Our Family: StellaRide story

Chapter 1:

(Multiple flashbacks will take place in this new story of Kelly and Stella)

"What the hell are you talking about", he yelled angrily at the young after she was awoken from her sleep by yet another terrible nightmare. "Are nightmares real or fake", "they feel real to me, they are really scary", "are nightmares real or fake", he lifted his belt, his attitude was at a higher level of intensity, he had been drinking all day, and it was starting to come back to him. "Is it a real thing or is it fake", the young was too scared to speak, her body started shaking and trembling as he began to brutally beat with her the belt, he was tired of hearing about the nightmares, so tired of it he expected her to just forget they even existed, but that wasn't the case for the 6 year old who constantly had these terrible nightmares, she tried to dodged them, replace them with good memories and good dreams but the nightmares always took over. He continued to brutally beat her until she agreed to say that they are just dreams. The little girl picked up the liquor bottle holding it in her hand threatening to drop it on the floor, allowing it to smash into pieces, not caring that she would get beat again by her father she dropped the bottle to the floor and it crumbled into bits of pieces. He began brutally beating her once again, and only stopped when he noticed that she was now bleeding from her back. "Maybe you'll learn, now go to your damn room", she ran up to her room, once in her room she cried tremendously, she begged for someone to save her from the pain she was constantly suffering and reliving. It was that time again, she had suffered the most horrific dream ever, running to the only adult she knew but boy was that a terrible mistake. The bottle was in his hand, he chucked a few cans of beer, laughing at the show he had been watching, "what are you doing in here? Can't you see I'm busy you brat. Please don't tell you still think these dreams  are real", "no father", he could tell she was lying, there was a tremble in her voice, he got up from the couch and took his belt off, "when will you get the picture. Your dreams are not real, they are not real", "they are to me", she yelled louder than ever, just wanting him to listen to her and hear her out for the first time. But that didn't happen, he chased her around the house, as he finally caught up to her, he began hitting her with the belt, she bursted into tears, crying at the pain, "go to your room and don't come back out here again with that nonsense", she ran off to her room, her eyes were flooded with tears, she sat up against her door, her knees to her chest, and balled her eyes out. How could she possibly even try to escape, if he was always in the living room right by the front door, and there were tons of locks that needed to be removed in order to do so. Would her little mind be able to think of a plan to get out of the bad situation she was currently in? She sat there and thought about what she could do to finally escape, until he busted into the room, "listen brat I'm going out. Don't do anything, don't let anyone in my house, I'll be back here in about an hour. Do I make myself clear", "yes sir", her little voice mumbled. He left the house, she was finally alone in the house, which didn't happen that often as he always somehow kept an eye on her, but before trying anything she made sure none of the cameras were on, and luckily they were all being charged, which meant they weren't even on. She ran back to her room and shut the door, carefully going into her closet she threw some clothes into her favorite backpack, and threw her favorite teddy bear in it. She took herself a shower, she stared into the mirror looking at all the bruises that were on her back, she put some clothes on then hid inside the closet. Her only way out would to be to call for help, meaning emergency services. She took her iPad and called the fire department, on the other side of the phone, remained one of Chicago's best female firefighters,  lieutenant Stella Kidd. Stella "hello", she said, trying to hear the other voice on the other end of the phone, no voice was heard, just small sniffles, Stella "hello, is anyone there? You don't have to be afraid, I'm Stella, I could help you. Just let me hear your voice", "please help me", the young girl muttered out after gaining enough courage to do so. Stella "hi there, um what's your name? Do you have a name sweetheart", she said as she could tell the person was a child on the other end of the phone. "Marley, it's Marley", Stella "do you have a last name Summer", "it's Marley Kay Evers", Stella "okay", she said as she searched the name into their database, Stella "okay sweetie, do you still live at the address ***", Marley "yes. Please hurry he'll be back soon and he's gonna beat me if he knows I'm talking to you", Stella "are you in a secluded area", Marley "in the closet", Stella "do you have a basement or a attic", Marley "basement", Stella "I want you to hide in the basement closet, the one directly under the stairs, let me know when you are there", Marley left her room and rushed downstairs into the basement, locking it. She carefully walked down the stairs and hid inside the closet, Marley "I'm here", Stella "good girl. Stay put, me and my team are on their way, whatever happens don't leave the closet until we are there, understood", Marley "yeah", Stella "put the iPad on silence but stay on so we can track you", Marley "okay. Stella I'm scared, really scared", Stella "we're on our way", Marley took her stuffed animal out of her backpack and hugged it tightly, she held her hand over her mouth, so she couldn't scream no matter what she heard. Stella "Marley are you still here, are you still there honey"? Marley "yeah", Stella "we're almost there", just as they chatted, the front door swung wide open, he was back. He had been drinking, once he noticed she was no longer in her room he started going ballistic and insane, Marley "Stella he's back. He's here, he's gonna kill me", she cried out terribly, Stella "stay quiet, one more block and we'll be there to the rescue. Don't speak a word", Marley held both hands to her mouth, her body trembling, and shaking, bits of sweat dripping down her little face, she huddled into the corner of the closet, then she could hear the firefighters, they busted the door open, police were also on the scene, arresting the father and his friends for child neglect, child endangerment and a few other charges. Stella knew she had to be the one to go into the basement as she was the one that was talking to the young girl. Stella used an instrument to bust down the basement door, turning on a flashlight and making her way down the stairs, and to the closet under the stairs, Stella shined her flashlight into the dark room, Stella "come here honey", Marley cried, once in Stella arms, she was finally free and safe from her abusive terrible man of a father. Stella carried the young girl over to Sylvie and Violet their paramedics. Stella "this is Sylvie and Violet they are gonna take a look at you and make sure you're okay, I'll over there", Marley was a bit relieved, Sylvie and Violet tried to make small talk with the girl but she kept silent, Wallace, "great job lieutenant, you led this team to an amazing rescue. I applaud you all for your great work", Kelly "great work babe", Stella "thank you, I mean we did this all together, we're a team", Kelly "yeah we are, but you led our team to this victory", Stella looked over to the young girl who was still a bit frightened from everything, Sylvie "we're taking her to med", Marley "Stella", the young girl called out to her, Kelly "go ride with her", Stella "okay", Stella climbed into the ambulance, sitting beside the young girl, as they rode to the hospital. The girl dozed off to sleep, Stella held her little hand as they drove all the way to the hospital. Once arriving at the hospital, Maggie took a look at the young girl, and then looked over her medical records and found multiple injuries linked to her biological father. Stella "have you eaten sweetie", Marley "no", Stella "I'm gonna get you something to eat, is that okay", Marley nodded, Maggie "Stella can I talk to you", Stella "what's going on", Maggie "she has a huge medical history, constant injuries caused by her biological father, her back is covered in bruises. Her father was beating her", Stella looked back at the young girl, Stella "are you serious", Maggie "yeah", Maggie showed Stella all over the medial history. Stella ordered some food for her, Kelly and the young girl. Maggie "we've gotta take pictures of all the bruises", Stella "she's already been through so much, so much. She can't go through that", Maggie "Stella we have no choice, it's protocol for victims of abuse", Stella "fine but she's to eat first and if you don't mind I want to be the one to tell her what's gonna happen", Maggie "okay fine but I need to be the room with you", Stella "okay", the food has finally arrived, Stella introduced Kelly to Marley, and the three of shared the sweetest bond. After eating Stella had to break the news to the young girl, Stella "so remember Maggie right", Marley "yeah", Stella "Maggie here is gonna need to take some photos, photos of all of your bruises", Marley went completely quiet and her little face was blank. Stella "I know sweetie. I don't you don't want none to see those, and that's completely understandable. For everything you've gone through you're so brave, and so strong", tears started flowing from her eyes. Stella "let me stay here. With her", Maggie "that's against protocol", Stella "she's a child for gods sakes, please. Maggie I know if you were in this position you would want the same. So let me stay with her", Maggie "okay", the next fifteen minutes of the photos being taken was the most traumatic moment for the poor girl, but Stella didn't leave her side, Maggie "already that's it. All finished", once Maggie left the room, Eva broke down completely, Stella hugged her. Stella dozed off right next to Eva, and was woken up by Maggie, Maggie "her social worker is here", Stella "okay", Maggie left to her break, "you must be Stella", Stella "yeah", "I'm Nicole, Marley's social worker. I've been on her case for years. I heard your the firefighter that got the call from her", Stella "yeah", "so I'm sure you know how this works, after Marley leaves the hospital she will be placed into foster care", Stella "isn't there some other way, she can't go to foster care. She just can't", "I mean that's how it works", Stella "please there's gotta be another way", "are you interested in adopting her", Stella was too stunned to even speak, "that would be the only way. If I'm being honest with you you're completely right. Putting her in the foster care system isn't gonna do her any good, might bring her more harm. You might be her only hope for a happy life, a well deserved one", Stella began to think about the outcome of the situation. "You could come into my office, to fill out some paperwork. I'll go through the process with you and your husband, you might be her hope out there", Stella "okay. I'm interested, more than interested", "here's my number", they scheduled an appointment and then the social worker left, Stella stood beside the girl, as she slept. Days passed, Marley was still in the hospital, Stella and Kelly had been constantly visiting her. Kelly and Stella also had been talking about their how their relationship would be changed once Marley was in their care. Chris "Stella, Kelly someone is here to see you", Stella escorted the social worker to the office, and the three of them sat down, chatting about the next steps in the process of adopting. "So once she's discharge from the hospital, you are free to take her home. I'm casually gonna be visiting your house to see her progress, and once given a court date, that date will be the date that the adoption gets approved and granted", Stella "okay", the two of them signed a few more documents, "this document is legally proof that you two are now the temporary guardians of Marley", Stella "how do we change her last name", "oh that. So basically you go to the civil court and make an appointment, it might take a week to two to fully approve the request. But once granted, you got to purchase a new birth certificate, and it'll come in the mail", Kelly "thanks again, for everything. For helping us with this, and for just being so patient with us", "it was my pleasure working with the two of you", after the social worker left. Kelly had gotten a phone call from his friends over at the intelligence police detective unit", Adam "hey man", Kelly "hey", Adam "remember that guy. That abusive father", Kelly "yeah what about him", Adam "we need an positive ID, and then he'll be taken to protective custody", Kelly "no way man. She's not gonna ID, she's traumatized. I'm not letting it happen", Adam "dude please, Hank says it's important", Kelly "how long do we have", Adam "two days", Kelly "alright", he hung up the phone. Stella "you okay", his wife asked him. Kelly "Hank wants Marley to positively ID her abusive biological father", Stella "that's not happening", Kelly "babe they need her to, he'll be in protective custody until his hearing if she makes the positive ID", Stella "fine", her phone ringed. Maggie "hey", Stella "hey", Maggie "guess what", Stella "what", she questioned, Maggie "Marley gets discharged today", Stella "oh my goodness, that's great", Maggie "yeah", Stella "don't tell her about the news just yet me and Kelly would love to be the ones to tell her", Maggie "of course", Stella "we'll be there soon", Maggie "okay", Kelly "we could take her home", Stella "yeah", Kelly and Stella showered then changed, leaving work as they were no longer on shift for the day. Into Stella's jeep they went and drove to pick up some cookies and balloons for Marley, and drove to the hospital. Maggie "hey", Stella "hey, she's been sleeping for most of the day, so I'm sure she'll be excited to see you both", Stella "okay", the two of them went to Eva room, once entering, Marley leaped off of the bed and had her arms tightly around Stella's waist, Stella "so we have a little surprise for you", Stella and Kelly had sat down, passing Marley the envelope, Marley opened it, it was a letter from both of them, she read it until finally reaching the end of the note. Marley tightly hugged the both of them, not only was she going to be living with the woman who saved her life, but she was also getting the life she deserved with two of the kindest people she'd ever met. The three of them left the hospital, once at home, Stella gave her a tour of their apartment. They got her settled and they settled in for the night.