Safe and Sound

7

"Hannah."

A soft melodic voice disrupted Hannah's deep slumber followed by a finger stroking her cheek, pulling her from the dreamland. Hannah had been dreaming but she could not remember what the dream had been about. She hadn't been ready to wake up and didn't want to. She lifted her hand to swat away the finger with a soft groan, nuzzling the shoulder she was using as a pillow to get comfortable again and find the entrance to her dreamland. She was exhausted and it had been a long day.

"Hannah."

The wispy voice filled her ears again, stealing her from the doorway to sleep. The finger stroked her cheek again. Hannah let out a soft unhappy sigh, giving up on sleeping again. Lifting her head from the shoulder she had been using as a pillow, Hannah opened her eyes and met the soft electric blue ones belonging to Taylor.

"Hi." Taylor smiled softly. "We are..." She didn't know if she should use the word 'home' or not. This was her and Travis's home but it wasn't Hannah's home, at least not yet. Secretly, Taylor hoped it would become her home. But Taylor also hoped that Hannah could be reunited with her mother, Taylor had taken enough from Ashley in her life. Late at night, when she lay awake beside Travis as he snored softly, her thoughts would run back to the time with Ashley, back to that night she'd yelled obscenities at her and Ashley had fled. Taylor regretted that moment with every fibre of her being. She hadn't been able to make amends but she hoped Hannah could help her do that. Taylor let her eyes flicker briefly to her husband's as he held the SUV door open for them. Returning her eyes to Hannah, Taylor continued, "... at the apartment building." She reached down to unclip Hannah's seatbelt.

The eleven year old blinked, still in the process of waking up, then yawned widely. She lifted her hand to rub the sleep from her eyes. Opening her eyes again, she let them fall upon the 'A' necklace in her hand and her birth certificate. She let out a soft breath.

"Wow, kiddo, that was the biggest yawn I've ever seen, you nearly swallowed the whole car." Travis joked, holding out his hand to help her out of the car. He gave her a charming smile.

An unimpressed and still tired, slightly grumpy, look crossed Hannah's pale face as she took his hand and let him help her out to the car. It wasn't that she didn't appreciate his humour, she just didn't understand it. Her life had been so serious up until now, every waking minute spent trying to survive, there had been no room for humour. Travis's hand was five times the size of Hannah's, his palm warm compared to hers, his grip gentle but Hannah suspected he'd be able to crush her hand easily if he wanted to. Hannah never got the sense that Travis would even try to crush her hand so far he'd only been gentle and warm towards her. She felt oddly safe around Travis despite not knowing anything about him other than his name.

Travis kept a hold of her hand as he reached back into the SUV to help his wife out of the car as she thanked the driver for his service and informed him that she'd transfer his pay to his bank account as soon as she was back in her apartment. A gentleman, a real gentleman, that's what Travis was. Even after two and a half years together, he still treated his wife like a queen because, in his opinion, she was one. The magic and honeymoon phase hadn't yet faded from their relationship.

Taylor closed the SUV door and watched the driver drive the car towards the parking space with her name on it. She was glad that the paparazzi were unable to access the underground parking lot. Access was only granted to those with sensors attached to their apartment keys. Paparazzi would definitely have been overwhelming for Hannah. Taylor smiled at the child between her and her husband. "Everything will be okay, I promise."

Hannah blinked at the blonde woman before her, tiredly. The necklace and piece of paper in her hand slipped from fingers and landed on the concrete below her feet. It took her a moment to realise she'd dropped them and in that time, Taylor had swooped down and lifted the silver necklace and piece of paper from the cold concrete. She caught a glimpse of the birth date at the top of the page. December 31st 2013, 11.59pm. Taylor's eyes widened. She looked up at her husband and caught his eye as she straightened up then let her eyes fall upon Hannah. She took in the child's face for a moment. She was all Ashley, except for her eyes, she had her father's eyes.