My Little Girl

Chapter 1

Skylar walks into the cold sterile room, peeking around her stepfather's leg. She sees her mother lying in the hospital bed, her skin almost as pale as the bedsheets and her dark hair the only color in the almost empty room. The woman slowly turns her head and smiles at her daughter, weakly beckoning her to come closer. 

Skylar hesitantly steps out from behind the only father she's ever known and slowly walks to her mother. When she reaches the bed, the woman weakly holds her hand out to the little girl, who looks at it uncertainly. She slowly places her hand in her mother's icy one, feeling chills run up her arm as if she had just stuck her arm in a freezer. 

"My sweet Sky." She says tiredly, a tear escaping her eyes as she looks at the small blonde in front of her. "I love you so much." 

"I love you too, Mama." Skylar says, a few tears of her own slipping down her face. "Please don't leave me."

"I'm sorry, honey. I have to." She says gently. "I'm on my way to see Grandma, remember?" Skylar nods and looks down, not wanting to upset her mother with her tears. "Skylar, look at me."  The girl slowly raises her head and looks at her mother. "I have a box of things I want you to have in your closet on the top shelf. When I'm gone, I want you to look inside it. There are things in there to answer all of your questions about your father and there's a letter in there for him. If you ever decide to try to find him, I want you to give it to him. Promise me you'll look in the box." 

"I promise, Mama." She says in a small voice, wiping at her tears and trying to keep the rest at bay.

"It's okay to cry, Skylar. It's nothing to be ashamed of. It just proves you love someone very much." The woman says. Skylar nods slightly, allowing the tears to roll freely down her cheeks. Her mother gives her a small smile before taking off her wedding band and engagement ring, pressing them into Skylar's hand. "I want you to gave these, too. Never lose them. And take this too." She takes her locket off of the nightstand and places it in her daughter's palm as well. "When you feel lonely, look inside it and you'll see me. And when you're afraid or upset, just squeeze it and I'll be with you, even though you can't see me."

Skylar puts the rings on the chain with the locate before slipping it over her head. She looks down at the pieces of jewelry, admiring the gold locket and the silver rings. Her head snaps up when she hears a long beep from the machine next to her mother and lunges forward, throwing her body across her mother's legs as nurses fill the room. She feels someone pick her up and starts kicking and screaming, attempting to get out of the person's hold. 

"NO! Let go of me!" She screams, arms and legs flailing about wildly in an attempt to hit whoever grabbed her. "Mommy! MOMMY!" 

"Skylar! Stop screaming!" Her stepfather tells her sternly, setting her down in the hallway. "Your mother wouldn't want you to make a scene." Skylar forces herself to calm down before looking him in the eyes. "Come on. Let's go home."

"I don't want to go home." She tells him, refusing to take the hand that he held out to her. "I want to stay with Mama." 

"You can't." He snaps, making Skylar look at him in shock. He's never snapped at her before. "She's gone. You're going to have to get used to it just being me and you." He reaches down and grabs her hand roughly before walking towards the elevator, pulling the child with him the entire way.

As soon as they arrive home, Skylar runs up the stairs and to her room, shutting the door before laying on her bed and clutching the locket, letting her tears flow freely. After an hour, Skylar finally cries herself to sleep, her tears creating a large wet spot on her mint green comforter. A knock on her door wakes her up and Skylar opens her eyes, seeing her stepfather poke his head in the door.