Welcome to the Family

Rebecca had finally made her decision. Since she couldn't fathom trusting any of the guys just yet, she decided to spend a minimum of three weeks with each one. After she had talked about her decision with them all Jimmy had wheeled her out to his car and helped her inside. Matt had told her that he would bring over her stuff that was still at her house. She sat in silence as Jimmy drove. She heard him speak of his soul mate Leana and how much she meant to him. She listened as he told her that she was really looking forward to meeting her. Rebecca was really skeptical on meeting someone new, but she knew that it was going to happen regardless if she was ready or not.

"Rebecca," Jimmy's voice cut through her thoughts.

She looked at him unsure as to why he had called her name. "We're here," he grinned. She looked out the windshield of the car and noticed that they were indeed parked in a driveway. She had been so lost in her thoughts that she hadn't realized that they had already arrived at his house. Jimmy came to her door with her wheelchair and she glared at it before transferring into it. She barely had it for a day she already hated it.

Jimmy wheeled her into the house and then placed her next to the couch. It was going to be her new spot apparently at anyone's house because it held the most space in the room. Jimmy had gone up the stairs calling a woman's name, Leana, she thought she heard. She found him quite hilarious since he sounded like he was going insane from not finding her. He was still upstairs when Rebecca heard laughter coming from the kitchen. Curious she wanted to move herself in that direction. She used one hand and it seemed to have worked pretty well for the most part. Rebecca continued to move the wheelchair in the direction where she heard the laughter.

She was breathing rather hard from the work out of using only one hand to move herself forward when she finally got to the opening of the kitchen. She looked in on a small group of girls huddled around a table. One had medium blonde hair with a touch of brown that looked really natural. Her hair held natural looking curls and Rebecca envied that a little bit. Rebecca turned her eyes to another girl in the group. She noticed that this second one had dark brown hair with blonde highlights and Rebecca actually liked it styled like that. Her attention landed on the third girl of the group and Rebecca almost had to hold in her gag of disgust. She had platinum blond hair in a pixie like cut that didn't look the best at all. The platinum blonde looked completely fake and extremely ugly in her opinion.

"Leana, where are you?" Jimmy's voice called from upstairs.

Rebecca watched as the three girls cast their eyes up at the ceiling before breaking into a fit of giggles. They obviously were having a lot of fun teasing Jimmy. Rebecca didn't find it cute or funny at all because ever since she met Jimmy he had been truly nice to her and actually never gave up when it came to talking to her and getting her to talk. She loved his company a lot. Rebecca began to push herself back into the living room as she heard footsteps coming down the stairs. She managed to make it halfway towards the living room when she saw Jimmy round the corner into the living room.

"Rebecca," he said coming in.

Jimmy looked around when he didn’t see her right away, but then his eyes landed on her struggling with her wheelchair. He smiled warmly knowing that she must have hated being overly dependent on other people. He just hoped that he would be able to have enough courage to tell her about her family while she stayed with him. He would much rather her hear the news from him than from Zacky or Brian for that matter. Jimmy knew that Brian was trying to gain her trust back since the first night they even met her. He had gone off on her about stealing other peoples stuff and how much it pissed him off that people would. Jimmy had noticed how scared she was of Brian's outburst that night, that he could understand why she wouldn't want to trust him so easily.

Jimmy walked over to her and bent down to her level in the chair. He smiled at her and she smiled back before leaning forward and giving him a hug. Rebecca knew that with Jimmy's lively spirit around that she would be able to handle this situation. Jimmy was about to pull away when Rebecca tightened her grip. She turned her head to his ear and whispered that she thought the person he was looking for was in the kitchen. She let go and he smirked at her. By the smirk on his face Rebecca could tell that he was up to something very mischievous considering this girl he was looking for was clearly ignoring him. She was fine to watch, but she didn't want to be a participant in anything that might start a fight.

"Leana, are you home?" Jimmy's loud voice called throughout the house.

Rebecca listened and watched as Jimmy did too. It was quiet for a little bit before the light tinkling of laughter could be heard from the kitchen. Jimmy grinned widely down at Rebecca and then turned her around and faced her back towards the kitchen. They stopped just short of the kitchen entrance.

"Oh, Leana, I have a surprise for you," Jimmy said rather loudly.

Rebecca was completely confused at first until she heard the distinct noises of chairs scraping against the linoleum floor. She held in her laughter as the footsteps drew closer. Jimmy stood directly in front of her and because he was so tall he managed to hide her from view.

"Oh, I didn't hear you come in," a female voice said with a light giggle.

"Well, I've only been home for like five minutes or so, but still," Jimmy said, lying through his teeth. Rebecca knew that he was because they had been there for at least twenty minutes or so. She wasn't exactly positive about how long just yet, but she knew that it was a lot longer than five minutes.

"So, what's the surprise," the same girl asked, sounding really excited.

Rebecca watched him lift his hand to scratch the back of his neck before he answered.

"Well, I want you to meet someone to be honest. You were supposed to meet her when we first got back, but circumstances decided to change on us," he said.

"Oh, is this person the famous Rebecca you've been talking about nonstop for the last few days?" the girl asked, and Rebecca was surprised that she didn't hear any kind of contempt or anger in her voice. Usually, when a guy asked his girlfriend to meet another girl the girlfriend would get overly jealous and angry at the guy.

"Yes, it is," Jimmy answered, excitement filling every word.

"Well, where is she? I don't see her," the girl said, sounding a bit disappointed.

Jimmy glanced back at Rebecca and gave her smirk before taking a huge step away from her and ending up next to her instead of in front of her. "Oh my God, honey, what happened?" the girl asked starting to fawn all over her. Rebecca refrained from rolling her eyes in distaste at this girl's antics, but she managed alright.

"Uh, I was kidnapped and tortured, but I ended up breaking my wrist and ankle during my escape attempt," Rebecca answered sweetly.

"Oh, honey, this is not good at all," the girl said.

"Leana, stop fussing over her," Jimmy jumped in, when he noticed Rebecca's scowl.

"Why?" Leana asked, looking at him.

"She doesn't particularly like the fact that she's living here for awhile until she gets better.
She has trust issues with people and barely trusts me, so if you can refrain from the overly excessive fussing that would be great," Jimmy explained.

"Oh, I'm sorry sweetie I didn't know," Leana apologized.

"That's quite alright," Rebecca managed to speak out.

Leana had almost forgot her friends standing behind her as the whole introduction to Rebecca began. "Oh, how rude of me to forget my friends," she laughed, "Rebecca this is Gena and Michelle," she finished gesturing to the other two girls behind her. Rebecca looked at the two and tried to decipher which one was Michelle and which one was Gena. Before all she had were looks and now that she had names she wanted to be able to put those names to the looks.

"Hi, I'm Michelle," Michelle said reaching her hand out to shake Rebecca's.

Rebecca stared at her. She was the one with the dark brown hair and blonde highlights. She liked her style of hair and how it fit her facial features. Rebecca took her hand and shook it committing her looks and name to memory for later. "I'm Gena," Gena said stepping forward. Rebecca shook her hand despite how she felt about her fake hair color. She sent a smile at her and then waited for Jimmy.

"So, what have you all been doing today?" Jimmy asked.

"Just hanging out," Leana replied.

"I see, well Matt's on his way over to drop some stuff off for Rebecca," Jimmy informed her.

"Oh, good," Michelle said excitedly.

Rebecca was confused as to why she had replied like that, but before she could ask the doorbell rang throughout the house. Matt had arrived with her things. She actually missed her backpack and all the stuff inside. Jimmy took the handles of the wheelchair and pushed her back towards the living room while Leana went to answer the door. Jimmy parked the chair next to the couch, but noticing Rebecca's discomfort in sitting in it he picked her up and placed her comfortably on the couch. Rebecca gave him a smile of gratitude.

The sound of voices and laughter filtered in through the house. She heard Matt's voice, Leana's voice, and then an unknown voice. She was confused. Rebecca wasn't really looking forward to meeting more people all in one day. She was actually quite tired from the day's events. Finding out that she had woken up Papa Gates and his family to going to the hospital, and then finally having to make a decision on who was going to take care of her.

Rebecca wanted to go and sleep so that she could have some time to process everything. She looked towards the door to see Leana walk in with Matt following and then a young woman was with him. She blinked her eyes in confusion when she saw Michelle with her arm looped through Matt's arm. She turned her attention to Michelle who was standing next to Gena and then back to the girl on Matt's arm.

Was she seeing double? She wasn't sure, but she did know that she was completely confused. The only difference between Michelle and the girl on Matt's arm was that Michelle had dark brown hair with blonde highlights and the other one had blonde hair. It looked a little more natural than Gena's hair color, but she could tell that it was still not her real color.

"Hey Rebecca, how are you doing?" Matt asked, with a smile on his face.

"I'm doing alright, but, uh, trying to understand why Michelle is in two places," she answered, feeling a blush creep up her neck and onto her cheeks. Laughter was heard at her comment and that made her blush even more.

"Rebecca, Val over there is my twin sister," Michelle said, with a smile on her face.

Twins, how could she not think of that sooner? Rebecca couldn't help but lower her face in embarrassment. "Aw, Rebecca it's alright. A lot of people confuse the two all the time," Matt reassured her. Rebecca looked up at him and gave him a weak smile.

"So, I have your stuff. It's still in the car though. I figured we could visit a little," he said.

"Sure, but I kind of need to use the bathroom so could someone help me out?" she asked not wishing she didn't have to.

"Sure, I'll help you," Leana said stepping forward. Jimmy helped her back into the chair and Leana wheeled her towards the downstairs bathroom. Leana had helped her into the bathroom and then waited outside until she called her back inside. When Rebecca was done with her business Leana wheeled her back out to the group. Everyone was in full swing of conversation when they both returned to the living room. Matt had helped her back onto the couch and she smiled in thanks. Rebecca watched as the friends conversed about the tour that they just came back from and what was to come.

Rebecca heard talks of a wedding that was approaching and she was trying to figure out whose wedding it was going to be. No one seemed to have let on that they were engaged, or going to be engaged, so it was a little confusing. Rebecca's eyes started getting heavier and heavier as she continued to listen to the conversations around her. Finally, she couldn't keep them open any longer and closed her eyes to sleep.

*******

Matt and Jimmy were talking while all the girls talked about the upcoming wedding when Matt nudged Jimmy. Jimmy looked over to where Matt was pointing to and noticed that Rebecca had fallen asleep. She looked so peaceful and serene considering what she's been through.

"So, when are you going to tell her?" Matt asked.

"I don't know. She's been through so much already that, but I want her to hear it from me and no one else. Brian cannot say a single word to her about what he knows or about the adoption," Jimmy stated.

"I agree. Brian seems to be trying too hard to regain her trust and I don't think it's going to work all that well. She needs to be able to trust him on her own terms," Matt stated.

"Exactly, and even though she trusts us, it's not that big of a trust to begin with. I don't want to fuck that up at all," Jimmy said.

"She needs to know about her family though," Matt reasoned.

"I know that, I do, but would telling her gain trust or lose it?" Jimmy asked.

"The only way to find out is to tell her," Matt said.

Jimmy just nodded his head. He had Matt follow him to Rebecca's sleeping form and told him to pick her up while he led the way to the room she would be using for the duration of her stay. It was upstairs unfortunately, but he had actually taken the time to set up a room for her that would help her more than be against her. There was a bell on the nightstand that would allow her to call for someone rather than attempt to do something on her own. Jimmy opened the door and then had Matt lay her down on the bed. They tucked her in and she had moved her head to the other side of the pillow and grasped onto the blankets.

They both stared at her for a minute before retreating back downstairs. Matt had wanted to give her, her stuff before he left, but he knew that Jimmy would see that she got it. They both went out to his car and unloaded the massive amount of bags that were there.

"Where did all this stuff come from?" Jimmy asked.

"Val went on a shopping spree when she returned home after the concert," Matt grinned.

"I see, do you honestly think Rebecca is going to use all of this stuff?" Jimmy asked.

"Probably not, but Val wanted to make sure that she had warm clothes and clothes that were fit to wear during the summer months," Matt answered.

"Do you have her backpack?" Jimmy asked.

"Actually, no," Matt said.

"Why?" Jimmy asked.

"Val thought it was overused and too dirty to salvage so she tossed it after taking out the valuable items that were in it, such as her necklace, the iPod, and all the books that were in it. She bought a new backpack knowing that Rebecca liked using one," Matt explained.

Jimmy smiled tightly. He wished that Val didn't do that because there could have had other valuable stuff inside that backpack besides what was in the largest pocket. Then again, he did remember seeing a lot of holes in all the other pockets. He just wished that Rebecca had decided to get rid of it instead of Val assuming things. He knew that she was just trying to supportive about the whole situation, but sometimes she didn't think things all the way through.

Jimmy helped carry in all the stuff and then they placed it by the stairs. They would have to adorn Rebecca's room with it all later. Jimmy didn't want her to be disturbed as she slept. She was overdue for sleep. After all the stuff was brought in Matt and Val left leaving Leana, Jimmy, Gena, and Michelle still in the house. They continued to talk until Gena and Michelle decided to leave and head back to their own significant others. Jimmy turned his attention to Leana after the house was silent.

"So, are you sure you're alright with this?" he asked.

"I'm perfectly fine with it. She needs someone to care and show her how much she means to the world. Living on her own and in the streets isn't a good thing, especially for someone so young," Leana smiled.

"I don't know, I lived on my own for some time," Jimmy stated.

"Yes, but did it last very long?" Leana asked.

"No, I ended up living with Brian and his family," Jimmy grinned.

"Exactly, but she's been on her own for years. Yes, she's managed to get by alright, but things will turn out better for her now," Leana said.

Jimmy agreed. He kissed her head and then led her into the living room. They cuddled up on the couch happy that Rebecca had survived her first day at the house. It was true, that she had been bombarded with meeting new people all in one day, but Jimmy knew that it would have happened either way. Now, all he had to do was figure out the best time to tell her the news that he was dreading to reveal. He didn't want to bring bad news to her, but he did know that she needed to know the truth. It would be the only way that she would be able to move on. He just hoped that she understood and didn't overreact to the news, only time would tell that though and so far time wasn't exactly on his side.