oh God, Ab, he was like 23 when he died. Dad and I had the shut gun loaded in case he made it to the next year," Jack said.

"That is not true, dad loved that dog" she added.

"We all loved him at first, towards the end we appreciated his presence from afar. I don't know which stunk the most, his corpse or his final years," Steve shouted from the kitchen.

"That's the year we got that 'doggie heaven' talk," Greg remembered.

"Which I could have easily exchanged for the sex talk," Jack added. Everyone moaned at the memory.

"Yeah, well, at least you didn't get the 'when girls become ladies' talk. He must've bought every kind of pad they had at the pharmacy," Abby said looking at the burning fire on the fireplace.

Steve walked over, put a plate full of burgers down and sat on the floor "You know, I think we were pretty lucky, you know, considering. He did a great job."

They all sat in silence for a minute, until Jack grabbed his bottle of beer and raised it in the air, "To Michael Lockhart, the bravest son of a bitch if there ever was one" they all raised their bottles and clinked "Hear, Hear!" shouted in unison.

They all began to dig into the burgers as Abby managed to show the film she had discovered in her dad's closet just a few days ago. The fire slowly died as they all stared at the images in front of them, one by one sgradually falling  asleep. As the film cameto a stop and a frosty chill entered the house through the window, the phone rang and everyone jumped up. Jack pulled Abby away from his embrace as he was the only one strong enough to be willing to hear the inevitable news.

In a cold hospital bed, four brothers and a sister circled the bed in which their father laid fighting for the last seconds of his life. Abby sat next to her dad on the left as Jack sat on the right. Greg and Sam stood by the foot of the bed and Steve leaned on to the frame of the window silently crying.

"Dad?" Abby whispered to his ear.

He turned his head slowly and smiled at his daughter. "Hi princess," later noticing his sons. He seemed more oriented now than ever, although he could hardly move or speak. He motioned for them to get closer, and they all did to listen better and surround themselves with his last heartbeats. Their father took a deep breath and let it out with his last words "I never regretted it" he said as at the same moment, tears began to fall everywhere and the long beep of a machine filled the silence of the room.



The sun hovered proudly in the early November sky as the last flower was set in on top of Michael Lockhart's grave. Relatives and friends began to disperse as they silently gave four brothers and a sister their condolences. Yet none of them were crying, rather deeply concentrated on the mound of fresh dirt in front of them. Jack Lockhart put his arm around his sister as she took a deep breath of fresh air and looked around the cemetery. A mysterious black car pulled at the bottom of the small hill in which they stood, Abby smiled as she recognized the person who stepped out and made his way towards them. She walked up to Luka Kovac, all dressed in black, and wrapped her arms around him, the steepness of the ground equalizing their heights. She remained that way motionless as his fingers traced their usual patterns around her waist.

"What are you doing here?" she whispered.

"I couldn't sleep without you" he felt her smile against his neck and grinned himself.

She pulled her head back and grabbed both sides of his face with her hands, giving and receiving that kiss she had been craving for the last week. He touched his forehead with hers, a gesture that had become their trademark. As she ended it she commented "Why is everything so much better when you're around?" not expecting an answer. "How did you get here?" she asked him.
 
"Your brother," he answered simply

"Which one?"

Luka gave her a weird expression, "I have no idea" They both laughed and turned to Abby's brothers, who were all looking at the adorable scene in front of them, Jack gave Abby a thumb's up. She and Luka walked over and as her brothers surrounded Luka like a flock of vultures circling their prey, Abby knelt down in front of her father's grave and transferred a kiss from her mouth, to her fingertips, to the engraved stone which read:

Michael Lockhart
1921-2000
Beloved son, father, inspiration

Abby looked out the window of her father's room down to the backyard and smiled. There were her brothers and Luka, filling the pool with fresh water and fixing the garden while goofing off. The day was incredibly warm, a forecast not even the best weathermen could explain. She remembered the day they had built the pool, 9 CPR rescues altogether. She retrieved her body from the window and let it fall on the bed, staring at the ceiling. She missed her dad, but a part of her was glad he had finally found his way back home. Steve was right; it was a happy ending.

"Hey, it's not fair that we are working out there while you're in here resting" Luka joked as he stood on the doorway with a smile on his face.

"Women don't do any hard work" she shot him a smile.

"Aahh" he said as he walked closer and laid on the bed next to her, resting his head on her chest and his arm around her waist.

She played with his hair and planted a kiss on his forehead "Thanks for coming."

"Thanks for letting me stay," he looked up and gave her a quick kiss on the lips. With her free hand she reached out and grabbed a pillow that was resting next to him, knelt on the bed and hit him with it. Luka stared at her with a look of disbelief as she smiled devilishly. "Oh, you didn't want to do that" he warned. Before she could react, he grabbed the pillow away from her.

"Ahh!" she screamed as she ran to the other side of the room, but before she could make it to the door, Luka pinned her arms, bent down a little, and threw her over his shoulder "No! I take it back, put me down!" she said between chuckles.

He walked out of the room and headed down the stairs "You said women don't do any hard work," he said as he tried to stop her from moving around. He opened the sliding door and walked outside "Boys, what do you say we have someone test the water, huh?"

Abby's brothers looked at eachother like they were back in grade school "I say throw her in" shouted Jack.

"Throw her in! Throw her in!" they all began to sing in unison.

Luka put Abby down, her back to him, he still kept her hands pinned to her body with his own. She was terrified out of her mind, but she couldn't stop laughing. He lowered his head to the level of her ear "Sorry baby, mob rules" he said as he picked her up with enough altitude to swing her back and then forth, back and forth, back and "splash!"

All of her brothers shouted like monkeys on a cage waiting for their food. She came to the surface and looked up in time to see Luka jump in after her. Jack approached Steve "Oh, I like him," he said.

All of a sudden the shouting was interrupted when a figure appeared on the roof of the house, wearing a cape "To infinity, and beyond!" he said as he jumped from the second floor and into the pool.

"Oh my God, Sam!" Abby yelled as a big splash soaked the three remaining brothers.

"This didn't happen when he was 45 pounds" said Jack while water dripped from his face.

"Oh well, what are you gonna do?" said Greg as he joined the rest in the pool, soon followed by Steve and Jack. They all began to wrestle eachother, remembering the times when they could stay under water for long periods of time.

Abby swam towards Luka and put her arms around him, his feet were touching the ground, hers weren't. "You are so gonna pay for this later," she said in a seductive tone.

"Oh yeah?" he said in the same tone "I can't wait." and began to kiss her but was interrupted by a splash of water.

"Hey, save that for tonight, alright?" Jack said, with the head of one of his brothers pinned underwater. As Abby went to save the poor soul, Jack released him and went to pin her.

The shouting became more and more distant as the landscape took on another shape. In a cemetery miles away, a woman knelt in front of a newly dug grave, a bouquet of roses in her hand. She kissed her fingertips and touched the grave gently, as if asking for forgiveness "You were the right choice."

The End

~Carolina~
Bill: What's going on?
Dave: We're trying to decide what to do about Matthew
Bill: Well I was kinda hoping it wouldn't come down to this, but I think you should fire him
-NewsRadio-