Three Years Later...
Rebecca watched her son and husband closely, the two had been inseparable CJ's entire life, so this was a strain on them both.
Rebecca saw her little girl yawn quietly as the crayon she held in her tiny hand dropped, and she looked at her with wide eyes, She didn't need to be sleeping this early in the night, or she would never sleep through the night.
"Alright, CJ.. time to go," Rebecca said as she stood up and grabbed her daughter's jacket.
"Do we have to?" CJ asked with a groan as he stood up
"Yes, you have school tomorrow, and we need to get home and get your homework done," She said as she crouched down to clasp the buttons closed on the jacket
"Yes," Rebecca nodded. "You have homework, and your sister is tired, and we have an hour's drive to get home."
"Listen to your mom," Colby said as he took his daughter from his wife and held her close. "Daddy loves you most," he said to the little girl as he kissed her head.
"Sawyer loves you mostest" the little girl pointed to herself
"Daddy loves you more than the mostest" he argued, and the little girl laughed
Rebecca watched her son hug his father tightly. Her daughter, Sawyer, held onto him until she was pried away from her father.
"I love you" she looked up at him as he wrapped his arms around her tightly.
"I love you" he nodded as he held her for one more second. "Forever."
"And ever and ever" she nodded against his chest, and he kissed her head
"Visiting hours are over, Lopez" Colby heard the voice from the corner of the room, and Rebecca pulled away to look at her husband, who was staring at the guard in the corner
"CJ," Colby said as he bent down to be eye level with his son, "Pay attention in school, listen to your mommy, and-"
"Protect Sawyer" CJ completed the list for him, and he nodded and placed another kiss on his son's head
"Good boy," he nodded as he stood up
"We'll see you next week," Rebecca said as she gently pushed her children out of the room.
"Next week," Colby said with a nod as he held his hands out for the officer to place the cuffs on them.
As she walked out of the building, Rebecca quickly wiped the tears from her eyes to keep herself from breaking down in front of her children.
She was taking her children home, but at the same time, she was leaving half of her heart in that prison.
"Mommy.." CJ looked up at her as they walked to the car, and she looked down at him. "How much longer until daddy comes home?"
"We're six months into it, baby," she said with a nod. "We've still got a while to go."
She never told her kids what their father did, and she never said to them that he hurt anyone, much less that he killed his brother.
Her kids were traumatized enough from watching their father get arrested. She wasn't about to add to that with how long they had.
Six months down.
Six Years to go.
