Fighting your inner demon

The beginnings (Part 2)

I woke up in the hospital unknowing to time or day, my body tried to jump up in a panic about my kids, but I shut myself down, collapsed back down in a dizzy spell. April 15. I was unconscious for 2 weeks. I couldn't function properly, I had no motor skills, my hands trembled when I moved them, and my heart was constantly racing.
I went through interrogations. Unknowing to me I had audio recording on during the whole ordeal, there was camera footage of what happened in the parking garage, it was all the evidence they needed to convict Shadow. My kids got to visit thanks to my neighbor's help, but I felt awful for not being able to really talk to them. I suffered extreme brain damage. I had to go through a lot of recovery in the hospital before I could speak fluently again, testing, medicinal trials and more therapy before I got to leave. May 18th.
Insurance paid for a new car, and I was continued on my medical leave. I was prone to dizziness for some time, my neighbor helped with so much by getting home to my kids I collapsed down in their arms, the poor kids, scared and alone. He also got groceries for me and helped me with another issue I came across. I had extreme pain the in my abdomen immediately after I came home from the hospital, neither I nor the doctors knew I was pregnant. Trying to recover, struggling with the pain and struggling with raising my kids, I was constantly in and out of the doctor's office for this little one on the way. 2 weeks early I welcomed a very tiny little boy into the world, I named him Asra and remained by his side in the hospital until we were both cleared to go.
Some good news did come from all my suffering, they found and charged Shadow with aggravated assault, theft, kidnapping and rape. 50 years in prison with no bail, if he is actually good there is a small chance, he gets out in 40, he also received a lifetime restraining order against me and my kids. I steadily recovered from all the physical trauma and tried to focus on my kids, I eventually returned to work and dealt with more issues at work, my fun with coworkers sometime back grew into them becoming greedy, overhearing conversations of them saying that I'm and "Easy target." or "From all that brain damage she'll get with anyone who shows her attention."
 Long weeks of work gave to a 3-week vacation with my kids, I took them to the beach, an amusement park and a local park, coming back from the park Lara sat with me and started crying. My heart froze. I felt so much pain when any of my kids cried, I brushed back her beautiful cranberry-colored locks and wiped away her tears, she asked me if her birth parents ever even loved her.
"Honey... I know your parents loved you. From my understanding, they couldn't give you the life you deserved. So, they had to give you up. Look. When you turn 18, I can legally give you the information on your father and you can go from there, they never gave me details on your birth mother but I'm to understand they are still married. I know it'll be tough, but I will be with you every step of the way, I love you so much sweetheart."

6 YEARS LATER.

Lara was so sweet and so strong, I'd love to be with her when she gets to meet her parents, but this is something she wanted to do alone. Time ticked away and in a blink of an eye it was Lara's 18th birthday. So much had happen in that time, my girls remained very close, all of them loved each other unconditionally. I continued to deal with sexual harassment at work but to continue to live in good wealth with all my kids and fund everything they wanted to do I had to keep my silence which got me the huge increase in pay. I dealt with the constant stress of it but choked down so my kids would never have to worry.
This morning I woke up with anxiety, my daughter was going to leave and find her dad. She was graduated, has a license and a car, my heart was so full for her. We spent the day together doing whatever she wanted, just looking at how much my kids had all grown brought a tear to my eye. Lara was 18, Shade was 12, Seina was 11 and my baby boy Asra was 6.
 After her siblings went to bed, I got out her folder of info and sat down with her, my hand shook as i slid the folder across from me to her, I was scared something was going to happen to her. I wiped away my tears and held her hands with a shaky smile, trying to make her feel better about her journey.

"Momma? What if they don't like me? What if they DIDN'T ever want me? What if they don't remember me? Momma... They could be evil people and I could have been taken from them because of that. I can do this, but I am scared..."
My little girl was scared but didn't want to admit it, but mother's instinct told me she needed more support, I hugged her tightly and cried softly, trying to smile more through it for her.

"Honey don't think of the negatives. You are the sweetest girl in the world, they will like you and I told you they did this for your better health. Even if that isn't the truth... I wanted you. I will always want you to be a part of my family, you will always be my little girl. You are their blood daughter, it's hard to forget such a cute face like yours. If things get scary or awkward call me, I'll be there to help you out, okay? I'm not what I used to be but if I have to kick some ass to protect you I will sweetheart."
We hugged and went to bed, the morning left me feeling the emptiest I had in such a long time, Lara had already left to go find her birth father. I was so happy they wouldn't have to ever meet their biological father, I prayed they never really asked about him or asked for him to come near us. Once they turned 18, I can't stop what they do and it's up to them If they want to continue the restraining order, we have against him. I woke my kids up so that we may all enjoy the nice warm summer day and anxiously kept glancing at my phone hoping to hear from Lara.

I arrived at an average looking house outside of the city, it was rather small with a very clean lawn, a fairly nice car and looking at it, a rather nice neighborhood. It was very rural with a weak stench of farm animals, some people riding on bikes on the giant roads. The air somehow seemed much cleaner out here, something I think momma would really like.
I took a deep breath and knocked on the door, mom told me to be brave. This was an answer to my past and possible future, what if they were good people? What if they wanted to shower me in love and be a part of my life?
The door opened and standing before me was an extremely tall man, extremely buff, and messy dreadlocks that hung to his waist. His eyes were a burning blue violet purple, a 5'o clock shadow, and a bit of a stench of alcohol on him. Quickly glancing past him, I looked into his house that was completely filthy with trash, bottles and clothes everywhere. The house stunk like he washed his clothes once a month and reused the same milk for cereal for days. The furniture was worn and looked shredded from animals for years, some of it broken from what looked like fights. I exhaled and spoke. "Hello? Does a Knuckles Echidna live here?"