The Broussard Sisters Ch. 10

"Nope, no one's impressed," she repeated.

"Okay, got it," he said.

"Nope, can't buy your way out of this, can't bully your way out of this, guess what Billy? You. You're going to have to get off your ass and do this and you're going to have to do this for yourself," she said and referred to her notes. "Not for your daddy, or your mommy, or the sister you want so badly to fuck..."

"Who the fuck said anything about that, huh?" he roared.

"Now we're getting to the real Bill, huh?" she asked. "And does Elizabeth know about that?"

"No," he mumbled after a long moment of silence.

----

"So what did you say to Pam when y'all just disappeared?" Candy asked Cindy as they loaded the luggage onto a cart.

"Kind of just laid it out the way it is," Cindy said. "I told her she could either be unhappy with us or unhappy without us; her choice."

"She's unhappy?" Candy asked, stricken.

"No, no I'm not," Pam said and hugged Candy. "I am jealous, but not unhappy."

Chapter 98

Elaine giggled as she sobbed; she knew the signs by now; the contractions were starting.

"But it's not time yet," she thought. "I got at least four more weeks.

"Mm?" Charlie murmured as she nudged him.

"Baby, the baby," she groaned.

"Baby kicking again?" He asked as he rolled over.

"No, baby's coming," Elaine gasped as another contraction hit.

"Not for another four..." Charlie said.

"Doesn't matter," she grunted.

"Okay," he smiled at her and started getting dressed.

"Be right there," Carmen said.

"What's wrong?" Dick asked.

"Baby's coming," Carmen said.

"But, not for another four weeks," Dick argued.

"Tell that to Teddy," Carmen said as she dressed.

"You mean Carmen?" Dick said as he began to dress as well.

"Baby's coming?" Elise asked for the doorway.

"Yep, Carmen's on her way," Dick smiled.

"Nuh uh, Teddy," Elise argued.

"Bet you a Gazillion dollars it's a girl," Dick said and affectionately pulled his stepdaughter into a headlock.

"Dad!" Cut it out!" Elise cried out.

"Fart breath," she said when he did release her.

"Hey, that's not nice!" he complained.

"Oh, but putting me in the 'Hold of Death' is?" Elise laughed.

"I really wish you two would find something better to watch than that silly wrestling stuff," Carmen complained as he pulled on her sneakers.

"It's only silly because you don't know how to get out of the 'Pretzel Hold,'" Dick said as he picked her up, threatening to pin her.

"Richard Donald Davis, if you don't put me down," she warned.

"Oh oh, it's serious; she used your full name," Elise laughed as she ran to her room to get dressed.

"I want Elise to come with me," Elaine gasped as she waddled to the minivan.

"Okay, we'll hold down the fort," Dick smiled and helped Elaine get into the passenger seat.

Dawn was breaking over the horizon. Dick and his wife stood on the doorstep of the LaPointe home as their son in law made sure Elaine was buckled in.

"Me?" Elise asked. "Why?"

"Because I love you," Elaine said.

"Aw!" Elise said and got into the back of the minivan.

"Ready to be a mommy?" Charlie asked as he started up the van.

"Ready or not, here she comes," Elaine laughed.

"She? It is a she?" Elise asked.

"Uh huh," Elaine laughed. "She's a she, Carmen Michelle LaPointe."

"But the next one's going to be named after me, right?" Elise demanded.

"Hey, let's get this one out of the way first, huh?" Charlie asked as he drove toward Lafayette.

"Aw, damn!" Elise said.

"What?" Elaine asked.

"I owe Dad a Gazillion dollars! He said it was going to be a girl," Elise laughed.

----

"What's it say?" Candy asked.

"It says I hate you, you lucky bitch," Cindy said, looking at the test strip.

"She is...?" Pam asked, holding her breath.

"Yep, Candy's going to be a mommy," Cindy said. "There's the big old plus sign right there."

"Oh my God!" Candy shrieked at the top of her lungs.

"I know!" Cindy and Pam shrieked back.

"Oh my God, get Paul in here," Candy demanded.

"No, I don't want to, I'm scared," Paul teased as he leaned against the doorjamb.

"Guess what?" Candy said, hopping over to him, trying to pull her pajama bottoms up.

"Uh, you wash them nasty hands?" Paul asked.

"Uh, Cindy's the one held the stick," Candy laughed and hugged him tightly. "Guess what? Come on, guess!"

"We're having a baby?" he asked, squeezing her tightly.

"Oh my God!" she screamed. "Can you believe it?"

----

Elizabeth threw up her breakfast and waited for the nausea to subside before she finally got to her feet and stared hatefully at her reflection in the mirror.

"Ninety nine percent effective, my ass," she mumbled.

And she couldn't believe Gordon. She had her suspicions; her period was late, her breasts were a little tender and she was having odd mood swings.

"We've been careful; we've been using them condoms," he said and looked at her accusingly.

As if she'd slept with someone else, as if she'd slept with someone else and neglected to use a condom.

"God damn ass hole!" she screamed and beat her fists on the vanity.

How was she going to face her Daddy? How was she going to tell her Daddy she was unmarried and pregnant, and the ass hole father wanted to say it wasn't his, just because they'd used condoms?

She started her shower and climbed in. The water did little to lift her spirits.

----

Because she was a premature birth, Carmen Michelle LaPointe was rushed to the Neonatal intensive care unit the moment she was born.

"Oh, my God, she's so beautiful," Elise sobbed.

"What do you expect with me as a Mommy?" Elaine said, adopting an air of arrogance.

"Yeah, but I'll tell her she can overcome that," Elise said.

"Shut up, you bitch," Elaine laughed.

"And I'm going to be her Godmother?" Elise asked.

"That's why I wanted you here for her birth," Elaine said and squeezed her sister's hand.

"And there's that beautiful Mommy," Dick said as he entered the room. "And there's that poor sucker owes me one, count them, one gazillion dollars, count along with me, Elise, that's how many? One, two, three..."

"Shut up," Elise protested. "I never shook on it!"

"uh huh," Dick laughed and hugged Elaine. "Congratulations; she's beautiful."

"Where's Mom?" Elaine asked.

"Down at the nursery, looking at our granddaughter," Dick said.

He wiped at a tear.

"Our granddaughter, oh baby!" he laughed. "Oh, baby! Is she going to be spoiled! I plan to spoil her so rotten y'all won't be able to stand her!"

"And how is that any different than our boys?" Charlie asked as he carried Richard into the room.

"We don't spoil these boys," Dick protested as he held out his hands for Richard.

"Oh bull hockey," Elaine laughed.

----

The cravings were unbearable. No matter how many times they warned him, there really was no way to prepare for the craving.

Bill felt like he was burning alive , boiling inside of his own skin. His fevered brain was screaming that some meth would relieve the intolerable agony. His joints throbbed, his muscles ached, his mind hurt.

"You're right on schedule," David, one of the counselors smiled.

"How the fuck would you know, cock sucker?" Bill spat.

"'Cause that's how I felt four years ago," David laughed. "Detox's a bitch, ain't it?"

They wouldn't even let him go to his room to lie down, insisted that he participate in all the activities with the other patients.

----

"Great," Ed smiled tightly as he hung up the phone. "Just great."

"What?" Daphne asked, looking up from her computer screen.

"Elizabeth wants to take me to lunch," Ed said tiredly.

"And?" Daphne asked. "You don't want to see your daughter?"

"Oh come on, Honey," Ed smiled tightly. "She wants to take me to lunch? Bad news."

"You don't know that," Daphne said. "It could be that she just wants to have lunch with her Daddy."

"Daphne, you've been reading too many of those fairy tales to TeddiAnn," Ed said, looking at his own computer screen. "Happily ever after doesn't come when your twenty two year old daughter wants to take you to lunch."

"Uh huh," Daphne said through pursed lips. "And see if there's any 'happily ever after' tonight, Big Eddie."

"No?" he smiled.

"Nope," she said.

"Even if I tell you I love you?" he asked.

"Nope, not even if you tell me you love me," she said firmly.

"Not even if I tell you that you are the most beautiful woman I've ever seen?" he asked.

"Not even then, Mister," she said.

"Not even if I tell you that you make my whole world complete?" he asked.

"Afraid not," she said, shaking her head no.

"Ah, but how about if I say all of that, AND..." he asked and pulled her long red hair aside and began nibbling on her neck.

"No," she gasped.

Her neck and shoulders were erogenous zones for her and Big Eddie knew that.

"No?" he asked, cupping her large breasts in his hands and nibbling on her shoulder. "Damn, woman, you play hard ball, huh?"

"No," she moaned. "But it might get you a little 'Happily Ever After' right now."

"Let me lock the door," he smiled.

"Hurry, before I change my mind," Daphne ordered, slipping her thong panties off her long legs.

----

"I still hate you," Cindy said as she drove them toward Bobbi and Jake's house.

"Even if I'm going to name her after you?" Candy asked.

"Don't," Cindy smiled. ""Cindy's a horrible name for a boy."

"Ah!" Candy gasped. "Paul Junior!"

"It's going to be a long nine months," Pam groused from the back seat.

"Yep," Cindy smiled.

"And I'm going to be a total bitch," Candy said haughtily. "I'm going to demand that y'all serve me and cater to me and..."

"And how's that any different than now?" Pam asked.

"Shut up," Candy laughed.

"I'm so jealous," Pam said, squeezing Candy's shoulder.

"What?" Candy laughed. "You're next!"

"Oh my God, I hope so!" Pam squealed.

"Hey, hey, what about me?" Cindy asked, pulling in front of the house.

----

Ed smiled as his beautiful daughter walked into Manny's. He stood and waved and she smiled tightly and approached the table.

Her dark hair was a lot longer than she used to wear it; it was a mass of curls that framed her round face perfectly. The dress she was wearing was a business style, but it looked quite fetching on her.

Her dark eyes looked up at him as she kissed him in greeting.

"What's wrong?" he asked as they sat down.

"What?" she forced a smile to her face. "I can't just want to have lunch with my daddy?"

"Elizabeth," he smiled and took her hand in his large ones. "Baby, I've known you all your life; believe me, I know something's wrong."

"Daddy, I'm pregnant," she sobbed out, unable to hold the words back.

"Well, that's certainly something we need to talk about," he agreed.

"Daddy, I'm so sorry," she begged. "I, we were so careful, I don't know how it happened. I mean..."

"Well, I got a pretty general idea of how it happened," he joked and put his hand under her chin and pulled her face up to look into her eyes. "Stop crying; it'll be all right."

"I'm sorry, Daddy," she cried all the harder.

"Well, Daphne's been telling me I'm old, wait until she hears she's married to a grandfather," Ed smiled and hugged his daughter.

"If she's married to a grandfather, that makes her a grandmother," Elizabeth giggled, happy and safe in her daddy's arms.

"Oh no!" Ed said. "I'm not going to be the one to tell her THAT!"

"Yeah, she doesn't have that red hair for nothing," Elizabeth agreed.

"Baby, yes I'm a little disappointed; you're my little girl. I would have liked for you to be married and in your fifties or sixties before this happened, but well, really, I kind of wanted you to be a nun, that way I'd never ever have to worry about this day, but a little late for that, huh?" Ed smiled and looked up as the waitress approached their table.

Elizabeth drove back to Lafayette, feeling much happier.

Ed drove back to his office, feeling much older.

----

"Hey, Big Eddie," Bill Broussard called out. "Guess what?"

"I give up," Ed smiled.

"Crybaby here's going to be a grandfather," Bill laughed as Jake dabbed at his eyes.

"Well, must be something in the water, I swear," Ed laughed and put an arm over Jake's shoulders. "Seems to be a lot of that going around, huh? Congratulations, Jake, congratulations."

"----

Gordon smiled tightly; Terri was standing by the apartment mailboxes. She sneered nastily at him as he approached.

"So where's your girlfriend? Or is kindergarten not out yet?" she asked.

"Don't know, probably at work," he agreed. "Might have heard about that; people go there to earn money, instead of sponging off the government."

He pulled out the usual sales flyers and tossed them into the trashcan.

"But we're not really together any more," he admitted.

"Oh?" she asked. "Don't tell me she's found someone even older to fuck."

"Don't know," he shrugged. "All I know is, we been using condoms and all of a sudden she pops up pregnant? I don't think so."

Terri blanched.

When she and Gordon had hooked up, he insisted on using condoms. She wanted a baby, so she punched pinholes into all of his condoms. Two weeks later, she met Brennan in the supermarket and promptly dumped Gordon.

Brennan didn't like condoms and didn't use condoms but she still had not managed to get pregnant. The same was true of Lamont; no condoms, but still no pregnancy.

Terri had a sneaking suspicion that poor Elizabeth had fallen victim to the condoms she'd intended for herself. Of course, she wasn't going to tell Gordon that.

Gordon walked up the flight of stairs to his apartment and unlocked his door.

Elizabeth walked up to the mailboxes and checked her mail. Gordon watched as the beautiful young woman sorted through the mail, registered a happy smile and tossed the sales flyers into the trash. She held onto an envelope and practically sprinted to her apartment.

She was a beautiful young woman; what a shame she had to be a lying little tramp.

Elizabeth read the letter carefully and wiped the tears away. Missy Webber apologized for leaving, for abandoning TeddiAnn with Elizabeth's father, for abandoning Elizabeth.

'Your dad was always so nice to me, even after finding out I was gay so I figured he'd be real nice to TeddiAnn...'

"Yes, Missy, you made the right choice," Elizabeth admitted.

There was no address given, but the postmark was from Atlanta, Georgia.

Chapter 99

Paul and his crew of Mexican day laborers formed the walls for the exercise gym. Both Cindy and Pam had worked diligently on the design of the building, wanting a studio for aerobics, a room for the free weights and hydraulics exercise equipment. They also wanted a locker room that women would feel comfortable in, and a shower area that was both functional and comforting. Pam wanted a kitchen to demonstrate and teach in, and a place where the clientele could sit and eat their healthy creations.

He didn't have the heart to tell them; the gossip around Bender was that no women would be coming to the gym run by 'those heathens.' Even though the people around town knew them, had watched the four of them grow from children into young adults, even sat on the same pew as them at Saint Thomas every Sunday, they didn't approve of the Robichauxs' living arrangements. T

They didn't understand it, and since they didn't understand it, they rejected it. They in turn rejected the people associated with the Robichaux household and would not be going to the gym, would not support 'that lifestyle,' even if they didn't know what 'that lifestyle' was.

But he forged ahead. They had the money; Aunt Carmen had already sold three of the lots to people moving to Bender from Lafayette, and had sold the first of the speculation homes he'd built, sold it to Kevin and Tracy Mouton, a young couple moving from Baylor Lake.

He smiled as he remembered them. She was a beautiful young lady, and was at least a half a foot taller than Kevin. He was a scrawny little guy, kind of mousy looking, but it was evident that Tracy adored him, and deferred to his wishes in every decision they made.

"Hey Cousin," he heard Elaine's voice call out.

"Hey Cousin," he called back. Don't come in here' I'm in the shower!"

The men that understood English laughed at his silliness and translated for the men that didn't understand English. Elaine smiled and shook her head as she looked around the lumber to see that he was standing in the part of the gym that was to be the shower room.

"So, when is this place going to be open? She demanded. "I've got thirty pounds of baby fat I need to get rid of."

"Thank you," he said sincerely.

All it would take is for one to start; the rest would trickle in. And there were few women as influential in Bender as Elaine LaPointe. She was young, she was beautiful, she was a mother, and she was married to a doctor. A doctor that had a lot of money. If Elaine LaPointe put her stamp of approval on Shapes Fitness Center, the others would too.

"So?" she demanded.

"Grand Opening is set for three weeks from today; I will make sure Cindy sends you an invitation," Paul promised.

"And my mother, and Elise," Elaine ordered.

"Yes ma'am," Paul smiled. "Y'all were already on the list; I'm more than sure of it, but I will double-check."

"Oh, and be sure to include Daphne Baggett; if the wife of the town's primary source of employment comes here, believe me, EVERYBODY will come here," Elaine said as she walked out of the building.

"Man, you cousin, she beautiful," one of the men whispered to Paul.

"Yeah, she ain't too shabby, huh?" Paul smiled and began his work with renewed vigor.

----

Bill couldn't help himself. Clark International had given him a second chance and he had really tried hard. But the minute he got some money in his pocket, the meth called out and he went a used again. Twenty hours later, he was completely broke, having blown two weeks pay.

"Hey, Bill," Dad said tightly. "What is it that y'all say at them meetings? 'The time to call is BEFORE, not after you use.'"

Mom was no less unsympathetic and flatly told him that he did not have a home anymore.

"Well, let me come get my clothes then," Bill begged.

"Okay; they'll be outside," Jamie agreed.

When he got there, he saw Paul Robichaux changing the locks on the doors of his mother's house.

"Thank you, Paul," Jamie cheerfully called out as she paid him for the job.

"No, thank you, Ms. Baggett," Paul smiled and nodded curtly to his former classmate.

----

Missy wiggled out of her thong and bent over at the waist, peering at the man seated behind her. But he was more interested in the game on the television to their left. Absently, he slid a couple of dollars to her and she blew him a kiss.

"Hey, Sugar,," she cooed to a young black man. "What's your name?"

"Um, hi, I'm um, I'm Robert, the mildly retarded youth stammered and laughed nervously. "I'm not supposed to be in here."

"Oh I won't tell nobody," she laughed. "I'm Candy. My Momma called me that 'cause I'm so sweet."

Robert found that hilarious and almost spilled his beer.

She shimmied over to the woman seated to Robert's left and bent forward, smiling at the woman. She wasn't looking at the woman, she wasn't really looking at any of the people in there. She'd perfected the thousand-yard stare the first week she'd started working there.

"Aw yeah, That's what I like," the woman said harshly. "Titties that little can't be fake, huh, Candy?"

"They're the real deal," Missy agreed.

Along with the thousand-yard stare, she'd learned to let the words slide right past her.

"You any good in the Private Booth?" the woman asked, nearly knocking Missy over with her foul cigarette and beer breath.

"Never had anyone complain," Missy smiled seductively.