I’ve never been a patient person, especially where my heart lies. I count every moment, every second that I get to spend with her. I make it all count. I play with her at the playground, I read her favorite book to her, and I make sure she’s fed. The one good thing Jeremiah does for his daughter is make sure she’s well-fed and her hygiene surpasses that of a normal toddler.
She’s to be the perfect example of a little lady at all times. If even a patch of dirt soils her clothes, her little lip quivers as silent tears fall from her eyes. She knows that he’ll take something precious from her, most likely her favorite stuffed animal. She doesn’t sleep well at night unless it’s clutched tightly to her chest.
Her nanny makes sure to share as many details with me about her life as she can during our short visits. The nanny, Jessia, also happens to be Jeremiah’s younger sister. She loathes her brother and is always trying to come up with escape plans for us. I’m not sure how trustworthy she is, so I’ve never fed into her musings.
The biggest and most valuable question that strums through my mind is when Shamus comes to take my daughter away, will she fight him, or will she hand her niece over for the greater good?
I feel in the depths of my heart that she loves Ella almost as much as I do. But how far is she willing to go? At what lengths will she go to protect the niece she claims she loves so dearly?
I need to field her out today. Figure out if she’s truly the person she’s been portraying, or is she an actress playing a part in order to get information from me to share with her brother? I’m not sure I’ll be able to figure it out in a few hours’ time, but I’ll have to make a decision on if I’m willing to trust her or not pretty quickly.
I need as many allies as I can get when it comes to getting my daughter to a safer environment.
As I’m led to the awaiting vehicle, the hair on the back of my neck prickles. I’m not aware of how I’m sure of this fact, but I know it’s Shamus. He’s keeping his word and is here to protect me and follow my daughter to where she’s being held.
When we pull up to the park, I see Jessia and Ella at the swing sets. My daughter is freely laughing as her aunt pushes her back and forth. Her hair is pulled up into two ponytails. Her hair isn’t very long, so they’re both spiky where the holder is keeping them in place.
She’s a vision of pure, unadulterated innocence.
I’m pulled out of the car roughly as I’m pushed in the direction of my heart. I swiftly walk over to them, and place a smile on my face. I don’t want Ella witnessing my worries and carrying them on her tiny shoulders.
When I get within eyesight of her, she screams out, “Mommy!” Before causing my heart to drop into my stomach as she jumps from the swing as it’s airborne. She runs over to me as fast as her chubby legs allow her to. “I missed you,” she says as she closes in on me, her arms held wide as she collapses into my embrace. Her childlike voice and sentence structure sends a wave of delight through me.
“Oh, sweet pea, I missed you too,” I declare as I swoop her up into my arms.
“Father told Auntie that I get to spend the whole day with you.” She pulls back and gives me a blinding smile.
“Is that right?’ I ask her as I send a questioning look to Jessia, wanting her to confirm the words that left my little girls lips.
“That’s right,” Jessia answers as Ella bobs her head up and down. Her energetic enthusiasm is contagious and I find myself gloating with the thought. Usually, I only get an hour or two, so the thought of an entire day makes my heart beat rapidly behind my rib cage.
“We’s gonna have so much fun!” My daughter claps her hands together as she issues this.
“That’s right, we are.” I never outright correct her verbiage, wanting her to learn from my spoken words instead of forcing her to mirror the words I say. I don’t want her to ever feel stupid or demeaned the way Stella and I were as children. She’s extremely smart for her age, and usually has the vocabulary of an older child, so these small slip ups that she has every once in a while, I let them go.
Stella and I could never do anything right in our parent’s eyes, and I want better than that for my girl.
She gets a B on her report card, I’m gonna celebrate the accomplishment with her. I won’t demand that she do better next time and turn that B into an A. I want to encourage her and celebrate all of her life’s feats. I want to help her reach her goals and support each and every whim.
She pulls me back over to the swing set where I spend the next twenty minutes pushing her and giggling right along with her.
This is what is precious about life.
Shamus
Last night I had a lengthy conversation with my club president, Gunner, and the other officers of the club. I had to lay the night’s activities out in the open much to Kruger’s disappointment and dismay. I know I’ll pay the price for touching his family, but it’s worth it to me in the long run.
Gunner and the others understood the predicament I found myself in, they didn’t scold me or issue out an
