I sat straight up in my bed and looked around, making sure that my little brother was still asleep next to me. Down the hall, I could hear Daddy yelling, his words slurring too closley together to understand much.
"You need to leave!"
Then there was a much scarier voice. It boomed down the hallway, "Sir, you need to take us to the children now."
"No! They are my children, this is my house, and you have no right to be here.! Daddy yelled.
Quietly, I climbed out of bed and peeked down the hallway. Daddy was right the face of the man with the scary voice. He was yelling so hard that his face was red and I could see the veins throbbing in his neck. I'd never seen Daddy this mad before, except for that one time with Mommy. All of the sudden, Daddy punched the man.
"Sir, I need you to place your hands behind your back. You're under arrest." The big man said.
"Leave my daddy alone!" Oliver yelled as he ran past me.
I didn't even hear him get out of bed. How long had he been standing there? Did he see Daddy punch that man?
"Son, you need to go back to bed. Daddy's okay. Nicholas, take him back to bed."
"Come on Bubby." As I took his hand and tried to lead him to the bedroom, he jerked away. He ran towward the big man and kicked him as hard as he could. He was only three years old, but he could kick pretty hard.
The big man flinched and let go of Daddy.
"Officer Reynolds, please let me remove the children from the enviroment before you obtain the suspect." a soft voice spoke from the corner.
When the woman stepped into view, I was shocked at how pretty she was. She was tall, taller than Daddy even, with long blonde hair. When she kneeled down in front of me, I noticed that her eyes were the same color as Mommy's.
"What's your name?" she asked with a voice as soft as rain.
"Nicholas."
"I'm Oliver!" Oliver shouted, darting from behind me causing the woman to give a light laugh.
"Hello Nicholas, Oliver. My name is Valerie."
"Hi, Valerie!" Oliver shouted.
"Oliver, be quieter. You know that Mommy doesn't like it when you yell." I warned.
"Nick! Mommy isn't here anymore, remember?"
"Oh yeah."
"Where is she?" Valerie asked, taking my hand.
"Mommy's gone! Daddy hit her and she ran out the door. Daddy chased her and didn't come home for a long time, and when he did, Mommy wasn't with him." Oliver said.
"Be quiet, Oliver!" He knew that Daddy got mad when we talked about what happened to Mommy.
"Do you guys want to come with me for a little while? I know some people who would love to meet you."
"Yeah!" Oliver said, jumping up and down.
"Oliver, we aren't supposed to get in cars with strangers. You know that!" He seemed to be forgetting a lot tonight.
"We're hardly stranger anymore, Nicholas. You know my name and I know your's."
"I suppose that you are right."
"Good. Let's get your favorite toy to take with us."
Ten minutes later, we were in Valerie's jeep driving down the bumpy road. She had explained to us that Daddy was in big trouble and that we had to go stay with some nice people for a little while. What if they hit us like Daddy hit Mommy? They might be mean and not feed us. What if they take Oliver away from me? He's my best friend. I didn't want to go, but Valerie told me that I didn't have a choice.
