| Chapter 2: Kid From Nowhere.... I woke up to the phone ringing. I put on my pants and picked it up. "Hello?" I said groggily. "Mr. Littrell." I heard a voice. "Officer Norris, have you found anything on Carla?" I asked. Leigh woke up and held my hand. I smiled at her. "Not a thing. It's like the kid doesn't have an identity." he said. "She must. Kids don't just appear out of nowhere." I said. "I wouldn't be surprised these days." he said. "Yeah, okay. Call me as soon as you find someone." I said as I hung up the phone. I sighed. "What's wrong?" Leigh asked as she hugged me. "No leads." I said. "Don't worry about it." she whispered. She kissed my cheek. I turned around and returned the favor. "I'm hungry." I heard a little voice. I turned to see Carla in the door. I sighed. "Pancakes?" I asked. She smiled her grin with one tooth missing from the top front. I got up and took her hand. Leighanne sighed and fell back on the bed. I heard Jesse cry. "Go to sleep." I said to Leigh. "I got Jesse." I smiled. "Thank you." she whispered. I went into Jesse's room and picked her up. "Shhh, come on, breakfast time." I said as I hushed her. She girggled and laughed. I kissed her on the head and took Carla's hand. I set her on a stool in front of the kitchen counter. She sat there quietly and watched me. I put the batter in the pan with Jesse in my arm facing out. I handed her a bottle. She held it and drank it. When the pancakes were done I set her in her high chair and gave Carla some pancakes. I poured her some milk and went to Jesse to break up a plain pancakes and feed it to her. I turned around a few minutes later to see Carla standing right next to me. "All done, thank you." she said. There wasn't a hint of even surup on her plate. "Wow you were hungry weren't you?" I said shocked. She nodded. "Would you like to help me feed Jesse?" I asked. She nodded. "Okay, take this pancake and break a small piece off." she did so and looked at me. "Now, hand it to Jesse." I said. She offered the food to Jesse and she took it. Carla laughed. "You like doing this?' I asked. She nodded. "Alright, looks like I got a new babysitter." I said. I was startled by a hand on my shoulder. Leigh kissed me and smiled. "Morning sexy." she smiled. "Morning honey." I said. She looked at Carla as she fed Jesse. "Good job Carla." she said. Carla looked at Leigh and frowned. "What's wrong?" I asked. "Mommy?" she asked. "Oh, no sweetheart." she said as she crouched down to her level. Carla went up to her and hugged her tight. Leigh was taken by surprise. She hugged her back. She looked at me. I smiled. "I think she likes you." I said. "Would you like to go shopping for some new clothes?" she asked. She nodded and smiled. Leigh laughed. "We'll all go to the mall." I said. We got ready and headed to a kids clothing store. I sat outside the store on a bench feeding Jesse a soft pretzel. She was sitting in a baby pack for putting her on my back. She laughed as I made a funny noise. "Brian, we're back." I heard Leigh. Carla ran up to me and hugged me. I looked as she was wearing a puppy shirt and a skirt with flowers. "Do I look pretty daddy?" she asked as she twirled around. "Beautiful." I said. She laughed. "I'm hungry." she said. "What are you like going through a growth spurt?" I asked. She looked at me with a wondering face. "Never mind, come on." I said. I put Jesse on my back and we got her some food. I gave Carla a dollar and sent her to the merry-go-round. I sat with Jesse on my lap. "She was into whatever I asked her to try on." Leigh said. "It's like she doesn't think for herself, she just copies whatever is around her." "I wonder where she came from. All this kid eats is pancakes." I said. I looked over and waved to her as she went by on the horse. "What if they don't find her parents?" Leigh asked. I shrugged. "We'll have to put her in a foster home." I suggested. "No, we can't do that." Leigh said. "You want to take full responsibility for her?" I asked. "If you want to." she said. I smiled at her. "Okay, we'll talk about it." I said. Jesse began to cry. "I better take her to change her. I'll be right back." she said. I waved to Jesse and handed Leigh the diaper bag. I watched as the ride stopped and Carla got off. I greeted her and put her on my lap. "So, where did you come from?" I asked. She pointed up. "The sky?" I asked. She nodded. "Oh, so who's your mommy and daddy?" I asked. She pointed to me. "Who was your first daddy?" I asked. She pointed to me again. "Right, how would you like to go visit a new kid?" I asked. She nodded vigorously. "Okay, let's go get Leigh and Jesse." I said. "Mommy and baby." she smiled. "Right." I said. I held her hand and we walked towards the restroom as Leighanne walked out with a happy Jesse. "Carla and I were thinking of going to visit Uncle Nick, and Aunt Ariel." I said. "You said new baby." Carla said. "Yes Carla, and they have a baby named Jacob." Leigh said. I took Jesse out of Leigh's hands and put her in the carrier. "Goodie." she said. Leigh took her hand and we walked out to our mini van. I popped down the TV screen and put in The Little Mermaid DVD. Carla said that she's never seen the movie. I drove into Nick's driveway and knocked on the door. "Hey Brian, hi Leighanne." Nick greeted us. "Who's this?" Nick asked. "This is Carla." I said. Ariel followed behind with two month old Jacob. "Hi Jake." I said as I put my finger in his hand. He automatically wrapped his hand around my finger. "Can I see the baby?" Carla asked. "Sure." Ariel bent down to her level. "Who's kid is she?" Nick asked. I shrugged. "That's the weird thing. Leigh and I were at the park with Jesse and all of a sudden she came up and hugged me saying keep me safe, over and over again. We called the police and they couldn't find out where her parents were or where she came from." I said as we walked over to the fridge. "That's odd." he said. I nodded. "We've decided to take care of her until they find her parents." I said as Nick handed me a coke. "What if they don't find her parents, are you going to adopt her?" Nick asked. "We're going to talk about that." I said as I opened the can. "So, how's the new addition?" I asked. "Oh, he's wonderful. I swear, yesterday, I saw him smile at me." He said. "Aww." I said like a girl. "Shut up man." Nick punched my shoulder lightly. "I know. Remember how we used to be all tough and rebellious?" I asked. "Yeah, then we got married and had kids." he laughed. "We knew this was coming." I laughed. Nick nodded. "You look tired." Nick said examining my eyes. "Little." I admitted. "Why don't you go home with Leighanne, and Ariel and I will take Carla and Jesse." Nick suggested. "Naw, that's too much to handle." I shook my head. "Leigh wouldn't approve." I said. "Then tell her that I wanted to take them because Ariel and I wanted to see if we could handle more kids." Nick said. I looked at him. "Come on, you deserve some time alone." he said. "Yeah, okay." I nodded with a smile. "But you have to at least let me take Jacob one night for you." I said. "Sounds like a deal my friend." Nick smirked. "Okay, thanks a lot man. If you have any trouble at all, don't hesitate to call." I said. "Dude, just get out." he laughed. "Right." I put down my soda and walked up to Leighanne. She was feeding Jesse. "Come on, we're going." I said. "Why?" she asked. "Nick decided to take Jesse and Carla for the night." I smiled. "We can't do that to them, they already have a two month old that cries all the time." she said. "No, that's just it, they wanted to see if they could handle more children." I smiled. "I don't know." she said a little nervous. "Leighanne." I said. She looked at me. "Come on. Besides, I promised Nick that we would take Jacob some time." "But what if they have problems?" she asked. "I told them not to hesitate to call." I said in almost a whisper. She looked at me and sighed. I leaned in kissed her. "Please." I smiled at her. She smiled back. "Okay." she nodded. I picked up Jesse and brought her to Nick. "Okay bro, uh, wait, where's Carla?" he asked. "Daddy, I'm out here!" she exclaimed from the backyard. "I'm playing with Aunt Ariel and Baby Jacob." she smiled. "Oh, that's great sweetheart, but right now Mommy and I are going to go home. You're going to have a sleep over at Uncle Nick's house." I said trying to get her excited. Her face went from excited to scared. "What's wrong?" I asked her. "No, keep me safe." she said as she hugged my leg and cried. I looked at Nick. "Maybe this isn't a good idea." I said. "Oh, no come on. Hey, Carla, what's your favorite thing to do?" Nick asked. She looked at him. "Being with my mommy, daddy and baby sister." she said as she wiped away her tears. "Nick, I'm taking her home, thanks anyways." I said. "No man, come on. Hey, do you wanna make something special? We got mac & cheese, and spaghetti, and pancakes, and...." Nick began to ramble. "Pancakes?" her face lit up. "Yeah, you like pancakes?" Nick asked. She nodded vigorously. "Daddy, would it be okay if I stayed with Uncle Nick tonight?" she asked. "Sure. We'll be back in the morning." I smiled. "Yay, my first sleep over." she smiled. "Okay, here's the diaper bag and we'll be back early enough to get Carla home to get dressed." I said. "Thanks again." I thanked Nick. "Anytime Brian." he smiled. I went into the other room and got Leighanne. "Come on." I smiled. She giggled and followed me. I drove us home and pulled up in the driveway. Leighanne laughed as I picked her up and brought her in our house. I carried her upstairs as I kissed her. I wasn't watching where I was going. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 3: Terrible Mistake.... Next thing I knew, I tripped on something. Leighanne and I both fell down about ten stairs. Leighanne fell ontop of me. "Oww!" she yelled. I slid out from underneath her. "Oh my, are you okay sweetheart?" I asked. "My leg really hurts." she said as tears streamed down her face. "Figures. I messed this up." I said as I shook my head. "Come on, I'll take you to the hospital." I said. "Could you please not carry me?" she asked. I nodded. I helped her up and she hopped on one leg and leaned on me when we got to the car. "God, I feel so bad." I said as I drove. Leigh looked at me. "Don't worry, you were trying to make it a special night." she said sympathetically. "Yeah, but I messed it up." I shook my head. She leaned in and kissed my cheek. "Just shut up and drive." she said. I nodded. We arrived at the Hospital and they did x-rays to see if she broke her leg. Of course with my luck, she did. They put her in a cast. We didn't get home until about 3 in the morning. I sighed as Leigh and I walked into the house, Leigh in crutches of course. She sat down on our bed after a few minutes of figuring out a way for her to get up the stairs without me carrying her. "Are you comforatable?" I asked. She nodded and smiled. I sat next to her and hugged her. "Brian." she whispered. I looked at her. "We still got 4 hours." she smiled. I leaned in and kissed her. About the third kiss, the phone rang. "Who would call at this hour?" I asked. I picked up the phone. "Hello?" I asked. "Brian, I really hate to call you at this time but I thought that I'd just inform you that Carla fell down the stairs and broke her leg." Nick said. I could hear an announcement over the phone at the hospital. "What leg?" I asked. "Uh, right." he said. I looked at Leigh's. It was also the right. "Oh God, Leigh broke her leg falling down the stairs too, we just got back from the hospital." I said. "And she broke her right leg too." I said. "Dude, this is way to weird." Nick said. "Okay, I'll come over to get Jesse and Carla." I said. "I could hold them overnight." Nick said. "Naw, there's no point." I said. "I"ll meet you there." I said as I hung up the phone. "What's wrong?" Leigh asked. I kissed her forehead. "Stay here, Carla fell down the stairs and broke her right leg...just like you." I said. "That's weird." Leigh said. "Yeah, I'll be back, don't go anywhere." I joked. "Very funny." she made a sarcastic laugh. I got in the van and drove back up to the hospital. I followed directions from the head nurse to where Carla was. I walked into the room as the doctor was finishing up putting a cast on her leg. "Hey Nick, is she okay?" I asked as I looked at her and combed through her hair with my fingers. "Yeah." he said. The doctor looked at me. "Are you her father?" he asked. "Yes." I said unconciously. "She'll have to stay in the cast for 6 weeks and then you have to bring her back to get it x-rayed and hopefully take the cast off." I nodded and looked at Carla. "Ready to go home?" I asked. She nodded. The doctor showed her how to use her crutches and we took her and Jesse home. "Thanks Nick." I said as we left. "No problem." he said as he met up with Ariel and we left. When I got back, Leiganne was asleep. Jesse had fallen asleep in the car and so did Carla. I picked up Jesse and put her in her crib really quick. I walked back to the van and picked up Carla. The cast she was wearing was almost 3 times the width of her leg. I carefully laid her down with a pillow under her foot and went back into my room where Leigh was sleeping. I walked up to the bed and carefully got in under the covers. "Is she okay?" I heard a tired voice. "Yeah." I said as Leighanne turned to me. "How's the leg?" I asked. "It's okay." she shrugged. "Two broken legs, a baby and a job. Great combo." I sighed. "I'm sorry." she said. "Don't be. I caused all of this anyways." I said as I kissed her. "Goodnight." I said. "Night baby." she said as she closed her eyes. ********************************************** I woke up as the bed was moving a little. I heard Jesse cry. I rubbed eyes and looked as Leigh was trying to get up. "What are you doing?" I asked as I got up. "I was going to get Jesse." she said. "No get back in bed." I instructed. "I got her." I sighed. "I was trying to help you." she said. "Yeah I know. Thanks, but you have to rest." I said as I kissed her cheek. I got up and walked into Jesse's room and picked her up. I held her and hushed her. I noticed a nasty odor. "THAT'S why you were crying." I said. I quickly changed her diaper and sang her to sleep. I gently set her back in her crib and heard a faint call. "Daddy." I heard coming from Carla's room. I walked into her room. "What's wrong Carla?" I asked sleepily. "I'm hungry." she said. "Carla, it's 3 in the morning, you'll have to wait till breakfast." I said as I sat on the edge of the bed. She put her head down. "Can I have some water?" she asked. "Yeah, okay." I said. I got her a drink of water and put it on the nightstand. "Can you sing me to sleep?" she asked. "Carla, it's late." I said. She looked down and sad. I couldn't say no to that. "Okay. What song?" I said. "Um, how about..." she tapped her finger on her cheek. "Like a Child." she said. "Okay. Wait, how did you know about that song?" I asked. She just looked at me and smiled. I didn't want to argue, it was late, so I just began to sing some of the chorus. "Girl don't stop, the sun from shining down on me, 'cause I can't face another day without your smile, and if you take away the lovin' arms, the suit around me, then I might break down and cry, just like a child." I sang. I looked as her eyes were closing. "Night Carla." I whispered. "Goodnight Daddy." she said. I walked out of the room and shut the door halfway. It kind of melted my heart to hear her call me daddy. I smiled and went to bed. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 4: The Big Decision.... "Brian, wake up." I heard. "What's wrong?" I asked as I sat up. "Hey, calm down. I was just going to say that you have a meeting today." Leigh said. "Oh, right. I'm up." I said. I rubbed my eyes. I helped Leighanne get up and dressed. "I don't know what we're going to do with Carla and Jesse while you're here?" I said. "I'll manage." she said. She gave me a morning kiss. "Maybe I could take them with me to the meeting." I suggested. "Brian, why don't you take Jesse and I'll hang out with Carla?" Leigh suggested. I nodded. I went and woke up Jesse and fed her breakfast. I got her dressed and handed her over to Leigh while I got ready. I was careful not to wake Carla up. I walked back in with a harness to carry Jesse in. I gave Leigh a kiss goodbye and we left. I drove to JIVE records to talk about starting to record a new album for this fall. I walked in and talked to the secretary. "Oh you brought Jesse." she said. "Yes I did Ms. Robin." I smiled. "Well, Mr.Packend is on the seventh floor waiting." she said. I thanked her and got in the elevator. I yawned as Jesse looked at me and smiled. I kissed her on the head as I saw her yawn. I craddled her head as she leaned against me and began to fall back asleep. I walked into the room. I saw Kevin getting a cup of coffee and Aj and Howie already sitting down. "Hey Brian, you brought Jesse." Kevin said. "Yeah, Leigh and Carla both broke the same leg last night." I explained. "Yeah, Nick told me all about Carla, so are you and Leigh adopting her?" he asked. "We want to." I said. "Haven't really had enough time to talk about it." I sighed. I yawned. "You looked tired. Let me take Jesse." Kevin held out his hands. I sighed. I gentley picked up Jesse and gave Kevin the harness and placed her in there facing him so she stayed asleep. Kevin put his coffee on the table and I put her diaper bag next to me. I sat down as Nick walked in. "Hey Brian." he said out of breath. "Why are you out of breath?" Kevin asked. "I ran up the stairs." he said. "You do know that there is an elevator right?" Aj said noticing Nick. Nick nodded. "Then why the heck did run up the stairs?" I asked. "Elevator was too slow." he shrugged. "Nick, you're such a dork." Howie complained. "Love you too Howie." Nick smiled. Aj and I started laughing. Howie started sarcastically laughing. "Very funny." he rolled his eyes. We began the meeting and got out three hours later. We all got the elevator at the same time. I took Jesse from Kevin and she woke up and cried. I hushed her and gave her a bottle. She didn't want it. We got to the lobby and I put a pacifier in her mouth and she kept quiet. All the guys left except for Kevin. He walked with me to my van. "Why don't I come over and help you?" Kevin suggested. "It's okay." I said as Jesse began to cry again. "Quit being so stubborn, I'm coming with you." he insisted. "You're not going to leave me alone are you?" I asked. "No, I'm your cousin, and I'm older so you have to listen." he smirked. "Yeah yeah yeah." I said as I put Jesse in her carseat. I got in and Kevin followed me home. I pulled up and got Jesse out of the car. I walked in with Kevin. I handed her to Kevin. He took her and walked into the kitchen. I walked up to Carla's room but she was gone. I walked into my bedroom but Leighanne wasn't there. "Leigh!" I called. "She's down here." Kevin replied. I ran downstairs and saw her and Carla on the couch watching cartoons. I sat next to Leigh and kissed her. "Have fun?" I asked. "Oh yes." she said. I looked at Carla. "I'm hungry Daddy." she said. Kevin handed Jesse to me. "I'll get her something to eat." he said. "Thanks." I said as I took Jesse in my arms. "Pancakes please." Carla said. "Who's he mommy?" Carla asked. "That's your Uncle Kevin." Leighanne said. "Can I go watch him cook?" she asked. I got up and handed Jesse to Leigh. I carefully picked Carla up and took her in with Kevin. I came back in and set Jesse on her activity blanket and her bottle. She began to play. "So, are we keeping Carla?" I asked. "I think we should." Leigh said. "Yeah, me too." I smiled. "Okay, we'll call the adoption agency tomorrow." Leigh said as she kissed me. I hugged her as we watched Jesse. "How's the leg?" I asked. "Eh." she shrugged. I reached into my pocket and pulled out a Sharpie pen and crouched down to her leg. "What are you doing?" she asked. I smiled and began to write on her cast. She looked at it and read it outloud. "Leighanne, I love you so much, love Brian (the biggest clutz)." she read. "Oh Brian, come here." she said. She gave me a kiss. "I love you too." she whispered in my ear. I smiled at her. Kevin came in. "Need anything else?" he asked. I shook my head. "Thanks Kev." I said. "See you in a week." he said. I forgot. Kevin left. "Oh shoot, I forgot to tell you. We leave in a week for New York City." I said. "Oh, so you are doing the new album." she smiled. "Yup, and everyone gets to come." I said. I heard a clunk. I walked into the kitchen as I saw Carla practicing walking on her crutches. "Good job Carla." I said. "I can do this Daddy." she said. I smiled at her and kissed her on the head. "How would you like for us to be your new Mommy and Daddy?" I asked her. "But you are already." she said. "Yeah, maybe but we're going to adopt you, so we get to keep you forever and ever." I said. "You'll keep me safe forever and ever?" she asked. I looked at her and smiled. "Yup." I said. "Promise?" she asked. "Promise." I whispered. She finally reached the livingroom where Leigh and Jesse were. I helped her avoid hitting Jesse who was still playing on the floor. "Mommy, Daddy said that you were going to adopt me." she said excitedly. "Yes we are Carla." she smiled and carefully placed her on her lap. "One big family." she smiled and hugged Leighanne. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 5: A Real Family.... I woke up early because I heard Jesse cry. I gave her a bottle and brought her into our room. I woke up Leigh. "Wake up baby." I said. She opened her eyes. I showed Jesse to her. "Hello Jesse." she said tiredly. She took her from my hands. "We have to go to social services to adopt Carla." I said. "Okay, could you go get Carla ready?" she asked. I gave Leigh the harness to hold Jesse in as she got up and ready. I went into Carla's room. I woke her up. "Wake up Carla." I said quietly. She yawned and streched out. "Are we going to be a family today?" she asked as she rubbed her eye. "Yes we are, come on, I'll help you get ready." I said. I picked out an outfit and got her dressed. I brought her into our room and picked up Leigh's brush. I sat her on the bed with Jesse crawling on the floor. Leigh was brushing her teeth in the bathroom that was attached to our bedroom. I began to brush Carla's hair and braide it. Leigh came out of the bathroom on her crutches and stook next to us. "Mommy, what does it say on your cast?" she asked. "Oh, it's a note from Daddy." she said. She tried to sound it out. "Leighanne, I l-love you so m-much, love B-Brian (the b-biggest cl-cl-)" she couldn't finish. "Clutz." I finished it. "What's a clutz daddy?" she asked. "A very silly person." Leigh smiled. "That's me." I smiled at her. ******************************************** We went to the agency and as of 1:38, we have been a family. We took Carla home with us and called all of our friends for a party. Aj and his wife Sarah, were the first to arrive. "Hey Aj." I said as I opened the door. Sarah was about 7 months pregnant with their first child. "Hi B-rok." he said. "Daddy, who's here?" Carla asked as she stepped into the foyer slowly getting used to crutches. "Carla, this is Uncle Aj and Aunt Sarah." I introduced her. "Why is your tummy so big?" she asked. Aj laughed. Sarah hit him. "Because I'm going to have a baby." she smiled. "Oh." Carla began to make her way to the livingroom. "Come on in." I said. Aj was still laughing a little. "Shut up, it's your fault." I heard Sarah whisper. "I'm sorry." he said as he kissed her on the cheek. Next to arrive was Nick, Ariel, and Jacob. Kevin and Kristin arrived with their 2 year old son, Chris. Last was Howie with his newly-wed/pregnant wife, Tracy. Carla loved being the center of attention. She could talk with her new family forever. I heard a knock at the door. I excused myself and held Jesse as I opened the door. There stood a man and woman. The man was about 30 or so and the woman looked around late 20's. "Can I help you?" I asked. "Do you have our Carla?" the woman asked. My heart stopped. "How do you know about Carla?" I asked. "She's our daughter." the man said. I swallowed hard. "Come in for a moment." I said quietly. They walked in and looked about the house as I led them to the livingroom. "What's your name?" I asked. "Oh, I'm John Freeman and this is my wife Mary." he said as he took off his baseball cap. "Hello, I'm Brian Littrell." I introduced myself. "Carla is in here, and that's my wife Leighanne sitting next to her." I said. They walked in and looked at their daughter. "Carla." I said. She looked over at me. Her eyes bulged out. "Hi Carla." John said. "Carla, my baby." Mary said as she began to cry. "No, no, mommy, keep me safe, you promised we'd be a family." she whispered as she hugged Leigh. I looked at the Freeman's. "Carla, is this your mommy and daddy?" I asked. She shook her head no. "You're my daddy, and this is my mommy, see, we're a family now." she said angrily as she cried. "Don't make me go." she whispered. Howie took Jesse out of my hands. "Maybe you folks should talk." Kevin said. He went to pick up Carla. "Come on, we'll go play a game upstairs." he smiled at her. Kevin and Kristin took Carla and Chris upstairs while Howie and Tracy took Jesse upstairs. Nick and Ariel followed Aj and Sarah into the kitchen. They said that they smelled something burning. I knew that was a lie. I was curious about these people who call themselves parents. I pulled up a couple of chairs for them as I sat next to Leigh. "I'm sorry I don't understand." Leigh said. "Well, I'm John Freeman and this is my wife Mary. We lost Carla a few days ago in the park." John said. "But Mr. Freeman, we just adopted Carla. She wasn't willing to give her last name to have you found." I said. "Yes we know, she's been acting weird like that." Mary said. "I'm just curious why Carla wouldn't want to be with you." Leigh said. "She's just a kid, she doesn't know any better." John said with his low voice. I don't think that was the reason. I knew that Carla wouldn't just run away from loving parents, if they were so loving. "I'm sorry Mr. Freeman, but we adopted Carla, and I can't let you have her until I see proof of some sort that she is your daughter." I said. "But we just told you, we only lost her for a while. She was playing." Mary said. "Yes, I'm sure of that, but you can't just break us up, we're officially a family." Leigh said. "But she's part of our family." John said. "You can't take her." I said. "Don't you know what it's like to loose a child, do you know how hard it was for us to face the fact that we lost her?!" Mary said angrily. My eyes began to water as I thought back to the past. Yeah, I knew what it was like. I only turned my head for a moment. And he was gone. My first born, gone. He had just learned how to crawl. Matthew was sitting in his little wadding pool next to our inground one. I heard the phone ring and went inside to retrieve it. I came back to find Matthew face down in the inground pool, blue. I cried as he looked at me. "Yes I do John. Don't tell me that. I do know what it's like to loose a child. Because of my ignorance, I lost my son Matthew." I cried. Leigh hugged me and kept her hand on my back. I looked at the tears that fell down her cheeks. "And, it was the hardest thing I had to live with." I said. Mary sighed deeply. I looked at them. "Take Carla." I said quietly. I closed my eyes. "Brian, what are you doing?" Leigh asked. "She has to go with her family." I said. John and Mary both went upstairs and got Carla. "No!" Carla screamed. There wasn't much I could do, they were her parents. "Daddy, you promised, you promised to keep me safe, DADDY!" Carla cried as they took her away. They put her in the car and drove off. I sat on the stairs and cried. Leigh followed close behind. Everyone came out. "Brian, I'll take Jesse tonight." Howie said as he put his hand on my shoulder. "Call if you need us." I heard Ariel say to Leigh. They all left. "What have I done?" I asked. "You gave Carla to her real parents." Leigh said as she hugged me. "She didn't want to go." I cried. "I know." Leigh said as she held me tighter. "I've just lost Matthew and Carla." I said. "No you didn't. Her parents would have come sooner or later, and what happened to Matthew was an accident." Leigh said as she began to cry. "I want to find out why she didn't want to leave." I said. Leighanne nodded and kissed my forehead. I heard a static noise. I looked behind me. I saw a walkie-talkie sitting on the stair behind me. I heard John's voice. "You better not run away again." John said. I sat there and listened. Carla left one with us. "I wanna go back." she cried. "You're not going back." Mary said harshly. "You didn't tell them about the drugs did you?" John asked. There was silence. "Did YOU?" he asked. "No." Carla said. "You young lady are going to get beaten so hard when we get back to the apartment." Mary said. "Where?" Carla asked. "Good girl." I said outloud. "Are you stupid, the apartment on Oak Street, you've been there a hundred times." John said. "Leigh, we have to go." I said. Leigh nodded her head. We got in the car and sped off towards Oak. Leigh kept listening to the conversation. Before long we arrived at the appartment. But which room was she in? "Room, 296." Carla read. I listened closer. "Yeah, don't be an idiot Carla." John said. "Ow, you're hurting me." Carla yelled. "Shut up." Mary said. "Okay, now where's the paper?" John asked. There was silence. "Tell me you little -." he stopped. I heard a slap. I left Leigh in the car with the walkie-talkie and walked inside. The place was a dump. There were toys and trash everywhere in the hallway. I could hear them around the corner. I had nothing to defend myself. I looked down at a toy. It looked just like a gun. I picked it up. It was a water gun. I picked it up. I walked around the corner. "Let Carla go!" I yelled. Mary and John put their hands in the air. "Okay, take it easy." John said. "Why are you tramatizing my little girl?" Mary asked. "You should talk, what paper are you looking for?" I asked. They gasped. Carla kicked John and did her best to get to me. I took her walkie-talkie. "Leigh, I have Carla, get my cell, it's in the glove compartment and call the police." I said. "Okay." she said back. "Is Carla okay?" she asked. "Yeah." I said. My heart was racing and I was sweating. I set Carla down. "Don't move." I whispered to her and kissed her forehead. She nodded. "Open the door." I said. They just stood there. "OPEN IT!" I demanded. John slowly took out a key and opened the door. I told them to stand in a corner and stay there. I looked at all the bags of white powder. It must have been cocaine. I heard the sirenes. "How could you do this to a little girl?" I asked. I looked around, there was a safe. "What's in the safe?" I asked. They just stared at me. "What's in the safe?" I asked as I pointed the water gun at them. "Money." John said. His breathing rate increased. "How much?" I asked. "A couple million." Mary said. "Why did you need Carla so bad?" I asked. They looked at each other. "Either way you're going to jail, just tell me why." I said as I took a step towards them. "She has the combo on a piece of paper she took from me." John said. "I didn't see any paper when she came up to me." I said. I heard stomping up the stairs. "Daddy, there are police here." Carla said. The police came in and arrested John and Mary. I sighed. Once they were in cuffs I went up to them. "You were afraid of a water gun." I laughed. "Don't ever touch my daughter again." I said angrily. I picked up Carla and hugged her tight. "I love you Carla." I cried. "I love you too daddy." she said as she wrapped her arms around my neck. I heard a bell ring. I looked towards the elevator to see Leighanne. She came up to us and hugged Carla real tight. "Mommy, now can we be a family?" Carla asked. "Yes Carla." she cried. ********************************************* *six weeks later* Leigh and Carla were able to get their casts off. We were at the hospital. I took Jesse in with us. I watched as Leighanne could stand up on her own and walk around. She picked up Jesse and hugged her. Next was Carla. Once they finally got the cast off, the doctor picked up a piece of paper. "What's this?" he asked. I took the paper from him and opened it up. There was a bunch of numbers on it. "It's the combo." Carla said. "You hid it in your cast?" Leigh asked. Carla nodded. "Good girl." I smiled. We all went home, but not without handing the paper to the police. John and Mary were sentenced to 15 years in prison without bail and a restrait order. |