Until Lilly(80)

“Hi, can I help you?” I ask, looking behind him when I see another officer walking up the sidewalk.

“I’m sorry to do this to you, Lilly, but I’m going to need you to come with me,” he says, and he does look sorry, but that does absolutely nothing to make me feel better.

“What is this about?” I ask.

“There has been more evidence brought forward in the case against you.”

“Am I being arrested?” I question.

“Yes,” he says, and my stomach drops, and I know I’m going to be sick. I look down when I feel Ashlyn’s hand in mine. I really hate that she is here to see this.

“Can you go get Mommy’s phone?” I ask her. She looks up at Officer Dan before nodding and walking into the house.

“Cash isn’t here right now, and I can’t leave until I have someone here to take care of Ashlyn,” I explain, rubbing my hands together.

“That’s understandable, Lilly. We can wait here until you find someone to come watch her. I also called Tom on my way over and told him what’s going on. I suppose he is going to be showing up soon,” he says, looking concerned.

“Can you please not handcuff me in front of my daughter? I really don’t want her to get upset. I promise that I will fully cooperate.” I wrap my arms around my waist.

“We won’t cuff you until it’s absolutely necessary.”

“Thank you,” I whisper.

“Here, Mommy,” Ashlyn says, handing me my phone. I pull up Cash’s number; it rings once before he answers.

“Hey, babe, we just got to the park. What’s up?”

“Officer Dan is here at the house,” I say, hoping he understands that I need him to come home. I really do not want to have a conversation about this with Ashlyn standing right here.

“Why is he there at the house?”

“He needs me to go with him,” I say closing my eyes. “I need you to come get Ashlyn.”

“Okay, baby, everything is going to be all right. I’m on my way home. I’m going to call my dad.”

“Okay,” I reply. I want to cry, but I know I can’t in front of Ashlyn. I really do not want her to get upset.

“Love you, baby, hang in there. I’m on my way now,” he says before hanging up. I pull the phone away from my ear.

“He is on his way.” I take a step back, opening the door more fully. “Would you like to wait inside?”

“Yeah, honey. Why don’t you g—”

“Dan, you know that’s not allowed,” the office behind him says, and Dan turns to look at him.#p#分页标题#e#

“Officer Mitchel, I suggest you stand down,” Dan replies, stepping into the house. He doesn’t wait for the other officer to come in before he shuts the door. I walk into the kitchen, looking around at all the groceries that still need to be put away. My eyes land of Ashlyn, who looks worried, and I hate seeing that look on my baby’s face.

“Come here, love bug.” Ashlyn comes to me and I pick her up, wrapping myself around her and breathing in her smell. I hate the idea of being away from her, Jax, or Cash for any length of time. Ashlyn doesn’t fight me; she must know something is going on. After a few minutes, I hear a car outside. I stand in the living room watching the front door. As soon as it opens, my stomach drops. It’s not Cash, but his dad.

“Hey, honey,” he says, and I hold Ashlyn a little tighter. I really don’t want to leave until I’m at least able to see Cash, but I wonder if I will be allowed to wait until he gets here.

“Hi,” I say.

“Grandpa!” Ashlyn says and starts to wiggle, trying to get down, and as much as I don’t want to, I set her down and watch as she runs to James.

“Hey, pretty girl,” he says, swinging her up into his arms. Dan looks at me, and I know he is silently trying to tell me that we need to go.

“I’m sorry, James, but I need to take Lilly with me.”

“I know. Can you wait until my boy gets here?” James asks.

“I really shouldn’t have let her stay as long as I have, but I knew she needed to wait until someone got here to stay with her daughter,” Dan says, looking upset. “I didn’t want to bring the girl with us and get CPS involved.” I feel nauseated by his last words; the thought of Ashlyn being put into the system, even for a short period of time, makes me feel grateful to Dan.

“I understand,” James says. He looks at me, and I can tell he’s worried. I know that Dan said he called James before this, so I wonder if he knows about what’s going on.

“I’m very sorry, Lilly, but we’re going to have to go,” Dan says. I walk over to James and Ashlyn; her head is laying against his chest. I want to pull her away from him, but I just can’t do it. I know that I need to put on a brave face for my girl.