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It was early, but Liyah had promised to call Alec so she headed to the phones immediately after breakfast, just before they had to head to work. Janae stood near the wall to wait for her. Alec picked up, a huge grin on his face even if she couldn't see him. "Hey, I'm so glad you called. I have amazing news." Aaliyah smiled hearing that, wondering what it was. "What it is? Did Teyana have the baby already?"

"No, she isn't due 'til next month. It's, uh it's actually about Dad." Aaliyah furrowed her brows, looking down. The last thing she wanted to hear was about some new treatment. Everytime they said that, it never worked out and she always lost hope. She was done having hope. "Alec, if this is about some new treatment, I really don't wanna hear about it. It never works out."

"Now what happened to my positive little girl?" Aaliyah gaped, her eyes widening at her father's voice. She hadn't heard it in so long, she almost forgot what he sounds like. "Daddy? Is that really you?" Aaliyah smiled brightly, a tear escaping.

"Well who else would it be?" He sassed. Yeah, that was him alright. "How are you- how are you speaking to me right now? Last I checked, you weren't even able to leave the bed," Aaliyah chuckles, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Babygirl, that's what your brother was trying to tell you. I'm in remission." Jeremiah stated with a soft chuckle.

Aaliyah held a hand to her mouth, slowly falling to the floor, she sobbed. Janae ran over in concern, taking the phone from her hand as Liyah cried into her chest. Janae reassured the CO she was fine before raising the phone to her ear. Also pulling Liyah to her feet. "Hello? Liyah, baby you still there?" Jeremiah's voice came through. It was deeper than Janae expected, and he also had a very sharp accent on him.

"She still here. She's just in shock right now," Janae spoke, rubbing Aaliyah's back to comfort her. "Ah, and may I ask who this is?" Jeremiah questioned.

"Oh, yeah it's Janae." Liyah held onto her tighter, sobbing but majority of them were happy tears and sobs. She had dreamed of hearing those words the day her father started chemo. "Janae, ah, you're the girl my son told me about. I hope you're treating my little girl good." Jeremiah chuckles. Aaliyah grabs the phone, "Dad, stop embarrassing me!" She laughs through it, Janae wiping Liyah's tears with a smile.

"That's my job, Aaliyah. I'm supposed to embarrass you." Aaliyah rolls her eyes, chuckling, "I miss you dad. I wish I could see you." Janae rubbed her back, knowing how much Liyah missed her dad. She only spoke about it all the time. "I miss you too, sweets. I think about you all the time. Is prison treatin' you good? Cause if there's any problems, I'll take care of it. There's no way they'll piss of the CEO of one of the most popular companies to exist." Yup, there he was. As always, playing protective father.

"I'm fine, dad. That's not necessary. The gaffers already my bitch." Aaliyah chuckles, getting a hearty laugh from Jeremiah.

"You stayin' outta trouble?" No. But she couldn't tell him that or then he'd start worrying and scold her. Besides, she had it all taken care of. Last night only proved that. "Yeah dad, I'm trouble free." Aaliyah lied. Janae shot her a look, knowing full well that was bullshit. She wasn't stupid. She knew Liyah got herself involved with the Latinas last night. But, she was waiting for Liyah to tell her instead of questioning her.

"Alec wants to talk to you. I'll talk you later, Liyah. Take care of yourself and your girl. Remember how I raised you." True. Where did you think Liyah got all her tricks from? From the man himself. And clearly they worked cause Janae was all hers now. "I will. I love you dad." Aaliyah wiped her eyes again before she started crying again.

"I love you too, sweets."

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Aaliyah squints as the sun hit her face, she put her arms around Janae, laying her chin on her shoulder. As of now, CO Piscatella aka big homo as Liyah liked to call him, was taking attendance whilst everyone who worked for Whispers stood around. Construction noise in the background. Liyah figured they must've been adding something new to the prison. "Watson!" He called.

Janae raised her hand in confirmation. "Let me hear a verbal confirmation, inmate," Piscatella stated quite unnecessarily. "Here," Janae stated softly. "A little bit louder now!" Aaliyah rolls her eyes at him. "Here!" Janae shouts, startling the girl next to her named Dwight. "Ow!" Janae looks at her in confusion, "What?" Even when Janae spoke softly, she was still scary to most. "Nothing, sorry. My ear was too close to your mouth. My bad."

Janae shook her head, looking back ahead as Aaliyah rubbed circles on her waist. "Now ladies, due to the breach in security at the Whispers factory, it has been decided that all employees of Whispers will be replaced with more trustworthy inmates." Piscatella explained, a load of complaints being heard in the back.

Oujia spoke up, "Wait, you mean we ain't got jobs no more?"

"Means you ain't got that job no more. But lucky for you, a new opportunity has knocked. Welcome to Construction 101." The inmates groan and complain in response. This was definitely Chapman's fault because of her damn panty business. "So, wait, is this a job or is this a class?" Flaca asks.

"This is vocational training."

"Well, uh, paid vocational training? We was makin' a dollar an hour at Whispers." Cindy spoke, the inmates agreeing with her.

"If you are able to master these skills and get a job once you're released, the paycheck could be in your future." Piscatella answered. More complaints were heard and it was really starting to get on Liyah's nerves. "But to be clear as crystal, no money. For whatever this is." Frieda said, wanting better confirmation. It took him a minute to reply. "This is a class."

"Thanks, jefe. Hope it was worth it." Ouija stated towards Piper who avoided looking at her, memories of what they did still fresh in her head. Janae hums in agreement, "You gonna fill my commissary now?" Aaliyah smiles, knowing Piper refused to look at Janae considering she was right behind her. Sankey steps forward to defend Chapman. "Hey, back the fuck off."

Janae made a middle finger towards Sankey in response before Piscatella spoke up, trying to stop it before the situation got out of hand. "And you said it wasn't working out," Aaliyah says in mock towards Chapman. "Hey, hey! Eyes up front. I will now introduce you to your construction foreman instructor, Mr. McDonald." The construction man stepped up, the inmates whistling as he was a good looking lad.

"He will walk you through safety training so we can have an efficient and incident-free work-learning environment." Aaliyah chuckles at all the cat calling from the girls, visibly making the man uncomfortable. "He looks like someone my mum would shag," Aaliyah mumbles near Janae's ear, getting a small snicker from her. Even if you were gay, you couldn't deny someone like himself wasn't a good looking mate.

"Yeah, right, you can keep me safe, Mr. Mackadocious." Cindy comments, checking out the man.

"Quiet down, inmates." Piscatella warns. "Awe, I think the hetero-ness was becoming too much for him," Aaliyah whispers to Janae.

DeMarco raises her hand, beginning to explain to Piscatella about her heart condition. Pidge and Brandy both try to say that too, only to be shut down by the man. "Come up here and we'll find you an appropriate position...DeMarco," Piscatella said seeing Brandy think she could get out of work. DeMarco steps up front, "I know what position I'd like." She clicks her tongue, winking at the construction man.

"That's enough ma'am. Ladies, safety is number one on the job site. And safety comes with confidence and comfort using tools and equipment. Confidence and comfort come from practice and common sense. I will be your guide and supervisor as we erect this structure." Mr. McDonald explained to the ladies. "What exactly is this structure?" Aaliyah questions.

He looks towards her, "From the plans I've been given, it's giant cube with a roof." Aaliyah could almost guarantee it was for new inmates. If they could double the beds and add extra bathrooms outside, what was so surprising about them wanting to stuff more inmates into this prison. "Now, anyone here have any carpentry or construction experience? Show of hands?"

No hands were raised. "I need an apprentice." That's all they had to hear for everyone's hands to go up. Minus Aaliyah, Janae and Chapman, who didn't want to raise hers cause of the incident. "I love your enthusiasm, ladies." Aaliyah snickers at all the hands up, pressing a small kiss to Janae's shoulder. It was her thing at that point. She gave shoulder kisses to Janae literally all the time. And she had never done that to any other girlfriend ever. Just Janae.

"Let's wait to choose an apprentice 'til we see who earns it. Inmates, give us a minute while we figure out your work assignments."

Janae took Aaliyah's hand, dragging her towards the back with Cindy and Alison behind them. Cindy and Alison had already made up when Taystee orchestrated some friendship therapy thing Liyah liked to call it. As they were currently trying to get a picture of Judy King in prison to sell and make money off of. "If we're gonna make anything off of this, we gotta get that paparazzi pizza dough."

"You gotta get the phone charged," Janae retorts.

"Juice up the box," Alison comments. Cindy and Janae look at her in confusion meanwhile Liyah's mind was somewhere else. Alec was gonna be at visitation today so she really had to get out of this for at least an hour. "Juice up the box?" Cindy questions.

"Like a juice box." They were still confused. "Only the juice is electricity and the box is the-" she stopped herself, knowing it was pointless to explain. "You called money "paparazzi pizza dough." Alison rolled her eyes, giving up, "Okay fine."

"I'll give you half a point for effort." Janae decided.

"Hell, no, you ain't. This ain't no participation trophy. Look, that's what's wrong with this country. You either score or you miss." Suddenly the backhoe engine stops, rattling at the driver tried to hit the handles. "God damn it! We lost the hydraulics!" He complained.

"Try downshifting!" Mr. McDonald suggested. "I tried that already." The driver retorts. "Can you fix it?" He squint his eyes, "I'm not a mechanic!"

"McDonald, let's put our new trainees to work while we wait on the fix." Piscatella concludes. "Everyone, grab a shovel and let's get started." Aaliyah shook her head, wishing she remembered to take her pain meds for her bruised ribs. Luckily, she didn't even have to go and explain this to Piscatella. "Channing, report to the visitation room." Was heard over the PA.

"Yes," Aaliyah cheered. She pressed a kiss to Janae's lips before running off as the rest of the ladies had to start digging. "What's got her so cheery today? Her accent gets stronger when she's like that and it's like twice as annoying," Cindy complained. She was definitely one of the few to dislike Liyah's accent cause most of them all enjoyed it. Janae loved it for many reasons...some of them being not so appropriate.

"Her dad's in remission. He gon' be cancer free." Janae explained. She was just happy her girlfriend was happy. "Wait what? Damn that's what's up. Now I don't blame her." Cindy smiles, also very happy for Aaliyah.

"So what I'm hearing is, her momma dies and then her dad suddenly starts to heal? That's not a coincidence." Alison states. She did kinda make a good point. Aaliyah's mum suddenly got cancer and dies, not from cancer but still, and then her dad suddenly starts to get better after years of no progress in his health. There was no way it was a coincidence for that timing.

"Listen, I'm Jewish and all but that's either good 'ole fashioned karma or God's work."

Aaliyah fixed her hair, tying it up so it was out of the way. She walked into the visitation room and what she certainly did not expect, was her dad, sitting right beside her brother and Teyana. Even seeing him in something other than a bed was something she'd need to adjust to. "Dad?" Jeremiah stood up, opening his arms, she ran into them, letting him hold her tightly. The CO knew who he was, therefore why they got no warning. Mr. Caputo made sure the CO's allowed it.

He pressed a kiss to her head, she didn't even care that her ribs were killing her. She could stay there for hours just letting him hold her. He pulled away first, gently cupping her face. Obviously she changed from the last time he seen her. Her hair was longer and bigger, no longer black, more lighter and she looked way more grown. Not like the rebellious teenager he knew. But obviously he still and would always love her, prison or not.

"You look healthy and happy, that's good." He patted her head gently, going to sit down. She chuckles, going around the table to hug Alec and Teyana. "You look beautiful." Aaliyah kissed her cheek before taking a seat. "So do you. You got that 'lil prison glow to you." She didn't even know how Teyana got added to her list and she didn't wanna know. She knew Jeremiah had his ways.

"It's so good to see you all." Aaliyah smiles as Jeremiah took her hand in his.

Alec grinned, glad to see his sister so happy. "Well we couldn't have a family reunion without you."

"Ugh, I wish Janae was here. She would love this." Aaliyah smiles, using her free hands to wipe her tears. "Then so be it. I'll get her in here." Jeremiah decides, standing up. Aaliyah went to oblige but he was already walking up to CO Ford. "Is he being serious?" Aaliyah said towards Alec. "Oh he's dead serious, Liyah. Who do you think got Teyana on your list?" Alec replied.

"I'll go buy an extra soda for her," Teyana decided, standing up and walking over to the machines.

Aaliyah watched as Jeremiah got CO Ford to call over Mr. Caputo on the radio. It didn't make it better than Jeremiah was a tall and scary looking dude. Mr. Caputo walked in shortly after. "Mr. Channing. What can I do for you? Are you enjoying your visit?" Aaliyah sighs, really hoping Jeremiah didn't make a scene.

"Not quite. See we're missing another family member, and I would be very grateful if you could call her in here from whatever she's doing." Jeremiah states. It didn't take geniuses for Mr. Caputo to figure out he was talking about Janae Watson. Almost everyone knew Liyah and Janae were together. "Uh, I'm sorry, only one inmate is allowed. And I'm not sure you're on Ms. Watson's visitation list." Mr. Caputo chuckled awkwardly.

"Then put us on her visitation list mate." Jeremiah shrugs.

"Okay, but sir, even if I do that, you won't be able to visit Ms. Watson until next week." Mr. Caputo explained. "Listen mate, this is the first time I'm seeing my daughter not in a hospital bed, and I would appreciate if I got to see my whole family together. Ms. Watson is apart of our family. Now if you can't comprehend that, I'll just go down to the MCC and get you fired." Aaliyah face-palmed, though she had to admit, it was a little funny seeing Mr. Caputo look like he was gonna shit his pants.

"No, sir that's not necessary. We'll get Ms. Watson in here immediately. Is there anything else I can do for you?" Jeremiah looked towards Aaliyah and she shook her head. "No, that's all. I appreciate the cooperation mate." Jeremiah pat his shoulder before walking back to the table and sitting down.

Teyana returned with a soda and some snacks for herself. "I can't wait to meet her. Alec has said nothin' but wonderful things 'bout her." Teyana smiled.

"Yeah she's amazing. You'll love her." They all shared looks. The way she spoke about Janae was obvious that she loved the girl. Even if Liyah claimed she didn't fall in love. It wasn't long before Janae walked into the visitation room, a look of confusion on her face until she spotting Aaliyah. Jeremiah stood up, "You must be Janae. I'm Jeremiah, Aaliyah's father."

"I'm sorry, I'm confused." Janae said, not sure why she was even there if it wasn't allowed. "He threatened to get Mr. Caputo fired if he didn't bring you down here," Aaliyah whispered into Janae's ear. "Oh, okay that makes more sense. It's nice to meet you, sir." Janae shook his hand politely.

Aaliyah pulled out the extra chair for Janae, letting her sit before sitting down herself. "Sorry, I'm all sweaty. They got us out there doin' construction," Janae said. "That's alright. Don't you apologize. I'm Teyana, Alec's fiancé. It's nice to finally meet you." Janae smiles, leaning over to shake the woman's hand. "Aaliyah talks about you all the time. I feel like we friends already." Aaliyah closed her eyes, becoming embarrassed.

Janae laughed at her, putting an arm around Liyah. "Can we please not embarrass me today?" They all shared looks and laughed, "Sweets, you embarrass yourself. I'm surprised you even managed to find a girlfriend here. What happened to being the quiet kid?" Jeremiah joked. Janae looked at Aaliyah with ajar mouth, "No way. You were a quiet kid? I find that so hard to believe."

"Oh trust me, she was. She was always in the back of class, keepin' to herself." Alec said. Aaliyah groaned, "she did not need to know that."

"Well, should we tell her about your emo faze?" Jeremiah added.

"No!" Aaliyah said a little too loudly.

Janae raised her brows, "Oh no, now I gotta hear about it." Aaliyah glared at her as Jeremiah went to tell. "She died her hair black with purple streaks, shaved half her head, and wore the most outrageous outfits. We shopped at Hot Topic and Spencer's all day. And she got her belly button and nose pierced without my permission." Janae laughed, definitely being able to see that.

"I'll send you some pictures," Alec chuckles.

"I hate all of you."

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"That was so much fun. I love your family." Janae said, grabbing a shovel as they had to return to work. Aaliyah huffs, "Easy for you to say when you weren't the one getting embarrassed." Janae snickers at her. "True. But it was hella funny, you gotta admit. I mean who knew you, of all people, hated the taste of marshmallows." Aaliyah rolled her eyes, chuckling lowly as she put on one of the yellow construction hats. "They're sticky and just gross, okay?"

"I personally love smores, so I gotta disagree with that one." Janae pulled her lips into a firm line as Aaliyah mocked her. "So what's your first impression of the fam?" Janae hums in thought, shoving the shovel into the dig. "You're dad was scary at first, but he's hella cool. I like your brother, he's cool. And I love Teyana. She's super cool. So overall, I give the fam, a ten outta ten."

"Who's a ten outta ten?" Cindy questions, hearing the conversation as they got closer.

"Her family, and her sista in law. Her brother got some good ass taste." Janae says. Aaliyah chuckles, it wasn't a lie. Teyana was fucking gorgeous. She didn't even know how Alec bagged her before he went to prison. "Damn, he's taken?" Cindy groaned. Aaliyah raised a brow in amusement, "My dad's newly single so maybe you can get at him when you get out." Janae laughed alongside her meanwhile Cindy took it serious.

"Ah shit, really? What he look like?"

"Tall, dark and handsome, I guess," Aaliyah shrugs. Cindy smirked, "Ooh, tell him to hit a sista up." Janae and Aaliyah shared looks before laughing. But Cindy was still very serious.

They continued to shovel dirt, Janae pulling up her sleeves is when it became harder for Aaliyah to focus. Flaca's voice catches her attention. "Oh, Jesus, you cutting yourself now? I thought I was the emo one." Aaliyah didn't even have to look to know that Flaca meant Piper's arm that was bleeding through her sleeve. "What?" Piper looked down at her arm, noticing the blood.

"You're bleeding."

Aaliyah leaned on her shovel as another one of the girls spoke up. Liyah didn't know her name, just that she hung out with Taylor and the rest of the nazi girls. Taylor got out of work today courtesy of her broken nose cause she was being so dramatic about it. You would've thought she had broken a limb or something. "I used to cut myself. But in, like, cool designs." She says with a smile.

"Not something to be proud of," Aaliyah mumbles.

Janae spoke up, still pissed off with Piper. "She should cut herself. We're all out of work because of her." Aaliyah smiled, "Oh don't be rash love. I'm sure it's been tough on her too. Being a racist and all has gotta be some tough work, huh?" Piper didn't look at her. Even hearing Aaliyah's voice was unnerving.

"If you can't dig and talk at the same time, then you dig and shut up. Shovels in the dirt. Now!" CO Blake ordered before walking away.

"Please. I could probably body slam him with one arm," Aaliyah said, getting back to digging. Luckily she took pain meds after the visit so her ribs weren't hurting as much.

"I would actually love to see that."

"And I would love to see you on top of me," Aaliyah smirked.

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a/n: janae officially being apart of the channing family is so cute 😭

jeremiah channing is portrayed by idris elba <3

teyana (soon to be channing) is portrayed by teyana taylor <3

aaliyah and her family in this chapter has my whole heart 🤍

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