It's been two weeks since the incident at Jessi's house. The water company came and investigated every possibility of what could have caused the water, only to come up with nothing. No sign of water in the hallway or Christi’s room showed. So until everything was all figured out, Jessi's been staying in JC's extra bedroom of his hotel suite while Christi and Kaci's been staying in their own suit close by.
Jessi finally contacted her agent the day after Christi's scare and told him about her broken phone and that she wouldn't be home for a couple of weeks. Of course, she got an earful of lecturing about not contacting him sooner. Jessi would be back to work the week after JC left. At the same time Jessi was planning on going back to her house. JC begged her not to go back, and even offered to pay for her to keep his suite as the alternative. She argued that it was her home and it was probably just a leaky pipe.
Christi was a totally different story. She has been having all sorts of terrifying nightmares of water lately. So, she chose to stay at the hotel until everything had been figured out. Jessi and Adriana couldn’t have been more supportive in Christi’s decision to stay away from the house since they had their own motive for wanting her out of the house.
After dropping JC off at the airport, Jessi met up with Adriana at the new Starbucks.
"So where do you wanna start?"
"How about the wallpaper? It should be something calming, yet radiating. Overall, just special."
"You know what? I think we should have the walls painted by an artist but design it ourselves. That way it has a personal touch to it. What do you think?"
"I like the idea. We should probably start the designing first then go on to the other details. That way everything matches and vibes off the walls."
"Okay, what do you have in mind?"
"Pink since Kaci's a girl. I say we have a pale pink color. I love hot pink but that might be a little too much for Kaci."
"We can also dedicate some kind of song to her and have it written somewhere visible and large."
"Oh! And I was thinking of painting an enlarged angel in each corner since Christie's always calling her an `angel'. That will be Christi's touch since were surprising her with this."
"Okay, good. Is that all we should do with the walls?"
"For now, I think."
"I think I know the perfect person to do the job."
"Who?"
"Serena. Chris was telling me how she used to paint back when she was in high school and college. He even showed me some of her work. It's beautiful, Jessi. You should see it. Chris never told me why she stopped though. It seemed to be a sore topic so I just dropped it."
Jessi felt bad because she knew why Serena stopped painting. It’s just as touchy of a subject to her as it is to the Fuentes family. And, Jessi wasn’t in the mood to start crying so she moved the conversation in another direction. "Okay. So then it's settled. Now, all we have to do is ask her and hope she agrees to do it."
"And if she doesn't, we always have her cousin Fergie. The girl is talented like no other."
"Now that that is settled, what about the carpet color? Should we keep it white or dye it a light pink?”
"Light pink. And, the dressers, crib, rocking chair, and etc. should be white along with a nice white fan that we can pick up from somewhere like Home Depot or Lowe's. Man, I can’t wait to show Christi the room."
"Me, too. But first we have to get all of it done."
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Waking up startled, Christi shot up off the bed. "Just another nightmare," she thought, shaking and sweating. Trying to calm herself down, she felt a little lightheaded so she strolled her way to the bathroom to splash some cold water on her face. Just as she was about to splash her face with the water, the sudden urge to puke rose in the back of her throat. Rushing to the toilet, she barely made it in time for her stomach to unleash whatever she ate for dinner. Christi started to hear unidentifiable voices in her head echoing Kaci's and her name, "Christi."
"Kaci."
"Christi."
"Kaci."
"Christi. Kaci. Christi. Kaci. Christi."
She dropped her head on the now closed toilet, wishing the voices away.
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Hearing something come from Christi's bedroom, Justin, with Kaci laying on top of his sprawled-out body on the floor, gently maneuvered his body so he didn't startle Kaci yet was able to get up with her bouncing in his arms. Walking into the bedroom, he noticed how Christi wasn't sleeping in her bed. He called out to her, "Christi." He also took notice that the bathroom light was on and realized Christi was slouched over the toilet, crying. Settling the bouncing baby in his arms, he sat down next to her, "Hey. It’s almost time for me to go. So It’s a good thing you finally woke up."
"Unfortunately," she mumbled but was loud enough that he caught it.
"Don't say that!"
"Sorry. It's just that I had another nightmare. I'm sick of them. I just want to sleep in peace. Why can't I?"
Justin propped himself up on the counter next to her and pulled her into a hug the best that he could with Kaci on his arm.
"I think I'm going crazy."
"You're not crazy. You just don't know what to make of the situation so your mind keeps reliving it, trying to put the pieces together."
"I'm too tired for this to be happening. Make it stop, please," she pleaded, and he could only hug her tighter.
KNOCK. KNOCK.
On the second knock, Justin handed Kaci to Christi and ran to open the door. Outside the door awaited his overprotective bodyguard Mike, and an unfamiliar man. The unknown man looked to be a well-suited wealthy businessman of Spanish decent in his early fifties. And Justin felt intimidated by just standing in front of him. "Hello?"
"Hello, I'm Tomas Fuentes and I'm looking for my daughter, Christi. Can you tell me if she's here?"
"Yes, sir, she is. By the way, I'm Justin," He greeted Christi's father with a firm handshake as he let him in.
"Nice to meet you. And stop with the ‘sir' nonsense. You can call me Tomas, Mr. Fuentes, or something else. Just not ‘sir'. It makes me feel old."
"Okay, Mr. Fuentes. Would you like me to get her?"
Tomas nodded his head, and Justin set off to retrieve Christi.
"Daddy?"
"Yeah, baby. Come here."
She ran to him and hugged him for dear life. Justin, with Kaci in his arms, stood in the bedroom doorway, watching the father-daughter reunion.
Christi pulled away from the hug, "How long have you been back?"
"I just got back this afternoon. Chris filled me in on everything that has been happening. That's how I found you. I didn't want to believe what he was telling me so I had to see for myself. But, here you are looking all frazzled."
"Me either, Dad."
"I'm going to be around from now on. No more living on both sides of the country nonsense. I want to be around for your mom, Kaci, Chris, and you. Oh, and speaking of Kaci, congratulations. Is she here? Can I see her?"
"Yes, she's here. Let me go get her."
Christi turned in her father's arms and noticed a very awake Kaci in the arms of Justin. She slowly walked up to Justin and took Kaci into her arms. Doing so, she motioned her father over to them and properly introduced Justin and her father. And then, her father and Kaci. Tomas eyed Kaci with admiration and continued to bask in the fact that she is his granddaughter.
Hating to break the silence, Justin spoke up, "I think I'm gonna head out now, and let ya'll get reacquainted. It was nice meeting you, Mr. Fuentes."
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After a month or so passed, Justin returned to Canada to continue work on his upcoming movie Edison. Christi continued to stay in the suite with the persuasion of Jessi and Adriana as Serena and Fergie put the finishing touches on the nursery.
Waking up from yet another nightmare, Christi's eyes shot wide open as her forehead drenched itself in sweat. Trying to sit up, she had trouble doing so because it felt as if someone was choking her. Short of breath from the nightmare, she couldn't scream for help. She lied there in the dark, frightened, trying to slow her racing heart. As soon as she managed to calm down, she realized that the scariest part of the whole ordeal was that no one was there. Christi picked up the bedside phone to dial Jessi's new cell phone number and remembered that she was thousands of miles away in Los Angeles with JC. She thought, "They need to hurry up and hook up already."
Pulling herself from that thought, she decided to call her mother.
Serena answered groggily, "Hello?"
"Mama?"
"Sweetie, are you okay? You sound a little off."
"Can Kaci and I come stay with you and papa? I don't like being here alone."
"Sure, baby. You're always welcomed. I'll send your father for you. I'd rather him come get you and know you're safe."
"Thanks, mama."
"No problem. Just pack a bag. Your father’s on his way.”
“Okay. Bye, mama.”
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