Liberation.

chapter 2

Harley

Watching your baby who you haven't seen for 10 years, act so different shouldn't surprise me; And yet It does. I expected things to be different, I thought when we finally find her, we can be a family again. It's been 3 months and we were closer to strangers than anything else, It hurt more than anything. I haven't had a good chance to speak to her, ask her about things or even just sit together in one room. Hope was so closed off and distant and I didn't know why till now...

My little girl fell in love only to have her fragile heart ripped out by her own mothers. Guilt washed over me like a wave of icy water, I knew what it felt like to have something you love so much taken from you. I understood her more than ivy did, ivy wanted her safe while I wanted Hope to have everything she ever wanted. However, i wasn't sure if I was prepared to let her go so soon, she was soon to turn 16. A few weeks away, she was still my little girl but I knew we won't be able to hold her here by force forever. This boy she fell in love with, I didn't know who he was. I knew who had taken her, I blamed myself for that too. I played with Leonard snart when we were young, I never expected him to hold such a grudge and be capable of doing something as crazy as stealing a child.

Helena, was an undercover spy in Leonard's crew. She's been there for a year but had no idea they had Hope until he revealed her to everyone and that's when we finally could see our baby again. From the looks of things Leonard didn't harm her, which made me wonder what he really kept her for. Year by year I thought of the worst things, but I always held on to the thought I'll see her again.

Just not exactly like this.

I decided to make the first move with Hope. I followed her up to her room and knocked on, when I heard nothing I entered anyway. She was laying on her bed, curled in a small ball. My heart broke for her in this moment, seeing her lay there with her back to me. I walked into the room and sat down at the edge of her bed, "Hope" I whispered placing my hand on her back. She jerked awake and looked at me, Her eyes were red from crying, Her cheeks puffy. "If you're going to tell me the same thing momma did then don't" she said playing with something on her hand. I looked at it and held in my gasp, a small diamond ring sat there. "That's a pretty ring" I chose to say instead, for a split second her lips formed a smile. "It's not an engagement ring If that's what you're thinking", I let out the breath I was holding and chuckled. "The thought of you growing up so fast scares me, you're turning 16 and before I know it you'll be gone again", Hope sat up and crossed her legs.

"Everyday that I was stuck in that cell, I wondered if you were looking for me, if today would be the day you'd come. I held on so hard to that dream every single second of the day", she paused to take a deep breath and I listened. "One day this boy came to my cell and slid in a book under the door, then once a week he would bring me a new one. From picture books to one with tiny words in them, it's how I learned to read, they also took my mind off of things. A few months ago the boy returned and took me from that cell, into an apartment. He became my friend, hell he even taught me math and let me tell you mommy it's awful".

I laughed at her and she froze, Her words getting lost. She started fidgeting with her fingers, "come on tell me about this special boy" I urged, she stared at me for a moment and smiled. "I started to like him a lot, We had some ups and downs but I wouldn't change them for anything. He made me feel happy, he trusted me too. He took me shopping one day, trusted me not to run. I didn't want to run as much then but a part of me did, and when I saw momma there with that little boy, I thought you had forgotten me, moved on and it broke me a little. Ice made me feel loved again". Ivy had told me she was going to the central city mall with Barry's son, We had went to visit them a few months ago. Barry and iris had a baby 5 years ago, Hope never knew him. She thought we didn't love her, if Ivy saw Hope there she would have taken her home. I had to talk to her about this, maybe she could fix that bond with Hope.

I placed my hand on her cheek and sroked it, "Hope, before you were taken from us, momma and I wanted to adopt another baby, you wanted a sibling and we wanted to have another bundle of joy with us. However, after they took you, momma believed she didn't deserve to have more children. She blamed herself for them taking you and no matter how hard i denied that she still thought so, we were so shattered from you we couldn't think about anything else. I eventually agreed to let uncle Bruce find you, while I continued to live my life. Momma still searched, handed out your pictures and went as far as plastering your face on local news. She not once stopped looking for you baby, We never stopped nor ever will stop loving you".