First Degree Burns

by S. L. Kassidy

  “Allison is twelve and Ben is eight,” Henry answered. Well, while math had never been her best subject, it was a little comforting to know she hadn’t been immediately forgotten about and replaced with a real child.

  “They’re going to love you,” Lynn said, entering with a tray that held lemonade. She sat down next to her husband, but was close enough for Dane to smell her perfume, vanilla and lilacs. It was the same comforting scent from when she was a child. She was amazed by that little detail. It felt like she could smell happiness and love.

  “Why? They don’t know me.”

  “We’ve told them all about you. And, they’ve seen pictures. It’s a bit sad the pictures stop at eight, but it’s better than nothing,” Henry replied.

  “But…but…but…why? Why would you keep pictures of me? Why would you tell your kids about me?” Dane scratched her forehead, which was creased.

  Lynn stared at her, squinting like she was confused. “What do you mean why? You were our little girl. A big part of our lives and a huge influence in us having children.”

  “But, you gave me back,” Dane said with a sting in her eyes. “You gave me back,” her voice cracked. Even to her own ears, she sounded small and young. It took all of her willpower not to curl into Nicole and try to disappear.

  “No, no, no,” Lynn said, almost as if she were shushing Dane. Leaning over, she patted Dane’s knee. “Is that what you’ve been thinking all these years? You think we gave you back?”

  “You did.” Dane sniffled. She was going to cry and she couldn’t stop it. “You took me back home and you never came back and they never let me come over again. You returned me…”

  “No, Dane, we didn’t return you. You weren’t some book. You were a child, our child practically. We had you over here since you were six months old, but we couldn’t stop what those people were doing to you,” Henry said, pointing behind them, in the direction of her parents’ house.

  “What do you mean?” Nicole thankfully asked, because Dane’s mouth wasn’t working anymore. It took all of Dane’s willpower not to burst into tears.

  “Dane had to go back to her parents every now and then for whatever reasons, so whatever we did for her here was almost always undone by those people. As she got older, it was becoming more obvious she was so very troubled. She was acting out in school, not doing her work, screaming at us that we weren’t her parents, even bullying kids in school,” Lynn replied.

  Nicole looked at Dane with disbelief. Dane could hardly believe it either. I did all of that?

  Dane scowled. “No wonder you gave me back.” I’d have returned me, too.

  “Stop saying that. We didn’t give you back,” Henry stated with a growl, pointing at her with a shaking hand.

  “We tried to get you help. We went to Christine and we told her you really needed help. You needed therapy to work through everything because you weren’t talking to us anymore, and we told her that she really needed to get that pig she called a husband to stop hitting you because that wasn’t helping,” Lynn explained.

  Nicole gasped and eyes went wide. “Wait, you knew about the abuse?” Dane’s jaw was pretty much on the floor.

  “It was an open secret around here, but we couldn’t do anything about it because of their connections. We called the police, teachers reported them, but it all led to nothing. Russell always claimed Dane was clumsy or she got hurt playing with our dogs. Unfortunately, Dane never contradicted him, saying she fell most of the time, which we understand.” Lynn looked directly at Dane. “We know you were trying to avoid getting hurt even more, so we never pressed you, especially since it was clear nothing was going to come of it.”

  “But…why didn’t I see you anymore?” Dane asked, her voice smaller than before and her vision clouded by tears.

  “Well, Christine didn’t appreciate the fact that we were telling her what to do with her child, and she said as much. Never mind the fact that we’d had you almost five days a week, ever since you were six months old and she came over here with some BS story about having an emergency appointment and the nanny having the day off.” Henry rolled his eyes.

  “I had a nanny?” Dane doubted it.

  “She was more than likely lying. She never came back. We had to go down there after we ran out of bottles. Making matters worse, she didn’t explain anything beyond her emergency appointment, assumed we knew how to take care of a baby, which we didn’t. Thank God for my mother or we might’ve killed you that first time,” Lynn said with a sorrowful smile.

  “So, why didn’t you ever come by or try to get me again since you knew they were so awful?” Dane swallowed a lump in her throat and felt even more abandoned than before. They knew how horrible everything was, but they left her there anyway. She wished they had left her on the street.

  Henry sighed and ran his hand through his short brown hair. “A little while after we took you over there to tell Christine that you needed help, real help, they’d stopped bringing you by, and you wandered over to our house in the middle of the night. You were so drunk.” He frowned, disgusted at the memories.

  “You were eight, but already drinking. You were crying so badly, begging to come back home. You promised you’d be good, and I tried to tell you it wasn’t your fault.” Lynn had to wipe away tears.

  “We called the police, but when they showed up, Russell was with them. We were accused of kidnapping you, and he told them that we were probably the ones that gave you alcohol to make it easier to take you. He didn’t press charges, but he promised he would if it happened again. He also threatened to tell the police we were the ones abusing you,” Henry finished, scowling and shaking his head.

  “Oh, my God.” Dane felt like she’d faint. Nicole wrapped her arms around her, holding her together.

  “You wandered over a few more times, but we…” Lynn sniffled. “We took you back to your parents. I hate to admit it, but, Dane, you needed them. If they were real parents, they would’ve gotten through to you. Unfortunately, they’re not real parents.”

  “No, they’re not,” Dane whispered. All this time…all this time, I thought they abandoned me, but they had tried to help and fucking Russell ruined my Goddamn life even more. I hate him. I fucking hate him. I am sorry I helped save his life.

  “Dane, I know we have no right to ask, and you might not believe that you’ve always had a special place in our hearts, but we’d love to be part of your life in some way,” Lynn said.

  It felt like a rock the size of her head was stuck in Dane’s throat. Her mouth trembled and she did her best to swallow. She had to wipe her eyes and her nose with the back of her hand.

  “I’m sorry,” Dane croaked, hiding her face in her hands. She couldn’t believe she was bawling so badly.

  “It’s…it’s okay,” Lynn said, obviously trying to hold in her own sobs.

  “Danny, I think you need to explain,” Nicole whispered to her, causing her to look up. Lynn and Henry looked devastated. Lynn clutched Henry’s shirt for dear life, and he held her as if to protect her from all the world’s evil.

  “Wha…” Dane was confused by their expressions before she realized they took her words the wrong way. “Of course, I want you guys in my life! You were the closest thing I ever had to parents. I wish I’d come here sooner. So much wasted time, so much wasting away. Well, no more.”

  Lynn and Henry seemed speechless, but they got up and rushed Dane. They engulfed her, and all she could do was return the embrace. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Nicole smiling. Henry and Lynn backed away after a few seconds and smiled at her through tears.

  “Oh, God, I have to make sure dinner didn’t burn.” Lynn quickly escaped back into the kitchen. She was probably more concerned with cleaning her face.

  “You two can go freshen up in the bathroom. Dane, do you remember where it is?” Henry asked, wiping his face with his hand.

  Dane could only nod. She led Nicole to the main bathroom in the massive house. Dane washed her face, whil
e Nicole remained close. As soon as she was looking more like herself, she embraced Nicole.

  “They didn’t throw me away,” she whispered.

  “No, they didn’t. They wanted to help you. They want to be a part of your life.”

  “God, it’s so overwhelming. I think I need to sit down.”

  “You can sit at the dinner table.”

  “Oh, God. Dinner and they have kids. Oh, God.” Dane was certain she was about to faint. She stumbled a bit.

  Nicole held her steady. “Whoa, hold on there, Big Dog. It’ll be fine. They’re good people. They took in a six-month-old baby, without question, and then basically raised her for eight years only to have her stolen away when they tried to get her help. It’ll be fine.”

  “What if the kids hate me?”

  “They won’t. Now, come on. Let’s go have dinner with your family.”

  “My…” She wobbled again.

  Nicole chuckled a bit, but held onto her lover. Dane had to take several deep breaths before she could even leave the bathroom. With Nicole still holding her tightly, she led them to the dining room where the Briarmoors were standing and waiting for them. Dane felt those damn tears again.

  “Dane, please meet Allison,” Henry said, motioning to the short, teenaged female across the table.

  “Hi,” Allison waved weakly. She was a cute little thing with cropped blonde hair and green eyes somewhat hidden by thin spectacles. She glanced down and fiddled with her fingers, seeming shy.

  “And, this is Benjamin. We call him Ben,” Lynn said, pointing to the young man next to Allison. He was almost as tall as his sister. He had curly brown hair that fell in his eyes. He smiled brightly.

  “I’ve seen pictures of you when you were my age. You got really tall!” Ben said.

  Dane chuckled. “Uh…yeah, I guess I did. Um…I’m Dane and this is my partner, Nicole Cardell.”

  “Hi.” Nicole waved at the kids.

  “Hi,” the children replied. Ben grinned while he greeted her.

  “Let’s eat,” Henry said.

  Everyone sat down and they had a quiet dinner. Dane wondered if they were all overwhelmed. She wished she could think of something to say, but every now and then, Henry or Lynn smiled at her and she felt like things were all right. When the meal was all over, while the kids cleared the table, Henry and Lynn walked Dane and Nicole to the door. They had to get back to Haydn.

  “Please, come back as soon as you can.” Lynn took hold of Dane’s hand for a moment and squeezed it tight.

  “And call us, for anything,” Henry insisted. “Do you still have our number?”

  “Uh…no, you can give it to Nick. I don’t have a cell phone,” Dane replied.

  Henry rattled off the numbers, and Nicole stored them in her phone. Dane found out she had dialed the correct number earlier. Allison probably had answered the phone, and Dane hadn’t thought to ask for Lynn or Henry. Everyone got a hug before the couple went on their way.

  “That was nice. What brought that on?” Nicole asked.

  “I’ve decided to move forward, and sometimes moving forward involves going back. Glad I did. I can’t believe they missed me and worried about me. Crazy.”

  “Not crazy, baby. Love.” Nicole smiled.

  “Yeah, love.”

  This was moving forward. Accepting the love in her life and doing her best to show those who cared that she also cared. She’d try to fill whatever it was inside of her with that love. She hoped that’d be what she needed, because she needed to move forward with Nicole. They had to go on.

  The End.

  About S. L Kassidy

  What is there to know about me? Not much. I was bred, born, and raised in New York and I have no desire to live anywhere else. One day, I would like to travel to a few places, but for now I am content where I am.

  I started out writing poetry in junior high and continued to do so for ten years. I wrote short stories, usually fantasy and romance stories, for my own entertainment throughout high school and college. Back then, I wrote strictly for me and those stories remain locked in the back of my closet in little notebooks, written in my almost unreadable, tiny handwriting. In between writing those stories and poetry, I managed to get a college degree in history.

  After graduating college, I had a semester off before graduate school and I didn't really have anything to do with my time. So, I took a chance and wrote a fanfic and dared to upload it to the Internet. I was surprised that other people enjoyed my work and I've been posting ever since. I had quite a bit of fun with fan fiction and eventually decided to try my hand in original fiction. I suppose it was sort of like coming back around to what I had been doing in high school and college, except this time the stories were for whoever wanted to read them. I uploaded my first original story a few years ago and haven’t looked back. I plan to continue writing as long as I continue getting ideas for stories and it continues to be fun.

  Contact Information

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  Other Books by S. L. Kassidy

  Please Baby

  ISBN: 9781311485137

  Jayce Newton's life is going downhill after she rescues her little niece from an awful situation. She plans to hold onto her niece and gain custody of her, but there are some factors against her. Her girlfriend doesn't want the baby around. Her mother wants to take the baby from her, and her brother has disappeared. Things only seem to get worse when Gus Tucker comes into her life.

  Gus Tucker's life isn't going much better. She recently divorced her wife and moved into a new home. She's looking forward to a new start and spending time with her sister. Before she can do that, though, she ends up causing trouble for Jayce Newton, getting her fired from her job and kicked out of her home. She tries to make it up to Jayce by taking her in during her time of need. Now, it's just a struggle to see if they're able to coexist in the same house with a baby between them.

  Scarred Series

  Scarred for Life

  ISBN: 9781310171352

  Dane Wolfe is a loner. Forsaken by her family and betrayed by people close to her, she has lost all faith in people and spends her days wandering the streets with no direction or meaning. She drifts through life, existing and nothing more. Nicole Cardell is a successful attorney. She has too much faith in people and is being taken advantage of by her boyfriend, Tyler, Dane’s cousin. She’s tired of his selfish ways and tosses him out. The bad relationship leaves her questioning her judgment. Circumstances bring Dane and Nicole together and a friendship brings them closer. They’re able to heal each other and bring balance to each other’s lives. Their peace is shattered when family causes trouble and tears them apart. Will they find their path back to each other and to the love that was slowly growing?

  New Cuts, Old Wounds

  ISBN: 9781310217289

  In this sequel to Scarred for Life, Nicole Cardell and Dane Wolfe have been together for a year. They are doing their best to move forward with their relationship and open up to each other. It’s time to meet family members. Dane’s nervous about meeting Nicole’s family, but she’s even more nervous about Nicole meeting her family. Nicole is eager for both. Nicole thinks Dane should bond with her family while Dane thinks she needs to get as far away from them as possible. The Wolfe family seems to agree with Dane, but keep inviting her to things and Nicole keeps accepting the invites. Will family make or break Dane and Nicole?

  Bandages

  ISBN: 9781942976103

  Nicole and Dane return in the third installment of the Scarred series. Life is good. The musician gave the lawyer a ring, a not-engagement ring, a promise; this is forever. But, they both still had some growing and healing to work through.

  Healing is strange. There are those days when the bandage falls off on its own and you think you’re good to go. Days when laughter comes easy and you forget the past. And there are days when the past doesn’t want to be forgotten; you still need a stitch or a cast to hold yourself together. There are
even relapses when the poisonous past needs release.

  Share their journey through eighteen short stories of play, passion, and a deepening partnership. You’ll enjoy the journey as much as where it leads.

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  Bright blessing.