The Broussard Sisters Ch. 12

*Author's Note: Any and all persons engaging in any sexual activity are at least eighteen years of age.

Chapter 106

"Baby, wake up," Cindy hissed into Paul's ear.

"Huh?" Paul drunkenly grumbled.

"Baby, please wake up," Cindy whimpered as another contraction stabbed at her insides.

"Baby's coming?" Pam asked, wide awake.

"I think so," Cindy whimpered.

"Paul, wake up," Pam loudly ordered, unmindful of the two sleeping children in the bedroom.

"Shh don't wake Paulie and Barbara," Cindy shushed.

"We could light firecrackers in here; they're asleep, they're asleep," Pam said and gathered up Cindy's sweat pants and sweat shirt. "Come on, let's get you ready.

"Baby's coming?" Paul mumbled.

"Yeah, you put it in there, least you could do is help get it out," Pam joked as she helped Cindy scoot over to the edge of the bed.

"Okay, fuck I got a headache," Paul complained as she staggered to the bathroom.

"Oh, ow, aw damn, that hurts!" Cindy gasped as another contraction stabbed at her.

"Damn, how far apart are they?" Pam asked.

"Don't know, I forgot to be counting," Cindy gasped.

Pam helped Cindy pull her sweat pants up, then drew the sweat shirt on.

"Let me get your socks," Pam ordered as Cindy tried to get to her feet.

"Pam, I'm just going from the door to the car, then from the car to the hospital," Cindy argued.

"It is twenty degrees outside," Pam ordered. "Put the socks on."

"Well yes ma'am!" Cindy saluted.

"I'm not taking any chances with my god daughter," Pam snapped.

Paul returned to the bedroom, crawled into the bed and was again snoring in mere seconds.

"Tempted to just leave his ass here," Pam confided to Cindy.

"Yeah, but he'd be pretty hurt he missed this," Cindy agreed.

Pam left Cindy to the task of waking Paul up while she bustled down the hall to Trish's bedroom.

"Hey Trish?" she called out from the hallway.

"Huh? What?" Trish sleepily muttered.

"Baby's coming; need you to keep an eye on Paulie and Barbara," Pam said. "Miss Bobbi's picking them up at seven so you got to open Shapes, okay?"

"Damn, what some people will do to get out of having to open up early," Trish joked.

"I'll keep you up to date," Pam promised as she returned to the master bedroom.

----

"Woo Hoo, last day of school for a whole two weeks!" Trey whooped as he and Richard got ready for school.

"And then it's going to be Christmas!" Richard happily agreed.

"Trish mass!" Carmen crowed from her high chair.

"Oh, that's right!" Elaine said as she spooned out the grits. "I knew there was something special happening. It must be Christmas!"

"And remember, I told Santa Claus I want a puppy," Richard reminded his mother.

"A puppy? And what would we do with a puppy?" Elaine asked.

"Well, you feed it and you love it," Richard tried to explain to his mother. "And you play with it and you teach it all kind of stuff."

"How about a turtle?" Charlie asked. "You can teach a turtle all kind of stuff too."

"Or a fish?" Elaine asked. "You can play with a fish, right?"

"What?" Richard cried out. "No you can't!"

----

Elise rubbed the puppy's belly while Dick got ready for work.

"Aw, it's so cute!" Elise enthused.

"It's useless," Dick said as he buckled his belt.

"Dad! It is not!" Elise laughed.

"A good police dog? Now that's a good animal. A whining, wiggling little poop machine? That's useless," Dick corrected as he grabbed his hat.

"Uh huh," Carmen laughed. "And who's the one picked this one out? This one? Had to be this one? For his grandson? Huh? Who was that?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Dick said straight-faced.

"Uh huh; you two be careful at work today," Carmen smiled and kissed her husband lovingly.

"You too," he said, then grabbed the yapping puppy. "Come on, you useless poop machine, into your box."

"Dad, poor thing's going to think that's its name," Elise laughed as she shrugged on her heavy coat.

----

"Mom?" Cindy groaned as another contraction hit.

"I'm right here, Baby," Emily said as she took her daughter's hand.

"Mom, I'm sorry; I know, I know it wasn't right for me to be having Paul's baby, but..." Cindy tearfully confessed.

"Little late for that now," Emily smiled.

"I was kind of hoping it was going to be a boy; I was going to name him after Daddy," Cindy sobbed as yet another contraction pummeled into her.

"He would have loved that," Emily admitted.

Emily hugged her daughter tightly.

"He would have been proud of you," Emily went on. "I mean, yeah, at first he would have been pretty upset, but then he would have gotten over it and then he would have loved you even more."

"I miss him so much, Mom," Cindy sobbed.

"Shh, me too," Emily admitted.

Downstairs, in the small cafeteria, Pam made sure Paul put plenty of carbohydrates into his body, to help absorb the alcohol. She also made sure that he drank all of his juice; his body craved the sugars that alcohol turns into when the body drinks it.

"We need to hurry," Paul mumbled.

"She was only seven centimeters when we left; she needs to be at least ten centimeters before we need to start worrying about it," Pam insisted.

----

"Hey, um, look, Christmas is coming up," Oscar said into the phone.

"Must be why they keep playing all those crappy songs on the radio," Elizabeth smiled.

"Yeah, I kind of thought that might be it, so I looked it up on Google, and sure enough, Christmas is coming up," Oscar said.

"Uh huh?" Elizabeth asked.

"And um, what you think Eddie would like for Christmas?" Oscar asked.

Elizabeth felt her heart swell.

The man was so sweet. He came over to the house and played with Eddie, didn't fuss when their dates had to include Eddie (when Dad and Daphne weren't available, or Gordon was being unreasonable) and even smiled when Eddie slipped up and called him 'Dada.'

He also didn't complain when Nadia and Deonia joined them (sooner or later, Elizabeth realized, she was going to have to divulge to Oscar that Nadia and she were more than just roommates, but for now, she was enjoying being with him. She wasn't sure he'd still be around when he found out that she and Nadia were lovers.)

Twice now, Elizabeth's had to call Oscar and ask him to drive out to Melanie's and pick up Eddie and he had dropped what he was doing with no complaints. Once was because the trial she was testifying in had run over, the other was because she was still in a board meeting in Lafayette.

Both times, she'd come to his house to pick up Eddie, to find that Eddie was bathed and already in his pajamas, Oscar had cooked them a meal and there was a glass of chilled white wine waiting for her.

"Well, you know he loves trains," Elizabeth said.

"Okay, I'm on it," Oscar said and hung up.

"Nadia's on the phone for you, Miss Baggett," Jacy Kay, her new receptionist cut into Elizabeth's smile.

"Thanks," Elizabeth said, fighting down her anger.

"Yes, Nadia?" Elizabeth asked.

"Hey, um, I'm, you know what you're getting Deonia?" Nadia asked.

"I told you, that fairy princess thing she keeps wanting to play with whenever she sees it," Elizabeth responded, again, fighting down her temper.

Nadia was a beautiful girl, and was actually quite intelligent, when she decided to be. But she could also be as dumb as a box of bricks when it suited her, which was most of the time.

Nadia didn't know what to say. What she wanted to say was "Please stop seeing Oscar. Please love me as much as I love you, please stop breaking my heart."

But she didn't know what words to use.

After a moment of silence, Elizabeth ended the call so she could get started on her work day ahead.

Elizabeth wasn't ignorant. She knew what Nadia was feeling. But she had been completely upfront and honest with Nadia from the moment they first kissed. She was attracted to Nadia, but she was more attracted to men. She had been attracted to Nadia. Now, Nadia's clingy, needy, whiney behavior was pushing Elizabeth further and further away.

"Nadia on the phone, Miss Baggett," Jacy's voice cut in again.

"Hello?" Elizabeth asked, trying very hard not to snap.

"You going to be home for dinner tonight, or you and Oscar already got plans?" Nadia asked.

"No, no, I'll be home for dinner," Elizabeth said.

Nadia hung up the telephone, looked around, and decided to get busy.

The house was a little messy; Elizabeth normally did the cleaning, but because of work, and Eddie, and Christmas shopping, and Oscar, the housework had fallen a little behind.

Nadia pulled her long blonde hair into a pony-tail, grabbed a mop bucket, rubber gloves, and the pine scented disinfectant.

She didn't need to worry about Deonia; Miss Daphne had come by bright and early and begged to take both three year olds to see Santa, then back to the condo afterward for lunch, so Nadia had until at least one o'clock to clean the house.

"That was real sweet of her to do that," Nadia reflected.

Daphne didn't need to take Deonia; she wasn't even related to Deonia, but didn't think it would be fair to take her grandson and not take his friend too.

Moments after she started, Nadia was winded. Cleaning was a lot harder than it looked. She wondered how Elizabeth made it look so easy.

"Well, she doesn't use as much disinfectant, that's for sure," Nadia wheezed as the strong smelling cleaning solution burned her eyes.

----

Kelli smiled warmly as her second grade students put small Christmas presents on the desk for her.

"I told my momma you're the best teacher I ever had so we got you this," TeddiAnn said, smiling happily.

"This is from both Sophia and me," Freddy Dumas said and signed, smiling proudly.

----

"Miss Alicia?" Jamie asked, peering around the door.

"Yes, Jamie?" Alicia smiled at the small girl.

"Miss Alicia, my mommy and me? We got you this; it's for Christmas," Jamie said, bringing a small gift wrapped box to the desk.

"Oh, thank you, Sweetheart!" Alicia smiled, noticing that Jamie's smile was missing a few teeth.

"My mommy says you're her best friend in the whole wide world but she didn't know what else to get you so we got you this and she hopes you like it," Jamie said in a rush of words.

"Well, I'm sure I'll love it," Alicia smiled. "Is it okay if I open it right now?"

"Sure!" Jamie agreed.

Inside the small box was a small Christmas ornament with a small photograph of April and her daughter, Jamie.

"Jamie, I'm, well, I just don't know what to say, this is so beautiful," Alicia said. "As soon as I get home, this is going right on my Christmas tree."

"You like it?" Jamie asked, excited.

"Like it? I LOVE it," Alicia smiled and gave the small child a hug.

----

Elaine Pulled up to Early's grocery store and found a parking spot. In the back seat, Carmen sat in her car seat, making up songs about Christmas.

Shit," Elaine cursed as a car, loaded down with Angels 270 members, pulled up next to her mini-van.

She turned the key to start the minivan when the first bullet shattered the driver's window.

Nearly forty bullets struck her before the Angels 270 members decided it was time to go.

From her car seat in the back, Carmen screamed and cried for her mommy.

----

"Oh, my God, she is so beautiful!" Emily said, holding Cassandra Emily Broussard.

Cindy had debated with herself for months whether r not to give her baby Paul's last name. As the months of pregnancy wore on, his drunkenness forced her to make the painful decision that, while his name would be on the child's birth certificate, it would be only as the child's father.

Even now, looking into his blue eyes, filled with hurt, she still felt that she had made the right decision.

"Oh my God, I love her so much!" Pam gushed, looking at the wrinkled up face and the carrot colored hair.

"She is beautiful," Paul agreed, and gave his lover a kiss.

"Let me see," Jake Broussard demanded, coming into the room.

"Hi Mr. Jake," Cindy called out from the bed.

"Oh, my God, looks like a drowned rat," Jake said.

"Shut up she does not!" Pam squealed.

"And you named her Candy?" Jake asked, letting a few tears slide down his face.

"Of course," Cindy said, welcoming the loving hug from the man that had been a second father to her from the age of five years old.

"Where's Miss Bobbi?" Pam asked, taking Candy from Emily.

"Be here in a minute; tried to get Barbara to come with me; she won't let go of Maw-maw," Jake said, letting a few more tears slide down as he looked at the small infant.

"Okay, all of y'all, out, time for the mommy to learn how to take care of that baby," an older nurse walked in.

----

"Oh my fucking God, God! No!" Dick screamed when he pulled into the parking lot of Early's grocery store.

He could see that it was Elaine's minivan that the two police cars were partitioning off. The two police cruisers had their lights flashing. An ambulance was also there, but its lights were off.

"God! No!" Dick screamed, seeing the driver's door of the minivan, seeing all the bullet holes that adorned it.

"I'm sorry, Dick, Orville Jackson quietly said as he approached his boss. "I'm real sorry."

"God damn it! Why?" Dick screamed at the top of his lungs, lunging out of the car.

"Granddaughter's in my car; she's fine, there were two bullets in the car seat, but thank God, she didn't get hit," Orville said quietly as Dick knelt down by the door of the minivan, looking at the blood soaked driver's seat.

"Who did this?" Dick snarled at Orville. "Huh? Who did this?"

"Clerk says she saw one of them sedans, you know, low to the ground, pull up next to Elaine, next thing, sounded like World war three out here, then they pulled out of here. She got the last four numbers off the license plate," Officer Eric Green said. "Ran the numbers, got a hit for a Carlos Naquin, Becky and Sam are on it."

"I want them," Dick snarled. "You hear me? I want them little mother fuckers, I want them in my jail, NOW!"

"You um, you going to um, you going to tell Carmen what happened?" Orville asked.

Dick's face went from beet red anger to pale white in milliseconds.

"Oh, my God, oh my God, oh my God," Dick chanted. "Orville, oh my God, how in the fuck am I going to tell her momma? Huh? How am I going to tell her momma? Her sister! How am I going to tell Elise her big sister's gone?"

"You tell them, you tell them I'm real sorry," Orville said, turning away so his boss wouldn't see the tears.

----

"What on..." Daphne exclaimed as she walked into the house.

She couldn't help but smirk as Nadia groaned weakly.

"You do know you're not supposed to use that stuff full strength, right?" she gently asked the young woman as she helped her stand and walked her to the front door.

"It didn't really smell like it'd do anything when I added water to it," Nadia whined.

"Uh huh," Daphne said and put Nadia into the front seat of her car.

Daphne went back into the house, opening all the windows. She smirked when she saw the remnants of a sponge sitting on the counter and tried hard not to laugh when she saw the linoleum beginning to peel away.

The mop was just a stick, the cotton strands completely eaten away by the strong corrosive solution.

She took the mop solution out and dumped it onto the driveway, directly on an old faded oil stain.

She took the mop bucket inside and filled it with water and left it in the sink.

Then, she closed up all the windows and locked them, turned the air conditioning unit to 'fan' and locked up the house.

"Elizabeth Baggett, please," Daphne told Jacy Kay when Jacy answered.

"This is Elizabeth," Elizabeth answered after a moment.

"Hi Elizabeth," Daphne said cheerfully. "Guess what? You're having dinner at our house tonight, okay? Oh, and you're spending the night too. Don't worry, I already have Eddie and Nadia and Deonia and okay?"

"Daphne, what's going on? Nadia said she was fixing dinner," Elizabeth said, concerned.

"Oh, I'm sure she planned to, but she's kind of worn out right now," Daphne said cheerfully. "Oh, and could you get me that guy's name? The friend of yours; the one that does house repairs?"

"Daphne, what's going on?" Elizabeth demanded.

"Oh, and don't go home when you get off; let me and Nadia take care of it, all right?" Daphne said.

"Daphne, what's going on?" Elizabeth said, growing irritated.

"I'm sorry," Nadia sobbed.

"Elizabeth, nothing is going on that can't be fixed, okay?" Daphne said, remaining cheerful for the sake of the two children in the back seat of the car. "Okay? Just remember that. It can be fixed."

She got Paul's phone number and hung up. Then she patted Nadia's shoulder.

"Don't worry; it'll be all right," she smiled. "Actually, this works out great; Big Eddie and I were racking our brains trying to figure out what to get her for Christmas. New counter tops and new floors is perfect."

"I was just trying to clean the place up; she's been working so hard," Nadia sobbed.

"Well, it got cleaned up all right," Daphne said.

----

Elise looked up nervously when Dick walked in; no one would tell her anything. She smiled tightly when he handed Carmen to her.

"Leesie, come see," he said quietly.

"Why you got Carmen; where's Lala?" Elise asked.

"Baby, come on," Dick said and guided his step-daughter to his office.

Carmen was sleeping soundly, exhausted. Elise sat down in the hard wooden chair and, even knowing it was impossible, tried to get comfortable.

"Honey, there's no easy way to say this, so I'm just going to say it," Dick sighed.

----

Cathy Holloway smiled happily as she and Ray herded their four children toward the SUV. Crystal was complaining, but that was nothing new; she was such a surly child anyway. Taylor was whining about something, probably about some video game he would rather be playing then going out to eat to celebrate Crystal's eighteenth birthday, and Rayona's eight birthdays. Rochelle, as usual, was trying to get between her and Ray; the sixteen year old had a major crush on her step-father. And Rayona was crowding Crystal; she adored her big sister.

"I told you, Puta, no one disrespects the Angels 270," a young man sneered and fired a shotgun.

Cathy screamed as Ray's head exploded. The second shot tore her chest open and she fell to the ground, dead.

The second gang member put three bullets into Taylor's chest before the skinny boy could run.

A third gang member pumped two bullets into Rochelle's face.

The second gang member shot Rayona in the head .

The first gang member shot Crystal in the face with his shotgun.

Then the gang members got back into their car and drove away.

It had taken the three boys less than five seconds to slaughter the family.

----

Dick drove to his wife's office, dreading what lay ahead of him.

It had been hard enough when he had to tell the family members of victims that their loved ones wouldn't be coming home ever again. Bender was a small town; often, it had been friends, neighbors he'd had to give the devastating news.

This was the first time it was a family member. This was the first time it was a daughter.

"Why, God?" he asked himself as he pulled in front of Carmen's office.

----

Trey was sullen as he marched from the bus stop to his house. He didn't get a single present today, and his stupid brother got two, one from Daisy Florez and one from Gabrielle Florez. Lucy and Jamie both told him he was a big poo-poo head and they didn't like him. But Richard got two girls that liked him.

"And see, this Hot Wheels' got this..." Richard continued prattling about his gift.

Trey jerked the car out of his brother's hand and hurled it down the street.

"Hey!" Richard burst into tears and ran after the toy.

Bernie managed to slam on the brakes just as the small child ran right in front of her car.