To Belong | Protector 5.25

Chapter 39

Chapter 39

       The first thing I did when I woke up was reach for my phone to check my time. I sat up once I saw that it was past noon. The court hearing to see if I would be granted a restraining order against my parents was scheduled for ten, so that was two hours ago.

       I got up from my bed and went downstairs, finding Nolan and Jerome cooking lunch. Correction: Nolan cooking lunch and Jerome complaining that he needed attention. I could see why Nolan called Jerome an overgrown teenager all the time.

       "Dad, Papa," I said, and they both looked at me.

       I didn't even have to ask about the court hearing before Nolan said, "Oh, you're awake. There's some news about the court hearing, and we were going to wake you up to tell you, but then we decided you probably needed to sleep more. You were granted the restraining order."

       I furrowed my eyebrows. "But... I didn't even go to the hearing."

       "Because Neeta and Sujan went AWOL," Nolan said. "They didn't show up at their appointed time, and the court wasn't able to get a hold of them. The courts decided to grant the restraining order anyway, otherwise it would have been unfair for you."

       I didn't know if I should feel relieved that I was granted the restraining order or worried that nobody knew where Neeta and Sujan were. Even though they were legally obligated to stay away from me because of the restraining order, I had a feeling that it wasn't going to stop them in the end.

       After all, they were legally obligated to take care of me when I was just a kid, but they never did. You think they would be happy they knew longer had to care for me so they could do whatever they wanted without the burden of having a child to care for.

       But some parents were like that. They were extremely neglectful or abusive, but the moment someone would step up and be the better parent, they wanted complete control over their kid.

       Nolan and Jerome must have sensed my unease because Jerome soon said, "Hey, it's honestly a good thing they didn't show up. You were automatically granted the restraining order, and there's now an arrest warrant out for them since missing court without a good excuse is a criminal offence. They might very well end up back in prison."

      That did help my nerves a bit, but it might take a while for them to find Neeta and Sujan. Until then, I was honestly tempted to just stay in my house unless I had school or dance practice. I just didn't want to go anywhere on my own.

       I would honestly lock myself in my bedroom if I didn't hate being locked somewhere. I could barely lock my own bathroom door, but at least I had my own bathroom connected to my bedroom so I didn't have to worry about anyone barging in.

       "Everything's going to be okay," Nolan said. "I promise. Oh, and I already texted Webster to let him know. He said he'll come over after school to visit you."

       "I swear, he's here almost every day," Jerome said.

       "Yes, and I was at your house basically every day when we started dating, and I moved in with you as soon as we got engaged," Nolan pointed out. "You don't have anything to complain about."

       "Fair point."

       "So if the court hearing was cancelled, how come I didn't go to school instead?" I asked since it was a weekday. My parents already planned on letting me stay home since I would have been too stressed to go to school before I had to leave for the hearing, so I didn't see why I wouldn't go now that the hearing was cancelled.

       "How much sleep did you get last night?" Nolan asked.

       I shrugged. "I don't know. One hour? Maybe two?"

       "That's why," Nolan said. "There's no point sending you to school when you're extremely tired. You weren't going to go anyway, so not going because the court hearing was cancelled doesn't really change anything. You know how lenient your papa and I are when it comes to staying home because of your mental health."

       "Right." I kept forgetting that all I had to do when I was having a bad mental health day was to just tell my parents and they would let me stay home. It was a huge change from my other foster homes and group homes. I could be sick with a cold and I would still be forced to go to school.

       Reasons why I skipped a lot.

       This was one of the many reasons why I absolutely loved being adopted by Nolan and Jerome. They were the most amazing parents ever. So many parents weren't deserving of having kids, but Nolan and Jerome were. I wouldn't be surprised if they ended up adopting a lot more kids who needed a loving home, just like me, Kingsley, and Anuhea. 

       I stayed downstairs until lunch was ready since Nolan and Jerome made it for me as well; I was the only one who stayed home today. Once I finished eating lunch, I brought my dishes to the sink before heading back upstairs to my room.

       I ended up falling asleep for a bit, only waking up when Webster sat down beside me on the bed. It was the movement of the mattress shifting that woke me up. I looked at Webster and he asked, "Did I wake you?"

       "Yeah, but it's okay," I said. 

       "So, good news, huh?" Webster asked. "About the restraining order?"

       "I guess."

       Webster furrowed his eyebrows. "You guess?"

       "I just... It's good that I got it, but not good about how I got it."

       "I thought it would have been a good thing. You didn't have to face them in court."

       "Yeah, but now they're MIA. I'm just... I guess I'm worried about not knowing where they are."

       "But they're not allowed to go near you."

       "They're not allowed to skip out on court as well, but that didn't stop them." I sighed. "Sorry, sorry. That's just my overthinking brain. My papa did point out that there's an arrest warrant out for them and they might have to go back to prison over it, so I'll just have to try my best to avoid them if they do try to go near me."

       "You never know. They could have gone MIA because they decided to move away or something."

       "Yeah, maybe." I release a deep breath. "It's okay. Everything's going to be okay." I didn't know if I believed that or if I was trying to convince myself to believe it. Either way, I had to just tell myself that everything will be okay in the end.

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no spoilers but we got some drama coming soon. maybe angst. idk what to call it but you'll see...

i'll try to update this again soon since i know where it's going!