saying sorry for bringing this on, sorry for making this mistake, that he was raised better than this, but he was also taking full responsibility. ‘We’ll make things work,’ I think was one of the quotes Alan wrote to my dad.”
Joan wasn’t sold on Jessica as the mother of her grandchild. There was something about Jessica that Joan didn’t like. She was upset with herself that she wasn’t able to help Alan before things got to this point. But what could she do now? She had to support her son.
Alan’s letter outlined the fact that he had—at least according to Jessica—impregnated her some weeks before and didn’t know how to disclose it to the family. He thought a letter was the best way to address the situation. Part of what Alan wrote, however, was that he understood the values his mother and father had always instilled in him as he grew up. He was entirely prepared to take “full responsibility” for the pregnancy—abortion, of course, not ever being an option—by marrying Jessica. If he was going to become a father (a March 1990 due date was on the calendar), Alan Bates was going to provide for his child and the child’s mother.
Make things right.
This didn’t mean Alan was going to give up on his dreams of working on Broadway, behind the scenes as a technical director and stage person. Or that he was planning on giving up on his love of music or quitting high school to drive a forklift at some warehouse or work behind the counter of a convenience store and buy a mobile home. Those weren’t bad things, but he had other priorities in life set in front of himself. Instead, this news meant there would be a bump in the road. Certainly. Times would be tough. Absolutely. But college was still part of Alan’s future. Alan could see it. Feel it. He was not giving up on himself. In fact, maybe now more than ever, seeing that he was going to become a father and a husband, Alan Bates needed to turn his dreams into reality.
Jessica called Naomi to share the latest. Naomi stopped by Jessica’s mother’s house for a visit shortly after the call. Jessica was lonely. She was at home all day, with nobody around, her stomach growing. Alan still in school and working.
“You’re keeping this one?” Naomi wondered. Jessica was showing by this point. It was strange to Naomi. Not that life was a choice, or abortion an option, but Naomi was confused by her friend’s behavior: how had Jessica come to the decision? (“For whatever reason,” Naomi said later, “Jessica decided it was okay to keep this one. . . . ”)
Still, why not the other babies? Why had she chosen to keep this particular child and not any of the other babies she had aborted?
Jessica explained that she and Alan were getting married, but it wasn’t the flowery picture Alan was telling his family—at least from Jessica’s point of view.
“The only reason I’m marrying him,” Jessica told Naomi that afternoon, “is because Alan’s grandfather has agreed to pay for me to have the baby at Brookwood.” There were hospitals in town that those less fortunate, without insurance, checked into for treatment and births. Brookwood was a private hospital.
“Only if we’re married, though,” Jessica said, “he’ll pay for it.”
16
Investigators knew Jessica’s stepfather, Albert Bailey, left Jeff and Jessica’s Myrtlewood Drive house with a couch that Saturday, February 16, 2002. Then, for some odd reason, the man drove around town with it. Given the circumstances, knowing what the investigating law enforcement agencies now knew about the crime, it seemed peculiar that Albert would do such a thing. The timing was suspect. The pathologist said there was a good chance Alan and Terra were sitting down (or leaning against something) when they were shot. Could they have been sitting on the couch that Albert Bailey was tooling around town with?
The Bureau and the HPD were waiting for a judge to sign off on a search warrant to get into the
Joan wasn’t sold on Jessica as the mother of her grandchild. There was something about Jessica that Joan didn’t like. She was upset with herself that she wasn’t able to help Alan before things got to this point. But what could she do now? She had to support her son.
Alan’s letter outlined the fact that he had—at least according to Jessica—impregnated her some weeks before and didn’t know how to disclose it to the family. He thought a letter was the best way to address the situation. Part of what Alan wrote, however, was that he understood the values his mother and father had always instilled in him as he grew up. He was entirely prepared to take “full responsibility” for the pregnancy—abortion, of course, not ever being an option—by marrying Jessica. If he was going to become a father (a March 1990 due date was on the calendar), Alan Bates was going to provide for his child and the child’s mother.
Make things right.
This didn’t mean Alan was going to give up on his dreams of working on Broadway, behind the scenes as a technical director and stage person. Or that he was planning on giving up on his love of music or quitting high school to drive a forklift at some warehouse or work behind the counter of a convenience store and buy a mobile home. Those weren’t bad things, but he had other priorities in life set in front of himself. Instead, this news meant there would be a bump in the road. Certainly. Times would be tough. Absolutely. But college was still part of Alan’s future. Alan could see it. Feel it. He was not giving up on himself. In fact, maybe now more than ever, seeing that he was going to become a father and a husband, Alan Bates needed to turn his dreams into reality.
Jessica called Naomi to share the latest. Naomi stopped by Jessica’s mother’s house for a visit shortly after the call. Jessica was lonely. She was at home all day, with nobody around, her stomach growing. Alan still in school and working.
“You’re keeping this one?” Naomi wondered. Jessica was showing by this point. It was strange to Naomi. Not that life was a choice, or abortion an option, but Naomi was confused by her friend’s behavior: how had Jessica come to the decision? (“For whatever reason,” Naomi said later, “Jessica decided it was okay to keep this one. . . . ”)
Still, why not the other babies? Why had she chosen to keep this particular child and not any of the other babies she had aborted?
Jessica explained that she and Alan were getting married, but it wasn’t the flowery picture Alan was telling his family—at least from Jessica’s point of view.
“The only reason I’m marrying him,” Jessica told Naomi that afternoon, “is because Alan’s grandfather has agreed to pay for me to have the baby at Brookwood.” There were hospitals in town that those less fortunate, without insurance, checked into for treatment and births. Brookwood was a private hospital.
“Only if we’re married, though,” Jessica said, “he’ll pay for it.”
16
Investigators knew Jessica’s stepfather, Albert Bailey, left Jeff and Jessica’s Myrtlewood Drive house with a couch that Saturday, February 16, 2002. Then, for some odd reason, the man drove around town with it. Given the circumstances, knowing what the investigating law enforcement agencies now knew about the crime, it seemed peculiar that Albert would do such a thing. The timing was suspect. The pathologist said there was a good chance Alan and Terra were sitting down (or leaning against something) when they were shot. Could they have been sitting on the couch that Albert Bailey was tooling around town with?
The Bureau and the HPD were waiting for a judge to sign off on a search warrant to get into the
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