Her Little Helper

Chapter 25

*Savannah's POV*

Lunch was going smoothly. Erin and Molly seemed to be getting along, though Molly was still quite shy around her, which was to be expected. However, she seemed more comfortable around Erin than I thought she would be. Dina and I purposely sat them beside each other, which proved to be a good decision. 

I had made mac and cheese for the littles, hoping that more of a childish meal would coax Molly's little side out a bit more for Erin to see. It seemed to be working, as she was making quite the mess of her food.

"Sweetheart, you have cheese all over your face!" Erin said in her playfully bossy tone. "Can I wipe it for you?"

Molly nodded with a small pout, giving Erin permission to wipe the girl's face with her napkin. As expected, Molly immediately regretted her decision as she wiggled and struggled away from Erin's wipes, whining when the woman was finally able to clean her face. Dina and I couldn't help but laugh as Abigail wiped her own mouth in order to avoid us doing the same thing to her. 

Once we finished lunch, I cleaned up quickly and made my way into the living room where Dina and Erin were playing with the girls. Much to my delighted surprise, Molly was sitting right in Erin's lap while they had a tea party around the coffee table.

"We just had lunch and it's already tea party time?" I asked sarcastically, walking over and taking a seat on the floor beside Dina, who had Abigail sitting in her lap. 

"Mama," Abigail said with a pompous little attitude. "It's always tea party time."

"Oh well excuse me." I said sarcastically, rolling my eyes playfully at Erin and Dina who were laughing at her comment. 

With that, we heard a knock at the door.

Walking over, I opened the door and gasped at the sight. Standing there, with two tall, muscular men on either side of him, was Samuel Baxter.

"Hello Savannah." Samuel said with faux decency. "May we come in?" 

He barely finished the question before him and his men stepped foot into the apartment.

"Samuel, what the fuck are you doing here?" I asked, walking backwards in order to stay between the men and my family. 

"Please Savannah, you know exactly why I'm here." He said back, almost painfully. "Where is she?"

"What the fuck is going on out here?!" Yelled Dina, who had stormed out into the foyer from the living room. She froze in shock at the sight of the three men standing in front of me. 

"Ah, hello there." Samuel said in his clear insincerity. "Donna, was it?" 

My partner was clearly already enraged by his sight.

"It's Dina, jackass. Now what the fuck are you doing in our house?" She said, taking a step in between me and Samuel. 

"Oh, is it our house now?" Samuel said, attempting to belittle her. "I forgot, a fucking preschool teacher can afford a place like this."

"How the fuck do you know what I do?" Dina asked, her voice giving away that she was seconds away from punching Samuel's face in. 

"Oh please, you don't think I have eyes on all of you." Samuel said with a vile chuckle. "How do you think I knew where your little bitch's apartment was?" 

"Excuse me?!" I asked, sharing Dina's rage. I couldn't tell what I was angrier at, the fact that he was responsible for the break-in of Abigail's old apartment, or that he had the audacity to insult her like that to our faces. 

"We both know you can do better, Savannah." He said, for a second returning to his genuine tone before returning to his villainous persona again. 

"You better get the fuck over yourself, and get the fuck out of our apartment." Dina said, quietly but menacingly. She got right up into his face.

"I'm not leaving before I get what I want." He said with a fake smile, trying to get under Dina's skin. 

After a moment's stare-down between the two of them, Samuel eventually pushed through Dina and I with his men and walked into the living room. Abigail had run around the other side of the couch to get to me and Dina while avoiding the men. I picked her up, giving her a tight squeeze and keeping her on my hip. 

"Molly, sweetheart, come on. We're going home." Samuel said in his caregiver tone to Molly, who was standing terrified behind Erin.

Erin stood her ground, the protective anger was palpable as she held Molly's shaking hand, trying to make her body as big as possible to best defend the girl from harm. She truly was a caregiver. 

"Molly, come on." Samuel coaxed, completely ignoring Erin as he bent down to better reach Molly's eye line. "Daddy's gonna take you home and make this all better."

"You're not my daddy and I'm not going with you." Molly said, her eyes tearing up as she spoke. "Come on, baby girl. Don't make Daddy do this the hard way."

"You will not lay a finger on her. Do you fucking understand me?" Erin said, the rage very much seeping into her voice. 

"Shut the fuck up." Samuel said with a breathy eye roll before motioning to one of his men to grab Molly away from her. 

As fired up and protective as Erin was, there was no way she could match a monstrously big and muscular guy. Molly was out of her grasp and into the man's within seconds. 

"Don't fucking touch her!" Dina yelled.

"She chose this way." Samuel said as though he had no other choice in the matter. "Now, you all have a decision to make." 

We all looked at each other with angered confusion.

"Option One: Molly comes back home with me and will return to her rightful place as my little girl." 

Molly immediately started crying harder at the sound of that option, struggling but failing to break free of the man's grip.

"Or, Option Two: Molly stays here!" Samuel said with faux excitement, making us all wonder what the catch was. Our disbelief in his generosity must have been clearly painted on all of our faces, as he reiterated his proposal.

"Molly stays here... and Savannah comes home with me..." 

The deafening silence only grew when he completed his offer.

"... as my little girl."