by KIKI MALONE
When I stop talking, Felicia breaks down into sobs. I grab her to me and hold her tight. I can’t believe that vile woman hurt these babies so much. I want to do everything I can to keep them away from her. This solidifies my resolve to get answers to the questions I had the other day in the courthouse, on why and how this all transpired without the proper steps taken. Everything I’d read before the trial told me so much more was to happen before the judge would make any decisions. Like home visits, and the DNA tests.
Slowly, I lift Felicia into my arms and Carter does the same with Isabella and Sofia. We walk into the kitchen and set the girls down so they can eat. I go to the oven to get breakfast out when Felicia pats me on the leg. Felicia likes to cook, so I assume that she’s wanting to help me. I don’t ask any questions, just reach over to the drawer that has her tiny oven mitts Carter had made for her and hand them to her. She puts them on while I grab the tray from the oven. I hand her the tray and she walks it over to the table.
This is what the girls need. They need our normal routine, I see it clearly. As long as we keep things normal here at home, maybe we can reverse the effects those assholes caused.
We all sit down to eat as a family and the girls start coming back to themselves. This makes me smile, but I know Carter and I will have a lot of work to do so this doesn’t happen again.
As the week goes on, our family starts to feel normal again. We laugh and play with the girls and keep to our routine as much as possible. They’re going to need the stability and to know this is what they will come home to after their visit with those vile creatures this coming Saturday.
I wish with everything in me we did not have to let them go with them, but we have to do as the court has ordered. We have to try to prove that these people being in the girls’ lives are not in their best interests.
Carter and I have decided privately to hire a child therapist to speak to the girls. We’re hoping that if we bring a professional to court with us, we’ll be able to prove that these people should not be around children.
We saw their son, he looked okay, but I’m wondering if that poor child is treated as poorly as our girls were. No child should have to endure their way of parenting and I’m hoping, for that little boy’s sake, that they did this to try to drive a wedge between us and our girls.
THE WEEK HAS COME and gone, and the girls are coming home today after their second weekend with the people who are trying to take them from us. I’m hoping that everything we instilled in the girls this week stuck, and that they don’t come back the same way they did last week.
Carter and I wait on the front steps for the girls this time. We want the girls to see we are waiting for them and they are wanted at home. That there’s no reason for them to have to knock on the door or ring the bell when they arrive back to the only home they’ve ever known. We’re hoping this will help with any damage those two may have caused in the last twenty-four hours.
When we see the car pull into the driveway, we both walk down the stairs to greet them. They pop open their doors as soon as the car stops and come running into our arms. This feels so good and hopefully shows that monster how children are supposed to treat their parents.
They are not withdrawn this time and it makes me so happy.
We don’t even greet the people in the car and turn to walk into the house. We have no need to talk to them and it appears they don’t wish to talk to us either. They just turn the car around and leave. Fine with me.
“How was your weekend?” Carter asks, not addressing anyone in particular so they know any and all of them can answer.
“It sucked,” Sofia states plainly. I want to say something about her language, but Carter gives a little shake of his head to tell me to let it go. This time I will, but I plan to have a talk with them and let them know what’s acceptable and what’s not.
“Oliver can do whatever he wants and never gets in trouble, but we’re not allowed to do anything but sit in the room. I don’t like it there, Daddy,” Isabella states.
Well, that answers my question as to how that little boy is treated. At least it’s good to know he isn’t treated poorly, but my girls deserve much better.
“Only a couple more weeks, girls, then hopefully this will all be over,” Carter tells them. Man, I hope he’s right. I don’t think I could do this for the long haul.
We walk into the house and straight to the kitchen. After last week, we learned that they don’t cook for the kids. They order out and that’s not healthy. Carter hasn’t raised the girls to eat fast food, and I intend to keep that up. It’s so much better for them.
They also don’t eat before ten a.m. The girls got in trouble last week because they wanted to eat when they got up. That’s what caused Felicia to get into so much trouble when Sofia started crying that she was hungry. My baby girl was told she was fat and didn’t need to eat anyway. They were limited on their food intake and that is not acceptable.
When Felicia walks into the kitchen, she squeals. She sees that I’ve set everything up to make pancakes instead of cooking them before they got home. I know how much my girlie likes to help cook, so I made sure to have everything ready for her this morning.
“Thank you, Momma Elizabeth,” she whispers. I want to cry because it’s been over a week since she’s called me that and I feel then and there, that we’re going to be okay again.
“Let’s get started, shall we?” I tell her. She nods her head and goes to the sink to wash her hands. Goodness, I love this little girl.
Carter grabs Isabella and Sofia and tells me to holler for them when we’re ready. He’s going to take them to the playroom and show Isabella what he had done for her.
While the girls were away yesterday, we had a contractor come in and set up a little dance studio for Isabella. She’s our tiny dancer and we know she’s really going to excel at her craft. We want to show her how much we support her and her dreams. Even if she’s only four years old.
Felicia and I set out to get breakfast done when we hear Isabella scream in excitement. I just smile to myself knowing we are making these girls happy. Instead of getting breakfast started, I grab Felicia’s hand and lead her down the hall, so she can see what has her sister so happy.
When we walk into the room, Isabella is twirling around with Sofia. It’s such a beautiful site to see, their smiles taking up their entire faces. I look down to Felicia, who hugs my leg and see she’s smiling just as big as the other two.
“You did good, Momma Elizabeth,” she whispers. It’s amazing how she tells me I did good and doesn’t say it to her dad. She gives me all the credit and doesn’t think twice about it. I love the bond her and I have developed. She’s a Momma’s girl these days instead of a Daddy’s girl like Isabella and Sofia.
“Mommy Elizabeth,” Sofia yells, excitedly, “look at what Daddy gave Isabella, isn’t it beautiful?” She’s twirling around clumsily, unlike Isabella who is a natural.
“I see, pretty girl,” I tell her.
“Shall we go finish breakfast or would you like to stay with your sisters?” I look down and ask Felicia.
“I want to cook,” she answers.
I take her hand and we head back into the kitchen to get breakfast done.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
ELIZABETH
ON THE RUN
A WEEK HAS GONE by and Carter and I are again waiting for the girls to come home. This is the last Saturday they will have with them until our court date on Thursday.
Hopefully, with everything I have gathered and the testimony of the counselor we’ve hired for the girls, this will be the very last time they have our girls.
We’ve done so much to work on their spirits since that first weekend. I’ve completely neglected my business because the girls needed me home with them. I have employees I trust, so I’m not worried about things at the shop. Angie has been around a lot when she’s not working. Alfie has made it his mission to protect the girls as much as he can. He’s more like a big br
other to them, trying not to let anything hurt them. It melts my heart so much to see how my family has come together.
I’m not feeling very well this morning, so only Carter is waiting outside for the girls. I’m lying on the couch with some tea that Carter made me so that the girls will see me here when they get home. I hope they don’t think me not being outside is because I don’t want to see them, but it’s been difficult for me to do anything today. I think I’m coming down with the flu and I am trying to do everything I can so I can get well quickly. I don’t want to be sick when we go back to court and I’m still waiting on some things to come through to help us prove that the Anthonys are unfit to be with our children.
I look over to the clock and notice it’s well after nine am. I wonder if I fell asleep for a little bit and didn’t notice Carter come in with the girls. He’s been so kind trying to take care of me and didn’t even want me to get out of bed this morning.
I get up off the couch and have to get my bearings. I’m still feeling a bit dizzy, but I am feeling a lot better than I did when we first woke up this morning. I head straight to the playroom, thinking Carter must’ve gone there with the girls and is keeping them quietly playing. I don’t see them in the room and I am growing a little concerned.
“Fuck.” I hear Carter whisper yell. It seems he’s in his office instead of with the girls. But, where are the girls, I wonder?
“Carter,” I begin from his office doorway, “where are the girls? Did I miss them coming home?”
The look he gives me looks like one of anguish. I can’t understand what is going on but I am now starting to worry.
“I don’t know,” he answers.
“What do you mean you don’t know? What happened when they got home? Why didn’t you wake me?”
“They didn’t come home, Elizabeth,” he states as calmly as he can. “I’ve been trying to reach Maggie for over an hour to see what the holdup is and can’t get in touch with her. I want to drive over to their house, but I didn’t want to leave you when you were sick. Mikael sent someone over there but there doesn’t seem to be anyone home. I don’t know why they are running so late. I’ve called the hospitals and police and there doesn’t seem to be any accidents or anything.”
My concern starts to turn to panic. I don’t want to think the worst, but my gut is telling me that this is really bad.
“Come on,” I tell him. “We’re going over there now, we’re going to get our girls. This is bullshit.”
He looks like he wants to protest but then strides over to me with purpose.
We get into the car and make the short drive over to their house. Like Mikael said, there doesn’t seem to be anyone home. We decide to go to the door and look in the windows to see if maybe they are home and just have their car somewhere else. What we see when we look inside has us both panicking.
Carter immediately goes for the door and tries to open it. It opens immediately, and he goes inside. I follow him and just about want to die when I see what he sees.
The place is empty. Not just empty of Andrew, Maggie and the kids, but the place is empty to the point there’s not a chair, a table or even a speck of fucking dust. They’re gone. They’re all gone and there’s nothing to even show they’ve ever been here.
Where are my kids? I need to know where my girls are. This can’t be happening.
Suddenly, I feel sick again and extremely dizzy. I can’t comprehend what’s going on around me. Carter yells for me but it’s like I’m underwater, I can’t really hear him. Everything is muffled. I think I answer but I can’t be sure. I try to back up to the wall, but suddenly, everything goes black….
I don’t know how long I was out, but I come to lying in Carter’s arms. He has the most worried expression on his face, and I don’t know if it’s for me or if it’s because our girls are missing.
There are police everywhere at this point, walking through the empty house. I’m not sure they are going to find anything, it doesn’t look like even a speck of dust was left behind.
“Thank God you’re okay,” Carter says as he sweeps my hair off my face. “I know you’re worried about the girls, but we need to take you to the hospital to get checked out.”
“No,” I answer. My throat feels like sandpaper right now. “I just need some water and then we need to find the girls.”
I know I’m being stubborn. I’ve been sick for a while but it’s not about me right now. There are three beautiful, precious little girls who are somewhere they shouldn’t be. They should be home with us, not on the run with people they barely even know.
“I thought you had this place under surveillance,” Carter yells.
I look up and see Mikael walking into the house. Shit, this isn’t going to be good. Carter depended on Mikael to help keep the girls safe and with them missing, he’s going to blame anyone he can.
“It’s not his fault,” I say, trying to calm Carter down.
“Carter,” Mikael begins, “I’ve had this place under surveillance twenty-four seven. My guys were knocked out with tranqs last night. They just came to a few moments ago when the police sirens came up the road. I’m sorry, man. You know I would never let anything happen to those girls. I love them like they’re my own.”
“I know,” Carter sighs. “I’m sorry, brother. I know you’ve been going above and beyond but I need to know where my girls are.”
Tears are running down Carter’s face and I only remember one time ever seeing my husband cry. It was the night he begged me to marry him because he thought his ex was going to steal his girls. With that thought, now I feel like I’m responsible. I thought I was helping him. I gave into his request, but look, it was my ex who helped make this happen.
“Elizabeth, I’m taking you to the hospital. I need to at least know you’re okay right now. Please give me this. I don’t want to argue.”
I give in to Carter’s request. I know he needs to know that at least I’m okay because he doesn’t have any answers when it comes to our children.
“Okay,” I answer, “but, can we please go in the car? I don’t want to go in the ambulance.”
“Yeah.”
“I’ll get with the detectives and try to get you guys some answers,” Mikael tells us. “I’m so sorry. I failed you and the girls. I’ll find them, I promise.”
“It’s not your fault,” I try once again to reassure him, but he just turns on his heel and walks away.
Carter grabs my hand and helps me get up. This isn’t going to be fun, but I guess we do need to find out why I’ve been so sick lately. It’s been a few weeks and this bug just won’t go away. For the most part, I have been able to hide it from Carter, but today, it just all came on so suddenly.
We get to the hospital and are seen rather quickly. This isn’t normal for me, I’m used to waiting for hours on end in the waiting area, not rushed right in. I wonder, not for the first time, if this is because of who Carter is and the vast amount he is worth. I’m not complaining, though. Because the faster I’m seen, the sooner we can get back out there to look for the children.
“Hello, Mrs. Montgomery,” a kind, blonde haired doctor says to me. “I’m Dr. Mitchell, I’m going to help figure out why you’ve been feeling under the weather lately.”
“Thank you,” I reply. “It’s really no big deal. Just a little dizzy today—”
“No,” Carter says as he cuts me off. “She tries to hide it, but she’s been sick for a few weeks now. She thinks she hides it from me in the mornings, but I notice. We have three little girls at home so it’s understandable that illnesses get passed around. None of the girls have been sick, though, so I’m concerned why Elizabeth isn’t getting better.”
I guess I wasn’t as good at hiding being sick as I had originally thought.
“I’m going to do a quick exam and then have the nurse come draw some blood,” Dr. Mitchell tells me. “I need for you to lie back on the table and I’m going to check you out, is that okay?”
“Yes, t
hat’s fine,” I answer as I lie back on the bed.
The doctor first checks my heart and lungs, and then pokes around my abdomen a few times. She then takes her stethoscope and listens to different parts. When she’s done, she takes off her gloves and writes a few things down on her notepad.
“Well, Mrs. Montgomery,” the doctor starts, “I don’t believe we need as many tests as I first thought. I believe with just one blood test, we’ll know exactly why you aren’t feeling so well lately, and I have a feeling, you’ll be feeling better soon enough.”
“What’s wrong?” Carter asks immediately.
“Oh, I don’t think anything is wrong, per se,” the doctor answers. “I think the two of you are about to expand your family.”
What? She can’t be saying what I think she is.
“That can’t be,” I tell her. My heart is getting ready to break again, having to explain this. “I can’t have children,” I choke out. “I was told a few years back that there was no way I’d ever be able to have children. You see, I thought I was pregnant once.”
At my declaration, Carter’s eyes shoot to me. We’ve never had this discussion. Yeah, we’ve never used protection or had the birth control talk, but we weren’t supposed to be a real husband and wife like we are now. Since we’ve consummated our marriage, I never thought to tell him about this. Looks like there’s no time like the present.
“I once thought I was pregnant,” I start again. “I was so happy. I told the father and he told me that there was no way. That he had a vasectomy. Since then, I learned he lied and that to prevent me from ever getting pregnant, he’d mix birth control in my juice in the mornings. When I went to get checked out why I wasn’t getting a period, the doctor told me that it was near impossible for me to have children. It seemed that my uterus was unstable and even if I did get pregnant, I wouldn’t be able to carry a child to term. In order to make sure I’d never have to go through the heartbreak of a miscarriage, she did an endometrial ablation. Between that and continuing to taking birth control, I never had to worry about getting pregnant again.”