Wild Ride - The Alternative Version (Book 2)

Chapter 50~Preparing For Battle

"She can't do that! She can't take Abbie from us!" I blurted out suddenly after it really sunk in, just a little too loudly as I forgot Abbie was asleep. Elise held a finger to her lips and we listened to see if we could hear her moving around upstairs, but the house was dead quiet, so I continued ranting in a lower voice. "On what grounds does she plan on taking us to court for!?" 

"I don't know, child abuse maybe? Eric doesn't know exactly what she's filing against us that could get Abbie taken away from us, but I guess she's on her way to California right now. Apparently, with yesterday being my birthday, she did a lot of thinking." Elise ran her fingers through her hair. 

"But we've never abused Abbie, so what proof could she have that we ever abused her? It's not like she's been around for the nine years of her life to see anything happen. She can't just assume anything, being all the way across the country." I pointed out, feeling better about this now just a little bit. 

"I don't know, Jimmy. I don't even know if that's what she's filing against us, it's just a guess. With my mother, it could be absolutely anything and you have no idea of what she's capable of. If she really wants something done, she'll make sure it happens." Her voice cracked on that last sentence. 

"We... we haven't done anything wrong, right? Nothing that she could prove? We've been good parents according to the law, right?" I questioned, suddenly feeling more sick.

"I think so, I mean we haven't neglected her and we'd never even dream of hitting her or anything. I don't know how she could come up with anything and have us be proved guilty of something to get her taken away." She said. 

That gave me a little bit of hope. "Then, she can't. There's no way she could have an argument valid enough when she's never even met Abbie. It's going to be fine, she's not going to get taken away because we've never abused her or anything, and she can't prove that we did anything wrong." 

Elise nodded a little, but didn't look any less upset. "I know, I'm just so worried. If she ends up getting Abbie, Abbie's going to be in a place of hell when they return to Maine and I don't want that to happen to her. That has always been so important to me, that she had a completely different life than mine because I never want her to experience that kind of pain. If my mother gets her, that's exactly what's going to happen and I don't know how she'll deal with it because she's seen nothing but love and affection. And then there's just the simple fact that I don't want to lose her, ever." 

"That's not going to happen, we're not going to lose Abbie to her." I assured her, hugging her tightly. "We just have to fight for her, but this isn't the first time. It's going to be ok, I promise." I kissed the top of her head, still feeling pretty worried as well, while she clung to me.

After a moment of silence between us, she asked quietly, "Well... do we tell Abbie what's about to happen yet?" 

"No. I don't think we should tell her anything for now, until Eric calls you back and we know more about this." I said, and she nodded in agreement, continuing to hold onto me and I held onto her. 

Abbie's POV

When I woke up, it was a few minutes past ten. I just laid there and stared up at the ceiling for a moment before stretching out and willing myself to fling the warm blankets off of me. I stood up from the bed and stretched again before going over to my dresser and picking out my clothes for the day. After getting dressed, I brushed my hair and went downstairs, my stomach growling. 

I went into the living room to find Mom and Dad, but when I did my hunger was forgotten as soon as I looked at them. The TV was on, but they weren't really watching it. Dad had his arms wrapped around Mom, while her head was on his shoulder, but not in the usual way. The look on their faces were kind of worried and upset looking, and they were both just kind of spaced out. Something wasn't right, and I didn't like it. What did I miss while I was sleeping?