Please | Demi Lovato

9

Demi

Two weeks went by without a word from Wilmer.

The hope I had been convincing myself to have dissolved after the fifteenth day of sleeping alone; when I woke up to three moving men waiting to take the rest of his stuff. I had dialed his number- ready to call him, but I stopped when I realized I didn't know what to say. I had nothing left, and I would never give up on Emily to have him back in my life, no matter how selfish I wanted to be.

Emily seemed to know something was wrong too. For the first week, she'd asked continually when Wilmer was coming back home, but those questions had stopped. I woke up continuously throughout the night to her standing next to my bed, her tiny eyebrows pushed together with worry.

"You were yelling for Wilmer." She told me one night. "I don't think he can hear you."

"No." I murmured, and lifted her onto the bed. "I don't think he can."

"Why isn't he coming back?"

I sighed and smoothed down her hair, trying to figure out the words to explain the delicate situation. "You know how I had to give you a time out the other day? Because you were really mad and needed a break?" She nodded. "It's kind of like that. Wilmer needed a time-out, and I don't know when it's going to be over."

She nodded, accepting with full trust any explanation I gave her. "But now you and me can have more fun."

"Yeah, we can have a lot of fun." I smiled and looked at the clock. "But you gotta go to sleep if you wanna have that much fun tomorrow."

"Can't I sleep in here?" She drawled, using her newfound tool of puppy-dog eyes on me. "It's dark in my room."

"Sure." I laid back and she happily got under the covers next to me. "Goodnight, Emily. I love you."

She yawned and wormed into my side, shoving her face into my neck. "I love you too, Momma."

I froze, but she didn't notice. A few tears began to prick my eyes and I took a deep breath, trying to control my emotions. I knew it would happen eventually, but I didn't know yet if I wanted to correct Emily. I was the closest thing she would probably ever have to a mother, but she was my father's daughter. For a brief moment I understood the pressure of how Wilmer felt in that moment, but the anger returned when I remembered that instead of dealing with it, he ran. That scared me more than anything, because in all of our years together, all of the drama, he had never even come close to running.

~*~

Two days later, Emily had her first therapy appointment. Dr. Revis was a blonde haired, kind-eyed woman, and was the only person on the list of recommendations who hadn't instantly praised my career. When I mentioned my name and the situation, she was completely focused on Emily, not caring about my place in society.

"So, Emily, are you okay talking to me with Demi in the room or do you want her to go outside."

"Stay." Emily had reverted back to monosyllabic responses in the presence of a new stranger, and refused to look up from the floor. Her grip on my hand was so tight my knuckles began to ache but I didn't dare adjust my fingers.

"Okay, that's okay." Dr. Revis smiled softly, keeping her voice low and soothing. "Do you know why you're living with Demi?"

She didn't answer and I rubbed her back, trying to convey to her that it was okay to open up. Finally, she took a deep breath and spoke. "Daddy's a bad man."

"Do you remember what he did to you?" Emily nodded. "Do you want to tell me about that?" She shook her head. "That's okay, you don't have to. How about you tell me what you can do at Demi's house that you couldn't do at your other house?"