Together forever: adopted by pentatonix book 4

6:

Kirstie:

I'm woken up at 3am by a little tap on my bedroom door, I open it to find Charlotte. Tears are pouring down her cheeks, I pick her up and carry her to my bed. I wrap her up in my soft fluffy comforter and hold her on my lap, "scared" Charlotte whispers. I kiss her forehead, "I know baby but you have to be brave for me. You need to tell them what your parents did to you" I whisper back. Charlotte kisses my cheek and falls asleep on my lap, I smile and lay her down next to me...

#timeskip

I wake up several hours later, it's eight o clock and I have to get ready for the court today. I take a shower and wash my hair, I dry and curl it before slipping into a white blouse, black skirt and black blazer with grey tights and heels. I wake up Charlotte and bath her, I dry her hair and leave it loose. I carry her back to her room and pick out a white dress with black flowers, a black cardigan, white socks and her black mary jane shoes. I get her dressed and slip a black hairband into her hair, she sits on the edge of the bed whilst I bath Taylor and dress her in a black dress and grey tights. I brought her a pair of black velcro fasten shoes and she slips them on, Avi and Kevin pick us up because I'm too shaky to drive. Both girls cling to me when we get to the courthouse, we head in and take our seats. The boys came with us for moral support, I'm talking to them when I hear both girls gasp. I turn around and I can immediately identify their parents, two sullen faced and greasy haired adults. The man looks up at us and draws his fingers across his throat, I can feel Charlotte shaking and gently slide an arm around her shoulders. "It's okay I've got you" I whisper, she gives me a shaky smile and slides her hand into mine. I give it a small squeeze as the judge begins.

Charlotte is the first one to get called to the stand, she gives me a kiss and Taylor a hug before going down to the little booth. She sits down and looks up at the judge, "Charlotte Adelaide Lewis can you describe what you parents did to you?" she asks Charlotte. Charlotte looks up at me from the booth and I nod, "M-my daddy used to inject me with stuff. He would strap me to a table in the attic and use scalpels on me, he would hurt me and yell at me. He told me he wanted me to be more like my sister Taylor, the stuff he put into my body made me sick, it gave me headaches and a constant fever. I felt horrible, he wouldn't let me eat anything either. If I did he would shove his fingers down my throat until I threw up." She says tearfully, her father jumps out of his seat and goes to move towards her and she screams. A security guard sits him back down and the judge turns back to Charlotte. "Did your mother ever did anything to you?" She asks her, Charlotte nods "she never helped me, never cared for me when I couldn't breathe from the stuff my father gave me" she whimpers. The judge looks at her, "who did look after you?" She asks. Charlotte smiles "Taylor, my twin sister" she says into the mic, "she always looked after me". An anger rests on her face that I've never seen, "Taylor is more like a mother to me than that woman ever was" she says softly "so is Kirstie". I smile and the judge does too, "you can go back sweetheart, that's all we need" she says kindly. Charlotte runs back up to us and into mine and Taylor's arms, she's shaking as if she's in an earthquake. "It's okay, you did it" I whisper, Charlotte smiles and Taylor is called to the stand.

Taylor runs down to the stand and sits down, the judge picks up some paper and reads from it. "My parents never did anything to me physically but they did stuff to me I'll never forget" she reads, everyone gasps and she puts the paper down "what did you mean when you wrote that Taylor?" She asks. Taylor takes a deep breath "my parents never hurt me like they did to Charlotte but mental scars last. They made me listen to her screams, they made her stand there whilst they doted on me and I had to watch her cry. I had to be there for her when she was crying and she needed someone to talk to, someone to share her heartbreak with. In my parents eyes I was a golden child and I hated it, why? Why couldn't they hate me like they did Charlotte?" She says tearfully.

The judge dismisses her from the stand and she runs back to us and into Charlotte's arms, the judge turns back to their parents with a stony expression on her face. "I don't want to hear your side of the story" she says coldly, "two three year olds shouldn't even be able to talk about things like that, they're still practically babies. So I know they are not lying. I find you both guilty of child abuse to the third degree, you will spend the rest of your lives in prison and I give full custody of Charlotte Adelaide Lewis and Taylor Marianne Lewis to Ms Kirstin Taylor Maldonado. Both girls will have their names changed and will officially be the daughters of Kirstin Maldonado." She says happily, we all cheer and both girls throw their arms around me. Charlotte holds her arms out and I pick her up, she smiles and leans towards my ear and whispers the four words I never want to forget.

"I love you mommy"