It Rains When I Cry

Zack’s mom met them at the hospital and handed Kaila to Ana who held her daughter close. Michelle, Brian, and Matt were all pacing and not once did Matt turn and blame anything on Ana. Any normal person would find someone to blame. They were in a private waiting room so people wouldn’t bother them. When the doctor walked in they looked up.

“Is she gonna be okay?” Michelle beat Matt to the question.

“She’s stable for now, but she lost a lot of blood. You said this was a kitchen accident?” Ana looked up at the doctors voice.

“Levi?”

“Ana…it’s been a while, what are you doing here?”

“Val’s one of my friends.”

“You two know each other?” Johnny asked.

“He’s my friend Megan’s dad.”

“This wasn’t a kitchen accident was it Ana?” He asked looking at her.

“No”

“Then I won’t ask questions just tell you to call Angelique.”

“I already have. Is she gonna be okay?”

“You can go see her, just be quiet. She’s gonna be in and out for a few days.”

“Thanks” and they let Matt lead the way into Val’s room. She turned her head and smiled weakly at them. Matt sat on the edge of her hospital bed and took her hand.

“How ya feeling babe?” he asked her. Johnny wrapped and arm around Ana as she stood there holding Kaila. The child reached for him and he took her and she rested her head on his shoulder. Zack’s mom took him out in the hall to talk to him for a moment.

“I’m gonna be okay, right?”

“The doctor said you’re stable.”

“It hurts Matt.” Ana could hear the fear in her voice and she wanted nothing more than to reassure them all that nothing was gonna hurt them. Ana fingered the key in her pocket and pulled it out. She studied it and sighed. She slipped it back in her pocket as Zack walked back in.

“Everything’s gonna be okay Val, you’ve got one of the best doctors I know taking care of you.” Ana said.

“Thank you Ana.” Ten minutes later Levi shuffled them from the room and told Ana to call Megan. She nodded and they all left. Kaila sat between Ana and Johnny on the way back to Zacks. It looked they were all staying there until this was over. One of the first things they did was sit down and Zack booked Angelique a ticket to LAX and Ana called her.

“Aunt Pat…”

“One moment Ana, she’s packed and waiting for your call.”

“Thank you.”

“My Ana, how’s my girl?”

“Someone got hurt because of this Nana, we got you a ticket, have Aunt Pat take you to the airport.”

“I will, he must be special, you said we.”

“Nana, not now.”

“I have friends here Nana, they want to help. Levi is taking care of the person who got hurt. Megan is my next call.”

“I’ll be there as soon as the plane lands sweetie.”

“I’ll be there to pick you up Nana.”

“Bring your special someone with you.”

“Nana”

“I love you dear.”

“I love you too Nana.” Johnny watched as she hung up the phone and then dialed another number.

“Can she stay here too?” They knew she was talking about her friend Megan.

“Yeah, there’s plenty of room, Angelique can have one of the spare rooms, for herself, the rest of us can use the other rooms. And whoever wants to sleep in the basement they can.” Zack said. Gena smiled, she was worried about Val, but somehow just being there now with the others was enough to make her feel secure. Half an hour later Ana was hanging up the phone once again and Brian and Matt were bringing in the left over pizza for them to eat. Zack passed a beer to all of them and handed Kaila a sippy cup full of chocolate milk.

“Where’d that come from?” Ana asked him.

“My mom, I told her what was going on. She went and got a few things today anyway seeing as she had nothing for her at her house.

“Oh, will you thank her for me?”

“I already did.” That night they all slept restlessly and Ana walked out to the porch around midnight and sat watching the house she wanted desperately to call home for her and Kaila. She was joined a moment later by Johnny.

“Kaila’s asleep peacefully.”

“She sleeps like an angel.” Ana said as he sat beside her. She leaned her head on his shoulder as he wrapped an arm around her.

“We’ll figure this out Ana.”

“Figure what out? What’s happening over there, or between us?” She asked him moving to look at him.

“I already figured the second part out.” He said smiling at her.

“I think I have too.”

“It’s just so fast.”

“I know…”

“But it feels right, I’m not falling in love with you Ana, I’m already in love with you.”

“Johnny, I’m falling fast.” She whispered back and Johnny placed a kiss to her forehead. “Wanna know something?”

“Hmm?” he asked as he watched the rain that had been falling lightly all day lighten up a little more.

“You’re the first guy that I told about my curse.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, most people would freak out if they found out.”

“Because your different?”

“They thought I was a freak. Megan didn’t though. She thought it was cool that I was cursed. You know growing up in the streets of New Orleans and all.”

“You said Angelique had visions?”

“Yeah, my whole family is either gifted or cursed. My mom told me when I was little, but I hardly cried then so I just always figured it was coincidence, but the sun was out the day I found out I was pregnant and I cried. The rain started pouring down.”

“What was your moms gift?”

“She was the one that it skipped, or so she said, but I think she had the simplest of gifts.”

“What?” Johnny asked as she leaned her head back on his shoulder.

“Kindness, compassion, and understanding. When I found out I was pregnant, she held me and actually let me cry. She comforted me and told me that the most precious gift in the world was a child. She didn’t yell at me for the fact that I was going to be a single mother. She stood by all my decisions.”

“How’d she die?”

“A year ago she was babysitting Kaila for me, it was a rainy night anyway before I started crying. Kaila’s dad had once again quit his job and so I wasn’t getting help from him again and I was working extra hours at the supermarket down the street. I got a call around midnight I think. There was a break in at my apartment. I didn’t even clock out. I took off running the fifteen minutes to my apartment. Kaila was fine, my mom was shot. There was a break in. Nothing was missing, the place was just trashed.”

“Your mom was killed, that was what was missing.”

“Yeah.”

“Ana, this is probably the worse time to ask this…”

“What?” She said turning to face him.

“Will you be my girlfriend?” She smiled at him and leaned into kiss him. He pulled her close and it felt like fireworks were going off when their lips touched. They pulled apart and he smiled at her. She smiled and they both jumped when lightening flashed across the sky. They glanced toward the house that she owned and saw Cara standing in the front window watching them. They both stood and moved out to where they could see what was going on inside and what they saw shocked them. She was standing there holding a child on her hip.

“I thought the article said she was pregnant when she died.” Ana said.

“That’s what it said.”

“She wasn’t very far along though. Because remember Gena hadn’t even known.”

“Then she wouldn’t have had a crib yet.” Ana said.

“How pregnant were you when you started thinking about a crib for Kaila?”

“Six months.”

“C’mon, we need to wake Gena up.”

“Yeah we do.” They got in the house just as the phone rang. They looked at it and Zack walked down the stairs a moment later to go to the basement and wake up Matt. A few moments later they were all gathered in the living room, while Kaila slept upstairs in the bed that Ana had put her in. Michelle was the only one not down there.

“What’s wrong?” Jimmy asked. “Why’d you wake us all up?”

“Val got worse…”

“BRIAN!” They all turned their heads to the stairs as Michelle flew down them. She looked at Brian and they all saw it in her eyes. Val hadn’t just gotten worse, she was gone. Matt’s face paled as Michelle turned to him.

“No…” Matt sat down on the floor and Michelle started crying.

“MOMMY!!!!!” Ana was upstairs in a heartbeat and pulling her daughter to her.

“Sweetie what’s wrong?” Ana said as she held her child close.

“Pretty lady died…” Ana’s eyes grew wider.

“Kaila?”

“Chelles sissy…”

“How do you know Kaila?”

“Dream” at that moment she wished her daughter didn’t know how to talk. She had her Nana’s gift of sight.

“No, no, no, why is this happening? Why me, why my little girl?” And Ana held her baby girl close as she cried but no rain began to fall.

“Ana, it’s not raining.” She looked up and out the window and wiped the still falling tears from her eyes as she joined Johnny at the window. The tears were still falling steadily but quietly from her face. Her Nana’s words came to her and she whispered them to herself.

“With every curse is a gift…” She looked at Johnny and he looked at her.

“Are we taking her with us to get Angelique?”

“Yeah, I need Nana to talk to her.”

“She has visions?”

“This is the first time it’s happened. My Nana used to tell me that when she was little her visions came in dreams.”

“We’ll get through this together.”

“I love you Johnny. Nana is right, you are special.”

“So are you.” He whispered.