“Please bring them home soon,” she cries. I can hear her mom talking to her, and I know that she is comforting her, which makes this a little easier.
“I will. Love you, baby,” I tell her. An officer comes over, telling me that an ambulance is coming and that we should wait in one of the SUVs. I look through the front window of the SUV, seeing that Nico is standing with our dad on the front porch. His phone is to his ear, and I hope that he called Trevor and Asher. I need my son, but I don’t want him to see what’s going on. I watch as they escort Jules and the man out of the house and into the back of one of the vehicles. The vehicles carrying them takes off and an ambulance pulls up, along with Asher’s truck. I hop out, taking Ashlyn to the ambulance. When I get her inside, they start looking her over. All of her vitals are fine, her O2 level normal. They hook her up on fluids and get her comfortable. I get out and take Jax from Trevor, who tells me that he had fallen asleep crying.
“You gonna take him with you in the ambulance to the hospital?” Trevor asks.
“Yeah. Can you call Lil’s dad and ask him to bring the girls to meet us at the hospital?”
“You got it. Do you want one of us to ride with you?”
“Nah,” I tell them, walking away. I get back into the ambulance holding my son and looking at my daughter. They are both so small and defenseless. When we get to the hospital, there is a blur of activity. We’re escorted into a room, and the doctors run more tests on Ashlyn, who still hasn’t woken up.
“Cash!” I hear yelled, and I stand with Jax still in my arms. He still hasn’t woken up either. I had the doctor look him over and they said that he is fine, probably just crashed from having an adrenalin rush. When I clear the doorway, Lilly is running towards me still yelling out my name. When she sees Jax and me, her eyes close and she stops in the middle of the hall. I go to her, needing to touch her.
“Baby, they are both okay,” I tell her, holding her with one arm. Her arms wrap around Jax and me, and we stand there for a few minutes before I kiss her forehead and grab her hand, leading her to Ashlyn. Once in the room, she goes right to her bedside, looking down at our daughter who looks so fragile.
“Why isn’t she awake?” she asks.
“They don’t know, but they said she is fine. Her vitals are all normal and she doesn’t have any injuries; it just looks like she doesn’t want to wake up yet. Neither of them wants to wake up yet.” We wait for what seems like forever in silence for Ashlyn to wake up, and when she does, she doesn’t even know what happened to her. She has no recollection of Jules at all. The police and everyone believe she was drugged while in the yard. My brave son, who had the courage to follow his sister, woke up not long after her. I can tell he’s still upset about what happened, but he’s happy to have his sister back, and us all together. That night, when we finally get home, and after getting everyone tucked into our bed, I thank God for keeping my family safe and together. None of us are going to be out of each other’s sight for a while. I think Lil and I both need to be able to see the kids at all times for about the next six months.
Ironically, that happens to be around the time that Jules gets sentenced to twenty years in jail without the possibility of parole. The crimes against her are numerous, and she is proven guilty with each and every one of them. I sit down on the couch, and Lilly cuddles into my side while Jax and Ashlyn argue over which movie we are going to watch. I don’t care what I do with my family; as long as we are together, I’m a happy man.
“Thank you for giving me this,” I whisper into Lilly’s ear. Her head turns towards me, her eyes searching my face.
“You know that you give us everything, right? You are the like the moon to our family ocean. You’re magnetic; we will always follow you and try to give you back what you give to us.” She leans up and kisses me before laying her head back against my chest. I don’t know what I did to deserve her or my children, but I will always do everything within my power to keep them safe and happy.
Epilogue
Lilly
“Mom, Dad, can you guys stop being so gross? No one wants to see their parents making out,” Ashlyn says walking into the living room.
“Yeah that’s some sick shit,” Jax says, following behind his sister and ruffling her hair. She punches him in the arm in response.
“Hey, mouth,” I scold.
“Sorry, but really, why don’t you guys try acting like normal parents?” Jax complains flopping down onto the couch.
“If you don’t like it, you got a room,” Cash says and Jax rolls his eyes shaking his head.