Finally Home

61. Tyler

Twentyone Pilots Frontman, Wife Under CPS Investigation

Columbus - Tyler and Jenna Joseph can't seem to catch a break.

Last October, the family was embroiled in a custody battle for their adopted daughter, Samantha, 16. Now the couple is under investigation from Child Protective Services.

The investigation stems from a recent hospital visit by the teenager. She had been returning from a trip to visit friends, when she had a seizure in the baggage claim area of the Columbus airport. The teenager was taken to hospital for observation.

It was there that the physician on call, Dr. Thomas Frank, noticed healed fractures on Samantha's skull. He did further imaging and found healed fractures of Samantha's ribs, right leg and right arm. Concerned about abuse, he got social services involved and the teenager and her two-year-old sister, the Joseph's biological daughter, were taken into care.

A spokesperson for the family states that the family is cooperating with authorities and are hoping to have the girls home soon.

For now, they are with a trusted guardian, having spent the first night away from the parents in a foster home.

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"Mom! Dad!" Samantha cried as we walked through the door of Josh's house. She came running up to us with Rosie in her arms.

Jenna took Rosie from Sam and I wrapped my daughter in the tightest hug I could. The four of us were crying.

"Are you two okay?" I asked Samantha.

"Yeah. But, I might have done something stupid," Sam said.

"What?"

"I let my blood sugar go low so that hopefully I'd wind up in the hospital. Rosie was supposed to have a huge tantrum so that they'd have to bring her to the hospital too. Then we were going to run away and come home to you."

I smiled a little, thinking about Sam's very flawed plan.

"It probably is better that didn't work out," I said.

"Why did they take us?" Samantha asked. "I don't understand."

"Neither do we. Nor does the social worker. You remember Jane, don't you?"

She waved at Samantha. Samantha looked at her. I couldn't read what was in her eyes. It wasn't hatred, but it certainly wasn't trust.

"Samantha, I'm working to get you and Rosie home as soon as possible. I don't fully understand what happened, but I know your family. I know your story. We will get this cleared up."

Samantha sniffed at her, not fully believing the social worker.

Jenna reached for Sam and handed me Rosie. I held Rosie as tight as I could and watched as Jenna wrapped Sam in a hug. Sam had her arms around Jenna, too. Both of them were crying.

Finally we all went into the living room. Sam sat between us, and Rosie sat in my lap, sucking her thumb. That was new.

"We didn't know whether to bring your Christmas presents or wait until you came home," I said.

"Keep them at home. I don't want to open presents unless it's at home," she said. "No offence, Uncle Josh."

"None taken," Josh said, smiling.

Jane was shaking her head.

"I just don't understand what that doctor was thinking," she murmured.

We chatted with the girls for a little while. Rosie was back to calling Samantha, SaSa and was sucking her thumb. In just a day she'd regressed from her confident toddler self to a clingy, scared toddler. She hadn't called Samantha SaSa in a while. I was devastated that this was happening but even more upset that Rosie was clearly not handling this well at all. The only saving grace was that she's had Sam with her all this time.

Jane told us we had to leave at the end of an hour. The girls cried, as did we. Rosie clung to Jenna and Sam clung to me.

"An hour isn't enough!" Sam cried.

"I'm sorry, Samantha," Jane said. "But we're only allotted an hour. We're going to get you two home soon. I promise."

Samantha clearly didn't believe Jane. I could see anger in her eyes. It was hidden just behind her fear.

"Sam, please," I whispered to her. "Don't make this harder than it already is. Behave, do what Uncle Josh tells you, and we'll see you soon. You're still allowed to text us."

I felt her nod into my shoulder. I held her at arm's length and wiped away a tear.

"Take care of Rosie, okay?"

Sam nodded and wiped her eyes with her sweatshirt.

We hugged the girls both again and left. Jenna was able to hold her composure until we got into the car. Then she broke down.

"Tyler, how do we get them home?" she cried.

"We cooperate. We let Jane fight for us. You know she will."

Jenna nodded as I started the car and drove away from Josh's house, tears falling silently from my eyes, blurring my vision. I kept wiping at my eyes.

As we pulled into our driveway, and into the garage, Jenna put her hand on mine before I shut the car off.

"If we lose them, if we lose them for good, I don't want to be here anymore."

"Jenna, you're not saying what I think you're saying, are you?"

"We can just pull the car into the garage and let it run,"

"Jenna, we have another baby on the way!" I said, shocked that this was something going through her mind.

"Which, if they take the girls from us permanently, they'll take this one, too," she said, tears coming faster now.

"Jenna, we aren't doing that. We aren't going to lose the girls."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because they'll see the medical records and see everything Sam's been through lines up with what we've been saying all along. It's going to be okay."

It felt weird being the optimistic one and having Jenna be the one in such a dark place. But I wouldn't let her get to that point again. We would get the girls back.

"Did you see Rosie's face when we left? Did you hear her calling Samantha 'SaSa' again? And when did she start sucking her thumb?" Jenna asked.

"I did, and I did. And I think that started when they were taken."

"I'm glad they're together. I'm glad they weren't separated, except when Samantha went to the hospital.

I nodded. For now we knew they were together and we knew they were safe. Knowing they were with Josh meant the world to us.