Stolen Lullaby

Journey to Heaven

*One Year Later*

Carol stood in front of a judge in a Connecticut courtroom wearing a plain blue dress dotted with white flowers her hands demurely clasped in front of her. It had been a little over a year of hard work to play the part of an attentive patient who was open to mental improvement and grief counselling. Throughout the countless hours of counselling and group activities Carol bided her time by reminding herself that each monotonous conversation and soul searching confessional moment she tolerated was bringing her one stop closer to freedom and thus one step closer to being reunited with Sophie. Steve still visited her nearly every day, though she had grown to distrust him there was still a need to have him on her side. Today like every day before he still showed up for as she prepared to hear from the judge whether or not she'd be granted her freedom. When the judge began to read her statement Carol waited with cautious optimism that her hard work had paid off.

"Mrs. Collins I want to commend you on the tremendous progress on your treatment and focus on bettering your mental health. Based on reports from the mental facility and your counselors I am more than confident that you're safe to return home so long as you continue outpatient therapy. Though I am clearing you to go home there are still restrictions that you must abide by. You are to have zero contact with the Alwyn or Swift families nor their associates, you are not permitted to travel outside of the country at this time, if you travel between states your parole officer and therapist must be notified." After the restrictions were read out and paperwork was signed Carol was free to go. Compared to the last time they were in court there were refreshingly so few reporters or photographers milling outside the courthouse that her and Steve easily breezed past them to their car.

Steve felt lighter than he had in years, Carol was happy and laughed easily with him. It truly felt like he had the woman he knew and loved had returned to him. While they were driving back home she even suggested that they stop to get some lunch at one of the local spots they used to love. As they enjoyed the breeze from their patio table it felt like it was the true start to next chapter of their lives.

When they returned home Carol let out a deep sigh of appreciation as Steve opened their front door inviting her inside. Putting her bags down in the living room she felt something had changed about her surroundings. As she recognized what was different about the interior of the house was as if a switch flipped in Carol's joyful demeanor. Almost all of the photos of Sophie that had decorated every inch of their living space were missing. Steve had opted to keep a few of them but the vast majority had been packed and given to Taylor and Joe. In fact Steve had gone to great lengths to return their house to the same state it had been before Sophie had come to live with them as an infant.

"Where is everything?!" Carol screamed at Steve as she rushed from room to room taking mental inventory of everything that was gone. Going into Sophie's now empty bedroom sent her into a blind rage. Steve had dis-assembled the furniture and donated it to the Goodwill as well as her clothes and toys. What was once a little girl's room was now back to being a plain guest room, even the pink walls were painted over to a garish beige.

"What have you done?!" Carol charged at Steve. He knew that she was going to be upset at seeing that most of the photos and items related to Sophie were gone but he wasn't sure to what extent her agitation would escalate. It might have been his optimism blinding him but he had hoped that the counselling would have taught her coping skills to help calm down when she was upset.

"I know this is a big change and you're upset right now but I talked to your therapist and she agreed that keeping reminders of Sophie to a minimum would be beneficial for your recovery." Steve was trying his best to remain measured and sensitive but this only seemed to set Carol off even more.